Self-Quarantine: Week 1
My background in dietetics, global health, and public health make me acutely aware of all of the effects of the novel coronavirus pandemic currently sweeping the world. Instead of spewing more panic and fear (we really don’t need any more of that), I’ve decided to share how I’m taking control of the situation and staying prepared. Here’s how our week is going so far!
Monday:
Work: Finally got an email from leadership at my work that we will be working remotely for the time being. B. and I are both working from home now, so we discuss what our “areas” will be and set up our work spaces. I get the living room and he gets his desk in the living room - he does a lot of programming and could use the bigger monitor.
Food: I stocked up on a ton of frozen foods, pasta, some canned goods, etc. over the weekend, but for lunch today we have leftovers from some takeout over the weekend. For dinner we order delivery from a nearby local restaurant. We want to balance eating healthy foods, using up perishable foods, saving non-perishables, and supporting local businesses.
Self care: I start each morning by doing a “brain dump”, which is really just a fun way to say an unorganized wish list or to do list for the day. I jot down things I need to do for work, around the apartment, and what I want to do for myself. Today I wanted to do a face mask/skin care and a long walk with the dog.
Tuesday:
Work: Still working from home. Most of my tasks this week revolve around coming up with contingency plans for everything being affected by COVID-19.
Food: Our HomeChef delivery got here last night. I’m super excited about it, because it gives us some great fresh food to break up the all the non-perishables, and lets me avoid grocery stores. We have a frozen lunch, and a (HomeChef) pot roast pork chop with carrots and potatoes for dinner.
Self care: I get up really early to vote and avoid a crowd. I also decide to fold laundry and clean out the closet today. I hula hoop for about 45 minutes today.
Wednesday:
Work: Today B. and I both have a ton of conference calls, which leads to a few rough moments - B. talks pretty loud, and I don’t have a headset or anything for during calls. The mute button is my best friend.
Food: For breakfast I make a frozen egg white breakfast sandwich. Lunch is a “non-perishable mashup” of pasta, sweet potato puree, frozen veggies, and chicken sausage. Dinner is (HomeChef) beef and broccoli.
Self care: I rent a dress for my bridal shower (in the off chance it doesn’t get cancelled because of COVID-19). I also take a nice long shower with my favorite podcast, face mask, and hair mask. I hula hoop again for 45 minutes today. B and I are both getting a little stir crazy so at night I have some wine and play the Sims, while he games online with friends. We’re both getting pretty stressed about the stock market, but trying to remember they’re long term investments and that things will bounce back eventually.
In the interest of full disclosure, I have a mini-freakout about our impending wedding. While I’m still optimistic our wedding won’t be too greatly affected (it’s in about 14 weeks), I am bummed about my bridal shower and bachelorette party likely being cancelled. My bridesmaids help me through it.
Thursday:
Work: Struggling a little on the conference calls, because so many of these services are being overwhelmed by the sudden increase in use. Finally making some headway on messaging though.
Food: Breakfast is frozen sweet potato waffles. For lunch we get delivery from a local burger shop, but my food is missing. I’m bummed and un-satisfied, so we decide we’ll get delivery again tonight. We do, and of the 5 sushi rolls we ordered of course the missing one was mine. I’m annoyed, but Ben shares some of his with me.
Self care: I take our dog for a long walk along the river in the morning. My tasks for work require things from other people, so I use my spare time in the afternoon to work on this website. I hula hoop again today, and take the dog for another long walk to keep moving. The rest of the evening is spent trying to take some control over the wedding by working on the plans that I can.
Friday:
Work: We have a productive conference call about an issue we’ve had with an international scholar, and I can finally move forward with some tasks I’d been waiting on other people for. I have a very productive start to the day, but falter around noon, so I decide to call it and work over the weekend to make up for it. Gotta love the flexibility of work from home!
Food: I run to the grocery store bright and early this morning, because we’ve heard rumblings of a “shelter in place” rule coming soon. I just want to make sure we’re stocked, so I get more wine (of course), popcorn, some frozen veggies, more waffles, steak, crab (somehow on sale?), apples and bananas. I’m oddly not hungry this morning, but I have an early lunch of the pasta I made earlier this week. Dinner is a frozen pizza because we’re going to do a lot of gaming tonight, and it just fits.
Self care: I take a rest day from working out, but enjoy some nice walks with the dog. We run into an NBA player that lives in our building, and I briefly worry about him having COVID because of the other teams that have struggled with it - but I remind myself that no players on our team have had it. I facetime with my best friend and her boyfriend at night before joining Ben and his friend in some online video gaming.
Saturday:
Work: No work today! It’s the weekend!
Food: We get brunch delivered from a cute local shop - chorizo and eggs for Ben, and a goat cheese arugula omelet for me. It fills us up until dinner, when I make stuffed crab and sweet potato gnocchi. When I take the gnocchi out of the freezer I notice it’s a little soft - our freezer is sitting at 21 degrees!! Worst timing! After some troubleshooting, we come to the conclusion that someone just didn’t close the freezer tight. Thank goodness it’s not broken!
Self care: I take a nice walk to the mailbox to ship out a return - and take notice of how few people are out and about. Very glad people are taking this seriously! The rest of the day is spent relaxing - Sims and Borderlands 3, mostly. I take a very long shower before bed, and really pamper my skin afterwards, including a lip mask.
