Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021 - 9:00 am.
Happy updates: My friend who didn't show up to our little get-together last week did not have covid-19! The symptoms that his friend showed was just her rhinitis acting up. And I talked to Brother #2, who was feeling better after his encounter with the virus; he was back to work this week (he's a medical doctor in a small city). My nephew, his son, also got through with it with mild symptoms. What a relief.
Back to local news: My body aches out of exhaustion. I've had a very demanding week and the next one will be the same. What's taking up most of my time and energy is the two theses I'm supervising. It's two three-member groups, but one of these groups became a dyad because one of the students failed. He just didn't show up to anything. I've had to spend the week making my case to the Psych Department about this student (he has quite a record, too, and my assessment is consistent with it), and attending questions and meetings with the students that did make it.
The two groups will defend their thesis this week and then the students will graduate. Except the one I failed; I tried to support him, give him the benefit of the doubt, but he just didn't show up to anything. I cannot wait for this to be over, but I hope to get a paper out of each thesis. These are very small studies, but everything counts.
I never met in person with these students. Funny. Godspeed.
The most demanding day was yesterday, Friday. Andrew and I had our adoption interview, finally! It was just to explore personal and family history, but it was over two hours long. We will start psych evaluations in March and THEN hopefully we'll be deemed good candidates to be the family of a child who needs someone like us.
After the meeting, we had lunch and then I loitered until it was time for me to go to my dentist appointment in the middle of the afternoon. The city went on lockdown this week for the third time so I couldn't get an Uber. I called four taxi agencies and they had no cars available for my area. I had to walk to the clinic, rushing to make it in 30 minutes. I exercise regularly so apart from the discomfort of walking under the summer sun (and I did wear sunscreen, and I am from Central America after all), my body handled the walk nicely. I made it in 35 minutes.
Meanwhile, Andrew had his afternoon full with two thesis exams, one in which he was an examiner and the other of the group he supervises, but he still kept an eye on my journey to the dentist. He called the clinic to let them know I was going to be a few minutes late, bless him. He knows I get inmensely anxious about going out and Doing Things For Myself, and I was even more anxious about the possibility of not finding a ride to and from the clinic.
Everything seemed uphill to me, but I'd had days to accept these things were going to happen so I carried on and tried to keep my bitching and moaning to a minimum. So I walked to the dentist, somewhat pissed off but dealing with it, and afterwards, thankfully, the secretary called me a cab that took me back home.
Andrew said he was proud of me. I was too. Not to be condescending, it's just that life outside seems so challenging to me, all the worse with the virus.
Even though we are on lockdown, the streets were populated as they would be any other day without a pandemic. That made me nervous but it also made me less likely to stand out. I had my circulation permit, but the whole dentist thing exceeded the two hours that the permit allowed me to be outside. Yet no one's checking and I didn't need the permit nor the dentist's note.
Next week is shaping up to be roughly the same: I have one thesis exam rehearsal, two actual thesis exams, another thesis meeting with two of my boss' students, and one more dentist appointment. All that on top of my regular job with my boss. Nearly my whole payment from my full-year thesis supervision went to pay for these appointments. It sucks I barely got to keep any of this money, but healthy teeth are always a good investment. That payment was also an extra from my regular paycheck, so at least my regular budget was not altered.
It's my birthday this Tuesday, too. It's hard to believe I'm turning 36, but also, it feels about right. Andrew already got me my present (because he wasn't available to receive it when they delivered it to the apartment, haha): A globe! He gave me the world. He gave me one in Sheffield for Christimas years ago; I was sorry to leave it behind, but I gave it to a dear friend. Now I have a new one.
More good news: The university closes during February. I can't wait, I need a break so bad.