Lockdown So Far
Happy Monday!
I hope you had a great weekend.
As usual, the weekend went by way too quickly. I went to dinner with some friends on Friday night. It was very different. Everyone had to check in to the restaurant by scanning a QR code and leaving our name, phone number, and the table where we were sitting. This is to help with contact tracing for COVID-19. The tables were very spread out and there was a time limit of how long we were allowed to stay in the restaurant. It was quick, but it was still so nice to be out again and see people!
I had a post about books planned for last Friday, but work is very busy lately and it got away from me. So I am saving it for later this week so I have time to really write it properly.
Instead, I wanted to write today about my thoughts on lockdown so far.
I found a post I had started at the beginning of April when everything was shutting down and we were encouraged to stay home. All of a sudden we were working from home and everything was closed except for a few shops, grocery stores, and pharmacies. We were only supposed to go out if we really had to.
Even though it was a little scary because I didn't know what was happening to the world, I was still so optimistic about all the things I would accomplish while I was at home. I was really looking forward to having more time on my hands. I made a list of how I was going to keep busy and this weekend and read it and laughed because I have definitely not been as productive as I thought I would be.
Here's an update on some of the things I wanted to get done during lockdown:
Read lots of books! Thank goodness for e-reading, I have all the books I need at my fingertips.
Update: Ok, I actually have read more books than usual.
Exercise - Tj and I have been in a really good gym routine lately, and we are going to go stir-crazy if we have to work from home every day. I plan on rolling out my yoga mat and finding some good exercise videos on youtube to keep me moving.
Update: hahaha nice try Megan. I am actually impressed that I've been out jogging as much as I have, which is not a lot. I need the structure of my gym where I can just show up and the instructors just tell me what to do and I come home and I'm exhausted and sore from working so hard. Thank goodness my gym is set to re-open in a week!
Writing. I have a few writing projects I am working on, and I will have lots of time to get organized on the blog
Update: This one hurts the most. I haven't even opened the document for the writing project I am working on. I've also been slacking on Megan Away and not sticking to my schedule. To be honest, we actually haven't been doing much to write about though LOL.
Sleep - I think we will all feel pretty good in a few weeks, having time finally to catch up on sleep. At first, I thought I’d try to wake up and stick to a routine, but why not just sleep in and nap?
Update: Definitely not anywhere near my usual routine. It is nice to just wake up naturally every morning.
Deep clean - time to clean the oven and the microwave and the shower drain and maybe clean the balcony and all the chores I avoid because there’s not enough time.
Update: I've cleaned the balcony and we actually had to get a new microwave so we got out of that one. Early in lockdown I finally leveled all the pictures on the walls and they look so much better now… that counts, right?
Getting organized - I want to clean out my closet, organize all my photos, computer files, bills, etc.
Update: I have done some life admin but I have not organised anything in my closet. I need to watch that Marie Kondo show again and get rid of stuff that's not bringing me joy.
Binge-watch favourite old show, or maybe start a new one.
Update: I have watched the stupidest series (hello Tiger King) and not watched the ones I wanted to re-watch.
Do an online course with my girlfriends
Update: We thought it would be fun to challenge ourselves and do one of the free courses offered online by some big universities. While we haven't done it (yet), I have found a few I am interested in. Now I just need to find the time to commit to it.
Play games and do puzzles.
Update: I am on my 3rd lockdown puzzle. They were hard to come by for a while. The owner of the local shop actually hand-delivered one to my house in the early lockdown days.
A few other things we've been up to:
I've tried so many new recipes and had a few successes and a lot more fails (like when I added 5 cups of flour instead of 5 tbsps!).
I can't even count how many times Tj has been to Ikea and how many times we have re-arranged our furniture. A lot. Tj went back to Ikea this weekend, and we arranged the furniture again and I think we are FINALLY happy LOL.
I am loving all the family facetime and zoom calls. I feel like I am the winner here. Because I am so far away, I never get to see anyone. But since no one can see anyone, everyone has been doing for virtual calls and it's been great. I see my friends so much more than I usually get to. This has been my favourite unexpected lockdown perk.
I've done my share of online shopping. And as soon as stores re-opened I did my share of returns haha. My favourite online purchase has been by electric fabric shaver. It is so satisfying to shave all the fuzzies off of my sweaters. Most random quarantine purchase is a posture corrector. Except that Tj and I mixed up who was supposed to order it, and now we have two haha.
Restrictions are loosening, but who knows how long it will be before things go back to normal, or what that new normal will look like. I hope the pace of life slows down and we all have more time to enjoy the things we love.
I have some exciting upcoming posts… Tj's sister Lisa is going to write a guest post and my great Uncle Steven is going to share some of his favourite books! Now it’s in writing so they have to do it haha.