I’m currently nursing an infected mosquito bite, and am also slowly gaining weight because I’ve been eating so much and not moving around enough. But life is good because we can still have contact with the outside world and I love my gorgeous beach wallpaper on my desktop. During the day, it’s so peaceful that I can hear the birds sing and the trees rustle (and the odd passenger back from doing groceries shutting the door of their private hire car).
We don’t know how long this lockdown will last, but since it’s been slightly more than a week, we’ve kind of settled into a new normal. For the first time in my life, I’m not alone at home when I work during the week. I can have lunch with Xavier and we can take actual coffee/tea breaks together in the afternoon.
Because Xavier doesn’t need to commute to work, he can go for a run in the mornings, or take care of Aurélie so I can sleep in, or best – he does BOTH.
We’ve gradually found a new routine for ourselves, and I thought to share it with you.
LIVING WITH A WORK-FROM-HOME HUSBAND
This is pretty cool! I’m really glad that I get to see more of him now, even though he is still as busy with work. I can take a peek whenever I want and he’s there. Before this, his long work hours often meant I wouldn’t see him in the day till he returned pretty late, and sometimes he would be overseas during the week for months in a row. It sucked.
The current lockdown is in a way, a blessing in disguise. We now spend more time physically near one another, baby included. It’s really the simplest things that matter. We can have all 3 meals of the day together, even if it’s sometimes rushed. I don’t have to wait till 6pm for him to update me on his schedule for the evening so I can decide if we have dinner together or not. Whenever we need a second opinion on things, or simply just to vent, we have each other in an instant.
I also feel that this is a great opportunity for him to understand what things are like for me when I work from home, which I normally do anyway when I’m not meeting clients or doing viewings.
GETTING OUR HOME STOCKED
Since we’re 3 adults and an 8-month-old living at home 24/7, we’re also cooking a lot more. For now, in Singapore, only 1 person from each household is allowed to get groceries. Since Xavier is working during the day, and I want to avoid crowds at NTUC or Cold Storage, I usually drop by after lunch when my tummy is fed and I’ve had my second caffeine fix.
Because I also have to head out to mail my parcels out to Trouvée.Co shoppers, I do both at the same time to save transport costs. I may have a toned physique but I’m not big and I suffer from lower back ache that never goes away. Also, I only have 2 hands. This means I can’t exactly get a week’s worth of groceries each time I go to the mall. And this in turn means I drop by several times during the week. Don’t worry, I use a canvas grocery bag as far as possible.
It’s not my first time at the grocery store but I didn’t expect it to be such the emotional roller coaster ride. I didn’t expect the crazy long queues right before the prime minister’s live national broadcasts. I didn’t expect to see rows upon rows of empty shelves. To understand, even for a little bit, what it’s like to be stripped of basic necessities was very eye opening. This has never happened before in my life. But it also brings forth the truth to the saying that even if you have all the money in the world, sometimes it cannot buy you the things that you want or need. I’m talking eggs, people.
WEEKEND ACTIVITIES
Before the lockdown, weekends meant that Xavier would be at Ultimate trainings while I’d be with Aurélie. Sometimes, we’d tag along for some training sessions because they’re mostly held at local parks. Sometimes, there’s also a McDonald’s where I could have breakfast at while he trains and she explores with her senses. We’d visit my parents after lunch and hang out with my family on Saturdays.
Now, we’re mostly just staying home and chilling out. We’d spend time playing with Aurélie and getting to know her more. We even baked a few times and cooked our own meals. Netflix has been great, and we catch Outlander when Aurélie is either napping or sleeping for the night. We discovered the online platform for Dominion last weekend, so I’m pretty sure this is going to be a Saturday night thing with my family from now on.
Sometimes Xavier helps me with a photoshoot or two for the blog. I was able to film a quarantine makeup tutorial one Saturday too, as I had the room all to myself for the morning. Maybe one day my dream will come true.
KEEPING POSITIVE
I try my best to avoid negative news and social media updates as far as possible. Other people may be sprouting complaints and fake news but the moment I see something that tells me, “This post isn’t gonna go down well,” I stop reading immediately.
I make it a point to consume news and info that are more uplifting, like my current favourite influencers’ IG Stories, hilarious TikTok videos and funny Twitter updates.
Feel free to follow me on Twitter for your daily dose of happiness and laughter. I’m much more active there than on IG or FB.
I don’t focus too much about Covid 19 numbers – I know just enough to tell if the number of cases is going up or down and where the current clusters are. I know for sure the numbers will go down at some point, but not before it increases, so it’s really just a waiting game.
Some things that keep me happily busy include repotting my money plant, blogging, finally trying out nail wraps to cover my outgrown Gelish and dyeing my own hair. I’m so glad to also be able to mail out Trouvée.Co jewellery to people all over the world, so thank God that postal services are still working today, even though they’re pretty much delayed. Fingers crossed though, that I don’t sell out of all my best sellers before I am able to get a restock from my manufacturers and artisans!
I hope you’re coping well staying indoors so much. We’re taking things one day at a time, and it really helps to know that we’re all in this together. Just remember that it will all be over sooner than you know, so take the time now to reset your life if you can.
Much love.