Corona ISO Chronicles #2 – Ponderings over coffee

Well hello there!  Grab a tea or coffee and let’s have a chat.  I haven’t been anywhere much so there’s not much to report but it’s always good to air one’s thoughts don’t you think?  After I’m done, I’d love to hear yours in the comments. 

So pull up a chair, get comfy, and I hope you enjoy our chat!  By the way, I hope you don’t mind a bit of scrolling because I prefer my images on the large side so you can see and appreciate them. I’m not a fan of tiny images that you can barely see and have to click on to see in the larger form.  Ok ready?

Full House

At the moment I have a full house!  Mum (me), Dad (the Tennis Player), and the three kidults: Twin 1, Twin 2, and yes even my daughter!  That’s right – my daughter has returned to live with us temporarily – for an undetermined time.  You see she is a journalist and due to COVID-19 the priorities and demands within her workplace have changed and they needed more hands on deck in the Brisbane metro office so here she is!  Staying with us of course because rent will still need to be paid in Cairns as this is only a temporary arrangement.

The Tennis Player and Twin 1 continue to work from home at the dining room table.  However Twin 1 is now on a roster system with his teammates – some of them have one week working from home and then one week working in the city office and then switch with the others and repeat etc.  Twin 2 continues to have to commute to work in the city and home again each day.

Me – well I am kept busy cleaning, cooking, disinfecting, mothering (humans and furkids).  I try and inject a little something else into my days so I don’t go crazy – things like a daily walk, a bit of netflix, some blogging (if I can find some time), a meditation here and there.  I’d like to inject some pilates and yoga, some art, and also reading some books in there too!  It’s just so hard to squeeze everything into a day sometimes though isn’t it?

Kittens

The kittens are providing a lot of distraction and fun.  If you’d like to read all the news about our new kittens you can do that at The Kitten Foster Files #7 post I published earlier this week.

Birthdays & Mother’s Day Month

May is a month of birthdays in this family.  This year is going to be different and difficult considering the limitations for shopping and for socialising. 

It used to be my deceased Father-in-law’s birthday on 1 May, and it’s a niece’s birthday on 1 May also.

On Sunday 3 May it was my Mum and daughter’s birthday.  Yes – they share a birthday!  Back in 1995 Mum and Dad came and looked after my two-year-old twin boys when I went off to hospital to have my daughter.  This is how my Mum spent her birthday that year but what a gift she got – her first granddaughter.  We can only have two people visit Mum at one time while social distancing of course.  We went to visit Mum on Saturday 2 May and two sisters visited her on Sunday 3 May and my brother and his wife visited her on Sunday evening for dinner.  My daughter worked on her birthday till late so we had her birthday dinner the following night.  

On Sunday 10 May it is Mother’s Day.  Not exactly sure what our plans are for this day as yet!

It is a sister-in-law’s birthday on 15 May, and a niece’s birthday on 18 May.

On 20 May it is the Tennis Player’s birthday.

On 31 May it is my birthday. This year I will tip past mid 50’s into the second act of the 50’s.  I hope time will slow down for this act pretty please!

Lockdown – Easing of Restrictions in Queensland

Here in Queensland our lockdown restrictions have been lifted a little since Saturday 2 May and there is also a ‘back to school’ plan, as outlined in the graphics below.

So all of the above is all very promising and exciting but I must admit I’m a little bit nervous.  Is it too soon?  Will there be new outbreaks?  We will have to wait and see.  I know that with regards to the back to school plans, if there’s any sign of problems after each phase, they won’t progress to the next phase or at least they’ll hold off.  I have concerns of people becoming complacent … particularly with the social distancing.  Social distancing will be with us for the long term – until there is a vaccine – so we need to get used to it and not forget the importance of it. 

ISO Lockdown Observations

• NAILS – I got my nails done a couple of weeks before you could no longer get your nails done.  For some reason I had decided to try SNS for the second ever time.  Wrong move – though I wasn’t to know.  SNS is very hard to remove yourself as it’s very hard.  I ended up sitting and picking the last remnants of it off.  My nails are in very poor shape now.  I’m keeping them short and hopefully with time they’ll repair and become stronger and healthier.  It’s actually quite funny but I think there are SO MANY women discovering for the first time what poor shape their nails are in.  This is a good time to improve our nail health ladies!  By the way, if you’ve got any product recommendations for stronger, healthier nails – I’m all ears!
• WALKING – Walking is saving my sanity.  I try and get out with the dog for a walk most days (but not all).  I’ve done a lot of walking around my neighbourhood.  I just walk out the front door and keep going.  It’s amazing what you see that you don’t notice when you’re driving.  I finally actually SEE the houses around my neighbourhood, and the gardens and trees and I’ve even seen the houses occupants (many of whom are working from home) and waved and said hi!  I chose to walk close to home especially over Easter because the waterfront (where I normally walk – a short drive away) was a little too people busy for me.  However, now that Easter is over I’m doing a few walks down there too.  Here’s a video and a few snaps from a recent walk at the waterfront on a very windy day.  

• HYPOCHONDRIACS – Is it just me but if I get even the slightest niggle in my throat or a snuffly nose or a cough escapes my mouth my brain goes into overtime.  OMG could it be Rona?  Is there a bit of hypochondriac in us all now that the threat of contracting the Rona looms over us? 
• COUGHING or SNEEZING in public is something we all dread.  Every head turns and looks in horror as they scuttle to a safer distance and yes I’m guilty of it.  It’s the fear in us all.   
• The JOY in simple outings.  We appreciate the simple things more.  Isn’t that wonderful?  I especially noticed at my waterfront walk on the weekend just after the Qld restrictions were lifted a little for our recreational pleasure.  There was excitement in the air and joy in simple things like sitting on a park bench with a friend and looking out at the water.

• PATRIOTIC –  This pandemic has made me realise just how patriotic, proud and grateful I am to be Australian and to live in our beautiful country.  
• WAKE UP CALL – It’s impossible to not notice how this global pandemic has forced us all back to a simpler way of living where connections are more real and appreciated and time is slowed down and used in a better, more purposeful way.  This has been a wake up call for us as to what really is important in life and that perhaps we should not return to exactly how things were before but to consider taking some of what we’re doing now into our futures.
• OPPORTUNITIES – there are loads of opportunities being revealed from this pandemic that can help us to live better and smarter in the future, e.g. healthier, more balanced ways to live our daily lives; opportunities to better protect our environment; alternate avenues for education & learning; the use of technology for connectivity … but keeping in mind the very big lesson learned which is our basic human need for person to person contact.  We should understand now how we really are all one race – the human race – and we need to collaborate, get along, be kind and look out and care for each other.  

 

And finally I’d like to leave you with this brilliant short clip called ‘The Great Realisation’.  

So there you go – a little ISO brain spill from me.  I could ramble more but that’s enough for now.  I’ll save further thoughts for another post at another time.  Tell me how you’ve been surviving these ISO days and what your thoughts and observations are.  I’d really love to hear!

Ciao for now,