I haven’t said anything publicly about the COVID-19 situation because 1) I don’t think I have a lot to say that hasn’t been said, 2) I have intentionally not been watching the news or keeping up on the details to help my anxiety stay at a manageable level, 3) any opinions I hold about social distancing and stay-at-home extension orders will be vehemently opposed by about half of my friends and I don’t need to add that stress to my life right now. I’ve posted a few things that I found informative. Let’s just say that my opinion falls somewhere right in the middle between paranoid/paralyzing fear and cavalier disregard for expert opinions. And i think in my non-medical, non-economist opinion that the economic devastation from all of this is going to ruin and kill far more lives than this virus ever could have if it had been allowed to run its course.
Overall we have stayed home except for our once-a-week “essential” trip to Chick-Fil-A for free coffee Fridays (judge away, you judge-y judgers), and my weekly grocery store trips. I also went out to get the dog a shame collar so she’d stop biting her hurt paw. The Home Depot has seen my face a few times recently, as has Target. Target is like a grocery store with some “Mental breakdown prevention” items mixed in. Walmart hasn’t seen my face since about 2018, so that’s one place I have NOT been going.
I haven’t worked since March 5th since I work in nursing homes and they closed to outside visitors at the end of our spring break week. I totally understand why, nor would I want my beloved clients to get sick with this nasty virus. We aren’t hurting financially as much as we would otherwise be because 1) you can’t spend as much money when nothing is open and you’re supposed to stay in your home all the time, 2) Gas is only $1.69, plus we don’t have any reason to buy it, 3) our God is good and our friends (and even strangers!) are kind and generous.
I applied for unemployment benefits after the President signed the economic stimulus act allowing self-employed people to draw unemployment benefits during this time. So far I have applied twice and been rejected twice, but I continue to file weekly claims hoping that they will backdate my claims once they get their act together and realize that I qualify.
I’ve been schooling my older daughter at home and realizing that all teachers really are underpaid saints to handle a classroom of 15-20 “cherubs” and get any knowledge into their heads. I vacillate between loving the time I get to spend with my daughters, and having so much frustration from being interrupted/sassed/yelled at 5,356 times per day that I could launch a rocket. Naps help, when they actually take them, because this introvert mama usually gets an hour of PEACE AND QUIET to recharge! Unfortunately, that hour is also when our mailman usually comes and our dogs let the neighborhood know of the impending doom approaching all of the houses.
This morning I noticed it was awfully quiet and I hadn’t seen Bethany (4) for awhile during Adelaide’s school time. When I went to check on her, she hand scissors in her hand and was trying to give the dog and the carpet haircuts. Thankfully she had just begun her cosmetological attempts and hadn’t gotten very far successfully. This reminded me that I needed to schedule our family’s hair appointments for a decent amount of time away from now (beginning of June) after businesses will hopefully be allowed to open again, but before the Cousin It masses try to schedule their appointments, too. Meanwhile, my essential trip to Target today for my husband’s deodorant also yielded the purchase of the L’Oréal grey roots spray, which I’ve heard is amazing.
All of this social distancing and quarantining has got me thinking about the socially awkward people are being affected. I finally got to a point when I turned 40 last year where I felt fairly confident in my ability to hold non-weird conversations with people and enjoy meeting new people without feeling too anxious. It took me 40 years of social practicing to get to that point, so time will tell what 3-4 months or more of social distancing is going to do to my newfound skill set. It could cause me to regress quite a bit, I’m afraid. So if I grin at you weirdly (once we are allowed to exist without masks again) or ask you the same thing over and over again, just keep in mind that I’ve been away from people for quite some time. 😉
Well, this concludes my hodgepodge of thoughts during rest time. I hope that you are safe and healthy, and not going too stir crazy. But if you are going stir crazy, just make sure you’re stirring up something yummy in the end. 😉
Transparent Graces 