Thoughts on Living Alone-Now and Later

It's coming along quickly! on my lap, so the light isn't great but now you know the color.

I'm going to be living alone. I've done it before, I'm doing it again, and I'm doing it on purpose-and even looking forward to it.

There are lots of people who live alone incuding many of my readers. I have not done it in awhile, that's for sure. And I'm starting this new life in the midst of aa pandemic when most all of the group activities in the area and the community room stuff is on hold for awhile at least. Who knows for how long.

I did all kinds of research before our temporary new normal began. So I know that after Covid, there will be a quilting group, a knitting store with classes, a progressive church with a senior social group, lifelong learning classes and the common areas and some limited activities in the community. All of which would be more than enough for me. I'm not an introvert nor am I social butterfly in any sense.  But I need my other people, some kind of structure of going out and being among the others and especially in having conversations (some deep) with people besides myself or my famly.

Even in the normal times when we have all that, I will still be alone. In the evening, at night, in the morning. Much of that will be positive. It's a choice and I look forward to long periods spent crafting, sewing, knitting reading, tv binging, relaxing, eating and starting a ew crafting blog, among other things . But jumping back into living alone will have it's own set of adjustments on some small level.

In the beginning at least, I am sure I will want a slightly better sense of schedule than I traditionally have had. I'm neither a planner nor a scheduler, never have been. But without other family members or outside commitments to form some kind of schedue, I'll probably need to create my own, at least in the beginning. I'm not worried about any dressed or grooming something because that's something deeply embedded in me-if only because then I can embrace the pjs and shower routine in the evening as part of the winding down part of my day.

I'll be opening up my bubble in a huge way in that I will be joining my daughter and son-in-law in their bubble (or maybe it's that I'll be allowing them in mine).  They both work (my daughter is an occupationa therapist that goes to multiple nursing homes so she is extra careful).  Not seeing them will not work for me unless the numbers start skyrocketing or they have reason to expect exposure.  But they already will be helping me move in, picking up my key and checking out the apartment and shopping for me. So we are pretty much there. This probably means that I will need to be extra careful in the complex especially with folks much older. For now at least, Sundays will probably be spent at my daughter's doing laundry, sucking up to their cute dogs and letting my son-in-law cook to his heart's content.

There's a safety component that worries my daughter and I suppose on some level me as well.  I have bad (but not yet terrible) balance. All due to my dengenerative disease (and multiple breaks in one ankle). I function completely normally-except for those once in a blue moon times I don't. Which is why I do leg strength exercises for at least a half an hour daily, no matter what, including practicing leg step overs. I'm leaving behind steps of any kind (except into the low bathtub here there will be all kinds of bars) and most other balance issues. But things happen and the same degeneration that makes me fall can make it almost impossible to get up  (even with the arm strength exercises I do with an equal effort).

 My daughter has hinted at getting a necklace or other wearable device especially since I am not one to throw my phone in my pocket before going out for a walk. It's that, or a morning and night time text or call, we'll see. She's also suggested the double shower chair for avoiding the stepping over part. I'm absolutely not there yet even though I come from the perspective of using whaever makes life easier/safer/makes you more independent. I've spent some money on a few things like a tall broom and dustpan and a reacher and will have a separate post about those. 

I'm going to need at least some kind of socializaion beyond daughter and son in law. In general, I'm not a big fan of Zoom and the virtual but it may be time to change. I can still visit my current church from afar, as well as the knitting gals when I feel the urge. I'm thrilled to see that the quilt group has zoom meetings with speakers, the church has zoom meetings of all kind and that Olli has some Zoom scheduled classe for the fall. At this point, virtual friendship, coffee and conversaton is all there is and I'm determined to jump in at least a litle bit.

Last but surely not least is the cooking for one again thing.  Knowing myself, it would be too easy to rely on deli chicken and stouffers single meals and take out.  I'll need to make a special effort not to do that.  I don't cook alot but what cooking I do will be a happy medium of regular recipes once a week and cooking for one or two type things the other times. I guess it's time to get back in the habit of getting the large packages of chicken from Costco and cutting off a single pack at a time!

What have I missed, though?