Hi all and HAPPY MONDAY!

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This week I’m talking about how I have spent lockdown. This is a prompt I gleaned from 365 Days Of Writing Prompts For Romance Writers by Kim Knight. Read my review here and check it out on Amazon – it’s free with Kindle Unlimited. Here’s how I spent the quarantine period of COVID-19.

cash fanFirst, I worked from home, but I also helped out at my old pharmacy job when I could. This helped me save up some money. I mostly stayed with my parents in Pennsylvania. I was able to pay off a lot of my debt during this time, which was awesome! I also got in some quality family time which was nice. I lived with my parents for most of my life, and just moved out permanently last year. After a year away, it was cool to spend time together again.

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Next, I did a ton of reading. Since March 14, the first day I spent on lockdown, I read 57 books. I signed up for so many blog tours, and also had to read a lot of children’s books for work. I only think there was a day or two were I didn’t pick up my book or Kindle. I’m already a big reader, but I really took it to extremes during quarantine. I hope that I am able to keep this up for the upcoming months. It doesn’t look like I’ll be back on my job site full time any time soon so it should be possible. I joined in on a 50 Romance Novel Reading Challenge to further encourage myself to keep up with this!

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I also played a ton of Animal Crossing! I bought myself a Nintendo Switch Lite just to play this game. It is very relaxing. It helped me escape the real world, which was a scary and at times frustrating place these past months, and continues to be. This was a favorite game of mine on Gamecube and Wii, and I’m happy that I get to play it again!

on the toilet using phoneI did what many Millennials did and finally caved in to TikTok. I’m not very good at posting on it, but I like scrolling through others folks’ posts. I know there’s some concern over data mining with it, but I do find it to be so entertaining. Everything is such a dilemma in our modern era. You always have to worry what the ulterior motive is behind every single app, tweet, and online interaction.

@btchbkshlf📚 🤔 ##neverhaveiever ##book ##bookclub ##bookworm ##booktok ##bookish ##booknerd ##bookshelf♬ original sound – eyezcosplay

Bitmoji ImageI spent more time working on my planner. In fact, I bought myself a new planner. This was imperative for organizing my chores and hopeful post-quarantine social life (I’m getting there, but not fully ready to jump back to restaurants and bars!), my work from home and schedule for helping out at the pharmacy, and my blog planning.

Bitmoji ImageI did get to see family and friends a few times. We tried our best to social distance during our hangouts, and only did so in groups small enough to follow regulations. I did a few Zoom Happy Hours and hangouts, too. As of the time I wrote this post, July 22, I hadn’t tried outdoor dining or any such things now that lockdown has ended. It’s on my to-do list. Some indoor dining has been allowed, but I don’t feel comfortable with that yet, and it’s been too hot for outdoor dining since I’ve become comfortable with it, IMO. I went back to the nail salon and waxing salon, because I could tell they were following rules and being safe.

keyboard smashFinally, I spent a ton of time blogging! In the beginning of July, I decided I would post every weekday from now on. I’ve been working on filling up my calendar so I have plenty of posts to share in the upcoming months. Even before that, I was blogging more. I even shared a series of books I recommended to read during lockdown. You can find the lists here!

Honestly, this time was productive and restorative for me. As difficult as it was, I was able to make it work. I am so worried we will have second wave because in America, people don’t like following the rules, and Trump doesn’t encourage it. I want things to start phasing back to normal, though I do think I will keep a lot of habits from this time for the rest of my life; for example, I plan to wear face masks on public transportation during flu season long after the pandemic is over. But things can’t phase back to normal if we don’t make a conscious effort to be safe. I think we can go out and enjoy ourselves again in cities like mine, but we have to do it smartly, and a lot of people aren’t.

I hope your time on lockdown is or was safe with the least amount of stress possible. I know many lost loved ones or fell ill. And for most of us, this was a time of high anxiety. Sending everyone my love, and hoping for a future where we are all safe, healthy, and respectful.