Good days and bad days

When the pandemic really hit hard and our lives and routines were being altered by executive orders, I struggled a lot.  I am a very outgoing person who thrives on interaction with others and to take that away, the gym and eating out, my entire world basically collapsed. My hobbies were gone. My stress outlets were gone. And I was limited to being at work (I am in a very small office in Bethesda that at most has 4 people and usually only 2, including myself, so don't worry about that) or home.  Every day was a bad day. Bad days for me are days when I constantly update CNN, check posts on social media, do very little work and find myself depressed over our current situation - basically a very long pity party. I realized fairly quickly that this was not going to get me through this in one piece, so I started to find new routines and outlets.

I started walking. I set a particular course that is about 3.8 miles with gradual hills. Well lit and nice neighborhood views, I started trying to walk that at least 4 days a week.  On the weekends, I have upped the distance to closer to 5 miles because, well, what else do I have to do?

I starting cooking. Up until this hit, most of our meals were from Territory Foods (pre-made heat and serve meals) or we ate out. With my hectic work schedule and night workouts, this was logical for us.  Now, not so much. So I pulled out the Instant Pot my Mom got me for Christmas (thanks Mom!) and started experimenting. I'm no Michelin starred chef, but I have taken some pleasure in cooking again and doing some meal prep, so that I will reduce our pre-made food order.

I started making one night a week a date night - and Joey has jumped on that bandwagon. One night, we ordered food from one of our favorite Alexandria restaurants and watched a movie that had been nominated for Best Picture.  I planned it all earlier in the week so that I had something to look forward to.  My husband got food to go from another favorite restaurant in DC and surprised me with wine and dinner picnic style in the backyard of the house we are tearing down.  You can find photos here: https://delrayteardown.blogspot.com/  This past Saturday., I spent all day cooking, making a full turkey dinner including Joey's Mom's broccoli casserole and fried pickles as an appetizer. I set up tray tables by the windows of our apartment (dining room table in storage), lit candles and enjoyed a nice meal at home. And, Joey really appreciated the effort, which is important since he is one of the 5 people I see in person any more. This week, I ordered To Hunt a Killer and I was planning on doing steaks (for the blood, get it?) and potatoes for dinner Saturday night while we do it.

I have started using Zoom. I have done two Zoom conferences and I was so grateful to interact with others, I almost cried.  I need to do more of these.  If you want to chat, hit me up.


By doing all of this, I have gone from having all bad days, to alternating bad days and good days and this week, I realized I had two good days in a row with a bad day behind it.While I feel like that is baby steps and I should be doing better than this, I feel like so long as I move in the right, positive direction, I give myself permission to do it at my own speed.

I hope you are all doing the same and I would love to hear what you have done to have good days.