Normal Life:
Yesterday was a struggle but today has been better. I managed to get the kids to spend the entire morning outside – an hour of walking and then the pool.
I also slept in (meaning: got up at 7:15 instead of 5ish). Hence this late post. I haven’t slept in in . . . a long time. Usually I will sleep in on the weekends and on Thursdays (my day off), but since Josh has been on call the past 2 weekends and I was on call last week during the days, it didn’t happen.
SO. 9.5 glorious hours last night (they were interrupted by various things including fireworks seemingly all. night. long.) but . . . I’ll take it.
And finally – this week’s meal plan. I am about to head to Publix despite the hotbed of COVID-19 our county has become. Chances are that SOMEONE in that store is infected? High. Should probably go figure out where to buy an N-95.
Tonight: Probably clean-out-the-fridge night! Leftovers (a bit of black bean soup + thai curry from takeout last night) + eggs for the kids. Maybe will make guacamole to have with veggies & chips if there are any ripe avocados at the store . . .
Monday: Honey balsamic chicken + southwest salad (both from Run Fast Cook Fast Eat Slow)
Tuesday: Turkey meatballs (from Run Fast Cook Fast Eat Slow) w/ pasta + jarred sauce, broccoli
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Whole grain veggie burrito bowls (though we use white rice, kids much prefer)
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: Takeout – hmmm not sure what
Sunday: TBD
PIX
(Cameron spotted this, we were all walking right by!)
(yes these rocks were a vibrant blue, not sure what they are!)
SURGE
FL has surpassed 10K/day (11K on Sat, 9999 today).
Broward county:
I anticipate a rough week.
12 Comments
The surge is real and it’s alarming. Florida numbers sound insane to me. In my much smaller state of Oregon, we just surpassed 10,000 cases total so it’s hard to fathom 10,000 cases per day! But we’ve had record numbers of new cases for the past 4 days. I’m a clinic nurse and have been doing Covid testing a couple hours a week. It’s mostly asymptomatic pre-op patients but I’m expecting a lot more people after the holiday weekend. People just don’t get it. At least our governor mandated masks last week but there’s been lots of complaining. Stay safe! Also, did you have a July newsletter? I missed it. I must check my spam folder.
What I find interesting it that no one is mentioning the fact that unlike in other countries, the US, is testing anyone who breathes (and even those who don’t in some cases) for COVID. I don’t think they are taking into account most people who are testing positive have no symptoms and really shouldn’t be counted in the data, don’t you think? I mean in England for example they are still limiting the numbers on those who can be tested so while their data shows that cases are going down its because they aren’t testing anyone and everyone like they’re doing here. Also, you seem to not point out the fact that the number hospitalized and/or dying are not increasing either. So are we supposed to just shelter in fear for the rest of the year?
I did not give any opinion on what we are supposed to do in this post, but (at least here) the increased case numbers are real. We DO have an increased number of hospitalized patients (and it is not a low #) and those seeking care for respiratory symptoms.
As for the numbers being related to testing only – the percentages positive have increased significantly so one cannot blame simply a larger denominator. And no I do not think asymptomatic cases “don’t count”.
Hospitalizations and deaths lag positive diagnoses, and indeed, both have exploded as well.
Supposedly you can buy N95s on eBay. You can get KN95s pretty readily and make the strap tighter too via a strap tightener thingee you can buy on amazon.
I do hope that your hospital is giving you N95s for patient encounters though (even “low risk” ones). There’s a NYT article from June pointing to this being the more scientifically sound thing to do. I can point out other resources as well if you need to present it to them.
I also wonder about the HVAC system at work and I personally just didn’t spend a second longer at work than I had to (but then again I don’t have kids).
I personally haven’t gone inside a nyc grocery store since march. Ive been very conservative/paranoid but my friends fiancés mom got covid and grocery stores were supposedly her only source of exposure (in the height of the pandemic before masks were a thing though).
My parental grandparents died of covid so I’ve also just been even more careful to not get it bc I know my father would completely freak out if I got sick so yeah, take my paranoia w a grain of salt.
I’ve been doing a mix of pepperpantry, Natoora (both are NY based, they are repurposing produce and other things meant for restaurants to go to homes, I found out about them through eater.com), misfit produce, two local stores delivery, Whole Foods delivery, the farmers market, Amazon, and a few businesses sites directly (sol cocao for instance).
It’s been totally fine and is just the new normal for me. It’s not the cheapest (I tip very very well) but it’s been fun trying out new things. I’m still saving money by not eating out so there’s that.
But also my heart breaks. Stupid stupid stupid COVID. I hated this time in NYC the most… waiting for it to peak and not knowing how bad it would be. You guys are in my thoughts.
Also- please just be gentle on yourself, don’t get too frustrated if it feels like you are just not as “on” as usual, cut as many corners as you can (ie grocery delivery!), etc.
No N95s for hospital encounters on non-covid patients or outpatient encounters yet. But maybe you’re right I should just order my own. All of the hospital patients are screened — so that’s good — but the parents aren’t.
And, I’m so sorry about your grandparents.
Yeah get masks. I used double sided tape to make surgical masks more tightly fitting for a bit. I got some weird not hospital grade N95s from ojomask.com but it looks like they only sell KN95s now. Maybe your employer can spare one N95?
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/01/health/masks-surgical-N95-coronavirus.html Is the article.
And thank you. They were 90 and 92 and thank goodness they went “together”. I couldn’t imagine one surviving without the other. They lived in an apartment with home various health aides coming in. Now such an arrangement would have everyone wearing masks, minimizing exposure in various ways (ie removing them from that environment…) etc so I hope that the new wave of cases doesn’t reach anywhere near the same degree of fatalities.
Oh gosh, that must be incredibly stressful. We’ve seen a dramatic reduction of cases here but pubs opened in England and will open here in a few weeks, and I just can’t imagine. I feel like I’ve been pretty levelheaded thus far but I just don’t want us to go anywhere inside for quite some time. My son is going to an in-home daycare for a few days a week because I was tearing my hair out, but that’s it, my husband masks up and goes to the tiny, local farm shop once a week, and we spend loads of time outside.
I think of you and your family in FL every time I see one of the hundreds of articles about rising cases there and other parts of the South and West. My part of the country is holding steady but I just don’t have faith that the surges won’t affect us, probably sooner rather than later. Especially since people seem to feel we have things under control and they can do whatever they want as long as it is outside. I fear our numbers will tick back up just in time for the counties to cancel school…
Any way- hope you are ok but mentally I imagine this is so hard. The massive surges really seem preventable, even if completely getting rid of this thing is not at this point.
Completely frivolous q, but I also deal with stress through planning (and stationery!) – where are your lovely notepads from? Thanks and take care!
The journal I am currently using is from Archer and Olive. The rainbow days of the week pad is Rifle Paper Co