#i lost weight during quarantine and my stepdads mom just commented that

[briannasroger]

Quarantine Q&A

Tagged by @ellenembee! Thank you! ♥

Are you staying home from work or school?

Yes! I work at the airport which has obviously been hit pretty hard with the lack of travel (as it should be) and most of the airlines I work for were international flights. I was one of the lucky few who could choose to stay on and work some of the domestic flights or choose to be laid off until my airlines return and I chose the latter (mostly because I have no bills to pay and I thought it was silly to work when my other coworkers NEED the money to live).

If you’re staying home, who’s with you?

Ah, I still live with my parents so it’s me, my mom, my stepdad, and all my siblings (Abbi, Karis, Kaleb, Maddi, and Brody). We also have two dogs, three cats, and two rats. A very full household!

Are you a homebody?

Yes. I’ll be honest, it’s kind of bringing back bad memories so I’ve been keeping busy. Strangely enough, I’ve been outside more (not leaving my house, although obviously I’ve been to the store, but like in my yard) these last few weeks than I have in MONTHS. Before this, I was in a routine of work and then sleep. So this isn’t terrible if I just remember to watch my moods!

As someone with experience staying home a lot and how detrimental it can be to your mental health, please take care of yours!

An event that you were looking forward to that got canceled.

So many things. I was planning to see Achievement Hunter Live in Seattle back in March which was cancelled. Operation Congoose #3 was cancelled -- it was meant to be a trip to Europe to visit my friend in May, but with everything going on, we ended up cancelling it which meant I ALSO lost my tickets to see Hamilton in London. A shame, but we were so close this time and I have faith that Operation Congoose #4 will work out better.

What movies have you watched recently? What shows are you watching?

Like I said above, I have a full household so it’s a given that someone is watching a show/movie enough that I’m paying attention. Most recently I watched Harry Potter PoA and OotP.

What music are you listening to?

Hamilton. Frozen 2 soundtrack. Frozen musical. Anastasia musical. Dragon Age soundtrack.

What are you reading?

A lot of fanfictions. Like A LOT. I’ve been going through fics which has been fun, but I fear it’s made my ability to type comments fail a little since my brain is whirring too fast. I’ve taken a small break from new ones and gone back to read some oldies I like as a break. For books though, I’m currently reading The Kingdom of Copper by S.A Chakraborty, an ARC of Ignite the Sun by Hanna Howard, and The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon! I have a whole host of books that I’ve bought over the last few weeks and not finished reading so I’m slowly going through the list.

What are you doing for self-care?

Video games! I’ve played Starbound with a friend, I’ve got a playthrough of Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age Inquisition, I’m going to start Skyrim. I bought the Witcher 3, but I’m not sure if I’ll play that now or another time. I also try to go outside for a few minutes every day - which has been easier because my family and I have been playing badminton a lot lately. I should start exercising, I don’t particularly want to put on weight and struggle with my work clothes, but I didn’t do that much even BEFORE this mess with quarantine happened.

Tagging @astarisms @joneskillian @raijindork @guksdimple and anyone else who wants to do it. If you don’t wish to do it, or anything along those lines, there’s no pressure! I hope everyone is doing well during this quarantine, miss you all!

#me #tag games

[blsimonofcascia]

Glennora Mae V. Van Dyke

COVID-19 SURVIVOR

       It was a sunny day on the month of March where our school announced that we will have no classes for 2 weeks. As a Grade 10 student, I was overwhelmed by that news. Although it was a sad news due to the outbreak of COVID-19, it was a much needed break. All the academic stress, pressure, busy schedules, preparation for graduation, and practices is draining me physically and mentally. Soon after the quarantine started and all of us stayed in our respective houses, we continued our class with the use of internet, but it wasn’t really the same.

  The quarantine made me depressed and sad. I missed my friends and longed to go outside. It also made me gain weight and made me lazy. This makes me sad that a lot of people are losing their jobs and not having enough to eat and drink. We are taught a lot of lesson by this pandemic. It taught us to stay strong despite the stressful situation. The most important lesson that I learn is that we should be extra careful of our body, not to be careless and have proper hygiene. It was 1st week in May that we found out my stepdad suddenly got sick. We all thought that it was just a normal hypertension because he always felt that whenever he is very full.  Days have passed and my stepdad couldn’t bear the pain anymore so he decided to go to the nearest hospital. We were scared and we were praying for everything to be alright. We were hoping that he wasn’t infected of the virus. Eventually, all of us in the household slowly becoming sick. I was having fever, loss of smell and taste, my aunt was having dry cough, fever, loss of smell and lost of taste also, my brother had the same illness too, my mom was coughing very badly, and my little cousin didn’t have any symptoms at all, she was perfectly fine. We are starting to get scared and paranoid that we may be affected. 2 days later, my stepdad went home. He was fine but he was tested for COVID-19 at the hospital so we have to wait for the results and soon after that, they said we all tested positive. My heart broke as I heard the news. I started to question God, why did he let us have this? Why didn’t he protect us from this?  My stepdad was the one providing or giving food to the front liners near our place. He didn’t deserve this. I want to help them but I don’t know how. We were always praying to God and I could see my mom crying. The sight of my mom’s tears made me cry too, I couldn’t do anything, I felt useless but I just prayed and trust everything to Him. The news about my stepdad having COVID-19 spread. We were discriminated, a lot of people said hurtful comments to us from social media telling us we were not being extra careful and blaming us for testing positive. A lot of people was afraid to go near us. It was a very traumatic experience. We couldn’t buy our own groceries for 2 weeks. The Barangay Officials didn’t give us any food because they said that they haven’t receive anything from the hospital saying that my stepdad tested positive. It was confusing really, but we were not depending on them. We asked some of the front liners to help us, others declined but some offered help. It was a crazy experience but I am glad that I and my family survived. During this time, I realized how blessed I am. God really help us through this challenge. I am very blessed to have my family, they helped us even though we are far from each other.

  Blessed to have kind people in our lives. A big thank you to all front liners who helped us. They are truly our heroes. We sailed through a stormy sea but we survived it all. We shall continue to sail a lot of seas and not to give up despite the angry waves. We should hold on tight cause there will always be a rainbow after every storm. All Glory to God.