Pandemic Update: How We Are and Are Not Progressing

Small Business Conundrums 

Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been several local businesses I have continued to support because I can't imagine my community without them.  But recent events have caused me to question my support of two of these businesses and I guess I'm writing this here in the hopes that someone will either tell me that I'm doing the right thing or tell me what to do that would be right thing.

First, my yoga studio. I have paid for a monthly membership to my yoga studio since April 2020. This allows me unlimited classes every month, but let's be honest, it's a small studio and really only offers six to seven classes a week. I aimed for two a week and usually made this goal, but not always. Previous to March 2020, I would regularly take a class at the actual studio every week and I enjoyed those classes, but I'm one of the strange people who actually prefer the Zoom classes (in my home! no commute! no showering at strange places!) and have found that the online format has been a boon to my *snotty voice* yoga practice.

But a couple of weeks ago, the owner of the studio posted an anti-vax, anti-mask meme on her personal Facebook page (this page is where she posts all of her business-related content, too).  It was not her own writing, but still  I was shocked, appalled, and frankly disturbed that someone in the health and wellness industry would post such information.  It just seems dangerous and irresponsible.  I wrote a comment along the lines of "I'm disappointed that you posted this" and have since not been to a class or interacted with her online.  I am on the hook for a membership through the end of November (you have to purchase in three month intervals and I reupped at the beginning of this month), but I'm honestly contemplating just not going to any more classes and not signing up for anything from the studio ever again.  Is this an extreme reaction this situation?

Second, there's the dog groomer. We've taken Hannah the Dog to a local groomer since we got her because it's within walking distance our house and this groomer does all the things that Dr. BB and I don't want to do - trim her nails and empty her anal glands, to be highly specific - at a super reasonable price.  She knows Hannah and puts up with all our weird requests that include not feeding her anything and using only her prescription shampoo.  But this groomer with her wonderful accommodations for our weird dog and her incredibly reasonable prices comes with some challenges. I've never once gone there at the scheduled time.  The groomer has a chronic illness and frequently reschedules because she's not well or she overbooks on days when she can work and calls to ask us to come in earlier or later.  I would estimate that I've only ever gone there at the planned time once or twice in the two years that we've had the dog, going to the groomer every four to eight weeks.  The last time she cancelled, she never called to reschedule and to be honest, it's hard enough to plan my days around the dog's appointments without those appointments becoming moving targets, so I actually did some research and started looking at other groomers in our area.  

I took Hannah to another groomer (she really needed it) and the groomer hardly touched her nails and doesn't actually empty anal glands because apparently this is a serious issue of division among groomers (it's internal and groomers are "supposed to" only do external things, APPARENTLY).  Anyway, these are details. Do I continue to take Hannah to the unreliable groomer or do I keep on with my search through local groomers (there are three or four more I can still try based on a crowd-sourced Facebook recommendation list)?  Someone please tell me what to do.  

Workout Clothes: I Hate It

I need some new workout pants for cooler weather. I need some new sports bras, too.  I have twice in the last month had to put off a workout because I ran out of clean sports bras and rather than increase the number of times I do laundry (once a week is all I can take), I feel like adding two or three sports bras to my rotation will make life easier.  But, listen.  I hate spending money on exercise things. I feel like I should be able to buy some nice shoes and a nice yoga mat and everything else should be free tshirts and hand me down boxer shorts.  But it doesn't work like that. So I need to to spend time researching the best workout pants/bras for my needs AND then spend the money and this makes me bitter.

Okay, workout pant criteria. I want a full-length pant. Capris can suck a duck because they always cut off right at my scar on my bad leg and I hate it. I want a pocket for my phone and my keys. I want them to NOT ROLL ON MY WAIST. Some women swear leggings are comfortable and I'm utterly befuddled because NO THEY ARE NOT THEY ALWAYS ROLL and I'm irrationally angry about this. I have found some running SHORTS that do not roll, but all of my yoga pants and running pants DO ROLL and this is frustrating.  

If you didn't think that was enough of a thing, let me tell you about bras. I hate the ones with velcro.  I hate the ones with seams that rub against my upper arm. I hate the ones with seams that touch my fucking breasts (I'm hyperventilating thinking about this).  I need it to support my absolutely boring C-cup boobs when I do things like run, squat jumps, and jumping jacks. I have a really old stretched out sports bra that should have been thrown away years ago, but it's the only one I own that meets these criteria, although it's slowly becoming unable to do the basic requirement of supporting my boobs when the rest of my body is bouncing.  

Sunday: Not a Day of Rest

I slept in on Sunday and immediately regretted it because my to-do list was so long.  

1) Yoga video - Since I'm on a yoga studio strike, I've been slacking on yoga and I really need it.

2) Dog park - The dog needs to run and be free and play with other dogs and it's a gorgeous day.

3) Laundry - Standing Sunday chore.

4) Dumb work email reminding people to do things I asked them to do last Monday and Wednesday and now am sending on a fucking weekend because I need it for a meeting on Monday mid-morning

5) Vacuum/sweep floors  Standing Sunday chore.

6) Dog nails - We use a Dremel to trim the dog's nails, but she really doesn't like it, which is why we pay good money to our groomer to do it.  Unfortunately, the groomer we were trying out did a very bad job on her nails - I might argue she did absolutely NOTHING to her nails - so now we have to do it.  This involved one person shoveling kibble into her mouth (Dr. BB) while someone else went at her nails with a vengeance (me).  This took three sessions over the entire day and NO ONE was happy at the end of it and her nails were only SORT OF okay.

7) Text D/M/T/T - At some point, I just stopped reaching out to people who don't live with me and I need to stop that.

8) Update blog - I'm so behind.  I will never catch up and I guess that's okay since this space doesn't have to be a priority.  

9) Duolingo - Every day. I do it every day.

10) Get dinner started by five - Because I get to go to book club tonight (item #13), I need to start dinner super early so that I can have fed the dog, cat, and husband before I leave.

11) Sympathy card - Someone in book club's dog died and I need to write a sympathy card for their family and give to her at book club. 

12) Make cookies - For book club (item #13).

13) Go to book club - My reward for getting the rest of this fucking list done.

Overall

You guys, I'm losing my mind. I don't know what's right or wrong anymore.  I'm so exhausted of policing where I think is safe or not.  I honestly don't care if I get Covid at this point - I'm vaccinated and most people who are vaccinated get mild symptoms - but I DO care if I pass it on to someone who is vulnerable or unvaccinated.  And I'm tired of part of the policing have to judge how seriously I think other people take their own mitigation strategies.  I'm so tired.

I want to go to a restaurant and eat in. I want to go to a work meeting without a mask on. I want to go see my mom and not worry about whether or not I'll catch something on the way there. I want to just do a weekend away with my husband without planning every little interaction we might have with someone. I don't want to panic anymore when my doorbell rings because the person on the other side isn't wearing a mask. I want to be able to hand out candy on Halloween. I want things to be normal again.  But I know that I can't live like that because it's not normal.  So we go on.