It Was Nice While It Lasted

         Ever since they had moved into our house, Biff and Claire would sleep in until 10:00 or later.  Okay.  I get the exhaustion from traveling – but come on.  They did manage to make it up on time for the first Sunday meeting they were here.  That was the last time.

Three weeks later Ally was enrolled in the local school and then the family started getting up at 8:10 and out the door half an hour later.  Still dragged.  Still delayed.  But after Biff started his job in Roseburg, the family was up and out by 7:30.  Such a waist of gas going back and forth so that Claire could have the car.  Theoretically they could put Ally on the bus but choose not to.  So for an entire week Biff would drive the family to his work in Roseburg and Claire would take the car to the school, walk Char around and return to the house to sort and clean – pick Ally up from school (with Char) return to Roseburg.  They had a routine.  It was nice!

But after the Halloween party Ally got sick – they claim.  I don’t know.  I have been sick and now Richard is sick and it’s hard to know if Ally is really sick or not.  Richard and I are very certain that she has not felt as miserable as we.  Claire had her stay home from school on Monday but then allowed her to go trick-or-treating downtown.  Say what?  You are allowing your sick child to have candy?  Okay.  She’s been home for three days and Claire hopefully announced that maybe they could return Ally to school and then took her out for three hours last night though it was 34 degrees outside.  Seriously?  Needless to say Ally did not go to school today.  Meanwhile Richard sounds as though he is on his deathbed.  Thus far he has had tea to drink.

I’d like to see this entire household get better.  I would like to see our “guests” return to last week’s routine.  I would still prefer more distance – separate houses.  We already seem to be living separate lives.

Allergies and Phlegm

 I must have fallen asleep with the fan on last Friday night, for when I woke up on Saturday (this was the week when Richard was out of town) I could feel a sore throat coming on. I needed to go to Church on Sunday. There was a training scheduled for the Relief Society. Perhaps I could just go to that and skip the other two meetings. But Jaime wanted to go to her meetings – even though Young Women’s had been on the agenda and she is not as comfortable with it as she is with Sunday School.

I had planned on asking the missionaries if they would be teaching but learned that the primary had been invited to the instructor’s class and asked the instructor if I could be in the class also. There were only three other students in attendance and so I was welcomed.

I had not enjoyed church. By the third hour (training) my head was throbbing and I had wished I had just remained at home. I did not feel like I had been trained and that the meeting had not been worth the effort on my part to be there. I felt crummy. But I had prayed about my decision to be there.

On Monday and Tuesday I took over-the-counter meds every four hours and slept most of the days. By Wednesday I was feeling better – though still groggy. The wind was blowing. I felt like I was in a trance.

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/how-to-manage-spring-allergies/

I had learned that Richard had been sick also. I thought it had been allergies and I guess he did too. But perhaps it was really something else. I looked up the symptoms for the latest COVID cases and I had most of the symptoms – but I have had them before. I had not gotten the sinus infection that I felt was coming. That was good.

In 2020 and 2021 public health had set up stations all over the county so that one could be tested for COVID and later on receive a vaccination. I don’t see stations anymore. Appointments have to be made at various places. Walgreens will hand you the test to do yourself. Oh, as though I can purposely hold a stick in my nose for as long or as hard as required. I have learned that just because a test comes back either negative or positive does not make it accurate. My brother and sister-in-law thought that they had allergies but were tested positive for COVID. Could I have COVID? I have not made an appointment.

Yesterday evening I had an attack and sneezed and sneezed and my right eye had watered up. I KNOW that was allergy related. I think all of it is. I don’t know if I have COVID or not. There’s been a lot of stuff going around throughout the nation. Some of it may be COVID related but not all of it is. All three of us have been sick. Jaime stayed home from school only one day. She should not have gone the last two but is insistent and probably getting everybody else sick. It’s her last week. She already missed out on her last stake dance and isn’t willing to miss her last week of school.

Last night I dreamed that Bonnie had a rubber ball stuck in her mouth. Both she and the toy were whining and I had tried removing the ball but was unable to get a grip on it and was afraid that Bonnie would choke. I saw Richard and explained what was happening. He then attempted to assist with retrieving the ball. The noise from the ball and/or Bonnie’s mouth seemed to get louder. It woke me up. I realized the noise was not from Bonnie but from my husband who has been fighting his illness. There was nothing I could do about his wheezing and so I got up.  I was up for an hour before I returned to bed.  My sleeping habits are pathetic!

Wearing Me Down

 

              It seems that Roland has had a cold each year – usually as a way to start off the New Year.  Each cold seems to linger longer than the last.  This year could be different with all the COVID related illnesses going on.  We haven’t been checked.  According to the news the last batch of testing kits may not be providing correct results anyway.  I think it’s just a cold.

          Every time he gets a cold he senses drafts that really aren’t there.  He is always wearing thermals and wrapped in blankets.  I, of course, am hotter than normal.  We are generally in two different rooms so that each of us can experience a temperature that is unlike that of the other. 

          I fortunately do not have his hacking cough – though I have had a dustball type cough on occasion – nothing as proficient as his.  I have started in with a runny nose.  I’ve experienced aches and pains. And even weirder that . . . I haven’t had a period for over eight years now and it seems to be making a comeback.  Are you kidding me?  I’m almost sixty.  Let’s lose this menstrual pain and blood already.  What the hey? Time to make a doctor’s appointment.  Find out what is going on. 

          AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

The First Day of Spring

          There were several signs of spring before it the equinox made (or will make) it official.  So many trees in pink and white blossom and all the daffodils and allergies.  

Though my eyes appreciate the view from a distance, I have a hard time with spring up close as my sinuses go ballistic.  My ears tear and my nose runs.  Allergies.  I’m not sick.  I’m annoyed.  I need more moisture than the air has been providing me with lately.  Time to bring out the humidifier – which always seemed like an oddity for this part of Oregon.  But with Roland always being cold at night, the electric heat is really not agreeing with me right now.  

          It’s the heat.  It’s not a virus.  I’m not sick.  Even if I do get sick, I won’t admit it.  I’m not going to the doctor’s or hospital.  There are sick people there.  They don’t allow visitation.  I’m not going to spend my isolation in a hospital where I’m really not isolated as there will be other patients and staff in masks.  Not me.  I’m staying home.  Even if I do get sick or break a body part or puncture myself.  I will weigh it out at home with my loved ones around me.  I am NOT going to go to the hospital.

          Parent Teacher Conference was supposed to be held tomorrow and Spring break officially starts on Monday.  This morning Jenna and I did her last seminary assignment for this week.  Seminary won’t start back up until March 30.  They will try meet two days a week online but the students are on their own for the remaining three. Jenna still wants us to study each morning whether there’s seminary or not.  We are cruising through the Book of Mormon and the Come Follow Me Program.  

We are ahead of where we would be if we were meeting on Sundays for Sunday School.  Looking forward to General Conference.  We were told it would be unlike any other.  We didn’t know why then, but many have figured out why now. 

There Goes Our Disneyland Fund

Our biggest reason for moving to Oregon was so that I could breathe.  I didn’t wish for my family members have to listen to me hack out my lungs or gasp for air – and yet this month has seemed to defeat the purpose.  Yesterday I spent the majority of the day in the emergency room – first the waiting room and then a small section in another room divided by curtains.  I thought Dial-up AOL was the slowest thing ever.  They are speed demons next to Urgent Care.  And Urgent was five times faster than Emergency.  Granted, it was Memorial Day and there was nowhere else to go.  Most of the patients there didn’t seem in bad enough shape to require emergency care.  I heard three or four of them just chatting away as if they were there to socialize.  I clung onto my head so that it wouldn’t roll off or explode.  I suspect I was dehydrated as I had left large evidences of my DNS at different Urgent cares that Google had said were open, but were not.  I didn’t realize that it was possible for me to throw up that much when I really hadn’t sent that much down.  Half a yogurt.  Perhaps a third a bottle of water.  My stomach hurt more than my head.

At first, the cool air coming from the ceiling felt really nice.  Throwing up really wears me out.  I was hot.  I was panting.  However, I did eventually get cold.  Roland offered to go out to the car and get a coat for me.  A coat?  I don’t have a coat in the car.  He brought a jacket that I had never seen before.  I asked if it was an early birthday gift.  He just smiled.  Someone in the ward had given it to him to give to me.  I still don’t know if it’s a birthday present or not.

Funny how I was cold and the woman on the other side of the curtain was complaining about how hot she was.  It sounded as though she had many of the symptoms I had experienced on Mothers’ Day.  I was sweating then.  I am usually always hot.  It is rare that I get cold.  I have been blessed with cool weather to suffer through.  Wish I could enjoy it more.  It has been the perfect temperature overall.  But this month has been extremely painful for me physically.  I am starting to get better again.  Let’s just hope it sticks this time and doesn’t resort back to something else.

I feel bad that my emergency bill is going to be costly.  I think they charge by the hour.  I’ve been wanting to take Jenna back to Disneyland for a while now.  She would also like to visit Universal.  We would also like to take someone who would be willing to go on rides with her as there are many that I can no longer do comfortably.

Should get busy on my discussion and assignment for my class as I have to make the Writing Center part of this week’s assignment.  I will need proof.  I hate that.  So I will write the thing and turn it in ASAP.  I’ll submit the assignment but I won’t make an appointment for a live session.  Those have been painful experiences.  Like I need more pain to deal with right now.

I found a message on my phone from Tony and Ester.  They had called to sing “Happy Birthday” – Ester echoed a little “Cha-cha-cha”  It made me smile.  I shared with Roland and Jenna and they smiled too.