200 Days of This New Normal Life

Two hundred days ago we were told to work from home. I remember that day very well. It was a Friday and something strange was happening in our lobby. There were a lot of cleaners and I told myself, "Wow! They're making an extra effort to clean up!" 

Thirty minutes later I found out why. The day before a patient from another building tenant was picked up by an ambulance. He was one of the earlier patients who got infected. If I remember correctly he got infected from his parents who picked up the virus from patients zero (this was in news reports). I said a little prayer for the patients and thanked my angels for keeping me at home the day before. Later that day we were all told to work from home. 

This was the last time I was at the office, March 13, Friday, 7pm.

Working from home wasn't new to me. I did that for five years in Manila and then I moved to Singapore. We get super busy, but we still make time to have lunch together. That's the first thing I started to miss since Sweetie was still going to work for a few weeks before they were asked to WFH too. Secondly, I missed the prepared food and after meal coffee I would get with my seatmate. Sometimes we'd head down to Starbucks or Gong Cha for some merienda. I also missed the daily commute which allowed me to spin Pokestops and Inns (haha). And sometimes after work I take a walk around Harbourfront Centre/Vivo City before I head home. 

Last meal out before the circuit breaker started.

April was a flurry of activity. We managed to move apartments then. It was quite stressful, but it was a huge relief to move to a safer home. By May I was going bonkers and that's when I started baking and gardening. Eventually I accepted the fact that things will be uncertain for a longer period. I just needed to adjust to the new normal. 

Now that I'm used to living this way, I cannot imagine going back to the office. Sweetie now goes to the office two to three times a week. I only go out when I have physiotherapy or a doctor's appointment. We think it's better to just stay home for now since there are still random cases popping up and I'm still a high risk person. 

I was surprised to find out that wearing masks wasn't required yet last March. 

This was taken when we were new-home hunting.

I was chatting with my Ate last night and I told her that I am just so grateful that our family has remained safe and healthy. We try to help where we can. Here's how I cope -

(1) Pray

(2) Purposely disengaging from work at an appointed time everyday

(3) Follow my doctor's orders to live a healthy life

(4) Not spend so much time on social media (it gets quite toxic!)

(5) Work on my hobbies 

(6) Blog everyday (it's a challenge for myself, but writing keeps me sane)

(7) Check on loved ones (and nag the son every few hours)

I made the mistake of throwing myself at work. I worked 14 hour days because there was so much to do. I ended up sick so that's the first thing I worked on. Then I thought about how I could make things better everyday. I have days when things get quite stressful, that's when essential oils come in. I have friends who are still having a hard time, I'm just there whenever they need me. 

What about you? How have you been coping in this new normal?

CB//171 #StuckAtHomeDay/201 #WFH117 #StayHome #BeKind