Real Life – Page 2 – Jo Ann Schneider

15
Apr 20
0

How Are You Handling Lockdown?

The saying “Roll with the Punches” has been around for a long time. It refers to boxing, I think, but now means:

“When things dont go your way and you adapt to the changes and keep moving ahead instead of flippin out.” -Urban Dictionary-

Like the picture above, the saying is familiar, but the picture is all wrong. Sort of. I feel like this represents our lives right now.

Most of us have been confined to quarters. Some still go to work, others are working from home. I won’t say which of these is more “lucky” than the other, because it’s not that kind of a situation.

Am I right?

We just got the final say from the state that schools will be shut through the end of the school year.

No one is surprised.

Some people are freaking out.

Others are rolling with the punches.

And there have been a LOT of punches lately.

We’re all tired, bored, stressed out, freaking out, and hyper vigilant all at the same time. I can’t imagine being in the healthcare field right now. Gold stars to every one of you!

Honestly, my daily life hasn’t changed that much. I’m an author. I work from home. The hubby worked from home two days a week, now it’s five days a week. Not going out is annoying, and my extroverted side is crying at the moment, but it’s fine. We’re fine.

However, about a week ago, I went to get ice from the ice maker and…all I got was the sound of the motor. No ice came out.

I knew it had been making ice, so I checked.

The bucket in the door was empty.

There are only two of us. How can there be no ice???

Then I remembered…the hubby had started using a bigger cup, which he always fills with ice. By adding 16oz to the cup he drinks from all the time, he’d run us out of ice.

I might have freaked out a bit.

Because I wanted ice! It’s not that big of a deal, right?

The hubby and I don’t really fight, so it’s not like I got crazy or anything, but I did declare that he’d better stop using so much because I wanted ice too.

He laughed.

I glare at him every time he puts ice in that stupid cup.

He is, of course, taunting me.

He’s a good egg, so I know he’s being good about the whole ice debaucle of April 2020.

However, this got me thinking about how each of us wants to control some aspect of our life. One thing that can be right no matter what.

I’m trying to chill out about those things. Do my best and keep rolling.

Will I freak out again? Probably. Will I be tempted to rage at someone online? Certainly. Will I actually do it?

Naw.

I waited six days (much longer than their estimate) for a pick-up order at the fabric store to be ready, then went I went to pick it up there were like twenty other people there for the same reason. We left. I’ll go back later.

I was tempted to call and complain. I really wanted too. However, I took a moment to think about the fact that there might only be two employees in the store, trying to fulfill who knows how many orders, having to work with the public and get exposed to who knows what.

It’s fine. I’m fine. I have other things I can do.

The next time I start to rage out, I hope I remember that we’re all in the same boat. It feels like it’s sinking at the moment, but we’ll be fine.

25
Mar 20
1

Confessions of a (minor) Earthquake Survivor

Tags : Earthquake Pandemic Real Life

This has been the world for the past few weeks, then we had to up the ante here in Utah.

If you live near a fault, perhaps you’ve heard that there is a “big one” coming, meaning an earthquake. I’m located near Salt Lake City, Utah, and have been told my entire life that the “big one” is coming.

My father-in-law is a geologist, and loves to tell people all about how a twenty foot chasm will appear when the fault goes, and the mountains above it will slide down to fill the gap, causing even more shaking.

Trust me, don’t ask him unless you want to know a whole lot of stuff you probably don’t want to know.

Anyway, I’ve never been afraid of earthquakes. It’s always been tornadoes that scare the crap out of me. After seeing a few when I lived in Colorado, and even seeing the one that hit Salt Lake City a few decades ago, the stupid things give me nighmares.

Last Wednesday, right around 7:10am, we experienced a 5.7 earthquake with the epicenter about five miles from our house.

Last week was the first week in a month that I’ve gotten up on time, which is 7am for me. I’d been sick with a chest cold, but had finally gotten back to my normal routine.

So there I was, sitting on the toilet (besides being in the shower, there aren’t many less desirable places to be), when the room rattled once.

My mind flew into action.

Earthquake!

Then the room really started to shake. I was surprised how loud it was. I watched the pictures on the wall, thinking I was glad most of them were Velcroed in place.

Then I started screaming. Well, more of yell, like “Ahhhh!”

The first panic thought was, “Is this the big one?”

The second thought was, “Well, this is the hubby’s fault.” Just a few days before he’d been laughing and saying the worst thing that could happen right now would be an earthquake that wiped out a good chunk of the valley, forcing the survivors to live in rescue camps where Covid19 would then run rampant.

The third thought was, “On the toilet? Really?”

About that time, it shook my husband awake. By the time he got out of bed and ran down the hall, the shaking had stopped.

The shaking lasted 30 to 45 seconds. Tops.

And what did I do?

I froze! I didn’t think about getting off the toilet, or diving for cover, or anything like that. Nope. I froze.

Once the shaking stopped I did ask myself if I should fill the bathtub with water, in case everything was broken, but the hubby ran downstairs and verified that all the pipes were fine.

This is the first earthquake over maybe a 3.5 that I’ve ever felt. My heart was racing the whole day, and I swear I felt every single aftershock. One was in the 4.0 -4,5 range, and it totally freaked me out. At least that time I grabbed my phone and ran for a doorway.

I haven’t dealt with a fear response like that in a long time, if ever! Elevated heart rate. Anxiety every time the furnace came on or a car drove by. The muscles in my body would not relax. I was wound as tight as a drum. Now I know how that feels!

It’s almost been a week, and the aftershocks are still going on. I felt one yesterday, and went into a mini-version of freaking out again.

If this is how it feels to have anxiety, I’m REALLY sorry for all those who have to deal with it. My brain knows I’m fine, but something, somewhere isn’t convinced.

They say people who get motion sickness often experience after-earthquake anxiety. I guess that’s me.

On top of the Covid19 madness going on around us, this wasn’t a thing any of us wanted to deal with. Especially as we called our neighbors and made sure everyone was okay, but we weren’t really supposed to go visit anyone because of social distancing.

Talk about strange times.

I do think I have a better idea of how people will respond in an emergency, so that’s good, right? That’s a writing thing.

So, if you’ve been freaking out lately, you’re not alone. Just take a few deep breaths, find something that makes you laugh, and then get to work.

Caveat: I don’t have kids, just the hubby and I, so there’s much less stress in this house than many around me. Good luck people! May the odds ever be in your favor!