We are officially on Day 6 of self isolation/quarantine/distance/sheltering in place/safer at home – whatever the government officials are calling it these days. Eggs are the only staple food we are completely unable to find at the moment, but we have at least 8 rolls of TP so we are totally set there. Sanity during isolation requires more than toilet paper however.
The guesthouse we are currently staying is absolutely perfect and we are forever grateful for the owners for working with us on price. The US is not a great place to be stuck without income and without a long term lease. It’s not cheap, but we have found some incredibly kind people and are here until at least March 31.
While there are moments where our thoughts are dark as we wonder what the hell we are going to do without jobs or a place to live, we are aware of how lucky we are with a roof over our heads and an amazing support system of friends and family. So, we have been just taking things one day at a time and doing what the people in charge are asking us to do – STAY AT HOME. Our success at staying 92% positive is thanks to the following list of activities keeping us busy.
Our Methods to Maintain Sanity During Isolation
Color Quest
This book was a discovery hidden on a sale shelf at Michael’s on our last run for supplies. Each page has a grid of shapes with different numbers in them. You color all the same number with the same color (there is a guide on each page of colors they recommend). It is very time consuming and I colored so much two days ago that I had wrist pain yesterday. If you follow up on Instagram, you will see the results of my first completed piece of art today. We are pumping out really thrilling content right now on social media.
Order the cityscape one we have via this link.
Late Night Hosts Broadcasting from Home
We caught up on Jimmy Fallon and Trevor Noah last night by watching their at home shows from this week. Each one highlights a different charity helping people who need it most right now. It’s so refreshing to see people in comfortable clothes doing their part to stay home and encourage others to do the same. We definitely have plenty of friends at home right now with kids crawling all over them while they attempt to get business done, so I think seeing this is extremely relatable for so many right now.
Produce + Boxed Meal Creations
The grocery store has a ton of produce every time we go in there. It’s like people forgot that your immune system functions the best when it’s given proper nutrition. We have been taking full advantage of the variety that Southern California offers for fruits and veggies. That said, we aren’t making giant salads every day because we need comfort food.
We are trying to get creative and figuring out how to add vegetables to everything. Our latest win was roasted zucchini mixed into Annie’s White Cheddar shells with some black pepper on top. We still got the comfort of the Mac & Cheese with a little extra.
I would encourage you to mix vegetables or fruits into the stockpile of boxed or canned foods you have purchased to stay as healthy as possible. This is a good time to use your kitchen and make some weird stuff.
Grandparent Check In’s
My grandma is 84 years old and her usual social calendar is filled with book club, choir, yoga and enjoying the senior coffee deals at McDonalds with friends. Now, she is stuck at home with libraries closed, no internet (because she has no interest) and no end in sight. There is no better time to catch her on the phone and chat. This wonderful woman has no call waiting and no answering machine, so sometimes it’s hard to get a hold of her. Not during this pandemic and she could use interaction as often as possible.
My family has done all the amazing work of getting her everything she needs, so the best I can do from far away is call her and just talk about all things. I wish it didn’t take things like this, but I’m so happy that this is part of my rotation of entertainment now. Call your grandparents.
Puzzles
We picked up a 1000 piece puzzle inspired by the Women’s March and it is not easy. If you know me at all, you know that I’m a big fan of puzzles. What I need to figure out now is how to organize a puzzle swap in the neighborhood we are staying in. We really should have sprung for the 2000 piece puzzle, but they were hard to find.
I might order this one that looks tricky (plus we love the movie) or if we won the lottery, I think this gigantic puzzle would keep us busy for years.
Online Workouts
Every day, we try and do something to exercise. There are millions of videos on YouTube that are totally free and we have been taking full advantage of “no excuses” to build up some muscles.
For yoga, I would recommend Yoga with Adrienne and the Bad Yogi. You can also do online classes with Modo Yoga right now for free using “MODOISHOME” for free access.
For cardio, I just search for no equipment workouts and then find someone that doesn’t look annoying. I know that sounds like I’m judging people, but exercising is hard enough for me – I need someone that is easy to listen to.
It is also a good time to dust off the old “exercise” Pinterest board that I have only looked at once or twice in my life. Here is my collection of workouts if you need more inspiration.
All the Books
We have a couple books we’ve been carrying around (non kindle versions) and so we are prioritizing those right now. This way we can leave them in the Little Free Libraries around the neighborhood and give other people some new options while libraries are closed down.
If you read through everything you have, I would recommend finally ordering a Kindle (we have these ones). The online library is still fully accessible and you can check out books right to your kindle. While I understand that kindles are made by Amazon, I also encourage you to do your book shopping on this website that helps local bookstores.
Video Chats
I think we are a few months behind, but we discovered how to do group FaceTimes this week and they are just wonderful. Yesterday, we had Justin’s family on a chat for over an hour with people dropping off and joining when they could. It’s a little hard if everyone is talking a lot, but it’s nice to see everyone’s faces. I also had happy hour with a few girlfriends via FaceTime and we’ve committed to every few days to help each other laugh and see other adults.
I’m including this helpful tutorial from 9to5mac.com and you can read their whole post with instructions here.
Gratitude List
Every morning, within an hour of waking up, I open my journal and make a list of five things I’m grateful for. Sometimes I write more which helps if my mind is racing, but no matter what, I make my list. I usually find myself smiling while I recount the last 24 hours with a hot coffee in my hand and it helps me start my day off on a positive note.
Intermittent Fasting
Food is a comfort thing for both of us. When I’m stressed, I usually turn to cream cheese. Seriously, wontons, bagels, anything made with cream cheese – it’s like a weighted blanket for me. Because of this, we decided to stick with an eating schedule. We only eat between 10 AM and 6 PM every day (it’s about 4 hours after we wake up until 4 hours before we go to bed). We usually eat three full meals and at least one snack during this time. Coffee is allowed before 10 and wine is allowed after 6, but no other snacks. You can read more about fasting here if you want the real rules.
I’m not sure if I believe that this is a great weight loss tactic, but it has helped us make sure that we aren’t eating tons of shitty food late at night and has helped us feel less like constant snacking because we usually have a meal coming up.
This is not something for everyone, but it is working for us to have a structure so it isn’t just a free for all on snacks. I will also say that we have had a container of Sea Salt brownie bites from Trader Joe’s and it’s still half full after four days. That’s self control.
Funny, Happy TV Shows
Our Netflix queue is filled with true crime shows and dramas, but we keep skipping over them. We’ve been watching Veep, the Righteous Gemstones and documentaries on the National Parks. Plus, we are rewatching the Office while listening to the Office Ladies podcast. It’s a perfect feel good activity.
Spring Flowers
With everything going on, I didn’t really pay much attention to the calendar. Spring is now upon us and usually this news is my favorite after long, dark winters. Even though things still seem a little dark, we have been taking walks and paying a lot of attention to the plants here. The flowers are absolutely beautiful and everything in San Diego is blooming. It’s good to appreciate those little gifts from the earth right now.
Starting today, we are making daily lists of things we want to accomplish each day as well. I’m looking forward to some online classes on random skills as well as jumping back into Duolingo language lessons. I will check back in a few days with any other methods of entertainment we have come up with.
I encourage everyone to share the things they are finding to stay entertained. This is all about helping each other get through this, staying connected and staying safe. But most importantly, it’s about staying kind to everyone else in these scary times.
