How is your relationship in isolation?

[Woggle]

Times like these can make or break a relationship or marriage and while we are getting cabin fever and want to speak to other human beings in person we are getting along great. Both of us genuinely enjoy each other's company and are a shoulder to lean for each other. We are making the best of it and watching some movies and playing some games we never got around to. How is everybody's relationship doing during this time?

[alphamale]

how's the sex?

[basil67]

We're doing OK.  Mostly because hubby and daughter are both in rooms working remotely.   We meet for lunch and spend evenings together.   

[schlumpy]

Things are working out great. After I practice and roam the internet my wife puts down her book and we binge-watch on Netflix. 

[alphamale]

1 hour ago, schlumpy said:

Things are working out great. After I practice and roam the internet my wife puts down her book and we binge-watch on Netflix. 

what are your favourite things on netfliz?

[schlumpy]

3 minutes ago, alphamale said:

what are your favourite things on netfliz?

I really liked the "The Witcher." My wife liked "Merlin." "Travelers" was another favorite but did take several episodes to get into. My wife watched the entire "Charitie" series which was in German and since she speaks the language that makes sense. At the moment we are working through "Ripper Street." I like the UK murder and detective series but it often seems like the police have more emotional problems then the criminals they are trying to catch. "Broadchurch" had it's moments.

Frankly Alpha there is more content then I have time to explore.

You have any favorites?

 

[alphamale]

3 minutes ago, schlumpy said:

You have any favorites?

 

i don't have netflix schlumpy

[Woggle]

The sex is great but that is with or without a pandemic.

[Happy Lemming]

6 hours ago, Woggle said:

How is everybody's relationship doing during this time?

Not good... I've been dating my girlfriend for 8+ years and until now things have been going along pretty great.  We've been "Sheltering in Place" for 14 days now, and have only left the house to get prescription medicine for her.  My girlfriend has some underlying health issues, so we are being extra careful not to expose her to the virus.  Yesterday, we got into a HUGE argument, she is getting "cabin fever" and just can't take this isolation.  My girlfriend very much likes to socialize with her girlfriends, go to her art class/club, the gym, etc and can't.  I tried encouraging her to take a walk with me, but she wants to interact with someone else.

She had a phone appointment with her therapist (the other day).  The therapist made things worse telling her she expects everyone to get the virus and that sheltering at home won't work.

For some reason, I can handle the isolation better, but I have a lot of home improvement work to keep me busy. I think that seems to be aggravating her that I am calm and relaxed as I go through my day.  

I was going to set up "Skype", so she could talk/skype with her sister, but her and her sister aren't that close.  The sister will only make things worse,  anyway. None of her girlfriends or anyone else she knows has skype.

As the days progress, I expect things to get worse.  She can't really go back to her apartment as it is a very small studio, she hates the unit and she already feels confined living in it.  If she were to "shelter in place" in the thing, it would drive her mad.  She has admitted she can't go back there unless things are normal and she can leave daily to go about her day.  My house is fairly large with a nice backyard, so it is tolerable (except when one is expected to self-isolate).

 

[BluEyeL]

@Happy Lemmingshe can videochat with the messenger from Facebook or with many other applications. I meet with my girfriends for coffee that way and it helps.

To answer the original question, we are doing very well. Like @basil67, all three (H, myself and DS) work from home (H for the most part, has to go in part of the time), meet for lunch and spend the evenings as normal, mostly binge watching stuff. Walk the dogs once a day. We used to do dates out of the house, and sure, those are gone. But I think this put things in perspective for me and the little things I was complaining in my head about now seem small; we don't have any of the smaller squabbles we used to have now and then. Those seems silly now.  

Edited March 27, 2020 by BluEyeL

[basil67]

5 hours ago, schlumpy said:

 "Broadchurch" had it's moments.

OMG, how good is Broadchurch?!   And Shetland, and Vera, and Happy Valley and The Missing.  Everybody in the show is mental, but that's what gives it it's appeal.  Actually, if it's got a British stamp on it, I'm good to go. 

Edited March 27, 2020 by basil67

[K.K.]

7 hours ago, Happy Lemming said:

Not good... I've been dating my girlfriend for 8+ years and until now things have been going along pretty great.  We've been "Sheltering in Place" for 14 days now, and have only left the house to get prescription medicine for her.  My girlfriend has some underlying health issues, so we are being extra careful not to expose her to the virus.  Yesterday, we got into a HUGE argument, she is getting "cabin fever" and just can't take this isolation.  My girlfriend very much likes to socialize with her girlfriends, go to her art class/club, the gym, etc and can't.  I tried encouraging her to take a walk with me, but she wants to interact with someone else.

She had a phone appointment with her therapist (the other day).  The therapist made things worse telling her she expects everyone to get the virus and that sheltering at home won't work.

For some reason, I can handle the isolation better, but I have a lot of home improvement work to keep me busy. I think that seems to be aggravating her that I am calm and relaxed as I go through my day.  

I was going to set up "Skype", so she could talk/skype with her sister, but her and her sister aren't that close.  The sister will only make things worse,  anyway. None of her girlfriends or anyone else she knows has skype.

As the days progress, I expect things to get worse.  She can't really go back to her apartment as it is a very small studio, she hates the unit and she already feels confined living in it.  If she were to "shelter in place" in the thing, it would drive her mad.  She has admitted she can't go back there unless things are normal and she can leave daily to go about her day.  My house is fairly large with a nice backyard, so it is tolerable (except when one is expected to self-isolate).

 

I’m sorry, Happy. And just think... this is bound to get worse when she moves in permanently. Sheltering in place or not. Maybe this is your test. 

[Foxhall]

Im not sure, we are two hours apart and usually meet every weekend,

I am quite keen to continue this, by nature I am a little rebellious though and have the instinct of being a bit of a risk taker,

with a Government directive to stay at home (although not a strict lockdown yet) and not make visits to others houses, I am willing I suppose to disregard this and visit her house,

K is agreeing to this but now I am trying to second guess her, I dont want to be asking her to do something she is not comfortable with, and her culture is a little different probably, she does not want going against a Government directive for instance,

Id prefer perhaps if she says straight out better not to visit, my dilemma is she is saying she wants me to visit, but I suspect that in reality she is uneasy about it

 

[schlumpy]

7 hours ago, basil67 said:

OMG, how good is Broadchurch?!   

I would give it a four out of five. Season two was weak in my opinion. The writers many times have the characters react to situations without any justification which keeps me from fully accepting the character but it's tough to be consistent. The main attraction is the chemistry between the two police detectives. Of course I have to keep in mind that there are nuances to being British that are probably going over my head. I feel that most keenly when watching Japanese Anime or movies.

[alphamale]

12 hours ago, Woggle said:

The sex is great but that is with or without a pandemic.

logically i would think the danger of the coronavirus would add spice to people's love life.  but i could be wrong

[Happy Lemming]

6 hours ago, K.K. said:

I’m sorry, Happy. And just think... this is bound to get worse when she moves in permanently. Sheltering in place or not. Maybe this is your test. 

You might be right, but if it weren't for the "Sheltering in place"; she'd be able to go out to the gym, her art club, go visit with her girlfriends, go to the library, etc.  She is a very social individual.  I can take it or leave it.

But yes... this is "food for thought" if she moves in permanently.

After so many years of each of us living alone, maybe we just aren't built to live with other people.  I will admit I am a "flawed" human being.

[Ruby Slippers]

Things are going great here. I had broken up with him right at the beginning of the outbreak, but he kept trying to reconcile and I let him come back on Sunday, figuring it wasn't a great time for either of us to be alone and I'd see how it went. We had a good talk about the disagreement and I feel we see each other's point of view better.

We're both working from home and spending pretty much the whole day together, have so far gotten along great. He ordered some nice big computer monitors for his work, I'm fine on my nice laptop with a pretty big anti-glare screen, and he suggested we set up our desks facing each other in the living room. So we have a sweet, cozy work space where we're close but have no problem concentrating on our work. Right now we're both on a video call with work and he's in the spare room while I'm at my desk. 

We're in a nice rhythm of work, mini workouts during the day for breaks, cooking and having meals, a full workout in the evening, mostly running along the creek behind my house, and TV shows/movies in the evening. Last night we had a video call with two old friends of mine, which was fun. I've even had time for projects like organizing the pantry, cleaning house - today I'll be cleaning my bedroom closet to make a little room for his stuff.

Our sex life has always been burning hot, it's as hot as ever, and we sleep very well together. Lately I'm fixated on the positive aspects of how masculine and manly he is, contrasted with how feminine and girly I am. He's most fired up first thing in the morning and I am at night, so we orient the attention to one another based on that. Most mornings he wakes me up with all this burning hot intensity. It's kinda like a romance novel. This morning he spooned me, wrapped me up completely in those strong, sexy arms, squeezing, massaging, feeling me up, totally raring to go, gently and gradually waking me up for a proper good morning  

I'm totally cool with this setup and lovin it! Stress is almost totally gone - no commute, no office BS, peace and quiet, plenty of time to do the things I want to do.

[Els]

4 hours ago, Happy Lemming said:

You might be right, but if it weren't for the "Sheltering in place"; she'd be able to go out to the gym, her art club, go visit with her girlfriends, go to the library, etc.  She is a very social individual.  I can take it or leave it.

But yes... this is "food for thought" if she moves in permanently.

After so many years of each of us living alone, maybe we just aren't built to live with other people.  I will admit I am a "flawed" human being.

IMO the past two weeks isn't indicative of anything at all. This pandemic/quarantine is something that the vast majority of people living in developed countries have never encountered even once in their entire lives. Of course it is bound to cause a lot of stress/anxiety/upset to some people, that wouldn't be present in an otherwise normal situation. Being stuck with each other 24/7 for 2 weeks and not able to meet a single other person (along with fear of suffering complications from the virus, if she has a health issue) is VERY different from a normal cohabitating couple's life. I'm not saying that things will definitely work out for you two otherwise, but I wouldn't project these two weeks on the rest of your lives either.

For me, I'm an introvert and I usually work remotely (and H works in emergency services so he still goes to work), so there's not too much difference with my regular life and nothing has changed in our relationship... but I still miss being able to go out on date night, or to the cinema, or eat in a cafe, or even get my preferred brand of toiletries. There's a big difference between "being able" to stay at home and "being forced" to stay at home.

Edited March 27, 2020 by Elswyth

[schlumpy]

I broke isolation by making run to the grocery store. Bread is back on the rack but the cheese section was cleaned out. Why a run on Cheese? Human nature can be a mystery.

[Gaeta]

We are doing pretty good under the circumstances. 

My 15 year old is home, my boyfriend is home, I have a 40-lbs dog, and I moved my office in the middle of the living room to work remotely! I have boxes of documents laying around, extension wires we need to watch for, it's pretty crowded but we still laugh, and enjoy our time together 🙂

 

[mrs rubble]

We're doing fine, but then I'm still working, hubby had day 1 of isolation yesterday and he reckoned he had cabin fever, which is ridiculous because he often sits around on the couch all day and goes nowhere. Mind over matter IMO....he better have cleaned up the mess he made in the kitchen before I get home or there might be problems!!

[Ruby Slippers]

59 minutes ago, mrs rubble said:

he better have cleaned up the mess he made in the kitchen before I get home or there might be problems!!

I so feel ya! Now that we're in full stay-at-home mode cooking every single meal at home, I had to give my boyfriend some instruction on my requirements for kitchen cleanliness. In general I'm a neat freak and he's an absent-minded mess maker. One week in and he's doing pretty well. I've been rewarding his good behavior with small yet potent acts of sexual flirtation and I think it's working lol

[Erik30]

21 hours ago, Happy Lemming said:

The therapist made things worse telling her she expects everyone to get the virus and that sheltering at home won't work.

Time to get a new therapist. I can't believe she would actually say that to a client...

[simpycurious]

No isolation for me.  The weather is nothing less than AWESOME with blue skies, bright sunshine, warm weather...it's be outside weather, get your tan going weather, etc

Basically, another day to love life.

[Malin889]

22 hours ago, Happy Lemming said:

Not good... I've been dating my girlfriend for 8+ years and until now things have been going along pretty great.  We've been "Sheltering in Place" for 14 days now, and have only left the house to get prescription medicine for her.  My girlfriend has some underlying health issues, so we are being extra careful not to expose her to the virus.  Yesterday, we got into a HUGE argument, she is getting "cabin fever" and just can't take this isolation.  My girlfriend very much likes to socialize with her girlfriends, go to her art class/club, the gym, etc and can't.  I tried encouraging her to take a walk with me, but she wants to interact with someone else.

She had a phone appointment with her therapist (the other day).  The therapist made things worse telling her she expects everyone to get the virus and that sheltering at home won't work.

For some reason, I can handle the isolation better, but I have a lot of home improvement work to keep me busy. I think that seems to be aggravating her that I am calm and relaxed as I go through my day.  

I was going to set up "Skype", so she could talk/skype with her sister, but her and her sister aren't that close.  The sister will only make things worse,  anyway. None of her girlfriends or anyone else she knows has skype.

As the days progress, I expect things to get worse.  She can't really go back to her apartment as it is a very small studio, she hates the unit and she already feels confined living in it.  If she were to "shelter in place" in the thing, it would drive her mad.  She has admitted she can't go back there unless things are normal and she can leave daily to go about her day.  My house is fairly large with a nice backyard, so it is tolerable (except when one is expected to self-isolate).

 

I'm sorry to hear that Happy, I thought things were going so well with your gf. Everyone is doing Zoom these days, maybe she can meet her girlfriends for a Zoom Happy Hour. And maybe buy some exercise equipment that she uses at the gym and have it shipped to your house, small things that don't break the bank, and join some online classes. There's so many opportunities out there now.