Covid Support Thread
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I did a much longer update earlier but it vanished.
All is well in the desert. Charley brought out CLEM this weekend for a visit. CLEM is short for Clementine — and only my favorite cat in all the world! She hasn’t gone anywhere other than the vet in years… but she seems to be right at home. She struts around proudly with her tail up and keeps finding new places to nap. She’s eating and drinking normally. Oh, and using her vacation home litterbox like a world traveler.
She also hilariously matches damn near everything in this house. Did I subconsciously design this desert escape all around her? Hmmmmm. One wonders.
Outside, it’s a cool 84 degrees. Meaning I will start planting the new Ocotillos and Paloverdes shortly. ?
My puppy tried to make friends with a cat today and got whacked in the face twice 🙁 I think she got his eye.
It has been *drumroll* more than A YEAR since I last had my hair cut. I was 6 months pregnant the time, and after my baby was born, I started just throwing it in a ponytail and forgetting about it. I have thick, waist-length (now hip-length, yuck) hair that I used to style in waves or big curls, but since becoming an exhausted mom, even just washing it is so much work that I had juuuuust reached a point where I was thinking about maybe possibly chopping it to a few inches below shoulder-length when Covid hit. As soon as I couldn’t go to a salon I suddenly wanted to cut it so. badly.
Even so, I’m going to wait until well after salons have reopened to book an appointment, to be safe and also because I want to donate my hair and nobody is accepting right now.
My boyfriend’s mom and stepdad invited us, his brother, SIL, and their two girls to visit them this weekend, promising to keep it all outside, but man… I dunno. Boyfriend, his bro, and SIL are, I know, taking it seriously. I adore his mom, but his stepdad is a Fox News kinda guy and his mom just kinda blindly follows suit from what I’ve gathered. I’m not sure how seriously they’ve been taking it. His stepdad LOVES Trump and I know early on he was just as dismissive of COVID as Trump. I also don’t know that I trust his nieces to properly distance themselves.
Copa, just like all decisions about socializing/interacting with others through this pandemic, you have to weigh the risks against the benefits. It really could be as simple as making two lists – one that list the benefits and one that weights the risks. You can even rank them with a numerical value. Like, the likelihood of your boyfriend’s nieces touching you or your boyfriend on a scale of 1-4 or the likelihood of sharing a bathroom. How would you get there? I think your boyfriend has a car? Your risk of contracting anything increases exponentially with increased time/exposure and decreased distance and being inside. Two hours of exposure is far is far riskier than 30 minutes. How does your boyfriend feel about going? If he’s really into it and you’re not, can you just… not go? Or can you do a drop-by visit for 20-30 minutes?
@copa
Would you be able to negotiate specific rules and trust people to adhere to them. Can you talk to them about keeping the kids restrained and making sure that everyone is distanced? Do you think that they would respect your concern even if they don’t agree.
I am really stressed about what it’s going to do to my daughter to force her to constantly police her physical interactions around people she sees but the only alternative is to keep her inside all the time.
I wish my job was just shopping for old people. I love how they want the most specific things, like vanilla soy milk and cranberry walnut chicken salad. And not the paper masks because they hurt. And my aunt said her hair is crazy dry, which I assume is because the nurses wash it with a high-detergent shampoo and no conditioner (when she lived alone she said it was really oily but that was because she couldn’t do a good job washing it herself), so I went to target and got her nice shampoo and conditioner and a serum, plus a couple cute tops and some extra-soft toothbrushes. I can leave them on a table in the main building and she’ll get them. Shopping is so much more satisfying than doing a bunch of ppt crap that someone will be like, oh, we actually don’t need that now, we’re doing this instead or whatever.
PS, I wouldn’t feel comfortable being around kids right now. Or really anyone, but my mental health has been damaged.
It’s different for everyone when assessing risk. I’m not as worried about children and those of us that are younger with no underlying conditions, but seeing my grandmother is a hard no at this time. Even though she’s 90 years old and seeing people (but again.. that’s her choice, she lives alone and is fully able to make her own decisions. i know she’s limiting her interactions but it’s not ‘no’ interactions). However, I certainly don’t want to be the one responsible for potentially infecting her. Talking to her over the phone, waving at her from her balcony… sure. no problem. But for me, its prudent to wait until later in the summer to visit visit.
Be patient with yourselves, these are not normal times.
I have too much PTO banked so I took today off. I went for a walk. I went to the grocery. I went hungry so that wasn’t too bright.
But the real story is that on my walk I saw a momma duck and her little ducklings on their way to a pond. They first cross a fountain to get to the pond. The momma jumped out of the fountain, then the ducklings followed but two couldn’t make the jump. I watched while they tried but decided not to intervene, I mean they live here, they do this every day. When I got back, I guess momma decided it wasn’t pond time and they all could hang out in the fountain a little longer.
Yeah, to clarify, the reason I wouldn’t want to hang out with kids or anyone who may not completely follow guidance, is that it could put older people I come into contact with at more risk. Copa, you’re younger than I am and not really encountering seniors, right, so you’re probably fine.
My brother, who’s in his late 40s, extremely overweight, has breathing problems, delivers packages to businesses for a job (so he is high risk even in himself) is dying to go visit my parents (age 70) on cape cod this weekend and they’re going to let him, though they say they’ll make him stay outside. Where’s he gonna go to the bathroom though?? The thing about him is he DOES NOT WASH. He comes in contact with multiple members of the public and has the worst hygiene of anyone I know. I can’t.
