Meet Lorrie Pena
Block Curriculum Manager, COM-Phoenix Academic Affairs
Describe your morning – what time do you get up, what do you do first, next and what is for breakfast?
Under stay at home rules, I wake up around 6:30am. (I used to get up at 5am when I had a longer commute!) Aside from saying good morning to my husband and my dog and 2 cats, I usually reach for my phone and quickly check my calendar and scroll through my emails. Then I get ready... breakfast on weekdays is usually oatmeal or grapefruit. On weekends it's usually a hearty Salvadoran breakfast of eggs, beans and plantains or sometimes we get fancy and make crepes.
What happens next?
I often eat breakfast in my home office on weekdays. (I used to wait to eat breakfast until I got to campus, too!) I’ll start responding to emails and planning my work activities for the day.
What do you do for lunch?
Lunch is usually a sandwich or leftovers. It just depends on the day. I'll usually do sudoku puzzles or a few pages from Dell Variety puzzles. I've always enjoyed these types of games and puzzles since I was a kid. Sometimes I’ll Zentangle, doodle or color. Other days I'll watch a little TV while I eat.
What do you do for dinner?
I usually exercise after work and before dinner. This used to mean stopping at the gym on my way home. Fortunately, a couple of my favorite Zumba and fitness instructors are live streaming their classes! It’s not quite the same, but better than nothing at all. My husband and I like to cook and try new foods and recipes. I find a lot of recipes on Pinterest. The other night I made a Three Cheese Rigatoni with Italian Sausage recipe I found on Pinterest and it was divine! But we also have some favorite restaurants that we frequent (just not as much lately!)
How do you end the day and what time do you go to bed?
I usually end the day watching TV with my husband. We tend to watch documentaries or shows about food and sometimes light hearted comedies. We will also watch movies and shows in either Spanish or French. My husband is a native Spanish speaker. I understand a lot of Spanish, but I don’t speak it fluently. Neither of us speak French, but we’d like to learn! Thank goodness for subtitles! Sometimes I read, especially if I'm having a hard time falling asleep. Bed time varies but usually around 1030pm... sometimes later but rarely earlier!
What art are you doing and when do you do it?
I dabble in a lot of different arts and crafts. I bake more often than anything and usually on the weekends. I would say a majority of my craft time is on weekends. Before social distancing, I used to get together with a friend and craft about once every 6 weeks. Sometimes we would do paper crafts and make cards, one time we made shrinky-dinks! We've made t-shirts with iron-on vinyl designs created with my Cricut, batik, tie die, and henna tattoos. We baked and decorated Halloween cookies and assembled ginger bread houses! I also enjoy sewing. I have a large stash of remnant fabric. I seem to pick some up every time I go to my local JoAnn's Store! I've made some clothing, bags and decorative fabric arts. I started a quilt 8 years ago and it is still in pieces in my craft room closet! It is more work than I thought it would be! I do Zentangle sometimes while listening to Zoom meetings and sometimes while my husband is working on his homework.
What are you reading?
Smithsonian Magazine or whatever I pick from my Amazon Prime Kindle First Read program.
What are you streaming?
Chopped, Community, Chef's Table, Project Runway, Next in Fashion, Making The Cut, RuPaul's Drag Race, Catfish, Finding Your Roots. I also stream music with Spotify and listen to an eclectic range of music. Classical, pop, oldies, dance/electronic/industrial, alternative, heavy metal and hard rock, Jimmy Buffett, Salsa, Samba, Jazz and a little bit of Country, too! Just depends on my mood and what I’m doing. There is almost always some type of music playing in my house!
How are you feeling?
Too comfortable with working from home, but also missing the interactions with everyone!
What’s the first thing you’re going to do when the quarantine ends?
I'm not really sure! But it will probably involve travel.
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