COVID-19 Quarantine Updates (Week 10)

Well I decided to finally switch to weekly updates, especially now that we have some more freedoms and our lock down looks like how it is in much of the world.  Things here are slowly opening (some places opened last week with Phase 1) with massive precautions and regulations put into place -- such as everyone entering must wear a mask + gloves and only a certain number of people in the store at a time and only outdoor seating at restaurants.  It is this bizarre taste of normalcy without actually things going back to normal...  And in a very weird sense, it almost seems harder because now we all want things to go back to before COVID decided to ruin 2020.  

And now that we are on the other side (hopefully forever) of living through the strictest lock down in the entire world, I can say that we came out stronger -- maybe not better in some places but definitely stronger as a family, as a community, even as a country.  I feel closer to my friends here than I ever have before; we spent 45+ days entertaining our children inside without any sort of break or escape and we survived.  But I will say I don't ever (EVER) need to do that again.  It still feels like a bad dream but it also feels like just yesterday was day one, so I am thankful it went by fast.  Now hopefully we can keep moving forward... 

If you need a refresher on our past weeks -- week one here and week two here and week three here and week four here and week five here and week six here and week seven here and week eight here and week nine here.

So as our first week of loosened restrictions came to a close, we settled into yet another (new) routine to navigate this crazy new normal.  We are still doing mom school each weekday morning -- both in English and Spanish (obviously I am preparing the English stuff and the Spanish stuff is coming from Serafina's actual teacher).  Serafina continues to love school and learning, making her the easiest student I have ever taught!  Trevor is now going into the office each morning and then home in the afternoons which is usually when Serafina and I have meet ups/playdates with her friends, allowing Trevor to continue work if needed.  I am still getting in workouts most days as well as walks with Serafina on days we don't have a playdate lined up -- and then walks/runs by myself in the evenings just to get some alone time.

This week has felt almost normal -- minus the mandatory masks we have to wear whenever we leave the house.  The Spanish government announced masks are mandatory for all people in Spain (there are some exceptions, but as healthy able-bodied people, we have to wear masks).  But more and more things are opening up.  We had to change the tires on our car this week so we were able to get that done fairly easily and quickly.  I was able to get a pedicure and go back to my amazing massage lady this week too.  People are out and about enjoying walks or sitting with family/friends for a coffee or meal.  It is really refreshing to see people outside of our immediate family.  Of course, COVID is always in the back of our heads but it has been nice to feel a little return to normal.  

Serafina had a follow up appointment for her asthma.  We were able to see a doctor in person and not in the COVID tent so that was nice.  Sadly, she was given a more specific diagnosis of moderate/persistent asthma.  She is now on a maintenance inhaler for the foreseeable future with a rescue inhaler as needed.  Whenever school starts again, we will need to create an asthma action plan for her and provide a rescue inhaler at school as well.  She hasn't had any sort of asthmatic episode/attack in well over a month, even with running around and playing more with other kids -- so I am hopeful she can grow out of it or it was/is related to whatever she had in early March that started her whole asthma thing and in time it'll also go away.  

I went out to dinner with friends as well and it was... well, weird.  It was really fun seeing friends but also very weird having to wear masks (we didn't while we ate) and seeing SO many places open for outdoor seating.  It was wonderful seeing people out and seeing our town alive again, but also worried us all because social distancing was not happening at a lot of places.  It was almost like a reverse culture shock being around people again.  

We are hoping to move into Phase 2 on Monday as numbers keep going down (in our region, in our territory and within Spain).  Phase 2 will mean more places will open, we could eat inside a restaurant and we can gather in larger groups (up to 15) while still keeping social distancing (and now masks) in place -- which is also next to impossible with kids so we are still only seeing people within Trevor's command.  We are washing hands frequently and staying safe and being smart about it all.  We are all fully aware the threat of COVID is still present.  But we are slowly getting there...