We’re now two weeks into quarantine in San Antonio. The city and our mayor have tried to be very proactive, as outlined below, but are receiving a lot of push-back and technicality arguments from businesses that would rather spread the virus than lose money. I wish more people would realize that the sooner we all just STFU and stay home, the sooner this will all be over. Personally, this has been a hard week for me. I’m to the point where my mental health is beginning to deteriorate from lack of social contact, but I’m doing what I can to stay as virtually social as possible.

Like I said last week: If your mental health is at a point where you cannot bear to hear more about quarantine stuff, skip to the bottom of this post for a list of positives and highlights and Nice Things. We all need some of that right now!

–Friday, March 20th
Very little happened on our eighth day into quarantine. No new cases reported in our county, though several in surrounding counties. The libraries extended their closure until late April.

–Saturday, March 21st and Sunday, March 22nd
More jumps in our number of cases (45 by Sunday evening, including our first local death). Jason was able to pick up a few groceries on Saturday, including potatoes and rice and iced coffee. Whew! The grocery store is only letting a few people in at a time, and have their lines set up with decals keeping people six feet apart. People are finding ways to cope. My hiking group set up a bunch of small-group hikes (six people max) in the evening this upcoming week, as well as a Friday evening online happy hour. Jason helped set up an online connection to Ambrose’s friend Tyler for their weekly Dungeons & Dragons campaign, so they could keep going during quarantine.

–Monday, March 23rd
Today began virtual school for my kids. Everything went pretty well on that front, actually, which was a relief. I began some daily sketching and a strength training program. In San Antonio, our local case count jumped to 57, and our mayor announced that San Antonio is going into shelter-at-home protocols. I canceled my evening walk/hike because of this, and of course there won’t be any more for some time, despite the precautions the group was taking. At this point, I admit that my anxiety ramped up through the roof. Shelter-at-home is necessary, I know, but it’s almost my least favorite thing ever. I feel isolated and anxious and paranoid, agoraphobia taking over. I’m a very social creature at heart, a full-on extrovert, and these last few months have been just wonderful for my soul. Now, all of that is being taken away, and no matter how necessary or how temporary, I feel awful. I began having panic attacks, which didn’t abate until Jason and I went for a short, slow walk together. Anyway. In non-local news, I’m also sad that the Olympics are being postponed, though again, I know this is for the best.

–Tuesday, March 24th
Local count: 69 cases, 2 deaths. Today was a big one, y’all. Schools extended their closure to late April. We received word that our Planniversary trip to Alaska in May has been canceled by the cruise line (plus then our ensuing cancelations of airline, hotel, etc). San Antonio businesses pushed back against the shelter-in-place order so that now the restrictions have so many exemptions they might as well not exist. (Golf courses remain open, for instance, because they’re essential, yeah?) Meetup (where my hiking group hosts their events) closed all in-person event availability and allowed groups to put up online events. My hiking group immediately put out an ongoing virtual walk/run/hike/whatever where we can post pictures and offer encouragement to each other. Not the same, but the best we can do in this time.

–Wednesday, March 25th
Local count: 84, with three deaths. Sigh. Morrigan tells me this morning that since the city isn’t really sheltering-at-home, he should be able to see his friends after our personal quarantine time is up. No. That’s now how it works. We all want to be able to see our friends and family, but we also need to do our part to keep people safe, even if Big Business and Politicians aren’t taking this seriously. I see multiple arguments in our family future. Beyond that, there was just a lot of arguments about what is/isn’t “essential” business in the city (mattress stores? They sell household goods, so they can be open. Car washes? Essential!). Libraries closed their book drops as well as the actual libraries. Jason’s upcoming dental appointment – to replace his temporary crown with a real one – was canceled until further notice. We attended an online surprise birthday party for our sister-in-law, Emmy.

–Thursday, March 26th
Local count: 113, 5 deaths. Yikes. Texas mandated quarantines for anyone flying in from several parts of the country. City parks now have COVID-19 guidelines up in them, but are still open as long as precautions are taken. With as quickly as we’re increasing – and seeing as the US now has the highest infection rate in the world as of today – I have a feeling we’ll be going to full-on lockdown soon. To that end, I figured out how to get our TV service (through youtube) onto my computer, so that I can exercise in my room to junk TV shows during the day. Not ideal, because my room is a bit small, but better than nothing. Certainly makes me feel a bit better!

Four things really sum up the week. 1) Agoraphobia is a terrible disorder. 2) I’m really effing angry that maids and janitors are losing their jobs and have no financial help during this time, but golf courses and big businesses can stay open on technicalities to rake in profits while others starve and sicken. 3) This is really, really bad and I don’t know why some folks aren’t taking it seriously. 4) I’m drinking WAY too much iced coffee during all this anxiety.

Positives and Highlights and Nice Things
Once again, gotta focus on the better parts of the week to get through all this without anxiety ripping apart my stomach or making me insane. Here are some of my positives. What are yours?

• discovered the most amazing gluten-free double chocolate veggie muffins that really do taste amazing and not at all like veggies or gluten-free products! (Brand: Veggies Made Great)
• my lovely cat-print birthday dress from Torrid arrived! –>
• I meant to say this last week, but my Modern Witch Tarot Deck arrived, bought with an Audible/Amazon promo credit, yay! (Art in top photo is from this deck.)
• I put together my own new pull-up bar! I’m terrible at anything that involves assembly or mechanics or step-by-step instructions using nuts, screws, schematics, Allen wrenches, etc. But I did it, alone!
• finally watched The Aeronauts, which was pretty good.
• Molly Galbraith and Girls Gone Strong put out 60+ free strength training workouts for all levels, including one that’s for absolute newbies that I began this week.
• a virtual surprise birthday party for my sister-in-law, Emmy
• walking the park with Jason during the sunset
• figuring out how to get my TV service on my computer so I can exercise in my room again

Please stay safe everyone. Check in, tell me how you’re doing, post on your blog how you’re doing. We’re each other’s social safety net right now. Love you guys!!