What keeps me busy when grounded

Two days of being grounded with less than 1000 steps a day later, my ankle swelling is noticeably reducing, which is good sign that it’s working. I keep reminding myself that I should avoid going out too soon like I did last time to avoid having to do recurrent grounding. While I am hopeful and positive, I won’t deny that it is hard to be limited in movement for someone who is very active. Things that kept me “busy” the last two days:

• Work. It’s end of our fiscal year and everyone is racing to wrap up because summer break. I am still deciding when I should start taking my leave, hopefully I can have few days in the US work-free.
• Non-jumping workouts. Even though I am trying to rest my ankle, I still need some form of exercise. So I am doing 45-60 min of mat based workout. It is not the same as running but good as interim workout.
• Netflix. Husband and I started watching Startup and it’s superrrrrrrrrrrrrr good. We’ve been watching 1-2 episodes a day but yesterday I finished season 2 by myself. I love Donald!!!!
• Reading. Well… I’m embarrassed to say that I finished the first book since we left Manila, and no plan to start a new one.
• House work. While we are staying in a service apartment with once a week cleaning, it gets messy quickly so I am constantly tidying up, loading and unloading dishwasher and daily laundry loads. It’s not as time consuming as I expected, and it keeps me busy and feeling accomplished.
• Shopping. Online shopping is going strong. I probably keep less than half that I order, but the experience is fun and I’m stocking up on necessities and basic clothing. In deciding to keep or return, I’ll try it few times on those that I can’t make my mind on the spot in separate days, and then make a decision, to avoid compulsive buying. My favorites include lululemon tights, James Perse white/black t-shirt, 4 pairs of Asics (I need 2-3 pairs a day), Pjs, workout bras, military jacket, and more to come.
• Homework with the girls. My role is more on reminding and reviewing, not so much in helping them. They are still doing kumon and Sofia is doing double the amount in preparation for her summer camp days.

While I am being grounded, girls still get to go out once a day. Day 1 they went to playground in the afternoon, yesterday they went to Renwick Gallery museum and trader joes. Daily outing is soooo important for them and I don’t want to drag them to be with me at home.

Random thoughts:

• I find myself less inclined to read news from the Philippines other than for work. It made me thinking that although globalization makes us “feel” close to everything, we are still so much influenced by where we live.
• Transition back to Manila life would be okay. When we first arrived DC, the freedom we got made me worried that we will feel trapped once we go back. One month later, I am less worried because I know we will just adapt again to the new circumstances. We won’t have playground accessible to us but we will have a pool. We won’t have trader joes, but we will have our helper to clean and cook for us. We won’t be close to our good friends in DC but we will be surrounded by the kindest people in the world. We will be just fine. 🙂
• I joked with my friends who are “jealous” of us being fully vaccinated that these must be the most expensive vaccines ever! This is the first time in a long time that I fully get the concept that the money is meant to work for us, to bring us quality of life, not as a symbolic number. As long as we are not being wasteful, I am fine with it.
• Quarantine back in Manila. Current policy states that all incoming travelers need to be quarantined in a hotel for 9 nights before continuing home quarantine for another 5. I booked a two bedroom service apartment for us on our back but hopeful that we might get the waiver to skip it. A friend that went back recently from the US told me that those 10 days were the hardest part of the entire trip. I am trying to mentally prepare everyone in the family that we might have to do that, and girls are coming up with so many great ideas to entertain us.