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My Coronavirus Diary

March 2020 - April 2024
An open-ended adventure by Fiona Read more
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  • TravelerMy Coronavirus Diary
    Day 1

    3 weeks since I left the office...

    March 25, 2020 in Ireland ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    Restrictions have quickly ramped up since we got a text 3 weeks ago telling us not to come into the office. Leo made an announcement last night to say that all non essential services must shut and outdoor gatherings of more than 4 people are no longer allowed.

    Meeting up with my friends in the pub seems like a distant world right now. Only last weekend we went for a hike up the Wicklow mountains..Our last for a while by the looks of it!

    The weather is unseasonably warm and sunny but I spend most of my time indoors. Everyone has gone mad for toilet paper for some reason..I got caught up in the hype and ended up buying a massive stash!

    A few thoughts -
    (I'll probably add to these as I go along)

    Things I like about the situation:
    1. Getting to spend more time with Mia.
    2. Lots of time to declutter the house
    3. Lots of free online classes to try out
    4. More time for home cooked meals
    5. A greater appreciation for the little things in life (That first hug with Mum, Lisa and Anna when this is all over will be so good!)
    6. Virtual family & friends chats

    Things I don't like:
    1. The fear that someone I know will get badly sick
    2. Not knowing when it will all be over
    3. Having to cross the road whenever I come across someone while out running
    4. The worry every time I leave the house that I might catch the virus
    5. The monotony of working from home - week days and weekends are blending together!
    6. Mia spending too much time on her laptop and too little time outdoors.

    Things I'm grateful for -
    1. My home office - I know alot of people are crammed into small apartments trying to work at the kitchen table!
    2. My garden - At least if I can't leave the house I can still sit outside.
    3. Paul & Mia - I'm grateful that we all have a good relationship & enjoy spending time together!
    4. My yoga mat - I'm really enjoying doing lots of virtual yoga sessions.
    5. Being Irish - Our government seem to be doing a really great job managing this crisis. When I look at how the UK and America are handling it I'm grateful to be Irish.

    Things I miss -
    1. Hugs
    2. Meeting up with my friends
    3. Long, guilt free runs.
    4. Browsing the shops.
    5. Coffee breaks at work.
    6. Walking to the village for dinner.
    7. Going on holidays.
    8. Dropping in to Mum's.
    9. Planning the next gig/holiday/night out.
    10. Certainty about the near future.
    12. My morning commute - I know it sounds strange but I really miss the daily routine!
    13. Pete sessions
    14. Tuesday night training
    15. Parkrunning
    16. Normality - I can't imagine things ever being the same again.    Read more

  • TravelerMy Coronavirus Diary
    Day 2

    All about the arms

    March 26, 2020 in Ireland ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C

    Indeed gave us all a budget of €450 to help us get set up with a desk and chair at home. I have set up my home office in the 'gym' room. Whenever I need a break or am looking for a reason to procrastinate I have been hopping on the bench press beside my desk...my arms are VERY tired as a result!

    Need to focus on something else to let them recover so I have decided that today will be ab day!

    It's starting to feel like groundhog day.

    Get up.
    Shower & get dressed.
    Work.
    Go for a walk or run.
    Cook dinner.
    Watch tv.
    Go to bed.
    Repeat.

    Some days I am full of energy. I go for a morning walk on the pier & try out some new meals for lunch and dinner. I do some decluttering and maybe a virtual yoga class.
    More often recently I have felt like I'm running out of steam...I'm sick of walking the pier, sick of having to empty the dishwasher 10 times a day, sick of everything 'virtual'. Leaving the house is an effort at times.

    I have run out of fruit again so will need to go to the shop. The earliest online delivery I could get was for next Monday. Mia has a chest infection so I need to collect a prescription for her from Boots today anyway - I may as well pop to Tesco while I'm out.
    I always feel nervous going to Tesco these days - if I am going to get infected anywhere it will be there. Need to get in and out as quickly as possible and make sure I don't touch my face until I get home and give them a good wash!

    Lisa posted up some sunflower seeds from Cork which I will plant today.
    Also need to order some big planters & buy some plants - with all this time at home it's the perfect time to get stuck into some gardening!

    I made a 'Thursday Challenge' for Mia to do today - she's spending waaaay too much time on her laptop so I'm hoping this will help. She has to do 10,000 steps, bake some cookies, do 10 jumping jacks and clear out a press in her play room. Hopefully she gets on board with it!

    I've had a few virtual catchups with friends and family. I'm probably seeing people more now than I did before the lockdown! When this is over I must make sure to keep this up...it's easy to get caught up in life & it's only when you are forced to slow down that you notice what is important.

    Better get back to work for now!    Read more

  • TravelerMy Coronavirus Diary
    Day 6

    Lockdown!

    March 30, 2020 in Ireland ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C

    On Friday night Leo announced that we are now in lock down!
    This means we can only leave the house for essential reasons such as grocery shopping or caring for a relative, and also for brief exercise within a 2km radius of home.

    This has triggered lots of discussions and arguments on the Crusaders whatsapp group as to what constitutes 'Brief'! There is a handy app which lets you see your 2km radius circle. Luckily the full east and west pier are within mine, as well as the park up at sallynoggin - not as nice as cabinteely but its good to have a bit of grass to run on.

    Went out for a run on Saturday along the West pier and it was really quiet. People must be taking this lock down seriously!

    Myself and Paul spent the weekend decluttering the entire house since we had nothing better to do. We got rid of about 30 bin bags of stuff but the house still looks the same! Hmm. Next weekend I will be focusing on photos and hanging stuff on the wall.

    This lockdown is due to last for 2 weeks but I suspect it will probably be longer. We are now at 2,100 cases, but the new daily cases are fairly flat at about 200 - 250 cases. Lisa is still waiting for her results after getting tested last Monday though so there seems to be a big backlog.

    This week my goals are as follows -
    - Change out of my pyjamas every day
    - Do a virtual HIIT class
    - Do the daily push up challenge
    - Cook a beef stew in the slow cooker
    - Follow Emmet Dunleavy's online training plan
    - Read a chapter of my book every day    Read more

  • TravelerMy Coronavirus Diary
    Day 7

    Essential visit to Lisnashee!

    March 31, 2020 in Ireland ⋅ ⛅ 6 °C

    I have started to do daily challenges with Mia as a way to make sure she doesn't spend all day on her laptop. They include a mix of exercise, housework and other fun stuff like baking and reading. She has actually been really good with getting on board with them!

    I've also started doing them for myself to try and keep my routine going, as a couple of days last week I fell off the wagon a bit. Today my challenge is -

    1. Push up challenge
    2. Tempo run
    3. Tackle work emails which have been building up
    4. Cook beef stew
    5. Virtual class
    6. Read 1 chapter of my book

    Yesterday I called out to Mum & Anna for a visit and to drop off a few bits and bobs that I cleared out of the house. Was good to see them as it's been a while! Ended up visiting again later in the evening as Mia had baked some bread and scones for home ec and wanted to drop some out to them! There are garda checkpoints set up around the place but luckily we weren't stopped - If we were I would have told them I was visiting my elderly Mum!

    Went for a run at 7pm yesterday evening down to the West pier. It was eerily quiet - no traffic on the roads and very few people out and about. It felt like 5am on a Sunday morning. There was a checkpoint set up on the main road stopping cars and a few gardai patrolling on foot. Thankfully both piers are just about within the 2km radius for me - I'll definitely be making the most of them for my runs & walks over the next few weeks!

    I feel like I'm finally settling in and getting used to the new normal. I'm enjoying having more time to cook and Mia is learning more meals which I would never have had time to show her before. The three of us are getting along really well which is good...we aren't sick of each other yet!

    We have alot to be thankful for - our jobs are safe and none of us or our families are sick. Lisa was telling me it looks like Griffith College Cork won't reopen in September so all those people will be out of work. I've also heard some sad stories of people losing family members and not even being able to say goodbye to them. I think we will come out of this experience completely shell shocked as a nation.

    I wonder how long it will be before things get back to normal.
    Will it be a sudden reopening of everything and big celebrations across the country or will it be more gradual?    Read more

  • TravelerMy Coronavirus Diary
    Day 8

    Compost!

    April 1, 2020 in Ireland ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C

    9 bags of compost arrived from Windy Ridges today! The delivery guy said they had to shut down their online delivery system shortly after I ordered because they got completely overwhelmed with orders! I have planters being delivered this week so will soon be able to do a bit of gardening. Hopefully the weather keeps up!

    Zoe-trope from Raheny Shamrocks is doing online workouts on Instagram. I tried a 10 min glute exercise today - it was great - nice and short too! Going to try and do a few of her classes each week.

    I also did a tempo run this evening - I've started following Emmet Dunleavy's training plans which he is posting on MyRun Community - a new Facebook page which was set up in response to the lockdown - for runners to share different resources. I'm going to try and follow the plan as far as possible. Rang Lisa for the chats on my cool down jog - feel like we've lots of chats to catch up on so going to try and coordinate our runs as much as possible!

    I've been dragging Mia our for a walk around the estate every day - it's the only exercise she gets some days! We've also been playing lots of games- mostly Uno, but today we played Minions top trumps for a change!

    Mia spends lots of time chatting with her friends - Ashley, Talah and Jenny - on zoom. I don't know how they have so much to chat about! Sometimes they play roadblox together or Nintendo switch, but mostly they just chat!    Read more

  • TravelerMy Coronavirus Diary
    Day 10

    Friday morning workout!

    April 3, 2020 in Ireland ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    Had a virtual group Pete session for the first time this morning. €10 per class - worth every penny! Mum and Lisa also joined. I hauled all my weights down to the kitchen for it but he ended up just doing body weight exercises...so had to haul them all back up after!

    A few new places have opened up for online orders/delivery since the lockdown began. Today we tried out Strudel delivery - got some lovely freshly baked bread and pastries! & dropped some out to Mum and Anna also. I must try a few other places - That's Amore and Lobstar are both delivering now too so it would be a good opportunity to try them.

    Did a session on the pier today - 15 reps up and down! I've been doing all my sessions on the West pier and hill reps on York road. Its the perfect set up - a flat wide pier so I can keep my distance from people. But it does get a bit boring at times...I'm looking forward to getting back to the real track!    Read more

  • TravelerMy Coronavirus Diary
    Day 12

    Venturing beyond my 2km radius...

    April 5, 2020 in Ireland ⋅ 🌧 12 °C

    It was a rainy start to the day as I headed out for my long run. The paths were empty so I decided to keep going towards Dalkey, beyond my 2km radius. I think the restrictions were put in place mostly to stop crowds of people going to Glendalough and places like that - me running on empty paths won't do any damage...hopefully no ones sees my Strava and judges me!

    Lisa went out for a run at the same time as me so that we could have the chats. It would be better if she was here in person but it still makes the time fly by having her on the phone! She seems to be getting on well down in Cork and is definitely making the best of the lockdown - doing all sorts of virtual classes!

    I spent most of this weekend making two planters. It was actually such an awful ordeal! I kept making them wrong and had to remake one of them 4 times!! I don't care what they look like - we are keeping them no matter what! It got quite cold and windy while I was making them...I ended up with cuts all over my hands & absolutely freezing to the bone!
    It felt like a big waste of a weekend but sure what else would I be doing!    Read more

  • TravelerMy Coronavirus Diary
    Day 13

    Virtual Pete & an attempted Oti dance!

    April 6, 2020 in Ireland ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    We organised a virtual Pete session for 1pm today. Just myself, Mum, Lisa, Garrett and Lisa B. Lisa only has a 1kg weight so she had to use a giant rock as her weight - it was so funny - Pete went mad when she tried to lift it over her head! The Pete sessions are great - I'm going to try and do this one plus the 8am Friday session each week - just to keep myself ticking over!

    There were issues with logging into the Diva group reporting system in work - Elaine and Peter both suggested we try to get clearance to go into the office to get access - I was worried I'd have to refuse since it's completely against the current regulations (Closing month end isn't exactly an essential task!) but luckily HR stepped in and told them that under no circumstances can they ask employees to go into the office. I was surprised that they even suggested it but at least someone stepped in.

    One of my colleagues, Austin, was coughed at and spat in the face by someone while out on his morning walk today. He has a condition which puts him in the high risk category so he was very shook up afterwards and took the day off after reporting it at the local Garda station. I have heard of a few stories like this - people coughing at shop assistants and things like that. The gardai are coming down strongly on them - I even heard of one person being jailed for a year!

    I decided I was finally going to learn an Oti Mabuse dance today! She is doing virtual dance classes on facebook and Lisa has done a few of them. I picked the Greatest Showman but realised half way through that I was learning a kids dance (She has adult and kids lessons!) so I gave up! I'll pick out an adult one and do it properly when I have more time!    Read more

  • TravelerMy Coronavirus Diary
    Day 14

    Crusaders quiz night

    April 7, 2020 in Ireland ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    Apparently it was a lovely day today - I didn't get to see it because I was working non stop. I feel a bit guilty that Mia has had to fend for herself for the past few days while I've been busy with work - I haven't had time to cook lunch or dinner for her. I know it's annoying her as she keeps giving out about me working after 6pm. At least it will get less busy in a few days & I have a long weekend to look forward to!

    We had a virtual quiz night with Crusaders this evening, organised by Susan. It was good fun and good to see all the old reliables! Apparently Mum and Lisa stayed on chatting with Susan for about an hour afterwards - she seems to be finding the lockdown tough & really missing human interaction!    Read more

  • TravelerMy Coronavirus Diary
    Day 15

    Anna's lockdown birthday party!

    April 8, 2020 in Ireland ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    Today was Anna's birthday! It also coincided with day 6 of quarter end but I snuck out at lunch and dropped over to Lisnashee with Mia to give her some presents and eat some cake. I had my excuse ready if we were stopped by the gardai on our way there - I am visiting my elderly Mum! We arrived just as Conor and Paul were finishing filling the skip - just on time for tea and cake!

    It was lovely sitting out in the patio in the sun with Mum, John, Paul, Conor, Anna , Mia and Vincent. Mum had all the chairs spread out and everything was wiped down with disinfectant, but it still felt quite normal which was nice! Unfortunately I had to rush back to work.

    This evening we had a family quiz night on Zoom. I was still working so could only half pay attention - that's my excuse for not doing very well haha! Tomorrow is the last day of quarter end - I can't wait to get back to normality....well as normal as it can be when the world is on lockdown.

    My paintclub starter pack arrived today - paints, brushes and canvases. I'm going to sign up to one of the virtual paintclubs that they're doing.

    Boris is out of intensive care today but the number of deaths in the UK seems to be spiralling - close to a thousand per day...we seem to be coping a bit better here - fingers crossed we continue to keep it under control.    Read more

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