Living in the time of pandemic: COVID-19 (322)
August 3, 2026
Year 7 of COVID in the Bay Area
Year 7, Day 90: Hm. It’s possible the depression-like feeling of the past weeks was the physical and emotional fatigue. I’ve had both kids sick, one after the other. I’m trying to fight off some virus myself, anxiety nightmares have been coming back. Particularly with the relatives we’re going to be seeing soon, I had a night of remembering all the mean petty things they said that stuck in my craw over the years and that sucked.
I’ve been worn down to a nub and it took a while to realize it.
I’m spending a few days with Mama and it’s starting to heal me inside and out. The exhaustion sore throat finally resolved after being with her two days and my pain levels plummeted after that.
Year 7, Day 91: We took the kids for a pool day that ran a bit long. As we get older I’m much more mindful of sun damage and skin cancer risks for all so I’ve been putting the kids in long sleeve rash guards for an extra layer of protection. No one is good at reapplying sunblock after the initial round, sometimes we lose track of time. I’d bought my first UPF long sleeve rash guard on clearance last year when I needed to hit a free shipping minimum at Lands End and quietly wondered if I was wasting my $20.
SmolAc was unexpectedly enthusiastic about “swimming” (paddling in a life vest) laps so we let them go til we needed to stop them before they crashed. They’ve never done this much in the water and tend to run until all steam is gone and then have an emotional crash. After the few extra hours, the kids are fine and not burned. My neck and legs are a little bit burned and PiC’s torso is lobster red. I didn’t sunbathe, I only laid in the sun for a bit to dry off after toweling off but that was enough to toast my legs. Rash guard – definitely not a waste of money.
Year 7, Day 92: It’s been months plural since I slammed on the brakes at work, giving it my least effort for weeks. I’m just now starting to feel what might be little bits of my brain come back.
A couple months ago, I started trying to learn Morse code to make my brain do something fun and interesting but there simply wasn’t enough operating power left. I never got past learning E / I / S / H. I didn’t want to move to the next set of letters until I could successfully record a full lesson without mistakes. But today I’ve picked out a few letters to memorize and it’s feeling like they’re sticking in a way that I could not force before. I won’t say my brain is back but I’d forgotten what it felt like to encode and access new information. This much (little) is a win.
Year 7, Day 93: I only became aware of Descendants in the past 3 years but it baffles me. It’s massively overwrought, the costuming, the characters, the make up, but it’s very popular with a lot of kids and adults. Meanwhile dozens of genuinely good shows (like Julie and the Phantoms for that age group) are cancelled after one season. Netflix frustrates me!
Ok in hindsight I think it’s because I missed the obsession with High School Musical and the like back in the 2010s that I don’t get it.
And I had given up on the Chase Ink Business card so of course it’s NOW been approved (after far too much time and energy and after I needed it for large purchases) 🤦🏻♀️. They are so annoying.
Year 7, Day 94: Here’s me up at 2 am needing to strategize whether we may have enough stock to offer in our craft fair application and needing to make a spreadsheet about it.
Out of the 11 different craft categories I’m envisioning, we have some stock for 5. The other 6 are question marks whether we’ll be able to make them in time and in sufficient quantities to sell for a 6 hour show. We’ve only ever tabled at small 2 hour community affairs. This is much bigger and if we don’t have enough to offer, our application won’t be approved.
I’m also considering inviting a friend to join us, in inventory if not in person, they could supply one of the 11 crafts that we don’t have time to master and make ourselves.
This could be fun if I wasn’t so stressed about all the moving parts and the application and running out of time to get the pieces together for the moving parts!