Thought There'd be a Handbasket

Oh hey it's July already. Time is extra weird these days so I have to look at my calendar a bit more these days to keep track of what's happening.

When the pandemic started in our area in early March and I started writing these occasional update posts, I figured I'd write a couple and then it'd be done. Sweet summer child, right? Seems like they're here to stay so here's my update on how things are going with the pandemic.

Seriously

Opening Up

The SO and I decided not to take advantage of anything opening up until at least 2-3 weeks because we wanted to see if things got worse. In addition, for my own mental health, I wanted to wait until it was certain that things wouldn't lock down again. Nothing like telling my brain that things are normal-ish again only to have to go back on lockdown. Yes, I do treat my brain like a small child sometimes.

Sure enough, everyone ran out of their houses and licked each other, so things are tightening back up immediately. I can't believe how many people out there are flying on planes, not wearing their masks properly (if at all), and acting like there's not, you know, a global pandemic out there.

We've been to a few newish places though. We went to that cabin a few weeks ago and have one planned for this weekend. We went to a giant fruit stand somewhat close to us (and there were too many people there), we went hiking in the east bay (and there were too many people there), we went hiking in Saratoga (perfect amount of people there), and we've been feeling a little less stressed when going to more stores. We went to the camera store the other day and have been relaxing our strict grocery store schedule.

Just saying

More Antibody Tests

So, the SO got his antibody test a couple months ago and in my last update, I said that he had tested negative. We have both been healthy since like... October maybe? when we both had a cold. So we were just trying to find out whether we were potentially asymptomatic. The fact that he was negative could mean that we haven't ever had it OR that we were asymptomatic enough time ago where the antibodies were gone by then. Or the test was crap. All are options.

As you know, both my parents, my brother, and my sister-in-law had COVID in early to mid March (all but my brother were tested but it was very clear he had it). They are now asking those with antibodies to come donate plasma. My mom went in and they did an antibody test and the results indicate that she didn't have ANY. I think they're testing my dad as well, but they expect him not to have any either, but I suppose we'll see. It's one thing for the SO not to have any, neither of us ever tested positive for COVID, but my mom legit had COVID and now she has no antibodies. Except what if the test is bad? Ugh this is so hard.

It's okay though, given what the doctors know right now, if she (or my dad or siblings) were to get reinfected, she'd have a less intense version because there are other ways the body retains the ability to fight viruses. So I'm less anxious about them getting it again and more anxious about the state of the world given this information. It also makes me think that the SO and I HAVE been infected in the past and just had very mild symptoms or were asymptomatic.

Jesus, come on people

Staying Sane Amidst Anti-Masker Assholes

I've been okay this month sanity-wise. Most of the time when I'm not feeling my sanest, it's because I'm missing something silly like movie theaters, going in other peoples' houses, or driving further away than we're allowed to go.

That mostly spirals into me being very frustrated that this country is an absolute shit show in handling things. Seriously the president of the US is saying we should test less and just send children and teachers back into school willy nilly. I feel very safe in the bay area and in my little bubble going to the barn and to stores and even going hiking and staying in the cabin. I get worried occasionally, especially when we go somewhere newish where there are lots of people, but for the most part, I feel safe here at home and in my routine.

I'm very aware that until the rest of the state gets their shit together, we're going to be affected negatively despite doing a lot of things right. No movie theaters are going to open up in the state if hoards of people in LA are still going to the beach and breathing on each other. No amusement parks will open if all the morons in Kern County are spreading shit about how we'll all die of carbon dioxide poisoning by wearing masks for the 20 minutes they're inside a store (and yet, no surgeon has ever suffocated wearing a mask for hours on end??).

Literally if everyone would just wear a damn mask, and wear it properly, everything could open up again! They're seeing more and more that it's primarily spread through droplets. But everyone is so obsessive over their freedumb that they can't see past their own stupidity.

Right??

Immigration

The SO isn't from 'round here, which is great because he has the world's most adorable accent and says things like "dressing smart" and "rubbish" and "bonkers" and "Megan, I will not read the dictionary to you, that's weird" (he also has the world's driest sense of humor so I'm pretty sure at least one of the words he says in his cute British way is probably wrong) BUT it means that we're currently going through his immigration stuff. Luckily his company is dealing with a lot of it, but the lawyers royally freaked us out in early June and ever since, it's been a low key form of stress for both of us (mostly him).

So that's not been the most fun thing to go through for all of June and now into July. Theoretically he should have his paperwork submitted within the next couple of months and should be interviewed in a few months after that, then we just get his green card and we can travel internationally, which I'm very excited about! So that will be fun. But for now, especially with the president threatening to toss out people with visas (luckily his hasn't been targeted yet), it's been adding to the pandemic stress.

Ah, that's where we went wrong, the SO is too good for
this awful country, we're already talking about retiring in Canada

Lessons and Shows

The excitement this month was that I got to show. I have two more shows (potentially three) planned for August and more lessons. I feel so glad that riding never stopped during the pandemic, it's been really nice to go to the barn five days a week and hang out with TC. It's also been fun to continue to take lessons and improve my riding and the way TC is going.

Taking my own lessons has been good, I pay my trainers electronically now and so the only contact we have is them handing me the radio and me handing it back. I'm very excited to report that I finally have the Pixem in my hands and am going to work toward getting it geared up to work remote-lesson-wise. My goal is to get myself back into weekly lessons. Hauling to Anne has been really good, but sometimes blocking out an entire half day is a bit tough. And hauling to Tanya is not an option. So being able to ride with both of them regularly regardless of my schedule, will be amazing.

Also we can't use the phrase "avoid it like the plague" anymore

Teaching

I'm going back to teaching in person slowly. I have a couple of clients I teach at a barn that requires masks, so I've been doing that happily because I'm not an asshole. I'm also teaching clinics about twice a month. Most of my teaching still remains remote, which is great. I teach almost every morning before I ride my own horse, which gives me some really good structure in my day. My business has been more fun than stressful, which is an absolute necessity. I had a moment the other day where I nearly dropped a client because they were stressing me out, but it worked itself out okay.

Every summer I try to get new clients just because I know I'm going to lose a couple for various reasons (barn issues, moving, horse lameness, rider injury, swap trainers, scheduling problems), but this year I talked to the SO and we both decided that me throwing myself at my business the way I normally do isn't going to be good for my mental health. I'm happy to take on new clients if they come to me, but forcing myself to put myself out there and advertise when I'm not feeling it isn't something that's going to work with this pandemic.

It's sometimes really depressing to live here

Running Away to the Wilderness

The SO and I have decided to stay in these little cabins every month until it doesn't make sense. We went to Little Basin in June. In July, we're headed to Napa. In August, I'm horse showing a lot, but that's kind of the wilderness, right? In September, we're going back to Little Basin. Then in October, we're heading to Lassen NP.

It was INSANE how relaxing it was in June to just go on a vacation. Only when we were around other people (not often) did it feel like the pandemic was real (because we actually wear our masks, have you noticed how annoyed I am about this). I'm surprised how much the constant news (I get phone notifications) was affecting us until it was just GONE. We've agreed to put phones on airplane mode even if there is signal at future cabins. And each of our future cabin adventures is two nights rather than one, so that'll be just so unbelievably nice.

This entire pandemic

So yep, there's my COVID update. Hope everyone else is staying safe and wearing their masks properly.