News flash: exercise is tiring. Today is April 25.

For the first time in a while, I made myself oatmeal with pecans and honey for breakfast. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed the dish. Not only is it tasty and a little sweet, but it is also filling and satisfying for an empty stomach. I think I’m going to get in the habit of trying to prepare healthy breakfasts for myself from now on so I have less of a craving for sugar later in my day.

Because my life never seems to have a dull moment, I woke up to a text from my co-Editor In Chief, Anna Xu, telling me today is a staff member’s birthday. Because the artist we had planned to celebrate hadn’t been in the official class at the beginning of the year, somehow her special day slipped our minds. As we were trying to set up a Zoom meeting and organize a time for everyone to meet virtually, it dawned on us that we hadn’t checked to see if the birthday girl was even available. After Anna sent her a text, she said she actually had a busy day today and wouldn’t have time to join. Once we’d figured all of that out, Anna sent a text in the GroupMe explaining the confusion, and we went on with our mornings.

My allergies were acting up, so I avoided going outside to minimize my pollen exposure. Because I didn’t want to leave the house to go for a walk, I decided to exercise in my room instead. I’m a very all-or-nothing person, so when I work out, I do it thoroughly. If I’m not exercising, however, I turn into a bit of a couch potato.

For today’s workout, I ended up creating my own combination of cardio and intermittent resting. I did a cycle where I’d do 100 jumping jacks then take a short break before doing 25 sit-ups, followed by another short break. I repeated this cycle five times. By the end I’d done 500 jumping jacks and 125 sit-ups. I was sweaty, tired and short of breath. Nevertheless, I was proud of my hard work. 

To cool off a little before taking a shower, I headed outside to refill our two bird feeders. The cool air felt nice against my warm skin. I drank some water and sat down for a few minutes after coming back inside to rest and rehydrate. Once I felt a little less worn out, I rinsed off in the shower so I wasn’t stinking up the house. I’m sure my family appreciated the effort.

Without initially intending to, I spent much of my afternoon learning about deaf culture and American Sign Language (ASL) through the activism and life of actor, producer and model Nyle DiMarco. I have been interested in learning ASL for a long time, and have decided to make practicing signing a part of my quarantine routine. I am incredibly passionate about promoting human rights and fair, equitable treatment for all people, so seeing role models like DiMarco making such a positive impact on the world is inspiring. I hope to one day have a positive impact on the world through my writing, so seeing people who use their various platforms (such as social media, television and modeling) to share kindness and grace makes me optimistic. 

Following our family dinner of blackened chicken pasta, bread, grapes and asparagus with garlic, the four of us headed downstairs to play Spades. Even though the game was close, my dad and I beat my brother and mom. I’m working to have better sleep hygiene and a more routine sleep schedule, so I plan on going to bed around 11 p.m. so I can get 10 hours of sleep and still wake up near 9 a.m. Tomorrow morning we are planning on making crêpes for breakfast, so I definitely don’t want to oversleep. 

“Every day I discover more beautiful things. It’s enough to drive one mad. I have such a desire to do everything, my head is bursting with it.” ― Claude Monet

How did you spend your 39th day of social distancing? Let us know in the comments below.