Thursday, April 2, 2020

COVID-19 Check-in #3

I'm back for another check-in. I'm closing in on my 3rd full week of working at home. I'm fortunate that my job CAN be done from home but gosh I miss going into the office and seeing co-workers. One upside is that I get an extra 30-60 minutes of sleep and have only worn make-up once in 3 weeks when I had to present training on a video conference call. I am not a fan of wearing make-up so it's been nice to give my face a break. 

The things I'm struggling with the most are the inability to plan and, as a result, not having anything to look forward to. March felt like it had 1,000 days in it and this has felt like the LONGEST Lent ever. I think it's been good to be off social media during this time but I'm looking forward to going back on and seeing pictures of friends and their kids/fur-babies. This is the first time in a very long time that I have nothing planned/on the horizon to look forward to. I'm wondering when we can go to the lake next? I also struggle with every day looking much the same as the day before, and weekends not feeling all that different from week days. 

But in the grand scheme of things, we are lucky. We still have our jobs. We are in a good position financially. We are healthy. It could be much worse. 

This post has been heavy so far, so here are some positive things that are happening as a result of us all being cooped up together!

- We go for LOTS of walks - usually two/day! Spring is starting to arrive here so we've seen some flowers starting to bloom. We've also seen some cool ducks on the lake we live near. They all dive under water at the same time (I assume to look for something to eat) and then pop back up one by one. Paul really enjoys watching this and I do, too! When they pop back up, we count them so it's a good educational opportunity, too. Here are some pictures of Paul watching the ducks. We were so entertained!


- When we are out on our walks, people seem to be extra friendly and more apt to say hi. I think since we are so isolated, we are starved for human interaction so are more likely to say hi, which is nice. 

- We saw a beautiful red cardinal in our backyard yesterday. I've never seen a cardinal in our area of Minneapolis - hopefully he sticks around as he's so pretty!


Ok your turn - what are some positive things you've been experiencing lately?

10 comments:

Carolina John said...

I'm loving the work from home aspect and don't miss the office at all, much less the people in there. But the lack of planning is killing me. Grad school is still going, it was all online to begin with. But I really want to plan a trip for after I finish in October.

Gracie said...

We took a family walk on Sunday. It was beautiful and the park was PACKED, probably too packed, but people were so nicely making room for everyone! It was so heartening to see other people out enjoying themselves, especially since so many were families. I'm afraid that we are in this for the long haul, and I am particularly concerned about bringing the virus home to my family. I'm 90% sure China fudged the numbers, including pediatric mortality, and we know so very little about containment and transmission. It's obvious to me that it is airborn, but I could also be a surface vector.
It's a bit easier for me to maintain normalcy since I am still going to work (but of course increases my infection risk). However, I transitioned the pharmacy to delivery only, so I'm only seeing my technician! We are trying to shrink our circles of contact! But it still helps to have a daily schedule. We are also trying to stay on as normal a schedule as possible: I am still doing the same runs I always do (ie, mid-week long on Thursday, tempo on Friday) and we are holding Zoom Bible studies with our community group. It helps to give the week structure. And I am making sure to maintain contact with friends, too. Hope we all get through this healthy and sane. Good luck to you!

Jeanie said...

I'd say that's a good report. (You're probably better off with no social media these days!) Love the Paul pix.

I'm enjoying cooking and finally sunshine today so a good walk, some raking, a bit of garage tidying (just a bit!) All good.

katielookingforward said...

I saw a blue jay from afar today and it was so calming to look at. I agree that not having anything on the calendar is hard. I had been thinking that may would be somewhat normal, but now I'm starting to think that some or most of the summer won't happen? My family is still in florida, but scheduled to come back in the middle of may, and so far sticking to that plan. but there are plenty of things to be uncertain about. uff da! thank goodness for fresh air, i couldn't do this baloney in the winter!

Jolene - EverydayFoodie said...

I have been loving going for walks too! Last week I barely needed a coat, as it got up to +16 C. This week has been much more winter-like, so I haven't been able to get out of the house. I agree though, people were so friendly when I was walking around the lake. I got a lot of smiles and a lot of hellos :-)

The days do feel longer! This is very similar to my summer holidays, in that I have a lot of time at home alone, however, the days feel waaaaaay longer now than they do in the summer. I have been enjoying it, as I seem to be getting more done, but I totally understand how exhausting it would be to be working and parenting at home with no breaks, etc. I feel for parents right now. It has got to be really hard to keep kids entertained all day, every day with no days off, and no breaks, and nowhere fun to be able to go to switch it up ... <3 Hang in there and take care of yourselves. Try not to put too much pressure on yourself about what you "should" be doing.

The Many Thoughts of a Reader said...

I've also noticed people have been more friendly. I live on a really busy road and so people usually fly by us when we walk and no waving. Everyone has SLOWED down (gee thanks finally!) and waved. That's been nice. We have also been going on nightly walks. They get longer each night as the weather has gotten better.

Stephany said...

It's so true that every day looks the same and there's really nothing to look forward to. I was supposed to leave on vacation on Monday, and it's such a bummer that I can't. But hopefully we can later this year! It is weird to have nothing on the schedule, though.

I'm grateful that I really enjoy working from home and have two cute kitties to keep my company. And very thankful for daily check-ins with friends! That keeps me sane.

Kyria @ Travel Spot said...

I love the look on Paul's face when he's watching the ducks! I love watching the ducks too; I love it when it's just the little tails (sometimes a row of them) sticking out of the water. Also if they go under, we always try to guess where they are going to come up again. Sometimes it is quite a ways away from where they start!

I am still going into the office, so things have not changed that much for me in that aspect. However, I am now driving rather than taking the bus/BART and my commute is only 15 minutes (silver lining!) Other than that, I am at home and once in a while (every 2 weeks) I go to the grocery store. The good thing for me is that now that my exam is not happening in June, I have started on my "post-exam to do list" early! I am getting down and dirty in the yard a lot, am cleaning out the garage and am doing my yearly cull, which wasn't on the schedule until summer. The bad part of it is that now that the exam is cancelled, I would love to go to Tahoe etc. and have a fun weekend with friends for a change, but that is not in the cards and may not be for some time yet.

I think you are totally right; the weird/limbo part is that we have all this time, which normally would be spent planning and/or doing something fun, but we cannot. So it messes with your head a bit!

Amber said...

I missed your last two COVID updates but wanted to make sure I popped in and commented on this one! I feel like this next week is going to the be the first one I feel "adjusted" to our new normal. I tend to end almost every day with a bit of a headache and feeling crappy and I think that's partly because my work is also very COVID focused right now. It's just A LOT. I am reminded every day how super lucky we are though as I spend a lot of my day talking to businesses who are not doing well at all. It's so sad. I have started trying to fill out my planner each week with things I CAN plan... workouts, meals, house tasks I want to accomplish. Seems kind of lame, but it helps to have some sort of plan in my planner and does satisfy the planner in me a little bit. But yes, I agree, really hard to not have things to look forward to and to feel in such a state of limbo not knowing when this will end.

San said...

I must say that I do enjoy working from home as it gives me a little bit more extra time in the morning and I am not rushing out of the house so early, but I also do miss my gym routine and going into the office. WFH full time wouldn't be for me, however, I'm contemplating asking to work from home maybe once a week once this is over...

I am glad you're able to get out of the house for walks (we do the same) and that keeps you sane!