Love in the Time of Corona aka #Q2020 - a second chapter by Typhoid Mary

Hi Folks!

Dear Mary...so sad.
Who Was Typhoid Mary?
It's been a while.  I recognize this this, and I thank you for being patient with my writer's block.
Being at home has been impacting my ability to brain - at least, I definitely felt that I was getting dumber in the first few weeks at home.
The last week and a bit have been better.  I've sprouted some energy, and I've managed to get myself *mostly* organized, and I think I've established a routine for myself in Quarentimes.

I could sit here and ramble on about how devastated I've been at the feeling that my body is (not so) slowly recomposing to sludge.  Or how every day just melts into the next.  Or how I miss the gym.  Because, sure.  All those things are very real for me, and for many others.  And I miss the gym more than anything.

That being said, I want to share how I've been...making adjustments...in order to go with the flow.
Maybe this helps someone.  Maybe it doesn't.  Either way, I would love to hear what helped or didn't.  I keep asking for feedback and get very little.  Either I'm dead boring, or totally amazing.  Hah!

Here's my day-to-day routine for keeping myself present during #Q2020 (I'm coining that...quarentine 2020...it probably already exists).

My alarm goes off every morning at 6 am.
Morning sex is really good, and it's like first breakfast around here.
Daddy gets up and gets ready for work, and I get to stay in bed until about 7.  I get up and see him off, and then I get myself breakfast.  Lately, breakfast has been a scoop of casein mixed with a scoop of protein powder.  Always with a cup of coffee and some EAA greens in a water bottle.  While I eat breakfast, I sit down with both my day planners.  I have one for work, and one for my personal goals for the day.  This is the time I use to lay out my goals for the day; to-do lists.  I set a deadline - work-from-home items must be completed before 1 pm, if possible (Video meetings, conference calls, emails, active projects, program planning, connecting with my team).  I'll mention here that I generally start my workday around 7:30 am.
My personal items are checked off throughout the day (Working out, skincare, eating within my 1800 calorie/day limit, content creating for online platforms, self care, a shower).  My kiddo is in bed until mid-morning typically, and so I put his breakfast together as I prepare my lunch.
What's lunch? It depends.  Sometimes it's leftovers.  Sometimes it's a on the fly creation.  It could be anything, as long as it's protein dense, and there are veggies involved.
Most of the afternoon is spent keeping on top of work emails, keeping the house organized, and helping Kiddo out with his homeschooling.  Up until now, we've been sharing my work laptop; so time management has been a huge priority.  Most of my work from 1:00-4:30 pm is done on my phone.
As long as the weather is friendly, we go out for a walk; at least 30 minutes long.  We both need the exercise and stretching.

Late afternoon has Kiddo playing online games with his friends, and I'm usually getting organized for the next work day, before packing it in and taking some time for myself; beading, witching, reading tarot, taking that shower, sneaking a nap, if I'm lucky.  There has been plenty of online shopping, but I think I've made all the purchases that I need to for upcoming summer.  Oddly enough, it's not been difficult to manage money - and I realize how much I spend on impromptu lunches, coffee, snacks, etc...through my day when I work from the office.  I've decided that I'm capping that - I clearly don't need it.  Granted, we are fortunate enough to both be earning our full incomes, and we are not needing to tap into government funded subsidies.  We certainly can't complain.  Our biggest challenge has been coordinating grocery shopping - I refuse to wait weeks for a grocery pick up, I hate waiting in lines, and we have a couple of small and quiet options nearby for grocery essentials.  Even a bakery!  Many of our afternoon walks have been to pick up some things once a week.  I love the little wheelie cart that my mom offered me...not having to carry bags means that we come home with what we need.

Daddy gets home around 5:30.  We have coffee (this has been regular practice since he moved here), and we debrief our day.  He often shows new scrapes and scratches (he's a carpenter, and Kiddo does the heebie-geebie dance when he sees these injuries), and I talk about interesting exchanges I've had during the day; Instagram, Facebook, Twitter...strange places, indeed.

We make dinner after coffee, and we all eat together.  Yep, every night.
After dinner, it's our own time to just relax.  Daddy and I in the living room, Kiddo in his room with his entertainment.  We all check in with one another throughout the evening, and it is very low key.  I bead, and we both read and noodle around online.

We don't have a TV.  That is fully by choice, and we like it that way.
We have a subscription to Crave (for #Q2020 entertainment), and we don't use it.  I think we'll actually cancel it after the free 30 day trial, since it's not worth it.

Come 10 or 11 pm, we're warning Kiddo that it's time for bed, and to start getting ready.  We tuck him in, and we start getting ready for bed, ourselves.  Lights are out by Midnight, and we do a lot of snuggling...and other stuff, too.

Yes, we still like each other.  In fact, we all really love one another.  I love being at home with my Kiddo, and I love falling asleep and waking up next to Daddy.  We've not argued once.  Am I bragging?  Maybe I'm bragging...not sorry.  Kiddo spends time with his dad every Tuesday evening, and from Thursday evening to Saturday evening.  Even co-parenting is relaxed.  Maybe this is just life as a witch?

Weekends are small variations of this...I don't work (though Daddy sometimes does), and we all let ourselves sleep in.  Lazy Saturday and Sunday mornings in bed are absolutely phenomenal.
I suppose I should note here, that we're teetotaler homebodies, and so this isolating thing hasn't been particularly difficult for us.

What are some strategies you all have used during this time?  Anything particularly effective in keeping you sane and balanced?

Hail yourselves, and stay safe!
S

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