theinbetweenismine

just a girl living the expat life

Archives for April 2020

Currently | April

filed under: currently

Another post I have completely skipped in March, because March felt a little crazy. But I am picking up my blogging habits again. We need some normalcy around here (or at least, I do).

ENJOYING | to experiment with the sourdough starter that I got from a friend. I have already gotten two friends to start their own and have seen others online experiment as well. 

EATING | homemade bread baked with said sourdough starter (not be confused with “sourdough bread”). If you’re wondering what the difference is, I will write a post about it.

DRINKING | coffee from my Chemex. Every day – which feels like a treat (and you’ve probably seen my new morning ritual on IG stories by now). Before Corona, I’d have coffee at work from a regular drip coffee maker during the week, and hand-brewed coffee was a weekend ritual only.

TAKING | a few minutes  in the morning to stand on my back porch, sip my coffee, breathe, and enjoy the  flowers and  the birds. I am thankful we have a small backyard during this time.

READING | The Bookcharmer by Karen Hawkins. My reading is still going pretty slow, I have a short attention span these days, but I am just rolling with it.

LISTENING TO | the birds in the morning.

WATCHING | nothing. I know a lot of people are on a Netflix- or Hulu-binge right now (I constantly see requests for new recommendations). Me? Not so much. I didn’t watch (m)any series before, and I haven’t started since *all this* began.

GROWING | all the things. I am trying to regrow leek, green onions, and potatoes right now. Just some little pet projects of mine. 

BUYING | an office chair. Sitting on a kitchen chair for 10 hours a day for 7 weeks hasn’t been the smartest idea. 

REALIZING | how lucky how am that I actually enjoy spending a lot of time with my spouse. Haha. Others might not be so lucky. 

HOPING | that soon going into week 8 of social distancing, people realize that their sacrifices have been worthwhile, that we’re flattening the curve, but that we can’t give up on these efforts quite yet. Isolation is hard, but also still necessary right now. 

LOVING | snail mail (always, but right now in particular). Sending and receiving.

CELEBRATING | my (unofficial) half marathon PR. I finally ran a sub-2 half last weekend, in a virtual race, no less. With so many things canceled or postponed, following through with this seemed like one of the few things I can control right now.

What is going on with you currently?

April Link List

filed under: link love

linklist

This list is a little longer since I skipped the March Link List. Hope you enjoy.

Around the Interwebs

Cancel everything. This is an older article from when this all started. Still holds true.

How to avoid back pain while working from home.

It’s okay if you can’t relax right now. Been there.

Comfort kills. Plain and simple. The body likes to be challenged.

Here’s what happens to your brain when you don’t sleep. Get enough shut eye, friends, especially now!

No really, think about the consequences of your actions, not just you “opinion” on the candidate. Here’s what to do if you hate the Democratic nominee.

The Do’s and Don’ts of disinfecting your phone

Did you parents or older relatives fight the precautions? Convincing boomer parents to take the coronavirus seriously.

Wash your floors on your hands and knees. I’ve been doing this, and you know what?  This saves you time and energy, because I felt like I was just pushing the dirt around with my mop and had to mop three times and the floor STILL wasn’t clean. Give it a try.

Around the blogosphere

Hi from your childless friend. This sums it up:  “In adulthood, I have come to regard friendships — whether the person is single, married, a parent or not — as oceanic in nature. There is a natural ebb and flow. Sometimes we are close, sometimes we are not-so-close, and sometimes we may be downright distant. Work schedules shift. Emotional needs change. Kids grow older. You drift apart, and then just as easily, you drift together.”

I believe in Intuitive Eating. 

I enjoyed Stephany’s posts about her (controversial) bookish opinions.

Why it’s important to have a virtual running community.  Now more than ever!

Quarantine Life: A List of 8 Good Things During Bad Times. This is great. Thanks Kate! I encourage you to make your own list. I will post mine soon.

Craftiness/DIY

Free drawing classes. 

Work from home adult coloring page. Have you colored yet?

Modern Dollar Store DIY wreath for spring. That’s neat.  

13 eco-friendly yarns to check out.

While you have your sewing machine out… Quick Sewing Project: A Fabric Utensil Wrap for Reusables On the Go.

For my runner friends

I am currently trying to talk a friend and my sister into adopting a running habit and these are great tips. 6 steps to start running (and keep running).

Here’s a bodyweight strength workout you can do at home. Thanks Laura!

The best foods for runners  to have in their pantries.

Marcia shared a 10-minute tank-top arms and shoulders workout. Can’t hurt!

Run Data Analysis: How To Use All that Info From Your Watch.

Deliciousness

Bread does NOT belong in the fridge, friends. The best way to store bread.

I’ve been craving cookies, maybe I’ll try these here: 3-ingredient Almond Butter Cookies.

I wanna try these sourdough pancakes with my sourdough starter discard.

Rhubarb Crumble Cheesecake. Sounds divine.

Share a good link with me in the comments!

Milestones

filed under: friends, running, yes!

This weekend, I was supposed to run the American River Parkway Half Marathon with my friend Tanja. 

A couple of months ago, I had talked Tanja, a self-proclaimed NON-runner (but avid cyclist), into putting a half marathon on her bucket list and signing up for the walk option of this race. We talked about training for the distance with a run/walk-interval-strategy. I know she’s always up for a good challenge, so I am not surprised that she followed through and started training right away (cursing me under her breath multiple times, I am sure. Ha!). 

Of course, we were extremely bummed when because of Corona, the race was postponed and Tanja had to cancel her visit. Was all this training for nothing? No way! So, we decided to still run a virtual race on Saturday. Separate, but together in spirit. So, we both set out for our respective races early in the morning.

This was supposed to be a goal race for me. If you have followed me for a while, you know that I’ve repeatedly mentioned the goal to break the 2-hour mark in the half marathon. It’s been a process, to say the least. Turns out, it’s harder than I previously thought to shave a ‘few minutes’ off a long distance PR (my previous PR was 2:02:39).

Running a virtual race is hard. Running a virtual goal race is harder. You can’t rely on other runners, spectators, and the energy of the race to carry you through. You gotta be your own cheerleader along the way. I always underestimated how much adrenaline you get from the race atmosphere alone.

I’ve been running some of my training runs with the Nike Run Club app, which has guided run options which put “Coach Bennett” in your ear on your runs. He checks in with you every couple of miles, reminds you to breathe right and watch your running form, and he coaches and cheers you on along the way. If you do a lot of solo runs and sometimes struggle to focus, this is something I’d recommend you try. It definitely helped me through my virtual race on Saturday. He didn’t let me give up on myself.

I (felt as I) was cruising all the way through mile 9 and I was hitting my goal pace, which was really awesome, but then the last 3-4 miles got hard. My legs were ready to quit, but my head told me – looking at my watch – that I’d have major regrets if I wasn’t at least trying to see this through. So, I kept pushing (and repeated to myself that Tanja all the way down in Irvine wasn’t giving up either!).

And what can I say? It’s not an official result, but I did it! I finally ran a sub-2 half marathon on Saturday. I couldn’t believe it. It was close, but 1:59:49 is a sub-2 race, #thankyouverymuch, and I am beyond ecstatic.

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Of course, I am hoping I’ll be able to repeat this on an official course sometime when race running is possible again, but at least I could prove to myself that I can do it and that hard work does eventually pay off. 

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I just wish I could have celebrated the completion of Tanja’s first half marathon (woot!) and this milestone PR for me with a well-deserved brunch and mimosas with my friend, not just a virtual high five. Sigh.

Five Things Friday Vol. 10

filed under: Friday Five

Five Things Friday: just five things I’m thinking about or things that made my week, or things that I otherwise feel like sharing.

Okay, friends, I am trying to pick up a somewhat more regular blogging schedule, because this Corona thing is not going away fast and I just miss writing and connecting with you and I don’t just want to post these biweekly (or whenever I can muster the energy) updates and talk about the Corona Life (That sounds way fancier than it actually is, am I right?)

So, Friday check-in posts like this one are a good place to start, IMHO.

My friend Tanja was supposed to be here today and I bummed that our girl weekend got canceled by Corona. We’d be hanging out and having a good time right about now. It’s okay to be disappointed and mope a little about plans that fell through, but I look forward to the time where traveling and hanging out with friends feels normal again.

*  *  *

I got some happy mail in the mail this week: 25 lbs of rye flour. Apparently, rye flour is not as popular as other flour here in the US, because it was still available. If you had told me a few weeks ago that I would get excited about a bulk delivery of basic grocery items (like flour) that have become hot commodities, I would have called you crazy, but here we are.

And, it’s not just me. My Mom, sister have also entered into the realm of bread baking (which, if you live in Germany with access to ALL THE BAKERIES, seems somewhat ridiculous, I’d agree). But, we’re having lively discussions on WhatsApp and VideoCall about how to maintain our sourdough starters, which recipes to try, the best way to bake, and trials and tribulations of baking different things. It’s quite entertaining, but also more often than not ends with delicious things, like this rye bread (hence the big rye flour delivery).

*  *  *

Have you gotten your relief check yet? I was surprised, but we actually had a deposit in our bank accounts last week. While I am thankful for the financial help, I fear that people who really need the help (people who lost their jobs, missed a few paychecks, or work reduced hours) didn’t get anything (or not enough) to get by. I mean, if we’re honest, for most people, the check doesn’t even cover the bare necessities for a month (at least not here in California), but of course, it’s better than nothing. 

*  *  *

Summer is here! Well, maybe not summer, but summer temperatures. I can’t believe it hit 90F/33C here today. I am not quite ready for the heat in April, tbh. Although it has been nice to get out shorts and tank tops and spend time in the backyard. Of course, it’s hard for people to stay home when the weather is nice like this. I hope those of us who can will still stay away from beaches and parks.  How’s the weather where you are?

*  *  *

I finally had to retire my favorite pair of running shoes (I totally wore out the sole), but luckily, I already got a new pair (same shoe, different color) for my birthday, so the farewell won’t hurt too bad. I started breaking them in this week and love them. What do you think? 

TGIF!

Blogging through the COVID-19 crisis: Update 3

filed under: Corona Life, real life

I started working from home a month ago, on March, 17. I can’t believe it’s been 5 weeks. Time stood still and flew by at the same time, didn’t it? I also feel like there were a lot of rolling hills. Not one day felt like the other.

One thing I can say is that I am getting the hang of this work from home thing. I do have a nice setup (with a total of three screens – if you count my laptop screen – and yes, I need all that real estate to work efficiently, as I work with a lot of graphic and spreadsheet content). 

My office is set up in the corner of our living room and it’s not ideal (oh, how I wish I had a separate office with more space and a door that I could close), but we’re making it work.

What’s that? How exactly?

I put in my earphones and get into my work zone and Jon tries to stay out of my hair. How do you make it work in your space? Do you have the luxury of a separate office?

Something I really enjoy is that my mornings are slower. Don’t get me wrong, I miss my cycling class and my gym buddies, but as of right now,  I am not rushing out the door between 5 and 6:30 am (depending if it’s gym day or home workout day), but get a more leisure start to my day. (I am already thinking how I can keep this perception in place when things get back to normal.) 

I am happy to say that I felt a little bit more energy since my last update. I am not feeling as drained and tired by the end of each day. Of course, every day feels different somehow, but I felt a lot more productive lately (which is by no means a requirement during this crisis, but even during regular times, I feel better when I feel productive. I am still trying to give myself grace in times when I am just not.)

I’ve seen a few bloggers do a blog post “check-in” style and I merged a few ideas into my own update after a month of social physical distancing, so here we go:

Since when have you been home?

My first official work from home day was March, 17. 

How are we doing? 

We’re hanging in there.  I mean, what else can we do? We’re not super-anxious all of the time, we don’t listen to the news every minute of every single day, and I think that keeps us sane. 

How often do we get outside?

Most days, I try to go for a run or a walk with Jon. We figured out some new routes that are not too heavily frequented at certain times. 

We reduced our grocery shopping trips to twice a month (I do the grocery shopping for 2 weeks at a time) and I must say that our established meal planning routine has made this a pretty seamless transition. Our biggest challenge has been not being able to get everything on our list when we go shopping (although it’s been gotten better the last couple of times) and having to improvise on the spot.

What else has changed?

Not really that much. Fun fact, I am sure you desperately needed to know: we were homebodies before Corona. We like to spend time together and we’re not yet getting onto each other’s nerves. But I do miss my gym routine, we miss being able to go out for coffee or dinner, a get-together with friends, or a day trip when we feel like it. 

How do you spend your time?

I don’t feel like I have a whole lot of “extra” free time, but of course, as we are spending some more time at home, I can focus a bit more on the things that I usually feel I don’t have enough time for. 

Running/Home Workouts

I’ve been trying to keep up my regular workout routine because dear god do I need it to keep me sane. 

Baking

This is nothing new, I bake pretty regularly, but I definitely have increased production quite a bit since we’ve started staying home. 

Sewing

I hadn’t touched my sewing machine since we moved from our house (1,5 years ago) and I finally got it out of the garage in an effort to create something sensible: face masks. I had some leftover fabric that I was able to use and here we are:

Knitting

I picked up my knitting again and just a few rows every night have proven to be my form of meditation. 

Snail Mail

Sending cards and letters is also not a novel thing that I picked up just now, but I definitely have picked up the frequency. And it’s awfully nice to get some real mail in my mailbox these days,. (Also, friends, let’s keep the Postal Service alive!). 

VideoCalls

I never thought I would say that because I’ve never particularly enjoyed VideoCalls (I’ve lived away from family and friends for so long and we mostly always just talked on the phone, except for special occasions like birthdays or holidays), but ALL I want to do right now it “see” my family when I talk to them. 

Things I’ve seen other people do, which *we* apparently haven’t made time for (yet): streaming all the shows + series, puzzling, home projects, gardening, decluttering, and learning a (completely) new skill. But hey, things can always change, if this stay at home order continues.

What we’ve been eating:

We’ve been really good about meal planning and working with our pantry.  We stocked up a bit over the last few shopping trips and now shop for our meal plan and then always have a few back up meals on hand. 

We tried a couple of new recipes, like this Mongolian Beef (with lots of onions!), which was one of the best recipes for Mongolian beef I’ve tried.

We also made these Gorgonzola Gnocchi. They were absolutely delicious, but gorgonzola is not everybody’s cup of tea. Maybe you could substitute with other cheese if gorgonzola has too strong of a taste for you. 

We made some tried and tested favorites: Sweet Potato Gnocchi (Trader Joe’s Dinner Hack), my Mom’s Barley Soup, and Chicken Fricassee.

And of course, my beautiful Sweet Yeast Bread for Easter.

The biggest challenge:

Not letting *all of this* get to my head too much. Of course, I am worried about one of our family members or us contracting the virus, I am heartbroken by sad news, and I keep wondering where this is all going, how long we have to keep up the physical distancing, and if things will ever get back to normal. 

A highlight:

A friend sent me some of her sourdough starter and I know that is quarantine cliché af, but I could be more excited. For the record, baking is not a quarantine adventure for me, I have baked bread for years, but I have never – for whatever stupid reason – managed to keep my sourdough starters alive (oh, and I had many). So, we’re trying again. His name is Linus. Currently, he looks well and happy.

A lowlight:

Having to cancel plans and fun events. We were supposed to see Pearl Jam live this weekend in Oakland (the tour has been postponed) and my friend Tanja was supposed to come visit next weekend to run a race with me (which has also been canceled) and just enjoy some girl time. I am bummed about not being able to do that.

Something I did for myself:

I’ve limited my news consumption. If you know me, you know that I am usually a news junkie and try to stay on top of the news at all times (and yes, occasionally will listen to Trump propaganda for 3 minutes *eyeroll*), long after Jon has left the room to do something else. But, it has become blatantly clear that I couldn’t keep this up without being in a constant state of sadness, worry, fear, and anger. So I stopped.

The briefings of our California governor Newsom and New York’s governor Cuomo have been breaths of fresh air, tbh. Coherent sentences, valuable information and updates, and zero bullsh*t. 

Something I did for others:

I sent out some snail mail. I sewed a couple of masks. I am donating some (of that stimulus) money. And I am staying home. Some days that feels like a big burden, but it’s actually a small price to pay compared to what other people are asked to do right now.

A couple of links I found worthwhile:

Stop Trying to be Productive.(New York Times)

It’s okay to not be okay (says I, who usually always is a glass-half-full-kinda person): When Positivity Becomes Toxic.

How are your parents/older family members handling the physical distancing? Convincing boomer parents to take the coronavirus seriously.

I am thankful for:

Living in a state that handles this crisis fairly well (all things considered). I trust that our local leaders are doing the best for their people. I am not so sure about that in other states (and I am sorry, if you live in one of those. Come stay with me.)

Having a backyard. I am so thankful that we have an outdoor space and that we don’t have to be holed up in our apartment all the time. The weather has been nice and we are able to spend time outside, which definitely helps with the cabin fever.

Thoughtful friends. 

Last, but not least: The Internet. No seriously, what would we do in times of Corona without the Internet. Honest question. This is my lifeline!

My plans for the next month:

Since we don’t really know what the next few weeks hold, it’s hard to make any “plans”, but I still have aspirations for as long as this situation continues.

I want to keep connecting with friends and family. It’s been nice to re-connect with some old friends (and exchange some texts) and also to just hear how everybody else is coping. 

I want to find more ways to help or do things for others. 

I want to try and keep finding joy in the process of creating (baking, cooking, all the handcrafts) and just focus on the “here and now”. 

I want to listen, every day, to how I feel and act accordingly. I am sure you’ve experienced the same; some days are just better than others. Be kind to yourself, especially on those bad days. 

What I read in March

filed under: books

So, here’s my attempt to throw in some regular content that I usually post on this blog. I’d hate to look back and see a whole chunk of time blank from any regular posting, just because of COVID-19 (let’s not give it that much power!).

I only finished one book in March. I wish I was one of those people that could just dive into books when the world goes to hell in a handbasket, but alas, I am not. I started a second book, a book that came highly recommended, but I can’t tell you how often I picked it up, just to read a page or two and put it down again. I just couldn’t focus. I spent a lot of time in March just “staring” into space (or sleeping, because T-I-R-E-D).  (Let’s hope April will be better.)

Can you escape into books or do you have a hard time focusing also?

All the flowers in Paris by Sarah Jio (★★★★☆)

This is yet-another WWII story, which can be very heavy at times (and this one was no different), but Jio wraps the war story into a present-day mystery, which makes for an interesting story line.

Present-day Caroline wakes up with no memory after a bike accident and tries to piece her life back together. Celine is a single mother living in Paris during WWII. The lives of these two women are connected through a series of letters that Celine wrote and that Caroline discovers in her Paris apartment. I leave you to read this book to find out the rest. 

I loved that this book is historical fiction (which is my favorite genre), but that the WWII-part revolved around an ordinary person, not around soldiers or spies, and that the present-day part of the book was not about someone in search of an ancestral story but in search of their own.

Jio definitely has a way with words. Her stories (this is the second book by her that I’ve read) are alive and vivid. My only criticism would be that her romantic plot lines can be a little “over the top” for me at times (I felt the same way in the other book I read by her, “Good Night June” (my review here)) and her characters often come off as very privileged (here: Caroline). However, her writing and the way she wove together two separate stories into one more than makes up for it, and I will definitely pick out more of her books to read.

What did you read in March? Anything you’d like to recommend? Leave a comment, and then add me on Goodreads to keep in touch.

Blogging through the COVID-19 crisis: Update 2

filed under: Corona Life, real life

So much for keeping connected. Ugh. March was forever long, am I right?

You probably noticed that I’ve completely thrown my blogging schedule out the window. No Link Love, no Currently post, no Monthly Favorites, no Monthly recap in March. My ambitious mind wants me to sit down and process my feelings at the end of each day, but that is just not happening. I can’t tell you how many times I opened the editor and sat in front of a blinking cursor, only to shut the laptop again. 

As much as I am still reading blogs (and look forward to it as a welcome distraction), all I want to hear about – really – is how everybody’s doing. I am (mostly) skipping all the – I am sure – well-intended suggestions of what to do with “all my free time” (which, in all honesty, I don’t really have any more of, do you?) and I am also not really into the “let’s pretend nothing happened”-posts that talk about frivolous things that I don’t have any brain space for right now. I am looking for the posts that are written from the heart; or the depth of your anxiety, depending on the day.

I want to say that my overall anxiety is (still) relatively low. I am not freaking out at every turn. I sleep okay. I don’t dread every single second of every day. I am trying to be smart and stay smart about possible exposure. We only leave the house for groceries and a daily run or walk. We stay away from people as much as we can. I have limited my media consumption. I think that’s helping. (No really, I hope you’re not listening to the daily press briefings, because #JFC.)

However, this stay at home order does not really provide me with ample free time to process and neatly package my feelings. I can’t – and refuse to – think more than two days ahead and contemplating the next few months or this summer or what comes after *this*, scares me. In fact, if you want to know the truth, this is what my brain feels like at the end of any given day right now. Looks familiar? 

I’ve been working from home for more than two weeks now. I established some sort of new routine, although the jury is still out if putting on real pants for my workday will make me more productive than staying in my yoga pants. 

I am still working my regular hours, I am exercising, cooking (and baking) and keeping up with the chores (if only barely). But beyond that, I can’t muster the energy to take on new projects. My anxiety (isn’t that what we’re all experiencing right now?) around our current situation mostly manifests in extreme physical fatigue. Every few days, I find myself collapsing onto the couch after dinner and falling asleep within minutes. 

I am so tired.

You know, sometimes, I wake up in the morning and for a split second, everything feels normal. Juuust before I realize, nope, this was not just a bad dream. We have been, are, and will continue to be living through this pandemic for the foreseeable future.

In the grand scheme of things, I can’t – and shouldn’t really – complain, and I realize that this post sounds much “heavier” than I intended it to be. I still have my job and we’re okay financially. We’re healthy and we can get out for runs/walks. It could be a lot worse.

To end on a positive note, here a few good things that happened in the last couple of weeks:

+ I’ve been having way more FaceTime conversations with my parents (we used to just talk on the phone) and sometimes with multiple members of my family, everyone from on their own couch, and I am once more so thankful for technology. I wouldn’t know what to do without it.

+ I’ve been in touch with some friends that I hadn’t talked to in a while, and while I kinda hate that this happened because of the pandemic, I am grateful for re-connecting with them.

+ I’ve started writing letters again with a friend and let me tell you, it’s a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day to find a real letter in the mail these days. 

Tell me one positive thing that happened in your world.

I promise, I’ll try to check in more often. Maybe even write a post, just for fun.

(May you and your coffee) be strong, friends.