Lockdown!
I've been surprised (to put it mildly) by how much my sense of well-being has improved overall since everything has shut down over the past week.
Here are some things I've been thankful for:
1. I usually spend a full hour every day just driving my kids to school and back, not including the multitude of after-school activities we allow our daughter to sign up for (she wants to do even more but would need a time-turner). Driving, for me, is an activity laden with fear of accidents (I was in not one but two accidents that weren't my fault a year and a half ago and I don't trust any of y'all out on the roads anymore), as well as guilt over my carbon footprint. I knew driving was stressful, but it seems to have been THE major stressor in my life. No driving those kids has been the single most relaxing life change I may have ever experienced.
2. My husband is an amazing provider of groceries.
"You mean the same stuff I always do?" he said when I thanked him.
"Yes," I replied, "but it means so much more all of a sudden."
3. The groceries we keep are relatively "clean," especially compared to the stuff I have access to at work, so a somewhat improved diet is helping me feel fantastic.
4. With almost two months of pregnancy to go, I've already never weighed more and I'd been low-key stressing about that. Not a worry anymore: gluttony is pretty much a non-option for me because I care so deeply about making these precious, hard-won groceries last.
5. With my extra free time and the dangling carrot of super-low airfares for some nebulous future travel plans, I'm finally buckling down on refreshing my Spanish language skills.
6. I had an online Spanish lesson with a teacher in Madrid, and she told me that they are not allowed to go outside except for groceries, the pharmacy, or five minutes to relieve the dog. I am so, so grateful to be allowed outdoors here in California.
7. I'm also so, so grateful for the beautiful springtime weather this time of year in my part of California. And for my flower-filled yard and comfy patio furniture and fire pit and the waterfall trickling in my fish pond. I'm spending so much more time outdoors, mostly in my own yard, and that has been sooooooo restful.
8. With even short walks around the neighborhood aggravating the many pains I've endured during this pregnancy, and no more access to the gym equipment that allowed me to exercise comfortably, I'm finally following through on my intentions to do daily prenatal yoga with some help from YouTube. It. Feels. Awesome.
9. As a parent, I am giving myself much more grace than I usually do.
10. There's nothing to kick nesting into high gear than being stuck looking at your mess 24/7. We're making enormous, unimaginable progress and I am so, so excited about it!
11. My parents, who live nearly 2,000 miles away, FINALLY got Skype! :-o :-o :-o WOWZA.
Edit: They don't actually know how to use Skype, or how to take and send a picture of their computer from their phones to help me do tech support. Hold the applause!