It has been a while since I have posted anything, be it social media or here on the blog.  Things have been crazy weird and stressful, and that goes way back before this Covid-19 that’s gotten us down lately.  It’s taken a while for me to get to this point but I feel like I am finally back on my feet and ready to move forward.  And of course I wanted to hop on here and just kind of catch you guys up on what’s been going on and what I’ve been up to.

My Health

One thing that I do want to touch on is my health, especially with Covid-19 and how it’s changed our everyday lives.  By the time this blog goes live, I will officially be back to work after being quarantined at home for the past two weeks.  Was it Covid-19?  I do not know, because I could not get tested.  How’s that for our healthcare system?  I guess it’s water under the bridge now, though, since I’ve officially been released for work. (I feel like I have to emphasis that I am back to work because my job is considered essential and so I must leave my home).  The only lingering affects of my “cold” is that I now have to carry an inhaler to help with my breathing.  I had asthma as a child, so it’s easy to blame a relapse in my health. 

That aside, and even though my gym has shut down for the foreseeable future, I have been finding ways at home to continue working out.  It’s been a learning curve but it’s definitely sustainable for me.  I’ve also been really hunkering down on the type of foods that I’ve been eating.  When it comes to my weight, I was steadily losing the weight.  For the past four weeks or so I’ve plateaud a bit, so right now I’m working on changing that. 

Professional Life

So the biggest struggle for me these past few months has been my job.  Before I go on, I want to say that I realize that I am extremely fortunate to have a job, especially with everything that’s been going on, and I couldn’t be more grateful.  However, the stress from my job and trying to juggle that with school really affected the amount of time I had to work on content or even to read.  Prior to going out on quarantine, I had been filling in as a temporary lead at work.  Basically helping the manager and other lead keep the shift running smoothly and essentially help my coworkers any way that I could.  This was the most amazing learning experience that I could ever have received at work and it opened my eyes to a lot of things on a managerial level that I never got to see before.  It was really stressful in that there is a lot of pressure in that position of being under a microscope by coworkers as well as staff from “upstairs”.  During that time, I would often have to forego my breaks, so I wasn’t eating as much as I had hoped and I also had zero time to work on homework.  But overall, it was amazing and I loved it. 

Online School

One thing that I’ve been extremely grateful for since this whole social distancing happened is that I am already used to online schooling. However, beings I have a little one that just started online schooling, I can completely understand how difficult it is to transition to a learning environment you aren’t used to. This past semester has also been extremely trying.  I was taking a social sciences class, and needless to say, it was not my favorite.  Factor in the fact that I was sick through most of it and you could see that I was really struggling by the end.  Currently, I am taking a basic math course and it’s pretty straightforward.  This has definitely helped my stress level significantly.

Also, for school, I’ve been working on my tasks to be inducted into the National Society of Leadership and Success.  This is a society that helps members learn leadership skills and overall to be successful in our career goals.  It is such an honor to be invited to be a member, and I can’t wait until I’ve completed the steps to induction. 

Reading/Writing

It wasn’t until I was stuck at home during quarantine that I started reading again.  After I got sick, reading fell so low on my priority list that I about gave it up for this year.  Luckily, I seem to have gotten over that little reading slump that I had, so stay tuned for my April TBR!

I did sign up for Camp NaNoWriMo to continue working on a novel that, I swear, has haunted me for years.  After everything that’s been going on, I really feel like getting back to my roots and doing things that bring me joy is what I need.

We Are In This Together

Before I wrap this up, I want to thank you for reading. My heart goes out to everyone and their families affected by Covid-19. Remember that we are in this together.