Life in the Apocalypse

It's been a rough week.

Now there's an understatement if there ever was one.

On Monday my boss returned from vacation and instantly put new cleaning protocols in place to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.  It was stressful to say the least!  We had a full schedule of patients, and it is hard to stay caught up on the best of days.

Nevermind with all the extra cleaning.

The standard schedule certainly doesn't allow time to sanitize every inch of the rooms between each person, and as crazy as it is we weren't having any cancellations, so of course we were behind schedule the entire time.  People weren't upset; they were happy we were taking the precautions, but it's still stressful to be behind all day.

By the time I got home at the end of the day on Wednesday, I was on complete and total overload.

To be honest, I felt like I had completely lost my grip on my my sanity.  

I felt like my entire body and brain were vibrating from having to be so zeroed in to my every action for three straight days. The second I walked in the door, I poured myself a kahlua and cream, and didn't stop refilling my glass until I had stopped vibrating.

To add to the fun, my boss spent the entire week insisting that we were NOT closing. (She finally changed her mind this morning!) So, I spent the week oscillating between fear for my health and concern over the irresponsibility of not social distancing as recommended.

By the time Friday rolled around reality had fully settled in, as many of my commune friends started sharing the news that they were suffering from pay cuts, schedule cuts, lay offs, and straight up job loss.

By mid-week, I could feel myself spiraling out of control and I could tell some of the old mental and emotional health demons I thought I'd laid to rest were rearing their ugly heads.  I fought a long hard battle out of the abyss and I AM NOT GOING BACK THERE!

So, I decided that I am going to concentrate on trying to do things to decompress and escape the craziness. 

So, here is my Week in Review thus far...

Thursday: I went for a 3 - 3 ½ mile walk near my house.  I was going to take a few photos but I completely forgot.

Saturday: I took two of my dogs on a nice easy 2ish mile hike at a nearby park, where I did remember to take some photos!

Photo of the rock formations at the park...



I walked around the formations, not up them.  I opted to take one of my 12 year old dogs and I knew that would be too much for her.

Me with two of my goobers.  The larger dog is the older one, and the smaller dog is much younger.  She is a rescue, so I'm not sure of her exact age but I think she's around two...



Always up for a fun adventure...



Here was where the largest number of people I saw were located, except for in the parking lot.  Normally, I would have taken at least one trek up and down the stairs, but I was taking the social distancing thing very seriously and didn't want to have to pass too closely to anyone.  So, I opted to take a photo from afar today...



Another photo of me with one of the dogs...

And one of a little friend I met along the way...



Also, I have to say that if ever my tattoo was a perfect fit, this is it.  I really am so thrilled that I was able to get it before all of this insanity settled in.  It's been serving as the best reminder to maintain control of what I have control over and to just surrender to the rest.  Worrying will do no good, so take it one day at a time and just deal with whatever presents itself that day...