Home Posts tagged "covid-19"

Tag: covid-19

Christmas is in…how many days?!

Is it time to panic? I think it’s time to panic. To be fair, my family’s been hit pretty hard with some challenges this year. My husband just tested positive for COVID, despite all efforts toward being safe. Three years he dodged it. Only to be hit with it five days before Christmas. What terrible luck! The good news is that it seems to be a mild case, and he’s already feeling a bit better, so we may have a chance of having our holiday celebration on Sunday. However — and here’s the tough part — we’re worried about anyone else coming down with it in between. We are quarantining, distancing, masking, and doing everything we can to avoid catching it, but you know how that works — sometimes it’s just the luck of the draw. If anyone does get it, then it’s game over. We are already having a second celebration the Wednesday afterward to accomodate my sister, who can’t be with us for Christmas due to having to work, so we could, theoretically, have the whole thing that day — if everyone’s okay. But prep-wise, which my mom and I are doing (as usual, and in some considerable pain as we both have a genetic hip/back issue that’s acting up), we don’t know what to do yet. Do we make the food as if we’re having it Sunday? Or do we wait a bit? I already cleaned the bathroom (my usual job) because regardless, that needed doing. But…having…

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Years in the Making

Howdy, friends! I just returned from a trip. A trip I was supposed to take in 2020. In March of 2020. March 15, 2020. You can guess how that went. The trip in question was a Western Caribbean cruise out of New Orleans, making two stops in Mexico, one in Belize, and one in Honduras. Back in 2020, we’d been watching the situation closely. If you recall (and I know you do, though you may not remember when this happened because time has been weird since the pandemic started), in Feb 2020, the Diamond Princess, a cruise ship, had a major COVID-19 outbreak, which culminated in something like 700 people getting sick and the whole lot being stuck off the coast of Japan for weeks. And there was another Princess ship around then that had a COVID issue–the Grand Princess, which hung out off the coast of California forever. (We didn’t go on Princess, I just remember these situations in particular because they were awful.) In the end, we decided we wouldn’t go, because cruise ships were obviously death traps, and cancelled. And then they cancelled the cruise anyway. So we rebooked the trip for March 14, 2021. Surely we wouldn’t still be in lockdown and everything a year out. Ha. Haha. Anyway, when the 2021 cruise was cancelled, we again, dutifully, rebooked for 2022. Each time we rebooked we got a slightly bigger, nicer room due to incentives because the cruise lines were really hurting. With the Omicron wave…

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COVID Christmas, Year 2

Things are a bit different than they were last year. For one, we’ve gotten vaccines and boosters, whereas last year we did not. We’d had a full lockdown in March, and this year, we didn’t. Masks are not required now in Michigan but are “recommended.” And yet, COVID-19, the “virus in Seattle” from December 2019, is still very much with us. We’re on our, what, twelth variant now (second Variant of Concern) with omicron? There was a tweet the other day from a doctor about not wanting to learn the entire Greek alphabet due to the virus. I don’t mind that. I find it kind of interesting; kind of like the tropical storm/hurricane naming. I just want it gone. Last year, my family made the heartbreaking decision to not see my in-laws for the holidays. They’re elderly, and we were concerned about them catching the virus. We did a FaceTime thing on Christmas Day to open gifts and that was okay…and we made the best of it….but let’s be real. It just wasn’t the same. They were missed. Terribly. This year, we’re all vaccinated and boostered, so we’re going for it. We’re seeing them both days, actually. It is great to go back to some measure of normalcy, although the specter of this thing is still hanging in the background, always there. Siri Paulson, my fellow Turtleducker, posted on Facebook a meme about in the future, how we’ll be going through old stuff and run across a mask and it’ll…

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Re-entry

[CW: COVID, mental health, depression, anxiety] Last spring, we watched COVID coming. First it was very far away, until suddenly it wasn’t anymore. First handwashing was enough, then it wasn’t and everyone was sent home (for certain values of “everyone”). Then it was a waiting game to see how bad the news would get here. Back then, I just…froze. (I’m a natural worrier anyway. I have a history of depression; I haven’t been diagnosed with anxiety, but I wouldn’t be surprised either.) My brain heard “pandemic” and went into hindbrain survival mode. Never mind that I’m not a health care worker, nor a front line worker, nor a hospitality worker watching my job or business evaporate. Never mind that I didn’t have any loved ones in long-term care. (I do have loved ones who are vulnerable for other reasons, though.) Never mind that I didn’t know anyone who died of it (until this year, but that’s another story). I’ll be honest: I spent more than a month barely functioning. Eventually I called my doctor and we tweaked some stuff and then I could function again, but it still wasn’t pretty. I turned into a workaholic instead (partly because my job got super busy right at the same time). I did manage to stay connected with friends online–multiple ongoing text chats, Zoom watch parties, Zoom yoga. Sometimes I didn’t feel like talking, but they understood. My mental health has been improving, mostly. But physically I became a hermit (to be fair,…

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Life…One Year After Lockdown

So today is the one-year anniversary of our lockdown in Michigan. My husband was laid off from his job for two months. I was still able to work, as I work from home and in publishing, and publishing keeps going on, which is a good thing. I had a unique perspective on this entire thing because there was literally no break for me. I’ve worked this entire time, and there was no worry about when I’m going back, what would happen when I did, if my co-workers would be sick, if there’d be new protocols in place, etc. That stress did not happen for me, thankfully. It did happen for hubby, and it was pretty rough. Everything was rough. Him being home, while nice, was a bit different and required some adjustment to my routine. Having to do the unemployment thing — he couldn’t even register for weeks and weeks because too many people were filing in Michigan. Did your state have this issue, too? Once he did, he had to do the online certification thing, which was new to him. Thankfully, I knew how, being that I’d been laid off just three years prior. So I was able to guide him. And of course there were the changes to life in general. No more going out to eat. No takeout either in those early days. He couldn’t fish, which was one of his favorite things to do. It was too dangerous to be out there. We got all of…

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Christmas Looks A Lot Different This Year

…but that’s okay. I am actually feeling a bit relieved. Don’t get me wrong now. I love everything about Christmas — buying gifts, the food, spending time with my loved ones, making memories…but it can be stressful. And this year, with COVID happening and my health being wonky and work being crazy…it’s been really hard to get into the spirit. I am in the spirit, for the most part. I’m excited. 🙂 I’m going to be finishing up my wrapping tonight, and I am excited to see everyone open their gifts on Christmas morning. We’re having a FaceTime gift opening with our in-laws instead of seeing them. We will miss them, but this is for the best, especially with this new COVID variant on the loose and most likely here in the States. Scary stuff! But at least with FaceTime the unwrapping will be in real time and it’ll be close to being together. (That was my idea if you couldn’t tell!). Our dinner will be a bit scaled down, as was Thanksgiving, and that’s fine. Again, it’s just a lot of work, and there’s just three of us eating it this year, so we figured we’d make less. But the menu is no less amazing! It’ll be yummy! But less work which is great, as my mom and I are not spring chickens anymore and could use a break. It’ll be quieter and less crazy, but perhaps we needed that. Every year lately has felt like a rat race…

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What a Year This Week Has Been

As evidenced by the fact that it’s Thursday and I was supposed to post this on Tuesday. It’s been a week, hasn’t it? There was the never-ending U.S. presidential election that ended, but also kind of didn’t because certain people are being sore losers. At this point I’m so tired of the whole thing that I can’t even be bothered to be frustrated. There was the vaccine news that seemingly went nowhere. There were bizarre rumors about Putin resigning and Tumblr got taken over by Destiel going canon. And COVID-19 cases are reaching their highest levels and the schools are shutting back down, thus depriving me of the little free time I’d managed to scrounge up over the last month. (I already miss it.) God, I’m so tired. In March, when everything shut down, did any of us think we’d still be here now? I mean, logically, I think we knew, but emotionally, no. Are we ever going to get to see our extended families again? Our friends? Go to new places and try new things? It’s almost worst now. Back in March and April, when we were all home, we adapted. I had virtual coffee dates with friends and we did a virtual Easter lunch with our family. But now, it’s like people are trying to squeeze out what normalcy they can, and we’ve mostly gotten the responsibilities back instead of the good times. Man. I am depressing myself. This year has been so weird. Things that happened in…

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COVID: What does the Tarot say?

So, I’ve been doing a lot of Tarot reading lately. I used to read way back in my twenties, but went on a long hiatus, and then started back up again recently when I started collecting Tarot decks again. And naturally, I began reading again. And I am feeling rusty, so I’ve been doing a lot of practicing. And I wanted to incorporate a short, simple Tarot ritual into my every day life. So I’ve been doing Daily Draws — and that’s exactly what it sounds like. You draw one card for your day — in my case, for guidance or advice — and make a note. I have a planner that I make my notes in. I try not to look up the standard meanings and try to interpret the cards in my own way. You’re not really supposed to rely on the standard meanings, anyway, technically. But you totally can if you want — there’s no wrong way to read the Tarot. I’ve been pulling cards for other reasons as well, for advice on various things, for writing questions, etc. I did a reading with a brand new, very artsy deck to figure out the ending of The Vanishing, Reaper Girl Chronicles #3, which I am revising. As per my usual process, I didn’t actually write the ending because I did not know it. Which is why I did the reading. It was very, very insightful and quite awesome. The Tarot, at least for me, has been very…

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Halloween in COVID Times

Hi, friends! It’s October, best month of the year! The weather’s finally cooling off, the leaves are turning (and hopefully will get all the way done before a snowstorm kills them all), I can wear boots without looking like a crazy person, etc. And normally there’s Halloween! I mean, there’s still Halloween. But this year it’s a bit anxiety-inducing, isn’t it? What’s safe? What isn’t? How do I still make it fun for the small, mobile ones? They’ve recommended against trick-or-treating, and it feels like the trunk-or-treats have the same issues (which, I’m assuming, are “lots of people touching the same things” and also “the potential for someone COVID-positive to spread a lot of germs and make it near impossible to contact trace”). Next Door has announced their Halloween map for the year. Normally you can mark that you’re giving out goodies and any specifics (for example, I normally take part in the Teal Pumpkin movement, where having a teal pumpkin set out indicates you have alternatives for kids who can’t eat candy due to allergies), but this year your options are for having decorated, doing a costume wave parade (where, I’m assuming again, you stand outside and wave at the kids and admire their costumes?), or having put out pumpkins. Sad times. I know people who are still planning on handing out candy to trick or treaters (bad idea, but I’m not surprised), or doing an alternative like setting individually wrapped candy out on a table (if you think…

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Still Here

Did any of us think we’d be here four months in? Our local renfaire just cancelled their season. Normally it runs early June through the first weekend of August. They’d decided to delay and open mid-August, but with no improvements (and the trend going the wrong way) they finally pulled the plug. Yesterday the school district sent out an email stating they were moving the start of school back two weeks. There’s no end in sight. Oy vey. And then there’s everything else going on. It’s exhausting. I am exhausted. I am also not getting nearly as much done as I’d like to–and normally would–be doing. Logically, I understand this is Okay. I have seen the articles about how trauma works, and how this is traumatic and it is perfectly reasonable to be having a rough go of it. But good Lord. I did some research this morning about the Spanish Flu. You can’t escape the comparisons, and of course the Internet had a field day about having a pandemic 100 years after the last one (though the height of the Spanish Flu was 1918-1919, so it’s actually more than 100 years). (I actually, back in March or April–I can’t remember since that was a million years ago–I read a novel that took place during the Spanish Flu. I think they only closed the schools in the book for, like, two months or something, though.) It took over a year for everything to settle down from that, and even then,…

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