Tumult and trauma around the world these days with COVID-19 raging. For many single women and men who don’t have to be out there in frontline jobs (thank you, folks who are), we’re talking alone at home for what we thought would be weeks and now turns out will be months on end. Thank heaven for our technology-assisted telephone and virtual electronic socializing.
How are you coping? Here are a few of my secrets for living alone successfully in a pandemic:
1. Worried about weight gain? Try eating regular doses of bread and pasta. What? Yes, you could’ve knocked me over with a box of spaghetti when I noticed the scale inching down despite not being able to hit the gym. Never expected that.
Normally I try hard not to eat processed carbs, and yet now, doing so seems like an answer to a prayer. Just as I was writing this I relished an afternoon snack of a little chunk of crispy 9-grain garlic bread with creamy melted extra sharp cheddar and some grape tomatoes. Tonight I’m having a big bowl of cavatappi (curly, ridged macaroni-shaped pasta – frankly, I like long noodles better) with jarred marinara sauce (Rao’s works well), speckled with spicy Italian sausage bits, caramelized onions and peppers, and sauteed mushrooms. and frosted with a heap of finely grated imported Parmiggiano-Reggiano. It’s all about balancing your calories and macros (carbs, protein, fat) and tracking your exercise.
2. Position your phone/tablet/laptop or whatever up high enough (a shelf in an open kitchen cabinet works) that you can read free ebooks (Bookbub.com) without bending your neck while you step or march to rockin’ tunes on Pandora. Painless and free way to get your steps in.
3. Play online games with your friends/family. Love that games bring people together without the need to discuss, dissect, dissent, diss or otherwise discombobulate relationships in these fractured times. A friend of mine plays almost every day of the week with her singing group pals multiple rounds of Trivial Pursuit – a game that shows just how pathetically unobservant I am. But a few of us in my family play skribbl.io together each week. One person starts the game, then makes a group call to the rest of us. That’s so we can hear each other laugh at our wonderful drawings and give each other hints (even though that’s not officially allowed). We don’t care about the score. It’s all about laughing and enjoying seeing how others think. Here’s a link to 10 other free online games to consider.
Hope you’re working with a few favorite strategies of your own.
Single Working Women’s Week
If you’re a single working woman, get ready to celebrate your holiday this Sunday August 2 to Saturday, August 8. And there’s also Single Working Women’s Day on August 4. Last year the author of an article talking about this holiday wondered why such a random date for it. I’ll tell you why. The date is the birth date of a particularly vibrant, successful and kind single woman/mother who’s an important part of my life – my younger daughter. Happy upcoming birthday, Perri, and happy Single Working Women’s Day to all you courageous, creative and passionate single women around the world.<
