How I Have Spent My Quarantine So Far

Well, the world seems to be in shambles and all we can do to help is stay inside. That’s right, the one thing I thought I always wanted (an extended vacation/R&R break) has actually happened. Turns out, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. In a span of three days, I packed up, left school, and began quarantine with my entire family at home. On day four, I had caught up on sleep, run out of things to clean in my room, done 6 puzzles, run out of things to complain about, cut my own hair, and run out of patience for my own boredom. The past 25 days of my quarantine have been spent trying to keep myself from going stir crazy. Here is a very eclectic list of my current tools and activities for managing this time of social distancing, which seems to be lasting an eternity. 

Baking/Cooking!

Ok, I know everybody and their aunt is currently baking their hearts out,but 

I seriously took this to the extreme. In short, I baked banana bread, cookies, pound cake, crumb cake, and bread. But not just any bread, sourdough bread. I spent an entire week growing my delicate starter, carefully feeding it every eight hours to let the yeast grow. On day eight I put that bread in the oven hoping for a miraculous loaf to pop out so I could have my avocado toast on it in the morning. This did not happen. It came out flat, dense, and very disappointing. I would have been more upset that I spent so long on it for it to fail so badly, but time is pretty disposable these days. So I didn’t lose much. As far as cooking, I made homemade gnocchi, (also not entirely great but still good enough that my parents ate it for dinner two nights in a row), meatballs, what I have been calling a huevocado (see recipe below), and some of the best stuffed peppers I have ever had. All in all, my kitchen is constantly dirty and my parents are tired of my shenanigans. I highly recommend baking to fill your time for three main reasons: 1) It uses up your time effectively, 2) You get something at the end (usually, unless it fails), and 3) What else do you have to do? 

 

Recipes I Used: (Use at your own risk – I probably messed them all up, and by probably I mean know I did because I eyeballed every single measurement). Enjoy!

Sourdough Bread 

Banana Bread

Cookies – Just look on the back of any chocolate chip package (I also added an extra egg just to make it interesting). They still came out great!

Pound Cake

Crumb Cake

Gnocchi (I don’t remember, I followed a TikTok)

Huevocado – Cut avocado in half. Scoop a lil’ out. Crack an egg in each half of the avocado. Bake at 420 for 14 mins. I seasoned mine with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. 

Meatballs – I just made this up as I went, but probably just beef with whatever spices I had lying around, and egg, and some breadcrumbs. Cook them in sauce until they look done. 

Stuffed Peppers

 

Watching TV

It’s no surprise that a lot of my spare time has been spent on various streaming sources. However, I don’t watch just anything. I am currently rewatching the Vampire Diaries. Because if those characters can make it through literally every plot twist that show brought us for all eight seasons, then we can live through this pandemic. In addition, Ian Somerhalder is my all-time celebrity crush. Besides that, I have been watching old Disney classics with my family such as Lady and the Tramp, new Disney hits like Frozen 2 (my parents are pretty tired of me singing “Show Yourself” around the house all day everyday), The Masked Singer because we all get no greater joy than arguing over who is under the mask (I am usually right, and if I’m not, I make excuses), and Survivor because I love nothing more than watching people solving puzzles in loose, wet underwear as they try to climb a social ladder that is completely based upon how much of a threat you are. Don’t worry, I will watch Tiger King as soon as my parents let it be put on their TV. 

 

Pets!

As most people do, I am of the belief that my pets are cuter than everyone else’s (except my friend from school that has one of the most adorable little black pugs that just so happens to share my brother’s name. Her dog might be better than my brother). However, my house is currently a zoo. I came home to my own baby animal petting zoo. We have one dog who is seven and maybe the laziest creature I have ever met, a 20-year-old cat who sleeps all day on a heated bed, and a two-year-old cat who just recently birthed six beautiful little furries for me to play with all day every day. I plan on keeping one of these cuties for myself and have been trying to pick the best one, and find the perfect name. Since we couldn’t stop at nine animals in the house my parents decided to get four baby chicks. It’s safe to say that I am not lacking pet love. I spend my free time (which is practically all of my time) petting baby animals, taking my dog for a walk on the beach, and wondering if my old cat is sleeping and just breathing heavily or on the brink of death.

 

TikTok

This was already something I spent a lot of time doing before quarantine, but the global pandemic has only heightened my clear obsession with it. Along with spending countless hours watching TikTok, I have begun making them myself and learning every single one I can, or sending applicable ones to the appropriate audience and waiting for the “haha omg me” response to come in. 

 

School Work

I mean it happens. Not that often because I actually don’t have that much to do, but it felt weird not to list it. I probably spend 1-2 hours a day reading and doing some email tag, but otherwise, my workload significantly decreased when I left campus. 

 

Games

I play a lot of cards with my family. Scrabble, Risk, and Parcheesi are all fan favorites. I also made my own family version of Monopoly. The jail was my grandparents’ house (that’s all that you need to know). I also made up a card game and taught it to my mom. All in all, a good way to hang out with my family that is stress free and fun (unless I am losing). 

 

Being a General Nuisance

I spend too much energy sending yet another kitten pic to my friends, complaining that my mom didn’t make curry for dinner as promised, or making fun of my sibling in the family group chat. I have found that seeing how far I can push the limit of messing with my parents’ sense of sanity is enough to make me laugh at least once a day. Classic pranks like switching the photos in the house with stock photos and moving the furniture slightly everyday have actually made my mom go insane, but she laughed in the end. I also got my brother on April Fools Day and convinced him he was going back to school. He got all showered and dressed only for my dad to ruin it by laughing just as he was about to walk out the door. So close. While all annoying habits, I am generally left laughing and everyone leaves mostly unharmed. 

 

At the end of the day, I am pretty much doing anything to fill time. These things have left me with less empty space in my day, parents who wish I would put on real clothes and stop singing around the house, friends who are tired of seeing my pets and hearing me complain, and a brother who only wishes this pandemic would end so I could go back to school. 

While I am trying to take this all lightly and stay positive, I really do hope that everyone stays safe and is taking this seriously. Please stay home if you can, support those around you, cry about missing your friends if you need to, wash your hands, and stay healthy. The sooner we all take this seriously the sooner we return to normal. 

Let me know if you make the sourdough bread and it works! I have some serious questions…

 

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