Tuesday, April 21, 2020

What I Have Learned While Sheltering in Place During the 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic, Part 2: A Day in the Life and Some Realizations

One of my Facebook friends recently posted a question on Facebook, asking people what their days were like now that we are all sheltering in place, wondering if they had a particular routine. So naturally, I wanted to weigh in, but in so doing, I have also had some major realizations.


So first, this is what for me is a typical day:



6am:  Hubby gets up.


I don't.





7am:  Zzzzzz



8am:  Zzzzzz



9am:  Zzzzz



9:15:  Yawn


Well, this is what I like to think I am like when I wake up, that I wake up all happy with little birds singing on my window sill, but...

actually it's more like this!


I am NOT a morning person!



9:30:  Get up and fix my special breakfast drink - orange juice with Pellegrino (makes me feel like I am having a Mimosa for breakfast) followed by a cup of tea (I am not a breakfast person, either), which I drink while reading magazines or whatever book I am working on.



10:30: I watch "The View." Watching "The View" has been part of my routine for so long that it feels like I am having a political discussion with my girlfriends (and yes, I sometimes talk back to the TV). It relaxes me. And I know, it is on at 10am but I have it set on my DVR, so that if I watch it after it has already started I can whiz through the commercials. I hate commercials! Having to watch a bunch of commercials just might push me over the edge!





11:30:  Make the bed, get dressed, that kind of thing - should I take a shower?

Nah...why bother?




Noon: Meditate while Hubby is walking the dogs.


(Like I could actually get into that position)!



12:30:  Exercise


(Like I could actually do that.  When I am not out walking, I work out with YouTube videos but I have learned that many of the workout videos on YouTube are kind of lame)


1pm: Work on this blog or some other important computer project I have planned liked watching videos of cute puppies on YouTube.




2pm:  Housework - washing clothes, ironing, cleaning out the garage.  I usually have a list of things I want to get accomplished.  Old habits die hard.
(have to do that stuff some time - my cleaners are also on lockdown)!




3pm:  Watch a movie, because, after all, I am still Rosy the Reviewer!





5pm:  Hubby gets off work so it's Happy Hour!
(and sometimes virtual Happy Hour with friends - and I have to say that as much as I miss seeing my friends in the flesh this virtual thing sure is easy - don't have to make food or clean the toilet)!





5pm:  Get dinner ready



6pm:  Dinner



7pm:  Jeopardy.  Since we can't meet up with our trivia team - The Famous Shagalots - Hubby and I get our trivia kicks hanging out with Alex Trebeck and competing against each other while watching Jeopardy.  (Btw, I say The FAMOUS Shagalots because we have won at every venue we have played. And if you are wondering, yes, the team name is ironic)!




8pm:  The rest of the evening is usually followed by lots and lots of TV (here is what I have been watching), a movie or some Me Time.


(Except I don't have a cat)!



11pm:  Bedtime...



unless I am on a roll.  I stay up late a couple of times a week, more because I am too lazy to get ready for bed than that I am doing anything important.  I have always been a bit of a night owl.




So that in general is how my life goes now in this time of sheltering in place, give or take some of the time frames and/or activities. 

But I have to admit, that's pretty much how my life went before, except now instead of leaving the house, my day or evening is broken up by online card games with friends, FaceTime with family members or friends, occasional trips to the store, cooking marathons and some mini projects. But like I said, in general, my days are not that different from before the pandemic. I am retired, so I didn't have a job to go to.  Also, I actually like to be alone, to a certain extent and have always carved out some time to engage in solitary pursuits. I have always been sort of an "indoor girl," so it hasn't been the sacrifice for me that it has been for others, though I certainly have days when I want to scream "GET ME OUTTA HERE!"

But I learned early on that I am a creature of habit and need structure in my life, not just during the occasional pandemic where I have to stay home every day.  Even in the best of times, I had a routine and it's having a routine that is helping me get through this time now. I learned the importance of that when I retired after 40 years as a librarian.



When I retired, I had to ask myself, what was going to give me a reason to get up in the morning? What would be my purpose in life? What was I going to do all day?  So now you know.  But actually, I discovered blogging, volunteer work, meditation, a Fantasy Movie League, all kinds of activities that I didn't have time for when I was working and those activities gave me purpose.  And now within the confines of sheltering in place, I have built a mini-structure for my life and...my purpose?  Right now, it's to help protect myself and my fellow humans by staying home.

But the main difference now is that, since I can't go out, my basic routine is not broken up by outside influences like it was before.  I am not busy, busy, busy.  I don't have my usual volunteer work, lunch with friends, going out to hear Hubby play music, traveling, hanging out at the mall, going to the gym and all of the other activities that filled up my day before.  Now I have time to think.

Many of us have been caught up in the busyness of life, busy taking care of kids, busy running errands, busy working, busy fulfilling obligations, and we were not able to find the time to stop and think about what we really wanted out of life and what really mattered.

But now I have all of the time in the world to reflect and that reflection has led me to some realizations about what really matters and how I want my life to go when this over.

First of all - gratitude. I talked about that in my last blog post, but it bears repeating.  I am grateful for those friends, old and new, near and far, who have made the effort to check in and stay in touch.  It feels especially good when I am having a bad day. And I am grateful that my children and their children are well and in touch.

But it's not lost on me that I have privilege.  

I have not lost my job and I don't have young children to take care of and worry about.  There but for fortune...However, I can certainly relate.  It is not lost on me that if this had happened to Hubby and me 30 years ago, when we were living paycheck to paycheck with two young children, we would be suffering, just as so many are right now. So I am grateful for my life.  And I feel compassion for those who are suffering.  I plan to continue to practice gratitude and put that compassion to work by doing what I can for those who don't have the privileges I have.

I have also given some thought to my consumerism.  

Let me use my clothes "collection" as a metaphor. Let's just say, I have a crap load of clothes. All my life, shopping for and buying clothes has been a sort of hobby for me, like collecting stamps would be for a person whose passion that is.  I think my clothes habit stems from my not having the cute outfits that the popular girls had in middle school but we won't go into that now. As I shelter at home, it is not lost on me that I seem to wear nothing but workout clothes and sweats, sometimes the same outfit two days in a row (horrors!).


So when I look at my three closets full of clothes, I realize that I will probably never wear all of my clothes in this lifetime. It's a sobering thought. I realize I don't need any more clothes.  And like I said, all of those clothes are a metaphor, because it's not just clothes I am talking about.  It's consumerism in general. I realize that I have everything I need and I don't need much more of anything else. Sorry, Amazon.

Also with all of the news about how the environment has been helped by everyone staying at home - I mean those living in Los Angeles are seeing clear skies almost every day - I also want to be more conscious of what I am throwing away and what I can do to help the environment. I have always been conscious about it, but I want to be more conscious.

Likewise, though I am already volunteering as a peer counselor for seniors, I want to find out what other volunteer activities I can do to help those who aren't as fortunate as I am, who might be in real trouble especially after this is all over. As someone who was in public service for over 40 years, I realize that being of service is important to me. Even though I'm not working at a regular job anymore, it's still my purpose.

So I am learning to assess what I really need, not just now when I am stuck at home, but in the future. I am also having some realizations about how I want my life to go when I get out of this and back into the world. 

Sometimes it takes a worldwide pandemic for us to realize what really matters.


What have you learned or realized while sheltering in place?




Thanks for Reading!





And I Hope to See you Soon... 


Here and on my Rosy the Reviewer Facebook Page!



If you enjoyed this post, feel free to click on the share buttons to share it on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn, email it to your friends and LIKE me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/rosythereviewer 




Tuesday, April 14, 2020

What I Have Learned While Sheltering in Place During the 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic, Part 1

I know, I know.  I said I was going to take a break. Hubby reminded me of that by saying, how can they miss you if you never leave?  But I did say in my post "To Blog or Not to Blog," that it was the Friday movie and book reviews that were going away, not me, and that if I had something to say, I would be back.  

Well, I have something to say. 

So here I am, back in my original persona, the Rosy the Reviewer who "reviews" her life, compelled to share with you what I am learning while sheltering in place in this crazy and historic Coronavirus time that we now live in.





But before I get into the nitty gritty of what I have learned besides washing my hands a lot, let me say that nothing like this virus or having to shelter in place for weeks at a time has ever happened in my lifetime, and I've lived for a lot of years.  For us Baby Boomers, I guess this could be our Great Depression except we won't have our own little children to regale with stories about what we went through like our parents did.  So I guess it will be our grandchildren's responsibility to guilt trip their kids with what they went through during the Great Coronovirus Pandemic.  I recently tried to tell my nine-year-old grandson that not only would this be over soon, but that he would one day have a great story to tell.  He didn't get it, but I think over time he will. 


My young grandson will be able to say to his kids, "You think you have it bad? Why, when I was nine, I had to stay inside for three months!"


But despite the fact that I know many are suffering far more than I am, on bad days I can't help but lament the fact that I can't go to the movies, visit with friends, see my kids and grandkids, go to the mall (though I will say, I'm saving money there), or have See's Candy to see me through and that I have to mostly stay inside with just Hubby, the dogs and the TV to keep me company.  And that leaves a lot of time for reflection.  So I have been reflecting.

With that said, what have I learned?

In addition to washing my hands as often as possible and trying not to touch my face, which ain't easy for someone who has bitten her fingernails since the age of five (I know, I will save analyzing that for another day), I have learned that...

  • A bottle of wine doesn't last as long as it used to (this was FULL an hour ago)!

  • When I encounter other people on the sidewalk and cross the street to avoid them, they are no longer insulted like they might have been in the past.  In fact, they thank me!  So I wave and make a big production of it.

  • When I go into a convenience store at midnight wearing a mask, no one thinks I am going to rob them!
  • I am a bit of a foodie and when I am at loose ends, I like to cook but during stressful times like these, I have learned that instead of rustling up my usual Salmon en Croute or Scallop and Lobster Ravigote with Asparagus and Organic Quinoa, I revert to childhood favorites like fish sticks, tuna pasta salad and Kraft Dinner with hot dogs (Kraft Dinner -that's what we called Kraft Mac and Cheese when I was growing up), not to mention the occasional big bowl of ice cream with hot fudge and a cherry on top. Okay, not just occasional.  Every night.  I feel that Coronavirus 15 creeping on!


  • Dogs...if we have to shelter in place, I have learned that we couldn't ask for better companions than dogs. They are the best company! They don't have much to say and they look at me so lovingly, especially when I have a handful of Doritos.  

And they provide hours of fun!



Here's a thought.  

If you have always wanted a dog, why not rescue one now?  Think of the company a little puppy would provide, especially if you are going through this alone, and now is certainly the at-home time you would need for getting to know him or her and for the requisite toilet training that is in your future. Think about it.  Dogs rock! I can't imagine going through this without the unconditional love from our dogs (well, and from Hubby too)!

  • (Speaking of Hubby), I find that I need my Do Not Disturb sign again. And it's ironic, because on the one hand, I miss my family and friends and feel lonely at times and I can't imagine life without Hubby, but on the other hand, living in forced close quarters with someone day in and day out, with few breaks, can be, well, irritating sometimes. There, I said it.  But, c'mon, if it's not the singing and harmonica playing, it's talking to clients in his office (he works at home and I can hear everything) or it's interrupting me right when my little bell goes off to start my meditation, to tell me it's going to rain tonight or to ask me where the toilet paper is!  Don't get me wrong, I love Hubby and enjoy his company, but we live in a small place and not being able to get some Me Time can be challenging. Okay, challenging maybe isn't the right word.  How about can make me bitchy? The divorce rate in China supposedly went way up while they were all stuck at home so I don't want that to happen...


Hence the sign!


But the bottom line is this:  no matter what your circumstances, it's okay to want to have some alone time, and in this case, since we have so much time to reflect, we should be reflecting and that works best when alone!


  • When left to my own devices at home, I have learned that I don't use my time as wisely as I should.  With all of this time on my hands, I am not learning a new language or knitting or reading "War and Peace" or adopting an orphan from a third world country like some of my friends.  Instead, I find myself turning into Gladys Kravitz, staring out the window to see what my neighbors are doing and taking down license plate numbers, or whiling away the hours watching Lifetime Movies and reruns of "Wife Swap" and "Naked and Afraid." 



  • And speaking of Lifetime Movies - I know I talk about them a lot (In factI actually wrote an entire blog post about my "appreciation" of Lifetime Movies), but, believe it or not, they are often a metaphor for a variety of things.  In this case, I have learned that they can take you away from it all and make you grateful for your life when you realize that someone else has a worse life than you. They allow us to feel a certain amount of schudenfreude without feeling guilty, because these aren't real people. I mean, I may be stuck inside for an indeterminate amount of time, but at least I don't have a stalker trying to kill me or a psycho friend trying to kill me or a vacation at a spa where the spa is trying to kill me (you have to have been there). Lifetime Movies can be helpful for your state of mind, giving you some relief from your troubles, though I will say that the Lifetime Channel was quite insensitive to show "Psycho Nurse" last week. 




I am grateful that all I need to do to avoid getting killed is to stay inside so that psycho Covid-19 virus doesn't get me. Or I have hope, anyway, that will do the trick. 

All kidding aside, though, I have also learned some things about hope and gratitude.

Without hope there is despair.  And there is much to despair in this whole pandemic experience.  But we have to have hope, not the kind of hope that allows us to do something stupid, like going out, hanging out in groups, breathing on everyone and everyone breathing on you with the hope that you won't get sick. 

I am talking about the kind of hope that is deep inside us, the capacity to meet a situation and use it for personal growth.  It's a feeling of positivity that things will change and we will get out of this, because we are doing what we need to do to stay well; a positivity that leads us to take care of our mental health by keeping in touch with friends and loved ones so that we stay connected; a positivity that gives us empathy and enables us to reach out to those who are alone; a positivity that inspires us to accomplish something new now that we have the time; a positivity to motivate us to keep going; and a positivity that enables us to reflect on our lives, do a self inventory and decide how we want our lives to go when we get out of this. Hope is transformative. Renewal is always possible. If we take care of each other and listen to the experts, we will get through this.

Along with hope, I have learned to have gratitude for what I have, that despite the discomfort of the present, I am grateful for my friends and loved ones, grateful that I am not alone, grateful that I can still laugh and make fun of myself (and Hubby!) and grateful that I still have the motivation to accomplish things.  I am also grateful I am not sick nor are those I love and that I have enough toilet paper.

And finally, I need to add that I have learned the importance of humor.  

If we can still laugh, we know we are alive. And I am grateful that I can reach out to my friends and loved ones online and hear the sounds of their laughter as we play "Cards Against Humanity" together or I tell some particularly funny jokes about Hubby.  Laughter lifts our spirits.

I know this is no fun for most of us.  Like you, I have good days and bad days, but despite it all I am glad to be alive, glad I have the life I do, and looking forward to the future!




What have YOU learned while sheltering in place?


(You may be wondering why this is just Part 1.  Well, the pandemic is not over and I am still sheltering in place, so there will no doubt be a Part 2 or even a Part 3, so stay tuned. Rosy the Reviewer is right and truly back)!



To be continued...







Thanks for Reading!







And I Hope to See you Soon... 



Here and on my Rosy the Reviewer Facebook Page!




If you enjoyed this post, feel free to click on the share buttons to share it on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn, email it to your friends and LIKE me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/rosythereviewer 

Friday, April 3, 2020

To Blog or Not to Blog...

And that is indeed the question.

I can't believe it.  I have been writing this blog for almost seven years and I think I only missed a deadline one time.  I started when I retired from an almost 40 year career as a librarian and I wrote twice a week.  If you look back in my archive, you will see that in addition to movies and books, Rosy the Reviewer actually "reviewed" everything from concerts to retirement to marriage to how to get a good table   in a restaurant or the perfect hotel room and much more. I was basically "reviewing" my life.  And I wasn't above dressing my dogs in costumes for a cheap laugh, either.


(Can you guess what movie Mildred is acting out here?)


When I first retired, I felt a bit guilty about walking away from a job (and the money), when I could have kept going.  But I was at the end. What helped me find purpose and get through those early days was this blog. I was able to express myself and, if you have been following me for awhile, you know I had a lot to say.

When the Internet first came on the scene, I remember thinking, "I am going to have a website and put my philosophy of life out there in the world."  Well, I never did...until seven years ago when I started this blog. I thought Oprah would discover me, find me hilarious and insightful and share my blog, thus blowing up the Internet and making me famous like she did Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, Nate Birkus, Suze Orman and Rachael Ray. And when I started writing movie reviews, I was able to live out a lifelong dream I had ever since I first saw Siskel and Ebert. I thought being a movie critic would be a wonderful life, to get paid to watch movies.



Well, Oprah never discovered me and I never got paid.

But I pressed on. I wrote two posts a week.  On Tuesdays, I would rant about life and on Fridays I would review movies and books.  

But my main reason for my blog was my desire to communicate and express myself, which I feel I was able to do.  However, when the twice a week blog post made retirement feel more like a job, I cut back and decided that I would just publish on Fridays and concentrate on movies and books, but add my personal story when relevant, kind of putting the Tuesday and Friday blog into one.


And now seven years later, I am starting to feel a bit irrelevant especially in light of this time of the Coronavirus. 

Movie reviews seem a bit silly, especially since none of us can actually go to the movies. And who knows?  Movie theatres might never recover.  With all of the content we have at home - Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and more - we may never go back.  


So this time at home, sheltering in place, has given me time to reflect on my life and what I want to do with the rest of it.  I think I have exhausted the current version of my blog. I think at this particular point I've said everything I wanted to say about movies, on a regular basis anyway, and maybe I've also said all I want to say about me, as well, at least for now.


So desperate times call for desperate measures. I think it's time to make some changes. The Friday blog post of movie and book reviews is going away.


I will still keep you posted on what I am watching, but I will be posting my reviews to my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/rosythereviewer/), where I will do short but sweet reviews on what I am watching and reading, and then, when the creative muse moves me, I will go back to my original blog idea, when I used to publish on Tuesdays, where I would talk about myself.  Then you will still find me here at this address.  I will rant about my life or whatever is annoying me at the time or share recipes or just let you know how I am doing. Hopefully, I will not only be relevant but still give you a laugh or two as I let you into my life and inner thoughts (and if you don't want to miss any of those when I do publish, sign up to follow me by email - see the sidebar - and/or "like" my Facebook page and you will get an alert when there is new content).

So thank you all for following me and commenting. 

And if you actually give a damn, don't worry, I'm not going to go away forever or anything like that. I will still be here but just not as much, but if you care about movies, television and books and/or my "1001 Movies I Must See Before I Die Project (I only have 38 to go!)," 




then check in with me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/rosythereviewer/  I will be there every day, but if you miss my longer rants and what I think about life, stay tuned for when I do publish here.  

Also if you start missing me, check out my archive which is on the sidebar of my blog.  My most popular blog posts are there as well as an archive of everything I have written since I began. You might also like to check out "The Best of Rosy the Reviewer's Tuesday Blog Posts," which I gathered together a couple of years ago.

Likewise, you can find my movie reviews on IMDB.  When you want to know if you should watch a particular DVD or not, go to IMDB, type in the name of the movie and then scroll down to critics. Click on that and then scroll down to Rosy the Reviewer.  If I have reviewed the movie, I will be there. 

This is a very emotional day for me but who knows what the next chapter will be? Whatever it is, I hope you will be there!

In the meantime, I am so thankful to all of you who have been so encouraging, loyal and supportive.

And when this whole coronavirus thing starts to get you down, remember, WE CAN DO IT!




Love to you all, stay safe and peace out.







Thanks for Reading!




And I Hope to See you Soon... 

Here and on my Rosy the Reviewer Facebook Page!


If you enjoyed this post, feel free to click on the share buttons to share it on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn, email it to your friends and LIKE me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/rosythereviewer 



Next time you are wondering whether or not to watch a particular film, check out my reviews on IMDB (The International Movie Database).


Go to IMDB.com, find the movie you are interested in.  Scroll down below the synopsis and the listings for the director, writer and main stars to where it says "Reviews" and click on "Critics" - If I have reviewed that film, you will find Rosy the Reviewer alphabetically on the list.