My lockdown routine

Texas is no longer in lockdown — which was a laugh, anyway, because people still went out, and don’t even get me started on Collin County’s unofficial stay-at-home order — but I’ve adopted a bit of my own. Charlise (cousin) and I don’t go anywhere unless we need to. I go to work, but that’s it.

Letterboard saying "FUCK COVID-19" behind a row of makeup brushes

My routine hasn’t changed monumentally. When the coronavirus pandemic first cropped up, people scoffed at my saying that. I’m introverted, and COVID-19 is to the general public as life-threatening allergies are to me.

  • Everything I touch, in public, I view as a potentially contaminated surface. Sanitizing the shit out of carts is now mainstream. Whereas your biggest fear may be contracting coronavirus via the cart and maybe dying, my biggest fear has always been choking to death due to the previous user of the shopping cart I grabbed having eaten Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups while shopping — or something grossly similar.
  • The general public now lives in fear of a virus they cannot see, with no knowledge of who has it asymptomatically — with its particles lingering in the air for hours at a time, remaining on surfaces for days. My everyday reality, which I cannot live in the fear of and retain adequate quality of life, is that everything — every surface, every item, every person — is potentially contaminated with an allergen that literally makes me choke to death.
  • I don’t wash my hands more — I actually wash them less, because the carts are sanitized and less customers eat while they shop anymore due to the pandemic, so I needn’t worry so much. I still wash them twice, at least at work Like a surgeon, I avoid opening the double swinging doors with my hands.

Shopping

Instead of using online grocery pickup (OGP), I’m now a peasant who shops for her own groceries — at Aldi, though.

I don’t want to go grocery shopping after work, at my workplace, because I’ve been there long enough. 😅

I do love Aldi, though, especially their German chocolate — and I love how their cashiers sit and customers bag their own groceries. I believe all grocery shopping should be this way, or some variation of it.

In terms of spending, I save so much more on groceries by shopping at Aldi versus bigger box stores. At the time, it feels like the opposite, but I created a snack stash that I fill up for myself.

Bin of individually wrapped snacks

Aldi has more natural/organic products for a fraction of the cost — and more free-from snacks.

Laundry

I hired Charlise to do my laundry for a few weeks. This week, I work 4/7 days so will be doing it myself, especially since I wash my work clothes and vest at least every two days because I only have two pairs of jeggings I actually like. I do intend to buy at least four more jeggings so I needn’t do laundry in the middle of my work week to have something to wear.

Outsourcing laundry resulted in catching up on my laundry — and realizing I definitely need a new dresser. Problem is, I fell in love with a dresser $60 less than the IKEA Malm Chest I longed for.

Dresser drawer on floor, full of clothes standing upright

But, of course, as I need one ASAP — and will thus likely be taking advantage of IKEA’s curbside pickup.

Sustainability

I find myself choosing more sustainable products for the long run. I’m subscribed to The Mighty Fix, which gives one eco-friendly fix per month, but I rummaged through all the sales earlier last month and decided to go full throttle for certain things.

Bento lunches ft. pinwheels & DIY cracker sandwiches

I bought a set of 5 Komax bento lunch box containers after trying, and hating, other bento-style lunch boxes. These are adult-sized and actually work, instead of being so difficult to open I nearly don’t have lunch that day.

The habit of taking my lunch began around the time Texas went into a not-so-quarantine, but it was less because of a pandemic and more because I wanted to save money and not waste so much of my meal hour.

I also keep the food containers from Rice Xpress, because they’re dishwasher- and microwave-safe. 😲

Charlise gets Beechnut baby food for her youngest, Iah, and I keep them every so often because they’re great for DIY skincare.

When I get my own place, I’m keen to keep the reusable food storage pieces — the jars, the takeout containers, etc. I’ve been experimenting with Charlise’s silicone bags.

I expected to not need more Earthpowder for another two months, but spilled about a month’s worth into the sink when I was multitasking. 🤦‍♀️


What’s your lockdown/quarantine/pandemic routine?

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Reply to Gayathri

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I’m glad that you and the little one are safe, and I almost think it’s a little funny how “being sanitary” had become so mainstream. I never thought about how lucky I am to never have to consider allergies when touching items other people have touched, being blessed with only having a nickel allergy.

I’ve been glad that my routine has remained much the same, only I work remotely from home now. I rarely went out normally due to my long work hours unless I needed to pick up groceries and that is still the case now, so the quarantine hadn’t impacted me much.

I do miss getting to browse at the library though, but I’ve amassed so many books at home, so if anything the pandemic has pushed me to start reading through my backlog rather than picking up more library books.

I am nervous about states re-opening, we are supposed to be heading back to my office next week and all of my co-workers are nervous. Our office building is packed and we work in very close proximity to each other, and I’ll be meeting with students in person once the Fall semester starts. I’m hoping that more students opt to just call or email, rather than talk in person.

“I love how their cashiers sit” – man it is always good to hear that statement. I don’t understand how sitting down at work is equated to being unprofessional, people get tired.

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My routine has not changed much at all. I work from home generally, so avoiding going out for only essentials didn’t seem a big deal for me. But it is the staying with family 24/7 taking a toll.

Stay safe. Elbow hugs.

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Hi! First time reading your blog and I really love it!! 🙂 I’ve been staying at home since mid-March? It’s been hard as I am high risk, and I love going to the movies and going out to the mall and everything but sadly I won’t feel “safe” doing that anytime in the near future.

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My routine hasn’t changed much. I have never been one to wander around stores or shop much. We sheltered at home before we were even told to do so as I was sick already at the start of this and was already isolating. A lot of our restrictions are in place still but being slowly lifted every week or two. They have a plan in place for a second wave so I am not too worried about it. Almost all of the cases in our province are at one seniors complex and all most of the deaths have been there as well 🙁 It’s a sin and sheds light on a problem that’s been there all along.

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