How's lockdown going? Honestly, pretty well!

 I mean, aside from the people dying (including, yes, people I know, no, I don't want to talk about that) and local businesses closing (including some i frequent), but... gonna try to not dwell on that, because there is fuck all I can do that I'm not already doing. Stay home, wear mask when getting groceries, support local businesses that still have online ordering, toss some money at local food banks, vote. 

So here's what's going on with me, it's mostly pretty decent:

Work: I love working from home. Free from the tyranny of pants! I think I'm making decent assignments for my kids, and I'm very good at staying in communication with them (well, with those that want to). Remind app is best. Local Board of Education and my admins making stupid decisions, but what else is new. Work's fine, overall. Putting in less hours than I would normally and getting paid the same, so that's nice. Second job (Ruby Tuesday restaurant) first laid me off and then ended up closing that location permanently, but I have a lot less expenses (like... gas for one lol) so I'm ok for now. Will see what summer brings. Have yet to get my stimulus check, cause I get my tax return as physical checks, but at some point I assume that will arrive. Seth got his so we've got that extra already. 

Gaming: My monday night gaming group switched to discord and roll20, which is working pretty well. Gotten back into WoW classic, which is fun nonstalgia and questing. Playing some farming games and puzzle games too, I'd forgotten how much I like puzzle-type things. Origins gaming con (which I go to every June) is moved to October, but they're doing some online stuff in June, so I'm looking forward to checking that out.

Exercise/hiking: So since I now sit on my ass all day at work (as opposed to walking around a lot when work was in person) I figured I should try to mitigate that. Working with trainer guy from my gym (who I am still paying cause I already budgeted for it and his life sucks with gyms being closed), i set up four home workouts that i'm cycling between, and i do one on any day i'm not hiking or doing large amounts of yardwork (cause hauling around mulch bags totally counts as a workout, thank you). I am on 38 consecutive days, go me! While I'm walking/hiking, I have been discovering interesting things along the nature trails near my house, and also checking out a bunch of the cool parks within a half hour or so's drive, which was a goal for this year anyway. Sometimes Seth or Jonathan or Jonathan's wife come with me, but done some on my own too. Some cool stuff I've found:
* wild turkeys
* a bunch of rocks someone painted with faces and hearts and stuff and placed on random tree stumps and branches
* a semi-abandoned barn with a 'go explore!' sign. Jonathan and I want to go back and have a picnic in there. And possibly other activities...
* a bunch of seashells on the banks of a stream (streamshells?)
* a couple of falling-down abandoned greenhouses next to a motorcycle graveyard
* oh yeah and some pokemon, lol. Still playing pokemon go sometimes, depending on how challenging the hike is.
So lots of interesting stuff, along with of course pretty nature. I miss rock climbing but this is still good. And it'll be a while before I feel comfortable climbing again, even if they let gyms open, as EVERYONE'S HANDS are on the holds and there's no realistic way to clean them enough. 

House stuff: Seth and I have been fixing/cleaning/etc various projects that we've been putting off. Plus getting the yard in order. At a slower pace than I planned at the start of this, but we have been slowly getting the list shorter. And then finding more things to put on the list, sigh. Homeownership!

Petting the cats lots. They are gonna be SO SAD when we go back to work in August (if we go back to work in August?). 

Cooking! We're pre-planning meals about a week and a half in advance so we can do targetted shopping and not go to the store aside from that. Limiting shopping to one store (plus occasional pharmacy trips for prescriptions, but not much to be done about that), which is a little sad but probably the better option. I have SO MUCH TIME to do meals that take a long time or require brain power, so I've done LOTS of cool new recipes, and some old ones I hadn't done in a while. A partial list (because I've probably forgotten things):
* port-basted bbq ribs, with honey-balsamic-bacon-garlic brussel sprouts
* pork shoulder slow-cooker cornbread chili
* fish in fennel-sorrel sauce
* steak with mushroom-bluecheese-pepper topping, with tomato-onion salad and baked potatoes (with chives I found growing in my yard!)
* cast-iron fritatta with peppers
* candied spicy bacon
* morrocan chicken stew
* bahn mi pork burgers
* guacamole
* honey-balsamic glazed chicken with roast curry cauliflower
* meatloaf stuffed with bacon and cheese
* pesto seafood pasta with veggies
* spaghetti ice cream
* shepherd's pie
* coconut chicken cabbage soup
* mushroom risotto with truffle oil
* green devilled eggs with ham (got to do something with all those eggs i hardboiled and dyed for easter, lol)
* ciderhouse chicken with brandy and walnuts
* lemon bars
* banana bread
* mediterraean casserole with feta and vegetables
* fresh baked bread
* mushroom tartine with egg brunch 
* paella with chicken, sausage, and fish
* veggie pasta casserole with cashews
* meatball subs
Anyway I like cooking and Seth does the dishes so this is win/win for me. :) 

Supporting local businesses: We're ordering takeout twice a week from local places, and also many of our local micro breweries are doing delivery, so we've done that a few times. One had a 'quarantine green' beer - guessing they already dyed it for St Patrick's, lol. It was tasty. Buying occasional stuff online from local bookstore, etc. 

And of course it's wonderful to have time to catch up on my to-read and to-watch list, which have not been eliminated but are much shorter now! But people keep recommending things, so... *shrug* ah well :) Doing a book-club thing with a couple friends, where we read the same book at x chapters per y days and then talk about it, that's been pretty fun! I normally devour books pretty quickly so it's interesting to have to wait at the group's pace and really digest the material with a little more thought. So far we have read one fiction (Dark Lord of Derkholm by Dianna Wynn Jones) and one non-fiction (Decisive by Chip and Dan Heath), both of which were excellent! Another fiction book is up next. 

My immediate circle (family/partners/close friends) is mostly doing ok *knocks on wood*, for both health and finances. And I'm appreciating the opportunity to take life a little slower, get more sleep (omg so much more sleep), and enjoy some hobbies. Sad about some events I was looking forward to that got cancelled, and the lack of chance to visit long-distance partners and friends that I normally would have done during spring break, but overall, my personal life is pretty good right now. I'm not bothered by the lack of in-person interaction - hell, this feels RESTFUL to my introvert-in-a-massively-extrovert-job self. I'm not exhausted every day, I'd forgotten what that feels like! I feel bad for people who are really struggling with the isolation, I know what it's like when the world you've living in is the opposite of your preferred coping mechanisms. But I won't lie, a part of me is going "fucking FINALLY this is how we LIKE to exist." Just wish it wasn't for bad reasons. 

Schools are closed the rest of the school year, and summer school is still up in the air, so I may be mostly in my house till august-ish. I'm ok with that.