There are muscles in my body I didn’t even know could hurt. Today is April 27.
Getting out of bed this morning was a slow, painful ordeal. The second I attempted sitting up, my abs tightened in discomfort. Apparently after a few months of limited exercise followed by two days of thorough workouts, my muscles have a couple of complaints. Nevertheless, I managed to change out of pajamas and into normal clothing, slowly making my way to the kitchen.
To try and have a healthy start to my day, I made myself a bowl of apples and cinnamon oatmeal. Though I’m not sure why, I tend to not think of eating oatmeal much during my regular school year, but now I’m making the meal part of my daily routine. Not only is it easy to make, it is also relatively healthy (especially if I just use plain oats) and filling. Adding some nuts and honey to a regular bowl of oats is surprisingly tasty.
I watched a few episodes of Criminal Minds while I ate. I’m not sure what I’m going to watch after I finish the series (or at least the 12 seasons available on Netflix), so I’m open to any suggestions. Around 11:30 a.m., I decided I wanted to do my workout for the day so I’d have enough time to shower and catch my breath before leaving to pick up my graduation cap and gown at RBHS a little before 1 p.m.
Because I’d focused on legs and arms the last two days, I decided to do more of a core-centric circuit workout today. I alternated between doing a cardio activity (such as jumping jacks or mountain climbers) and a more sedentary activity (such as lifting weights or doing wall sits). I ended up exercising for a little more than half an hour. By the time I finished, I had done wall sits, pushups, calf raises, crunches, weight-lifting and a number of other activities. I was out of breath, sweaty and sore, but I felt great.
I tend to forget how much I enjoy exercising. Making myself commit to working out multiple times a week is helping to reinstall this passion in me. With shaking muscles (because I’m still out of shape), I filled up my water bottle and drank most of it before cleaning up with a quick shower. I was running a little behind schedule, so I didn’t leave the house until about 12:40 p.m. My dad and I arrived at RBHS right about 12:55 p.m., just before the official end time for the cap and gown/teacher greeting event ended.
Stopping by RBHS gave me a chance to talk with Principal Jacob Sirna (who is apparently reading my blog entries), as well as a number of staff and teachers. I don’t think I quite realized until today exactly how much I’ve missed seeing the wonderful people who make RBHS run smoothly. Their love and support is amazing, and I was so happy to be able to wave to them as they took time out of their day (and, in part, took a chance on their safety) to wish RBHS students well.
After stopping by RBHS, my mom, my dad and I decided to get a sweet treat from Andy’s Frozen Custard. I got my usual (vanilla jackhammer with hot fudge and cherries), enjoying it while my dad drove me home. Once we got back to our house, I washed off my hands in case I had accidentally picked up any germs while we were out and about. Then, I heated up some leftover pasta for lunch and relaxed for a while. My allergies had been acting up, so I took some time to rest my eyes and stay inside so I could try to stop sneezing.
Around 6:30 p.m., a family friend of ours stopped by to have dinner with us. He has been following social distancing practices strictly, so we felt safe having him come by. Even though we probably weren’t exactly six feet apart the entire time he was at our house, we didn’t touch or interact physically (including serving dishes and silverware) in any way.
During dinner we talked about anything and everything, though the specific topics of conversation tended to center around the coronavirus pandemic and politics. Once we’d finished eating, the five of us sat around our deck fire and enjoyed the weather. I miss having nights like this where we can host guests and spend hours chatting. I’m not sure when we will be able to return to normal, or what “normal” will look like. I can only hope our life will go back to including good conversations and in-person time with friends.
“You have to be willing to get happy about nothing.” ― Andy Warhol[TS_VCSC_Lightbox_Gallery content_images=”330812,330813,330814,330815,330816,330817,330818,330819,330821″ content_images_size=”full” content_images_titledata=”caption” content_title=”A glimpse into Bailey Stover’s 41st day of social distancing” data_grid_preloader=”-1″ lightbox_title=”caption” lightbox_effect=”simpleSwitch”][/TS_VCSC_Lightbox_Gallery][penci_text_block block_title_align=”style-title-left”]How did you spend your 41st day of social distancing? Let us know in the comments below.[/penci_text_block]
