Day 10 since I was injected with the J&J vaccine
L. got into UC Irvine!!!
4/18/21. Sunday.
9:30 –I’m awake and at 101 pounds today. My eye is still red, but not as bad as the previous days – the eye drops are working. Downstairs and I say good morning to the dog – she pooped near the front door again. Great. The dog is still asleep on the couch, so I rub her tummy to wake her up, she grabs her toy, and we go outside. She’s distracted by birds and keeps running around the Astroturf – I wish she would just go potty. Finally, she does her business and we return inside – old pizza for her, coffee for me.
I put the dishes away and then do more dishes.
10:00-11:00 – I dust the furniture downstairs, sweep the floors, and clean the downstairs bathroom. Couch pillows are out and look presentable. I trim the flowers L. and I have left in our vase and throw out the dead parts. I light a scented candle
11:00-11:30 – I worked on the yard yesterday so there is not much to do, but I sweep the patio again and pick up dog poop. Back inside, and I open windows throughout the downstairs and turn on my HEPA air purifier.
-L. is up and preparing dough for sugar cookies.
11:30-12:30 – Shower. Lotion. Covid-19 uniform. Light make-up.
-L. leaves to pick up a cheese board and a few groceries, namely sparkling Elder Flower.
12:30 – 1:00 – I sit at the counter and read a Money Diary.
-L. returns with everything in hand.
1:00 – 5:00 – My parents arrive! It is very strange to sit at a table together and do something as normal as talking and sharing a cheese plate. For the past year, anytime we’ve seen each other, it’s been outside. My dad wore a mask and sunglasses each time so I haven’t seen his face in about 10 months???
As a nation, as a society, we have gone through a great trauma. That is, if you believed Covid-19 existed. There are several factions of society who made no lifestyle adjustments, refused to mask, and carried on with their lives as if nothing had changed. These are the “anti-vaxers”, Trump supporters, the Christian right, a large segment of Republicans, and president Bolsonaro. It is so odd to me that whether or not you wear a mask has been directly linked to party affiliation. Democrats mask, Republicans don’t. I’m over-simplifying, but not by much.
The sad shame of the matter is that, outside of a vaccine, masking was the only thing that helped. It was never about cleaning counter tops and desks with Clorox wipes and washing your hands for 10 minutes. In fact, only 1 in 10,000 people catch Covid-19 from surfaces. And it’s my personal belief that the social distancing concept was largely a myth. With all my research, I still can’t find where the arbitrary “6-foot” gap came from and now it’s been changed to “3 feet” so we can cram as many kids as possible into a classroom. When all is said and done, if you’re at a crowded venue with no social distancing, BUT you are wearing a mask, you’re probably going to survive.
And so, here we are, sitting at the same table and not masking. At this stage in the pandemic, I don’t know what the rules are. My parents received their second dose a few weeks ago and are fully vaccinated. I received the J&J [one dose] 10 days ago; HOWEVER, the Medical Assistant said I should NOT see my parents for 14 days, even though I told her they were fully vaccinated. L. is NOT vaccinated and doesn’t want to be. I think she’s the only member of her friend group who isn’t – perhaps she’ll benefit from “herd immunity”, if that concept even exists???
I have several windows open and my HEPA Air Purifier is on to ensure proper ventilation, but does this matter anymore if the three of us are vaccinated? I can’t help but feel uneasy. Since I’m not at Day 14, does this mean I might be carrying the virus around in my nose like the scientists say? (which I’ve always found preposterous). And then what? It’ll jump from my nose to L. or my parents? Why was I told to wait 14 days before I could visit with VACCINATED people?
In all honesty, we don’t know how effective these vaccines are or if they’ll work against the numerous variants coming out, especially the South African variant. The US Department of Transportation has a travel advisory out, warning Americans not to visit 80% of the globe. India is absolutely out of control. As is Brazil (nothing new there). Of note, the Golden State has its own home-grown variant…yes, it’s called the “California variant.” Catchy. But, because vaccine efficacy is still an unknown – at least in my opinion – shouldn’t all of us be outside, masking, like we used to? Could one of us be carrying a new variant that won’t respond to our vaccinations? Could L. or I somehow infect my parents? There are whisperings that Americans will now need some kind of booster shot every 6 months…
-We have our own Sunday brunch, with the cheeseboard, coffee, and champagne. At one point, L. rolls out the dough and finishes making the cookies. My Dad is able to play catch with the dog, outside, for the first time in a year. We talk politics. It’s a very normal day…but a monumental day.
-A couple hours into brunch, L. announces that she got into UC Irvine!! We are all super excited and happy for her. This is great news! Now L. has TWO choices – I wonder which college she’ll pick.
5:00 – 6:30 - My parents leave. L says she has between 8 and 12 assignments due, so I tell her she can get started on her homework and I’ll handle kitchen duty and put all the food away.
6:30-7:30 – I take the dog for a walk. We kept her outside during most of my parents’ visit and I feel a little guilty so we walk the compound until SHE is ready to come in.
7:30 – 8:30 - My parents brought boxes of books and champagne – much appreciated!! - and my Mom recommended Small Animals, about a mother who leaves her son in the car for 5 minutes on a cold day and a “good Samaritan” calls the cops. I heat up a bowl of L.’s tomato bisque and the grilled cheese sandwiches that she made (she cut the crusts off and fashioned them into circles) and start Small Animals. It’s pretty late in the day for carbs – I’ll see what happens tomorrow morning…
8:30-10:30 – I publish next week’s course content for College No. 2 and prepare my Discussion Boards for my two classes tomorrow. Usually, I do my class prep ‘on the clock’ [Mondays, from 2:00-10:00], but I’m trying to ensure that everything is ready in case the blood clot hits. Right now, I’m fine. Who knows what tomorrow will bring? I return a few emails and course content is ready to go for tomorrow. It’s a good feeling.
-I take my trash cans out.
11:00-12:00 – I do an Insanity-Pure Cardio workout.
12:00-12:30 – Recover. I have a glass of champagne and read Small Animals. It’s very good – Mom was right.
-L. informs me that she mixed up the due dates on some of her assignments and will have to pull…an ‘all-nighter’. She is very upset and I feel so bad for her. This happens to everybody at one time or another, as an employee, a college student, etc….people screw up deadlines. I don’t know how she can keep track of anything with EIGHT classes…
12:30 – 1:30 – My eye is so much better! I didn’t note it in the blog, but I’ve been faithfully taking my eye drops, 4x per day. There is some slight eye strain, but most of the redness is gone.
I’m experiencing anxiety so I listen to What a Day and have some champagne.
1:30-2:15 – L. is still up, working on something to do with watercolors and watching a stupid movie [Kevin Costner is the main character – need I say anything more?] for her Communications class. I ask her if there is anything I can do to help? Maybe I can answer the prompts that the teacher prepared for the movie? L. says no, there is nothing I can do. Poor thing.
Nighttime routine. Bed.
I lock my bedroom door tonight.