Taking Care of the Crazy

I’m almost afraid to say anything for fear I’ll jinx myself, but I’ve been getting regular exercise for the past 4 months and I feel so good. I don’t plan on stopping. Thinking about my life, I’ve only ever had pockets of exercise. I’ve done really well for a period of time and then stopped. Like my friend and I used to go run at the track at the high school (ha ha ok it was walk/run stuff), I completed 12 weeks of the PiYo program and actually saw results, I walked and hiked a ton to get ready for the trek to Machu Picchu. Then for whatever reason, I stopped. I live in a great place to walk so I always got some exercise, but not regular or consistent.

Last November I think the pandemic finally got to me. I couldn’t deal with the stress and sleepless nights any more. The anxiety was killing me. So I dug out my old DVDs of Leslie Sansone’s Walk at Home program and started walking at home. They aren’t hard and I do sweat but they aren’t super sweat inducers or super high intensity. For the first time in my life I didn’t start exercising to lose weight. I did it to get rid of the crazy. And you know what? My anxiety dropped almost overnight. My sleepless nights took a bit longer to get rid of and sometimes I still have problems falling asleep, which honestly, could just be because of age. I feel so much better. It hasn’t been perfect and there are days when I just don’t care but one bad day doesn’t make a bad week. I started where I was and didn’t make any demands on myself except that I try because it was helping with the anxiety. Now I actually signed up for Walk at Home streaming to my tv and one other program to my iPad. With spring coming, I’ve even gotten outside to walk a few times. I still don’t really love exercise and I’m probably never going to be an early morning exerciser and I’m letting myself be ok with that. What I do love is that I feel better and I’m dealing with my anxiety in a healthy way. 

Friday Thoughts about Work

As much as I enjoy travel, I am truly a homebody and do love being at home. You’d think that would have made me happy during the pandemic, but then I discovered I am not a person that loves working from home. I kind of already knew I wouldn’t like it because I do need something to get me out of the house so I don’t feel like a hermit and I like the routine. I never got told I had to stay home, plus, in my job as HR for a manufacturing company, it was better to be where the people were. 

Now, with my new job I don’t actually live or work in the same state as my team so I’m truly remote. I get to go into the office or not as I choose. At first working from home was not enjoyable to me. I had a hard time separating work from home. As I’ve gotten used to it, I’ve found that there are some definite advantages and things I do actually enjoy. One is the very short commute time: walk down the hall. I also like that I can get up and exercise without actually getting up earlier. Again, thanks to that short commute. And then there’s the flexibility I have to take a lunch break whenever I want and run errands in the actual town I live in. Yesterday, I took a late lunch and went for a walk to enjoy the spring weather and sunshine. It was glorious. I can take breaks to walk at work, but it’s not really the same. 

Anyway, things in my state are slowly opening back up. About half the office is back to working in the office most days. I’ve no idea when everybody will come back or what they will do if people want to stay home (ha ha…not my problem any more). Since I don’t actually report to anyone where I physically work, my new job will allow a hybrid schedule and I’m seriously considering it. I just keep thinking how this summer I would be able to walk outside in the morning (when it’s light and cool) before work and still start working on time if I worked from home. I don’t want to do it all week, just maybe 2 days. If I do end up permanently with a bit of both, I’d like to get a new chair. My desk is fine, but the current chair has got to go.

 

One Year Later

So it’s been a year since things closed down as the pandemic truly became a pandemic in my part of the world. A year and 3 days since I got back from my trip to Egypt and got a cold and got told I had to stay home from work and quarantine for 2 weeks since I had left the country. At that time they didn’t know enough about what was going on and when I called the hotline, I didn’t have the right symptoms to be tested. I’m still pretty sure I just had a bad cold. One thing has definitely changed since that time. My boss had to deliver my computer to me and I have not once left it at work since then. It’s not that I work after hours, but I want to have it to be able to work if I can’t get to work. And now with my new job, I have a lot more flexibility of where I work so I just always have it with me.

Things are opening back up and life feels a little more normal, just we all have masks on. I still do my shopping and work and stuff just as I always did. Church has changed for me, but that’s mostly because I’m still doing it online because I’m lazy. It’s going on in person with masks if I want to be there. I figure I’ll probably go back soon. I do miss the theater. That is one thing I can’t wait to be able to go back to. 

I’ve come to the conclusion that we, as a human race, have been pretty arrogant to think some major thing like this pandemic wouldn’t happen. I mean we have major things all the time, they are just usually more localized instead of worldwide. But I don’t think this is the worst thing I’ll ever see. And in fact when I think about my life personally, the pandemic, even the bad days I had during the pandemic, doesn’t even count into the worst days of my life.

So here I am a year later on a beautiful spring day. A year older, and hopefully wiser. I am truly sorry for those that have suffered and I’ve tried to do what I can for some relief. But really, it’s just life. If it’s not one thing, it will be another. At least that's how I feel one year later.

Birthday Month

The kids helped my mom decorate my cake this year, which is why I ended up with eyeballs. :) I'll take it. 

I ended up inadvertently sharing my piece with my 18 month old niece as she crawled on the table and stuck her spoon and then hand in it. Still, it was tasty. 

Another Weekend at Home

I’m not complaining since it was raining or snowing all day Saturday and I loved just staying in. I did a lot of cooking (and dishes after cooking) and a little cleaning and reading. I also finished another puzzle. I am loving the Ravensburger cozy puzzle series. I might have bought myself another one (actually two) for my birthday.

 

On Sunday after lunch I pretty much got back into bed with blankets and pillows and books/webtoons. It was kind of fun to be in bed in the middle of the day. Later that evening my neighbor came over and we exchanged more puzzles and I sent her home with some homemade rolls along with the puzzles. It was a good weekend. 

Play On

I listen to classical music many mornings. I have a 30 minute drive to work most days and I turn the radio to my classical station and drive. I despise other radio station morning shows. I don’t think they are funny. Classical music starts my day right. Even on the days I work from home I sometimes put it on to work. I love it. This morning I pulled out of my driveway and heard the first strains of Claire de Lune so I turned up the volume. That piece is so beautiful. Then it was followed by something I had never heard before. They announced it as Paul McCartney’s Somedays played by the Loma Mar Quartet. I found it on YouTube after I got to work. It’s stunning and the melody is haunting. I much prefer it to the original song, no offense to Mr. McCartney. I’m going to be listening to it over and over again today. Yesterday I was listening to Casting Crowns’ Only Jesus and was singing the refrain to myself getting ready this morning. Good music soothes my soul. It doesn’t have to be only religious or instrumental, just good.  The Weeknd’s Blinding Lights is another example of good music that just makes me happy. I needed that lift this morning so what a wonderful way to start the day.

Feeling Crafty

Every once in a while I start feeling crafty. The feeling doesn't last very long but sometimes it turns out well. I saw this on Pinterest and then got some scrap material from my mom. Voila!

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I think I'd like to do it again with a round or square frame next time.