Blog

My Current Situation – Part VI

Life as I knew it has certainly changed.  What has not changed is that I am still operating in a hybrid fashion at work (one day working from the office; the next day working from home) and I can’t say I’m mad about it (smile).

 

 

I’m also still going to I Love Kickboxing at the crack of dawn 5 days a week which not only keeps me in shape, but also keeps me sane (smile).

 

 

I’m 59 years old so I was in the second wave of folks eligible for the vaccine in Connecticut – and was truly happy to get it.  They shot my arm with Moderna which means in another 4 weeks I will be ready for shot number 2…and close to getting back to some sort of (mask wearing) normalcy…

 

 

I haven’t quite resumed my social life – again, I am waiting for that second vaccine shot and then waiting another 2 weeks after that just to be safe…

 

 

It’s hard to belive that its been 13 months since Covid 19 appeared and thankfully I have not caught it yet so I must be doing something right.

 

 

And I’m noticing something:  people seem to be enjoying the simple things in life – taking a long walk outside; hugging their grandchildren tight; face-timing with family and friends, going hiking, playing board games, etc.

 

 

For  myself, I’ve become more introspective which is not surprising considering the fact that I am spending less time with others and more by myself.  And I don’t mean this in a bad way.  I’m just looking to take this quality time we’ve all been given to work on becoming a better version of myself (smile).

 

 

Which includes attending virtual church at CTBC on a regular basis, working as a volunteer Writer for Shop Black CT and being of service to others where and when I am able.

 

 

I’m not gonna lie, If I could wave a magic wand and get everything back to “normal,” trust me I would.  But since that is not possible, I will settle for a nice long relaxing vacay in a sunny but secluded (mask optional) environment (double smile)…

 

 

 

My Current Situation Part V

To be writing about my current situation less than two weeks before the Happy New Year says a lot (smile).  It’s not like I haven’t had the time to write, just not finding too many different things to write about…

 

 

But I’m still that girl who likes to see the glass as half full so I am going to talk about the positive things that have happened to me during this ongoing Covid 19  “trial.”

 

 

1).   I am happy to say that I am still working Hybrid (Day 1 working from the office, Day 2 working  from home and so on and so forth).  Truly the best case scenario for me as it is undoubtedly the best of both worlds.

 

 

2)  Eating unhealthy foods and going to town on snacks is not an option for me this holiday season due to the social distancing rules in place surrounding people, places, open food, etc.

 

                         NOT! (smile)

 

3)  Since I am spending more time at home now I find myself cooking and eating clean more.  What is clean eating?  Clean eating essentially means eating foods that are closest to their natural state, i.e., unprocessed and unaltered.  Also it means avoiding foods that are full of empty calories.

 

 

4)  Truly one of the most positive things that came out of this Covid 19 “trial” is that I stopped drinking wine.  Pre-Covid I would not be caught dead at a house party or a live play or a social function or a post-work event without a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon or Pinot Noir or Malbec in my hand.

 

 

But I can’t lie.  Due to my past history of multiple car accidents which have caused me much trauma and stress when driving on certain highways, my therapist diagnosed me with what is called “situational anxiety” and put me on a very low dose of Lexapro (20mg).  Then she pretty much ordered me not to drink any kind of alcohol because, as she described it, it would be like taking a big eraser to whatever positive results I might be experiencing from the Lexapro.  I took that as a posititve sign and swore off Alcohol about 6 months ago.

 

 

And I must say I feel much cleaner these days swapping out the red wines for  organic and sugar free Remedy Kombucha, lots and lots of icy cold water and/or hot Green or Black tea at night.

 

 

5)  I quit my old gym as it was starting to feel redundant and joined a new gym called I Love Kickboxing.   Now I don’t feel sluggish anymore even when I pop up at 430am weekday mornings to kick and punch things (smile).

 

 

nor do I feel as tired at night like I used to when I get off of work…

 

 

So my current situation, as of today, is enjoying my newfound healthy living…

 

 

and looking forward to the Happy New Year!

 

 

 

My Current Situation Part IV

The season of Fall happened about 3 weeks ago in the state of Connecticut and with it comes decreasing temperatures, lots of fallen leaves on the ground, dark skies and squirrels running amok.   Soon I will be packing up my golf clubs in advance of the next season:  Winter.  But for now I am still managing to hit golf balls despite the broken twigs, crispy leaves and tree debris.

 

 

Fall for me also means it’s time to head back to the kitchen.  Anyone who knows me knows cooking is not my thing however I do enjoy cooking when Autumn arrives…

 

 

We have also finally entered Phase 3 in the state of Connecticut which means that restaurants can serve folks indoors at 75% instead of 50%  capacity…

 

 

personal services, hair salons, barber shops and nail salons can also operate at 75% percent capacity, indoor performing art venues at 50% capacity, and churches and other places of worship can have 50% capacity, capped at 200 people.  All, of course, with masks and social distancing…

 

 

Working hybrid continues for me and my colleagues on the News 8 sales team.  What this means is we are split into 2 teams and half the team works from the office on one day and the other half of the team works from the office on the following day.  The managers all go into the office each and every day.  It has been like this since mid-March when Covid 19 totally changed our world.

 

On every other day

 

The Presidential election is quite literally right around the corner so I encourage everyone to exercise their right to vote.   It’s more critical now more than ever…

 

 

My Current Situation – Part III

We are now entering the 6th month of living in a pandemic and needless to say, things have changed for me in Connecticut… here’s what I’m noticing:

Masks are still required when you walk into any workplace/school/retail store/restaurant/bank etc. (which, by the way, is not a problem to me…)

 

 

Gyms continue to operate at 50% capacity which forces me to work out from home on an online app 3 days out of the 5…and go to my gym I Love Kickboxing (at 5am) the other 2 days..

 

 

We Local Account Executives at News 8 continue to work from home every other day in a team hybrid fashion and to be honest, I’m not mad about it (smile).

 

 

Zoom calls (the way we now converse with each other and with our clients) are beginning to feel “natural” and “the norm.”

 

 

And I just returned from an actual vacay in Delaware where we drove to visit family and because I brought my latop with me, I did not miss a beat on my work load…

 

 

Virtual church is becoming “a thing” now, I can hear ‘The Word” from Pastor King at Christian Tabernacle Baptist Church right from the safety of my living room…

 

 

As far as golf goes, social distancing was already in place so other than having an electric cart all to myself, not much has changed there…

 

 

Self Care is becoming extremely important during this anxiety-ridden time…I am not feeling guilt at all about taking out quality time for myself as often as I need it…

 

 

And finally, my father and sibs mean the world to me so catching up with them via consistent family Facetime chats has become the best part of my week (smile).

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Current Situation – Part II

About 3 1/2 months ago (mid-March 2020) CO19 happened and turned my world inside out and upside down.

 

 

To try and sort everything out, I blogged about the unfolding of these unusual events in My Current Situation: My current situation…

 

 

Here’s where I’m at today:  during the first 10 weeks of Covid 19 me and my fellow Account Executives in the News 8 local sales department were asked to work 100% of the time from home on our laptop computers.   Daily zoom sales meetings and zoom  calls with our clients and prospective clients became the the new norm.  To make it work at home, my dining room quickly became my new office, the table now completely covered with client files and client notebooks.  Lucky for me I already owned a computer desk and office chair and now it was finally getting full use.  At the office I was used to working  off of dual monitors so to simulate this I connected my Dell home computer monitor to my HP work computer and as luck would have it, they were compatible (smile).

 

 

When Week 11arrived we Account Executives were told we were heading back to work but in a checkerboard fashion.  Meaning that we were to be split into two teams.  Team  A would go into work the first week back  on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and work from home on Tuesday and Thursday and Team B would do the complete opposite.  In this way only half the staff would be in the office on any given day.   We still were not sure how long this new arrangement would go on but as it turned out for me it worked out just fine (smile).   I’m happy because I get the best of both worlds: a break from the monotony of working from home 100 percent of the time and the chance to get out of the house, work in my familiar cubicle and connect face to face with my co-workers (smile).

 

 

I’m not gonna lie:  Being back in my cubicle was strange that first week back because in this new Covid world we now had to wear face masks and practice social distancing.  No more water cooler chit chat (smile).  Plus we did not have access to certain areas or departments in the TV station as they were now considered off limits…

 

 

And sanitizer seemed to be everywhere so my hands felt like they were in a perpetual state of dryness.

 

 

But the best part of week 11 was that we entered phase II of back to normalcy in the state of Connecticut.  In this phase Hair and Nail Salons were now allowed to open back up.  Yay!  Finally some relief for my neglected head of hair and bitten down nails.

 

 

Also my gym I love kickboxing opened back up – so I had to quickly get used to working out real hard again (smile).

 

 

During phase II I was also able to go back to my favorite dentist in North Haven to get my teeth cleaned.

 

 

But phase II did not include vacations (at least not in our world).  Vacations for now were a distant memory…we are not looking to fly anywhere for a long while nor were we even remotely interested in taking super long car trips so Staycations in Connecticut were going to become our new option.

 

 

Here’s what I think:  suddenly in this CO19 world the little things that we used to take for granted have become big things…spending quality time with family members, heading to a performance at a live theater or concert hall, meeting up with my girlfriends for dinner, etc.

 

 

But despite everything I still commit to remaining positive, optimistic and focused as we are truly all in this together.  And because of that, I choose to wear my mask in public.