The last week of my 30s

So, that little burst of blogging didn't really go anywhere, did it? Sorry about that, but you know, life happens. It happened a lot. I got busy and I couldn't find the time or inspiration to blog again. And then, well The Trucker had his spinal fusion and things got even busier, juggling trips to the hospital, single-momming, dog walking etc. And then he came home and we'd both basically stopped working while he was in hospital, so now I was working from home, playing catch-up. And then well, as he was just starting to get mobile and manage a trip in the car, COVID-19 happened and basically body-slammed our lives.

We started out with social distancing, the Babe Girl last went to school on the 13th of March. That is a million years ago in home-school time. And then after a fairly enjoyable 2 weeks of social distancing, where we were going for a morning bike ride before breakfast, still taking the dog for a walk, going for car-picnics in places with gorgeous views, they put the whole country into Lockdown from the 27 March.

And now, I have pretty much left the house once a week to go grocery shopping and The Babe Girl hasn't left our property at all.

And we sit here now in the Lockdown-Extension, waiting to hear what our future holds in May.

We have already had to cancel her 5th birthday party and enjoy her actual birthday over video call with the grandparents (and a lot of awesome birthday video messages from friends!). We have missed an awesome weekend we had planned up in Joburg to catch-up with friends, most of whom I haven't seen in the 5 years since we moved, and the Mauritius family holiday for my 40th. Okay, I know, it has been postponed to April 2021 (we didn't want to reckon on later this year because who actually even knows what the situation will be like then?). But still, for a holiday we booked 6 months in advance, to now be waiting a year on. Well it feels heavy. I know, First World Problems, as people are starving because they have lost their jobs and/or worrying about how to pay school fees or their bond, I'm sad because my overseas holiday got postponed. But, you know, I was really looking forward to it. And being stuck in our house, unable to get any downtime or space from one another (a 5yr old does NOT understand that a person might need space to recharge), I coulda really used that holiday.

And today we had our flights for our trip to USA in June put "on hold" - basically cancelled and they need to be rescheduled at some point within 12 months of our original departure date. And unfortunately non-refundable. Dammit. And it sounds like the wedding we were travelling over there specifically for is not going to fall within those dates when it is eventually rescheduled. And (again, so sad, first world problems), we'll have to use the credit to go somewhere, but at this point, I would have much rather got a refund and booked a trip to the Kruger Park (fingers crossed for later this year since we were sposed to go next year, but now Mauritius has moved to next year and this year has, well, nothing).

Anyhoo. So my Lockdown State of Mind? I'm mostly okay. I have had one breakdown since it all started which mostly involved a shopping experience. The leaving-your-house-to-go-shopping actually becomes quite a stressful experience. And when you can't find what you need and you are aimlessly wandering up & down aisles because you went to a different shop than you're used to because you figured the stock would be better and the queues shorter ... well it wears you down.

The home schooling feels like it is going pretty well. The Babe Girl is definitely getting a helluva lot more screen time than before, because with only 1 kid we were lucky to still be able to limit that a lot more than I think most people can. But now our routine is to wake up and watch the Wild Earth / SafariLIVE Kruger Park Game Drives, under a blanket with our coffee/tea (and rusks if it is the weekend). And she is loving it, and she is learning so much from it actually, it is amazing. And she has been following YouTube videos for Kid's Yoga (Cosmic Kids) and Ballet (Daniella Ballerina). And we've downloaded the Reading Eggs App that she has started on as well because she is at the learning to read & write stage.

But, it isn't just rubbish kids TV, you know. That's what I'm consoling myself with anyway.

And, The Trucker & I are still working in between all that. Luckily we are both working for his company so we've been able to be pretty flexible. We're probably each getting about half a day in between tag-teaming with The Babe Girl. One of us will take mornings and then we'll switch after lunch for the afternoon slot. So we are lucky that we are both still a) able to work b) able to work from home (thank goodness for fibre!) and c) still earning full salaries. But it's hard to know what the future holds. Another reason that USA flight would've been better as a refund!

I was hoping to do a "All the things I did this decade" post for my 40th but I just don't actually have the time right now. I am either entertaining a 5yr old or working with a guilty feeling of not getting enough done for the day (some sometimes end up working till 10pm to get something finished, like yesterday).

Ah, you know, maybe one day when there is free time again. I know some people have loads of free time during lockdown (apparently because they're all learning new skills or reading a million books or watching all the series, or something, apparently), but I am not one of them. I joked that I wondered if I could rent a spot at one of Discovery's Isolation Hotels just for 24hrs as a treat for my birthday cause I would've liked to take Monday off, but if I'm not working, I'm trying to keep up with a 5yr old HAHA.

I hope you are all keeping safe and healthy somewhere out there.