Day 26: What are we going to do today, Brain? The same thing we do every day, Pinkie.

It’s April 10th, and if things had gone according to plan, the stay-at-home order would be ending tomorrow, but it isn’t. It has been extended through April 30th now. The curve is flattening, so that’s good, but I guess it’s not quite flat enough. It seems like people are being a little safer to say the least! I see people in face masks and gloves everywhere now. Even when I’m at the park on runs, people are walking/running on opposite sides of the trails as to keep a safe six foot distance. It also seems like people are being a lot more patient and polite and the grocery store! Lots and lots of “excuse me’s” and “I’m sorry’s”!

As usual, we are keepin’ it pretty chill around here. We had a Meyer’s breakfast (if you don’t know you don’t know), played beer pong, started watching the Marvel movies in chronological order, I took the lead in House Game Wins with a total of six wins, thanks to an epic game of Settlers of Catan. We’ve updated the basement to be a zen meditation and work out room. I improved my mile time by 10 seconds. We all took a two day cleanse. I’ve been doing a great job of taking photos of the small big moments. Streamed an online music festival. Adam got hooked on White Claw… You know, keepin’ it chill.

I hope everyone is staying positive out there! Times are tough! Things are uncertain and scary, the future may seem bleak, and spirits may get low. Especially if you are living alone or in an unhealthy living arrangement. Please know that if you are reading this, and you are struggling that you can talk to me. My dream in life is that everyone be happy and healthy. If you don’t feel safe, or if you feel you need professional help you can call 1-800-662-HELP (4357) to reach the SAMHSA National Hotline. Please know that there are resources out there, and that someone cares! You are loved, you are valuable, you are beautiful! Stay strong. I believe in you!

Day 19: Go Outside and Howl at 8PM

If you are actually following this blog, then you know that I haven’t written in seven days. How could I have possibly been so busy?? Well, I have and I haven’t been. I’m just free. If I want to write, great! If I don’t want to write, no big deal. Plus, if I kept this up each night Day 15, for example, would have reported 5 straight hours of Seinfeld followed by 5 straight hours of It’s Always Sunny… No one needs that.

Except we did, after the fun-filled, loosey-goosey, wet n’ wild, Dirty Thirty Extravaganza Weekend that we had. Adam, unfortunately, had to celebrate his 30th birthday under quarantine, but we didn’t let that hold us back from showing him a good time! He taught us how to play Settlers of Catan, I sent him on a scavenger hunt looking for hand-made coupons, we danced, we sang, we laughed- A LOT. We drank, we ate, we did a painting together. It was fun! We just focused on the positives, and enjoyed each other’s company.

A lot of people are giving up a lot more right now. A lot of people are in much less comfortable positions than we are right now. In the grand scheme of things we really have nothing to complain about. At this point, the most devastating thing that’s happened to anyone in this house is that they’ve gotten last place in Monopoly… twice. Meanwhile, people all over the world are getting sick and dying. According to geneng.com, even though scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have made a breakthrough in developing a vaccine for COVID-19 today, it could still take a year and “probably longer” to complete testing processes in humans. So, that’s scary.

I’ve been feeling a little helpless through all of this. I mean what can I do? In most cases like this, when I care about a cause I am able to donate money or volunteer. Sadly, I am unemployed, haven’t gotten my PIN from the Unemployment Office yet, and have not received the supposed $1,200 relief package the U.S. government says should be arriving within about two weeks… We’ll see. On top of that I am being ordered by the government to stay inside my home except for essential needs. So what can I do? According to the CDC the top 6 things we can be doing are as follows:

1. Stay home

2. Wash your hands often

3. Avoid Close contact with others (aprox. 6 feet)

4. Clean and disinfect frequently touched services.

5. Avoid all non-essential air and cruise travel

6. Call your healthcare professional if you have concerns about COVID-19 and your underlying condition or if you are sick.

Not so hard. The main take away I’d like to have here is that staying home and being healthy is the BEST thing we can all be doing right now. I know it’s hard, especially if you live alone, but you’re not alone. We’re all in this together. And you can comment on this blog, send me a text, call me, or we can Facetime! Me and Gypsy can be pretty entertaining believe it or not. How about this? Tomorrow night at say, oh, 8PM We all go outside and Howl at the moon like wolves! Sounds good? Great, send me a video!

In the meantime, save your monies! Do these free, fun, stupid activities with me! According to an article on npr.com titled “Show Me the Relief Money - No Promises on When Coronavirus Checks Are Coming”:

“A senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center, suspects the IRS’s infrastructure, or lack thereof, will create even more delays for desperate people.
In the past it has taken several months for the government to develop, test and install the kind of software necessary to launch a rebate program. But it is unclear, what if anything, the administration has done behind the scenes so far.”

— Vanessa Romo, npr.com

That being said, just be cautious. I had to stop myself from buying shoes that were discounted 75% off yesterday, because who can resist temptation like that?! But, I did it. It’s pretty crazy how I am getting texts and e-mails left and right from retailers with discount codes and whatnot. Save the money you do have, if you are in the same position as me, nothing is certain right now. This shut down could last even longer than we think. Let’s do our best to try and prevent that, but at the same time be mindful of our actions in the event that it gets extended.

Day 10: Acceptance

Today we finished prepping the garden as a little family! The four of us took on different tasks from hoeing up weeds, to cutting White Claw cans in half for future potting purposes. There are four flower beds in our shared backyard that look like they haven’t been taken the best care of, so it’s a good thing we moved in! Gardening is one of the things we are most excited about (now that all of our big travel plans are on hold) this year!

It’s such a beautiful day out that we have to let the pets come play outside, even the cats! Tiger, Mali’s baby boy, generally roams the second level of our casa, while Gaia runs the first floor. Luckily we have a balcony upstairs that Tiger can lounge on, even though he quickly figured out that he can scurry across the roof and get on the neighbor’s balconies as well. So we lost him for the first time today. He actually went inside one of our neighbor’s houses. Oops! At least he’s cute?

Gaia, on the other hand, just straight up rolled in dirt all day. So I went from having a glowing, white princess cat to having a splotchy, brown alley cat in an afternoon. I guess it was worth it. This is the first time I’ve been able to let my cat play outside, which I think is really important!

In larger news, The Governor set a mandatory stay at home order for the entire state of Colorado today. So, in my best Kip Dynamite voice, “I guess you could say things are getting pretty serious”. Sadly, according to CNN we went from a total of 326 deaths in America on March 22nd, to a total of 928 today, March 25th due to COVID-19. The spread of the virus has gotten so serious in the U.S. that leaders have made exceptions to normal medical practices and rules so that the people in need can get the medical attention they truly need.

“In Texas, for instance, the state will allow medical facilities that are awaiting their licenses or those that have closed in the past 36 months to come online.
”By waiving these rules, we can quickly bring many of these facilities online to help Texas communities maximize their hospital capacity and provide care to Texans in need,” Gov. Greg Abbott said.”

— Eliott C. McLaughlin, Christina Maxouris and Steve Almasy, CNN

There is still hope. We can still pull in the reigns on this thing. Experts in the U.S. still believe that we can get ahead of the spread of the virus. WHO’s Margaret Harris claims that we have the “best public heath brains in the world” working on this issue. We need people to get tested. We need to identify who has come in contact with those infected. We need to get people treated! Lastly, we need to STFH!! Do the right thing, people. Let’s overcome this! We can’t stay at home forever.