Yesterday, we went to my brother's house and celebrated his birthday (April), my niece's birthday (May), my dad's birthday (June), and my birthday with an ice cream party and some small fireworks. The cousins got to play together for the first time in over a month and we all got to have face-to-face conversations instead of text messages or Bluetooth phone calls while driving somewhere.
Recent phone calls with friends have centered around the rapidly approaching school year (didn't one just end?) and what things may look like as far as distance learning and childcare goes. While there is complete stupidity on the news with college students in Alabama having parties to see who can catch COVID 19 first, there is also unsettling local instances that the virus is at our doorstep.
A team of workers at one library branch had to do home quarantine about a month ago, and now an entirely different branch has had to close because of exposure. Last night, I found out that someone who works in my office building has tested positive for the virus, which made me very upset. I don't think I have worked the same days recently, but how long are the germs lingering around? Did I just unknowingly expose my entire family at our birthday gathering yesterday? We were all outside the majority of the time, but we all hugged and ate together (saliva spreads it). Should I stop going into the office and go back to only working from home? Do I need to get retested myself to see if I am a carrier? How many times will insurance cover one person getting tested?
My husband and I got tested a few weeks ago because of the "outbreak" in Hammond bars and one of his coworkers was ill for a few days. Thankfully, no one actually had the virus at his work and our tests came back negative. Our daughter has been going to summer camp since they opened in June and while young kids aren't the high-risk category you hear about on the news, there's no way to know how careful other parents are being at home even though the actual camp and counselors are taking lots of precautions.
I hope this year has a sparkle to it in some way sooner than later. Right now it's in the small things. I had my birthday tradition of a custard fruit tart for breakfast with my immediate family. Yesterday I spent time with my side of the extended family, and last night we started watching "Hamilton" on Disney+. I slept pretty well, and plan on relaxing all day at home.
Happy Fourth of July, everybody!
