12/31/2020 of COVID-19 Home Life

Chel Owens

I’ve not written about Coronavirus updates in awhile, I’ve thought for a few weeks. As I sat to type one up just now, I realized this is the last day of the dreaded year 2020. How appropriate.

Like many, many others, I reflect back on this year. Truth be told, today is not the only day I have reflected. Even before Coronavirus, I marveled at where I had come in only a year’s time; for, if you are a follower of my blog, you know that I learned I was pregnant in April of 2019 whilst attending ‘school’ whilst maintaining a few blogs whilst helping our family side business to run.

COVID-19 changed many things. At this point, however, it’s only a factor for us in how it’s affected our children’s school experience and our family’s vacationing and visiting abilities. My pregnancy resulted in a sweet, healthy boy who is now a year old. I barely keep up on any blogging. The side business is BOOMING to the point that we were 1700 orders behind on Etsy at one point…

I guess there’s something to be said for marrying a computer programmer and producing a family of introverts. We’re healthy homebodies.

Local news-wise, Utah’s Coronavirus daily infection numbers are similar to other states. I think. They reached an all-time high of 4611 on November 19 but yesterday’s report (December 30) was a mere 2602.

Thanks, coronavirus.utah.gov.

I don’t know what experience others are having but the COVID Climate here is somewhat casual. We still mask in public. I have the children change their clothes and wash their hands after school. There are no samples at Costco, no free candy baskets at the bank, no free popcorn or soda at the oil change store, no handshakes at business deals, and no Charmin toilet paper or Clorox wipes or pure almond extract at the store.

You know times are tough when a person can’t even get almond extract.

©2020 Chel Owens

I do not like these measures, especially when I drop my children off at school and watch tiny Kindergarteners heading in past their tiny playground with a giant mask obscuring their tiny face. I feel Coronavirus to be a skulking shadow. It’s like the cancer eating away at a close relative of ours; something we know is there, something we need to be constantly aware of, something to FEAR to the point that you do not help that old lady load her groceries or that man who dropped his wallet or that child who needs a hand to hold to search for his mommy in the grocery store…

My fearful Twofacebook friends post worrisome statistics about spread and new strains, but also happy news about the new vaccine -some have even gotten it.
My over-it Twofacebook friends post family pictures and occasional articles on the virus’ restrictions affecting our mental health, but also warning news about the new vaccine -they will not get it if they can help it.

Photo by Artem Podrez on Pexels.com

Still political. Still divided.

But, it’s the holiday season! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I didn’t make my traditional plate of cookies for my neighbors this year. I opted for a neat luminary tin full of Polish chocolates I found at a European Market store in Salt Lake City. To my surprise, several neighbors and friends did gift us homemade items. We received bread, chocolates, brittles, and peppermint bark.

The best gift of all? A container of Clorox wipes. Don’t tell; I don’t want to get raided.

From Clorox.com‘s site. Good luck finding this golden ticket.

There is FEAR and a good reason to FEAR, if you are being reasonable about it. At the start, I shared the feelings of paranoia that many still feel. I told my children not to answer the door or touch the incoming packages and mail. I left them home with Kevin when I went shopping –if I went shopping.

Now, I am simply careful. I do not lick shopping carts or gas pumps. I wear my mask in public areas. I also shared Christmas with my parents, sister, and her family. We ate together and visited and *gasp* hugged. Doesn’t that sound wonderful?

So, be careful. But, be reasonable. If you’re healthy and haven’t had someone lick you lately, you’re probably fine to hug a grandchild. And if that gives you the heebie-geebies, wash your clothes afterwards. And your hands. But, as Clorox advises on their website, don’t start drinking bleach…

Also from Clorox.com‘s site. It’s a warning that pops up, to cover their legal assets.

What’s daily life like for you? Are you fine sticking around? Heading out now and then? Hugging anyone?

—–

©2020 Chel Owens

44 thoughts on “12/31/2020 of COVID-19 Home Life”

  1. Sympathies, but the new year bodes well. The grind is getting to my brother and his family in Ohio, just that long term on and on and on. Here? We count our lucky stars and life goes on. Normally. Have a happy new year, it just must be a better one!

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  2. No hugging!
    Interesting to read how you are coping across the pond. The UK had over 50,000 new cases in the last 24 hours and almost 1,000 deaths. Thank goodness the vaccine roll-out has started!

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  3. Hi Chel ,things are bad here we have more than one strain of our “friend Rona” floating about. Things here are as bad as they were here at the first peak of the pandemic! We are also awaiting two new spikes, one in couple of weeks from Christmas and one a week later from New Year. Ambulances are queuing outside A&E. The NHS is struggling. We sadly lost mother in law to Covid, our middle son has covid now despite PPE at work.
    The schools are rife with Covid so are supermarkets . We have our groceries delivered. We all hope the vaccine will be as good as they say it is. I had to shelter this year because I got ill in June and have spent over 7months back and forth with hospital.
    I know this sounds pessimistic but at times the facts are.
    We have family and grandchildren but were not allowed to see them at Christmas nor will we be able to today for New Year. Thank goodness for Video.
    We survive because we must …all that said we wish you and yours a happy and healthy New Year be safe.

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    1. I’m sorry, Willow. I know you wrote about many of these things on your blog but didn’t know your schools and supermarkets were “rife with Covid.” I would stay home and Zoom, too! ❤

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  4. No hugging or licking here. We need to be available for aging parents and they really don’t need rona. Tempered paranoia and many more second thoughts. A somewhat normal life of seclusion.

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  5. Because we British like to think ourselves exceptional and the best of inventors we’ve come up with a super infectious version of covid which means we’re back into a no touching, keep your distance lock down with the Jan school return delayed and the NHS groaning with new admissions. There are more patients in hospital now with covid than during the April peak, mainly because we can keep more alive thank heavens. So it feels like we’ve 3 months of marking time and hoping before the vaccines are sufficiently widely spread for the numbers to feel safer. It’s as dull as an appraisal interview right now. But this too shall pass

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    1. Well, Bravo to British ingenuity on that front. 🙂 I sincerely hope this does pass, or that you use that exceptional ability to change to a harmless strain soon!

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  6. My life has hardly changed; still working, still sitting at home the rest of the time (I have few friends), amusing myself with music, tv, books, food, and of course this phone 📱.

    My brother stopped coming by for Game Of Thrones night; he’s trying to limit his exposure both for his benefit and my elderly mother. Instead, they huddle at home watching too much cable news and growing more paranoid by the day. I hear all about the ways the world has gone mad from my daily call to my mother.

    In the back of my mind I worry too. The virus has now taken people we know. It looms closer all the time. And now a new strain? Ugh.

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    1. Your experiences are similar to mine. I have a young neighbor who still ‘visits’ by window and rinses off her groceries. Meanwhile, my grandfather who is in his eighties has started attending church again because the isolation is worse than the fear for him.

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  7. I am still not handing this well. I take precautions…wear a mask literally every time I leave my house. I’ve been trying to be “normal” but there is no normal. I think five years from now we are going to look back and say we were idiots….but what do I know

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  8. We had a lovely Christmas, Chelsea. I saw all three of my sisters and their families, as well as my parents and my in-laws – all together on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I will see them all again tomorrow. We are all being careful, washing our hands after going out anywhere, wearing masks and social distancing in public places. I must add, however, that if Covid-19 was as bad here, with as many deaths, as it is in the UK and parts of the USA, I would probably adjust my behaviour accordingly.

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  9. Hi, Chel. You forgot to mention that the ‘sea’ disappeared from your name in your 2020 event list. 😉
    On a more serious note, we watch in horror at what’s happening in the US and the UK especially because we have family and friends aplenty there but also elsewhere, including South Africa, Russia, Brazil and the list goes on. (In passing, let me highly recommend Ellen Hawley’s blog https://notesfromtheuk.com/ which wittily charts the pandemic experience of an American living in the UK.)
    In Australia and New Zealand and many Asian countries that have leaders who have listened to scientists, locked down quickly and have led sensibly when outbreaks occur, most people have been able to live relatively normal lives after the first wave. As a result, we have less than 1,000 Covid deaths in a population of 25 million. Sure, we still do hand-sanitising, masking in certain places (e.g. health services) and checking in before entering stores, so we can be traced if needed. The most difficult part for our families has been constant changes in what State borders are open or closed due to the latest outbreak that they are trying to stop in its tracks. We’ve been trying to set a date to visit my 99 year old father in the the next State for months now and having to keep cancelling. But generally for Sue and I, as a couple of retired and not very social old farts living in a small rural town the personal hardships have been minimal and our worries are for those less fortunate. Stay safe but close and, not to put too fine a point on it, when it becomes available to you, GET VACCINATED.

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    1. Call me cautious, but I’m not signing up to be the first wave of test subjects. Call me less-cautious, but I’m also not going to stop visiting someone if there’s little chance I’ll infect him and he’s fine with it. There’s no need for “watching in horror.” 🙂 On that point, I like the motion of restricting who can enter an area so that infection doesn’t get in -the only problem is when will you change that? Will you never see your father? Never entertain your mother who lives in another country? Not open up tourism when your country’s economy depends on it? I can play the moderate game all day…. :/

      And I forgot about losing my ‘sea.’ 🙂 I guess that’s what happens when you’re landlocked.

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  10. Visited my in-laws Christmas day…Did half hugs away, not seeing my brother’s family till January 9 because his partner tested positive, so they’ve been in quarantine. Still hand washing, using sanitizer and wearing the mask at work, but a lot of people at work have gone mask free. I find those people quite foolish. The only place I seem to go is to buy additional groceries now and again with my mask (we usually get delivery), work-home-create-blog-unwind with a show or movie-sleep do it all again tomorrow. I look forward to getting the vaccine.

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  11. We’ve been cautious but not fanatic. We hadn’t seen our son since March but got together with part of the family in Portland so that he could join us. We got an Airbnb. All six of us got Covid tested ahead of time and were thankfully negative. I realize it was a snapshot for that day, but it made my nephew and his wife feel safer. Our son came home with us for a few days after Christmas, which was great. He joined me for my daily walk. He seems happy, and that makes up for missing him. He left for Montana yesterday in his truck and is already home.

    We’ve set new records in California with over 25,000 new cases each day in the last two days. We try to be smart without dwelling on it. We do have friends who have lost loved ones, so it’s hard to complain about anything.

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  13. Having been safer than many around the world most of last year hugs have still been the norm (just) no licking..shops have always required a mask and mentioned social distancing over the tannoy (constantly) plus the hand sanitising and the scanning of the app wherever you enter but that has resulted in and excellent track and trace. Until a few weeks ago when 3 ladies decided they didn’t want to be bothered with quarantine when they came back into Thailand so did so illegally then proceed to bar crawl and restaurant hop and affect about 500 people between them…Bangkok is closed down and all bars/restaurants closed and NY celebrations are banned until 4th Jan …But you could leave and travel to family all over Thailand..they dropped the ball there…we are now waiting for an increase in the NY of infections…Happy Days….Happy New Chel to you and your family xx

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  14. You know I never wanted Clorox wipes before ever. I didn’t see the point. Is it that hard to spray the counter with a bottle and wipe it off with a paper towel?

    But then they became unavailable and I wanted them bad. It’s weird. Take something I never wanted before and now I have to have it.

    Anyway, the past couple months, they have returned to stores, so I bought some…and I never use them. But I have them. Strange.

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  15. I still remember dropping my son off at school on the first day they went back on site and seeing all the kids in their masks and getting quite teary. It was quite confronting. But I’m getting used to seeing people in masks now. So much so that whenever there’s an ad on tv for a store and people aren’t in masks it seems wrong.
    With no cases for two months in our state, I’d recently gone back to hugging my mum when I visit her. Unfortunately cases are turning up again but not in our region so I’ll still slip in a sneaky hug for now.
    Glad to hear you’ve kept well and the family has managed the changes. (Also a family of introverts here so we did okay.) Hope 2021 brings you success and normality.

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  17. Only a year a go we would happily gather round someone as they blew out the candles on a birthday cake and then random people would cut that breath stained cake into pieces and we wouldn’t batter an eyelid as we tucked into it. Oh how times have changed. x

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  18. I am a germophobe or a clean freak, which I think may be signs of my quiet rebellion against some of the people in my life, both past and present. In my retirement, I was already a semi-hermit, so physical isolation has not been much of an issue for me, though it is for my social butterfly of a mom. Due to a wide range of circumstances, most of which were/are beyond my control, I find myself living with her back in my childhood home, in a part of the country I’ve missed while I’ve lived for the last 15 years 2000 miles away from it. Over this period and in this place (Los Angeles County – the current COVID “epicenter” – there have been several occasions where I’ve had to “protect her (Mom) from herself”. After some struggles around the issue, that concluded with people she knows and wants to continue to be close to finding themselves infected with a wide range of symptoms from best to worst, she has finally come to appreciate the reason why I felt I must do it.

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    1. I relate to much of this. I’m not a clean freak, per se, but do like order and don’t like bodily fluids not staying in said body.
      My mother also goes out quite often (now, in mask) and had a difficult time with staying in for that first month or so.

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