Scrapping posts and editing

Two full weeks have passed since I last posted.  In those two weeks I have started and scrapped content, but not posted.  

I wrote a bit on the first of October.  This month starts to bring the calendars from charities.  They come from charities I've donated to in the past and from charities that want me to donate this year.  I love wall calendars, and date books, and planners.  They also send address labels, most of which I shred.  I so rarely send snail mail any more.  I don't even bother to keep the "purse sized" date books any more, as my phone takes care of that need.

Then I wrote a bit on the Monday that marked Thanksgiving in many countries around the world, including Canada, so hope it was a Happy Thanksgiving for those who celebrated.  

Over on Facebook I started posting my gratitude of the day.  I was finding it heavy lifting, even though there is much good going on in my personal life.  The news on so many fronts and for so many people has been a huge downer, and I find myself considering how much personal privilege is reflected in what I am grateful for.

The brick masons came back and power-washed their work.  I wrote them a big check and they went on their merry way to the next project.

On Monday the 9th, I got my latest greatest updated Covid-19 version.  They didn't have the Moderna one, so I accepted the Pfizer one.

Funny thing about the Covid shots... I develop amnesia about the side effects / reaction, every blasted time.  And this one had a kick to it, mostly hitting overnight and all day on Tuesday.

Wednesday brought a reprieve from those side effects.  I noted that Facebook pushed a 14 year old memory photo at me:  the day I put my son on an airplane and did not see him again until the following August.  A whole lot "went down" in the intervening months.  The passage of time does not make it all whole, and every time the world goes crazy, those not so great memories are stirred up.  The tendency to withdraw from life comes with that stirring, but one cannot let it win. 

My kid sis made it over for our walk, Wednesday afternoon.  We had not walked for a couple of weeks because she had been ill.  So she became the first to look over the brickwork and pronounce it good, in person.  An online friend or two did a check in because I hadn't blogged in a while.  Wednesday night I got a call from my son, and we talked through a lot of the stuff.  

Then Thursday, I was sick again!  "Did I overdo on Wednesday?", I asked myself.  "Is it the weather front coming through, and the allergies?"  "This can't be side effects still!"  Regardless, I tried to take care of myself with OTC medications, hydration and watching carefully what I consumed, going for "mild".  Thursday and Friday were pretty well spent hiding in sleep, days and nights.

Saturday the 14th, I was still not up to much, and didn't get up until about 1 p.m.  At this point, I wanted to avoid the news as much as possible, and realized it was Ironman World Championship day in Kailua, Kona, Hawaii.  This year only for the women, as they have split the race into independent competitions for the women and the men, splitting both the date and the location.  The men raced in Nice, France, in September.

So I joined the online streaming coverage well into the bike ride for the professional women.  I rooted on my favorite, who went on to win, and savored the commentary by the stars of years past.  When Lucy Charles-Barclay of the UK was crowned World Champion I rejoiced.  I think I have followed every year she raced Kona, from the year she was an age-group World Champion through four second place finishes as a pro, to this year.  She's earned her place in triathlon history!

During all of this I've managed to do a few things that needed doing, like laundry and vacuuming, and making sure The Prisoner got the door opened and closed for him, as well as fed.  He tried to comfort me, being a lap cat to purr my worries away.  He's such a good kitty, and he's been with me for all but the first few weeks of his life.

Anyway, now it's Sunday, and I am up and cooking breakfast.  Life does have its ups and downs.  And sometimes there is great sorrow and tragedy in the world.  But still I have to cling to the tag-line:

Life is good.  Treat yourself gently.  And Spark on!  Grieve as you need to, but let yourself carry on, too.  

Made it to Friday!

Monday, April 18:  the downstairs TV was set to the Olympic channel, which broadcast the elite races, wire to wire, but pretty much didn't talk about the ordinary Joe runners.  On the upstairs TV, I had CBS local WBZ, which is what I used to watch when I was physically in Boston.  Their focus is more on the Joe Athlete stories.  They do show some of the elite race, but throughout the day you get the age group finishers, and the stories of charities they are supporting, etc.  In the years when I flew out to Boston to watch in person, I would wait in the hotel room and watch the wheel chairs start, with whatever companions were joining me.  Then since I stayed close to the race route, we made our way to the designated watching area to wait for the racers to arrive!

Different years, that designated spot may have been different, but the routine was about the same.

Over the years, the elite athletes have become familar names to me.  This year it was most gratifying to see Chebet win the men's division, as the weather in 2018 had been too much for him.

Here in Nebraska, the daffodils are in bloom.  Monday was laundry day, and I get a lot of up and down the stairs, anyway.  Having two TV's running different angles in different parts of the house was workable.  

Sunday afternoon I had started measuring my fence line, knowing that a fence project is nearing the top of my list.  Monday afternoon I spent a short period starting to clear out the back yard.

I took a couple of progress photos of the work.  This was before I started, from last Thursday, right after the fence section was dragged off (by me).

You can barely see through the bare stems.

Monday after my session, it was getting a bit clearer.

There is plenty yet to do, but I have to pace myself.  I took a shower late in the day to make sure the allergens were cleared before bed!  

Tuesday morning, the Keurig machine went on the blink.  Ugh!  No coffee for me!  Good time to re-decaffeinate?  Nope, found a way to make it work, after I came back from the trainer workout!

Wednesday... drizzly and gray morning, but it's not cold.  I ordered my groceries for pick up on Wednesday morning, so was out and about doing that.  Out of bananas... why for pick-up, when we're still "in the green" on the Covid dial?  It has become my go-to, for convenience.  But it had added incentive:  spend on a pick up order (a certain amount) and get 50 cents a gallon off your next fill-up.

Had it not been for the pandemic, I might not be doing this.  But I'm finding lingering habits... I mask, not because I am concerned about catching Covid, but because it hides my drippy nose in allergy season, affords protection to others "just in case", and seems to help with the allergies, too.  I do go inside the grocery store when I'm only getting a couple of things, but for the weekly stock up?  Drive thru pick up!  Because of the pandemic, I hardly pay cash for anything any more.  I still have some small bills left from the last time I went to a bank, in March of 2020!

Kid sis Ace came over for tea after her work so I had a Wednesday afternoon sister-session, a super catch-up after Easter and Passover and several meeting things for her workplace that landed on Wednesdays.  Her hubby is now retired, so that's an adjustment, too.  I think it had been a month since I got to spend time with this particular sister.

Thursday, April 21.  Trainer session in the morning followed by a refreshing nap in the afternoon.  This was the second day in a row I indulged in an afternoon nap.  Fitbit tracks these things and informed me that yesterday's was an hour and a half, and today's two hours and a quarter!  I figure I needed them after I shorted myself on sleep Sunday night.

In the evening I put out the trash and the branches.  Friday morning, the trash men came and hauled them away, so starting over to fill them again.  This photo was taken after Wednesday's "yard minutes", I filled the other two cans Thursday evening as I was tranferring to the curb.

Friday is predicted to have a high of 83℉, and it was already 70℉ when I first let the cats out.  Shirt sleeve weather.  Really, really Spring.

Did I follow my own advice from the last pep talk?

I shall give myself a passing grade on hydration and nutrition.  Not stellar, but passing.  Same with eating to satisfy hunger.  The procrastination list I have made those baby steps, and have to keep on doing so.  It really does help with the other things.

One thing I have done this week, that was not on the list:  listened to the body's need for naps!  

Pep talk for the weekend:

Keep up the good work.  If you have a nagging thought that you CAN do better, do better.  But don't forget to give yourself credit for the baby steps.

• Hydrate
• Nutrition
• Activity
• Rest
• Meaningful progress on the to-do's

Life is good.  Let's keep Sparking!

Shokz received and tested

Remember me?  The gal who waits to replace things until they break?

Remember Rubia?  The cat who gnawed through my headset wire?

Well, the replacement headset is here.  It's one of those bone conduction Shokz brand, bluetooth connects to whatever (in my case, the phone).  If I want a headset for the computer, I'll buy one especially for that.  The Shokz is for running.

Since I haven't been doing much running, and since I don't subscribe to Audible or music services, it was either call somebody to test it on a phone call, or be lazy and wait.  I waited.  Wednesday evening my son called me, and I wore them around the house, pacing while we talked.  I determined that a) I'm not crazy about how they fit over my right ear.  Yes, my ears are not even and symmetric!  Between the glasses bows and the headset, I get a rub.  I decided that b) I kind of like that feature, it will keep my phone calls short!  BUT, it will not be the headset I buy to go with long-term things like zoom calls on the computer!

Good news: or at least a break! 

I was flipping around for something to watch on TV, and tripped over today's news conference from the public health director.  Like everyone else I had seen the news after news after news of various states dropping their mask mandates.  Well, today, our own public health folks followed suit, and our directed health measures will be lifted a week before they expire... tonight at midnight.  Cases and hospitalizations have dropped, but are not really down to the low levels we enjoyed last May and June (seems like forever ago), but they are dropping the requirement.  Still recommending wear a mask if indoors and unable to keep distance.

Nevertheless, I had prescriptions to pick up today, and used the drive through.  I needed groceries, and used the curbside pickup with online order.  That turned into a comedy of errors, in that three departments worth of "stuff", all the refridgerables never made it to my trunk.  I called the store when I got home and discovered this, and they sent them out by door dash, so I had them within an hour.  And they gave me someone else's buttermilk... yuck!  

One interesting feature of the "mistakes" is that they don't want the mistakes back, so if I'm brave, I have ended up trying some new things, but this one was NOT a winner.  Ended up pouring it down the drain.

I did get brave enough to go inside the local drug store to pick out an Anniversary card for my son's GF's parents, who are coming up on 40 years soon.  That's one item (greeting cards) that's hard to order online.  You want to see what's available, feel its quality, etc.

I am hoping that this going down of the cases continues, and hoping for a break of the nature we saw last Spring and early Summer.  A couple of months worth would be nice!  I had just started to feel braver and do more things out and about when the Delta surge hit last August, and those of us who monitor could see it coming, so tamped down our own outings in July.

And just because... a photo of Carl

The daughter in love caught him peeking around with a sheepish look on his face.  

Who could resist that puppy face?  I asked her what he was hiding from... she didn't know, either.

Entertainment talk

I discovered in the early hours this morning that The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 4 has begun streaming.  I am thrilled.  That is one of two series that got me started on Prime.  The other, Homecoming, and this one, were both recommendations from my son.  

In the budget, when the pandemic hit, some of these streaming things got added in while race fees and travel dropped out.  I  figured I'm paying the price of a movie ticket a month for Amazon Prime.  OK maybe a ticket AND popcorn now that they are raising the prices... but if I have a couple of shows a week that are worth paying for... I can justify it.

What is that movie that says you can't go a day without a good justification?

Enough from here... only the pep talk remains!

Love yourself and your body right where you are.  Listen to its needs, and don't forget that you might have to interpret the need for water, for rest, for exercise, just as you would for a child.  The weather fronts and my body haven't been friends this week, so I'm trying to hold on and be kind to myself.  Hope the same for the rest of you out there!

Life is good.  Spark on!

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

 

Another place the Prisoner likes to curl up:  on top of the clothes I sleep in, on my bed.  Wednesday morning he was sleeping there when the guy came to deliver the water softener salt.  He woke up, took himself down to the sliding glass door to the deck and miaowed loudly, demanding to not be in the house if there were strangers here!

And yes, in my perusal of the Harry Potter magical world series of films, I got around to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, inspiring the title, but it kind of goes with the cat and dog stories... where to find them.  The invisible beasts from the film?  That would be the cats whenever anybody else shows up at the house, and especially if Carl does.

The second service guy came about 10:50 a.m. to change the furnace filter.  They became invisible again during his visit.

The local public health director did her news conference Wednesday morning, rather than Tuesday afternoon.  We are still in the red on the risk dial, 4th week in a row... essentially since the beginning of the year.

It's pretty normal for the national media to be declaring the surge has peaked when it peaks on the coasts, but it hasn't peaked here yet.  Hospitalizations, especially, were up this week over last week, so we're not done yet.

I'm feeling good about my "outage" from normal activities.  My working sibling in town let me know of others in her circle who had experienced a "four day cold, but negative for Covid 19".  Kind of matches my experience.  Still glad I stayed home and didn't share it!

Thursday

First day back at the trainer for a workout.  Took it kind of easy.  But back!

Picked up groceries.  Dropped off some donations of N95 masks to family members who hadn't got theirs yet.  

Friday and Saturday

Pretty much stuck to the home front, decompressing.  Carl and the kids, meanwhile, were out tramping some wetlands.  Might call this Saturday clip from a video "Carl ice skates"?  It's warm for January, but they did find ice in the wetlands.  You can tell it's sunny by Carl's shadow!

While they play outside, I'm prepping for the next season of Billions by streaming the last season.  Why is it I get into these dramas of rich, warped people?  I tend to get sucked into Succession, too... all really mentally warped and WAY beyond my level of personal greed.  But still I watch them!

Here's hoping my fellow Spark refugees are staying well and taking care of yourselves.  I may not have had a whole lot to say this week, but doing my best, too, to live one day at a time, and just relax into what has so far been a pretty OK Winter.

Life is Good.  Spark on! ✨💖🔥

Abundance of caution, or just following the guidance?

 

I admit it's hard to find clear guidance these days.  It's also hard to find Covid testing, around here.  All the sites have moved to "appointment only", and the outdoor ones are closed today and tomorrow due to bitter cold temperatures.  I mean, after all, give their staff some consideration, here!  YOU might be in your car, but THEY are outside, conducting tests all day long!

At home tests?  Oh, I got the beta test link from Biden's initiative to mail them to every legitimate address in America... accessed it yesterday, and ordered mine.  But it will be at least two weeks before those arrive.

The kids ordered some to replace the ones I donated to GF's aunt, but so far, we haven't connected, so don't have that on hand at this point, either.

So when I woke up this morning, stuffed up?  I did what the alternative medical dudes on YouTube have said:  just assume it is Omicron, not a cold, and isolate, already.  Around here, the local health authorities have said, "don't assume it's just a cold or allergies, get a test".  But the docs who make YouTubes are saying, "if you can isolate, isolate, you don't need a test, assume it's Covid".  Much as I'd like to have a for-sure test, I AM doing what health experts have said for years, though:

"If you are sick, stay home!"  Doesn't matter if it's a cold, the flu, or Covid... if you don't feel well, don't expose others!  I rescheduled my mammogram (which was supposed to be this morning).  I texted the trainer and said "take me off the schedule for the next week".  And my kid sis, calling off the normal Wednesday walk.  

I'll just be here with my tea and my chicken soup (and my thermometer and my SpO2 sensor, etc.).  And my cats.  Baby, it's COLD outside today and tomorrow, with high winds... which could also be a contributing factor to my congestion... I tend to be sensitive to weather fronts.

Pep talk:  take care of yourselves.  Be sensitive to community conditions and be kind to others.

Life is still good.  Spark on. Gently!💖