Juhli over at A Boomer Girl's Guide blog recently posted about pandemic fatigue. This is beginning to pop up in the news as well, and speaking only for myself, it is definitely real, and something I need to really work to fight off. One of the things that will set it off is dwelling on what 'used to be' so I try very hard not to. Instead, I do work to keep my focus on what is currently feasible, and to try and craft my weekdays and weekends so that there are things to look forward to, things that make me feel productive, or things that help me feel as if I'm contributing to the greater good in some way.
So I thought it would be helpful to list what I am currently doing, as much as a reminder to myself(!) as to anyone else, and also to list ideas that I need to continue to bring into my orbit as well, so life doesn't become stale. Since tomorrow isn't guaranteed, there is no point waiting for a return to normalcy, as it may or may not arrive.
COVID-Conscious Things I'm Doing Right Now
- Creative menu planning. I am focusing on making at least one new recipe a week so that being in the kitchen continues to be enjoyable.
- Weekly grocery shopping. In my case, this means I am continuing to circle among a group of markets in order to leverage each store's particular price advantages. So, Sprouts for produce, Aldi's for regular rotation items (deli meats, crackers, cookies, yogurt, eggs, bread, condiments, dairy items), Trader Joe's for they-do-it-best items (cheeses, coffee, coconut and almond milk, salad dressings) and 'regular' markets for fish, pork, and poultry as/when on sale.
- Walks And Hikes. This serves the dual purpose of getting us outside and into nature, critically important in this household for maintaining our mental health, and keeping us fit and energetic. Plus, really, we very much enjoy the lovely places we are able to walk here. Yesterday we traversed our local harbor, today we are traversing one of favorite beaches.
- Kayaking. We've been sticking to Newport Harbor primarily, where we can kayak for miles and miles (it's enormous!) while remaining in the harbor's protected waters.
- Long Distance Bicycle Rides. We're already up to 40 miles, which means guilt free lunches somewhere yummy midway through each ride, yeah!
- Yoga In The Park. The location for this is so pretty - it's on a bluff looking out over the ocean.
- Paddleboarding. It's about one mile around our small local harbor, but as I've gotten stronger, I'm planning to start making double loops for a total of two miles.
- Golfing. At nine holes currently, hoping to get to 18 holes before too much longer.
- Weekend Outdoor And Distanced Get Together With Friends. Love these, and we managed to squeeze in two this past weekend - a picnic at a nearby beach to watch skim boarders and the sunset with one set of friends, and a picnic in our backyard with a second set of friends.
- Weekly Get Together With My Oldest Daughter And Her Boyfriend. This doesn't always happen, but not for lack of trying!
- Making Christmas Ornaments For My Family.
- Finishing The Updating Of Our Home. The upcoming whole-house bathroom remodeling project is the very last upgrade remaining to be done to our 1980's home, and it should keep me happily occupied for the remainder of the year. Every little update the remodeling team completes will provide me with subsequent days of basking in delight.
- Yardwork.
- Reading.
- Guitar.
- Food Pantry Volunteering. Although this places me somewhat at risk in that my job is indoors, everyone is masked, and the cause is simply to important not to do.
- Marine Institute Volunteering. My primary jobs are manning the outdoor info booth, helping in the tide pools, or working in the breezy gift shop. I worked several shifts this past weekend and it felt so, so good to be back with my fellow volunteers.
- Monthly Walk And/Or Outdoor Lunch With A Girlfriend. Working to get this to weekly, but not all my gal-pals are comfortable dining outdoors at a restaurant, so for now it's been monthly.
- Weekly Wine Club 'Date' With My Husband.
- Friday Night Beach Picnics.
- Summer RV Trip Planning.
- Weekly Phone Calls To My Parents.
- Weekly FaceTime Calls With My Youngest Daughter And Granddaughters.
- Slow Decluttering Of The House. I am in no way a pack rat, but things do have a way of accumulating without realizing, and I'm surprising myself at what I'm continuing to bag up for removal.
- Weekend Movie Night. We almost never watch movies during the week, so if we don't have plans to get out of the house on a weekend night, we'll try to make it different from weekday nights by watching a documentary or movie, usually with takeout Chinese food.
COVID-Conscious Things To Consider Doing In The Future
- Monthly RV Trips Once New Trailer Arrives. We have a large array of possibilities within a 90 minute driving perimeter - Palm Springs, San Diego, Big Bear, Malibu, to name just a few.
- Monthly Outdoor Dates With Hubby At One Of The Remaining Restaurants On My Best Of OC List.
- Monthly Kayak Date With Friends. We own two extra kayaks specifically for this purpose.
- Purchase A Stand Alone Microphone For My Guitar 'Sessions'. I am continuing to improve, and would love to begin singing along while playing. Just for me, though, not in front of anyone else at this point, if ever!
Plus, here's a fun list of COVID-Conscious Fall Season activities I found while prepping this blog post. There are some great ideas on the list!
How about you? Would love to hear about some of the things on your list of COVID-life activities!
Great list and you sound well scheduled with a variety of activities. Thanks for the link.
ReplyDeleteI am trying to embrace life as it is, Juhli. Though I'm not always successful, I do keep trying!
DeleteThese are all great coping strategies, we need to do as much as we can - while we can because who knows when stricter restrictions will be put in place again! Getting outside is a great mood booster.
ReplyDeleteYes, I almost always find that the worst day spent outdoors is generally still better than a day spent indoors. I think I'm coping/managing decently well, but a return to shelter-in-place at this point would be brutal I know. Fingers crossed we don't come to that again.
DeleteI hear a lot about being in the same boat. I beg to differ. We’re in the same “pandemic” waters but the boats look different. Some are yachts and some are rickety rafts; some are drowning ’cause there is no boat. Just ask anyone who has lost employment, housing, health/life. And therein lies one of my coping mechanisms – focus on the things I feel grateful about and contribute in some way to those less fortunate, i.e. contributions to the food banks. And like Jon Bon Jovi says, when you can’t do what you do, do what you can. I'm enjoying a weekly gratitude group via Zoom/teleconference and a 6-week writing project on the ethical will. At the start of the pandemic there was a challenge to identify the “new normal”. I focused on those things that were just plain normal, i.e. daily routine, need for exercise and healthy diet, home maintenance. I knocked off all but one of the to-do maintenance items at my mom's house since the pandemic started. Seasonal demands drive my to-do list and I've just made salsa from the last of the garden tomatoes. It’s necessary for me to not blame all my angst on the pandemic. Like Phil in Groundhog Day, I need an attitude adjustment periodically. When you’re tired, take a rest and indulge in some self care. And then I surrender and trust that this, too, shall pass.
ReplyDeleteNo disagreement here about the size and quality of our boats being different.
DeleteI do many of the things you do, and working out is a critical part of my physical & mental well being. I also meditate, gratitude journal, try to do chores I wouldn't have time to do if I were commuting, and just take advantage of my "WFH" state. Sometimes that means I unload the dishwasher between meetings, or toss in a load of laundry, but I really try to remind myself that I've gotten a lot of time back & I should appreciate it. It mostly works. :-)
ReplyDeleteI am hearing frequent mention of gratitude journaling during the pandemic, and I know several bloggers are posting weekly gratitude posts, so I am feeling a call to add one or both of these to my daily/weekly pandemic-coping routine. Thank you for the reminder!
DeleteI make a list of five small chores to do each day. That helps tremendously with me not feeling like life is just passing by in one big generic blur.
Our local government is arguing about whether we should shelter in place or not. The county judge came the command to do so yesterday and the mayor and governor retracted it today. Now we don't know what we can and cannot do. But with 1200 new cases and 600 delayed test results today, I am inclined to believe we need to lock things up tight for a week or two.
ReplyDeleteYou have such a nice assortment of stores/markets to shop from. I would love to have Aldi's and Trader Joe's open stores here. My mom was a grand coupon shopper and would go to all the different stores to avail herself of their bargains.
I agree, a day spent outside is better than any day spent inside.
Hi Leslie, my goodness, you all must be spinning in trying to figure out who to listen to. The hardest part of shelter in place here, should we have to return to it, was having no access to public restrooms, which severely limited our outdoor options. The outdoors has been what keeps me sane, and it sounds like that is the case for you and PC as well. Gosh this is crazy town, isn't it? 😕
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