Quarantine Chronicles

It's now been a month since I was sent home to work due to COVID-19. I figured it was a good time to look at whats changed in the last 4 weeks.

To summarize: A lot. For everyone.

There's no question in everyone's mind that this month has been hard on the head for everyone, but I think a lot of good has blossomed as well. 

I have not hugged another human in over a month. That has been a very bizarre reality for me as I am one who enjoys a hug. 

My heart breaks for those who find themselves without employment at this time, especially self employed individuals who invested so much into their empire and may not make it out of this storm.

I've found the easiest way to get through this is to focus on the positives that are coming out of this. 

The helpers are coming out in all shapes and sizes. I see friends donating their time and skills to aid with people who need food or PPE while they have so much extra free time. 

I am blessed with employment that can be done from home so I've done my best to share financially wherever I can. 

Although my groceries are arriving in plastic bags for the first time in years, air pollution is down across the globe. That. Is an enormous win for our planet and everyone and everything who lives on it. And believe me, not a single one of those "single use" plastic bags in my house will only be used once. It'll be nice not having to hunt for something to put cat litter in for a little bit.

I've learned a lot this past month:

1. The ideal exercise time for me seems to be 8am surprisingly. Right after the coffee. I haven't missed many morning workouts since this all began. 

Activity has always been a struggle since starting the office work 4 years ago. I'm dedicated to keeping this routine. 

2. I hate going to grocery stores now. I'll be ordering in advance and just picking things up long after this whole thing is over! I've also made use of an an amazing online farmers market ordering system that allows me to simply pick up my order with minimal human interaction. 

This allows me all the fresh foods I'm used to without the hassle of crowds and I can still support locals! 

(wfm2go.com if you’re local in NS. Bonus, there's also no plastic bags involved, yay!) 

3. Cupboards go bare fast when you're home all the time! I'm planning meals out much better, cooking 3 meals a day, 7 days a week you have to. (I miss sitting in a restaurant.) There is very little being wasted and although I know my grocery bill has obviously increased, I still feel like I'm saving. 

Helps that life isn't as busy and I'm not eating as much takeout. Amazingly I have not eaten a single order of takeout all month! (my pants are thanking me) 

4. I need more time for projects. I have gotten SO much done in the past 30 days. Things that may have taken me months and years otherwise. A lot of these project were a go even before the pandemic hit so it really drove home how overwhelmed I probably would have gotten in the near future trying to get everything done. My "normal" life does not let me express myself as I would like. This was a big eye opener for me. I've always assumed the answer was to do less, but now it feels like I should focus on how I'm doing things, and try to do things smarter. 

At the beginning of it all, I found a great set of questions that you can ask yourself each day that makes the whole process a little easier. I'm so blessed to have a big house with lots of distractions, without it, I would not feel nearly as stable and strong as I am today. This entire experience would be different if we were still in my tiny townhouse in the city.

Daily Quarantine Questions

I know not everyone is as lucky as me to have a large space to embrace, but even in the smallest of spaces I believe these questions can be answered by anyone daily and it does a world of help.

Well that’s it for now. Still not bored. A little less pudgy. It could be worse?

xoxo Nicole

Zero Waste During a Pandemic

As the Corona virus (COVID-19) has unfolded companies, and governments are doing everything they can to prevent the spread of this virus we have no vaccine against.

I don’t travel very much (no time and don’t like the carbon footprint) so most of my day to day operations have gone virtually unchanged. I live alone so I have no risk of a spouse or a child bringing something home, at work I spend the majority of my day on the phone, just the odd face to face client and my evenings are generally not spent with a large crowd of people. Realistically I like to be in my bedroom by 8:30 pm so I have time to play with my rabbit before bed. Below is a photo of Oliver because I didn’t really know what sort of photos are appropriate for a post like this.

I am not gross, so I was my hands probably close to hourly (you pee a lot when you drink a lot of water.) So I know things can still happen but I’m feeling pretty good about my normal habits reducing my chances of contracting the virus.

One thing, however, that has caught my attention is now major coffee chains are not accepting reusable cups and Bulk Barn won’t accept reusable containers until the outbreak has been reduced or eliminated.

I generally don’t purchase coffee. I need it before I handle heavy equipment (my car) and making it costs literally pennies as opposed to $2 (or more) at a coffee shop. This doesn’t affect me at all except for those odd days where I need a second fuel up or somehow I run out of milk of coffee beans at home.

Bulk Barn however, is a major source for my dry goods shopping. If it’s not something I want to get in large bulk amounts from Costco, I will go with my collection of large Mason jars and get it at Bulk Barn. At first I was incredibly annoyed because it just throws a wrench in my new found routine.

The annoyance didn’t last too long, as much as I had worked hard to find alternatives for my household products and had given up a lot to do things this way. I knew the intention was for the safety of the workers of this company and I can never fault a company for putting their employees first. I wish more companies worked that way.

It was time once again to take a step back and look at what I can do while I wait for my bulk store to trust my jars again. Below is a simple list I generated as guidance while we await for the fire to be put out.

1. Reduce.

   If it’s not available in bulk. Do I really need it? Will I miss it if I can’t get it for a few weeks? If the answer is yes, just get it. You still need to eat/wash/live and this won’t last forever. Just be aware of need vs. want.

   I’ve been wanting to make homemade bits and bites for a little bit now and realistically it can be delayed a little bit longer until I can get the ingredients in bulk.

2. Recycled products.

   I’ve noticed if a company is using recycled cardboard for their products, they will proudly showcase it on their boxes. Look for the material labels on your boxes and choose products that are in recycled containers. Then when you are done with the box, recycle it again and continue the cycle.

   Purchasing something in a glass jar is also an alternative as our recycling facilities can process glass a heck of a lot better than plastic. Alternatively, you can just keep the jar after it’s empty.

3. Buy in a larger quantity if you can.

   Join the Costco madness! Grab the giant bags of flour, sugar, cereals and oats. You’ll be good for a long time, these products generally don’t come in plastic (except the cereal bag- reuse it if you can) and will last as long as they are stored correctly. Overall it’s usually more affordable to buy in these large quantities when you can anyways.

4. Ration.

   I have maybe 2 servings of popcorn kernels left. I don’t plan to touch these unless I have a movie night. Keeps my snack options available. Don’t deny yourself anything you’re truly craving, but since we don’t know how long this is going to last it’s best to hang onto household inventories longer if possible.