Coping Strategies for Dealing with COVID-19

[Becky]

My grandson and son-in-law have designed a built a catapult to launch little bags of candy at trick-or-treaters.  They are trying to make it fun AND safe for the kids.  

[47of74]

Someone in NYC has decided to commit to walking 20,000 steps a day rain or shine during the pandemic.

Quote

Every morning after I woke, and every evening before bed, rain or shine I headed to the park and put one foot in front of the other.

This was a huge triumph. I’d made many attempts to regularly exercise in my adult life, and until now, nothing had stuck. I committed to a goal: 20,000 steps a day, or about 10 miles. As days turned into weeks turned into months, I didn’t always hit that goal, but it didn’t really matter. I walked every day, and if I logged only 15,000, or even 12,000 steps, still considered it a win.

Not surprisingly, walking day in and day out has had positive, if subtle, effects on my body. I’ve grown sturdier. My leg muscles are a little bigger and harder, and I feel generally stronger and more resilient.

It’s also had a positive effect on my mind. I feel sharper, more alert. My morning walks get me charged up for the day, and my sunset walk gives me a boost going into the evening, where before, I would just lie about, wondering why I was so tired.

I have to agree with him that exercise is a great way to deal with this.  I try to get 10k every day in myself.  Most days that's by heading out and riding the good ol two wheeled money sink around.

[clueliss]

20k is a bit too much for me (but well, yeah also work).  However, I have made it past 10K/day consistently now.  And my walk is my sanity these days and I prefer it outside.  Winter's going to be a bear. 

[47of74]

On 11/10/2020 at 10:29 AM, clueliss said:

20k is a bit too much for me (but well, yeah also work).  However, I have made it past 10K/day consistently now.  And my walk is my sanity these days and I prefer it outside.  Winter's going to be a bear. 

Yeah most days I'm getting right around 10,000 steps in.  I'm still getting some riding in on a regular basis if it's not too windy out.  I'll probably keep going up until the snow starts coming in. 

I had to un-follow someone on FB today.  She was getting to be too much.  Politically we're mostly on the same page and we were friends IRL but her holier than thou attitude is really starting to get to me.  She's been acting like she's the only one taking the pandemic seriously, only she and her family are taking appropriate measures, and she's the only one who has made any type of sacrifice.  Nothing anyone else is doing is good enough and apparently sacrifices I or others have made don't count.  Sorry.  Done.  I didn't unfriend or block her yet but might just because maybe she'll drop the attitude sooner or later but for now I just can't any more with her.

The pandemic has made me quicker to drop toxic people out of my life permanently.  That's a big way of helping me cope with the situation is just walking away from toxic people a hell of a lot sooner than I did before.

[Ozlsn]

3 hours ago, 47of74 said:

had to un-follow someone on FB today

I ended up muting a lot of people during our lockdown and finally not going on social media much because I got so tired of reading people bitch about the lockdown and how hard it was - we know, we're all in the same boat. We're all dealing with different things, but it sucked for all of us. I get needing to vent, but it really got to be too much for me. I have one friend who was very virtue signally, she locked down before everyone else! She wore masks first! She ordered groceries online earlier! It drove me nuts. Muting is a good option for me because you can drop in and see if they've stopped yet and go back in 30 days if they haven't.

[indianabones]

I decided last month that I'm going to try and visit every state park in my state within the next year. I went to six on election day! We have over 200 so it'll be a challenge, but it'll get me out of the house when it's raining all winter and it's easy to socially distance when you're driving to somewhere where no one else is around due to bad weather.

There's one a few miles away from me that I have yet to visit- I'll probably go sometime this week!

Edited November 15, 2020 by indianabones

[47of74]

3 hours ago, indianabones said:

I decided last month that I'm going to try and visit every state park in my state within the next year. I went to six on election day! We have over 200 so it'll be a challenge, but it'll get me out of the house when it's raining all winter and it's easy to socially distance when you're driving to somewhere where no one else is around due to bad weather.

Back in May I went to Backbone State Park to ride my bike around a bit. First time I had been there in over 20 years. Parents used to take us there every summer. 

[nokidsmom]

2 hours ago, 47of74 said:

Back in May I went to Backbone State Park to ride my bike around a bit. First time I had been there in over 20 years. Parents used to take us there every summer. 

I am really trying to make a point of getting out now.    Even working from home is getting to me, my anxiety is going through the roof so I am blocking out time every day and any work crises will have to wait for a half hour.

My county has a ton of forest preserves plus one large state park, I am going to try hit several of them before the snow comes. 

[FiveAcres]

6 hours ago, indianabones said:

I decided last month that I'm going to try and visit every state park in my state within the next year. I went to six on election day! We have over 200 so it'll be a challenge, but it'll get me out of the house when it's raining all winter and it's easy to socially distance when you're driving to somewhere where no one else is around due to bad weather.

There's one a few miles away from me that I have yet to visit- I'll probably go sometime this week!

What a good idea! 

[WiseGirl]

I've been hiking just about every day since March. It helps me mentally.

Today I am going to try to make a loaf of gluten free bread. Past experiences did not turn out so well. This should be interesting. 

[nokidsmom]

3 hours ago, WiseGirl said:

Today I am going to try to make a loaf of gluten free bread. Past experiences did not turn out so well. This should be interesting. 

I usually use canned pumpkin for this but made pumpkin breads with real pumpkin this time.    Learned that the best pumpkin for baking (and what is usually in canned pumpkin) is so-called sugar / pie pumpkins.   Decided to try it though I was warned that real pumpkin can vary in sugar and water content versus canned so results may not be the same.   They turned out fine but next time I think I will stick with the canned, cooking real pumpkin took most of the time!

[indianabones]

34 minutes ago, nokidsmom said:

I usually use canned pumpkin for this but made pumpkin breads with real pumpkin this time.    Learned that the best pumpkin for baking (and what is usually in canned pumpkin) is so-called sugar / pie pumpkins.   Decided to try it though I was warned that real pumpkin can vary in sugar and water content versus canned so results may not be the same.   They turned out fine but next time I think I will stick with the canned, cooking real pumpkin took most of the time!

I have a GIANT (it's at least 20 lbs) Cinderella pumpkin I got at a discount for Halloween that's been sitting on my front step. This week, I'm going to cut it into wedges, roast it, and make pureed pumpkin!

It will probably be fed to the dogs (they eat canned pumpkin with every meal for the fiber/vitamins) but waste not want not!

[47of74]

3 hours ago, WiseGirl said:

I've been hiking just about every day since March. It helps me mentally.

I decided to block the person on FB I was talking about yesterday.  And left the local pro mask group after it became a giant virtue signaling circle.  They were whining about people going by outside for jogs by themselves and saying such joggers were fine with jogging over the bodies of the dead.

I go out on bike rides still. Helps out so much with stress and anxiety. I’m not going to put up with the local virtue signaling circle having a fit because I decide to get exercise anymore. 

[WiseGirl]

5 hours ago, WiseGirl said:

Today I am going to try to make a loaf of gluten free bread. Past experiences did not turn out so well. This should be interesting. 

Quoting myself because I killed the yeast. I never knew you could do that!? I can't go out and get any right now because of possible COVID  exposure. I need to get tested but don't want a false negative so I'm waiting for the 5 to 7 day window. Fortunately I'm teaching from home.

Now what can I screw up? I mean try. Lol

[Coconut Flan]

Was the water too warm?  

[WiseGirl]

2 hours ago, Coconut Flan said:

Was the water too warm?  

I'm going with that. I have a tumultuous history with gluten free bread.

[nausicaa]

Whelp, my nephew is coming up from North Carolina to my sister's house with her daughter. Since it seems getting together for the holidays might be out of the question, I was going to bring my mom down and do a day trip to visit with them (background: all the kids are in school; my mother is 68) this Saturday. I made it clear I was only comfortable doing things outside, so my sister suggested kayaking. 

Yesterday I checked in with my sister to make sure we had the same game plan and found out she apparently wanted us to have a meal inside her house and then go to the dock to go kayaking. I demurred on the meal, said they could have it among themselves, and said let's meet at the dock. I also offered to haul whatever she needed over there. I also said ice cream afterward was fine if we ate on the store's patio or in her backyard. I made it clear that I was not comfortable being inside with no mask with kids who are in school. She seemed fine?

Then this morning my mother and I get a text saying she is canceling because I am so difficult and stressing her. She is now telling me I am never welcome at her home if I'm going to treat her children like "infested rats" and that I'm rude and controlling. I have asked multiple times what I did that was controlling (I only ever discussed my personal boundaries, never even said others had to wear masks). 

I suspect something else is going on in her life right now, but God this is so exhausting. She has a history of throwing epic tantrums about once a year (the past two Christmases involved tantrums) and my parents just give in because they don't want to deal with the drama. I'm sort of glad my mom isn't going now, because if my sister thinks someone asking to stay outside during a rising second wave in a fucking deadly pandemic is extreme, she was not going to be careful enough around my mom, 

I'm just so fucking pissed right now. 

[OHFL2009]

22 hours ago, 47of74 said:

I decided to block the person on FB I was talking about yesterday.  And left the local pro mask group after it became a giant virtue signaling circle.  They were whining about people going by outside for jogs by themselves and saying such joggers were fine with jogging over the bodies of the dead.

A girl I went to school with posted a long, rambling post yesterday about how she and her husband had made the difficult decision not to visit her parents for Thanksgiving, She mentioned that she wasn't judging anyone's plans, but went on and on about how they were making this big sacrifice to keep her family safe and just think about all the people you're affecting with your decisions, etc. Her reasoning for not going was not wrong, but I kept wondering why it was necessary to make a social media post about it, other than as a self-congratulatory, looking for praise or validation kind of post.

[HerNameIsBuffy]

I'm in preparation mode as it looks like we're likely shutting down again as a state.  The half assed way our state and local politicians are handling this is making me want to scream.

So I'm focusing on what I can control.  It's not much, but it's something.

[nokidsmom]

3 hours ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

I'm in preparation mode as it looks like we're likely shutting down again as a state.  The half assed way our state and local politicians are handling this is making me want to scream.

So I'm focusing on what I can control.  It's not much, but it's something.

Mr. No and I are doing the same thing, preparing for another shutdown.    I actually called my salon today, got an appointment for tomorrow because somehow I think it's going to be awhile if I wait.   Doing more shopping online or going to the stores at off hours.   

My anxiety was off the charts between Covid and all the pre-election nonsense.  Having the election behind us helped for a bit but seeing the Covid cases spike now I am all wound up again.   The prospect of this winter is terrifying. 

 

[FiveAcres]

5 minutes ago, nokidsmom said:

Mr. No and I are doing the same thing, preparing for another shutdown.    I actually called my salon today, got an appointment for tomorrow because somehow I think it's going to be awhile if I wait.   Doing more shopping online or going to the stores at off hours.   

My anxiety was off the charts between Covid and all the pre-election nonsense.  Having the election behind us helped for a bit but seeing the Covid cases spike now I am all wound up again.   The prospect of this winter is terrifying. 

 

I have an grooming appt for my miniature schnauzer on Friday. I usually push it to eight to ten weeks, but I want it done. At least, I don't think they will shut dog groomers this time in Colorado. 

It's going to be bad. 

[ADoyle90815]

Even though my county has been in the most restrictive tier for places being closed, salons and barbershops are open although you have to wear a mask the entire time. LA County is the most densely populated county in southern California, so cases haven't been able to decline enough to move to a less restrictive tier. Of course, with cases increasing again, that's not going to happen anytime soon.

I've mentioned in another discussion that I had bought toilet paper over the summer, one package at a time, with the last being large packages back in July, so I'm good there. I maybe bought it once a week at most, then decided that I had enough so I haven't bought any since then. The same is true about paper towels as well. I'm going to stock up on groceries this week, mostly to avoid the Thanksgiving week crowds that typically happen even when there's no pandemic. So far, the only things people have been hoarding again is toilet paper and paper towels. I really think stores should just do permanent limits of one package per customer of things like toilet paper and other commonly hoarded supplies.

[clueliss]

I’ve managed to reduce paper towel usage this year.  I’m using cloth rags and cloth napkins etc.  good for the environment and less need at least on that front to worry about what hoarding phase we are in.  
 

and I’ve been slowly building up non perishable food stores for some weeks now.  But that was motivated by our heading into winter as well as the departmental covid scare in early October.  
 

[CTRLZero]

We have decided to stay at home for the next 30 days per Governor Inslee’s newest restrictions, which go into effect Wednesday.  We made one last trip to WinCo for a few items, expecting it to be busy.  It was not at all busy!  Maybe everyone else has already stocked up.  It was nice.  There was plenty of toilet paper, and limits of two per customer were placed only on certain brands.  

We are feeling well stocked and cozy, so hopefully we will get through the next few weeks without incident.  Fingers crossed.  

3 minutes ago, clueliss said:

I’m using cloth rags and cloth napkins etc.  

Yes!  I bought a big stack of kitchen washcloths that I use instead of paper towels 99% of the time.  Great option for the pandemic and snowstorms. 

[clueliss]

I may have been inspired by my chiropractor office.  They have stacks of wash clothes to use instead of paper towels and a bin to drop them in I. Their bathroom.  They just toss them in the washer.