A Day in the Life

Quarantine Edition

I’ve hit a milestone. 

Today marks exactly 4 weeks, one entire month, that I have been participating in the self-distancing movement to help slow/stop the spread of COVID-19.

Somehow, someway, here in Pennsylvania it’s only been a month or less for some folks. Wild, right?

My stay at home initiative started early because of my current job working at an elementary school. Obviously schools were one of the first institutions to close up shop when the virus really started to take hold in the states, it was even just announced yesterday that they’ll stay closed through the remainder of this academic year, and personally I think that move probably helped slow the spread considerably with the way kids suck up germs. But, ever since then I’ve been living in the dateless haze that is the QUARANTINE. 

Now, allow me to preface the rest of my post with this: we are dealing with some serious shit. People are getting incredibly sick, many are dying, and I know that those us of who are still healthy and able to stay at home are lucky as fuck. Don’t take my light hearted mockery and minor complaints as not understanding or appreciating the situation….a bitch just likes a little levity. With that, let’s continue.

Here in quarantine, or the Quaran-zone as I’ve started calling it while writing this, life is looking a little bit different than it used to. There’s a lack of structure and normalcy that is throwing us all for a loop. But to be fair, I was unemployed all of last year so slipping into the Quaran-zone wasn’t really as jarring to me as it may have been for a lot of others.

Since we’re all still transitioning to this current way of life, some of us doing a better job at it than others (you fucks who are still hanging out in groups or not washing your hands or not wearing an easy no sew mask that takes minimal effort to make, knock it the fuck off,) I thought it would be fun, and maybe helpful, to share what life currently looks like for me in this surviving not thriving global pandemic and what I’ve been doing to pass the days.

Average Daily Quaran-Zone Schedule

11:00am - alarm goes off to take birth control pill (no quaran-babies in this house)

11:05 - 11:20am - catch up on the goings on of the morning people 

11:20am - 1:45pm - go back to sleep

1:45pm - get up for real cause a girl’s gotta pee

1:45 -2:30pm - check social medias, news, emails, texts, etc. 

2:30pm - breakfast

3:00pm - chores/cleaning

4:00pm - feed/play with the dog

4:45 - 6:00pm - nap…cause what the hell else is there to do?

6:00 - 7:00pm - husband and I start whining about figuring out dinner

7:00 - 7:30pm - scavenge the freezer, fridge, and cabinets 3-7 times hoping a new and exciting ingredient will suddenly inspire the meal to end all meals

8:00pm - dinner 

9:00pm - midnight - writing, reading, video gaming, streaming

Midnight - second dinner

1:00am - 5:30am - youtube, hobby cultivating, straight chillin

5:30 - 6:00am - bedtime

Sure, this is just an average schedule. Somedays there’s a car ride to look forward to, others I’m up “early” to finish a project. But I’m thrilled to note that I am once again back on my bullshit ya’ll! Without the daily need to get up for work, my night owl tendencies have once again taken over (and if you’d like to read how that trait fucked me at the beginning of the year, click here.)  In the Quaran-zone it feels like there’s no rules. 

Large meals at midnight? Do it. Wanna buy a tattoo machine and kit to start learning? I mean shit, we’ve got the time. Sometimes, the only way to keep going during weird ass times it to just do whatever the fuck you want to do whenever you want to do it (assuming you’re not hurting anyone in the process.)

So far during this quarantine I’ve managed to finish 3 books, clean out and organize a spare room, let my husband practice tattooing on me, and totally burnt down 2 different candles. I’ve done more dishwasher loads than I can count and discovered a new youtube gamer to help pass the hours.  I’ve even painted my nails and had them last for a full week….twice! Were these things earth shattering? Nope. But they’ve kept me busy and kept me going in the wake of uncertainty we’ve been thrust into. 

While we don’t know when we’ll finally be able to start venturing out into public with any regularity again, it’s important to find things to look forward to, things to keep our minds and bodies busy. It’s also important to stay informed about the current state of things but remembering to also take breaks from the news and the worry and the unknown.

It’s okay if you can’t stand to listen to another press conference, it’s okay if you want to sit and read or bake bread or watch Tiger King all day. It’s okay if you don’t want to do anything more than nap and snack on the reg. The Quaran-zone is all about doing your best and make it through one day at at time. Most of us have never lived through anything like this before so at the very least, we can take comfort in knowing we’re all together in our aloneness, we’re all struggling, and we’ll all be a lot more grateful for everyday life when we make it to the other side.

So what does the Quaran-zone look like for you? How has your daily schedule changed? Do you miss your normal routine or are you taking advantage of the “new normal?” How have you been keeping yourself from totally losing it? Share your thought and routines in the comments below!