Okay, to address the elephant in the room, we are all at home (or should be) for an extended period of time so wanted to create a post on how the hell to survive social distancing and staying at home.  Mind you, this is meant to bring some humor and lightheartedness to the subject.  I am aware that this is a huge deal and am fully on board of staying at home and avoiding crowds to slow the spread of the virus.  This is affecting so many people both directly and indirectly. But, I feel like focusing on things we can do right now is important for our sanity in the next few weeks. Here are some things to do to survive the Pandemic at home.

Wine.  

Now, I am not condoning drinking excess amounts of wine (or your drink of choice).  But the blog is literally called Wine-a-Little, so this is how I am surviving.  The wineries by me are even offering curbside pick up.  Honestly, how convenient? During this time, your favorite local wineries are hurting, give them your support and pick up your favorite bottle.  Or two, whatever, I cannot judge.

Stay active.  

I am a firm believer that a good workout makes you feel better and someone that needs a work out to stay sane. I am currently using Beachbody on Demand for my source of workouts. But I know there are a lot of gyms, yoga studios, fitness instructors, etc., that are streaming workouts online. I have also created my own workouts from things I have found on YouTube and Pinterest.

Not someone with a fitness routine? Now is a perfect time to start. Find an accountability partner and some online workouts to get started. Also, I noticed there are not as many people out and about, good time to start running…if you are like me and run like a fawn who just learned to walk.

Get outside.

Yes, you can still go for walks and go for hikes during this time. Utilize your breaks and go for a walk.  Embrace the world slowing down for a little bit and enjoy fresh air and long walks.  This will also help your mood on the rough days (there will be some).

Organize and clean your house/apartment. 

Honestly, when else do you have enough time to seriously dedicate to deep cleaning and re-organizing your place?  This is the perfect time to go through your closets, your junk drawers, clean out cupboards.

Have house projects you have been pushing off until forever? This would be a great time to start.

Meal Plan.

Okay guys, bare with me.  The grocery stores are insane majority of the time and while grocery pick ups are great, likely you are waiting for a pick up.  This is now going to require planning on your end.  I intend to make another post about meal planning and how I do it.  But stole the idea from my mom who was a queen at meal planning and grocery shopping.

A simple way to meal plan is

1. Make a list of meals you make frequently and possibly some new recipes you would like to make for lunch and dinner.
2. Take out a calendar (planner, google calendar, phone) and plan out when you will make what for lunch and dinner.
3. Take inventory of what you have in your pantry, fridge, and freezer.
4. Anything you do need to make the meals you have planned out and your grocery list is now done.

Having a meal plan and grocery list makes grocery shopping during a pandemic manageable and easier.  I think having a meal plan also helps with sticking to a budget.

Watch some good movies/start a new series.  

I am not someone who can sit on the couch for hours but we are going to have extra time on our hands for the next few weeks. It’s a good time to start shows and/or movies you have been dying to see. For my true love crime junkies like me, I would recommend Lost Girls on Netflix.  I too fell down the rabbit hole of watching Tiger King during this time. It is so wrong but so addicting. Someone convince me that she did not feed her husband to the tigers.

My sisters and I started All American together, so we could be watching the same thing apart but together.   This may or may not have stemmed from us not 100% into any of the movies on Netflix.

Check in with your loved ones.

It’s going to be a long few weeks, check in on your loves ones, especially your grandparents, to make sure they are doing okay. I have also seen and participated in a virtual happy hour to stay connected with friends, I would recommend this as well.

Lessons learned?

During all this and with lots of extra time on my hands, I have been asking myself what is the lesson I should be learning in all of this? I would admit I have been struggling with this question for a while. Probably because I do not like being told what to do, as I am sure this comes as a surprise to those who know me well, and also because I enjoy coffee dates with people. Now the lessons learned with all of this is probably different for each person. But for me, I think it is to use my time more intentionally and focus on my non-negotiable.   When I do have time free time, I need to ask myself how do I want to spend it and with who. While I am more a homebody, I need spend more time with the ones that I love. Ask others for more coffee dates, more trips to the winery for a glass, allocate more time to visit my family, and set some work-life balance boundaries to name a few.  I also did not know I could miss my family this damn much.  What are some lessons that you are learning or have learned?