As if any of us need to read one more thing related to the Coronavirus, but here it is anyway.
Like most of you, I've been struggling with this whole social distancing thing. As a relatively social person used to somewhat routine social interactions, I'm still trying to figure out how to navigate this. One way that my social distancing differs from others is that, as a nurse, I'm still working my usual shifts at the hospital. So when I see people online who are stuck inside with their children and their significant others, knocking out all those projects that they've been putting off for who knows how long because they suddenly have unlimited free time, I feel a pull to do the same. But the thing is, while still working, I don't actually have any additional time off; my days off are the same days off that I've always had. So in a way, I guess my social distancing isn't all that different from what I was doing before, I just don't get to see my friends, go to yoga, have a coffee date, hug people, etc.
Inspired by all of you at home who can't work, I've been trying to be productive...or more productive than I typically would be. One thing I read online about being productive while stuck at home is that you should always put on real pants. Don't sit around all day in your pajamas. It sounds funny, but wearing real pants can really change your mindset. Yesterday afternoon I was sitting at the computer desk in my bathrobe and my fuzzy house boots, and I made the decision to put on some pants. Make an effort. And not only make an effort, but make an effort that I wouldn't normally make. That meant leggings and all manner of pajama-esque pants were out. So I went to my closet and I found a pair of pants that I hadn't worn in a long time. Navy trousers, to be exact. So I put those on and found my bumble bee sweater and that's what I wore. I went back to my desk and I paid all the bills (sob). Then I got down the box of house documents that I've been stashing away, and I organized all the important documents related to buying the house, instruction manuals for all the appliances, past utility bills, documents related to the septic system, and the refinance paperwork. I laid all of it out, organized what I could, and set aside a pile of things that aren't important and could be burned in the wood stove. I then changed the sheets on the bed and did a couple loads of laundry. I should point out that I had worked the night before and had only been awake since around 1:30 in the afternoon, so this was a relatively productive afternoon for a first day off. In the evening Simon, our roommate Eli, and I watched Pan's Labyrinth.
One thing I've been missing so incredibly much are my yoga classes at Yoga Revolution. I miss being in that toasty room on my mat, surrounded by my peers, being led through a flow by some of the best yoga teachers (in my opinion) in the city. I miss that space. It's funny how being forced to stay home should provide me all sorts of time to myself, but that yoga studio was time to myself on a whole different level. This morning I set up my mat and I tuned into one of my studio's live-streaming classes. One, I was shocked at how much flexibility I've lost since going into isolation. Two, I never realized how much cleavage my tank tops reveal when I'm in anything but a standing pose...sorry guys! I had no idea! Hahaha!! Three, while definitely not the same vibe as being in the studio, I actually found the live-streaming to be really beneficial; I'm glad that I finally participated and I'm sorry that it took so long for me to do so. Truthfully, now that the studio might be offering live-streaming in addition to in-person classes once the shut-down is lifted, I'm hoping to maybe up my class participation...one in-person, one at home, per day. I know I don't live that far from town, but sometimes two trips into town on the same day feels like too much. Four, I was able to stay in crow pose for 5 whole seconds! I've literally been working on that pose for over a year now (probably more like two years if I'm being totally honest...I'm a slow learner and scared of bashing my face on the floor!), and something this morning finally just clicked. Thanks Lucy for all the encouragement, and for reminding me to keep my head up and my gaze forward...that made all the difference! For any of you interested in Yoga Revolution's live-streaming classes (of course I highly recommend this studio for all things yoga), head over to the Mind Body app and sign up. There are all kinds of packages that you can purchase, including new yogi packages with unlimited classes for one low price for the first month.
Today has been a pretty productive day, if I do say so myself. I got up and live-streamed the yoga class, Cooper lying next to me on his pet bed for moral support. Then I showered and put on real pants. After that I did a mini-fashion show for Simon of all the bike gear that I bought for a big group ride that we're doing this summer...sooo much spandex...hahaha! 450+ miles across the state of Iowa, which will by far and away be the longest bike ride that I've ever done. I did a 100 mile mountain bike ride last spring, and this upcoming ride will be on the road. I'm hoping that I don't die. I probably won't, but you never know. After the fashion show we had lunch and then we went into town to get a few things at Target. After Target we finally moved the light hanging over the dining room table to a better location. We've pretty much been putting off that menial task since we moved in. Now, no more weird shadows based on what side of the table you're on, and the light is actually higher up on the chain so that it illuminates a bigger area. Pretty much a win-win, not sure why we waited so long. It's just one of those things that gets overlooked by other things. And now here I am, working on a blog. It's been a good day. Hopefully we'll end it by having another movie night, which I've been enjoying a lot.
I've been trying to get outside every day. In February I re-injured the meniscus tear in my right knee, and about a month or so ago I managed to give myself some form of elbow tendonitis in my right elbow whilst riding my bike. So the right side of my body these days is for shit. Luckily Mountainaire is nicely paved and there's a 3-mile out-and-back walk that I can do to get in some easy mileage. A couple days ago I went on a hike with my friend Tiffany and her dog Jud, and my knee did fine with that, although some of the step-downs felt a little unsteady. I'm trying to keep active as much as I can, as staying inside all the time with seemingly nothing to do can lead to lots of boredom snacking. It's been nice sitting here at the computer, watching all the neighbors go by with their kids and their dogs. We see so many people outside now; this whole social distancing has been really good for that. It also helps that today is a nice day.
One thing that's saddened me a little bit about all of this is that the romantic idea of "Live and Let Live" is probably not possible, mostly based upon the hoarding of resources in the past few weeks. The hoarding situation is off the chain, and without limits set by the stores, they would absolutely continue. It's really quite sad, to be honest. On our Target trip today, we managed to nab a box of Kleenex (limit one per person) and some laundry detergent (limit 8 per person, which is kind of absurd...who needs 8 bottles of laundry detergent?). I was a little disgusted as I scanned the empty shelves for some laundry sanitizer, not because I feel the need to sanitize my laundry from coronavirus, but because it helps get the funk out of my athletic wear; only to get to the check-out and see the lady in front of me had 4 bottles of it. Seriously, leave some for the rest of us, why don't you? How much laundry is she really going to be doing in the coming weeks? Is she going to bathe in it? To be honest, I don't know her situation, but I was irritated by the fact that she basically bought out the store of that one particular item. Toilet paper is still no where to be found. I feel bad for the people who legitimately ran out of things during all of this and are now scrambling just to find enough to get by. I've been resisting the urge to stock up on things and join the masses hoarding supplies. Maybe I'll be the one lamenting my lack of prepping as this all drags on, but I'm hoping that it doesn't come to that. I feel like as Americans, our access to resources is better than we know, and all this resource hoarding is causing a false sense of hysteria that doesn't need to be there. We're good...we all just need to take a deep breath (6 feet away from the nearest human...hahaha!), share our resources, be kind, and wait this out.
To be absolutely fair, there are a lot of people who are doing good and volunteering and donating goods and services, and while this forced social isolation has brought out some of the bad (and let's be honest, it was always there), I'm happy to say that it's also brought out a lot of the good. I know so many people (myself included) who are supporting local restaurants by getting take-out, shopping local stores' online sites, and promoting the fact that these businesses are open to all their friends and coworkers. Simon and I have made a tradition of doing Sunday all-day happy hour at Karma Sushi, and this stay-at-home measure hasn't kept us from that...we just eat it at home now.
As far as work goes, it's scary. I'll be the first to admit that I was pretty lax at the beginning when it came to social distancing. I was flippant about how contagious it was, about how it was seemingly mostly affecting older adults with pre-existing conditions, which meant that as a healthy 40 year-old, there was little for me to personally be concerned about. I no longer feel that way and I'm taking this as serious as I can. I've taken care of a couple patients with this coronavirus, and they are incredibly sick individuals. The best way I can describe it is it's like the flu, but worse. Some of them, maybe a lot of them, end up on ventilators. Some of them die. Not all of them are old. My point in bringing this up is that if you don't have access to anyone who works in healthcare or who has seen this population firsthand, please take this seriously. Given the lack of testing in this country, we have no idea the real spread of this virus, we have no idea the number of people actually infected; people can have it and have little to no symptoms, but are still very contagious. Err on the side of caution and just assume everyone with whom you come into contact might have it. Think what you want about our President, I think his push to open the country and lift restrictions as soon as possible is a huge mistake with very real consequences for those we know and love. This isn't something where we can pick a day to just wish it away and hope for the best. We need to learn from what worked in other countries who had it first: stay home and stay away from other people as much as possible. Protect each other by staying away from each other. Wash your hands! These are literally the very best things we can do for each other and for our country. If you are an older adult in the 60+ range, please please take advantage of store hours servicing older adults. I was in Sedona the other day at a grocery store in the middle of the day and outside of the small children, I was one of the youngest people in a very busy and very packed store. I was appalled and concerned for all those older adults shopping, particularly the frail looking ones. Please stay home.
On a lighter note (and in closing), work on the van has been slow to non-existent lately. The weather has been cold and wet and we were waiting on some more electrical components to come in. Fortunately we were able to cut a hole in the roof and install the ventilation fan before all this weather rolled in. That was crazy to watch! I'll hopefully be getting around to posting photos on Facebook soon. We now have all the electrical and will hopefully be installing some, if not all of it, on Tuesday. Then we can really get after the insulation and start putting in the floor, walls, and ceiling. Building the bed platform and a storage shelving unit will come after that, and then it's putting the creature comforts where we want them. We were able to score a couple cabinets from the scratch and dent section at IKEA, which was huge. I bought some fabric and will try my hand at reupholstering the headliner; hopefully that won't be a complete disaster. If all goes well we'll be ready to start camping out of it by early summer, maybe sooner! It's been interesting doing this ourselves, and to be honest, Simon and his friends have been doing all the work; I've mostly been the person in charge of purchasing all the stuff and picking out the colors. Apparently to build a van it takes a village...who knew??
I hope this little update finds you and yours happy and healthy. I hope you're trying new things to keep you entertained, be it a new recipe, a new game, a new puzzle, a new exercise regimen, or a new book...or all of the above! Stay safe, stay well, my friends.
