What I've Been Doing in Quarantine

When I left work for the last time that day in March I knew we weren't going back for a while. They were very realistic with us. They said May if we were lucky, but more than likely June. Well, June is next week and we've heard nothing about when we will be going back to work. Not much is being said about non-essential non retail workplaces. Ten weeks into the stay at home orders San Diego is just now entering phase two where restaurants and retail stores can do in person shopping and dining in with social distancing precautions and extra cleaning requirements. Phase 1 was just parks and beaches. It's funny because in the initial days of this I was thinking, okay we stay home and flatten the curve and then it will be over, but it didn't take long before it hit me that Covid-19 isn't actually going anywhere. We can learn more about it, find new treatments, and eventually come up with a vaccine, but ultimately we will be living in a world in which Covid-19 is always a threat and there is nothing that will change that. As bizarre as it is to be re-opening even as people are still dying daily, I do agree that it has to happen. People have definitely lost their patience with staying indoors. It feels too soon, but the economy is dying and people need to pay their bills. We can't stay home forever.

Since we've been home....

We ordered Blue Apron three times. The first two were because the world had gone mad. The shelves were barren. We couldn't get our hands on a lot of our normal foods, and we couldn't get any grocery pick up slots. It has been so long since we last ordered, that the first delivery actually went to our old house. MJ had to drive over there and snatch it off their doorstep. The last delivery was accidental, and we couldn't have that happening every other week so I made MJ deactivate his account. Each time we ordered three meals that served four so that we could have left overs the next day. The portion sizes are plentiful. It was nice to change things up a bit, and I was actually able to enjoy cooking (even on a weekday) because I wasn't so exhausted from being at the office all day. I enjoyed everything we got. We also did quite a bit of Door Dash, Grub Hub, and Postmates, but we are back to regular programing now.

MJ made these (of course).

Birthday Dinner

I celebrated my Birthday. It was actually a pretty fabulous day. I had time with my husband. I spent time outside, ate delicious food, and got some sweet gifts. I really can't ask for anything more than that even in non-pandemic times. I've actually already had an at home Birthday in 2017. Alone. I survived. We did have that little cruise that got cancelled, but oh well. Things happen. I made the best of it. I got to spend the day with MJ and it was all good.

Another Silver Honda

I bought a car. I've been hanging onto my little old 2007 Honda for almost eleven years now. I said I'd drive it until the wheels fell off and I really tried, but it only passed the last two smog checks after I paid for additional repairs, the one key I had was falling apart, and the AC was already weak. Knowing that I would need a new car, but not knowing when that day would actually come was stressful. I felt like I was living on the edge, and I was just over it. I'd been saving my money and mentally preparing for the inevitable so when the check engine light came on I was ready. Originally they told me $900 in repairs, but even when they dropped it to $600 I was already feeling like I didn't want to put any more money into a car I already knew I would probably get rid of next year before my next smog check. I did some online searching and a few days later I had a new car. I handed over old Honda key held together by packing tape and in return I got not one, but two of those cool chunky key fobs. Technology has come a long way since my old car was made. It's so exciting to have push to start, rear view/side cameras, and a USB port that doesn't also double as a cigarette lighter. I knew I was getting another Honda Civic, so once I'd made up my mind that this was happening I was fine. I got a great deal, and found that it was actually my least stressful car buying experience ever.

We celebrated MJ's Birthday. He's my little busy body who likes to be on the go. Sheltering in place has not come as naturally to him as it has to me, but he still enjoyed his day. I ordered Pancake mix from Cracker Barrel so we could have their yummy pancakes for breakfast. We had a nice back yard picnic, and I picked up Texas Roadhouse for dinner because one just opened in our area and he's obsessed with their bread and cinnamon butter.

I learned two hip-hop dance routines. I'm no dancer, but I love to dance and I'd always wanted to see if my brain was actually capable of picking up choreography. I found this YouTube tutorial and managed to learn an entire 47 second hip hop dance routine in seven days. Let me tell you, it's harder than they make it look. I spent three hours working on it the first day, but after that it was about 1-2 hours every day and by day eight I had it down with music...and confidence. It was hard! But also so much fun and great exercise. This is the Instagram link to the video of me dancing if you want to see how I did. I'll never look like the ones in the video, but I think I did pretty good. I'm currently in the process of learning another one, but this time I'm not doing it alone. MJ is learning it too, which is really fun. We have already completed the tedious task of learning all the moves and tried it with music for the first time.

We refinanced our house. Again. We haven't lived here that long but when interest rates drop into unprecedented lows you have to take advantage of it if you can. We've been through multiple re-fi's but the most interesting thing about this one is that it's with our current mortgage provider. They called us! That's never happened before.

We've been watching movie trilogy's and up because I don't think there is a name for a series with more than that. First we watched the Star Wars movies. All eleven of them. Make that ten because we skipped the Hans Solo story. My husband is a fan and has seen them all. I'm not super into it, but had seen some of them. The oldest ones are just okay. Even the more recent older ones aren't that great, and it's really weird because the three very oldest ones from the 70's-80's are sandwiched right in the middle of the bunch, but they definitely did get better as they went along and by Episode VII (which is actually the 9th movie of the entire series) I was really into it. After that we burned through Lord of the Rings. Loved it! And now we're working on Harry Potter. He's seen both, but long ago and I'd seen neither.

We bought a living room set and a rug. Our old sectional was ten years old. It was a good couch. A comfy couch. But I was honestly tired of looking at it and ready for something with a wipe-able surface. I was a bit worried about how we would get rid of the old couch, but we were actually able to sell it on Facebook marketplace in just a few days. Originally we waited on a new couch because we were spending so much money on other things but by now it had just gotten to the point where I didn't want to make a decision. Couches are so expensive. We will be keeping them for a long time and I just didn't know what to do. We wanted leather, which means slightly less options to choose from, and I kept changing my mind every time we went in there, which was a lot! As soon as my husband heard that Living Spaces opened up by appointment only he made one for us and refused to leave the place until we bought a couch. This was way more stressful than buying my car. At the last minute we decided to go ahead and look for a rug and I'm glad we did because that was one less thing for me to obsess over later.

I've also had a dentist appointment and a doctor appointment. Both experiences were very different than pre covid-19 times. We have to get used to mandatory hand sanitizer, temp checks, masks, blocked off seating areas, and covid-19 disclosure and liability waivers. I'm starting to find it very weird when I actually have to be somewhere at a certain time. So weird that I almost forgot to go both times. Good thing they were on my calendar. Weekly grocery pick up is still my main outing and I'm basically living in workout wear. I haven't put on a single pair of jeans since this whole thing went down, but I am hopeful that they will still fit whenever it comes time to wear them again because I am still exercising and walking.

We are very fortunate that our jobs and finances have remained stable thus far. I feel so badly for everyone who is getting hit hard by this pandemic. Covid-19 cases in San Diego are up to 6,983, with 255 deaths. Even one is too many, but the numbers here are fairly low all things considered. Statewide in California it's 90,631 cases and 3,708 deaths. I usually limit my news consumption to Lester Holt's NBC nightly world news recap, but it's enough to learn that the situation is still pretty dire from a worldwide perspective. Guidance and information about what the future holds is constantly changing, but like everyone else I'm taking it day by day.

I still can't find Clorox Wipes.