Year 3, Day 326: I rarely have the Sunday Scaries. What I do have is Sunday how am I starting a new week with my tank on completelyempty???
I had a “blocky” weekend. One activity in the morning followed by lunch and putting Smol down for a nap whereupon I crashed for a few hours. Saturday even included a surprise nap for me. But I’m still not starting the day recharged or rested because this damn cough has been wrecking any semblance of rest I could have gotten. Here’s hoping my doc has prescription cough meds I can get immediately.
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Just realized that I started this memory in last week’s post and didn’t have time to finish it: I’m feeling alllllll of my 40 years today. When I was a young teen in martial arts at the community center, we had a classmate. I think he was 40? He could have only been 30. It sort of all looked the same from the vantage point of a 15 year old. Anyway, Harry was older than us by a lot and the poor guy crackled when he tried to stretch out with us. We were limber and young and wow, we really took it for granted. I did, at least.
Now I’m snap-crackle-popping when I turn my head and maaaan. It feels like a little bit of the past coming back to haunt me.
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We got the prescription cough meds just before the pharmacy closed. š¤š¤
Year 3, Day 307: Woof. Stayed out way too late last night. Happy Year of the Bunny or Cat depending on which zodiac you use!
I’m going with Bunny-Cat. Which makes me think of Bunnicula.
I’m on Week 1 of the new medications. Telling myself to be patient during these first three weeks isn’t actually making me be patient.
It’s annoying that while I was the frog slowly boiling in depression, I was entirely focused on surviving day to day. Now that I KNOW that it’s likely been what’s driving at least some of my inability to focus or be patient, now that I am actually on meds, I’m hyperaware of each symptom that’s been blocking my focus. Irritability! Anxiety! Snapping at JB for being late! Anger at myself for being late! Anger about my fatigue! Every! Unreasonable! Thing!
Please let my lowest effective dose be really low so that I can get to it sooner than later. I don’t know that my frayed temper can take four or five weeks of this.
Year 3, Day 308: I actually slept deeply last night but still struggled to get up. I can’t say I felt rested, generally I never do, but I felt less unrested if that makes sense. I’ll take it and hope for more.
The tendons in my fingers aren’t working right today. That’s awkward! I rather need my fingers to flex as needed. That’s sort of crucial to all the typing and dog walking, eating, and driving that has to happen today.
Letter writing was a lot harder too, with fingers that didn’t want to grip or glide a pen across paper.
Year 3, Day 309: My mentor reminded me that we have enough money that we can use some of it to buy our peace of mind. I’ve had to sit with that reminder a bit to see what form of help we can buy that would be a net benefit.
Some things, like hiring cleaners, are more stressful than they are helpful because PiC is extremely particular about taking care of our things and the last set of cleaners didn’t use ladders or stepstools, they climbed right on our furniture and floating vanities to clean above them. That worried me, I didn’t want them slipping and falling off or the floating vanity to crack off the wall. At installation we were told the beams attaching it to the could hold a certain amount of weight but the vanity weight plus a person might be too much.
I’ll start with ordering food delivery. It’s not the best bang for our buck but on Friday, we won’t have to figure out what to do for dinner and that’s a small cache of brain we can reclaim. PiC and I both think about dinner, that’s probably not efficient, but we’re sharing the pain and that’s something.
Bigger picture, we may have to take that full time daycare hit sooner than planned. Last year, I thought maybe we’d start around the summer. Now, I’m thinking… maybe much sooner. These part time weeks are wearing on me this year.
Year 3, Day 310: Every time I hear a pharma ad run through the side effects and say something about not taking this while breastfeeding, I feel this whooosh of relief that I’m not going to ever breastfeed again.
The prices at our new local Mediterranean restaurant have gone up 20%. Yeeps! I ordered anyway. We’ll have some for dinner tonight and I’ll freeze some for next week.
Tuesdays and Thursdays are hectic. I’m cramming a whole day of work into a few hours before self defense. We try to arrive half an hour early so we can get parking and to give JB another 15-25 minutes of cardio. The kids play serious games of tag and gymnastics before class starts. Makes me feel like we’re getting extra bang for our buck. We already save 30% by prepaying for the year but when would I ever turn down a little extra bonus?
I hit the Gap and Old Navy clearance sales for our Lakota families. If everything ships, I’ll have acquired 44 tops, 10 pairs of pants, 10 pairs of sneakers and toddler boots, and 64 pairs of socks split between the Allen Youth Center and the Red Shirt School for $370.
Year 3, Day 311: Maybe the meds are helping even at sub-therapeutic levels. Maybe it’s a placebo effect. Whatever it is, even with my cold getting much worse today, and terrible sleep interrupted with nightmares, heartburn, and other indefensible reasons last night, my level of end of week despair was not nearly as high as any other Friday of the past few months. PiC did cover a lot of the work day with Smol and that helped too but I took my turns both morning and afternoon despite feeling like garbage with this cough and chills.
Today’s dinner: small pies and fancy salads!
Pies: Chicken Tikka Masala, Cajun Chicken, Beef and Stout, Apple Saffron
Salads that I wouldn’t have time to make: Seared Lemon Pepper Tuna , Tabouli Quinoa Salad with Mediterranean Chicken, Duck Breast.
Very expensive for the quantities we’re getting but I couldn’t make this without doubling the cost in time and ingredients. Triple that of frustration. Also it’s sampler style so we can taste four different pies in one go. One pie can barely happen around here, forget more than that!
There’s a lot of uncertainty this year. Without Twitter, my fundraising reach might be next to nothing. Many, if not all, donors came across the project from Twitter. Greg Doucette, who runs a massive campaign each year to feed kids feels the same way. When asked when he’ll start fundraising for this year’s Foodraiser, he replied:
I truly don’t want the demise of Twitter to be the end of this project too but we’ll have to see. I hope that y’all will share, and donate if you’re able, and help us keep this going.
This year’s goals:
Continue helping 1-2 families a month throughout year.
Raise $6000 to shop the Thanksgiving-adjacent and weekend sales to supply the community in bulk.
In March, we’ll start saving large boxes in March for the end of year giveaway. When school lets out and they wash all the left behind clothing, I’m driving over there with an empty car and loading it up with as many good coats and sweaters as we can carry home to ship out. They’re perfectly good clothes, free, and will only cost shipping!
I’ve shipped 30 lbs of clothing, toys and COVID tests to start us off. With three contributions, including our own first donation of the year, we’re at a total of $418.22.
If we can get to $700-800, we’ll be ready to start with our first family of the year! There’s a family of 9 that lives waaay out in the country and hasn’t received any help for a month. I’d like to get them well outfitted.
Year 3, Day 288: Gas is below $5/gallon. I checked our records and it went below $5.25 around Thanksgiving weekend. What a difference it makes to each fill up total! We’d been nudging $100 for a 3/4 tank at those prices. *shiver*
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We have a break between storms today and I’m trying to make the most of it. I ran out of steam yesterday. We’ve got two more loads of laundry, I’ve got some donations to ship to Allen Youth Center, and I’d like to get Sera a doggy sweater.
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Huzzah! Nicole and Maggie’s comment fixed my problem. Well, got me to fix it. When the block editor was first rolled out, we were able to pick which editor to use for new posts. Then they took that choice away. So I went into the settings but my toggle to turn off block editor was greyed out.
I checked again this week and the toggle is functional! I can write new posts in classic editor! š
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I noticed on Twitter that a player collapsed on the field during the Bills/Bengals game, and the NFL didn’t immediately, or very quickly after, cancel the game. I don’t follow football but this is the kind of stuff that floats up to my attention because it’s something my circles are interested in. It was both not at all surprising that the NFL didn’t have what it took (morality? souls?) to immediately cancel the game and apparently expected both teams to take the field again shortly after, without knowing if a fellow player was ok. I heard that the teams and the team reps told the NFL that the game wouldn’t go on (buzzfeed article). There’s something deeply wrong with parts of our society for that not to be an immediate decision, IMO. And football is such a dangerous game.
Our long term goal is to replace our day job income with passive income before my health prevents me from working. I know from my Mom’s experience that qualifying for or relying on disability is incredibly tough or near impossible here in CA. Aside from that, I aim to do my best to make the most of what we can do while we can.
***
Dividend income. We received $400 in dividends from the stocks portfolio.
This was previously on my Giving page but I’m making it a post and updating that page for ongoing efforts. The updates from the start to the end of this fall’s project are below in chronological order.
We will continue to help the Lakota people even after the conclusion of this big fundraiser. We send gently used and new things as they become available or are requested year round. You are always welcome to contribute.
This post is to say a very big thank you to everyone who helped and contributed.
This all hits close to home for me. My mom grew up in poverty and I remember her stories of fishing for protein for their meals. Of making porridge that was more water than rice to stretch their single monthly 50-lb bag of rice per month to feed six, then seven, then eight children. Of earning money and making her own clothes at ten years of age. That wasn’t the life she wanted for me and I was lucky enough to make my way out of poverty because she came to America. In her memory, I feel a deep responsibility to pay forward the help needed for people to survive and thrive, and in particular to the Indigenous people who were here first.
The high in Allen, SD this week (last week of October) is 34 degrees, and the low is 3 degrees, and it’s only fall! Folks of all ages and sizes need warm clothes, socks, gloves, hats, coats, blankets. Food is a big need too, but I’ve got to grab hold somewhere to start helping, and keeping people warm is a good place to start with the sales that are on now.
With a South Dakota winter coming, all of these become much more urgent. One Spirit is a great organization that supports the Oglala Lakota but they have limited resource, they need us to help fill the gaps.
Our community has come together the past five years to assist families with urgent needs on the Okini and this fall I expanded our efforts to provide direct aid in bulk: hunt down the best deals and send great big loads to share with our neighbors in South Dakota. I’d love to supply the whole reservation this way but we’ll start with one area first and work our way out.
On October 26, 2022, we launched a fundraiser for a big Native Heritage Month + Thanksgiving giving drive. With your help, we’re sending much needed supplies to roughly 100 families, or 600+ people, on the Pine Ridge reservation in the Allen area. Mutual aid FTW! I’ve shared updates on the blog here and here, and on Twitter. I’m also documenting our work here for transparency and posterity.
How you can help
Every penny matters: $15 buys a pair of gloves or a pack of socks, $37 buys a case of diapers.
Fourteen days into the public fundraising! Added to the earlier private donations in the first part of October, we’ve raised enough to send the following goods on sale:
Health
COVID is a big problem on the reservation, and it’s a terrible cold/flu/RSV season to boot.
For kids
15 black Targus backpacks
10 girls size 7 snow boots
16 packs of Girls Underwear, Assorted 20 Packs in sizes (4 each) 6, 8, 10, and 14
6 packs of Boys’ Boxer Briefs, Assorted 5 Pack, Size XL
5 Kids’ 2-pack Blanket Sleeper, Dark Pink, 12 months
5 Kids’ 2-pack Blanket Sleeper, Pink, 2T
5 Kids’ 2-pack Blanket Sleeper, Blue, 3T
5 Kids’ 2-pack Blanket Sleeper, Blue, 2T
20 total: Eddie Bauer Kids’ 3-in-1 Jacket, Blue or Red, 5 in each size: XS, S, M, L
For adults
4 Fleece Crew Sweatshirt, 2XL, Blue
4 Fleece Pullover Hoodie Sweatshirt, 2XL, Black
4 Fleece Pullover Hoodie Sweatshirt, XL, Grey Heather
4 Fleece Elastic Bottom Sweatpants, 2XL, Black Heather
4 Fleece Elastic Bottom Sweatpants, XL, Black
5 32 Degrees Ladies’ Power Tech Jacket, Blue, Medium
5 32 Degrees Ladies’ Power Tech Jacket, Copper, Medium
Household
28 Bath Towels
November 9, 2022
Kids
10 toddler coats: 2T, 4T, 5
November 12, 2022
$460 of cash and gift card contributions came in this week! YAY! Some thoughtful folks confirm which stores made the most sense and sent over gift cards for the efforts and this is so appreciated. I hope we’ll have enough time to gather enough funds to hit the intense holiday sales hard, but the Twitter sharing is getting more difficult.
I asked our coordinator what their top priorities from the list below are and she said: There is a volunteer cook who comes in 6 days a week to ācreate ā a meal with ingredients that they have on hand so they’re always in need of food and snacks for kids. They also need diapers and baby (gently used is great) clothes.
I ship them all the gently used hand me downs we get from our community and have a plan to ship more when I gather all the giveaway clothes from the lost and found at the end of the school year. I’m kicking myself for not trusting we’d raise enough funds to afford buying the diapers while they were on sale in October but I think they’ll be on sale again in December/January. Should I wait and buy then? Or should I send what we can afford now? DEBATING.
Today, I’m pivoting to buying a load of food and snacks. I will keep hunting for deals on diapers and baby clothes in hopes that our dollars will go further on those items in a week or so.
Update 2! This was a cart split between healthy ingredients and reasonably healthy snacks for kids, as requested, coming in just shy of $400. Tomorrow, per a friend’s recommendation, I’ll get diapers from Target.
For $146.75, I’ve shipped three boxes of clothes, toys, treats, art supplies, $100 worth of kids’ masks, $900 worth of COVID tests.
November 20, 2022
We had a few more contributions come in this week, this might be the last we can expect what with Twitter going down and all.
Tami and I are working on a series of diaper orders, one has shipped and two more are being placed soon.We’re budgeting about $300 for diapers now, we’ll get more later if funding comes in. This week I fielded specific requests from the coordinator and director of One Spirit (they run the Okini list). I ordered adult sized coats (they asked me to focus on L, XL, and XXL sizes) for the older kids and adults near Allen. The sales finally dropped prices enough so that I could buy 18 adult sized coats for $473.21.
The Youth Center also has a big group of kids with very little seating, just one used sofa, so they asked for bean bag chairs for the kids. I found one very large one on sale, and am now on the lookout for more individual sized bags.
First of three diaper orders to maximize discounts:
Fragrance Free Baby Wipes Unscented 216ct – up & upā¢
(1) Diapers Giant Pack Size 2 – 184ct – up & up
(2) Diapers Economy Plus Pack – Size 3 – 228ct – up & up
(5) Unisex Big Hooded Zip Jacket, 2XL, Color: Camel
(2) Men’s DockersĀ® Arctic Cloth Heavyweight Performance Hooded Parka, XL, Green
(1) Men’s DockersĀ® Arctic Cloth Heavyweight Performance Hooded Parka, XL, Grey
(2) Men’s DockersĀ® Arctic Cloth Heavyweight Performance Hooded Parka, L, Grey
(2) Women’s ZeroXposur Brooke Packable Puffer Jacket, Infinity Blue, L
(2) Women’s ZeroXposur Brooke Packable Puffer Jacket, Rose Clay, L
(1) Juniors’ Plus Size SOĀ® Sherpa Full Zip Jacket, 1X, Blue Cream Dye
(2) Juniors’ Plus Size SOĀ® Sherpa Full Zip Jacket, 2X, Larue Lavender
(1) Juniors’ Plus Size SOĀ® Sherpa Full Zip Jacket, 2X, Maroon Black Buffalo
November 26, 2022
We’ve sent the second and third of three diaper orders:
(2) Diapers Economy Plus Pack – Size 4 – 204ct – up & up
(1) Diapers Giant Pack Size 2 – 184ct – up & up
(1) Fragrance Free Baby Wipes Unscented 216ct – up & up
(2) Diapers Economy Plus Pack – Size 5 – 186ct – up & up
I’ve also ordered individual sized bean bag chairs, women’s gloves, blankets and comforter sets, kids/men’s/women’s beanies, kid and adult socks, and adult underwear packs.
(2) Big Joe Classic Beanbag Chair, Sapphire
(2) Big Joe Milano Kid’s Beanbag Chair Pink Passion Smartmax
(5) Women’s Ultra Lightweight EZ Touch Screen Quilted Gloves – MEDIUM
(5) Women’s Ultra Lightweight EZ Touch Screen Quilted Gloves – LARGE
(4) Classic Velvety Plush Full/Queen Blanket, Hippie Tie Dye Wizard (pinks)
(6) Eddie Bauer Mountain Village Ultra Soft Plush Fleece Reversible Full/Queen Blanket, Chambray Blue
(2) Sunham Holiday Gingham 3-Pc Comforter Sets
(3) Kids’ Colorblock Beanie – Cat & Jackā¢ Pink
(3) Kids’ Solid Cuffed Beanie – Cat & Jackā¢ Gray
(8) Men’s Circular Knit Beanie – Goodfellow & Coā¢ Indigo
(4) Women’s Knit Beanie – Universal Threadā¢ Dark Gray
(4) Women’s Knit Beanie – Universal Threadā¢ Red
(3) Kids’ Solid Cuffed Beanie – Cat & Jackā¢ Yellow
(4) Men’s Circular Knit Beanie – Goodfellow & Coā¢ Cream
(4) Baby Boys’ 6pk Crew Socks – Cat & Jackā¢ 12-24M
(4) Toddler 10pk Solid Low-Cut Socks – Cat & Jackā¢ White 2T-3T
(4) Toddler 10pk Solid Low-Cut Socks – Cat & Jackā¢ White 4T-5T
(2) Hanes Boys’ 12pk Cushioned Ankle Athletic Socks – White L
(4) Hanes Girls’ 20pk Super No Show Athletic Socks – M and L
(5) PUMA Men’s No Show Sock, 10-pair, size 10-13
(5) PUMA Men’s No Show Sock, 10-pair, size
(5) PUMA Ladies’ No Show Sock, 10-pair, Black
(4) PUMA Ladies’ No Show Sock, 10-pair, White
(1) Plus Size JockeyĀ® Elance 3-pk. Briefs Panty Set, Size 8, Blue
(1) Plus Size JockeyĀ® Elance 3-pk. Briefs Panty Set, Size 8, Black
(1) Plus Size JockeyĀ® Elance 3-pk. Briefs Panty Set, Size 10, Black
(1) Plus Size JockeyĀ® Elance 3-pk. Briefs Panty Set, Size 10, Pink
(2) Men’s Hanes UltimateĀ® 5-pack Exposed Waistband Boxer Brief, XL, Blue/Orange
(1) Men’s Hanes UltimateĀ® 5-pack Exposed Waistband Boxer Brief, XXL, Blue/Orange
(1) Men’s Hanes UltimateĀ® 6-pack ComfortSoft Tees, XL, Black/Grey
(1) Men’s Hanes UltimateĀ® 6-pack ComfortSoft Tees, XXL, Black/Grey
November 30, 2022
I’m watching and waiting as the orders start to ship and updating the coordinators. I’ll update the numbers here as soon as I can get some time! The Holiday Okini is out but I’ve got to take a break.
December 9, 2022
There are still things on the wish list that I didn’t get to or can use more of: diapers, men’s gloves, blankets, snow boots (for all sizes and ages), tampons, pads, shampoo, conditioner, soap.
But since we’ve used all our funds pre-Thanksgiving, and everything has FINALLY shipped, it was time to pull this update together.
Final summary
Together we raised $4396! Y’all are AMAZING! Thanks to Music for encouraging this wacky idea to hatch, Ruth for signing up to assist with the money, Maggie, Tami, Kristen, ZJ and Penny for helping and advising me behind the scenes.
Thanks to Shep and Chris and also you Chris, Hiro, Plutus folks, J Money, Steph, Anne, Sarah, Janna, Jaydot, Jim, Quiara, Jelena, and so many more for signal boosting so we could get one more coat, one more case of diapers, one more blanket, one more package of socks.
BIG thanks to everyone single one of you who helped in every way. This quite literally could not have happened without you.
My heart is full this season with your caring for people who have a need that we can help with, and I hope yours is as well.
Year 3, Day 260: Smol’s third round of fever started last night, coinciding perfectly with my fatigue deepening to the point I didn’t even hear them wake and cry at 4 am. PiC took care of them, but I usually hear and respond to all middle of the night wakings. Getting up felt like a forced swim up through multiple levels of sediment. Heavy and yucky and my ears kept popping.
Working felt the same way today, too. Just a lot of yuck and struggle to get the basics squared away. Pre-holiday hangover?
My arm is still sore from my flu shot which reminds me that yay I finally got my flu shot! It’s been hard to muster any energy or time. No new symptoms from the shot, I just continue to be generally headachy, muscle achy, fatigued and have an on again off again sore throat. Maybe, maybe if I can pull off another night of sleep or ten, I’ll feel better? It doesn’t help that I’m also anticipating with great stress and no joy the upcoming time with family that involves a lot of logistics and problem solving and no help whatsoever.
Year 3, Day 261: Ah yes one of the few days I have meetings scheduled would be following a horrible up constantly with a very sad Smol Acrobat night. It’s not clear what was wrong. They were sad and couldn’t get comfortable, but I didn’t know why. Their fever was down and I had administered Tylenol just for their general discomfort but they just couldn’t deal. They napped at daycare, thankfully, twice even, but were terribly sad at lunch and refused to eat. This was a puzzle and teachers tried to feed them to no avail. According to the doctor, though, this is actually their third virus in the past 2.5 weeks, so we have to take them for another round of COVID and flu tests. Also, it turns out there’s a chance they were exposed to hand foot mouth disease last week, we’re just finding out now. Mega sigh.
For my part, I was 90% zombie today. I’m just so tired. And maybe this contributed to my feeling slightly inadequate. One of my dear friends (#1) was a key player in planning a major inauguration and gala, and she did a magnificent job. I simply cannot imagine wrapping my head around doing anything that immense or that highly visible. Our mutual dear friend (#2, much older than both of us) selected #1 over me to be the executor of her will in this year’s rewrite and #1 is also the designated party planner. #2 doesn’t want a funeral, she wants a big party. Don’t get me wrong, I am not gunning for more jobs, but I admit to a small pang of “well gosh, what am I good for then?” As you know, if I don’t have a use, a job to do, then I don’t know what the point of me is in a friendship.
It’s possible I’ll write the obituary, I wrote her late spouse’s, but that feels like small potatoes. Then again, I’m not sure how I’ll even do that, my heart is in my throat whenever I think about writing it. And yet I feel like I need to prepare raw material now before it’s too late. In any case, I agree with #2s choice of #1 for an executor. It’s practical, her kids are quite a bit older than ours and she’s more intimately familiar with #1’s tastes and preferences because she’s very particular about tastes herself. I’m not that person. I’m a nuts and bolts, behind the scenes person. Pure functionality over form, entirely about getting a job done with zero thought for performance and flair. I’m no good at the latter, I’m uncomfortable with fanfare. I 0% wanted to be the center of attention at my own wedding and only got through that by ignoring people if I wasn’t face to face with them. The choice truly does make sense to me. I just want to be more of service in the event of #2’s passing. If nothing else, to numb the grief, I suppose.
Year 3, Day 262: I really don’t know what’s what with COVID anymore. PiC’s employer has noted higher community transmission rates and moved their company guidance accordingly. But it’s only “masks recommended and limited in person meetings”. Meanwhile everywhere I look, hardly anyone is masked. Half the people at the orthodontist were unmasked, and they actually require masking. One lady had the nerve to tell her kid to REMOVE their mask when they stepped inside. I guess that’s “require” since they didn’t enforce it or chastise it unmasked people.
Smol’s still sick and in a lot of pain. They couldn’t eat all day and PiC and I were racking our brains on how to help them. I’m exhausted from the past two nights of all nighters with them. I had to set aside time to just lay down and rest during the day because it doesn’t look like this will resolve quickly, it’s very probably hand foot mouth disease. They were exposed last week and we only got the notification yesterday about the exposure. Not that we could have done anything about it last week, either.
After I had the brilliant notion of picking up Jamba Juice for them, and it worked! They slurped down a huge amount and were smiling for the first time at a meal in days! They opened their mouth wide saying ah! ah! ah! They suddenly felt good enough to let me take a good look inside and sure enough: herpangina. Sigh. They’re miserable and it’s so sad.
Year 3, Day 263: Not for the first time since I started using them, I’m grateful someone mentioned setting phone alarms for things like appointments. It’s been a huge help for picking up JB from school. I get very deep into my focused work day to day and really need that sharp jerk to pull my brain out of the depths on time.
Especially on days like today, my third day after a sleepless night, and my brain is barely just creaking along, at least I don’t have to also worry that I’ll forget someone somewhere. That’s happened a couple of times, before the alarms, and I know they’re fine but I would just as soon skip that guilt (strongly linked to how I felt when I was constantly left at school), thank you very much.
I thought about cooking with that chicken I defrosted on Monday and haven’t touched. Since I started work at 530, I had some time by the afternoon. But the two and a half brain cells I had left piped up and said maybe don’t wipe yourself out the rest of the way cooking when there are still classes to drive to? Good job, tiny voice.
Year 3, Day 264: Mulling over how, since starting daycare, I’ve gotten a few days a week with chunks of uninterrupted time to work which is REALLY good. But the tradeoff is germs germs germs omg germs. Thankfully so far not COVID, but every other kind of viral fever-inducing thing out there has come home with them. They’re on Virus number 6 in 3 months and this one is absolutely brutal. I thought patting them down 3-5 times a night was bad (and it was). This go-round, they’re absolutely hysterical with discomfort throughout the night, night after night.
Today is an at-home day for Smol, who is still sad and sick, which reminds me just how physically exhausting it is to be ON constantly with an active toddler when I’m super tired, plus have work to do (which I of course cannot even think about while I’m on Smol minding duty). Feels like all the options are bad right now.
Big sighs.
*****
I noticed that my lifelong friend had big smile wrinkles that weren’t there before this year, in pictures she texted me. Then I noticed that I have them. We’re prematurely aging! The long running joke is that this sort of thing doesn’t usually show up on our (Asian) faces for a few more years, and then generally it happens all at once. I guess the pandemic kick-started it.
*****
We donated again to the Child and Family Relief Round 2: Our goal is to provide 500 food packages to families in need in different provinces of Afghanistan. Aseel’s Emergency food PackageĀ Emergency Food Package 1 (92 USD per package) feeds a family of 6-8 members for five weeks.
Year 3 of COVID in the Bay Area.
