This week has been one of an overwhelming number of hours related to work as well as my unpaid work of doing what I can to support our local businesses. I may be more settled in to the realization that this is “real life,” but I’m also just tired. Okay, exhausted. So this week’s update will be short. The extended nature of this crisis is just straight up draining, and I know I’m not alone in that feeling.
Friday’s Frugal Five
1. We decided to “splurge” and pay for Disney+ (on top of Netflix and Amazon). For $7.99 a month, it’s already paid for itself in the first month with Frozen II and… another movie I’m completely spacing on. Plus we’ve been watching some National Geographic documentaries on there.
And by “we,” I mean that the kiddo watches the movie or show, my husband does half the time, and I do maybe a quarter of the time. Regardless, I’m definitely glad we’ve paid for Disney+. While we’re home a lot more for however long, having more interesting movie and show options seems worth it.
2. Another neighbor had her birthday this past week, so we celebrated in the cul de sac again with a happy hour mini party. It’s not quite the same, but it’s a heck of a lot better than nothing. I am so in love with my neighborhood.
3. We had a pizza “party” with our old neighbors who are currently stuck in Italy, along with another family who still lives here. We each made our own pizza, and we ate lunch here while they ate dinner given the time difference.
One thing I very much hope will continue after all of this is the increased connection with those who don’t live near us. At this point, Italy is just as close as Seattle, and I don’t plan to let that get away from us once we can move about normally.
4. I was able to tick another month off of my clothes buying ban. Considering I’m not going anywhere and doing no shopping other than essentials and take out, this was entirely too easy. But hey, I’ll take it. And I might get to four years after all if this keeps up.
5. So, I’d kept this out of the Frugal Five last week, but it felt wrong to keep it from all of you just because I was worried about the possible backlash. Starting last week, my neighbor has been watching my kiddo for part of every day while I get more focused work done.
She pulled her kiddos from school the same time as I pulled mine from preschool – five weeks ago – and for the first three weeks, we fully quarantined from each other. After those initial three weeks of isolation, we’ve been treating our two homes as one, and we have not come within six feet of anyone outside of that.
We’ve been eating most dinner together, and she has been my lifeline through all of this. Life is weird, and hard, and surreal, but with her and the rest of that family, we’re able to tread water and get through this together.
If you’re going to comment just to tell me I’m wrong, I don’t want to hear it. But I also want to be transparent and share what my life looks like right now. And this childcare option makes a whole lot more sense than a busy daycare right now.
Exercise Update
Like last week, I made sure to get out for a walk every day. Friday I also went for a twenty minute run, which felt totally awesome. I’m still taking it easy, but I seem to be able to run a couple days a week now without aggravating my heel too much.
Tuesday I had an hour “dance party” in my room by myself, which was entirely more fun than it sounds. Wednesday was a live vinyasa yoga class through Zoom. It’s been a long time since I’ve taken a tough yoga class, and I am sore.
How are you all holding up?