How’s everyone doing? We hope you’re keeping well and maintaining your sanity in our current socially-distant, semi-quarantined reality.For us here at Esparza, it’s week nine (!!) of working from home. We’ve long since worked out the kinks, gotten into a solid routine, and (mostly) stopped studying our teammates’ home decor while on web conferences.
Since we’re fortunate to be operating at full strength, we’re working just as much as ever. But when we’re not, we’re also not visiting restaurants and breweries, going to movies and concerts, shopping at the mall (online is a whole different story), attending Isotopes and United games, etc. You know, the regular stuff.
So what are we doing instead? We asked our entire crew to share how they’ve been filling the non-working hours, and unsurprisingly, it runs the gamut from nurturing our creative sides to learning new things, catching up on neglected hobbies and burning up the trails in our beautiful New Mexico backyard. Read on to see what we Esparzans have been up to!
Enjoying the great outdoors
Anne Claire: My husband and I have filled our free time with cooking and all manner of virtual things… movie nights, tabletop games and trail races. Thereʼve been a lot of cool virtual races going around; just last weekend a group of our running friends did a 24-hour ultra “together.” While we can’t be together in person, it’s been so helpful and important to still share in the adventures, motivation and encouragement that comes from that support.
Connecting with those near and far
Consuming all the media

Embracing our creativity
Staying (mostly) productive
Staci: I’ve taken advantage of these less-busy weekends to sharpen my DIY skills. New window treatments, sprucing up the backyard, and my biggest accomplishment: giving my mid-90s fireplace a major facelift. (So much sanding and taping and priming and painting and staining…) And with more time for the kitchen, I’ve been experimenting with a new air fryer, trying recipes I pinned about a billion years ago and even making my own sourdough starter.
A word of thanks
At the end of the day — remote, lazy, fun-filled or otherwise — we know we’re among the lucky ones. Our jobs don’t require us to work 20-hour hospital shifts, restock grocery shelves over and over (seriously, how are people still hoarding TP?), or crank out dozens of to-go orders with only a skeleton crew. So to those on the front lines of this pandemic, those keeping us in groceries and other basic needs, and those watching out for the rest of us, we offer a heartfelt thanks, and look forward to better days for all.
How about you?
Which creative ways have you found to fill your extra quaran-time? We’d love to know. Give us a shout on any of our social channels, using the hashtag #quarantinelife. We hope to hear from you!