In the recesses of my mind.....and the nightstand drawers~

Finally. work on the house begins tomorrow.  Somone is coming to repair the sheetrock and toe kick (whatever that is). I don't really care what happens as long as we get started.  The thing I'm looking the most forward to is getting the flooring installed.  It's a big job but I just can't wait until it is done.  Then we can get furniture back in place and start looking forward to what Spring may hold for us all.  I'm hoping Covid is manageable by then.  Today I heard of yet another new variant, Stealth Omicron.  It is supposedly even more contagious than Omicron if you can imagine that. 

I got off to a slow start today even though I was up at 6:00 am.  I started cleaning out more drawers and am always amazed by the stuff I find.  Two different types of self-tanning kits.  I don't know why I even bother since I just end up looking like an orange Oompa Loompa.  I threw it all out and I'm just going to let my age spots grow together and call it good.  I found more than one bottle of pillow spray.  One for stress relief, one for sleep, one for just the sweet smell of lavender.  Guess I'll resurrect them and see if they do any good. Of course, they have probably lost their potency after all this time.

Since everything is packed up in the house, I can't turn to crafting to pass the pandemic time.  I wanted to make some valentine gnomes, but I can't get to anything I need to make them.  Guess I'll concentrate on staying on my diet today.  I am having visions of baked treats......................this won't be easy!

One down and one still testing

Well one of my daughters tested positive for Covid last Thursday.  Her symptoms have been pretty bad.  She's had a high fever, severe headache and joint pain, shortness of breath and loss of taste and smell.  She has been at home all week and the doctor has put her on an antibiotic today.  Fortunately, her sister hasn't tested positive so far.  Last Thursday they had 30 teachers test positive just on Thursday alone.  Kindergarten went to online learning because every kindergarten teacher was home recovering from the virus.

Oklahoma legislators are on a rampage authoring all kinds of bills going after school curriculum including a ban against teaching social and emotional concepts.  This one really made me do a double take.  Another representative authored a bill requiring the homeless get a permit for homeless campsites.  Huh?  So, people who have no home, no money are required to get a permit to be homeless?  I swear, not everyone who lives in Oklahoma is this stupid.  Just the ones in government.

I am now in my 13th day of isolation.  I haven't stepped out of my house in the past 13 days because the Covid numbers are so high here.  Our hospitals are at capacity with no beds or ICU beds available.  We did get the OK from the insurance adjustor to start repair on the house, but our construction manager is sick with Covid, and they don't have enough workers healthy enough to get started.  I have no idea when we will get back to normal.

The artic blast that hit across the country nipped us.  Temperatures are low and the wind has howled but we didn't get any precipitation. 

Hope all are staying healthy and warm!

Keeping on in 2022

I haven't posted anything since September and I'd like to say that there is something new to report but unfortunately other than a new Covid variant everything is pretty much the same.  We are still staying away from people as much as possible.  We were fortunate enough to be able to spend the holidays with immediate family but are now keeping our distance again.  Both daughters were recently exposed to the virus at school so they are being very cautious and waiting to see if they become positive.  

Our existence has been plagued by one natural disaster after another.   Two hailstorms within 4 months plummeted our roof.  The second one was just weeks after getting a new roof installed and a new patio and cover.  Then about a month ago we had a water leak that destroyed the floor.  We are currently without flooring in the living room and hall and damaged sheetrock has been removed in the living room, we are waiting for the insurance adjustor to sign-off on the claim so we can begin repairs.  What a mess!

On a positive note, my lungs are better than they have been in over 6 years and for this I'm truly thankful.  Now if my knees would get on board.  I have been taking cortisone injections for a while and that has certainly helped.  Of course, the pandemic pounds we gained in the past two years have been counterproductive.  I'm currently trying to buckle down and lost the 20 pounds I gained.  Sure, isn't as easy to lose it as it is to gain it.  Not as much fun either.

It just seems like nothing comes easy anymore if it ever did for that matter.  I bought a new ceiling fan/light fixture for the living room and the electrician is here now installing it.  Of course, that isn't going without resistance.  They are in the attic figuring out how to install this thing as I speak.  Oh my, seems the previous one wasn't properly installed so of course this isn't going to be a smooth process.  After some discussion concerning the addition of wall switches etc., we finally landed upon a solution.  I'm just going to continue hiding out in the office with the dog until this project is completed.  Again, why can't something just be simple for a change?

Most of my friends have been touched by Covid in one way or another.  Either through infection or by the division it has caused in some relationships.  Our family has dealt with that division as some family members have chosen not to be vaccinated.  How do you continue to have family events if you do not feel protected?  Sometimes I feel personally responsible for the division being the most medically vulnerable one in the family.  I wonder if relationships will be lost because of the division sown by, in my opinion, politicians who have used a pandemic for some kind of personal political gain.  

I'm keeping my expectations for 2022 to a bare minimum.  No need to invite disappointment.