29 weeks pregnant/almost 4 weeks in quarantine

Random scene from a couple weeks ago

In a few days, we will have been in Los Angeles for four weeks. Tomorrow O and I are driving back to to the Bay because I have an OB appointment, and also to pick up some stuff, like summer clothes, food we left in the freezer, etc. When we left, we thought we'd be here for two, maybe three weeks. Ha! Looks like it'l be at least two months now. M will stay with the in-laws, and we'll drive back on Saturday.

It's been raining a lot here. Good for the plants and the environment. Not great for my summer-craving self. But LA is apparently at 100% of average rainfall, so there's that.

Work is chugging along. I'm more productive on some days than others, and I'm positive that I wouldn't get very much done without my beloved StayFocusd Chrome extension. The lure of the news, blogs, Instagram, and other random web surfing is just too intoxicating. I'm enjoying "Digital Minimalism" by Cal Newport, and hope to implement more and more of his recommendations over time.

I've been pretty disciplined about exercise. 30 minutes on the exercise bike each morning (not very strenuous) and a 20-30 minute walk each afternoon. Walks are becoming more difficult due to my pregnant form (just passed 29 weeks). The good news is that next week, I will be 7 months pregnant! And the following week I'll be only 2 months away from my due date. Until then, I'll just keep on "checking off" each day.

Podcast keeping me sane: "Best of Both Worlds", "Pod Save America", "How to Money", "Call Your Girlfriend" and "Happier with Gretchen Rubin".

Easy Saturday

Virtual circle time on weekdays

It's Saturday. We made it to the weekend. Thank goodness we are with family and not stuck at home right now. Today I was able to sleep till 7, take a nap, not have to cook or clean much at all, and go for a solo walk and journal for a bit. And I'm still struggling!!

I was mostly staying away from the news for a few days, but ended up spending an hour online today and just lost it. I'm sad about my own situation, I'm sad about the situations of others who have it a lot worse, I'm sad about the underlying problems in our country and in our society that have both aided this crisis and that are being exposed by it. I also feel powerless to change any of it. I can't be un-pregnant right now. I can't hire an au-pair. I can't wave a magic wand and overhaul the healthcare system in this country. All I can do is just keep checking off each day and hope that this experience will somehow make me stronger in the end. Unfortunately, I don't have the same hope for our country, particularly after having read this article.

Other notes and updates:

• O and I went for a walk around Toluca Lake, a very nice nearby neighborhood. I look forward to taking M there during the week since they closed the parks and beaches in LA until April 19th, and we will need a change of scenery.
• I have had less than one cup of coffee today and survived. Really trying to cut down my consumption because I feel like drinking more doesn't really help anything, and it's just an emotional crutch.
• Caught up with a couple of friends by phone and text.
• Received a couple of t-shirts from Nordstrom. I'm a big fan of these, my older ones are looking pretty sad now, and they are fairly long, so I'm hoping I can wear them until the end of pregnancy.
• Ate a yummy chicken dinner cooked by my MIL. I'm so glad I don't have to cook a lot right now.
• Borrowed and downloaded Celine via my beloved Libby app, on recommendation from one of my favorite bloggers. Hopefully it provides a much needed escape! I'm not particularly interested in watching TV these days, for some reason. I have been getting through The Wire for the last several months, but I need something more uplifting these days, and I haven't found it.

From a Griffith Park outing earlier this week. It'll be off limits for the next few weeks :(

Self-control and caution tape

Today I managed to not browse the internet or read any news until 6pm. I am very proud of this, though I was definitely feeling some withdrawals. Somehow people did this regularly before 1998, or whenever the internet became part of our daily rituals!

I had the morning childcare shift today, so we went to Studio City Recreation Area again. O dropped off me and M and drove off to brave Costco. The park is, thankfully, still open, but the playground is taped off. The weather was pretty good, with some light rain mixed into a partially sunny morning. This picture actually looks more sad than I felt while there...maybe because there were other people at the park, but they don't appear in the photo.

In addition somebody dropped off a bag full of bright plastic toys next to the entrance of the (closed) Rec Center building. The bag had Frozen characters printed on the side. M saw it and kept wanting to go play with it. She said, "Maybe we take it home?" Ummm...no. Why would somebody do this during a pandemic? Were they trying to torture little girls and their parents?

Off to do dinner and evening routine!