How are you all dealing with coronavirus and the restrictions many of us have to live

Day one and I'm already breaking down.

I wanted to still make it nice even though I'm by myself. Went to the supermarket after work this morning and half the things I wanted, they didn't have, so I'm already low on comfort food. I just looked at the cake mix I got and realized I should have done that in the store to see what else to add. Now I don't have any butter or eggs so no cake baking. That's when I burst into tears. Over a freaking cake. Or rather no freaking cake.

I've just really had it with things going wrong and constantly trying to keep up my spirits but then SOMETHING always comes and messes it up. Or my stupidity messes it up.

Now I just feel really stupid sitting here in my decorated living room by myself.

You are not stupid. You may feel stupid but you are not at all.

You sound like a strong person who is suffering. It isn't easy to live the way you have had to live. It's hard! Please be gentle on yourself. Ride this holiday out whatever way you can. Comforts, music, TV, film, books, art, whatever transports you from this.

We're here for you!

our area is heading for stricter restrictions again dec, 28t8

the announcement was made yesterday, and honestly not so sure how I feel about it. I think I've said in another post in this thread, all these u turns and miss information.. hard to keep up with it

@BreakForTheLight, I agree with Discombobulated. I think you're doing the best you can in a difficult situation. You have so many strengths. I wish you the best.

What nice words!!!
You even recalled people who have to work tonight.
So sweet!
Thank you a lot.

Break, I would like to tell you something that may give you some kind of consolation but I only can tell you that I can imagine how you are feeling at this moment.

The cake is only an anecdote. I know it. You should have seen how I messed up with the jamón bread.

You know, the only thing it comes to my mind is that you are gonna have a difficult time but soon, there will be normal days in which you are not gonna feel this pressure.

Thank you guys. I've been distracting myself by binge watching The Wilds, which wasn't the best choice.... but I've finished the series so tomorrow I'll find something better. Although I also really don't want to watch any sappy movies where everything is perfect in the end.

Seems like a lot of my neighbours have travelled to family for Christmas after all, there's quite a few flats opposite mine where I haven't see any light on in a couple of days. And a few others who seem to be having a gathering that I really want to shout at to shut up

I know no matter how crappy I feel now, I would feel way worse if one of my parents caught covid from me. But it all seems so bleak and pointless when everyone else is just completely ignoring all the advice.

Fun fact: those flats are all bigger than the ones in my building and no one lives alone there. So it wasn't like they didn't have any company.

I hear you.

I am wondering if music might be helpful in drowning out some of the distracting noise around you? Maybe earphones? So you can focus on something that makes you feel good.

We are all here for you, on this thread. If you look on the General forum there is a Virtual Christmas party thread if you'd care to join us too.

Azul is right. This will end at some point. You won't have these pressures to deal with then.

You mentioned running I think a while back? I run too. If you look at running as a metaphor, it is always the last lap or few miles that feels hardest, whatever distance we run. I think we are beginning the last lap of this pandemic now.

Hang on in there. We are here for you!

Thank you.

I'm doing okay today. Slept in, then just lots of Netflix. It's good to have some time off work, so I'm grateful for that.

I do wish the weather was a bit better. Grey skies aren't helping my mood. But thanks to my bleeding uterus I'm stuck inside, anyway.

Today I’m down about the pandemic. The number of dead and dying is breaking my heart and the loss of normalcy and the necessary limitations are overwhelming. People here are hurting with no relief coming through at this time. I’m also anxious about catching the virus especially now that the super infectious variant has been detected in Canada having come from the UK.

I shouldn’t be down about it: I’ve handled it well for the most part and I was able to enjoy Christmas with my family. I have many blessings to be grateful for and I work to keep my spirits up yet the state of my country and the plight of my fellow man plus my anxiety is impacting me negatively.

I think it's natural to feel down. I personally felt down yesterday after enjoying Christmas. Maybe because it felt almost normal in some ways but it's not normal.

You're not alone anyway.

Was there a virtual Christmas party? What a wonderful idea!!!!
Too bad that I can’t join these kinds of events. My social anxiety is too deep, I’m afraid. I haven’t even dared to log in the chat ever. :-(

You’re right we are all with Break. I mean we are all more or less in the same boat. And sometimes circumstances don’t show us their best face, so we must support us.
Thank you for being so supportive and lovely.

It's okay to feel down about it. The whole world is in a ****** situation. Don't be too hard on yourself.

Everyone has bad days, it's completely normal. It will pass.

P.s. the UK strain hasn't been shown to be more dangerous so far so that's some good news at least

Today I went to get some groceries. I can’t understand why the access is not limited. There were so many people. Luckily, most of them kept the distance and there was even a lady who realised there was a elderly woman on a wheelchair on the line and she called the attention about this fact and we left the elderly woman to pass to the head of the line. It seemed to me such a nice act.
The man who was with the elderly woman keeps saying thank you over and over again. It seemed to me so endearing.

They made my day better today.

My step-dad is doing better finally. He was sick for about 2 weeks. He's eating again and has his strength back. My mom is doing fine. She stayed safe the whole time. I'm glad they are Okay. I don't have to be anywhere until Feb 9th. I will stay home and away from public places. This holiday surge is supposed to be really bad.

We are in Tier 4 now, although cases are not currently bad here I think they're anticipating a surge with Christmas and the new variant which spreads faster. It's confusing because there are areas with higher rates per 100,000 who are in Tier 3. I'm unsure why. Maybe it's hospital capacity.

I'm not happy about it but also think a pre-emptive strike is better than being reactive too late as has happened before.

We have a friend whose family have it and she's quite poorly with underlying conditions so hoping she'll be okay.

That's great news Deilla about your step dad improving and your mum managing to stay healthy.

My parents both got the Pfizer vaccine and due their booster next month, so grateful for that. On Monday the Oxford vaccine is being rolled out and supposed to be a game changer as it is massively more affordable and requires only regular refrigeration, the Pfizer one is difficult to store and transport because of exceptionally low temps required. So hopefully 2021 will be better for many of us especially the vulnerable groups.

Tonight is tough. I always hate NYE because it's a reminder of another failed year and I'm sitting here alone while the rest of the world celebrates.

Tonight it is also really sad that both my home country and my current home are showing how selfish people are Parties and fireworks despite the pandemic, violence and risks even though hospital staff are already overworked because of covid.

I want this night to be over quickly. I think I'm just going to crawl into bed alreasy.

For me Christmas time won’t ever be a happy time ever since I lost my two granddads, my two grandmas and my dear father at this time. Also I had the confirmation of inadequacy on a NYE. It was a nightmare so I cope with these celebrations as best as I can. It’s used to be so much stress around it and this is the last I need for my health, to be honest.
Before I took these celebrations very seriously and I felt the urge to be happy as the people I saw around me. I remember another touchy moment when my mum told me that my parents didn’t have time to buy our Christmas present (here, in Spain, the ones who bring presents for kids are three kings from Eastern on the night of January, 5th). That night shops are opened until midnight so they can sell last minute presents. When my mum asked me for going to the shops to choose the present I wanted, the Heaven fell down on my head. I thought, oh well, tomorrow morning I won’t have presents to unwrap like other kids have. It was so disappointed. I was a kid.

You are not alone, honey. I know it’s hard. Especially when you have to be stuck at home because of the pandemic and you don’t have a choice to celebrate or not.

Hugs, BreakForTheLight. I've never been much of a fan of New Year's Eve either.

And, @AzulOscuro. I don't get what it is about the supermarkets either. These days we've been ordering most things online and usually if we have to go, only one of us goes in. The last two times, my husband went alone and he said that he was amazed at the large groups going in together - mom, dad, kids, grandma. I mean is it really necessary for everyone to go to the store? Don't people realize it's a pandemic? Here there are capacity restrictions for retail, so there are lines to get in. Having 4-5 people from one family group waiting instead of 1 or 2 just makes the lines that much longer and increases possibility of exposure. I'm just glad our area is less populated than the capital. I saw footage of lines there before New Year's and Christmas and it was absolute chaos.

Our government announced a big surprise on Saturday, our municipality and various others in the Metropolitan Region were moved to phase 3. Nearly all were in more rural areas. Nothing was supposed to be announced until today. We keep being praised for a high level of testing and contact tracing (top 10 in the country). I wasn't even paying attention to the news. Instead a few friends that live where I used to live texted me about it. They are still stuck in phase 2 with weekend and holiday quarantines and not happy about it. I was just looking at the latest stats and it is true we are doing comparatively well.

I hope we stay this way. My birthday is coming up and it's on a weekend. I want to be able to at least take a drive to a brewery and go to the nursery to get those plants, finally. The brewery is by a lake, so it should be scenic. We're just going to buy some beer, I don't think they even have a restaurant and I'm not sure I am up for that yet. Cross your fingers, all! I should have been packing my bags for Portugal now, but, oh well, that's not going to happen.

I’m also curious as to why all the family have to go into a supermarket. I don’t like going shopping, only do it because I have to, so...

I think it was @BreakForTheLight who used first here the word covidiots or something similar. Unluckily, there are too much of this.
A young girl as Break being alone and not being able to travel to her country home for responsibility while others do what they please. I can’t cope with selfishness. To be honest.

I’m happy you are living in a non populated area. I had to do some stuff in the downtown and it was surprising how much people walked here and there without keeping distances. I had to wait for my partner and I decided to stand under a tree, under the rain because people didn’t care for my own personal distance. Sure they weren’t gonna approach to me without rushing into the tree. lol!

Hope you can celebrate your birthday going to the brewery. My last birthday I stayed alone at home. It was sad but I neither felt like celebrating anything.
I’m all into helping shops and bars to go ahead. They are having a very hard time and as long as we keep at safety mesures we are contributing with normality and bettering the Economy without risks.

When’s your birthday, @rechu?