1. On the health front, one of my best weeks yet over the last two months. Every day I hit my calorie goals on eating, and I walked on the treadmill 6 our of 7 days. The walking continues to steady - between 45 and 50 minutes each time, about 2.25 miles (sometimes a little less, sometimes a little more), with the slight incline as well. Generally, the framework of how I think about each day, planning for my exercise, planning my meals and tracking everything, is significantly changed from where I was two months ago. I feel the more and more I work to make that a habit, to the point where it requires less sustain concentrated focus, the better this long road will be. Hopefully, I'll keep walking that journey.
2. Last week I shared that my dad was in the hospital with COVID Pneumonia. That is still the case. It hard to say whether things have improved over that time. He continues to receive the treatment he needs, which is good; but he continues to more intense levels of treatment (though not particularly critical care at this moment). As I said, its difficult to know where things are.
I mentioned last week how all this really makes one feel futile, useless, particularly in the age of COVID when the most natural thing to do - gather as a family - is something that can't really be done. The anxiety is not helped by watching our country, state, and community continue to flounder in addressing the spread of COVID. Our state (Indiana) has seen 9 of its 10 highest days of cases in the last 10 days; our county is tracking the same way. The local county's 7 day rate has almost doubled in two weeks, nearing 10%, where it hasn't been in several months. It appears that "COVID fatigue" hit people around Labor day and the virus (which doesn't care about such things) has spread within the community quite significantly. This likely means continued disruptions to our lives, particularly with school (which is unfortunate, for so many reasons). But, combining these current community happenings with the loss of my father-in-law due to COVID in April, and my dad's continued hospitalization due to COVID for the last 9 days, leads to a bundle of emotions that everyone in our household is struggling to manage. There's not much to do but "keep on keeping on" as I say, but everything feels heavy.
3. On less important matters, I finished (No. 75) this week, Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo, an YA fiction work told entirely in free verse, making it a unique read. I'm now reading How Much of These Hills is Gold by C Pam Zhang, and it has proved to be an intriguing read thus far.
Fall weather continues, and tonight seems like a good night for some baked Pasta. I'll be making my simplified version of Baked Ziti tonight for dinner (with leftovers that are better than the original for tomorrow night). With the way life is at the moment, I'm thankful that reading and cooking are hobbies that I can continue to rely on for distraction and calm.
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