I have to figure out something to do with the next five months of my life. It’s like extended summer break around here. The kids are schooling online, Jason is working from home, but we’re all home and we’re all sheltering from home during this quarantine. I can’t throw on junk TV and run around the living room. I have to be very careful when and where I go out to exercise. Having been a stay at home mom with a 24/7 job for fifteen years now, I’ve learned how to deal with cabin fever, isolation, and many of the things so many people are handling at the moment. But summer break is always the hardest for me, between heat and the boys being home full time. And now we’ve extended it for another two months.

So yes. I need to figure out what to do with my extra time that isn’t just listening to podcasts while I do stupid jigsaw puzzles on my phone. My legs itch because I’m not getting out to walk, run, or hike as often as before. My sleep is getting worse, and anxiety/agoraphobia is beginning to win back some of the ground I’ve covered the past few months. People have talked about learning new skills with this new time, and I think that’s the route I need to go down. In a fashion.

I want to start some kind of strength training program. Five months is a long time and can lead to some really major improvements in muscle. This is something I’ve wanted to do for years but have always had conflicts that prevented it. (Stuff like wanting to do other exercises I enjoyed more, rather than strength-train, which I find kinda boring!!) But I need to choose a good program that is either bodyweight-based, or uses only dumbbells, as that’s all I have access to. Thankfully, I know of several awesome ladies who lift heavy and who have made some great at-home programs to choose from during this time.

Additionally, I’m going to search for some beginner-level online tutorials in ASL. I’d love to begin learning the language. If anyone knows some good resources for that, please send my way!

Lastly, I’m going to try to get back into crochet. I had to give up the hobby a few years back because it was causing a lot of shoulder pain. It’s possible that the same will happen this time, but maybe if I just spend a short amount of time a few days per week, I can avoid aggravating the injury and also finish a nice afghan by the end of these five months. We’ll see. If not, maybe I’ll try to take up sketching again, or take some online courses/tutorials in photography, which I’d love to be better at.

How are all of you handling the changes? Are there others out there that are suddenly filling empty time or having to change up their routines because of quarantine? Hope everyone is well!!