What I’ve Learned in 2020

2020 has been good to me so far. Time slowed down and it forced me to think more about my life, my goals, my activities, my health, my priorities and my relationships. How’s life been so far? At first it was scary and seemed so uncertain that I found myself paralysed and if not, panicking on the many things I still have to do with work. The first brave thing I did and the turning point was to cut my hair! I felt like me again after so long!

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You see, even with the pandemic, my line of work did not stop. There were numerous BIR deadlines that I had to fulfill to take care of our company’s mandatory obligations. I felt so alone battling my own war until July. I was able to focus though because I didn’t have to deal with daily operations and new transactions for a few months but by the time I blinked, everything was in chaos again, with all the catching up of the things we just dropped on the day the lockdown was announced. We had to pick up the pieces and help our employees get back on their feet to work because our clients couldn’t wait and we need to make sure they had clean and safe water to drink in their homes and offices.

The idea of being at home with Jeff was fun at first then the shower door collapsed (and the aircon was leaking plus many other home repairs without anyone to call) and we needed quick fridge supplies and refills (good for at least two weeks at a time). We avoided having to go out at first unless necessary and OC when it came to sanitizing and taking showers every time we come home. What to eat and make next was a constant struggle until I finally tried ordering online, navigating Shopee and Lazada and joining Viber groups. All of those are a blur now and all I can remember is us working side by side on our laptops and phones all day with all that going on. We were also so tuned into the COVID count and the quarantine announcements. But then things changed.

We started hanging out with family on weekends and I eventually had to get some more homework at the office to get my work done. We looked forward to going to the supermarket together without the quarantine pass (but still with protocols in place). I also started making our ECQ photobook and recipe collection. Haha. Spending time with Jeff, cleaning with Jeff, talking with Jeff and everything with Jeff is a breeze nowadays and we got to have a deeper connection and uncomplicated relationship. I love our married life and I am so grateful we are in this together. We also often laugh a lot now.

As I said, I also cut my hair really short again (some form of mohawk finally!!) around July and it’s growing quite nicely hehe. The heat and stress were getting to me and I wanted a light and fresh start. I also did this to lessen the falling hair I could see in my house and the clogged shower drain. So much easier to clean the house with that solved and a decision I won’t regret! I had to search everywhere for someone to cut it off (from long hair)! We resorted to having our family cut our hair DIY after for maintenance haha.

When it came to health, I was so worried whenever I would feel a slight discomfort after going out. And had to countdown 2 weeks until I can go out again so that I don’t pass anything to anyone. I was also mentally avoiding exercising but felt so guilty that I could have started at the start of ECQ and got my weight to go down and felt so much better mobility-wise. Jeff lost like 20 lbs and I gained 10. How can that be?! We got our regular blood work done a few months ago and I had high triglycerides. I started working out with my sister and found a walking channel in YouTube (Walking with Leslie Sansone) that I really liked. But I had to stop to attend to my aching tooth and have my wisdom tooth removed last week.

In terms of activities, I am blogging again! Haha. I had forgotten how good it feels to just write and document more memories. I was also invited by the Agricultural Training Institute ATI Calabarzon to do a talk on blogging. I taught the participants my why and how to blog for a whole day! It was a very enlightening experience that you can read about in my previous posts! I even did a my first ever vlog haha. Packing for this one overnight trip was so difficult and I wondered what happened to the old globetrotter me. Travelling far is also off-limits nowadays and maybe longer because my passport is also expiring soon (no available schedules for DFA renewal either). We are thinking of where to go after the pandemic and watching so many experience shows on Netflix to keep the itchy feet going so don’t worry! Travelling in the future is something we both want to do still and making the most of my experiences around me is what I love to do in the meantime. Something else to explore - we are also foodies and currently have fun experimenting in the kitchen. I love buying veggies and fermenting stuff nowadays. Jeff loves eating veggies so he eats what I make, even requests now for my homemade salsa, hummus, kimchi fried rice, etc. Haha.

I think I pushed myself to multi-task than ever before these past few months. I’m even good at bakingcooking and making all sorts of kimchi now! One downside I seem to have is waking up these past few months at 2am to 5am just either overthinking or for no reason at all. Any idea why? Is it anxiety? Maybe I’m not getting any rest still. 

Overall, I feel like I haven’t really rested and I’m at the edge of my seat and game for more to add to my plate. I guess I really feel excited for the next months but I’m stuck somehow in this new hyperactive cycle. I am also a homebody so I actually love being at home all the time. Maybe it’s okay to be a little me crazy, do what I can while I can and focus on what I want to do again instead of just drowning in work and deadlines. Or just sleep when I want to and shut everything out. Somehow, I feel young again too and that's better than the past few years

Let’s live our lives the best we can and rock on, shall we? Stay safe though and I wish you have many more good memories of 2020!