Tanya Foster wearing a face mask during quarantine 2020

Tanya Foster with her orange tabby cat during quarantine

Tanya Foster wearing Soma sleep shirt during quarantine

Happy Monday. Happy mid-May. Happy week 9 of quarantine life. I hope you had a wonderful weekend and a fantastic Mother’s Day. I loved having the kids over to our house on Sunday for an at-home celebration. It’s so good to celebrate with them and have an actual conversation in person! We spent most of the weekend spring cleaning and exploring restaurant life. I also got my nails done on Friday and I am a new woman!

I’ve kept blogging and my presence on social media never slowed down during the Covid-19 pandemic. I wrote this blog post at the very beginning of the outbreak not knowing what was ahead. March 15 seems like a lifetime ago. I thought it was a good time to share 10 things I learned about myself during quarantine.

Over the weekend, I asked my Instagram followers what they learned about themselves during quarantine and got so much input! I’ve included it at the bottom of today’s post. Thank you to everyone who responded. I love the answers! Feel free to leave me a comment today on the blog and add your input too.

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10 Things I Learned About Myself During Quarantine

 

1. TRAVEL: I miss traveling! Pete and I had just returned from Belize when all of this became a reality. In fact, I haven’t even written that blog post because it’s “on hold” for now. Typically, I travel at least once a month and cover it on the blog. That all came to an immediate halt. About two weeks into quarantine I hit a low point when I heard a plane fly over our backyard. I started crying because I wanted to know where the plane was going and what the people would be doing when they got there.

2. ISOLATION: I don’t do well in isolation. While I am used to working from home, I am never home all day long. My home office serves as a base camp so to speak. I pop in and out of my home office 4-5 times a day. Coffee meetings, lunch meetings. charity events, retail shopping, errands… you get the picture. Being on lock down was really depressing. Thank goodness for great girlfriends and daily phone conversations. I got in the habit of taking a daily walk and talking on the phone.

3. HUMAN CONTACT: Humans are social creatures. We are meant to interact with one another in person. I would say that I am an extravert who enjoys downtime at home. But I am certainly not an introvert. I missed my friends, my family and all the people I would see in my regular maintenance services (nails, hair…). Talking on the phone was great but I missed human contact! Laura, my assistant had my laptop and was working from home. Things moved forward with the blog and everything got done but I certainly missed seeing her. My photographer Audrie and I didn’t shoot for 6 weeks. I did the best I could with my iPhone. Sorry for all the mirror selfies.  Zoom meetings and happy hours are just weird. There, I said it.

4. HUSBAND: I love Pete and I certainly like him too. There were times at the beginning of quarantine that I thought I was going to pull my hair out if he asked me one more time “what did you do today”? He went to work every day because he is in the medical industry and that is certainly essential services. Let’s see… I ate some bonbons and had a man servant fan me while I laid out by the pool. Oh and then the cabana boy brought me frozen drinks all day long. WHAT DO YOU THINK I DID ALL DAY???

5. KIDS: I missed our children. We talked, texted, Facetimed a lot but I really missed seeing them in person. That goes for the grandchildren too. UGH! They are growing so quickly and we can’t see them. It’s painful. Everyone took social distancing seriously and they would scold us if we started to invite them over.

6. MAINTENANCE: I have discovered that I am high maintenance! I just got my dip polish manicure and a regular pedicure on Friday when salons opened in Texas. I have a hair appointment to get my roots and color done this Friday. I had the last bit of my hair extensions taken out as soon as I could. I was down to the last strands holding on for dear life because it had been so long (10 weeks!). I looked like a bad version of Billy Ray Cyrus. Natural Tanya is ok but enhanced services Tanya is much better. Eight weeks without attention to my hair and nails was just tragic.

7. TV: We watched A LOT of TV! Like the meme says “We finished Netflix”. My Tiger King obsession went to the next level and I got a graphic tee. I know all of Outlander inside and out – all 5 seasons. The Last Kingdom season 4 is excellent. Unorthodox is amazing. Dead To Me season 2 is really good. Pete watches way too much news and I found out quickly that I have to walk away or it causes me too much anxiety. Words I NEVER want to hear again: Covid-19, Coronavirus, Pivot, Tone Deaf, Pandemic, Zoom Happy Hour.

8. ANXIETY: My anxiety was off the charts! I have had insomnia like its a new habit. And not a good one. I wake up every single night at 2:00 AM and could plan a party until 4:00 AM. It’s the weirdest thing. Thankfully, I take baths with a CBD bathbomb which relaxes me and then take CBD gummies before I go to bed. Read the blog post about why I trust these CBD products. When the insomnia was at an all-time high from anxiety and stress, I took prescribed medication. I had to or I would walk around like a zombie. Anyone else suffering from this? HELP!

9. HUMOR: I quickly learned that I use humor as a coping mechanism. Memes are my jam! My Instagram and Facebook audience started to wait for me to post these and I got into a great nightly groove. This was both for me (I liked seeing funny things right before I went to bed) and for my #TanyaTribe. I might just keep it up. My Instagram Story views went to an all-time high during quarantine. I love jumping on and talking with you!

10. GOD GIVES YOU WHAT YOU CAN HANDLE: I am a firm believer in this all the time but it really rings true now. Pete and I are empty nesters and I am GRATEFUL that I am not homeschooling any children while trying to work from home. My online shopping went to the next level and I was getting 2-5 boxes a day.  We continued to eat out by ordering curbside pick-up. I discovered Ritas and Queso and we ordered it weekly. It was our special Happy Hour that we enjoyed by the pool. The grocery store shopping with a mask is weird but its the new normal. I gained 5 pounds because I am not self-motivated to work out and I eat when I am bored. I can handle all of this!

In the end, I learned a lot about myself. Mostly, that I have to stay busy! When I would sink to my lowest point, Pete was always there to catch me. He is both calming and logical about everything in life. I haven’t seen my Dad since early March as his Assisted Living facility went to lock-down very early on. I Facetime with him a few times each week (his caregiver helps him) and if there is a silver lining to dementia, its that he really does not comprehend what is going on. Thank goodness he is healthy and enjoying his cat, Joy.

While at first I couldn’t handle the slow pace quarantine live gave us, I came to like it in the end. We focused on the house, spring cleaning, gardening and I planted a new herb garden. Now that Texas is slowly opening up, I am starting to venture out and add a few things per day back into my schedule. Seeing people and having conversations is important to my mental health. This I know.

xoxo – Tanya

P.S. This is the sleepshirt I am wearing and the retailer is having a HUGE sale.

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input from my instagram followers

Reader input from Instagram about quarantine

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Tanya Foster wearing Soma sleep shirt

 

 

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