May 26, 11 weeks in lock down
May. 26th, 2020 02:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
freixenetOK. Writing here, with a cup of tea, is my new attempt to learn a self soothing method I haven't used well before. I've lost a little track of what I'm supposed to be doing...so i suppose mindfulness training is starting to show on new levels. That's all good. ANYWAY no need to read, this is just me trying to self soothe.
So, over the holiday weekend, I broke isolation mode and had my family over to the pool house for swimming and food. Only 7 people, all well distanced except for some indiscriminate hugging at the start because I couldn't stop hugging my sister. We ate and talked and drank and laughed for a few hours, and my dad actually managed to talk his lady into calling us on Facetime so he could join us virtually. I'm astonished and grateful that he wanted to "join" us from Vermont--a, he must really be lonely, and b, this is so damn easy! We can do this. He is, like the rest of us, looking scruffy from isolation protocol, but more, he looks bored. I wonder if this is how I look in the mornings!
My morning routine has really helped. My friend Rachel lives about four blocks away, and I've joined her on her early morning walks. We cruise through the neighborhood, greeting the dogs who have come to know us by now, talk about everything or nothing, and clock about 3.5 miles most days of the week. For at least 9 weeks she's been my only point of human contact, and the fact that she's an academic as well makes it easy for us to talk about a huge range of things. So my morning now starts earlier, since I get my meditation time in before dawn, and then just as the sun is coming up, she and I hit the road. It's changed my morning routine with my spouse, but that's okay. I need human contact.
I also get dog contact, and there's no bad there. We've made friends with a chubby little black and tan chihuahua named Hugh (whose mom Sarah is highly amused at Hugh's reaction when he sees us and stops walking until we come pet him). A second pupper is Yogi, a brown and curly and smallish handful of nerves. His mom doesn't really like us talking to him, nor does she like it that he likes talking to us. We've met Ernie, a blue eyed hound mix; we've met the trio of two Huskies and a German Shepherd, walked by a very patient guy who puts up with the Huskies' shenanigans and pampers the elderly shepherd. With one exception, all the doggos have been friendly and happy dogs, and it's lovely to get pup love so early in the morning!
My day usually continues after walking with work--I'm winding down several large projects in anticipation of sabbatical next spring, and while I'm feeling a total lack of motivation I do somehow get words on the page somehow. I persevere until about noon or 1, have a quick bite, take a quick nap...and I'm useless afterward. I spend most of the afternoon reading (I'm reading so much more than I thought I would) and then, around 430 or so, pour a glass of wine. I get a little happy, have dinner, and toddle off to bed by 9 with a book and a cup of chamomile. Rinse and repeat. it's a stable schedule, which I need, and I can live with it.
I've taken some steps toward better self care--I have an appointment with a therapist next week, who will be able to help with both talk therapy and possibly also an adjustment to my medication. And I've picked up regular self care that was interrupted by the fucking pandemic: I have a dental appointment and a dexa scan in the next two weeks. I also have a blood draw scheduled soon, which I had to make an appointment for (and they called me today to ensure that all their screening protocols have been met). So doing the medical things is helping.
I've put on about five pounds during lock-in. UGH. Well, I had to stop my dance lessons, but those should start up again soon and I am GOING, goddammit. I was starting to feel very good indeed until I had to stop going to the studio. And I finally woke up and realized that part of the weight gain is that for a vegan I don't eat a lot of vegetables. I'm doing great on grains and beans, but that ain't it. So, I readjusted my eating so that I get all the grains and so forth earlier in the day, and I eat salads and veggies for dinner. Fortunately, Florida in the "spring" has a ton of fresh veg to eat. I'm currently loving yellow squash, baby carrots, grape tomatoes, and limas. MMMM, limas!
Finally, randomly, since I needed to open up my world a bit more, i joined a FB group called 'View from My Window." It goes a LONG way toward reminding me that this pandemic is indeed pan. Folks posting from Manila, Germany, New Zealand, Kentucky, India, the Phillipines... really stunning to see the array of vistas posted from folks currently unable to leave their homes. Just like us.
So, over the holiday weekend, I broke isolation mode and had my family over to the pool house for swimming and food. Only 7 people, all well distanced except for some indiscriminate hugging at the start because I couldn't stop hugging my sister. We ate and talked and drank and laughed for a few hours, and my dad actually managed to talk his lady into calling us on Facetime so he could join us virtually. I'm astonished and grateful that he wanted to "join" us from Vermont--a, he must really be lonely, and b, this is so damn easy! We can do this. He is, like the rest of us, looking scruffy from isolation protocol, but more, he looks bored. I wonder if this is how I look in the mornings!
My morning routine has really helped. My friend Rachel lives about four blocks away, and I've joined her on her early morning walks. We cruise through the neighborhood, greeting the dogs who have come to know us by now, talk about everything or nothing, and clock about 3.5 miles most days of the week. For at least 9 weeks she's been my only point of human contact, and the fact that she's an academic as well makes it easy for us to talk about a huge range of things. So my morning now starts earlier, since I get my meditation time in before dawn, and then just as the sun is coming up, she and I hit the road. It's changed my morning routine with my spouse, but that's okay. I need human contact.
I also get dog contact, and there's no bad there. We've made friends with a chubby little black and tan chihuahua named Hugh (whose mom Sarah is highly amused at Hugh's reaction when he sees us and stops walking until we come pet him). A second pupper is Yogi, a brown and curly and smallish handful of nerves. His mom doesn't really like us talking to him, nor does she like it that he likes talking to us. We've met Ernie, a blue eyed hound mix; we've met the trio of two Huskies and a German Shepherd, walked by a very patient guy who puts up with the Huskies' shenanigans and pampers the elderly shepherd. With one exception, all the doggos have been friendly and happy dogs, and it's lovely to get pup love so early in the morning!
My day usually continues after walking with work--I'm winding down several large projects in anticipation of sabbatical next spring, and while I'm feeling a total lack of motivation I do somehow get words on the page somehow. I persevere until about noon or 1, have a quick bite, take a quick nap...and I'm useless afterward. I spend most of the afternoon reading (I'm reading so much more than I thought I would) and then, around 430 or so, pour a glass of wine. I get a little happy, have dinner, and toddle off to bed by 9 with a book and a cup of chamomile. Rinse and repeat. it's a stable schedule, which I need, and I can live with it.
I've taken some steps toward better self care--I have an appointment with a therapist next week, who will be able to help with both talk therapy and possibly also an adjustment to my medication. And I've picked up regular self care that was interrupted by the fucking pandemic: I have a dental appointment and a dexa scan in the next two weeks. I also have a blood draw scheduled soon, which I had to make an appointment for (and they called me today to ensure that all their screening protocols have been met). So doing the medical things is helping.
I've put on about five pounds during lock-in. UGH. Well, I had to stop my dance lessons, but those should start up again soon and I am GOING, goddammit. I was starting to feel very good indeed until I had to stop going to the studio. And I finally woke up and realized that part of the weight gain is that for a vegan I don't eat a lot of vegetables. I'm doing great on grains and beans, but that ain't it. So, I readjusted my eating so that I get all the grains and so forth earlier in the day, and I eat salads and veggies for dinner. Fortunately, Florida in the "spring" has a ton of fresh veg to eat. I'm currently loving yellow squash, baby carrots, grape tomatoes, and limas. MMMM, limas!
Finally, randomly, since I needed to open up my world a bit more, i joined a FB group called 'View from My Window." It goes a LONG way toward reminding me that this pandemic is indeed pan. Folks posting from Manila, Germany, New Zealand, Kentucky, India, the Phillipines... really stunning to see the array of vistas posted from folks currently unable to leave their homes. Just like us.
