#Microblog Mondays: Staying Sane in a Pandemic

That title is just WRONG, we shouldn't be writing anything serious that has the word "pandemic" in it...but here we are.

I'm feeling much better this week, maybe because I have a bit of a routine down, maybe because I made it through the first week of a strange new reality and survived it.

I am still not sleeping super awesomely, but now I combat that by keeping my Kindle by my bed so that if I wake up at 5 am (and I do NOT get UP at 5 am, ever) I can pull the covers over my head and read until I fall asleep again. So glad Bryce sprung for a new Paperwhite for me a few months ago, my old Kindle didn't have a backlit screen. I'm currently reading Wool, the first in the Silo trilogy by Hugh Howey, which is post-apocalyptic but has nothing to do with viruses.

We are getting outside and/or getting exercise in the house every single day -- today the walk was replaced with a rousing game of ping pong (I have never been so grateful for that first-Christmas-in-the-house ping pong table present!). I'm also doing Pilates 3-4 times per week through zoom, which is nourishing physically and mentally.

I've heard from more students at this point and called most of my parents/students today, which really made me feel a LOT better. Not better about one I haven't heard from at all and can't reach through either parent, but the rest I at least know are alive and doing okay. I have video chat with one, chat with another, and had a full on phone conversation with a third. It's weird because that would probably not be super appropriate in other times, but in this end of times, it seems to offer a comfort. For both sides.

I'm also limiting my news exposure. I'm doing better now that I'm not obsessively watching the counts go up up up, minute by minute. I know they are, but I try to limit myself to a couple times per day.

Lastly, here's something you can do to feel useful in this crazy time. If you have the means, donate money to your local food pantry. We have one for the town where I teach, and one that services all of upstate New York (Foodlink). They can find food and provide it to people, including families impacted by school closures. It doesn't take much ($1 provides 3 meals for Foodlink) and it has an immediate impact, which can make a body feel less like everything is spiraling horribly with no sense of control at all.

I hope you are well, I hope you are healthy, I hope that you are making your way through this pivotal point in history with your sanity intact.

Counting this as my antiseptic mouthwash prevention effort... :)

Want to read more #Microblog Mondays? Go here and enjoy!