(My Quarantine) Life Is Beautiful

We are in the midst of a historic pandemic. As of today, over 17,000,000 people have been infected with this novel coronavirus worldwide, and over 685,000 people have died from it. Businesses are closing, economies are shrinking, millions of people have lost their jobs, and countless people are suffering.

But that's not what this story is about. This is a story is about my quarantine life.

The infamous "Zoom Heart."

My quarantine life is STUPIDLY privileged, it must be said. I live in a 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom apartment in North Bethesda, Maryland, with my partner, Eric. I happen to like Eric a LOT, so that's pretty fortunate. As of today, Eric and I still have our jobs, and we are both incredibly lucky to be able to do these jobs from home. 

We don't have any kids, and we don't have any pets. We are only responsible for ourselves. We enjoy eating the same foods, and we like to watch the same TV shows and movies on Netflix and Hulu. So I completely understand that I am writing these words from a ridiculous place of privilege.

I am not writing this to shame or belittle anyone who is making different life choices than I am right now. I am writing this because I happen to love my life under quarantine, and I think we all need to hear more happy stories right now. This is simply the story of my personal, beautiful, little quarantine life.

My last day in my physical office was Friday, March 13th (yup, Friday the 13th). My employer announced on Thursday, March 12th, that the next day would be our last day in the office. I tried to tie-up all of my lose ends, making sure that my borrowed laptop worked, setting my out-of-office messages, and grabbing some important documents before heading out the door for the last time. 

My last day in the office also happened to be the last time I rode the DC Metro or bought an iced coffee from Wawa in Tenleytown. Those former daily habits feel like lifetimes ago now!  

Eric and I didn't leave our apartment that weekend. We stayed inside to do our part to "flatten the curve." We assumed we were non-systematic carriers of Covid-19, and we've been living under those assumptions ever since. Our quarantine life in August 2020 looks just like our quarantine life from March 2020. Not much has about our lives have changed since then. 

First of all, I love that the morning and evening "commute" has been completely eliminated from my life. In "pre-pandemic life," I woke-up at 6:30 AM every workday, left the house at 7:30 AM, rode the DC Metro to the Tenleytown Station, picked-up an iced coffee (and sometimes also grabbed lunch) from Wawa, jumped on the AU shuttle, and was at my desk by 8:30 AM. In the evenings, I would sometimes walk to the Tenleytown Station (instead of take the AU shuttle), then take the Metro home. 

But now that I'm working from home, I'm gaining two extra hours a day that used to be spent commuting! Two hours a day is a LOT of extra time! The most obvious benefit of this extra time is the extra sleep that I'm getting. My biological clock is MUCH more comfortable waking up at 8:30 AM instead of 6:30 AM. Mornings now don't hurt nearly as much as they used to when the alarm went off at 6:00 AM.  

I get out of bed, brush my teeth, splash my face with water, make my own (DECAF!) iced coffee, and I'm on my laptop at 9:00 AM, responding to emails and participating in meetings on Zoom or Microsoft Team. Eric sits at one end of our living room, and I sit at the other end, working at the dining room table. 

Then 12:00 PM is lunch time! Sometimes, I'll make Eric and I sandwiches with turkey, cheese, mayo, and lettuce. Other times, I'll make us quesadillas with turkey and cheese. Or I'll make us wraps with hummus, meatballs, mozzarella, and lettuce. On Wednesdays and Thursdays, I have virtual lunch dates with friends over Zoom or FaceTime. Sometimes I'll spend my lunch hour being productive (like cleaning the kitchen or doing laundry). Other days, I just want to spend my lunch hour watching reruns 90210 on CBS All Access. My lunch hour will be spent doing whatever sparks joy for me that day. 

Then it's back on the work laptop until 5:00 PM. At that time, both Eric and I close our laptops and start to make dinner. Dinner is whatever my heart desires! I'm only limited by my own imagination. I've cooked more delicious meals in the past five months than in the past five years! I've made homemade Alfredo sauce to pour over broccoli, chicken breast, and bow-tie pasta. I've made chicken tacos with black beans that I cooked from scratch. I've made a tater tot casserole...twice! 

My homemade mac & cheese, with tater tot casserole.

Some people love to cook. I DO NOT. But I love to eat delicious food. And in quarantine life, I'm no longer going to restaurants, so I'm learning to cook my own restaurant-quality food. I have an on-going list of foods I still need to learn to make. I want to make my own Spanish Tortilla. I want to make my own risotto. I want to make my own Taco Bell Chili Cheese Frito Burrito, damn it! And I know I can make all of these things because I've got the time!

And desserts! I've baked cakes. I've made a delicious chocolate, banana, and chia seed pudding! Eric just made the absolute BEST chocolate chip, walnut, oatmeal cookies! He also made chocolate chip scones a couple of months back. YUM! 

Betty Crocker Delights Super Moist Butter Pecan Cake.

And here's the crazy thing - I'm losing weight! I'm no longer eating because of "stress" or "boredom." When I do eat, it's nutritious and delicious, so I'm completely psychologically satisfied by my meals. I know I'm going to make something delicious for dinner, so I have no desire to snack during the day. I'm feeling great!

Lately, we've been watching old episodes of Babylon 5 at dinner time. Then after dinner is exercise time. Exercise HAS to be something that I enjoy and look forward to. Historically, my favorite "exercise" is traveling. Some of the best workouts in my life have been all-day walks around London, Bilbao, Miami, or New York City. I love walking around new cities, exploring different neighborhoods and buildings. So I've brought that love of traveling and walking into my daily quarantine routine. After dinner, we walk and jog in front of the TV while watching travel shows. It gets my heart rate up, and it satisfies my inner travel bug. 

Eric and I exploring the streets of Logroño, Spain in 2018. My kind of exercise!

Early on in quarantine life, I would find "virtual walks" of various cities in YouTube, and we would watch those "virtual walks" of Dublin, Venice, or Tokyo while walking and jogging in place. Once I got tired of amateur videos on YouTube, we started walking and jogging to episodes of Rick Steves' Europe on Hulu. Once I tired of Rick (don't worry, I fully intend to go back to him) we started walking and jogging to a British show in Hulu called Travel Man, hosted by British comedian Richard Ayoade. We just ran out of Travel Man episodes, so we've moved on to the Netflix show Conan Without Borders, starring Conan O'Brien. I like this evening tradition because I get a double dose of endorphins - one dose from exercise and another dose from laughing so hard. It's win-win. 

Richard Ayoade's "Travel Man" catch phrase.

After exercise time is bath time. And I am LOVING my new-found, nighttime, bubble bath ritual. I find that body wash actually lathers-up better than traditional "bubble bath." Who knew? I also put a couple of drops of lavender essential oil into the bath, to take it to the next level of luxury. I come out the bath feeling calm, cozy, and ready for bed time.

Several nights a week, I will squeeze in at least one social Zoom call with a friend (or a group of friends) before bed time. My social life isn't hurting under quarantine life. In fact, I've never felt more connected with friends and family in my entire life! 

Tuesday nights are particularly social. I participate in a Zoom call every Tuesday night with my former high school choir director, his wife, and a handful of former choir friends. On some nights, only 4 or 5 of us can make it. But other nights, we have up to a dozen old friends chime in from all over the country. We laugh and reminisce about silly high school drama, and we try to remember all of the songs we performed. We talk about our high school musicals, and we remember our "Raz-Ma-Taz" performances. And yes, there is singing! I insist! 

Tuesday night choir reunions on Zoom.

I used to reconnect with this former teacher maybe once a year, when I would fly home to Texas at Christmas time. But thanks to quarantine life, I now have the gift of regularly keeping in touch with these dear friends of mine.

In summation (too late, I know!), I love my quarantine life! I can see all of the gifts that are arising out of this pandemic, and I am overwhelmed with gratitude for every precious moment of this quarantine life. 

For the first time (possibly ever), I am living a very intentional life. Nothing happens by accident. I have the gift of time to do whatever I want, every day of my life. I cook and eat intentionally. I socialize intentionally. I exercise, relax, work, and sleep intentionally. 

When I see an entire weekend before me, with no obligations or responsibilities, I can ask myself, "What do I WANT to do?" And then I DO THAT! Lately, the things I've wanted to do more than anything are write, tell stories, and connect with the people that I love. Those activities are 100% what give me joy these days. 

I can't distract myself with making plans about the future. I am FORCED to live in the present moment. And the present moment is where all joy and love come from! We only have this moment to love one and other. We only have this moment to connect with one and other. We only have this moment to experience the joy of life. And I am absolutely bursting at the seams with love and joy these days. 

Zoom call with family in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.

I know that quarantine life won't last forever. Human ingenuity is beyond belief, and we will develop and distribute a vaccine for this deadly virus that is ravishing individuals and communities all over the world. We will return to work, to school, to parties, and to traveling, one day. But I don't want to lose the intentional life that I am leading now. I want to keep these actions, habits, and behaviors with me for the rest of my life. 

I want to keep spending my days writing, connecting, laughing, telling stories, cooking, exercising, and relaxing. I found my perfect life here at home. 

I hope you are living your most perfect life, too.