Coping Strategies for Dealing with COVID-19

[Ozlsn]

53 minutes ago, SassyPants said:

A church member wanted to know who I was on a Zoom meeting the other day. She didn’t recognize me by  the color of my hair. Our salons are closed again d/t a rise in cases.☹️

I need to go and buy hair dye again, for that reason. My husband managed to get my son in for the absolute last haircut before everything shut - very glad as son's not great with hair cuts, but they were fantastic and very quick. And now his hair is out of his eyes and short enough not to need cutting for at least 3 months.  

[ADoyle90815]

I was furloughed again last week because the paycheck protection money ran out as cases were too high for us to be called back to work. At least, my health insurance is being paid for, and since I had previously gotten unemployment the last time I was furloughed, it was easy to reopen that so I'll be getting some more money. Every date we were told for going back to work had to be pushed back, and as of now, there's no date given yet for possibly going back. I'm glad I have money in savings, since I'm taking a pay cut with the unemployment, but I still think it's temporary for me as cases are starting to decline at this point.

I did manage to get my hair cut during that brief period salons were opened with shorter layers, and shoulder length so it's really brought out my natural curls. As a result, I'm good for now although I did get some reddish brown hair color to have a little bit of fun at home, and it's not permanent. It's also something that if it's not faded by the time I do go back to work, it still looks professional as my grays are now more like reddish highlights.

I'm also one who never leaves the house without a mask, and I've developed a collection of both cloth and disposable masks. There's a local monthly flea market that opened a couple of months ago, with wider aisles and a mask requirement, so social distancing isn't an issue. It's also outdoors, plus several of the merchants are selling cloth masks so it's a nice way to add to my collection. I even have one of those mesh laundry bags to wash my cloth masks in, which are dried outside to keep the elastics intact.

Edited August 12, 2020 by ADoyle90815

[Becky]

Y'all, I am so tired of "coping," which is to say, I am not coping well right now.  I am lonely.  I am tired of masking and tired of hunkering down.  I want to go to happy hour with my friends, I want to hug my kids and grands.  I see no point of cleaning my house (nobody is coming over), putting on makeup (nobody gonna see my face, gotta wear a mask), fix my (overgrown and unruly) hair.  I need a little break from MrBecky, as much as I love him.  I just want to lay around and eat, preferably cookies.  At first I managed to find happiness in being at home and getting homely things done, but now the walls are closing in.  

Just needed to get that little whine off my chest.  Sigh.  

[TeaGrannie]

I understand. Found out earlier this week that a small gathering I was looking forward to in October was cancelled. Had a bit of a meltdown over that but doing better mentally now. My normally reasonably busy social calendar is blank.  I am soooo tired of this some days.

[Coconut Flan]

We're trying to plan a birthday celebration of sorts for granddaughter for next month.  It looks like it will be each side of the family in the backyard on different days for a couple of hours with the "guests" behind a rope line that shall not be crossed.  I've already dropped off her gifts so they can sit in their house and cleared of possible contamination.

[Ozlsn]

21 hours ago, Becky said:

Y'all, I am so tired of "coping," which is to say, I am not coping well right now.  I am lonely.  I am tired of masking and tired of hunkering down.  I want to go to happy hour with my friends, I want to hug my kids and grands.  I see no point of cleaning my house (nobody is coming over), putting on makeup (nobody gonna see my face, gotta wear a mask), fix my (overgrown and unruly) hair.  I need a little break from MrBecky, as much as I love him.  I just want to lay around and eat, preferably cookies.  At first I managed to find happiness in being at home and getting homely things done, but now the walls are closing in.  

Just needed to get that little whine off my chest.  Sigh.  

If you can get out for a walk each day that helps. We're only allowed out for one hour exercise per day, plus one person per household can go grocery/essentials shopping (forget time limit). I am trying to get my hour in daylight, difficult with WFH. I am fortunate to live near parks, but even tramping around the suburb has been helpful - one advantage of night time is fewer people, so less dodging on footpaths!

[CTRLZero]

On 8/12/2020 at 6:31 AM, Becky said:

Y'all, I am so tired of "coping," which is to say, I am not coping well right now.  I am lonely.  I am tired of masking and tired of hunkering down.  I want to go to happy hour with my friends, I want to hug my kids and grands.  I see no point of cleaning my house (nobody is coming over), putting on makeup (nobody gonna see my face, gotta wear a mask), fix my (overgrown and unruly) hair.  I need a little break from MrBecky, as much as I love him.  I just want to lay around and eat, preferably cookies.  At first I managed to find happiness in being at home and getting homely things done, but now the walls are closing in.  

Just needed to get that little whine off my chest.  Sigh.  

I could have written this post, because the initial "excitement" over trying recipes and doing various projects has somewhat waned. 

My online class concluded this week, and I didn't realize how much I enjoyed taking that, even if the Zoom format wasn't optimal.  I'm looking around for another non-credit online class, so if anyone has ideas of where to look for those, I'd appreciate any info.  (I'd take another one from the same college-affiliated organization, but nothing in the current catalog catches my interest.) 

In happier news, my daily zucchini count is awesome, my tomatoes are ripening, and I can finally pull my hair into a ponytail! 

[Coconut Flan]

I went to the library for my first "curbside" pickup.  It's only two movies, but it was nice to be out say hi to someone and take the long way home.

[CTRLZero]

It's the little things that keep me going during the pandemic.  My daughter has been trying different ways to prepare foods, and told me she had steamed whole sweet potatoes.  So yesterday, I put a couple scrubbed yams into my bamboo steamer and placed it over a pan of boiling water.  25 minutes later, I removed perfectly cooked yams with easy-to-remove peels. 

Did I already mention I went to a U-Pick blueberry farm?  I picked enough to freeze for several dozen muffins, plus distributed a few quart bags to friends and neighbors.  Another good way to get out of the house and social distance.  We met a friend there, and we chatted from a couple rows over.   I'm also on the lookout for apple crops, as we always lament that so many people just let their fruit rot, so we may ask to glean, prepare for freezing, etc., and distribute. 

[OHFL2009]

I was coping pretty well back in March/April/early May when we had nice weather and I could get outside for a run every day, and have all my windows open while working. Now that it feels like living on the surface of a humid sun with a thunderstorm around the time I would run almost every day, I'm starting to feel very cabin fever-y.

It's also gotten to the point where every event I had to look forward to (business trips, a friend's wedding, family vacation) has been cancelled or postponed indefinitely. Early on, we all assumed things would be back to normal "in a month" or "by the summer" but now it feels like there's no end in sight and it's starting to get to me. 

[usmcmom]

As much as I am a homebody, I am really tired of being home too. Last week, I drove to the neighboring town to buy a few things from Walgreens. I could have got the items at our local Walmart but I went for a change of scenery, browsed at the makeup, bought some bubble bath - just passed some time.  
 

I’d love to be doing more outside but I cannot seem to get acclimated to the humidity here. Moving from Illinois to Tennessee has been harder than I expected, weather wise. The heat and humidity overwhelm me. Sometimes I wonder if I have the opposite of Seasonal Affective Disorder. I love cold weather and my mood plummets as summer approaches every year. As it drags on, I get more and more frustrated. I know SAD is related to sunlight, but I wonder how weird I am to dislike this heat so much. 
 

So, staying at home would be easier for me if I could comfortably be outside to take a walk. Hopefully, in another four to six weeks, the weather will cool down. 

[Kailash]

I hate the heat too, @usmcmom. Any temperature over 68 degrees F is too hot for me. And don’t get me started on humidity. I would love to be outside more but I can barely stand to go grocery shopping after 9am. Truthfully I really miss stores being open 24/7. My favorite time to shop is around 5am. 

[Ozlsn]

On 8/15/2020 at 3:30 AM, OHFL2009 said:

Early on, we all assumed things would be back to normal "in a month" or "by the summer" but now it feels like there's no end in sight and it's starting to get to me. 

Yeah, we're a bit that way too. After lockdown #1 we all kind of relaxed a bit, but lockdown #2 has been much harder, particularly once the restrictions tightened. Everyone's hoping we will be able to have family gatherings for Christmas... but it's not at all certain at this stage. I keep focusing on "this, too, will pass" - but the uncertainty is draining.

Yesterday was bright and sunny, which made the one hour exercise restriction even more frustrating. I ended up weeding (or from the slug/snail/worm/spider/random bug perspective "engaging in ecological destruction") which helped on several levels (vitamin D, feeling like I was productive, exercise) and we went for a walk to the wildlife reserve to see kangaroos (all three of us) and climb trees (child). 

I am also attempting to declutter, but trying to sort while all three of us are constantly at home is proving... challenging. Not to mention I can't drop stuff off at the charity shops, and I have baby stuff to give to friends that I can't visit at the moment (they live outside the 5km radius, also no visiting). 

On the plus side I have read the entire Maisie Dobbs series, which my library has electronically, and am working my way through three other series. I really want to just catch up with friends and family in person though, sigh.

[FiddleDD]

On 8/15/2020 at 1:29 AM, usmcmom said:

 Sometimes I wonder if I have the opposite of Seasonal Affective Disorder. I love cold weather and my mood plummets as summer approaches every year. As it drags on, I get more and more frustrated. I know SAD is related to sunlight, but I wonder how weird I am to dislike this heat so much. 

I’ve always had a harder time mental health wise in the summer, which my dr told me is not uncommon. I forget what the reasoning behind it was though.

[SassyPants]

I also struggle more in the Summer. The heat makes me breathless, sweaty and grouchy. I live on the central CA coast, which is usually quite mild in the Summer, but we are experiencing a heat wave. We generally hover in the upper 60s low 70s, but the last last 3 days it’s been 100+. Needless to say, we don’t have AC and are currently miserable. Got love all you folks struggling with the high temps.

[Ozlsn]

If anyone's locked down or just wants something cute to watch Phillip Island Nature Park are live streaming the penguins coming home from the ocean every night.

If you can't get to Australia to watch it live (and let's face it, right now you can't!) but you'd like a taste of another thing to add to your bucket list, or just want to see the little penguins waddling up the beach then this is a great way to do it.

And when we're past this hopefully everyone can come and see them live, because it really is one of the most fun things to watch... well I think so anyway!

(Now off to see if they're live streaming the muttonbirds too...)

[OhNoNike]

We were supposed to go to NZ and Australia to see family this summer... didn’t happen:( (silver lining is that I hadn’t booked a car or any lodging when covid hit, so I held off... and we were eventually able to get a full refund on the trip). 

I’m making lists of things to do when we can, though!

Edited September 2, 2020 by OhNoNike

[CTRLZero]

For my husband's recent birthday, our daughter shipped us three strings of exterior white lights.  So far, we have strung one strand around the perimeter of our back deck.  We are thinking about buying some sort of outdoor heater to be able to stay outdoors at night to enjoy the lights.

With our other two strings of light, we are completing another outdoor area surrounded by lattice work.  We have two walls up so far, and hope to finish another wall as soon as this weekend.  This will give us even more privacy from our neighbors and another place to enjoy the lights at night.  We love having projects!

 

[FiveAcres]

Yesterday, I cut a friend's hair for the second time.  We do it on her deck and we both wear masks. She keeps her hair very short and she is able to trim the front to her satisfaction. I shorten the back with scissors and use clippers on her neck. I should probably do my partner's hair again soon: he has a kind of Einstein effect going on with his hair right now. 

My hair has been long for years. I wear it up a twist during the day, braided at night, and let it air dry after shampooing.  I've started braiding it on days when I run errands, so wearing a mask is easier. 

Today we are gathering outside at a friend's house for a Labor Day celebration. It is a small group so we can stay six feet apart and we wear masks when we go inside briefly to use the facilities. 

My Silver Sneakers instructor has COVID 19. She has been giving small classes at her church, and I am so glad that I (and my close friends) thought that was a horrible idea and have been participating via Zoom. My instructor has symptoms but her husband has it and is asymptomatic. I suspect they got it from their teenagers. Despite thinking she has appalling judgment, I hope she recovers without long term effects, and that no one caught it from her in her classes. 

[CTRLZero]

We are staying indoors today due to poor air quality caused by forest fires in our state and beyond.  It's giving me time to think about what we are going to do this fall and winter, on days when we will be pretty much confined to our house. 

On the Jill Rod thread, there was a much-appreciated drift about board and card games.  One of my thoughts is I'd like to learn a card game which can be played with just two people.  My husband used to play gin rummy about 45 years ago, so we may try figuring out how to play that.  (He's forgotten the rules, and I've never played.)  If anyone else has ideas for games that can be played with just two people (and are not too taxing to understand the rules), suggestions are welcomed. 

We have figured out a streamlined way to play Trivial Pursuit, so we are going to try it via Facetime with our daughter, who lives on the opposite coast. 

[OHFL2009]

46 minutes ago, CTRLZero said:

On the Jill Rod thread, there was a much-appreciated drift about board and card games.  One of my thoughts is I'd like to learn a card game which can be played with just two people.  My husband used to play gin rummy about 45 years ago, so we may try figuring out how to play that.  (He's forgotten the rules, and I've never played.)  If anyone else has ideas for games that can be played with just two people (and are not too taxing to understand the rules), suggestions are welcomed. 

My dad and I used to play cribbage all the time. You'll need a board, but you can get them very cheap from Amazon, or just make your own on a sheet of paper. There is a bit of math involved (adding to 15 and 31) but it's fairly simple and once you've played a few hands you fall into the counting rhythm without much problem.  Here are the basic rules, but  there are YouTube videos that explain it too. 

[Ozlsn]

Last night I went to an online organised trivia event, which was hilarious. My son's school was one of six schools nominated to receive funds raised, and there were about 500 households participating. There was a Christmas theme which some households went all out dressing up for, a Lego Masters competition and bonus rounds. I had organised for friends and family to attend, so ended up playing on 3 teams (all finished in the middle, but with different scores) which were collaborating via messenger, Microsoft Teams and text. All of us enjoyed ourselves, although the Christmas themed movie round was pretty much everyone guessing. 

Next week is an Americana theme - we are tempted to go again so we can dress as Oompa Loompas. Not sure how much the school raised, but each household playing is encouraged to donate to one of the nominated causes - my guess is that a lot of people donate $10 per week and it's very cheap entertainment for everyone. 

Edited September 11, 2020 by Ozlsn
Doubled verb

[usmcmom]

On 9/11/2020 at 10:37 AM, CTRLZero said:

If anyone else has ideas for games that can be played with just two people (and are not too taxing to understand the rules), suggestions are welcomed. 

 

It is just the two of us here too. Here are the games we enjoy:

Phase 10

Rack-O

Rummikub

Sequence

Yahtzee

Word Witt

Bananagrams

I think all of these can be found on Amazon. I hope you find some things that you enjoy.  

[thoughtful]

I was going to put this on the games drift in the Rods' thread, but didn't get around to it. We just called it the Name Game (not to be confused with the song). All you need is is pencil and paper for each person (or computer or tablet, as long as nobody cheats by looking up names online during the game!).

1. Write the alphabet vertically down the left side of the paper
2. Write something from another source (well-known saying, quote, have someone read from a book, newspaper, or online source, etc. - anything with 26 letters or more will do) vertically next to it.

So,  if you use "Now is the time for all good men . . . " you'd get this:

AN
BO
CW
DI
ES
FT
GH
HE

etc., ending with ZT.

3. Each person then tries to think of someone famous, dead or alive, for whom the pair of letters are initials, without letting the others see their answers. For example:

AN - Anna Nagle
BO - Barack Obama
CW - Christopher Walken
DI - Daniel Inouye
ES - Ed Sullivan
FT - Fran Tarkington
GH - George Frideric Handel
HE - Harlan Ellison

etc.

Each person may only write one name for each set of initials. You may set a time limit - we just played until everybody felt they'd filled in as many sets of initials as they could.

Then you go around the group, find out what names people came up with, write a score by each name as you go, and add them up at the end. Highest score wins.

Scoring:

 - you have a name for a set of initials for which nobody else could think of any name - 20 points

- you have a name and someone else has a different name for that set of initials - 10 points

- you have the same name as someone else for a set of initials - 5 points

So, if three people wrote Barack Obama for BO, but one wrote Buck Owens, the first three get 5 points each, and the last person gets 10.

If everyone drew a blank for XH, but one person remembered the author of The Happy Hooker, Xaviera Hollander, that dirty-minded lover of literature gets 20 points, and the rest get none for that set of initials.

It's more competitive with more than one person, and you can end up with some second-guessing strategy about what names others will use for the sets of initials that have a lot of possibilities.

Over years of playing, we realized that the initials JC seemed to have the most names - I think we had a list of about 80 at one point. MM is pretty popular, too.

And the game makes you mentally collect names that start with the less-used letters. Men named Xavier become precious, as do people like Ursula Andress, U Thant, Yves St. Laurent, Zoltan Kodaly . . .

Edited September 15, 2020 by thoughtful
clarity

[therulesofjinx]

On 9/11/2020 at 11:37 AM, CTRLZero said:

If anyone else has ideas for games that can be played with just two people (and are not too taxing to understand the rules), suggestions are welcomed. 

Also two people in my house! Trying not to repeat what's already been said, I would add:

Blokus (I LOVE THIS GAME!!!!)

Uno

Sorry

Trouble

Battleship

Clue

(we have a lot of classic board games...can you tell?)

Also, a few years ago, my mom got us a book of family card games that has a ton of games that can be played with a regular deck of cards and there are lots of options for two people. You can probably find one on Amazon if you want to learn more card games- it also has the rules of rummy in it