CoViD-19 Diary: My Life At Home

I couldn't write yesterday. I was exhausted and it was all just too much. I needed a "mental health day," and I just kinda sponged and couched and slept. It didn't help that in the morning, my dog bucked my eye with the top of her head and gave me a shiner. Actually, it's just swollen at this point, but I imagine it will start going through the rainbow of blue, yellow, and purple as it heals. She just gets a little too excited sometimes, and having all of us home all of the time certainly has her over stimulated. More covid diary after the jump.



Otherwise, we're doing okay. We're fortunate to have a yard, so Nova's been practicing archery, doing her soccer homework, playing in her garden. We can let the pets out with us, though kitty decided to escape today and I about had a heart attack. I was on Zoom with the Casbah staff, Nova was in her room reading, and Darren was deep-cleaning the kitchen so he had the door open, and at some point she booked it outside and got herself stuck under some storage stuff in the yard so luckily she cried when I called her name and I was able to free her and get her back inside, though she's been sulking about it all day since.

We're well stocked and well supplied, and so we've been able to legit stay at home without any store trips. Darren's been working on recording new music so he's been in the studio a lot and I've just been trying to stay on top of email, aggregating information that I think is worth sharing and archiving or deleting the stuff that is repetitive or just political donation requests. It was actually nice to put together the Casbah newsletter and it's cool to be writing daily for SoundDiego to feel like some things are still normal. I'm also slowly going through some housecleaning type things on my site and socials, things I haven't really paid enough attention to but definitely should and will.

I miss my family a ton, though we've talked on the phone more now than we usually do under normal life circumstances, but not visiting my parents or hanging out with my sister and my nieces sucks. We've been playing Drawize (which is like online Pictionary) to keep the kids connected and I'm sure by the end of this, we'll all be Zoom experts.

It's easy to go down some rabbit holes right now. Thinking about the real human toll this pandemic is taking. Of course the dead and dying and the people who are really, really sick, but also their families who are not allowed to properly attend services or visit them in hospitals, or even take care of them at home. Of the people who don't have enough supplies and don't know how they're going to get through this time. Of the women who live in dangerous homes with domestic abusers or the children who are not being tended to by the child welfare system. The people who are losing or have lost jobs, or businesses closing as this goes on longer, wondering at what point we join their ranks. It's all too much.

But then I have to think that I'm so "hashtag blessed." This whole situation has made me appreciate my home in so many new ways. We've been cleaning out the studio and have made it our little speakeasy when we need to feel like we're going out but not actually going anywhere. I'm so glad to have Darren whom I love dearly, but as it turns out, I also really, really like (I guess I'll keep him around.) Nova is nearing her 13th birthday, and she's kind of a dream kid when it comes to schoolwork and getting tasks given to her whether through soccer or band, but we're working on the little things, like picking up after herself or knowing when she's hungry and being able to find or make herself an appropriate snack or meal. She read the entire Hunger Games trilogy in a little over a week and has now gotten into Divergent, but she'll zip through that, too. The city and county library ebooks have been a lifesaver.

I feel like I'm writing one of those letters moms stick in Christmas cards as a family update, but I just felt the need to write a bit, maybe for the future to remember life during this bizarre time, with a piece of shit president who let it spin out of control. And as I'm wrapping this up, I just found out that a friend tested positive for COVID-19 and another thinks he has it but isn't severe enough to feel he warrants a test. Crazy, crazy times. Stay safe. Stay healthy. Stay home.

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