Year 3 in a pandemic

You go, Girl!

Pandemic Year 3: Even now, we regularly forget our masks when running out of the house. Most of the times we have a back-up in the car or a bag. I told my youngest today that she will be telling her children about the pandemic she lived though one day. She told me not to worry, she is not planning to have any children... Okay! 😆 

So, I have to put down some memories for future generations. 😉

The husband had Covid in December. Part of the fourth wave. He had his jabs, so it was very mild. The worst was the inconvenience, and having to cancel plans and isolate. I tested negative in the same time, even while colleagues also tested positive. The inconvenience is the worst! We were lucky that we were all fine. 

The eldest is pregnant with her first girl, and we are all very excited! These are stressful times to have a baby. But, also very precious. She lost her first baby through miscarriage, and now we are even more excited (and scared) to meet this rainbow girl. She is much-loved already. Grandmother mode is loading! 

Also just for keep-sakes: We thought  and said it was a girl before my daughter got confirmation, and we were right! 👶

Schools are back, and Miss Fine has been slowly but surely getting used to High School. The teen phase is tough. For her! And for us! 😖 They have been back in class full-time, and full classes since the beginning of the year. The parents are also invited to meetings, and except for masks that dangle underneath our chins (the heat and suffocating), everything is going ahead full-steam. 😏

I am walking around with a constant fear of the sky falling on my head. I think most people feel like this, as the pandemic, and recent world events are taking a toll... One day I will laugh at this, but today I do not feel like laughing. But I will continue to search for joy each day!

How is 2022 treating you?

Year 2 in a pandemic

2021 Family photo (Patrick Pretorius)

It has been interesting times. We have now been living through a pandemic for one year and seven months. Masks, temperature checks and sanitizing are still part of our daily routines. But, we are still forgetting our masks when going out of the gate. At this stage we don't hear about people getting sick and dying around us. There are talks about a fourth wave, but we are hopeful we are not going to see it...

The pandemic put our plans on hold now for nearly two years. But, we have been lucky here in South Africa. After the previous lock-down of Level 3, we have been relatively unscathed. School and work have been going on as close to normal as possible.

We both got our jabs, and Miss Fine is getting hers next week.

I have been working in a new job since April. I am still doing my old job, while taking on managerial duties. With no extra pay and on a very low scale code. I decided to take on the challenge for personal growth, but at this stage I don't think it is worth it. The prospects are not good. This past week I was thinking about my previous life. I went to see the psychologist who was seeing my X at the time. I asked her how much time I must give him, and what I can do with my anger. She told me to give him a year, and ran on the treadmill each day. I did give him a year, and I did ran. But each day when I went home, he was still there and I was still angry at him. In the end I had to extract myself out of the situation to safe myself... The same with the job. I can only motivate myself so much, and ran/walk so far, but I still have to come back to the same circumstances each day. This is not sustainable.  

I have started to give myself a pep talk each day with motivational quotes on Insta. It helps to search for the positive in each day. Barbie has been an inspiration the past week.

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We got a beautiful Barbie press drop last week. The Barbie Fashionista range is so inspiring. I got an incredulous reply on Instagram that they can't believe I am a livelong Barbie fan. I did tell the story before of us never having a real Barbie when we grew up. We had a cheaper version of her, and we (my sister and I) always envied our friends with the real Barbies. Barbie is now available in all shapes, sizes, careers and abilities. I am even more impressed with Barbie, and love that I can share her with my girls. And why can't I keep on playing? We are never too old! 😉

We have a warm summer weekend ahead, and braai is on the weekend calendar.

I love this time of year; summer, December holidays and festivity vibes. THis is my best time of the year.

Month 8 of living during a pandemic

The title sounds a bit melodramatic? But this year has been taxing! Of course I can count all my blessings. But 2020 still sucks rocks! Now I smirk about my word for 2020. There is nothing to grab this year, Karen!

I am walking around with a feeling of existential dread. Constantly. 2020 has brought us ambivalent feelings about everything. Will we ever go back to how it was? The new way of living has become normal. Would we want to go back to the "previous normal"? It has also been good to not catch the normal winter germs, and not get sick this winter...