It is now Sabbath, March 21, the end of the first week of the Bay Area/California shelter-in-place. We can’t leave our houses, except for food and health care. However, the “elderly” (persons over 60-65) and those with “compromised health”—and that includes both of us—can’t leave home at all. I took a luxurious hot shower then put on a dress! Just for the way it feels on me. I’m not going out anywhere, except to the mailbox and to take Emily out to pee.
Monday, March 23. Fasting blood glucose of 140 mg/dL. That is not acceptable! I will skip breakfast this morning and drink bone broth with butter. But I will have to continue to take my pills with half-and-half until my current carton is gone. After that, I have a box of unsweetened chocolate Almond Breeze almond milk in the refrigerator to chill.
Tuesday, March 24: This is the hardest day so far this week. We have gone to Alameda every Tuesday for the past 8 years, to the Alameda Farmers’ Market, many times for coffee at Wescafe, and then to South Shore to walk Emily and then do routine grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s and Safeway. Sometimes to Bed, Bath & Beyond or Petco. Occasionally to Target. On the first Tuesday of the month, to Walgreen’s for that 20% senior discount! But none of that is possible now. So we continue to work for our web clients at home.
It rained off and on today. In some ways, it was soothing and comforting; in other ways, depressing.
As I continued to see posts about the horrors of parents having to “homeschool” their kids, it prompted me to post this on FB:
ABOUT HOMESCHOOLING
Yes, I’m laughing right along with everybody else making quips about homeschooling. Mostly because what people are suddenly experiencing with having their kids home and being isolated with them is so far removed from what *real* homeschooling is like!
When we were homeschooling in the ’80s, we were not isolated from the rest of society! At the very least, our kids had Sabbath school on Saturdays and Adventurers/Pathfinders on Tuesday nights. We were members of 4 area homeschooling groups and could have gone on one field trip a week if we had wanted to.
My kids experienced all the field trips, playdates, ballet lessons, children’s choir, handbell choir, intramural softball, art lessons, math classes, volunteer opportunities in the community, and a variety of holiday and social events with other homeschoolers, including campouts. We went to a lot of museums and concerts and plays. We even went to a Rangers game once! All of which is certainly not possible today with the closing of churches, schools, parks, and other group activities due to the nationwide shelter-in-place.
On the other hand, today’s technology allows for online classes (while hopefully their parents can get some work done at home, also online). We did not have that in the ’80s. I drove all over the DFW Metroplex, finding addresses without a GPS. I used–get this–actual paper maps!
California has tuition-free K-12 online classes. This does permit “school at home” which is not what ideal “homeschooling” is but will meet state requirements.
I hope that my children and other parents with children at home now will be able to figure out how to not only survive but thrive during these harsh times. My heart is with you. As I tell my diabetes group: You can DO this!
Wednesday, March 25: No visit to see the grandson today! I really need to take some initiative in getting us set up on Skype or something.
I posted on FB: “I’m thankful that Amazon is still delivering. At least, for today.” And then I see an article that thousands of Amazon workers have tested positive for COVID-19. WTF?!?
This COVID thing puts a whole new slant on my default status of “old, sick, and poor”!
5:06 PM – Took Emily out for her afternoon “walk” up and down the driveway. She had more trouble with boundaries today. I had to pick her up–twice–and put her back where she belonged. But she let me know when she was ready to come back inside, and she was able to jump up the steps today. Good girl!
6:57 PM – I’ve been hearing “knocking” sounds around my house. I’ve looked out both the front and back doors, living room window and kitchen window, and can see nothing. Maybe it’s just the wind, but it’s freaking me out!
Worst News of the Day
Rose’s daughter Shelly is having emergency heart surgery tomorrow, may or may not live through it. So much sadness!
Thursday, March 26: Had scheduled to pick up online order from Safeway in South Shore at 11 a.m. We had a hard time finding the 2 designated pick-up spaces and were unable to reach anyone at the phone number that was listed on the sign. Linda called out to the worker who was delivering to the car next to us, told him her name, and he went back in and brought out our order and put the bags in the back. We had ordered $96 worth but got only $56 worth due to “out of stock.” I’m thankful that we were able to get at least half of what we ordered at Safeway-dot-com.
And, yes, today was trash pick-up day, so that was “exciting.” I just kept my street clothes on, the outfit I wore to Safeway to sit in the van while my order was put into the back.
I’m still hearing that knocking sound outside and still have no clue where it’s coming from.
The good news is that, after replacing half-and-half with unsweetened almond milk for a day and a half, my fasting blood sugar was 92 this morning. However, 3 hours later, after only almond milk and coffee, my BG was 155! What’s up with that? Stress? I don’t feel like I’m more stressed than usual. It was a sunny day and Emily loved riding in the car to Alameda and back. Maybe stress has just become such a way of life that I don’t recognize it as being out-of-the-ordinary any more. Well, back to work on web client stuff.
Friday, March 27: Woke with a headache and fasting BG of 122. Ate breakfast anyway.
Shelly has survived heart surgery and dialysis but is in a lot of pain.
Karen W. sent boxes of food from Amazon, apparently in response to all the whining I was doing on Facebook about not being able to go to my grocery stores. That was sweet.
My day was busy, doing this and that, so I was glad to have a hot shower before bedtime and snuggle up with Linda and Emily.
Saturday, March 28: Linda got up and made coffee before the Church 1.0 “social gathering” with Zoom, set up by Marcos. There were 11 of us there today, most people used video (but not Linda). I put on the same dress I wore last Saturday, plus a necklace and earrings. My image was rather dark because of the lighting in my office so none of that was really noticeable. Except to me. It was nice to have our “core group” together.
I was so jazzed about the Zoom platform and how easy it is to communicate. The sound was very clear but, more than that, I loved being able to see video of everyone, even those on phones, because I could lip read if needed. I wanted Kinship to use Zoom for board and committee meetings, but I have no idea what it costs (I’m sure it costs something).
But now, a half day past the “high,” I’m feeling rather “low.” I should be thankful that I have Linda and Emily to touch and snuggle—and I am—but the room around me is depressive, in spite of having the front window lamp on and the lighted snowflakes in the window. The lights have burned out in the mission as well as the lamp on the file cabinet by the piano. All my lights are going out, one by one. I have nothing written in my planner for tomorrow, other than get up and have coffee, but I know I will have to unload the dishwasher and start reloading so I can help Linda make more dog food for Emily. I need to face laundry but I have no motivation for anything right now.
I switched from 5 oz. half-and-half to 5 oz. unsweetened chocolate almond milk for taking pills. I’ve kept total carbs at an average of 18 grams/day, and have managed to lower my average daily BG from 127 mg/dL to 115 mg/dL. I haven’t been able to stick with my carnivore diet but I have stayed with intermittent fasting, so that’s something. My weight has gone from 138.6 lbs on March 1 to 134.8 lbs on March 27 (yesterday). I so want to get back down to 130 lbs and below, to stay between 125 and 129.8 lbs at all times.
