2020 has been an interesting year, I’ll say that. Who knew that when my husband and I set out on a Caribbean cruise on February 26 that a week later when we docked that the whole world would be turned upside down? Two weeks after that our state instituted a safer-at-home mandate that remained in place almost three months.
It’s tragic how many people have lost their lives due to COVID-19. Thankfully, everyone in our immediate family has stayed healthy, including my mom who lives in an assisted living facility.
As an empty-nester and someone who works from home, the safer-at-home order didn’t necessarily alter my daily routine — at least, not in a negative way. What it actually did was free up my schedule from all outside appointments. Traditionally, I reserved Mondays and Thursdays as appointment-free days so I can work without interruption, decked out in yoga pants and sweatshirts. With the mandate, that extended to seven days a week.
Being a goal-setter and a notorious list-maker, once I knew the quarantine was going to happen, I created my 2020 Quarantine To-Do List. There were five categories that I worked on during my time off: To Read, To Finish, To Watch, To Give Away, To Do.
The most ambitious category was To Read. I found out quickly enough that I can either write books or I can read books. Of the 88 books on my list, I only got through eight of them. But, the good news is that I’m on a roll now and have dedicated at least a few minutes every day to reading. I’ve got the next six books on a pile waiting their turn to be read. This is a long-term goal, but I’m confident I’ll get through them in the next year or so and then can work on my Kindle list (which may actually be longer).
To Finish (62 items) consisted mostly of food items that we wanted to use up (the rest being beauty aids like facial masks and the like). John and I made up our minds that we would use up every item in our pantry, refrigerator and freezer during the quarantine (supplementing with fresh items such as lettuce, almond milk, eggs, cheese and bread). Tapping into my inner Betty Crocker, I got back to my cooking roots (which I had abandoned sometime around when our youngest child graduated from high school) and came up with some pretty creative dishes (with help from AllRecipes.com). We did an amazing job of clearing out our food stores so now we can start fresh.
The To Watch (37 productions) category was enjoyable, since it consisted of binge watching several series, including Scorpion, Smash, China Beach, Turn: Washington’s Spies (my current obsession, particularly Ben Tallmadge portrayed by Seth Numrich — I seriously want him to act in a limited-run series based on my Heaven Intended series. If you know him, have his people call my people :o), numerous movies, family videos, and Mentored By a Millionaire — a financial prosperity course. It was like having a mini-date with John (an essential worker) every night after he got home from work. I have to say that the series we watched were outstanding, I hardily recommend catching them if you haven’t yet.
What fun it was working our way through the To Give Away (22 categories) list. Over the last few months, we’ve gone through every nook and cranny in our house and ruthlessly purged, everything from clothing to household goods to a cupboard filled with Tupperware. I posted items on Facebook as they were ready to go and the people with first dibs were picking them up from my front porch almost on a daily basis for several weeks. While we could have sold the majority of the items on Craig’s List or Facebook Marketplace, we wanted to share our blessings with friends and family and give them away. It was a gratifying experience to say the least.
The hardest category to tackle was the To Do (79 items) list, which we’re still working on. Some of the projects were as short as a quick call or an e-mail, but some other projects, such as rewriting my newest book that’s coming out this fall or catching up on my photo scrapbooks, took a good month or so to complete. Having finished so many projects, a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I honestly didn’t know when I would have made the time to do these things if my scheduled hadn’t completely cleared up overnight.
That being said, I’m ready to get back to life again. I’ve got a clear vision of how I want my career to go and how I’ll be spending my days so that I can be as productive as possible. This whole experience has given me an appreciation for everything I have in my life and gives me a different perspective on my various obligations. I’m now doing what I want, when I want and with whom I want. It doesn’t get much better than that.