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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
Well, it's our second Easter at home without family. Today started out as a good day with the kids following the Easter bunny's footsteps to their Easter basket. We then had a nice brunch, although staggered (our kids are 4 and 1, so it's almost impossible to sit down for a full meal with the two of them). But then, as we were rejoicing that my mother-in-law just had her vaccine, she also admitted that she tested positive for the virus 2 weeks ago (she was cleared to get her vaccine by the health professionals). What a shock. I just don't know what to think of all this. I am glad she is ok now and had few symptoms, but I am still worried about the potential long-term effects she could potentially have. I haven't been able to process the news yet, but my head is exploding. I find it very hard mentally to go through this cycle of being hopeful with the mass vaccination, to being very worried again, it's tiring.
April 5, 2021
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Talk about your current living situation. Has anything changed during the pandemic (for example, where you're living, who you're living with, etc.).
In January 2020 I moved away from my home/ family in Texas and moved to DC with my boyfriend, V. Little did we know that we would be quarantined together for a year with no friends or family nearby. I am a pessimist and thought for sure that spending so much time together would tear us apart from the inside. To my surprise we got along well and I think we grew up a lot. We watched dozens of shows and movies on Netflix and V has played what equates to ~20 days of video games. When I first moved in we had a roommate to decrease our rent but he moved back home "temporarily" in March 2020 and never came back. We now have our own place and we got a quarantine puppy over the summer. I love our life together and I know I could not have gotten through this past year without him. Now that we are both vaccinated we have some differing opinions on when to return to "normal" and when it is appropriate to invite our out of town friends over to see DC and our "new" place. We are simply taking it day by day and doing our best to navigate through these unprecedented times.
April 5, 2021
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
The beginning of feeling normal was last week when I had to have a CT scan. I am vaccinated as was the outpatient nurse. We hugged one another as I was being escorted to my husband's car. She was the first person I have hugged, besides my husband, in more than a year. I almost wept. And even though I've been pretty sick since I had the second shot (may be coincidence) I got on the ferry into the city and had an outdoor lunch with a friend I hadn't seen for more than a year. It was the most normal thing I've done in all these months. I felt and do feel optimistic about our future, about the world's future. If we can just get everyone vaccinated I think there is a chance we might get past this. I guess the "if" is a very big word right now. I continue to wear a mask when outside the house and in public spaces. There is a lightness in the air that hasn't been apparent for such a long time.
April 5, 2021
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¿De que manera el coronavirus le está afectando su vida en este momento? Cuéntenos sus experiencias, sensaciones/emociones, y pensamientos.
Esta es una torreja. Es un postre tradicional de Semana Santa. Mi prima más pequeña estudió para chef y aprendió a hacerlas. El Jueves Santo nos reunimos como todos los años, a excepción del año pasado, cuando el confinamiento por el COVID-19 era totalmente estricto. Ni siquiera mi mamá quiso hacer el bacalao a la vizcaína de ese año. Pero este, sí. Así que nos reunimos, manteniendo la distancia y sin tener contacto entre nosotros. Cada quien aportó algo del menú tradicional de Semana Santa y tuvimos la suerte de sentarnos en torno a la mesa, conversar y comer todos juntos. Son esos momentos los que nos llenan de alegría y esperanza. Son los momentos en que volvemos a ser familia y recordamos lo que hacíamos cuando la "normalidad" prevalecía. Eso pensé este semana. En la suerte y en la buena decisión que tuve de asistir a distintas actividades del Semana Santa cuando tenía buena salud y la vida era "normal". A veces, asistía completamente sola, pero no me importaba. Toda mi vida he hecho muchas cosas yo sola. Ahora puedo disfrutar de los recuerdos y las anécdotas de esas incursiones de Semana Santa. La vida es buena, especialmente cuando puedes ver a tu familia alrededor de una mesa, sanos y con alimentos para compartir. La vida es buena.
April 5, 2021
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
This weekend I got to celebrate easter with my family. I drove home for the weekend to see them. This easter felt different because the number of people who we usually celebrate with decreased so we could be safer. Also, my family did not get to attend church like we usually do because it's not safe right now to congregate in huge numbers. I feel like attending church on easter morning is a big part of easter because we are surrounded by tons of people celebrating the same things. Also my mom makes a big to do about dressing up nicely for easter, and it feels special being surrounded by others at church who are also dressed up. It felt less exciting than most easters, but we still tried to continue traditions and make it fun. We still did an easter egg hunt, dyed eggs, and celebrated easter with my favorite foods. The delicious foods are one of my favorite parts of easter, like my mom's green bean bundles or huge spread of appetizers. In addition to easter, it was so nice to spend time with my family. I missed being home with them.
April 6, 2021
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Talk about your current living situation. Has anything changed during the pandemic (for example, where you're living, who you're living with, etc.).
This is a piece of the calendar of post-it notes my daughter and I started last March when she came home from college. The first week of quarantine last March, we thought it would be interesting to mark the days of staying home and see if we could make it across the room. We had no idea our swoops of seven flags (representing a week) would go all the way around the room. After 10 weeks, we started stacking the flags. Yesterday, at 55 weeks, we finally reached the last day. I’m so thankful that we’ve had no interruptions to our jobs and housing, but it’s great to be done with all that staying home!
April 6, 2021
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¿De que manera el coronavirus le está afectando su vida en este momento? Cuéntenos sus experiencias, sensaciones/emociones, y pensamientos.
Esta semana pude retomar el ritmo de trabajo con otros proyectos que dejé pendientes mientras me dedicaba al trabajo que debía presentarse en un tiempo muy corto. Poco a poco fui avanzando en cada uno, hasta casi terminar. La parte negativa es que hace dos días comencé a toser de nuevo. Me enoja y me desanima mucho. No sé qué problema tengo con los pulmones. Eso hace que mi ritmo de trabajo sea inconstante. Estamos por entrar a Semana Santa y el gobierno actúa de manera inconsistente: mientras el Ministerio de Salud nos dice que ya no quedan camas para atender a los pacientes con COVID-19, la dependencia de turismo muestra todos los lugares que podrían visitarse para motivar el turismo interno y el presidente dice claramente que las playas estarán abiertas. De locura. Yo continúo en un confinamiento bastante estricto. Solo salgo si es completamente necesario. Esta semana una joven madre tomó a sus dos hijos y se marchó del país. Al parecer, es un caso de violencia intrafamiliar. Me dio mucho gusto por ella. La admiré. Hizo lo que yo no tuve la valentía de hacer: se marchó sin mirar atrás, y probablemente, salvó su vida y la de sus hijos. Me pesa aún más no haberme marchado de este país.
April 6, 2021
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Years ago, at an annual rummage sale, I bought this silver tea set for about $40. This is the kind of rummage sale where you can tell people are clearing out the homes of their parents who are aging/relocated to retirement homes/deceased. It's a terrific window onto changing tastes and how younger generations have little patience for the trousseau-style materiality of post-war weddings and associated bourgeois accumulation. My grandmother had a tea set like this (probably both), my mom has a tray like this, and probably lots of middle class women who got married in the 1940s, 50s, maybe even 60s and 70s in the US had this kind of stuff -- which probably now strikes many as unbelievably kitschy. As for me, I love it. I initially saw the set in the huge rummage sale hall and didn't buy it immediately, but then I sat at my desk thinking about it all morning and eventually hopped in the car and went back saying "if it's still there, I'm buying it and that's it." Well it was still there, and now it's mine. When I got it, I used it a few times -- most memorably, for our daughter's 3rd birthday party, where we had "pink" (hibiscus) and peach tea for a couple of little ones who wore pink hats and decorated mugs at the picnic table in our backyard -- but since then it's mostly sat in our basement getting increasingly tarnished and gathering dust. This weekend, with the first glimmers of spring arriving, I decided it was time for a tea party. Spent a good hour and change polishing the whole thing, tried a new lemon cake recipe, and had a friend from the neighborhood and her daughters over to hang out with us for tea at the picnic table. The kids all see each other at school every day, but I hadn't seen my friend in a couple of months -- after lots of summer and fall masked gatherings outdoors to drink wine around fire pits and such. Nothing fancy, but the 4 kids all seemed to enjoy it, and we did too. A great way to spend a beautiful, if still a bit chilly, spring day when options for socializing are still limited.
April 6, 2021
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
Since the last entry, Southern California underwent a terrible surge of COVID19 patients. Our hospital was so overrun, there were critically-ill patients in hallways. The entire dermatology department was helping out on the internal medicine floors. Our pediatric floor was open to patients up to age 30 years. On Christmas Day, we went to my parents’ house and played music together outside in their backyard. There was no eating and we all stayed masked. We brought all of our instruments, including the electronic keyboard, for which we had to run a very long extension cord. The music recital lasted about one hour, then we exchanged gifts and went home. I received my first vaccine on December 23rd and my second one on January 12th. What a feeling of relief and even a little invincibility. Since then, I have been feeling more energetic and have managed to feel healthier than I have been in ten years. All of my clothes fit comfortably again, but the irony is that I never wear them because I prefer wearing scrubs everyday to work.
April 6, 2021
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
I remember one moment during this week< where I was sat alone in my room listening to music, and one particular song came on that really made me want to get up and dance, so I did. Only for a moment though, as I almost immediately began to long for the now seemingly foreign thrill of being immersed in a general admission audience at a concert. A crowd of 400 people standing, unmasked, packed together like sardines, beads of sweat bouncing from one person to the next, it seems unimaginable given the times we are now living in. I had tickets to 4 shows over the past spring/summer, all of which were cancelled because of the pandemic, and it really crushes me that I had to miss out on these experiences. Now, pretty much anytime I’m listening to music, I reminisce about the indescribable bliss I’ve felt at past shows, and hope I can experience this feeling again sometime soon.
April 6, 2021
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We hear a lot these days about the economic impact of the pandemic. Has this been on your mind? If so, tell us what you're thinking.
I think about how my friend, who also works as a cashier, was given sick pay for her time with covid, a petty sum that wouldn’t buy a pot to piss in, she’s lucky to have help but still, the utter greed and contempt for working people< that this pandemic has shown a light on cannot be understated. The people that can’t afford to be away from the public get called heroes and other worthless platitudes while billionaires reap from the graves of the dead and the fears of the living.
April 6, 2021
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Many of us have experienced restrictions on movement and social contact during the pandemic. Talk about any restrictions that have especially affected you.
The restrictions due to social distancing have made me feel like the opportunity to meet new people and experience new things have been taken from me. That my social life has been on hold for the past year. I have never found it easy to get to know people. All of my close relationships have come from long contact, developed over time. With the restrictions due to the virus, I’ve felt as if I can’t even start the process of getting to know someone. And when I do meet someone now, I might not recognize them the next time I encounter them, with their mask hiding their appearance. It’s been a year of opportunities to find someone lost because of the virus.
April 6, 2021
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April 6, 2021
April 6, 2021
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
For the past several weeks, I have been volunteering at the mass vaccination clinic at UNM's The Pit, a basketball stadium. The first week, I was a "greeter". I got a red and silver pompom and directed folks down a hallway to their vaccination stations. The second shift, I was a "runner" and made sure all the stations had supplies. Last time, I was a "scribe", and helped check folks in prior to their shots. Not gonna lie, I volunteered hoping there would be extra vaccinations at the end of the day. But the clinic was too efficient and there were no leftovers. I was really touched to see so many seniors coming to get vaccinated, and how much care their family members took to make sure they got their shots.
April 6, 2021
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Talk about your current living situation. Has anything changed during the pandemic (for example, where you're living, who you're living with, etc.).
The building I live in, it's a retirement home based on the income of the tenants living here. It's for those over sixty and those on disability be it physical or mental. The building isn't that old but inside, it looks somewhat dated. I WISH all the people living here, would wear their masks. There's a huge sign just inside the Lobby that says people MUST wear a mask. The Landlord/lady only make the absolutely necessary repairs. So...if you get a leak, short of flooding from the weather, you're basically on your own. I have to wear a mask whenever I walk outside the front door of our "unit" and not everyone does. That really frustrates me!! I'm just tired of everything and at least emotionally, I have someone to talk to, via phone consultation. The weather is finally beginning to improve and right now it's raining My body can feel it but.... temperature are going into the double digit soon and I'll be glad when it actually happens.
April 7, 2021
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Has the pandemic affected your religious or spiritual observance in any way? If so, talk about it.
I went to church on Easter Sunday for the first time in over a year. It was pretty strange. The attendance was less than half of what it would normally be on Easter. There was no Easter breakfast served. Communion was a little plastic cup of grape juice with a dry wafer sealed in the top. It was fairly unsatisfying. A quartet sang in place of the choir and there was no “passing the peace.” Offering was just placed in a plate in the back of the sanctuary. All together, it was less than spiritual but it was good to see people we care about (though many were missing). I don’t know how long it will be before we start going regularly again.
April 7, 2021
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Talk about what brings you happiness these days.
The other night, my 4 1/2 year old asked me what I like to do. It bugs him that I don't like TV all that much, definitely not as much as he does, and something about my answer to his question about it prompted him to ask me, "What else do you like?" over and over. And those answers make a good list of things that bring me happiness these days. Here's some of what tends to bring me happiness lately: My gym being open and how strong I feel when I complete a workout, especially with my favorite coach. Answering my kids' sweet questions. Reading a good picture book to my kids. Sunshine. Tulips in my yard. 65-degree weather. Naps. Cottage cheese, which, it turns out is pretty yummy and gives me the protein I need after hard workouts. Bike rides. Reading a good novel. Having rediscovered "This American Life." Feeling hopeful that Derek Chauvin will be convicted of murder. Holding my kids' hands. Cozy slippers. Longer days. Texts from my best friend.
April 7, 2021
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
Hey, no Covid in the house! My daughter worked two shifts with a coworker who tested positive, just before she came back home due to new gov restrictions for indoor dining. Our daughter is negative and we all feel fine, so that’s a positive thing. Busy at home, yard work and reading. No shopping except for essentials and no travel either, about 1000 Covid positive tests per day right now so staying home is the best thing for everyone. No vaccination for a while yet either, it’s definitely much slower up here than it is in the US. Sigh.
April 7, 2021
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
I have not written in several weeks. We still have positive patients in the hospital, although that number has decreased significantly. I hope it is because people are getting vaccinated and/or heeding the CDC guidelines. I also hope that people realize that even though they have been vaccinated, masks and physical distancing are still required. I have traveled to visit my mom and sisters recently. They have been vaccinated, so it was nice to not wear a mask and to be able to really hug them. On the way there, my husband and I stopped at a Dairy Queen and decided to have a treat. There was only one other person there, so I wasn't concerned until I realized that NONE of the employees were wearing masks! I could not get out of there fast enough and will not stop there again. So, there are still idiots out there who have no concern for others. I still don't see us being out of this pandemic any time soon. Vaccine rates are nowhere near what they need to be for us to reach herd immunity. So, wear your masks, wash your hands, and stand at least 6 feet apart!
April 7, 2021
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Talk about what brings you happiness these days.
I am stitching a tag every week for an Instagram challenge that started January 1. It's 52 tags, each week has a theme. Working on these brings me joy. I especially love the color palette of this one. I also am doing an almost daily cut and paste collage series, another Instagram challenge, the 100 Day Project. Making things that don't involve a computer brings me joy, as does the spring sun and temperatures
April 7, 2021