How are you staying sane?

[Squirrel]

sunshine (walking the dog) and knitting:

“Properly practiced, knitting soothes the troubled spirit, and it doesn't hurt the untroubled spirit either.” ... Elizabeth Zimmermann

 

[travelover]

I tried to get a dog to walk..... turns out the shelters are out of dogs. At least something good is coming of this.

I hope it is from so many adoptions and not from dogs in need not being rescued.

 

[ckelly78z]

I consider this layoff from work a Godsend, allowing me to casually get one project after another done on the farm. I take 1.5 hour lunches, play with the dog, type a few responses on threads in different forums, and relax with my wife in the evenings.

Almost like retirement practice. Tomorrow, i'll tackle the garage, and get out on my Ebike.

 

[statsman]

same issue - Our vet put our adult male cat on Prozac - did the trick! Of course he spent hours just staring into the distance...

That almost sounds sad. We've been watching the slow downward trajectory of our 12-year old for about three years now. It wasn't obvious while it was happening, but it only became known after looking backward (I see an investment analogy in there somewhere). The last 2-3 months have been difficult, and that is putting it mildly.

 

[MRG]

I had a phlebotomy right before national attention was focused on the current issues. The procedure knocked my anxiety out of me. Now when I do deep breathing its like a great new drug. Ten minutes is better than 5mg of valium with out nasty side effects. I just breathe and relaxation and sanity return.

I'm also eating a lot of THC, like double my normal amount. [emoji4]

 

[mountainsoft]

I work from home anyway, so not much has changed for me. My wife started working from home last week, so we've been taking turns on my main desktop computer. I can do a little work on my laptop, but it's not very ergonomic or productive. So I've had extra time to cook more and catch up on my TV recordings.

I would really like to get outside, but it has been cold and rainy the last few weeks. We've even had snow the past few mornings. The yard is waterlogged, it looks like a swamp. Hoping for better weather next week. Unfortunately, all the trails in our area are closed, so I can't get out in nature right now.

On the plus side, I've been able to spend more time with my wife which I really enjoy.

 

[Dtail]

Went for a drive yesterday in 80 degrees with the top down. Beautiful.
Got the gutters finally done on the front of the house.
Next up is refreshing the garden for the spring.
Walking for exercise 5 days a week.
We still have delivery/takeout 3x per week.

 

[DrRoy]

Read, listen to music, take a walk every day, hold the dog, hold DW, edit and post photography, play some games, watch TV, do some chores, and plan things I want to do when this passes later.

 

[Ronstar]

Walks, bike rides, yard work, woodworking, fishing, TV at night. Making some maps, and organizing my workshop and photos. I'll put the kayak in the lake starting today if I have enough time.

 

[FIREd]

I am simply keeping my pre-Covid routine. I wake up and go to bed at the same time. I eat my meals at the same time. I wash, shave, and get dressed like usual, even if I’m not going anywhere. I don’t turn on the TV until later in the evening, etc... so I am maintaining a sense of normalcy.

 

[Ready-4-ER-at-14]

The wheels of the truck go round and round....

Our entire five building complex is having the roof replaced and all the roof top air conditioner replaced.

Today a huge crane is arriving in a few minute to hoist stuff to the roof, and again Monday.

I might even celebrate by attire other than a robe while doing my marching around today.. lol

 

[Toocold]

I keep the same routine as before. I have been discovering that many theaters are putting some of their plays online for viewing. I watched one man, two governors with James Corden yesterday - hilarious!

 

[scrabbler1]

No big changes to my everyday life. Food shopping is a little tougher, but after miraculously finding a roll of paper towels (and of the exact sheet size and variety I like!) yesterday, I am now well stocked in all of my regularly bought items. My local pizza joint is still in business, thankfully, and making their great pies I buy once in a while, including last week.


I still have my ladyfriend to visit nearly daily. My best (snake-bit) male friend got furloughed and he has to quarantine himself for 2 weeks prior to his attending his upcoming Passover seder. I'll see him again in a few weeks.


I have my cable TV, phone, and internet. In fact, I recently discovered 2 channels I didn't know I had which have old shows I like, a pleasant surprise. I can still do my laundry in my apartment building. I can still buy gas for my car. Water and electric still work fine, as does the stove.


I still have my Strat-O-Matic baseball cards and have a project in progress. My square dancing ended in 2018 when the caller passed away. I did not seek it out elsewhere, although if I had it would have been canceled this month.


I'd say the only thing gone I wish were still here are the public libraries closed indefinitely, so I can't get any new books to read. I wish they could find a way to reopen, with social distancing, at least to take out books. It's not like they are crowded with lots of people. Everyone was already pretty spread out.


I got my monthly dividends from my bond funds. They were normal, no reductions in the cents-per-share. So I got money coming in to pay the bills, keeping a decent cushion. My ER is in no danger.


I am entering the 6-week period where I visit doctors and other medical service providers for regular appointments. Some are being rescheduled, others may be by phone. But they are all still in business.

 

[athena53]

Being thankful every second for our situation also keeps me sane. In truth, this in not really impact our lifestyle. My portfolio might be smaller, but all that means is that we might leave less to our heirs. We still do not have to worry about loss of a job or paying the rent/mortgage or directly dealing with illness, as many others do. We can still afford whatever food we want and/or is in stock. We are still just as healthy as when this thing started.

I am reminded of this daily and I'm trying to increase my donations to charities such as food banks. The most dramatic impact for me other than the "shelter-in-place" bit has been a curtailment of travel, and that's laughable compared to the problems of many people. The rest of the list:

My daily workouts. Downloading library books to read. Work in the garden. Zoom for Toastmasters, virtual "Happy Hour" with my fellow church members on Fridays and Bible study on Sunday mornings. NOT updating my portfolio values during down days in the market. E-mailing a lot to the people I can't hug right now. Sticking to my regular sleeping, etaing, housecleaning routines.

 

[SumDay]

Listening to podcasts
Reading (the books I have checked out from the library are now not due to 5/15!)
Watching CNBC
Walking the dog
Riding my trike
Thinking about what my flower gardening will look like this year
Lots of cooking, and lots of eating
Organizing the procurement of groceries which is no small task these days
Yoga, meditation spiritual reading and prayer

I'm an introvert, so the seclusion is much easier on me than on DH.

 

[ivinsfan]

I'm going to start spending less time on the internet..Has a rain/ice mix for a awhile last night and woke up to an internet outage..After 5 minutes my reaction to that was relief to be disconnected from this crap.

Internet service back on, but I realize I need to cut back ASAP.

 

[freedomatlast]

I've embarked on a massive spring cleaning effort which was long overdue. Each day I make significant progress, but I am not rushed. I've placed many good items which I no longer need out by the side of the road with a "free" sign and they are normally gone within hours. The Covid crisis is estimated to peak in this area in about 12 or 13 days, so hopefully we will hear some good news soon as far as a decline in new cases after that time.

 

[Moemg]

I have been doing different exercise videos . Some I really enjoy .I am also reading a lot , cooking and working on cleaning a few closets. We do take out once a week when the cook has had it . I read the news daily but try not to get too into it .I am texting my friends to stay connected and calling people I know that live alone.

 

[Chuckanut]

I've been doing a long daily walk in the afternoon. Now that the weather is warming up I think I will do two shorter walks, one AM, one PM.

 

[Midpack]

We’re watching more TV and surfing the Internet a little more unfortunately but we’re also exercising more, and working inside the house and yard, new landscaping and waking up the lawn. Hopefully ‘stay at home’ is over before we run out of productive projects!

Everyone in the neighborhood is trying to entertain each other, lots of sidewalk chalk art & games for the kids, stuffed animals in windows for kids to discover on walks. Adults sit in driveways and talk across the street or six feet apart after the kids are in bed. If anything, our whole neighborhood is more visible and friendly now.

 

[Bir48die]

I have stayed sane by severely limiting my time on this forum. That isn't a stab at members it's just a personal decision not to bathe myself in hours a day in news and discussion on this topic. I was laughing to myself a couple of weeks ago when moderators had a limit of three threads on this topic. Like the virus itself it has grown exponentially. Same with television and social media. I have a pretty decent handle on the situation like everyone else.

Earlier I wrote that I play golf to get outside. I'm continuing that plus have a volunteer project that consumes several hours a day. Lately I decided to tackle two large stumps and dig out by hand. It was two days of grueling work but I loved every second of it. Between the physical and relieving the anxiety it was therapeutic. I also upped my in home workouts for cardio purposes.

 

[Winemaker]

I don't listen to the news more than twice a day. I can only take so much hand wringing.

 

[aja8888]

I don't watch the news, I just come here for it.

 

[Nemo2]

I don't watch the news, I just come here for it.

Glad to oblige...I'm hard at work fabricating it!

 

[pacergal]

I limit reading/watching the news to once daily.
My day to day routine is about the same, other than being able to run to the store whenever I need something. I am much better at menu planning, using what we have here.
And not being able to see kids/grandkids as often as I used too is hard.
Treating any anxiety with meditation, walking outside, relaxation breathing techniques.
I do continue to read this forum, avoiding some topics, but gathering reassurance from many of you!