What Has Changed
I mean, beyond everything.
Everyone is home, pretty much all the time.
Josh and I take walks. We walk down to our friend’s house and stand on the sidewalk outside their house while they stand about 30 feet away at their door. And we talk to each other across the lawn.
Josh and I rarely made time for walks before this. It was one of those three-times-a-year thing we did on the few days when the weather was nice. But now I’ve put firm limits in place. I’m going to take a daily walk. I’m going to shout across the lawn to my friend. I am not going to work 24 hours per day.
We’re meal planning. We always did a loose weekly meal plan so we wouldn’t have to take a dozen trips to the store. But now we have an iron-clad meal plan. When you don’t have the luxury to go to the store all the time, and said store doesn’t have many ingredients in stock, you get a lot less choosy about what you’re having for dinner.
I am trying to read things that are not virus-related. I’m reading fiction. Unfortunately, all the fiction seems to veer into virus territory. Like I’m reading a book in which the characters are all in isolation due to a war. So it makes me think about how we’re in isolation due to a virus. But when I catch my mind wandering into hysteria, I return to the story and try to focus again on fiction. Mysteries are good. Fantasy is good. Family dramas are good. Dystopias are not.
We are watching Broadchurch. I never wanted to see it when it was first on, but now I’m giving it a chance. I love it, even though it’s gut-wrenching.
What are you doing differently?
6 comments
We are taking so many walks. Every trail within a few minutes drive is in our rotation. And sometimes we walk to the neighborhood next to ours and yell to our neighbors across their lawn, just like you. Funny how that would have sounded so ridiculous to me a week ago and now it’s a highlight of our day. I miss talking to friends.
The girls and I are baking a lot and got out our bread machine. We are also sticking to a rigid meal plan more than usual because I will not let any of this food go to waste. The grocery store made me so anxious – all the empty shelves – that I want to go back never. Or as long as we can hold out.
I did notice yesterday though… we had a great day because there was zero pressure. No where to be, no one coming over. We walked when it felt the warmest. We made dinner late because we had been out walking. We let the girls stay up a little late to finish a movie together and taste the bread we made when it was still warm. We played video games together and board games and laughed.
We do a pretty good job of spending time together when we aren’t quarantined. And I will tire of the lack of activities. But for now, I’m looking at the silver lining.
On the note of “trying to read things that aren’t virus-related,” I’m guessing you wouldn’t consider my current book a good idea? I just happened to have Pandemic by Robin Cook next up in my queue on my Kindle. (I’m about halfway through it, and it’s good.)
I am definitely staying close to home more, and my sons have slowly adjusted to the fact that they can’t go anywhere (except outside in our cul de sac) or do anything. The real challenge will be tomorrow, when they must resume their school from home while I continue to work full-time remotely.
Yeah, that sums it up…what’s changed? EVERYTHING. We are walking daily too, which we try to do in nice weather but now it’s every day for sanity’s sake. Raining? Put a jacket on and suck it up. The fresh air helps so much, and the sky and lack of walls and ceilings.
It changed so freaking fast. A week ago my county had only 2 confirmed cases, and now we have 68, 11 in the hospital and 6 of those in ICU, 1 death, and 289 in mandatory quarantine/isolation. I don’t even technically live in that county anymore, just over the border, but that’s where I teach, where my friends are, where Bryce works, where the grocery store is, etc etc etc. We are going nowhere.
I hear you on the whole not working 24 hours a day, because time is weird now. I keep checking my Google classroom and email and trying to do things to be useful, but then I’m exhausted. We did watch I Am Not Okay With This on Netflix Friday night (like, all of it in one night, which is unusual for us), and it was a lot of fun. We play ping pong. I’m doing 8 billion mini puzzles.
I love that you yell to your neighbors. We don’t really have neighbors, but I was planning to have a 10-ft-away walking date with a friend this coming week, if we can even do that with the new state executive order in NY. Such weird times. Take care!
we are trying to work from home with two kids running around. also trying something new since S came home from a retreat and declared he wants to work with kids. I handed over all kid scheduling and activities to him. 🙂 win-win in my book!
I watched…I think 3 episodes of Broadchurch before I was all “I hate everyone! I quit this thing!” But one of my internet friends convinced me to keep watching and it was SOOOO GOOD!!! I devoured the rest of the season and the subsequent 2. Olivia Coleman is the best!
I’m not doing a whole lot differently – just buying a few more groceries than usual and not going out to eat at all. I still go to work, although I have next week off (we’re rotating, so there’s only about 2 people per section in at a time). I am not a fan of staying home all the time, so last weekend was rough – I’m usually at the library, at the humane society to walk dogs, at the shops. If it’s nice this weekend, I may suggest we go to the park and walk on the nature trail. We’ll see how it goes.
I am weeding more. Outside-the-house yardwork helps with inside-the-house tension.
I’m so glad you recommended followers and that I picked it up at the library before everything shut down. It’s weird to have so much dystopia, but I do like the escape. I should finish today, which makes me sad.