What I'm Doing And Quit Doing In Quarantine

Ahhh, quarantine. This introvert loves quarantine and hates it at the same time and I’m sure you are wondering how that can be. I love it because I finally have a socially valid excuse for staying secluded in my home and avoiding social situations.

I hate it because this means my husband and my son are constantly inside my sanctuary. It also means other people are also stuck in their homes and have more time for another sanctuary of mine; social media, the place where as an introvert I could get social on my terms.

So while everyone is all up in my spaces and has been for the past 5 months, I’m learning to adapt by getting in quiet time and self care activities. Both of which are getting me through … everything.

All in all my life hasn’t changed much from last year but there are a few things that I’ve started, done, and some things I even quit doing.

5 Months And Counting

When I say our life hasn’t changed much from last year I mean it actually hasn’t. Last year we got rid of our car and went to being a car free home. We get everything we need delivered easily to our home and since we own our own businesses and work from home, we don’t need to travel.

The only thing that has changed is we don’t walk as much as we used to. In the beginning of quarantine Pittsburgh was doing pretty good but gradually people grew comfortable. They stopped wearing masks and we don’t feel comfortable going out for our daily walks like we used to.

The truth is we have no family nearby. If Rob and/or I get sick we have no one nearby to take care of our son. So we can’t catch this and we have to stay healthy, so we stay home. We continue to order groceries and supplies for delivery but we do contactless delivery.

TV Shows I Loved

I have started watching a bit more TV than usual during quarantine. Probably because I like having the background noise for when I’m working.

Though lots of times my son is present in the room while I’m watching TV. While he may not be watching the show or paying attention at all, there are certain things I do watch out for so I’m not exposing him to certain types of scenes.

woman holding a TV remote drinking coffee while sitting on a wood floor

Schitts Creek

I’ve recently fallen in love with this show. It’s about a rich family that has all of their possessions seized when their accountant doesn’t pay the taxes they owe. There is only one thing they own that can’t be seized, a small town that was bought as a joke.

The character development is fantastic watching these spoiled people go from rich to nothing quickly and having to adjust to this new life and use what life experience they do have. It’s a great show on Netflix that’s just fun to watch and escape in.

This show does have plenty of innuendos and adult language. While swear words don’t bother me in regards to watching the show while in the presence of my child, some may take issue with that.

Battlestar Galactica (2004)

This is always a favorite of mine to binge especially when I want to just have something on as background noise. Battlestar Galactica is a fantastic sci-fi military drama, for most of those who are sci-fi fans that have seen it, they’ll tell you it’s a great show.

There are some sex scenes in the series so you’ll want to be aware of that. However, instead of saying the “F” word it’s always replaced with “Frak.” This is a throwback to the original series that aired in 1978.

Lucifer

I decided to try out Lucifer on Netflix during the early days of quarantine and I have to tell you it quickly became a new favorite for me. I’m so excited for season 5 and sincerely hope that we get more seasons of Lucifer on Netflix.

I do not recommend watching this show with kids in the room as there are some – what could be considered – scary to children scenes, violence, and sexually explicit scenes too.

Travelers

I like to start shows that have a few seasons ready to go or are actually already complete. Travelers was a great show for me to start, though I didn’t actually know that it had ended. It’s still a great sci-fi show that deals with a bit of time travel. Travelers is also on Netflix.

This show wasn’t too bad on adult content. There might have been some innuendos and there absolutely were scenes of drug use early on in the series, so use your own judgement while you have kiddos in the house.

Handmaid’s Tale

I was bummed to learn that The Handmaid’s Tale season 4 release date was pushed off till early 2021 due to the pandemic but I decided to rewatch seasons 1-3. There is nothing like watching post apocalyptic type TV show during the middle of a pandemic.

Every now and then I like to torture myself by making my anxiety run absolutely rampant with things that could totally happen in real life while some pretty scary things are already happening. Though I’ve been watching what’s happening and I don’t honestly think we are too far off from some pretty messed up stuff.

I recommend watching Handmaid’s Tale however, trigger warnings are all over the place with this show so make sure you are mentally prepared to watch it and don’t watch it around kids.

Books I Read

I’ve spent quite a bit of time reading over the last 5 months. Below is a list of some of the books I read that I really liked. I separated them by fiction and nonfiction.

Fiction

Ready Player One
Recursion
Red Queen

I watched Ready Player One late last year and it was a good movie but the book really is better than the movie. The pop culture references and easter eggs are perfect for any Gen X or Millennial who grew up unpopular and a geek. It’s the perfect book for gamers.

Recursion is a fantastic book by Blake Crouch who’s quickly becoming one of my favorite sci-fi authors. What would you do if suddenly the life you were living is not the life you remember? False Memory Syndrome is a disease that drives it’s victims mad with a memory of a life they never lived. It’s about a Neuroscientist and a New York City Cop whose stories are about to intertwine to save the world from FMS.

Finally Red Queen is a fantastic start to a series of books about a ruling class and the commoners who will rise up against them. It’s a great Young Adult read that’s a bit reminiscent of Hunger Games except with supernatural powers.

Non Fiction

Let’s Pretend This Never Happened
Big Magic
Idiot

Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson and Idiot by Laura Cleary are both autobiographies about their lives. While Jenny’s focuses heavily on mental health the book had me laughing hysterically before the first chapter ended and I kept laughing until it was done.

Laura Cleary’s Idiot focuses heavily on life choices, struggles with addiction, and chasing after a lifelong dream. It will make you cry, it’ll motivate you, and it’ll make you laugh. It’s a fantastic story that humanizes people who struggle with addiction. It helps you to understand that struggle a bit better while showing you that even with big struggles you can still chase after your dreams.

Big Magic has some supernatural type theories but strip that away and there is a solid message for creators of all kinds. If you don’t use it you will lose it so keep getting creative. Live every day with an openness to ideas that you can explore and possibly mold into something wonderful.

Games I Played

I actually haven’t done much gaming through quarantine as I’ve been pretty busy writing, working, and entertaining my kid. I did play through all of Borderlands 3 which is a fantastic game for those who love the series.

I also bought The Sims 4. I loved playing 2 and 3 way back when and decided to finally purchase 4 during quarantine. Let’s face it, I mostly like the Sims for building interesting homes. Though causing a bit of safe drama in your sims life is also fun. It’s the simple pleasures in life.

Activities With The Kid

As we got further into quarantine I realized that the extra activities that we had hoped to do this summer just weren’t going to happen. We wanted to go to the zoo, take a trip to Chicago to visit my parents, and possibly visit a few museums in the area. Well, that’s not going to happen and going to the park isn’t all the safe either.

So instead I pulled together some things here at home to help keep my kid learning and entertained.

I purchased a bunch of workbooks from Highlights Magazine. Instead of just waiting till fall to start Kindergarten we are getting a head start by practicing with these workbooks and some printed worksheets.

I use Great Schools and Crayola to print out worksheets and coloring pages that help to entertain L as well. We practice different words, writing, and activities then he gets to go color and keep practicing on his own.

Another thing that helps us entertain L while we are stuck at home is ABC Mouse. It’s an educational app that he really loves to play with and keeps him entertained and learning while we get some work done.

Why I Rage Quit The Elliptical I Bought

When we realized we wouldn’t be hardly walking at all this Summer, Rob and I decided to purchase an elliptical. I was all, “this isn’t going to be that bad.” It was that bad, but I was hopeful, “I’ll do 15 minutes a day for the first week, bump it up to 20 the next, and then get to 30 the week after that.”

I laced up my shoes, wore my comfy pajamas, plugged in my headphones, turned on my early 20’s pop workout mix, and did 7 minutes on the machine.

Seven lousy minutes on this machine because I am completely out of shape.

I vowed to make this machine my bitch and got on it the next day, just for a few minutes but just enough to say I was going to make this happen.

The day after I couldn’t move because my hamstrings were done for. Then… I threw out my back and I haven’t touched the machine since. Ahhh 36 you are a cruel mistress.

It’s ok though, I will actually get on this thing again, I just need to work up to it a bit more in another way. So I dance every day, I do sexy hip rolls – which are not in the slightest sexy – while I clean my kitchen, cook dinner, or just because I can.

The elliptical may have beaten me once, but I’m training, stretching, and preparing to beat it the next time.

Why I Quit My Sourdough Starter

I do not have the time nor the patience or the capability to plan out sourdough bread. My ADHD butt was super motivated to finally have a sourdough starter, too bad I couldn’t stick to it longer than 3 days. I forgot to feed it on day 3 – which means I forgot I had the starter at all.

Day 5 hits and I’m like, “What’s in this bowl? Oh … well that didn’t work out.” As I threw out the starter and washed the bowl. Whatever, if I really want sourdough I will buy it and have it delivered from my grocery store. Besides, I figured out a no knead bread that’s super easy that I don’t forget.

With the no knead bread recipe though I needed a dutch oven, which I finally purchased. I can’t wait to use it to make soups, stews, and casseroles come the fall and winter. For now though it’s the best no knead bread maker ever.

Why I Quit Cleaning Like A Germaphobe

When the virus first hit I was cleaning my house like a germaphobe. I was spraying down every handle and door knob with Lysol disinfectant spray and scrubbing everything every single day. It got to be a bit much and a cooler head prevailed when I realized we weren’t actually ever leaving our home.

Sure I still go outside and spray our door knobs and mailbox with Lysol every other day or so just to help keep delivery drivers and our mail man safe. But the truth is we know we don’t have the virus because of how we are quarantined.

Cleaning like a mad woman, while therapeutic, is not necessary when you actually don’t physically leave your house at all. So I went back to my normal cleaning with a couple of safety measures for our porch to keep us and our upstairs neighbors safe.

How I Hangout With Friends

All of my friends are located all over the world. We have friends in Georgia, Florida, California, the midwest, and everywhere in between. We have friends who live in the UK and friends who live in Australia. We however, do not have friends that live nearby.

With quarantine our plans to meet new people over this summer was put on hold. The introvert in me cheered for joy at this but honestly, I was a bit bummed out. Just because I value my alone time and even prefer it I do like having friends around.

So we are doing video hangouts through Meet and Discord in order to chat with our friends. This has been something that has helped all of us during quarantine. We are all people who have been working from home so this has been our only form of feeling like we are hanging out with people. It’s just virtual.

Quarantine Life

Overall I’m not complaining about quarantine and I feel like I’m handling it pretty well. Of course I take small breaks throughout the day to go sit on my own. It keeps me sane.

While I did experiment and failed with making sourdough, quarantine has taught me that I can do a lot with canned and packaged foods like ramen. I’m grateful that we can successfully live off the food that’s the easiest to get. So when the eventual apocalypse happens we will be prepared.

What are you doing and not doing during lockdown? Let me know in the comments below. Follow me on Pinterest for more like this and pin this to your humor or mom life boards.

What I’m Doing And Quit Doing In Quarantine

5 Months And Counting