Day 95- June 15, 2020

Day 95- June 15, 2020

So I had to go to the doctor today.  I've had some issues with panic attacks recently, and I have a (very rarely used) prescription for a medication that calms me down.  To put into perspective how often I use it: I was prescribed 15 pills in January of 2018.  I still have about three left, but they have deteriorated, and have been reduced to mostly powder, so I needed new ones, just in case.  With Covid-19, mom selling the house, and life in general being chaotic, apparently my anxiety has been escalating, and my body informed me via these anxiety attacks.  They aren't fun, and while I can usually calm myself down, every now and then, I need a little help.

Going to the doctor during a pandemic so you can get a prescription for anti-anxiety medications seems a bit counterproductive.  It's causing me anxiety to have to go into a building, where there are doctors who see patients, and be around others in a closed environment.  But when I arrived, it was solidly socially-distanced in the waiting room (two people on one side, a guy in front of me on line who was picking up blood work results).  They took me right back to the room, and everyone wore masks.  I have to assume that they are doing all the cleaning/freshening they are mandated to, and they specifically told me they are only doing well visits (preventative care, no sick patients).  So that helps- a little.

It's also the last Monday of the school year for 2019-20! The girls are ready to be done, I'm ready to be done, I think the entire state is just finished with attempting to homeschool children.  There's been a news story about my school (and district where I work) because the mayor apparently made an announcement that he was hosting an in-person graduation for our two high schools.  Meanwhile, our superintendent and the principals have made it very clear in emails that this is not a school-sanctioned graduation, as that could result in loss of funding from the state since it's not really allowed just yet.

Instead, our school is holding its virtual graduation on Thursday, with a Youtube video virtual graduation.  Teachers were asked to send in messages, and as I posted in an earlier blog, I was able to reach out to a friend and get Tony-Award-Winning Actress Ali Stroker to do shout out (which was the sweetest thing- she and her family are some of the kindest people).

It's surreal, to not have all the pomp and circumstance of a normal graduation for these children.  Harry Potter, and other years it has been The Wizard of Oz, Toy Story, and Night at the Museum. The parents fundraise all year, and it's all hands on deck for the 24 hours leading into that special night.  The attraction is huge, and people from all over town come to walk through before the seniors show up around 11 PM.

One of the Harry Potter lounge spaces from 2019

Graduation is a big deal in my town, and every year, the parents create this huge "project graduation" night where students go from the graduation itself onto busses, have dinner, and then head back to the middle school, which is transformed according to that year's theme.  Last year, it was

The idea is that by having an all-inclusive party that is chaperoned by staff and parents, you can avoid kids doing stupid things like drinking and driving, doing drugs, etc.  Not that kids don't try- I have friends who chaperoned, and inevitably, someone tries to sneak in a flask (one year, someone had a friend toss alcohol through a bathroom window- nope, not kidding).  But overall, a good time is had by all.

When I was 18, my graduation night also consisted of a project graduation.  We went straight from the field onto busses, and headed to a cruise around Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty.  There was a DJ, dancing, and lots of shrieking and photo-taking.  My now-husband and I had broken up a month earlier, but got back together on the boat, and I remember spending most of the rest of the night hanging out and dancing with him.  I also remember running around the school when we got back there, as it had been decorated to resemble the 1980's, complete with awesome life-sized cardboard cut outs of characters from Star Wars and other 80's films, video games, cartoon drawings and more.  In the wee hours of the morning, they held a raffle, where microwaves, tv's, and those cardboard cut outs were handed out to students with winning tickets.  Jeff and I both won microwaves, a huge boon for our college dorm rooms that coming fall.

 I was delirious by the time I headed home at 7 AM (I'd never stayed up all night before), and I had an hour to sleep before I had to be at soccer practice.  After all, Regionals were two weeks away.