Monday 23rd March 2020

You know, if there wasn’t a global pandemic going on and a whole lot of catastrophe going on out there, I think I’d quite like this whole lockdown thing.

It’s like, you’re programmed by the media to fear lockdown. To see it as a terrible situation, and I’m no way playing down what’s going on outside because that truly is terrible , but the actual lockdown… I’m finding it rather enjoyable. I also feel safe thanks to the police, the front line workers and those around me. We’re in a fortunate position which not everybody will be in so I totally understand that for some people, this is a living nightmare.

For us though, we’re getting to spend a lot more time together than we usually do, as Alex is working from home. Granted, he sits on the balcony room and gives live classes for a few hours of the day, plus his preparation and presentation time and meetings and all that. But it’s nice having him around (ask me if I feel the same by day 7, haha!). With Alex being able to continue working it means we are pretty okay.

It’s nice having him around to help out with the housework. Make cups of coffees in the morning. To make breakfast. To play games with. If it wasn’t for the fact we weren’t allowed out at all, I think I could’ve got used to this whole situation.

I am liking Alex working from home and I’m loving that, at the moment, I’m just working from home with a social media client. Planning Instagram content. Creating graphics. Writing content. It’s things I love doing. It’s not that I don’t love my day job anymore, it’s just, I’m liking not being there. I’ve really needed this time to know what direction I want to go in. Do I want to do the same book, teaching the same content year in year out? I’m not sure.

I’m somebody who gets bored relatively quickly. I’m always ready for the next thing. I mean, I’m in no way a quitter. But, I just like to be able to do… everything. First I wanted to be a teacher, then it was a massage therapist, then it was a cheerleader, then it was SEN Lead, then it was a nursery manager, then it was a personal assistant, then it was a social media manager. I’ve loved doing teaching for 4 years but the repetition of doing the same books all the time just gets monotonous. Quarantine is really getting me thinking about what direction I want to go in next.

Of course, living in Spain makes that much harder. Back in England, I wanted to be a personal assistant? Sure, no problem. I got the interview and I did it. I loved it. I really did. I wanted to be a SEN manager? Again, no problem. I had the skills and the qualifications. Now, language barriers hold me back. I can’t just move into office work, because truth be told, my Spanish isn’t good enough to do it and there just isn’t enough call for it.

Anyway, I’m rambling.

We’ve been sticking to the whole eat well, sleep well, do well kinda thing. I work up this morning not feeling particularly great (no corona symptoms!) but I had been lucid dreaming. I was stuck in a dream and I kept trying to wake myself and it just wouldn’t work. I would wake up and look at myself and force myself to go toilet, but I wouldn’t be awake. This cycle lasted 17 times. SEVENTEEN TIMES THAT I THOUGHT I WAS AWAKE AND HAD GONE FOR A WEE. The sensations and everything were there and every single time I thought NOW is the time I’m awake, I wasn’t.

After breakfast, I played a little brawl stars whilst Alex gave some classes. It’s been relatively noisier today than previous days as maintenance, gardening and building work is back. Our maintenance man came and disinfected all of the public areas and gave the building another deep clean. Meanwhile, works on InTempo and Delfin Tower were active again.

I decided to create a quarantine ideas page for my bullet journal. It wasn’t for any particular reason other than I’d got a few spare pages left and what sums up 2020 more than a god knows how long quarantine?

It’s funny thinking about how we’re in isolation. I always prided myself in never getting a detention, let alone an isolation at school. Honestly, 16 year old me would be so pissed that I’ve ruined my school records by having an isolation period on my track record but also secretly thinking I’m well cool. Though, these days the real heroes are those sitting on their sofas in isolation as opposed to out and about.

Shortly after lunch I started thinking about all the food I’d love to eat. Scotch eggs. Bacon baps. Tomato and mascarpone pasta. Hummus and breadsticks. All those things that we can’t get hold of yet because it warrants an Iceland trip. Can we do that trip? It’s not our nearest supermarket… but it is our nearest British supermarket… would the police warrant an Iceland trip as an essential journey? Hope so.

That’s the thing about being in isolation. You start thinking about food a lot. And more so the foods you haven’t got. Most of the steps on my pedometer are to have a look in the fridge and the cupboards and then sauntering back with some kind of snack.

I did a face mask, you know, self care and all that. 10 minutes it said. 10 minutes max. So what did I do? Left it on for 30 minutes because I completely lost track of time. Needless to say I had a bright red face by the end of it, nothing a cold flannel and an antihistamine couldn’t fix though!

I did a 30 minute yoga flow, and I really think the time carved out for that is more important now than ever. I started doing yoga everyday for my New Years resolution and now it’s an essential part of my day. It keeps me active, it gives me routine and it relaxes my soul.

We spent a good portion of the day today listening to Joel Dommett’s audiobook, “it’s not me, it’s them”, it’s a great memoir into an insight into his dating life. I was planning to get the book, but when I saw Joel reads his audiobook, I knew we needed it. Comedians are such good story tellers and hearing him telling his comedic life is so much better. We’ve been hysterically laughing all day, even reduced to crying tears, which is definitely what you need in isolation. Laughter makes it so much better.

I had a thought about Just Dance late in the evening so we’ve downloaded it on the PlayStation 4. No more dance mats, now it’s through your smart phone. We’ve been waiting hours for it to download, but once it’s downloaded we can keep fit and active by playing and competing each other. (I’ll be shamed if I lose).

There have been more and more cases confirmed here today so I guess we won’t see the effects for a while yet. There are videos of hospitals being overrun and saturated and people laying on the floor with oxygen masks. They’ve also turned an factory into an isolation unit with beds space widely apart so they can have 5000+ people in there with medics going in to them.

I wrote originally that I couldn’t believe the U.K. wasn’t locked down yet but assumed it was coming soon, as it was announced that now they’re locked down. I am jealous that the U.K. are allowed to do one piece of exercise outside daily though.

Stay safe everybody

L x