Had a really good day yesterday, finding that setting daily objectives while under Shelter In Place provisions here in California providing a much needed sense of normalcy to my day, plus spending four hours outside walking and talking with my husband under sunny blue skies was a real mood lifter.
So here are my goals for today, followed by the results from yesterday's goals:
- Body (health and fitness) A three mile walk (it's lightly raining here, so less miles today), weight training with our 5, 10 and 15 pound free hand weights, and a 30 minute yoga session via YouTube.
- Mind and Emotions (psychology and beliefs) Re-read Chapter One of A New Earth by Eckhard Tolle. (Pushed from yesterday)
- Relationships (spousal/significant other) Make a batch of Chocolate Krinkle cookies for my husband. He loves my homemade cookies.
- Family Send the answer to yesterday's photo game to my granddaughter. She guessed 'steel,' a good guess! The answer was actually 'a tree/tree trunk.'
- Intellect/Learning 1) Attend spiritual congregation Zoom meeting to discuss this month's read, The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi. 2) Read another 1% of our next quarterly Book Club book, Angle of Repose by William Stegner. 3) Research and email a photo of a favorite art work that I would like my Art History professor to discuss in her next Zoom lecture.
- Social/Fun Zoom with some friends tonight, plus start on my 2020 Christmas ornament needlepoint project, Santa Claus-themed ornaments this time.
- Money/Finances Contact the Pacific Symphony ticket office to reschedule the remaining 2019/2020 season concerts that have been cancelled due to current Shelter In Place provision. The upcoming 2020/2021 classical and pops concert schedule was just released and it looks good. Boz Scaggs and David Foster will be performing, and I am excited for both!
- Spirituality 'Attend' Sunday services via Zoom live video.
Yesterday's goals, and how I did:
- Body (health and fitness) Go on an exploratory hike with my husband, leaving from the house on foot, currently denoted as 'OK' per California's COVID-19 Shelter At Home guidelines. ✅ We walked a total of eight miles.
- Mind and Emotions (psychology and beliefs) Re-read Chapter One of A New Earth by Eckhard Tolle. No! Ran out of time, a good thing overall I think? So I'll move this forward to today.
- Relationships (spousal/significant other) Phone ahead and order a pickup lunch from one of our local eateries at the end of our hike, then find somewhere quiet and scenic to relax and enjoy eating it together. ✅ We picked up a burrito from Baja Fresh to share.
- Family Look for an interesting photo op during our hike, and text it to my oldest granddaughter. I'm thinking of something along the lines of 'What is this?', where I'll take two photos, one a super close up that she'll have to think about, and one of the object itself from afar, the 'answer' in other words. We sent her a digital camera last week at my younger daughter's suggestion and she is enjoying the heck out of it, hence my idea above. ✅ Sent her a close up photo of a tree trunk.
- Intellect/Learning Read 1% of our next quarterly Book Club book, Angle of Repose by William Stegner. (This is not a 'fun' book, it's a meaty, Pulitizer Prize winning novel, hence why I'm slotting it here and not below.) ✅
- Social/Fun Two Zoom video dates (with wine!), one with an east coast friend, and one with our long time best friends here on the west coast. ✅
- Money/Finances Revise our 2020 Budget to reflect the reduction in Travel, Restaurants, Entertainment, and Gas that the fallout of COVID-19 will most certainly have on our spending choices for the remainder of the year. While the stock market plunge has been significant, it has not yet affected the portion of our portfolio that we budget off of, however common sense would dictate that we move to a more modest budgeting stance until things stabalize. ✅
- Spirituality Meditate one time today, plus review the daily readings from my two spiritual books of choice. ✅
Great mix! Are trails still open there? They are closed in LA County along with the beaches. I'm not sure about Ventura county at the moment.
ReplyDeleteOur city trails are still open, even as the city, regional, and state parks are all closed. About 30% of our city has been designated as Open Space, so we have many, many miles of trails as a result. However, there were frequent signs posted along the very-wide trail we were on, reminding people to practice social distancing. Everyone we saw/passed appeared to be taking the 6 foot provisions very seriously. I think we all understand that if we don't, the city will be forced to close the trails, and all we'll be left with are the sidewalks.
DeleteI should add, that while we are only two miles away from our very popular coastline, the trails in our town are a bit of a hidden secret that only locals seem to know about. As long as that remains the case, with proper social distancing being followed, the trails will hopefully continue to remain open. Fortunately, there is no real public parking, so pretty much everybody that uses them, does so by foot from their respective homes, keeping the usage relatively low.
DeleteGood job carrying on with your day, Tamara. I'm also grateful for my quiet outdoor walks by the lake.
ReplyDeleteHoping that people continue to spread out and follow protocol so they remain open. However, we're heading into a series of heavy rain storms, so it could be long week!
DeleteYour lake is so big it might as well be an ocean, so I hope you'll be able to continue enjoying it, Natalie.
Those chocolate cookies have a cult-like following. This past Christmas, when I asked my husband, daughter, son and my son's girlfriend what their first and second choices were as I was planning my seasonal cookie baking, that recipe came in as first choice for all of them (and my son's second choice, as well). It seems like you found adding some pandemic appropriate structure to your day has helped you get through your days better in these unusual times. Amen to that. Having specific goals or activities to focus on always helps me feel somewhat in control and definitely more productive.
ReplyDeleteIt took about two and a half weeks of swirling before I seemed to move to acceptance. Life suddenly got much easier when that happened. As has creating a specific plan for each day. Yesterday zoomed by, the first time that has happened since we entered Shelter In Place on March 17.
DeleteI booked an October RV trip to our gorgeous Central California coastline yesterday, snagging a prime bay-view site, and that allowed me to enjoy a brief moment of normalcy.
"Angle of Repose" is supposed to be one of the quintessential California books, but I could not get through it. As you said, it's not a fun book. Does it get better as you get into it?
ReplyDeleteStegner is a brilliant writer, that was immediately apparent, so I'm trusting (hoping?) that the story will pick up once I get past the Lymann Ward section (the grandson at beginning of book). I'll let you know if that occurs!
DeleteDonna, returning to say I am very much enjoying the book now that the story of Mary has started. It has a distinctive Edith Wharton feel, whom I am a big fan of.
Delete