30 Things I've done in my first 30 days of self isolation

30 Things I’ve Done in My First 30 Days of Self-Isolation

Yesterday was my 30th day of self-isolation during this coronavirus pandemic. And it feels like it should be marked somehow.

Open notebook with a purple marker laying on top. Written in marker are the words: "Self-isolation day 30. (Do I get cake?)
Today is my 30th day of self isolation. Do I get cake?

It feels momentous. And surreal. And depressing. And hopeful.

Like something that should be celebrated – but it’s a celebration of doing nothing. Like this is too easy to be worth celebrating – but was actually super hard. Like my ho-hum time at home doesn’t matter compared to what so many are experiencing – but staying home matters a lot. 

(Aside: This preamble is turning into something worthy of A Tale of Two Cities – the book so unanimously hated in my high school senior English class that several friends bought copies to burn at graduation parties.)

(#SorryNotSorry, Dickens.)

So, what has self-isolation been like? Well, I’ve enjoyed a lot of quality memes.

But woman can not live on meme alone. In the spirit of the writer’s maxim “show don’t tell,” I’m sharing what I have actually been doing in my 30 days at home during this pandemic.

30 Things I’ve done during the coronavirus pandemic

1. Write some, but not much.

2. Supporting local businesses when I can.

3. Vote.

Angela with an "I voted" sticker and a cup of coffee from the her local coffeeshop.
Voting and supporting my drive-through barrista.

4. Video chat with friends.

5. Write an article on Working from Home with Kids.

5 Tips for working From Home With Kids in a Crisis

6. Binge read six novels in a week. Then read nothing at all.

7. Throw out my back. Then set up a new standing-desk converter to make it less likely to happen again.

Angela's office showing a desk with a platform to raise/lower her monitor and keyboard so it can become a standing desk.
Loving my new office setup.

8. Let go of the pressure to be productive. (Mostly.)

9. Figure out e-learning with my kids.

Twitter post by Angela:
EVERYONE: These zoom business meetings/college classes are so hard.
CLASSROOM OF KINDY/1ST KIDS: Hold my juice pouch
#mycovidstory #scenesfromquarantine
Link to tweet.

10. Stay informed by reading news from trustworthy sources.

11. Hide from the news when it becomes too stressful.

12. Rediscover dark humor as a coping mechanism.

Cartoon of Angela wearing a rainbow clown wig and red clown nose while not smiling.
Me trying to laugh my way through our dystopian reality.

13. Take naps.

14. Go for family walks and bike rides in remote areas.

15. Stress eat.

16. Redesign this webpage!

I love the redesign I did of my webpage!

17. Enjoy poetry by friends.

18. Dye my hair blue.

Selfie of Angela outside with hair overdyed in dark blue.

19. Spend a lot of time on social media – even for me.

20. Make art with no expectations.

21. Play Animal Crossing. A lot.

22. Attempt to take a cat on a walk.

Tried to take our cat on a walk. He was not a fan.
The cat was not nearly as amused as we were.

23. Feel stressed, depressed, angry, and anxious on repeat.

24. Celebrate a 10th birthday! (Then scrub every inch of my kitchen when the 10 year old was done baking her cake.)

25. Lean hard into accepting my emotions. And encourage others to do the same.

26. Try to appreciate the little things. (Like brilliant sunsets.)

Picture at sunset when a break in the cloud colored the tops of trees in bright red.
Between the thunderstorm and the following overcast clouds was a thin crack that let brilliant red sunset light in. 

27. Play online games with friends.

28. Make palm crosses with daffodil leaves.

Icon of Christ on a brick wall. On top sits a palm cross made from a daffodil lead.
Daffodil leaves are a decent replacement for palms in folding crosses, but our success rate was lower.

29. Ok, fine. I finally watched The Tiger King.

30. Stay home and #flattenthecurve with self-isolation.

P.S.

I actually really like Dickens. I even read several of his pieces in high school when they weren’t required. But Tale of Two Cities… I just couldn’t.

Maybe I would like it now as an adult without an English teacher slowly strangling the life out of it with literary analysis. (#SorryNotSorry, Senior English Teacher.) But with so many great books in the world, why take a chance?

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