Living in the time of pandemic: COVID-19 (175)
October 9, 2023
Year 4 of COVID in the Bay Area.
Year 4, Day 192: It’s early release all week long. My already short interruption-free parts of the days are now even shorter. But in a stroke of luck, I found a cursive book on sale a few weeks ago and had tucked it away, it’s perfect for this week. JB was thrilled to get it. That’s got to be good for about three days of preoccupation, at a guess. Possibly four.
Year 4, Day 193: Smol woke up at 1 am crying for a hug and asking to go to the big bed. I hugged them until they were willing to lay back down in their own bed. Then I went back to bed where I was completely unable to go back to sleep because my bones flared up something fierce. Painsomnia, everyone’s best friend!
The silver lining to the brain fog was when I caught my brain trying to float away on a cloud of fatigue, instead of being mean to myself and scrunching my shoulders to my ears, I let it float until I could corral it gently back to task. I still got all the things done. Even if it wasn’t at the pace I’d normally set, it was without making the pain and fatigue worse by adding extra stress. I’m learning!
Well, mostly not. It’s so like my body to withhold honest feedback until evening and then run me over with the semitruck of pain and fatigue as soon as I put dinner on the table. I almost crashed but bucked myself up with the thought of cake for dessert. Naturally that’s when Smol Acrobat decided to revert to their “I can’t possibly transport a spoon from the bowl to my mouth, that’s an absurd expectation” mode and refused to eat with their own limbs. I dislike this mode.
They did not get cake.
Year 4, Day 194: The jokes were all on me today. I decided it was going to be a cozy sweats and stay at home (working, of course but no activities) day. Then I walked out and it was pushing 80 degrees. Oh. Right. Heat wave today. And then I saw the calendar and remembered that I have an in person meeting AND an appointment to take JB to the ortho this afternoon. Triple fail. 😅
Bonus fail: the ortho scheduler / office manager was incompetent and only scheduled one of the two appointments we needed for this stage of treatment so I was very unthrilled to add a second appointment to my week next week. I would have scheduled next week differently had I known. She and I are not friends. At our last appointment, she overcharged for our treatment plan claiming that she agreed to honor the quote but not the discounts in the quote. That is PART OF THE QUOTE. Ahem. I don’t appreciate dishonesty and I don’t appreciate overpaying.
But my blueberry bush arrived early! That was very exciting. JB helped me unpack and it’s very pretty. It’s compact, expected to top out at 1-2 feet tall and wide which is just the right size for our yard.
Also, I scored a really big win for myself and some of my team this week and I’d been puffed up with the joy of sharing their good news all day. It wasn’t until evening that I realized I’d forgotten to be happy about my part! Good job, me.
Year 4, Day 195: Heat wave cons: so hot, oh so hot. Sunburns. Sunblock runs into eyes when you sweat it off. The pavement gets too hot for Sera’s 🐶 feet so we have to be quick about walks. Emergency chocolate in my bag melts into a squishy lump. Legs stick to leather car seats. Dizziness strikes hard, at random. Half this household does NOT handle heat well.
Heat wave pros: dishes dry really fast. We can line dry clothes (usually it’s too damp so they mold. yuck.) At night, the sky is beautifully clear and the stars are visible. The morning chill is pleasantly crisp, sitting on the skin, not biting bone deep.
Year 4, Day 196: Friday food review! I made quick panko chicken on the fly one night, served with rice and creamed spinach from the freezer. Then I made a chicken, tofu, and broccoli stir fry kind of thing using up the leftover packets of Korean BBQ style marinade from the Kevin’s meal kits. That was so big we had leftovers for a second dinner and small lunch. The hottest day this week was designated “have someone else cook today”: chicken and waffles takeout! Supporting a small local business and delicious food = happy.
Our local Kaiser finally got their COVID vaccine supply in today so we tried our luck and now both adults are vaccinated! We have to set appointments for the kids to have theirs administered by the pediatrician, so now I have to stalk those appointments. Will report back on how we feel post-vax, the initial jab was pleasantly “small needle” feeling like our flu vaccines were, and no immediate effects were felt.
