Keeping Busy!

[Connie]

Scary time we are in! As a community of readers, I assume we are all doing a lot of reading during the current health crisis, self isolation, etc. I thought we could have a discussion about what other activities our members are doing to keep active and busy at home. Our household consists of my husband and I (both retired) and our daughter and son in law (laid off due to the corona virus). We are all staying at home and just go out for groceries.
I am a paper crafter so I have been spending time making cards and organizing all my supplies. My daughter and I do lots of jigsaw puzzles and I spend a lot of time binge watching on Netflix. I try to get out for a walk every day to get some fresh air and exercise. I keep in touch with friends and family via FB, phone and email.
Of course I am doing lots of reading. I am determined to get through some of my "read once and discard" books that I have picked up at various sales. I avoided stocking up on library books before my library closed so that I am more likely to read from my stack. I have discovered a couple of gems that have been in a box for awhile.
Would love to hear what others are doing to keep life as "normal" as possible!

[Wanda]

My husband and I are both retired also. So it hasn't affected us much except for the church closing, the place I volunteer closing and of course the library closing. It's more the idea that I can't go anywhere. We live near a lake so I can still go for walks which is good because I have an urge to bake. Cleaned the kitchen cupboards but that was a March project before the crisis.
I have a stack of books bought at a library sale over a year ago so that is what I am trying to go through. Thank goodness for Overdrive and Prime reading.
I just feel bad for the children being out of school for so long. I think my granddaughters are actually ready for school to start again. And also for all of those who have lost jobs. It must be especially hard for the wait staff at restaurants. They are all so dependent on tips. I can't imagine that they have much in savings to see them through.
I'll be curious to see if there is a big jump in number of books read when Stephanie does the March leaderboard.

[Rhonda]

My husband has worked from home for years, and I only worked as an occasional substitute teacher, so not much has changed in that way. I'm an introverted homebody, so that part is not a true hardship for me. My adult son, who is on the spectrum, lives with us. My daughter is in college and was home for spring break, but decided to return to her apartment in Oklahoma for the duration. We live in Texas.
I don't go out much, trying to follow the restrictions. I try to go out to the grocery store just once a week and we get takeout food a couple of times a week. I do miss my gym workouts and really need to start doing some outside exercise. One of the biggest changes is that I'm cooking more consistently. (ha!)
I'm hoping to get focused on some projects in April. I've just kind of coasted through March in a daze, but that's got to end. I have plenty of hobbies that could keep me busy. Scrapbooking and jigsaw puzzles are among those.
I mainly use Overdrive for ebooks and audiobooks, plus I have a huge unread library of my own, so I'm not hurting for anything to read. I don't know if I've read more this month or not. It seems pretty average for me, but since my daily life has not changed much, that makes sense.

[Jennifer]

I live in North Dakota and the mess just started a few weeks ago here. We have been isolating as much as possible for the last two weeks. My significant other works nights in the oil patch and doesn't see any other people and doesn't have to go to the office so he has continued his schedule of one week on and one week off. One of my jobs is an accountant at a construction office and I haven't been going in much. I'm trying to talk the owners into temporarily closing and allowing us to go on unemployment because we are not "essential" workers. Our governor is encouraging that and has lifted the 5 day wait period for unemployment. My side job is a freelance paralegal and I mostly do bankruptcies for local attorneys. I am using my home time to get caught up on my case load because we are expecting a significant increase in bankruptcies between the COVID mess and low oil prices.

I of course have been reading, watching more Netflix than normal, and I just discovered "diamond painting". One of my friends gave me one a few months ago and I just opened it 4 days ago. I love doing that while listening to my audiobook. It is so relaxing!

Hoping everyone is staying healthy and sane!

[Rebecca]

I haven't been home long enough to start feeling the changes, really. We had a bit of an epic, as we were in Antarctica when the world closed down. Took a bit to get home, as you can imagine.

Since we are retired, we don't have any real change in our routines except not visiting with family (at least, until we've gone through our self-quarantine). Our oldest son has been living with us and working on a book, so he's not disturbed but our younger son is having to move home. His classes are on line and his job ended, and then their landlord wanted the house back... he arrives tomorrow, and I did have to spend a long day rearranging the house to make a space for him!

[Linda]

My life doesn't look crazy different on the surface. I'm a stay at home mom with an empty nest. :) My husband, a pediatrician, is still going to work. Our daughter in college is now home. However, I didn't realize how much I wasn't at home with my volunteer schedule and errand running, etc.
To stay busy, I do want to continue my reading and add some jigsaw puzzles that I'm always wanting to work on, but don't. My big goal for April is to make some organization in my closet of mayhem. We moved a couple of years ago, and I stashed photos, kid's school papers, home videos, etc into a closet that I keep thinking I'll get to someday. I'm deciding that this is someday so that's my big goal for the month.
I think it is important for me to focus on those things so I don't let the anxiety level soar too high.

[Rebecca]

Great goal, Linda. I need to do that, too--we moved last June and quite a few areas never quite got moved into :D