Tag Archives: pandemic

The End Of A Pandemic Social Group (or No More Regular Movie Nights)

Posted on March 30, 2023 | 1 comment

Just over 3 years ago, at the start of the pandemic, I posted something in a dating Facebook group that I’m in about ideas for virtual dates. One of those ideas was virtual movie nights through a service called Netflix Party (which has since been renamed Teleparty). Someone in the group suggested that we organize movie nights within the Facebook group, and Movie Club was born out of that. And about 3 years ago, we had our first movie night together.

Movie Club started as just a part of that Facebook group and eventually, we became our own group. We also started with just one movie a week, then we went up to 2 movies a week, and then we switched to movies on weekends and tv shows on Wednesdays. We’ve watched hundreds of movies virtually together and we are about to finish our 4th tv series. We’ve watched one-off movies and we’ve gone through movie series (like watching all the MCU and Star Wars movies).

I know I’ve written this before, but I feel like Movie Club really helped me survive the pandemic. When I was experiencing the most severe isolation, I knew every week I’d have somewhat regular interaction with others. Our chats in Movie Club were different from texting because we were all experiencing the same thing at the same time. And it helped me not feel like I was on my own little planet. When I was not working, having these on my calendar gave me something to look forward to and helped me have things to do other than just sit and be alone.

And for a while, we had a lot of people joining in every week. We could have 8 or 9 people in a movie or tv show and the chat was so lively and fun! And while I didn’t know any of the other people in Movie Club in real life, we all got to know about each other’s lives and would always be checking in with each other. There are people from that group that I do honestly consider friends now and I know we wouldn’t have come together without these movie nights.

But recently, Movie Club hasn’t been as active. We used to do movies every single Friday or Saturday, and for the last few months, I have been doing polls just to see what days people would be interested in watching something. We could go a few weeks without a movie due to everyone’s schedules and also possibly a lack of interest. And with the recent tv series we’ve been watching, most weeks it’s just me and one other person. I’ve still been enjoying watching a show with someone else, but it’s not what it used to be. We are almost done with the current series, so I put out a poll to see what the interest would be in starting a 5th series. And the poll was clear, there wasn’t really any interest in having regular tv or movie nights.

I knew this was coming. When Movie Club started, most of us had nothing to do. We weren’t going out with friends for dinners and many of us were either working from home or not working at all, so our evenings were pretty free. And things have been opening up more and more, so everyone is starting to get busy again. I have always made sure I kept the evenings we watched things free just in case we’d be watching something, but lately I’ve had to work around other things that could have been on those evenings. One of the issues I’ve had with finding an acting class is finding one that works around the Movie Club schedule.

So I posted this week in our Facebook group that once we finished the tv series we were currently watching in a few weeks, we wouldn’t have any more regular Movie Club nights. I am not going to get rid of the group and I said I’d be happy to run a random movie night if there is a movie people want to watch, but I think if those happen they will be only a few times a year.

I remember when I started Movie Club I thought I’d be sad when one day the group would be ending. I knew it wouldn’t be forever, and when it started it really was a big part of my life. So thinking about the end was depressing. But now that I’ve announced that things will be ending, I’m not as sad as I thought I’d be. The reason this group was created was to help us not feel alone when the world seemed to be shut down. I know that not everything is normal and open again, but it’s getting closer and closer to that. And it’s a good thing that we all have been able to resume the social lives that we had before the pandemic. I think that’s a positive thing. And I’m happy for all of us in the group.

I’m sure that I’ll miss the group from time to time or I’ll hope that someone wants to watch a movie, but I also know that I’m working on being more social in real life so I might not miss it as much as I think. I might be busy with other things and not realize that it’s Wednesday and I’m not watching a tv show with the group. But I’m choosing to look at the end of this era as the start of something else that is good and I’m looking forward to seeing what adventures my life will have for me coming up.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailHaving More Virtual Movie Nights (or Still Trying To Be Social) Default Thumbnail2 Years Of Movie Club (or Another Pandemic-Related Anniversary) Default ThumbnailSo Many Virtual Movie Nights (or Thank Goodness For Technology) Default ThumbnailEnjoying Movie Nights (or Watching My Screeners) Default ThumbnailWorking In A Social Media Outage (or There Were Some Good Things That Happened) Default ThumbnailGetting Ready For A Fun Rewatch (or More Netflix Parties)

1 Comment

Posted in Fun Stuff

Tagged , , , , ,

3 Years Of The Pandemic (or Still Figuring Out My Normal)

Posted on March 14, 2023 | Comments Off on 3 Years Of The Pandemic (or Still Figuring Out My Normal)

There are a few dates that people consider the beginning of the pandemic. I think of March 13th, 2020 as the last normal day. I know things didn’t necessarily change that day, but that was the last regular day before everything started to shut down. In some ways, that feels like a lifetime ago. In other ways, I can’t believe that 3 years have passed since those crazy first few days of the pandemic. One thing that I know for sure is that my life is significantly different from what it was like at the beginning of March 2020.

In the last 3 years, I’ve changed jobs and moved to a new home. I have a much clearer idea of what I would like to have in my life and in a relationship. I feel like I’ve become much more introverted, but that might be partially due to still being worried about getting sick. And I know that Covid is still a risk for people. I’ve had friends test positive in the past week or two and some have gotten pretty sick. Fortunately, they all have been vaccinated, so nobody was so sick they had to be hospitalized. So while I’m still worried about getting sick, I’m not as worried about being hospitalized or dying as I was 3 years ago.

I still wear a mask almost everywhere I go. I might be the only person at the grocery store who wears one, but it’s something that I do that makes me feel more comfortable. A friend asked me when I might stop doing that and I really don’t know. The few colds I’ve gotten recently have all been from times I was around other people and not wearing a mask, so wearing one just seems smart especially when it’s cold and flu season. I’m sure eventually I’ll stop wearing one, but I just don’t see that happening any time soon.

A lot of things I used to enjoy just aren’t as big of a part of my life anymore. I don’t go out to eat that often, but when I do I don’t sit inside so I’m much pickier about places to go. I also haven’t been back to Disneyland since they reopened because I don’t want to be around crowds and the cost is very different now than it was for me before with my annual pass. But I also used to do a lot of things like those with specific friends who no longer live in LA. I have tried to find friends to do certain things with and it’s helped me to revitalize past friendships that I hadn’t focused on before, but there are still some things that I haven’t been doing just because I don’t have people to do them with.

I think I’m much more hesitant to do things outside of my comfort zone these days. There are so many reasons for this, but I know that most of them stem back to the first few days and weeks of the pandemic. I have gotten very comfortable in my new routine, which is much more isolated than what my life used to be like. I don’t know if this is a good or bad thing, it just is. I do try to push myself a bit more, especially if it’s not something too crazy. But I also have less guilt about turning down plans if I just don’t feel up to them.

When the pandemic started, I remember wondering how long it would take for things to become normal again. As time went on, I wondered if we were living in the new normal and thought maybe things would never be the way they used to be again. And now, it’s still a mixed back of the old normal and new normal. And many of the new normal things that are still a part of my life are by my choice. I don’t know if this will ever change for me, but I do feel a bit more in control over the situation that is going on around me. I still make choices based on my comfort and safety and I’m not worried about making those choices. And when I’m willing to do a bit more, I do feel a little safer than I did before even though I still worry about getting sick. I still have thoughts in the back of my head about if I’m making smart choices or taking too many risks, but it’s easier to feel better about what I chose to do or what I chose to skip.

I don’t think any of us expected this to still be a part of our lives 3 years later. For many people, it stopped being a part of their life after a few months. I know I’m in the minority who still worries about things and still takes a lot of precautions. But after 3 years of this, what I’m doing now feels somewhat normal to me and helps me feel better about trying to do as many things as I can that make me happy. I guess in a year, I’ll have to see what is still normal to me and what may be more like the old normal again.

You Might Also Like

Default Thumbnail2 Years Into The Pandemic (or Still Seeing What Is The New Normal And What Has Returned To Normal) Default ThumbnailStill Not Feeling Like We Are Post-Pandemic (or Continuing To Struggle Being Social) Default Thumbnail2 Years Of Movie Club (or Another Pandemic-Related Anniversary) Default ThumbnailSome Things Are Starting To Return To Normal (or I Still Have To Make Smart Choices For Myself) Default ThumbnailKeeping Up With One Beauty Routine (or A Mix Of Old Normal and New Normal) Default ThumbnailBeing Social Feels A Bit Cold (or Another Realization About The Pandemic)

Comments Off on 3 Years Of The Pandemic (or Still Figuring Out My Normal)

Posted in Health

Tagged

Time For A Booster Shot (or Getting Through My Normal Side Effects)

Posted on September 13, 2022 | Comments Off on Time For A Booster Shot (or Getting Through My Normal Side Effects)

I’m never excited to get a shot or have anything done that involves needles. Needles are probably always going to be something that is tough for me to deal with and I always hate how fearful I get going to the doctor or having blood drawn and knowing what could happen. I’m lucky that I’m not fainting the way I used to, but I do still have this weird blackout thing where I tense up my body and hold my breath. It only lasts a few seconds, but it’s still exhausting to go through. And with vaccines, I have the added annoyance of always having a reaction to them. I can’t remember the last vaccine I got that didn’t give me some side effects. I don’t mind since I know it means I’m building immunity, but it’s something else I have to think about when I time getting a vaccine. 

I think the only time I had a bit more excitement for a shot than fear was for the first Covid vaccine. But that was because I was so tired of being isolated and alone and that vaccine felt like the light at the end of the tunnel. And it was a big change for how I feel being around others, but it wasn’t the ending I think so many of us had hoped for. Because of vaccine hesitancy for whatever reason, not enough people were vaccinated to prevent new mutations from popping up. And those new mutations were able to get around the vaccines. I know that the vaccines still work because they don’t necessarily prevent illness but prevent serious illness and death. And I have had multiple friends test positive for Covid since being vaccinated and they all had very mild cases. So I have been staying on top of the news about vaccines and boosters. 

I got my first Covid booster in November last year. And I became eligible to get a second booster over the summer, but I actually waited on getting it. I knew that there would be a new booster soon that helped with the new varients, and I didn’t want to get the old booster and then need to wait longer for the new one. So I just have been very careful about who I have been around and making sure that I’m wearing a mask when I’m in large gatherings. 

But the new booster finally became available this past week, so I went about getting myself an appointment as soon as possible. I have only gotten vaccinations through Kaiser for my entire life. Even for the flu, I get the vaccine at a hospital or medical center. It’s just easy to do that since it’s automatically on my medical record. But when I looked into getting the booster at Kaiser, they didn’t have it available just yet. And since I didn’t want to keep waiting, I decided to look at the CVS near my house and found out that not only did they offer it, they had appointments available. So I booked one for this past Friday, knowing that I would probably have a reaction to the vaccine like I always do and would have the weekend to recover. 

Making the appointment was super easy, but when I got there I guess it was the first day that they were offering the new booster because there was a decent line. It went quickly and I was only waiting for about 45 minutes, but it took me by surprise since I thought not too many people would get a vaccine in the middle of a weekday. But I guess everyone had the same thought and did it during their lunch break. 

Since I know I have my blackouts, I warned the nurse there so she wouldn’t freak out. She made another nurse come to stand there in case I fully passed out, but fortunately, I didn’t and I just had my blackout for a few seconds. But they told me afterward that it was really crazy to see it happen and if I hadn’t warned them they would have been frightened. I’ve never been told that before, but I guess it does look odd. 

I had to wait at CVS for a bit to make sure I didn’t have any severe reactions, but I wasn’t worried about that since I’ve never had a severe reaction. And when I was home, I felt pretty ok for a few hours. But then a few hours later, some of the side effects started to kick in. At first, it was just a foggy head and some body aches. Nothing too severe and actually pretty mild compared to some other vaccines. But on Saturday, I got a bit worse. This felt much more like what happens when I get a flu vaccine. I had a fever, more body aches, and my head felt like it weighed a million pounds. But I only had to work for a few hours that day and then I spend the rest of the day resting. I slept a lot and on Sunday I was starting to do better.

I still have swollen lymph nodes and a bit of a headache, but I think I’m finally over the hill with side effects. And while they are annoying to deal with, I know that getting Covid would be so much worse. This is the smart thing for me to do to protect myself and to protect those around me. I will still keep my same habits of wearing a mask and being selective when I’m in big crowds for now. I want to see how the numbers look for cases as it gets colder here and it’s when more people seem to be getting sick. I’ll be getting my flu vaccine soon too, so I’ll be protected against that as well. And hopefully, with both these vaccines, I will continue to stay healthy and the weekend of side effects will be totally worth it. 

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailFinally Feeling Normal Again (or These Side Effects Surprised Me) Default ThumbnailLooking Forward To Another Shot (or Ready For A Booster) Default ThumbnailFinally Getting My Booster (or Feeling A Little Safer) Default ThumbnailGetting Ready For A Booster (or I’m So Glad Vaccines Are Starting To Be Required) Default ThumbnailSome New Medication Side Effects (or At Least I Know How To Handle This) Default ThumbnailGuess Stopping The Medication Was The Right Choice (or Maybe I Should Have Read More Into The Side Effects)

Comments Off on Time For A Booster Shot (or Getting Through My Normal Side Effects)

Posted in Health

Tagged , ,

My First Big Social Event In Over 2 Years (or This Was Overwhelming In A Good Way)

Posted on May 24, 2022 | Comments Off on My First Big Social Event In Over 2 Years (or This Was Overwhelming In A Good Way)

As I wrote last week, I’ve been trying to be more social when I can do so. It’s not easy and I’ve become more of a homebody and introvert in the past 2 years, but I am working on finding ways to get my old life back. I know I will never have the same life I used to have because I may always have an extra bit of fear about getting sick. Even if Covid is eradicated, I might still worry about catching a cold or the flu more than I did before. But I also know that I miss being out and seeing friends, so I push myself to do that when I can and it feels safe. And I had that opportunity this past weekend.

It was a friend’s birthday and they were having a casual get-together at a bar that has a seating area and has food and not just drinks. When she invited me, I wasn’t sure if I could make it because of my schedule, but I was free so I decided to push myself a bit and go even though I hadn’t been at a big gathering since the beginning of 2020. Almost all my socializing since then has been one on one or maybe with 2 friends. I haven’t been to a party or somewhere I could meet a lot of new people in a long time. But I knew I needed to go out, plus I wanted to go. I know it was a risk I was taking, but I decided it was worth it and I was going to try to be as safe as I could be.

It did feel weird to be inside a bar since I haven’t really done that in a while. And almost all the meals I’ve had in the past 2 years have been outside, so eating inside was almost a novelty. But I could tell that most of the people around me were taking things seriously too. Not everyone was wearing masks, but a lot of people were. And people seemed to be aware of how close they were to others. But the weirdness of being out went away pretty quickly for me. I still was more cautious than I would have been before, but I wasn’t as scared as I have been of other things I’ve done in the past 2 years.

And I’m so glad I went. It was awesome getting to celebrate my friend and her birthday. I got to meet some really nice people that I wouldn’t have met otherwise. I got to see someone who I knew about a decade ago through a friend group and reconnect with her (and she’s now married and pregnant so that was something to celebrate too!). And I just got to have fun. I know I’m not having as much fun in my life as I used to, and I need that. I crave fun. I just don’t seem to have the opportunities to do things like I used to do and it’s hard to make new friends as an adult and find people to go out and do things with. But this was a way to ease into meeting new people since not everyone there was new.

I did have some moments of being overwhelmed with so many people around me and I could feel some really minor panic attacks come from time to time, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it could be. I think it helped that I spent most of the time that I was there talking to the same small group of people and I didn’t have to track multiple conversations at once. I was with a lot of people but it felt like a smaller gathering at the same time.

I do worry now a bit that I might have been exposed and could get sick, but I also know that could happen to me anywhere. I could get exposed and sick by going to the grocery store (even though I wear a mask, a lot of people don’t anymore). I could get exposed by being at the mailboxes if another neighbor is next to me when I’m getting the mail. I think for so long, I saw some things as necessary risks and other things as risks I needed to avoid and I haven’t been able to merge the idea that they might be the same thing now. Everything is at a similar risk level if they are similar activities (being inside a grocery store versus a restaurant are probably the same risk level now).

I don’t know if I’ll have another chance to be in a big gathering like this again soon, but I’m glad I’m over the hurdle of being scared of doing it now. And hopefully, the fear decreases each time I go out and things just start to feel a bit more normal to me again. I know we aren’t in a post-pandemic world yet, but we are also not in the same world we were in 2 years ago.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailStill Not Feeling Like We Are Post-Pandemic (or Continuing To Struggle Being Social) Default ThumbnailCelebrating A Friend’s Birthday (or Not Letting Feeling Gross Stop Me From Being Social) Default ThumbnailBeing Social Feels A Bit Cold (or Another Realization About The Pandemic) Default ThumbnailHaving More Virtual Movie Nights (or Still Trying To Be Social) Default ThumbnailAnother Union Holiday Celebration (or Being Social And Working Social Media) Default ThumbnailA Chill New Year’s Eve (or Getting To Have A Little Celebration)

Comments Off on My First Big Social Event In Over 2 Years (or This Was Overwhelming In A Good Way)

Posted in Fun Stuff

Tagged , ,

Still Not Feeling Like We Are Post-Pandemic (or Continuing To Struggle Being Social)

Posted on May 19, 2022 | Comments Off on Still Not Feeling Like We Are Post-Pandemic (or Continuing To Struggle Being Social)

For over 2 years now, I’ve had a very limited social life. I didn’t have the craziest social life before the pandemic, but I know I was going out and being around other people way more often. Even if it wasn’t for a social event, I feel like I had something related to the union at least once a month. Plus going out with friends and having fun adventures throughout the month. I also think that before the pandemic, I had a slightly better schedule for going out and doing things, but I think that is not that big of a change and just something I need to be more used to.

I know there are a lot of people talking about how we are in a post-pandemic world, but I do disagree with that idea. Things still aren’t great. People are still getting sick and dying. Treatments are available, but they aren’t perfect. And I’m still at a higher risk for getting really sick so I do have to be careful. But things are better than what they were before. Even if people are still getting sick, the death rate is lower. It needs to be even lower than this for me to feel like we are out of the pandemic, but I do agree that we are not in as bad of a situation as we have been before.

And I don’t regret how seriously I took the pandemic. I’m so grateful that I was able to stay safe and healthy. That’s a luxury that not everyone had. And for a long time, it was a struggle to be as isolated as I was. I had some really tough moments where I felt like I was left alone in the world. I’m used to being alone, but I was learning how to actually be lonely. And being lonely is something that I don’t think I ever truly experienced before. But now, I’m finding it a struggle to come out of the isolation that now seems normal to me.

I don’t want to live in serious fear, but I am still cautious. I don’t want to avoid the people that I know taking things as seriously as I do. I know being around others is a risk, but it’s an acceptable risk for me when I know they are not going out and doing things that will put me at even more risk of getting sick. And when I see friends, it still is a bit weird and awkward with figuring out if we need to try to space ourselves out, if people are ok with hugs again, and explaining if you have a cough that you know you don’t have Covid (something I have to explain so often since I have had a persistent cough for a majority of my life).

So as scary as it can feel sometimes to say yes to something a friend invites me to, I know I need to push myself a little bit more now. I still will take into consideration what the event is and how safe I can be. But if someone who takes things seriously is having something that is outside, that is safe and I shouldn’t be scared to go. But I still get that little voice in my head asking if I should go or not. And I do say no to some things if I feel like it’s just too much of a risky situation or an unknown for me. I haven’t been invited to too many things since so many of my friends have moved away in the past 2 years, but that also has given me an opportunity to reconnect with older friends or turn acquaintances into friends.

Maybe because I’ve had to rebuild my social life before, I’m ok with having to rebuild it again this time. But the last time, I didn’t have to worry about health and safety while rebuilding it and that is the roadblock that is still really difficult for me to get past. But I’m hoping that as it gets warmer and there are more outdoor things I can attend, I will slowly have more of my social life back and feel less like I’m still living in the middle of a pandemic.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailBeing Social Feels A Bit Cold (or Another Realization About The Pandemic) Default ThumbnailTaking Acceptable Risks (or Feeling Odd About This Stage Of The Pandemic) Default ThumbnailScheduling And Joy (or Continuing To Plan For When Things Are Coming Back) Default ThumbnailHaving More Virtual Movie Nights (or Still Trying To Be Social) Default ThumbnailMore Thoughts On Pandemic Dating (or I Wish I Didn’t Miss Dating As Much) Default Thumbnail2 Years Into The Pandemic (or Still Seeing What Is The New Normal And What Has Returned To Normal)

Comments Off on Still Not Feeling Like We Are Post-Pandemic (or Continuing To Struggle Being Social)

Posted in Fun Stuff, Tough Stuff

Tagged , ,

A Very Fast Trip To Santa Barbara (or Getting To Celebrate My Nephew’s Birthday A Little)

Posted on April 6, 2022 | Comments Off on A Very Fast Trip To Santa Barbara (or Getting To Celebrate My Nephew’s Birthday A Little)

This past weekend, my nephew Rory turned 2! I was excited his birthday fell on a day I had off so I could go to the little party my brother and sister-in-law were going to have for him. It was just going to be a party with family, so it wasn’t going to be a big gathering. But it was still a nice day I could spend with family.

And I was so excited to give Rory his gift. I had let my brother and sister-in-law know about the gift in advance, but I got him a balance bike! I wanted to make sure he wouldn’t get it from someone else and that they would have a helmet ready for him, so I couldn’t make it a total surprise. But at least it was going to be a surprise for Rory.

Since I couldn’t wrap the gift, I knew I had to get a really good bow for it. I found a bow that is supposed to be the type you put on a car if you give someone a car as a gift, but I figured a ridiculously big bow was the right choice. And when I put the bow on it, it was almost bigger than the bike!

The plan for me was to drive up to Santa Barbara that morning, spend the late morning and afternoon with my family, and drive back to LA in the late afternoon or early evening. It’s pretty much what I do every time I go up there since I just go for the day and not spend the night. And that morning, I was preparing to get into my car and make the drive when plans changed quite a bit.

Unfortunately, some of my family was exposed to Covid and things weren’t going to be able to happen the way we had planned. Because I wasn’t with my family while they were likely most contagious, I wanted to try to stay as safe and healthy as possible. But I wanted to still give my nephew his bike and try to celebrate him a bit. So I talked to my family about it and we decided that I would drive up to give Rory his gift, but I would stay at the end of the driveway so we would be outside and I would be at a distance. It’s not what I wanted to do, but it was what needed to be done so I could see everyone that day and also not put myself at extra risk.

The drive up to Santa Barbara isn’t that bad, and I’m glad there wasn’t really any traffic so it was a very simple drive. And I was able to bring the bike to their front porch before walking back so I could keep a bit of distance from my family. But I was able to stay there for a little bit so I could see Rory getting his bike and I think he liked it!

He didn’t like the helmet he needs to wear while riding it, but he was checking out the bike and I think that he’ll get more excited about it the more he gets to play with it. And I know he loves seeing kids at the park on scooters and bikes, so now he can join in too!

I didn’t get to see Presley because she was napping while I was there, but I knew since I was only going to be there for a few minutes that could be a possibility. I wish the timing worked out better, but it is what it is. I was glad that Rory seemed to be warming up to me more. I know I don’t see him that often so he can be a bit shy. But this time he was much more smiley and happy while I was around. He did still seem a bit more excited to wave goodbye to me, but that might have been because they were going into the house to play with his other new toys and he was just more excited about that.

I wish I could have spent more time with my family and gotten to celebrate Rory’s birthday more, but I also know we are still dealing with a pandemic and there was no need for me to be exposed. And staying safe and healthy now makes sure that I can celebrate more birthdays in the future so missing one isn’t the worst thing. And fortunately, Rory is young enough that he probably won’t remember that I had to miss this birthday with him.

And I am grateful that it seems like my family is going to be ok. This is the first time my family has been this affected by the pandemic and I know that we are very lucky that we have gone so long without having to worry this much. And we are very fortunate that even with this situation we are not as affected as so many others. This might not be the way we all wanted to celebrate my nephew’s 2nd birthday, but at least we did get to celebrate together (at a distance) in a way.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailCelebrating My Niece’s Birthday (or Another Santa Barbara Day) Default ThumbnailAnother Santa Barbara Day (or A Little Bit Of Social Interaction) Default ThumbnailA Little More Time In Santa Barbara (or Hanging Out With My Sister-In-Law) Default ThumbnailA Santa Barbara Afternoon (or Celebrating My Future Nephew!) Default ThumbnailA Bridal Shower Celebration (or My Morning In Santa Barbara) Default ThumbnailA Big Family Day! (or A Birthday Party and Meeting Presley)

Comments Off on A Very Fast Trip To Santa Barbara (or Getting To Celebrate My Nephew’s Birthday A Little)

Posted in Celebrations, Fun Stuff

Tagged , , , ,

2 Years Of Movie Club (or Another Pandemic-Related Anniversary)

Posted on March 18, 2022 | Comments Off on 2 Years Of Movie Club (or Another Pandemic-Related Anniversary)

As I said before, there are a few different dates that can be anniversaries for the start of the pandemic. For me, the last “normal” day is a big one. Also, the last date I worked out at Orangetheory before the studios shut down for over a year is something a remember a lot. But I also have a positive anniversary connected to the pandemic. Today marks exactly 2 years since the first movie I watched with online friends through Teleparty which was the start of what we now call Movie Club.

I love that I have a screenshot of the first post that I posted in the Facebook group announcing our first movie together. Things have changed quite a bit since that first movie. Now, we have a separate Facebook group just for Movie Club although everyone in it is still a member of the group it originated from. We do movies on Saturdays and a tv show on Wednesdays. And most of the women who are in Movie Club have become some of my closest friends even though I have never met any of them in real life.

I wish I had been able to meet them this past weekend when the others were able to get together, but I know there will be another opportunity to meet up with everyone. But to think that about 2 years ago I didn’t really know anyone that well and now we are always talking and texting is pretty incredible. Most of us knew each other a bit through the other Facebook group we were in, but we didn’t become close until we were meeting each week in Movie Club.

I think everyone has a lot of negative thoughts about what happened during the pandemic, but many also have a few bright spots of what the past 2 years brought. Some people had the opportunity to spend more time with their families. Some lost their jobs but ended up finding their dream job or even creating their dream job. I think almost everyone can say they were able to find things they valued in their life and tried to focus more on that and less on the things that didn’t matter. Everyone had to reevaluate a lot about their lives since 2020, and I’m glad that a lot of people got positive things out of that. And I was lucky enough to not only have that chance but also have all the wonderful things that Movie Club has brought into my life.

I have said many times that making friends as an adult is tough, but this was the perfect way to form friendships. I don’t know if we would have been able to do this if we created Movie Club during normal times when we weren’t all isolated from others. There was something special that came together and allowed us to find a way to come together. We have all talked about how lucky we are and how this might not be able to have been done if we had tried any other time. Everything had to be aligned for it to work out the way it did and I’m so grateful for that.

I have a feeling that Movie Club will continue to have our movie and tv nights for a while. We may eventually have them less frequently (we have been skipping a few Saturdays and might go from every week to every other week one day), but I think they will still be a regular part of my life for a long time. And even if the official group eventually ends, there is no doubt in my mind that I have made lifelong friends from Movie Club that will always be a part of my life.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailHaving More Virtual Movie Nights (or Still Trying To Be Social) Default Thumbnail19 Years In LA (or The LA Anniversary Between Two Big Milestone Anniversaries) Default Thumbnail2 Years Into The Pandemic (or Still Seeing What Is The New Normal And What Has Returned To Normal) Default ThumbnailFriends Are Living All Over (or Another Thing Because Of The Pandemic) Default ThumbnailSo Many Virtual Movie Nights (or Thank Goodness For Technology) Default ThumbnailAlmost Forgot My Hip Surgery Anniversary Again (or 15 Years Down)

Comments Off on 2 Years Of Movie Club (or Another Pandemic-Related Anniversary)

Posted in Celebrations, Fun Stuff

Tagged , , ,

2 Years Into The Pandemic (or Still Seeing What Is The New Normal And What Has Returned To Normal)

Posted on March 15, 2022 | Comments Off on 2 Years Into The Pandemic (or Still Seeing What Is The New Normal And What Has Returned To Normal)

There are a few different dates that people consider when they think of the start of the pandemic. For me, I seem to always think of how March 13, 2020 was the last day that really felt normal. It was right before things shut down and before masks were required. I know that I was still worried about Covid and knew that it was starting to affect people in my area, but it still felt separate from my life until things started to change drastically.

And for the first few weeks of the pandemic, I was terrified. There were so many unknowns (there still are a lot of unknowns, but there’s more information about many things). I didn’t know what I really needed to worry about and what might have been an overreaction. Seeing people lined up outside of a grocery store and then finally getting inside and seeing how much was missing from the shelves was something that felt like it was out of a movie. I think I really was going between being numb and being panicked so much for the first few weeks. And it didn’t help that so much of my day-to-day routine was gone right away. I was lucky and didn’t lose my job right away, but it quickly went to having my hours cut by more than half and then down to 3 hours a week before I was out of work. I did do workouts at home so I could try to feel like I was in my routine, but it wasn’t the same as going to my workouts. And I didn’t see any of my friends because we didn’t know what we could do to keep each other safe.

Of course, at that time, we thought maybe this would be life for maybe a month or two. I don’t think anyone expected it to be the way it has turned out.

Last year, when we were marking 1 year since the start of the pandemic, things really were starting to feel hopeful. I had gotten my first vaccination and was about to get my second dose. Some of my friends were also getting their vaccinations and we were looking forward to seeing how quickly things might be returning back to what felt like normal. Most of us were expecting that we would be able to have a normal summer and I started to make plans.

But just like how we thought the pandemic would be over quickly, things a year in didn’t go the way we thought either. We had new variants that were more contagious and got people sick. Not everyone believed in the vaccinations and that caused people to get sick who could have prevented it if they did get vaccinated. And while some things were coming back, there was a lot that still wasn’t normal and people still were being very cautious. I was working on isolating myself less when I could be safe. I started to see friends again when we could be outdoors or in small groups of people who were all vaccinated. And I feel like a year ago, I thought that might be the beginning of the end.

Now that we are 2 years in, things are starting to normalize a bit more but I don’t know if that’s a good thing yet. Masks are not being required, but I still wear mine almost everywhere I go. Cases are down right now, but we can see trends happening in other places and that worries me. We are still in a time where some things are going back to the old way of normal and other things are still the new normal. And we don’t know how long the new normal will stay or if they will go back to the old normal one day.

I do want to stay hopeful and believe that it won’t be much longer before I can stop thinking about how I’m going to keep myself safe when I leave my home. I am taking chances with things that I wouldn’t have done a year ago, and I am trying to find the balance between staying safe and not living my life because of fear. It’s something that has been hard to balance since things started 2 years ago. But now I am able to put a bit more on living my life again and less on taking a lot of measures to stay safe.

I do believe that in a year, we will be recognizing the 3-year mark to the pandemic, but I hope that things will be safer in a year than they are now. Maybe whatever variant we have at that time will be not that contagious or will not get people that sick. But I think I’ve accepted that Covid is not going away and it will eventually be a regular part of life. We aren’t to a place where we can really think that way yet as too many people are still getting very sick and either having long-Covid with debilitating symptoms or dying, but I hope that we will be at that point sooner rather than later.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailAnother Pandemic Therapy Check-In (or Hanging In There) Default ThumbnailA Year Into The Pandemic (or This Is Still Such A Weird Time) Default ThumbnailEven More Pandemic Dating Adventures (or Getting Out Of The House) Default ThumbnailThoughts Almost A Year Into The Pandemic (or Things Still Seem So Weird) Default ThumbnailKeeping Up With One Beauty Routine (or A Mix Of Old Normal and New Normal) Default ThumbnailTaking Acceptable Risks (or Feeling Odd About This Stage Of The Pandemic)

Comments Off on 2 Years Into The Pandemic (or Still Seeing What Is The New Normal And What Has Returned To Normal)

Posted in Tough Stuff

Tagged , ,

Some Things Are Starting To Return To Normal (or I Still Have To Make Smart Choices For Myself)

Posted on March 8, 2022 | Comments Off on Some Things Are Starting To Return To Normal (or I Still Have To Make Smart Choices For Myself)

For almost 2 years now, I have worn a mask pretty much everywhere I have gone. There are a few exceptions such as eating outdoors (I still have not eaten inside a restaurant since the beginning of 2020) or going over to a friend’s house if we both are ok being unmasked. And while this may be a choice others find risky, I do go without a mask at my workouts since they have allowed us to do so. But I only do that because they do require proof of vaccination and I know everyone there is taking the situation as seriously as I do. I still bring a mask with me to my workouts so I can put it on if I feel like I need to wear it.

But other than those few rare occasions, I always have a mask on when I’m around others. I remember at the start of the pandemic when I didn’t have proper masks and I was trying to make them out of whatever I had at my house. Now, I have a collection of masks and I always have at least one with me. I have one that is always in my car and one that is always in my purse. And I have a bunch at my front door where I keep my purse when I’m home so I can always grab a different one since some are better for different activities or circumstances. And I quickly learned that masks do trigger my claustrophobia so I have had quite a few panic attacks while wearing them. But there is no doubt that wearing a mask has kept me safe and healthy for almost 2 years. While I do wonder if I had Covid at the very beginning of 2020 (I lost my sense of taste and smell for almost a week, but that was before that was a known symptom), I haven’t gotten sick since I started to wear masks. And I’m grateful for that and I have no regrets about how careful I have been.

But things have taken a turn for the better with the pandemic. While the number of cases every day isn’t the lowest it’s been, the number of people who are in the hospital is dropping significantly every day. And that’s a good measure about how things are going since we know there is a chance this may just become a normal cold that is rarely fatal. Because things look better, more and more changes to return back to the old normal are happening. One of those changes is not requiring masks indoors as long as you are fully vaccinated.

Of course, a lot of places are relying on others and believing that they are fully vaccinated without requiring proof. And I have a feeling that most people who choose not to be vaccinated would also choose to not wear a mask if they could help it. So I didn’t think too much about the mask mandate being changed since I knew I would keep a mask on while indoors unless I knew they were requiring proof of vaccination. And I didn’t think too much about this until I went to the grocery store this past weekend.

I only had to pick up a few things and I didn’t want to wait until I might do a grocery delivery, so I went to the store myself on a Sunday afternoon. And even though I knew that they might not require masks, I think I briefly forgot about that because it was a shock to see people inside without masks on. Especially since there was nobody who checked to make sure anyone unvaccinated was still wearing a mask. A majority of the people inside were still wearing masks, so I wasn’t the only one still making that choice. But there were plenty of people inside without masks and it honestly felt a bit weird. It shouldn’t be weird since a majority of my life people weren’t wearing masks inside, but for some reason it really just hit me. And I was feeling a lot of anxiety being inside there so I quickly did my shopping and went home.

I know that this is a good thing that we can even consider not wearing masks, but I’m not ready for that just yet with a lot of situations. I’m sure that in the future, I will be so grateful I don’t have to think about masks anymore and we will be back to whatever normal means at that time. But for now, it still feels like a bit of an in-between time where some people still have the same fears and concerns that I do and others are ready to be over the pandemic and back to the old normal. I haven’t had to confront this feeling too often in public because masks have been required for so long, but I do feel ok with the choices I’m still making for myself and making sure that any risks I take are acceptable to me.

And maybe in a week or two, I will feel differently and will be ok not wearing a mask indoors and around others that may or may not be vaccinated. One thing I have learned over and over again for the past 2 years is how I need to be able to adapt based on the information I have available to me and be flexible in my thinking. But for now, I’m just not ready to change that much.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailRequiring Masks Again (or This Doesn’t Change Too Much For Me) Default ThumbnailSome Of The New Normal (or I’ll Need To Get Used To This) Default ThumbnailContinuing To Try To Stay Safe (or Making Sure I Don’t Panic Too Much or Too Little) Default ThumbnailGetting Ready For A Booster (or I’m So Glad Vaccines Are Starting To Be Required) Default ThumbnailThoughts About The Reopening (or Feeling Safe And Scared At Once) Default ThumbnailIt’s Musical Time! (or Another Return To Normalcy)

Comments Off on Some Things Are Starting To Return To Normal (or I Still Have To Make Smart Choices For Myself)

Posted in Health

Tagged ,

Still Not Doing All The Things I Love (or I Wonder When I Will Have Another Disney Day)

Posted on February 16, 2022 | Comments Off on Still Not Doing All The Things I Love (or I Wonder When I Will Have Another Disney Day)

It’s been a long time since I’ve gone to Disneyland. This is one of the longest breaks from going to the parks that I’ve had since moving to LA. I know that one year of missing Disney was due to the parks being closed, but they reopened almost a year ago and I still haven’t returned. And this is for a few different reasons.

First, I still am anxious about being in crowded places. I know that when they reopened the capacity was reduced quite a bit, but it was still a lot of people. And now, I have seen photos of friends who have gone and the parks are just as crowded as before. I know that I won’t have this fear of getting sick forever, but I don’t see the need to push myself to go to the parks when I’m still uncertain. I’ve waited this long and I can wait a little longer. And right now, even though the numbers are getting better, they are still pretty high and I don’t need to add another risky behavior to my life. I know that going to the gym is still a risk, but I’m trying to be selective with the risks I take.

And they also just announced that vaccinated guests will no longer be required to wear masks at Disneyland, so I think I will want to wait longer before returning. I don’t know if they will be asking for vaccination cards when people are entering if they aren’t wearing masks, but I don’t know if that matters. Once someone is past the front gate, there won’t be regular checkpoints checking vaccination status. So someone who is unvaccinated could easily not wear a mask and I doubt anyone would know. I’ve seen what happened when there was a measles outbreak that was mainly around people who went to Disneyland. I worry that there could be the same thing with COVID-19 with unvaccinated guests not wearing masks. And I also know that being vaccinated doesn’t guarantee you can’t get others sick, so anyone not wearing a mask could be a risk for me. In some ways, I’m glad they announced this because now I’m even more certain about not going to the parks until things are safer. I’m not questioning my choice as much as I did when everyone is masked. Now, it just feels way too unsafe for me.

But even if I wasn’t worried about getting sick and being in crowds, there is another reason why I haven’t returned. I actually had a chance to meet up with my cousin at Disneyland this past weekend and I seriously was considering it. But I also don’t have an annual pass anymore so I would have to buy a 1-day ticket. And for the day I would be able to meet up with them, a 1-day ticket was over $200. When I had an annual pass, it was about $600. I can’t imagine spending 33% of what I spent for an entire year for a single day. Especially when I don’t know how often I would or could go now. I used to have Mondays free from work, and now I work Monday-Saturday. I will eventually start going back and I have a feeling I will buy the new type of annual pass since it’s worth it to me, but I can’t think of spending the money until I feel like I will be able to get the use out of it.

Since everything shut down almost 2 years ago, I have gotten a lot of my old life back. But I am still missing a lot of things, and going to Disneyland is one of them. If I went now, it wouldn’t be the way I remembered having Disney days. In the past, they were days to be carefree and have fun. Now, I don’t think I could have that same carefree feeling and it might be more stressful than other things in my life. One day, I’ll be back to being able to enjoy Disney and escape the regular world, but I’m just not there yet.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailAnd Another Year Of Disney (or I Need To Get Back To The Parks) Default Thumbnail2 Restaurants and 2 Rides (or A Very Low-Key Disney Afternoon) Default ThumbnailAnother Disney Birthday (or Eating All The Foods Again) Default ThumbnailA Disney Morning (or Dealing With The Heat For One Ride) Default ThumbnailAnother Year Of Disneyland! (or Paying With Ink Recycling) Default ThumbnailCelebrating Villaintine’s Day (or Getting Something Checked Off My Disney Bucket List)

Comments Off on Still Not Doing All The Things I Love (or I Wonder When I Will Have Another Disney Day)

Posted in Fun Stuff, Tough Stuff

Tagged , , ,