Is this over yet?

By | April 26, 2020

Not a serious question. We all know it’s a long way from over, but I’m really beginning to feel this acutely.

This was A WEEK.  And it seemed universally so. I was on a working group call early Friday afternoon that’s usually chatty and the chair noticed we were all quiet. I volunteered that it wasn’t content related, but that we were all burned out, and there was some quiet murmuring of agreement.

There was just something about that six week mark. I saw it in a lot of posts this week too. *HUGS*

have a dinosaur neighbor, they’re helpful!

I’m healthy, safe, working, which are the important things. But I miss seeing my friends, family and colleagues live. I miss my routine and having a clue what day of the week it is. I miss weekends having some meaning. I miss my favorite sushi restaurant. I’m so tired of eating the same thing.  I’m still saving money not buying work lunch, but there was definitely more takeout dinner this week. I’m lucky to live in a neighborhood/city that is full of takeout aka why I never cook, but Saturday afternoon when my taste buds decided they wanted Subway and it too was closed? Sometimes it’s the little things that are disappointments as much as the little things that mean happiness.

Little things I’m doing to make this week better:

  • finding a new recipe to make next week because after seven weeks of chicken, I do not want to see it again. Happy for any crockpot suggestions/Pinterest links of very very basic recipes.

AC, you need to get a move on. Ice cream jammies? You can stay

my desk and “office art” is shaping up

  • Improving the living/working space including:
    • finding a new place for my AC. The new desk chair has been great, but my back is sore from the angle I need to work at because I can’t tuck under the desk due to the AC. I think I found a new location for it.
    • buying a monitor off a colleague who no longer needs it. I love my Macbook Air, but it was never meant for FT use and Citrix, Chrome, Zoom and Firefox for different needs was just too much on a 13″ screen. When I move the AC (and bottled water farm on my right), I can slide the laptop over and have room on the left for the monitor. There might even be a related solution to having a blender growing out of my head on Zoom calls. Probably not though.
    • reclaimed my coffee table. All the stuff from the desk are got dumped there and as a result, it wasn’t a relaxing place to sit & read, so I wasn’t. I really want to get into a better habit of a screen (or at least laptop) break to mark the end of the work day, and read more.  I think this will help.

I’m grateful to this space for being able to share all the things. From my stealth marathon training to all of this. I love you all and include you in the missing seeing my friends live as we had a good run of live meetups going this year, and I can’t wait for those to re-start. I  remember when I first went into PT last year I was nervous that PT might not “count” for the Sunday linkup and now we have this post which is 10% run down and 90% rambling.

The week wasn’t all bad. In fact, it was mostly good I:

  • RAN! (More on that below)
  • had a Monday night happy hour with some of my favorite museum colleagues
  • stumbled upon a beautiful performance from a neighbor down the block, and this is my new favorite place to be at 7:03 PM. We’ve established a fun rapport from fire escape to street level and sometimes she’ll start with my favorite verse, even though there are three before it. Enjoy a clip from Wednesday’s live performance. This was so needed in light of some seriously depressing news coverage of my beloved city.
  • a reunion with some fellow teachers from Japan. We’re mostly Facebook friends, but someone created a group and we decided to have a Zoom meetup Saturday morning. Amazing to see how much our lives have all changed in the nearly 19! years since we moved to Japan.
  • Had a Skype NFL Draft party with some friends I frequently talk Giants with.
  • Realized I spent about half on food & dining this March/April as I did last year, a savings of nearly $600. That’s amazing considering I feel like I spent so much more on groceries. That will likely level out in May as April 2019 had some friends in from out of town and social dining.

Back to the point of this post… LOL. Pardon the ramble.

Another weird week, exercise wise, and not one really worth noting day by day, but linking up with Deborah and Kim, as always.

  • I tried to run last Sunday and it hurt, so I knew it was going to be another week of walking, and I was OK with that. Pain free walking is better than running with pain.
  • There was a lot of PT-both my exercises, Marcia’s from last week and other IT Band ones I had.  I’m not really sure what derailed the IT Band three weeks ago, although I have a theory, but I think/hope I’m back on track
  • Never miss a Monday and a strong start to the week: looked at my calendar & saw a 4:30-6 meeting which meant my afternoon walk slot wasn’t happening, so I went out early. Easy to social distance on an overcast morning, and I had the park virtually to myself. Everytime I see it, twinkle twinkle little bat makes me smile.

one of my favorites of the week. Love the hint of color

  • There was much more tiptoeing through the tulips on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. And those were only the ones that made it to Instagram. I have probably taken a thousand photos of flowers since PAUSE began. I’m so glad many states allowed for exercise even while encouraging staying at home, because we’d all be even more stir crazy.
  • I RAN. I’d apologize for the all caps, but they’re absolutely intentional and I know you all get that baby steps back feeling. It was only about a mile and a half and there were stops for stretches, but it felt good overall. I don’t have a plan for the week, I’m going to run by feel and hope it continues to be pain free.

on to the next… Stay safe everyone

26 thoughts on “Is this over yet?

  1. Jennifer @ Fit Nana

    I completely feel you on the “eating the same thing all the time” thing. I just commented out loud – to myself, of course – as if I were responding to someone asking me what I’m having for lunch today, “why, the same thing I had yesterday! And the day before that. AND, the day before that!” Thankfully, it was only 4 servings so I get to have something new tomorrow!

    Your fire escape seems like a nice place to be. I can imagine how refreshing and peaceful those moments listening to your neighbor must be.

    And I love all the tulip photos. 🙂

    Reply
  2. Kim G

    I completely agree that this week was A LOT. Myself and my colleagues all said the same thing on Friday morning. My one co-worker said she was so looking forward to virtual happy hour because she wanted to drink a good amount of wine lol. Fingers crossed that this week goes better for all of us!

    Wow! That’s awesome that you have saved so much money on food over the past few weeks. I’m thankful that I’ve saved a good amount on gas since I haven’t had to fill up my tank for 6 weeks lol.

    Reply
  3. Wendy

    Hooray for a pain free run!! That’s some good news.

    I’m feeling you on being over this whole thing. This week is when it hit me. We have it really good, I know, but more than anything, I’m tired of the fear and anxiety over COVID. I also am very saddened by the growing divide between people; some of my very good friends have crossed over to ‘the dark side’–the anti-science side–and it’s very troubling to me.

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      It is ridiculous that facts & science have become politicized. I feel you 1000%, and hugs from afar.

      Reply
  4. Deborah Brooks

    Pain free walking is always better than painful running. Rambling is always acceptable! Ramble on. We all need an outlet even more so now. Anxiety over all of this and when it will end is so exhausting. I have really cut back dramatically on any “news” watching or reading it just stresses me out. On the cooking front-crockpot cooking is so easy. How about something like a pulled pork ? You can make tacos and then add left overs to salads and sandwiches for a few days.

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      HUGS. So glad we both have this space. So glad you & Kim kept it going when Wendy and Holly were ready to step down.

      Until the NFL draft I hadn’t turned on the TV. I just can’t. I told a friend that my apartment is my safe space from the outside world and it’s that little bit of control we can have.

      I’m looking into pulled pork. It looks like something I can manage. I’m getting an Instant Pot. I’m looking at cooking as a whole new adventure.

      Reply
  5. Marcia

    I’m so happy you had a RUN that felt GOOD! Massive win!
    I’m in the same place. Enough already. We’ve all been such good sports dealing with everything but it’s worn on SO long and I’m so done. I mean I knew our SIP order would be extended but I hate how it’s pushing back the possibility of returning to normalcy. I’m such a bad crockpotter. The only thing I make is pot roast and I’m the only one here who eats it so I have it for awhile. It is easy so holler if it sounds good to you. That said, chicken tacos are on tap for tonight. Sorry for the C word. Haha!

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      Oh no worries, the C word is happening for dinner tonight and every day this week too. It was after I went shopping that I had an “I don’t even like you” hissy fit at the poor bird. We are all fried.

      I think the lack of in person connection makes it worse – words weren’t made this degree of venting and commiseration. We just need a hint that it might end some time.

      Yes please on pot roast. I’ve never had it, but collecting any ideas. Thank you!

      Reply
  6. Darlene S. Cardillo

    Love that post title. Lol

    So happy that your knee is feeling better.

    I’m actually cooking different things. Out of boredom.

    So over this wfh shit.

    Reply
  7. Coco

    Yay for a good run! It can make things so much more bearable. I did OK last week, but this dreary weekend has me struggling. My April NYC conference is now schedule for August. Not sure I’d bet money on it taking place, or on me being there since I’m not a speaker. Maybe I’ll be ready by then.

    Here’s my simple crockpot chicken recipe:

    http://got2run4me.com/2014/08/06/mango-salsa-chicken-recipe/

    This post has links to a few good recipes:

    http://got2run4me.com/2014/05/07/recipe-roundup-wiaw/

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      ooh thank you! I love that you just happened ot have chicken & salsa in your fridge. I need to up my game there. Pantry I’m good-ish but not so much on fresh food. It’s why I still have to go to the grocery store weekly. One quarantine plan is to finish the uncrustables, chicken nuggets and random leftovers and defrost the freezer. It’s a wee bit cramped right now and I like the idea of having some frozen meals for when I don’t have time/ingredients to cook.
      If it does happen in August, watch me be away, although not sure that’s happening either.

      Reply
  8. Debbie @ Deb Runs

    You know I get your all caps “I RAN” because I’m right there with you! It feels so good to finally be ready to run again.

    We picked up Subway one day this week for lunch. I ordered it on my app and they brought it out to me when I arrived. It was such a wonderful change to the same old thing. We also ordered a delicious Italian dinner from a young lady who was a chef in the Bronx until the restaurant where she worked had to close due to the virus. She’s moved back in with her parents until this is all over. She sends out an email to a few people and if you want to order, you place your order by 6PM on Friday and pick it up on their porch between 4 and 6 on Saturday. It was AMAZING – I posted a picture on IG.

    Have a great week and stay safe!

    Reply
  9. cari Post author

    Oh that looks amazing. DO you know the name of the restaurant she worked at? Would love to give them business when this all passes.
    One of the last times I had Subway was in VA – when mom & I were driving to Florida. We stopped somewhere just outside DC to get sandwiches. Sometimes you just need it. E coupons have magic pixie dust I think to activate taste buds

    Reply
  10. Kimberly Hatting

    Yay for the pain-free RUN! But I have to concur…a pain-free walk is better than a painful run. We have two Subways in town…rumor has it one of them is opening back up. It’s not a place I frequented, but just having it closed (and not having the option to even think of going there) made it sound pretty appealing.

    Reply
  11. Lisa @ Mile by Mile

    I totally agree that last week was a rough one. I wrote about it in my post too. I think we are all feeling like this has been going on a long time and is not changing any time soon. Plus the weather wasn’t great last week which didn’t help.
    Yay for running!

    Reply
  12. Liz Dexter

    Yay you ran! I was OK last week as I worked really hard so I didn’t have time to think much. But the weekend was weird. I did almost too much socialising yesterday (chat with our next door neighbours when they went past when I was in the front yard, video call with Gill when we’d be in the cafe, chat with Jenny and family who were on a walk in the neighbourhood, joined Matthew on a skype call with his dad) and I got tearful and tired.

    I’m glad you could all “admit” the burnout and that you’re getting your workspace sorted out so nicely. We have made Matthew’s area in the dining room a bit more easy on the eye, removing some random chairs!

    Reply
  13. Jenn

    I RAN, TOO!!!! High fives to us! We deserve it!

    And no. This isn’t over. I want it over but it’s just not. I’m glad you’ve been able to get your space into some semblance of working order. That helps. My house is a disaster and I just don’t have the heart or motivation to deal with it.

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      We deserve all the fives. My apartment is still a mess. I’ll get there. Eventually.

      Reply
  14. Jessie

    Glad your knee is feeling better. Who knew our wfh setups would be so valuable…and for so long. It was definitely a rough week. I can’t believe this has been going for so long. My run streak is on day 44!

    Reply
  15. Judy @ Chocolaterunsjudy

    I truly can’t imagine living completely alone — not even a furkid for company right now! Hugs, Cari. Although my mom is sort of in the same boat.

    I’m not sure if we’re saving money or not since we’re doing all-delivery.

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      Belated *hugs*.
      I had to wander away from this post for a while for obvious reasons. I don’t have space for a litter box, but I wish I did because this would have been the time I bit the bullet and got a cat.
      A month later I’m still saving somehow. I’ve been doing more takeout. I need the variety and want to shop local

      Reply
  16. Lisa @ TechChick Adventures

    I had a tough week, but that was all related to my job in technology and really nothing to do with quarantine. Sounds like Ohio will be dipping their toes into reopening things, and I’m honestly not sure if I’m ready for it!
    Good for you getting a pain free run!! Hooray!!

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      I hope your job has settled down some. Do you have to remote support colleagues? My colleagues do a bang up job of that in normal times, but I’m floored at how they’re navigating a not super tech saavy office in this.

      Reply
  17. Pingback: Hot or Iced Coffee in August? – travellingcari.com

Leave a Reply to cari Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *