Keep calm and carry on....

Jessy103

Good luck SC!

South_coast

Thanks Jessy! 

Right so I have braved Outside and it was OK. About 5 minutes queuing to get into Lidl and managed to get everything I needed and most of the "wants" as well. Getting a trolley, going up and down every aisle and then queueing up to pay at the checkout was strange though as it's very different to how I normally shop. I usually pop in to Lidl/Sainsbury's/Asda on the way back home from work, grab a few bits, pay at the self-checkout and I'm out again in 5 minutes. Having to think about a week's supplies and then waiting my turn to choose potatoes because someone else is choosing potatoes is taking a bit of getting used to.

Also went to see BF and pinched some stamps from him in exchange for some dishwasher tablets (Lidl weekend deal 😀). He's keeping himself busy in the garden. It was very weird not being able to get closer than 2m though 😦

I noted down the mileage on my car when I got home and I've done less than 600 miles in the last month. That still seems a lot, but I was working normally until less than 3 weeks ago and it's a long way short of my usual average of 400 miles a week 😮! Mileage on the car is still a few hundred over where it should be by now (it's on a lease agreement for a fixed number of miles), but that will quickly go back into line over the next couple of weeks. I've been tracking it every month so I'd have an idea what the excess mileage charge will be - if this keeps up for a while, there shouldn't be one at all now....

I've also deleted all the reminders out of my phone that aren't relevant to my life right now. Life is strange enough at the moment without being reminded of that disparity on a daily basis. It feels a bit like giving up, but then I think we all have given up haven't we? There isn't any choice. There isn't any battle to be had, coronavirus has taken over our lives. All we can do now is wait it out

coldcazzie

South_coast said:

I've also deleted all the reminders out of my phone that aren't relevant to my life right now. Life is strange enough at the moment without being reminded of that disparity on a daily basis. It feels a bit like giving up, but then I think we all have given up haven't we? There isn't any choice. There isn't any battle to be had, coronavirus has taken over our lives. All we can do now is wait it out

Not sure it is giving up, so much as adapting to a new (temporary) normal. It's okay that you're needing to do things differently right now - everything is different right now. At some point, things will change again and when that happens you will change your reminders and your routine again because that's what you'll need to do. Change isn't inherently negative. And I know we're all being subjected to a huge amount of uncertainty at the moment, and so of course we want to cling to our "normal" things because those things relieve anxiety... but it's also okay to let some of them go if they aren't actually helping, and find a new normal. Just for now  

It's interesting reflecting on everything with fellow birth workers at the moment - I think we're all collectively going through something like the five stages of grief. And like grieving, it progresses at different speeds for everyone.

savingholmes

They are weird times that's for sure. The shops seem to have plenty in them round where I live and haven't been that full when I've sent DS in (he wanted to go). I too am thinking of adjusting all my alarms so they make more sense.

South_coast

Thanks both. I definitely have a better work-life balance now, so I'm not very keen on the idea that it's going to take over my life and brain again and cause me to need all the reminders 😦 But, there is a mortgage to be paid! 

It's the other bits of my normal life that I'm missing - the freedom to decide tonight what I'm eating tonight, to go to a lovely restaurant, and to actually touch my romantic partner 😦    x

coldcazzie

South_coast said:

Thanks both. I definitely have a better work-life balance now, so I'm not very keen on the idea that it's going to take over my life and brain again and cause me to need all the reminders 😦 But, there is a mortgage to be paid! 

It's the other bits of my normal life that I'm missing - the freedom to decide tonight what I'm eating tonight, to go to a lovely restaurant, and to actually touch my romantic partner 😦    x

Totally understandable. It's okay to miss those things. I miss hugging people; I knew I was a hugger anyway but this has really brought into focus how important physical touch is to me.

Grogged

I'm hating the lack of spontaneity, can't just look up and talk...
It's all typey type or make a call.
It's just not the same somehow...

South_coast

Ooh, the not looking up and talking was one thing I was preferring Grogged! Not having me in the room was good for making my colleagues think for themselves before just asking me - not so relevant now though, as I barely have any colleagues left at the moment! 

Caz - I'm not normally a very tactile person, but I do want to be able to give my BF a kiss and not stand 2m away wearing gloves and a scarf over my face 😢 If he hadn't recognised me, he could quite easily have thought I was coming to rob him 😂!

South_coast

So, I know it's lame but I really miss OP'ing 😦 I've decided that once I get the combined "pay off mortgage" and "pay off credit card" pots up to £3k (equivalent to 3 months' emergency budget) I am going to start sending a £100 OP every week. As long as I continue to be employed, this balance will grow faster than it is depleted, so it feels like I'll have a foot in both camps. If the balance gets more like £5k then I might up it to £150 a week, but hopefully things might be looking a bit more normal by then

greenbee

If your OPs are bringing your mortgage down they're kind of part of your emergency budget anyway - you can sometimes use OPs for a mortgage holiday (check your ts & cs). And the sooner your mortgage is paid off, the sooner emergency planning becomes less stressful. Not that I've managed to OP anything recently - once the kitchen is done, however...