Day 61 - Governor Newsom imposes new restrictions

R. tested negative…read below…

1/15/21. Friday.

10:00-12:00 - Downstairs to say good morning to the dog.  She’s entertaining herself with a tennis ball today. We go outside and she goes potty.  Earlier, she pooped on the patio so I clean that up.  Inside and we are on the last of the rotten chicken for her treats.  I heat up my coffee and put it in my new travel mug [by Ember], then grab two Sees Candies from the box our nice neighbor gave us after we returned a package that was mistakenly delivered to our house. Upstairs and breakfast is served.

I read The Beauty.

12:00-2:30 – I work on blog posts. I’m behind.

-L is still in the process of applying for the Getty internship and using her Korean ethnicity as leverage.  The black wigs she ordered came today and she models one of them for me. It looks great! and she looks way more ethnic with black hair.  I hope to God she gets an interview. Her friend, B., a hair stylist, is coming over on Sunday to trim/shape it.

L. goes to work at the art studio.

2:30-3:00 – I guess I should get dressed.

3:00-4:00 – I have a turkey burger and more potato salad. More reading The Beauty.

4:00 – 5:00 - L. will be home soon and I don’t want her to think I did nothing for the entire day.  Now that I’m a stay-at-home Mom, which is what I’ve always wanted to be, I should be a little more productive.  TBH, as a young wife, my goal was to stay home, with my 3 to 4 hypothetical children, and run the house like Martha Stewart, who happens to be my idol…she and Sandra Lee. I’ve read several of their books and I wanted to be just like them. Unfortunately, I was too afraid to commit 100% to this goal because what if the husband of my hypothetical four children decided to leave? Not having a Plan B would be too risky – I would need a skill set to supplement my stay-at-home strengths and attributes in the event my partner took off and left me with a house full of kids.

I love ALL, what I call, “hearth and home” books, and I’m a huge fan of HGTV.  As a young wife, I had a subscription to Architectural Digest.  I threw myself into my house and yard the first seven years of my marriage before giving birth to L., but I also developed a skill set via education and career. You know…my plan B. Then, I had L., her Dad and I divorced two years later, and plan B became the new plan A, unfortunately. Now, finally, I’m a stay-at-home Mom.  Sadly, L. is 19-years-old.

-I take the dog for a walk.

5:00 – 6:00 – I tidy the kitchen and unpack a few boxes that arrived.  The first week of January, I ordered  my 2021 toiletry inventory and L. has been ordering art supplies so boxes have been arriving steadily.

6:00-8:30 – I finish raking and trimming my backyard flower beds and plants along the side of the house. I think I’m finally caught up with yard work.

-L. arrives home.  There is still leftover turkey burgers and potato salad.

L. tells me that R. received the results of his Covid test and he is negative.  This is very interesting to me…The results of the test mean that at the time R. was tested, he had NOT contracted the virus. BUT, there has been a roughly 6 to 7-day period, AFTER R. was tested, when he was still exposed to a Covid-19 individual (his mother). Is it possible that she has been “shedding virus” this entire time and R. contracted Covid-19 during the period of time AFTER he was tested? 

The science is unclear regarding contagion parameters and, as a society, we are all left twisting in the wind, forced to make our own decisions on these important issues. If this is the case, one would think that another Covid-19 test is in order; HOWEVER, can’t we make the same assumption?  R. could again test negative, but in the interim, while he continues to share a space with his mother, contract the virus in the period of time while he waits for his test results, and so on, and so on, and so on… We simply don’t know how long people “shed virus.”

It’s generally believed that once an infected Covid-19 patient tests ‘negative’, they are NOT shedding virus.  This would mean that R.’s mom would have to get yet another test, but even if HER test is negative now, it is impossible to know when, exactly, she was contagious and impossible to pin down when R. was most at risk.

You can get a headache considering all the possibilities.  Instead of wasting cognitive time on this word/math problem [I’m not a math major], L. emailed me the link to the best Hepa air purifiers she could find so I can order them for the house.

8:30 – 9:30 - L. was unable to get turkey cutlets when she did her grocery run last week so I leave for Whole Foods, right before closing time – this is intentional. The butcher doesn’t have them either – is there a run on turkey? – so I get 4 parmesan, encrusted chicken breasts instead.  Since I’m here, I buy some prosecco-in-a-can so I don’t have to return.  The store is empty [of people].

9:30-11:00 – Home and I put my items away, then record a 15-minute Chapter 2 PSA [Public Service Announcement] for both Core Classes. I also record a Chapter 8 PSA.

11:00-11:30 – I check email for both colleges.  The female student successfully enrolled in Specialty Class 1A, bringing me back to the 20-mark.  Yay!  I distribute Add Codes to a few more Core Class crashers.

11:30-12:30 – Upstairs and I ask L. to airdrop the PSAs into Canvas.  L. is renovating her “apartment” [bedroom and adjoining bathroom] and she shares her ideas/pictures with me – she has some really interesting ideas for the space.  I offer some suggestions, but it is ultimately her decision.

12:30-2:00 – L. and I watch The Wilds. We agree to go on our bike ride at 12:00 tomorrow.

2:00-2:30 – Night time routine. Bed.