01/10/22, Monday

I attempted to post from my phone yesterday and inadvertently lost it all. I looked forward to hearing about Diane's soup, and Pep's negative test (sorry). I told Ceci I thought the flying to the wedding then returning to MI with Dad and his wife sounded reasonable. DD, I vote that you take the whole week, and soak up sun in your guest room. You'll be struggling with URIs until summer if you don't rest and rebuild. Not to mention that Covid on top of pneumonia could be much more serious. Liz, I love your pictures and your attitude !

Yesterday, Sadie and I did our morning walk and fetching on a 37 degree beach, all bundled up. I returned to do some sunning/reading mid-afternoon in shorts and a tank top at 74 degrees. Drinking alcohol, alone at home, has the potential to be significantly problematic for me. I am choosing to make my condo alcohol free when I am home alone. If I want wine or a ****tail, I'll go to the clubhouse or have something while I am eating out. This afternoon, I see my new primary care provider to become established. Tomorrow, I go to the health club for an assessment and personal training session. I'll stay masked....Omicron is crazy down here ! My Walgreens has been closed the past four days because almost the entire Rx staff is out with Covid.

Ocean Diane, that is good advice about the possibility of Covid, I never considered I could get it while I'm recovering from this. Yikes. It's hard to stay away though, things are really tough in our district right now, there are no subs available. So my colleagues are being asked to do period coverage. I keep telling myself that's not something I can control. But you know where my brain is going, even when I tell it to stop...

Your decision about alcohol seems wise. My BFF employs much the same philosophy. She lives alone, and she said during the height of Covid, it was particularly tempting to drink too much wine just to pass the time. I like the idea too, of you getting out and treating yourself to something nice, rather than staying in, and possibly self medicating.

Much less coughing last night, so hopefully the antibiotics are doing their job. I've been significantly sick now for 3 weeks. I'm trying to do little chores here and there so I don't become a complete lump. Yesterday I made part of dinner. Today, I unloaded the dishwasher. Small victories.

Its bitterly cold again, might get one or two degrees above zero. There are worse things than having to stay indoors.

OceanDiane, I thought some more about what you said about Covid exposure. I am going to make an appointment with my PCP for Thursday, and have her weigh in on if I am sufficiently recovered to return to work on Friday, to travel to San Diego etc. I can't decide without someone at least listening to my lungs and saying they're clear.

Not sure if you have heard of "Flurona", but sadly, it's a real phenomenon right now. People are getting the flu and Omicron at the same time. Apparently, it is a horrible combination of illnesses.

I like your thinking about traveling. Pneumonia is not to be messed with - EVER.

I think this strain of Covid is everywhere. I keep hearing from friends and family that they have it. All have been vaccinated or are small children. And all have had mild cases (no doctors needed). I wouldn't be surprised to know that Mike and I have had it again at some point and were just asymptomatic. Our original cases were very mild and we are vaccinated and boosted but we go out a lot. I sure hope this wave changes Covid from pandemic to endemic.

BTW, we are settled into our little condo. And it is little. Very bare bones but clean and fairly comfortable. I had to move a lamp from the bedroom to the living room to have a less harsh light (all lights in the main room are BRIGHT ceiling fixtures without dimmers). We find that with the front door and rear slider open we get a great breeze and don't need AC, so I just use it in the bedroom to sleep. Our neighborhood rooster likes to make a lot of noise next to our lanai as the sun is coming up but luckily we are already up by then, LOL. We can walk to restaurants at the resort next door or walk to the beach. We sat on a super quiet part of the beach yesterday and jus****ched the awesome waves. They were over 20 feet and will be like that until late tomorrow. Everyone here gets very excited about that.

Last night we drove to Haleiwa for dinner and I had less than half of a fantastic red curry dish. Yummm.... Today we are going to the Dole Plantation in the morning, then the beach. We may get shrimp from a food truck for dinner.

FYI, this is where we are in Oahu:

Have a safe and healthy Monday!

I am feeling a little blue. I guess being a slug at home for more than a week is kind of a drag.... My big outing yesterday was sneaking into my classroom to get sub plans together for today and tomorrow. I felt okay since I was the only person on campus and I wore an N95 mask in the room... I came in contact with NO ONE on my adventure.

I am thinking that with Omicron spreading so quickly we may indeed be heading toward "herd immunity" so that we might actually be able to move from pandemic to endemic! Oh, wouldn't that be lovely! My nephew is the latest to fall to Omicron in my circle. He tested positive today.

Other than the morning cough and nasal congestion and low energy, I am feeling pretty much back to normal. Yet, since I am still testing positive, I will need to quarantine for a full 10 days and then can go back to work with the district nurse's okay.

Weight is fine through all this. The need for comfort food has been minimal. Honestly, my appetite has been pretty low key while I've been down, which is a little different for me. I often like to suck down the soft comfort foods when I'm sick. Not so much this time. I started craving protein last night, so I figure that is a very good sign.

Liz, I envy you Hawaii. It is one my favorite places on the planet. Ocean Diane, glad things are going well for you in your new location. Diamond, take it easy. School is not your zoo. You are just one of the monkeys! Your health is far more important than inconveniencing your students, coworkers, and the district. Let the mucky mucks figure it out. That's why they get paid the big bucks! CC, when do you need to travel to Mayo and then back to MI?

I need to be in MI when they return on the 21st. I am still deciding on whether to go to MN first. Mayo's Covid rules are understandably strict - one visitor per day (not just one at a time). So his wife and I couldn't go see him on the same day. I think he'd rather see her based on past experiences with his surgeries. I think they're staying a few days at the end before flying home, so I might go to help then? Don't know. I'm a bit paralyzed by the decision-making and overthinking the options...

Greetings All

Liz you are way up there on Oahu. Nice. Giant waves are awesome to watch. I remember many years ago seeing that "pipeline" of waves on the north shore. Never gets dull. Glad your trip is going well even if you have a rooster neighbor. People have chickens in our neighborhood, also goats, but everyone gets mad if there is a noisy rooster. Small town.

Speaking of small town, it appears there are new neighbors across the street. I cant figure out which are the neighbors and which are some sort of service people. Time will tell. It does appear they have a big black lab allowed to run loose. Not cool.

Its a sunny bluebird day here and I will be off to pick up payroll and go to the studio here soon. New stuff out of the kiln. My little room there has a south exposure which means it will be quite warm so I can do my own version of lizzarding.

Ocean Diane so glad you are settling in your new place and that there is a club. And a health club. Enjoy.

The beef barley soup was decent. My studio buddy liked it and she is picked. More tonight.

Yep the middle school closed here because so much staff was out sick that they could not run the place. Lots of omicron up here too and positive cases. But Peps and DD stay home until you really feel well and not just cuz someone else thinks you should go back.

Cici, under no cir****tances should you appologize to MI guy for anything. Travel safe.

Diane s

Thanks for all the support to put my health first and take this seriously. I think we've all been coached throughout our lives to "suck it up" and work through illnesses and injuries. One of my coworkers attended an online meeting while enduring the start of a miscarriage!!! (She knew one was coming due to sad news at an ultrasound) Nobody rewards a hero. Hopefully if we've learned anything from the pandemic it's stay home when you're sick. But still, its hard to fight all those years of training, so thanks for your encouragement to chose the wiser option.

There are no appointments open for any primary care doctors/nurse practioners in my health care system in the 7county metro area until next week! My doctor doesn't have an opening until February!!! I did another online urgent care visit, and they put in the order for a chest xray. I'm scheduled Wednesday afternoon. Whew!