this new reality of corona “social distancing” and “shelter at home” has certainly been shocking and hard to get used to, but i have had some important learnings as well:

(1) ONE pair of sweatpants is NOT enough when you spend every day at home. usually this time of year i toggle between jeans and jammies each day. if i am not going out, i typically get into my jams right after dinner. i have two pairs of lulus that i wear to my bar classes (that is an indication of how frequently i exercise - most boulder moms have a collection of ten to fifteen pairs. but most boulder moms also wear their lulus as regular clothes. i may run an errand or two in mine after bar class, but i rarely wear them all day long.) however, with my new corona sofa regime, jeans are not comfortable attire for a full day. also, i think all the cookie dough i have been eating (we have been practicing home schooling “life skills” and the ability to make proper nestle tollhouse cookie dough is imperative) has made my skinny jeans even skinnier. i DO have a fairly extensive pj collection but i keep reading that staying in your pajamas all day is not good for your mental health. so sweatpants seem like a good compromise… unfortunately, i only have one pair. now my favorite day is the one when my sweats are fresh out of the laundry.

(my lulus are so old they don’t look like this at all… they look more like trousers. AND i always wear a top with them.)

(2) even when it is really cold, it is not necessary to wear snow pants on an exercise walk. this morning hank and i set out on a snow walk when it was nineteen degrees. we decided to try to find wonderland lake again (my neighbor kindly showed us the route yesterday.) we walked along 4th street from the “d” street to the “k” street and then expertly made our way over the bridge and through this residential bit (there is a big fence mural that is a good landmark) to the path that circles the lake. we were REALLY proud of ourselves (i am even getting better at remembering to say hello to all the other dog people as we pass) but i was so hot i had to take my snow pants off by the bridge. i DID have my lulu’s on underneath, but it still felt awkward when this runner came by while i was undressing. by the time we got half way around the lake i also had to take off my gloves and hat. this made me feel quite vulnerable because my roots are horrendous… PRAISE JESUS for the six foot distance imperative - hopefully the other walkers did not have to suffer the added stress of seeing my terrible silvers in this time of corona. 

(the fence mural by catherine pistone)

after we completed the lake loop we tried to find the bridge again so we could return home on 4th street. this is where things went awry. somehow hank and i ended up by the wonderland lake swimming pool, which i am pretty sure we didn’t walk by with my neighbor. after a couple of blocks we turned around and i realized that if i stayed the course we could turn onto broadway, which is the equivalent of 12th street. while i DO know how to get home this way, it is a MUCH longer route and at this point i REALLY had to go to the bathroom. i was also a bit sweaty, which is VERY unusual for me as i hardly do anything with enough vigor to elicit that bodily function. so i had to take off my amazon coat as well. hank and i FINALLY got home two hours later and as i ran to the bathroom my left ear stick came flying out and nearly plopped into the bowl… which leads me to my third learning…

(proof that we DID find wonderland lake.)

(3) i think my left ear hole is bigger than my right ear hole because my left ear stick comes out so easily and my right ear stick always stays put.

(4) there are a lot of things you can do virtually. on tuesday morning my writing group met on zoom and it was nearly as good as having them at my house. AND i didn’t have to vacuum because the zoom only showed my head.

on thursday evening i played mah jongg with my girlfriends on realmahjongg.com.  this was super exciting… i have missed my ladies and playing so much. the computer did make us move along faster than we normally do and the program could NOT replicate the sound and touch of the tiles (or the snacks.) it also took me a couple of games to figure out that i could have two screens up and see their faces, but i mahjed TWICE out of five games which was very satisfying.

(my favorite mahj tiles: the FLOWERS… so pretty!)

today i also tried to take a bar class from the LIVE facebook page. i had my off brand canned veggies (the only kind left at the safeway) all ready to use as weights  i couldn’t figure out how to join the live class so i started a restore class (half regular bar, half stretching) that had already been recorded. restore is my favorite kind so it might be better for me to always do the recorded ones. i got through the push ups and the plank and then my high school girlfriend called. of course i needed to take this call and then i needed to have lunch and then i needed to let my stomach settle. so i may have to try the restore class again tomorrow, but i will get there. and i am so GRATEFUL to the bar ladies everywhere (but especially the boulder ones because of course they are the BEST) for putting these classes online.

(i don’t know why i had the tomatoes out because i never do the “heavy” weights!)

(5) i thought i was much better at monopoly than i am. we played an epic game the other day that lasted for at least six hours, but i bankrupted out by hour four. i wasn’t even being kind or generous to my kids in my decisions, but somehow lucy was absolutely loaded and theo had tons of monopolies. it was pretty humbling, especially because they were both in jail A LOT - sometimes together - which didn’t make me feel great about my parenting either. they were like white collar 1% gangsters who just glide through life without real consequences. i needed a fresh batch of cookie dough and a glass of wine after that.

(the kids making high stakes trades after i was pushed out of the game.)

(6) it is REALLY hard to wait until five o’clock for a glass of wine when you are home all day and getting stomped in monopoly by a nine year old and a teen. but i am being strict with myself because it IS a slippery slope and i don’t have much stock on hand.

(this is just what i look like at five o’clock. illustration: lorraine dellwood)

(7) while it is terrifying that so many of us are not working at the level we are used to, i have REALLY enjoyed having the chance to catch up with dear friends over calls that are not cut short by carpools or doctor’s appointments or meetings. i have TIME now (maybe also because i have not been the best home school teacher - it’s just that every time you read about a mother who has driven her children into a lake, she is always a home schooler. i am trying to avoid that fate for my kids, so really i am just being responsible.)

(me on the phone with one of my girlfriends.)

(8) i am sleeping better than i have in YEARS! i find this amazing. pre-corona, i would typically wake up around two and flop around with a spinning brain for at least an hour. and then i would be up for the day by five thirty (well before my alarm was meant to sound at six.) many days i would even get up around FOUR (which is practically the middle of the night) and get a couple hours of work in before getting my kids off to school. i have always thought that i was a natural rooster, but maybe my head was just too full? i am not even setting my alarm right now and the last three days i have slept until nearly EIGHT with no middle of the night flopping. i can’t believe it. i have tried so many things to help my sleep the last few years (charlotte’s web CBD oil which gave me crazy dreams - one where i took hank for a long walk in just a towel, magnesium, meditation, no-alcohol) and none of it really worked. (i DO have a headache when i finally roll out of bed because i am HOURS overdue for my coffee, but this is easily rectified.) somehow in the midst of a global pandemic where most of the world is quarantined and the financial markets are tanking (my business as well) i have been sleeping peacefully. i am not sure what to make of this… obviously i want corona to be extinguished and the economy to correct and my business to resurge, but i AM enjoying this lovely sleep… zzzzz

(sleeping like a baby…)

to read more about my thoughts on corona click here