October 20, 2020
We hear that every day these days on most channels. The year of 2020 will go down in history for multiple reasons as being the Shit Show of the century. I am reminded everywhere that we are the only generation that will probably experience what has happened this year - apart from the centegenarians who are still here from the Spanish Flu of 1918. THAT generation had it so much worse than ours....but there was so much they were spared because they didn't have global news feeds 24/7. So here is the beginning of my take on the GREAT YEAR OF 2020....
COVID 19
We have been hearing about the coronavirus since it hit China last fall. Pictures of the Chinese people wearing masks were not taken very seriously..don't they wear masks for their awful air pollution, too? There was low grade rumbling because the government didn't really address it and blew it off...waiting for something...information, reality, deaths? I'm not sure.
MARCH
March 5th - Governor Hogan declares a State of Emergency. March hit us hard in Maryland starting this day. The scare alarms went off. People starting contracting it and the nursing homes became hotbeds of death. We went from 3 cases to 1660 cases (18 deaths) before the month ended.
March 12th - The Port of Baltimore is closed to cruise vessels. Shit. Looks like our planned Senior cruise for Danny on the Fantasy out of Port Canaveral in April will get cancelled.
March 13th - Toilet paper, paper towels, disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer begin disappearing from store shelves and online delivery. This is the last day I see toilet paper at any store (and one day I visited 11 different stores to find some) until George sends a photo home on a grocery visit...on May 30th....we resort to getting pre-orders for TP through Walmart that take 2 weeks to deliver. And you can only order one pack at a time. I'm glad I'm the only girl in the house....
March 16th - Public schools close indefinitely. No real instruction available, just sit and wait. I gave a little "homeschool mom" work, but really didn't know what to instruct. Got a little housework out of the boys, though :) I really miss those Homeschool Living Skills classes for this!
March 30th - Governor Hogan issues an official Stay-At-Home order and the long quarantine begins. Masks are required for essential travel (grocery store, doctor visits, etc). All other restaurants and retails stores close immediately, although many continue to offer takeout and all other businesses that can start providing take out, delivery and curbside pickup. Masks are mandatory.
Roads, shopping centers and parking lots are empty..like a ghost town.
All employees of any non-essential service are not able to work. Restaurant and salon workers are quickly unemployed. Erin is out of work. She, along with millions of others, will attempt to file for emergency unemployment.
I have not had a haircut since February..and won't end up being able to get one until May 30th. I picked a bad time to have a really short haircut....
George and I feel really blessed right now. Both of our jobs are already fulltime at home (George gets permission to not go in for his Tuesday meetings) and the boys are used to homeschooling, plus they are internet nerds. Our lives are pretty much untouched. I feel grateful and worried at the same time.
APRIL
April 17 - HCPSS schools closed until May 15
April 13-18 - Our Spring Break cruise has cancelled and we optimistically reschedule for the end of July. We our hopeful and keep our fingers crossed.
April 30 - Over 21,000 cases in our state, over 1,000 deaths...but the percentage of cases in falling
MAY
May 13 - Governor Hogan starts Phase I of opening the state
May 29 - Remaining Phase I begins: outdoor restaurant seating, hair salons open
May 31 - Over 52,000 cases in Md, over 2,400 deaths...but the percentage climb has leveled
JUNE
June 1st - You are Here. Half of the year almost gone. I don't know what day/week/season it is. I only leave the house to sit on the deck or walk through the neighborhood to try to stem the tide of quarantine weight gain. Once a week I go to the store for food/liquor/craft supplies at Michaels. Danny and Ben have both joined me on these (not the liquor store lol)...so it has given us a bit of Mom/son time.
...and just like that, it's...
OCTOBER
Six months later. Six months since I started this entry and left it unfinished. Six months since the boys were sent home to virtual school and the world shut down. School and work are still from home and all long distance vacations (Alaska, Disney Cruise) have been cancelled. George and I tentatively scheduled a Royal Caribbean cruise for our 20th anniversary next year.
Danny graduated virtually from high school over Zoom in June. And started college at HCC online in August (with one oncampus lab once a week). And started his first job at Red Robin in October a couple of nights a week.
I still haven't found a pack of Clorox wipes since March, although toilet paper and paper towels can be found pretty easily. This month, thanks to our great Governor Hogan and his efforts, we are upgraded the state to stage 3 and most things are open most of the time. Masks are mandatory everywhere.
This is insane. We all have "pandemic fatigue". Our new normal is who we are now. I think my normal fibromyalgia is being aggravated by all the stress, because I am living with a level of pain and fatigue I haven't had in years. Depression and anxiety are through the roof, for me, anyway. I'm not known for giving up, but when I barely have the energy or will to lift a finger, everything else seems impossible.
We are two weeks away from the election. I haven't had a good night sleep since the election in 2016 and I've had countless sleepless nights and stomach aches from the horrors of ignorance 45 has inflicted on this country. I have a underlying sense we'll have President Biden soon. I pray we can recover from this. All of us.
Every day all my friends have to listen to the latest lie from our President of the United States. Have to hear his whiny voice complain about people who have stood up to him to do the right thing. Complain about having to deal with this unprecedented global pandemic. Enact orders that destroy our democracy or remove previous Presidents' order that were intended to preserve our environment and world. And it's enraging and frustrating and saddening and embarrassing.
We realize how much we miss being able to travel to beautiful places and relax. We were able to get to Ocean City and Massanutten for a week each this summer, and they were beautiful, but not relaxing. It was weird seeing so many places we used to eat or visit be closed, temporarily or permanently. I've never missed Disney so much. My happy place is open...but not the same.
The one thing that has kept George and I sane through the year so far was daily walks outside through the neighborhood. The days are short and sunset is by 6:30 now so we're hoping they'll reopen the inside jogging track at Roger Carter Center again.
Halloween in cancelled like all the other holidays this year, so we'll probably just put out candy bowls for whoever is still brave, and eat our own candy while we watch TV..again. I've watched more TV this past six months than I ever have in my life (Thomas the Tank engine excepted lol).
No one is looking forward to Thanksgiving or Christmas this year. I'm not even looking forward to New Year's Eve because God help us if 2021 sucks as bad as 2020.
The only positive thing ...or attempt at positivity...is that we've restarted our dance lessons with Alex at Arthur Murray after 3 years. I don't feel happiness or adrenaline like before, but I'm hoping that it will help pull me out of the depression I'm in these days. George, too.
We're all being as brave as we can be, because we are truly blessed. We haven't lost a days pay during all this or missed paying a bill.
The only thing that is missing besides normalcy is that Kelly, now Evelyn, still has the girls. Taylor and I have no access to Piper at all and he has little access to Freya and I have none. This Halloween makes a year since I've seen Piper. I've moved through the grief into acceptance and hope that one day, I'll see them both again. This year was also the year that I finished my menopause...and my childbearing days are truly behind me. So in the last year I've lost 2 granddaughters, a daughter and my childbearing. It's truly soul crushing. I'm on a search for my next purpose for this last stage of my life. It's not fun and I'm not very optimistic, but nevertheless, here we are.
Until next time...
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