mostly post-covid

 this has been an interesting and busy experience. before i begin:

this last week we all got covid, and for a day and a half i was on my own taking care of my son and working and trying not to let the house fall apart while my wife rested. it's not the first time since the lockdowns started that i've freaked out about how insanely tough single parenting must be on a good day, let alone having to babysit/entertain/troubleshoot AND do chores AND get work done AND stress about whether you can keep your job / survive the pandemic along with your loved ones.

last year we were hearing stories post-hard lockdown about people with small children - frightening numbers of them - being forced to return to work before the schools opened and either leaving the kids with neighbours they had no relationship with or locking them in their houses and praying that they'd somehow be okay (physically, not even discussing the psychological trauma).

jesus christ, have we lost our way as a society... i'm no fan of john oliver, but watch the episode of last week tonight on maternity leave and tell me that's not scary.
i really, really hope that all the horrors of this pandemic lead to some more awareness and support. parenting is tough enough for two parents.

fortunately, i didn't have to take off last week, but i did do way less hours than i would have liked. it's tough to self-care under these conditions. there's some reorganization going on at work, but so far it's all feeling positive and i'm getting my work done at a good enough pace. hours-wise, at least this week's off to a good start, and although it's been a bit daunting my side-project progress has been slow and steady (i registered a major design flaw over the weekend and was very relieving when meeting my client today to hear that he's happy with my solution to it).

i lost some weight due to covid, but am slowly putting it back on. we're REALLY excited for thursday, when we can finally send mr smear back to school and start living our lives again. i'm particularly excited about the idea of getting back on my blades again.

over the course of the last few nights my mum's been reading harry potter to mr smear over video chat (we both have copies), and it's been a great experience. which reminds me of sad news, my mum's really struggling to get rid of her coffee shop and cut her losses and it's super frustrating to not be able to help in any substantial way.

...

dance dance revolution has returned to its spot as our only reliable exercise regime. i get the strangest feeling that the designers intended us to wear red/blue 3D glasseses while playing, it's trippy AF. additionally, i bought little planet 3 this weekend. our boy's been stuck at home for weeks and we all could use a little treat... this was a fantastic purchase!