“Indoor Activity Week” sounds like a summer camp theme. I’ve never been to summer camp—I guess the closest I’ve gotten is watching The Parent Trap (the remake) and a few random episodes of American Horror Story: 1984—but I could imagine this week would include crafts, reading, and nothing related to being out in the woods.

I’m having my own Indoor Activity Week—known as IAW from now on—as I’m currently suffering from my regularly scheduled seasonal allergies. Living in New England around trees is not ideal for my allergies, especially since tree pollen wreaks havoc on my sinuses. I’ve had some sort of seasonal allergies for most of my life, so it’s nothing new, but it’s incredibly annoying this time of year.

It’s finally in the mid-70s, sunny, and just perfect. Like, this is my favorite kind of weather. But I can’t go outside or else I’ll be miserable for the rest of the day. Within the last month, I’ve had two days of suffering and became a stuffy, runny nose, and sneezy mess. By the next day, I was better, but I usually feel a bit tired, too, in the aftermath. 

So now I just stand at the closed window, watch green clouds of dust blow off the trees (cue “Dust In The Wind” by Kansas), and take my allergy meds. Josh also suffers, so we’re sticking this out together. Even opening the windows in the condo can cause mine to flare up. I set up my air purifier in the living room (circa when I used to live at home), and we’re trying our best to keep it cool inside. It’s supposed to get in the low 80s at the end of this week, so we’ll put the central air on then.

We did go for a short walk last night, and I wore a mask. My eyes were itchy this morning, and I’m stuffy but that could just be normal stuffiness. But for now, I’m basically on house arrest. Heck, I had slightly more freedom when I had COVID last summer because at least I could go outside for walks.

Thus, why I’m having my own IAW. Some of the activities will include:

• Painting my nails
• Lots of reading (this may include a trip to the library, which is when I will run directly from my car to the door)
• Couch naps
• Watching Madam Secretary on Netflix
• Riding the stationary bike
• Contemplating life and what I did to deserve seasonal allergies

I’m keeping an eye on the allergy report for the week since it seems like this week will be the worst. Fingers crossed, by this time next week, I’ll be a free house elf and can go outside for more than 10 minutes at a time.