@MusicCandy @SadMe70 A place to communicate

Your basement sounds just like my basement! I know we have bought second or even third versions of tools because we can't find what's already down there. Yesterday we threw out software such as Windows 95 and many manuals, floppy disks, CD driives, speakers. We didn't even scratch the surface but we got a fair amount of wet stuff out. Then I went downstairs this morning feeling optimistic about how dry it might have gotten between the fans and dehumidifies, to find that someone had unplugged the sump pump and we have standing water end to end all over again. I plugged it back in and it is draining, but I am so disheartened. I had planned to start on another section of cardboard box stacks first thing this morning but I can't until the water drains, and I don't know if I can face it after that. I am getting ready to go take a walk. I have not exercised at all in several days.

More basement news, since that has been my focus this week! My husband has two homeschool brothers that come help him do projects on Mondays. This week they worked on more stacks of cardboard boxes in the basement and filled my truck with bags of wet books, etc. I went to the dump yesterday morning with those, then my son and DIL spent 4 hours helping me find more wet stuff. The smell had gotten so bad that I could smell it through the heat vents. We have filled the truck up again, plus have another load's worth of bags sitting on my yard. My other son is meeting me at the dump today to unload the truck. I am not sure when the other load will go because the bags on the yard are so heavy I'm not sure I can lift them. Also on the yard are various wet but unruined things, like 2 tents and some life jackets. My husband is planning how to engineer better draining on both ends of the basement. Currently we have an old sump pump draining out through a hose in the basement door, so the door cannot close, and that does not help dry out the room. Ok, enough basement talk!!

I did get in some exercise this week, and have not been eating too badly. I did some mid-week drinking but not a lot. I also got permission to work from home on Thursdays, so the extra time not commuting will give me a longer exercise time that morning. I got up at 5:30 this past Thursday and accomplished a lot by 8:30 when I started setting up for work.

I am hoping to spend Thanksgiving doing a day trip to the mountains to hike. The forecast is still iffy, but I will go in a drizzle. I have not been out there since Jan or Feb. I figure most people will be home with family that day, so it's the best day to give it a shot. My husband will drive me out there, and he enjoys that time spent together in the car just talking. Then he has to sit around and wait while I hike for a few hours, so it's really nice of him to do that for me.

I hope that you and your fiance enjoy a very nice Thanksgiving Day together! I hope you get some rest, some exercise, whatever makes you happy!! (some hair up time??)

Have a great week, my friend!

Hello and Happy Thanksgiving! I did get to the mountains on Thursday and I'm so glad I did! There were people there, but not so crowded that I was uncomfortable. Most people pulled on a mask when passing others. The only bad place was at the summits where more people were sitting around and about half unmasked. I did three short hikes from Skyline Drive. First 1.7 mile out and back to Hawksbill Summit (steep!), then 1.6 miles out and back to Stony Man summit (not steep). My husband and the dog had been sitting in the van all this time, so I wanted to walk the dog briefly. We pulled over at an overlook that appeared from my map to have a trail, and it did. We just walked 10 min down it and came back. That one had nobody on it and was very pretty. I want to walk farther on that next time I go!

On Friday, my husband and I cooked a turkey and made a few side dishes. On Wednesday, a friend gave me 2 gallons of goat milk (mine is dried up) and I made a cheddar. Today I am making another cheese, but using grocery store milk for the first time. Today I also went and picked up a buck to start the next cycle. I had not met the owner before but she was very nice. I did have to rent him, but I think he may be big enough to breed my large doe who has been dry for 2 years, so it will be worth it. He is still part dwarf breed, which I want for my smaller doe. Fingers crossed that I get two pregnant goats this year!

My exercise has been spotty while I've been off for a few days, except the day at the mountains which wore me out despite hiking only a total of just under 4 miles! My eating has also not been the best but my alcohol intake has not been awful.

I hope you had some relaxing time off, and everything is going well for you!

Hello! This has been a pretty quiet week. I didn't do any work in the basement last weekend. Now that the emergency is under control, I can't seem to face the mess. My living room is packed with boxes and there are still so many in the basement that I can't begin to get them organized. Plus the floor is muddy. I am going to the dump today with a load of bags from 2 weeks ago, and maybe that will spark me to keep working.

I continue to enjoy my virtual classes, and being able to stay shut in my room at work all day. I finish at 3, which is then my planning period, but I have no need to plan right now because the virtual lessons are provided to us. My friend Beth and I have been walking around the bus loop or around the building for 20-30 minutes at that time. We keep our masks on, and we usually get 1.5-2 miles in. That is good because it's getting dark so early that I have not been doing much walking after work. I have been good with my morning exercises on the weekdays also. I am now working at home on Thursdays, and that gives me extra time to exercse that morning. My eating and alcohol have been ok as well. Last night I actually got my husband to eat a vegetarian meal of baked sweet potato with black beans, avocado slices, cherry tomatoes, and sour cream. I've made that once a week for 3 weeks and he actually likes it. He was less impressed with my original recipe lentil curry, to which I added butternut squash puree and fresh cranberries that were leftovers I was trying to get rid of! I liked it though!

You did have a lot of herbs still growing! My lemon balm had a second wind but everything else died. Your quinoa recipe sounds so good! I love that kind of dish, and I love olives and cheese. Fresh herbs make such a difference!

Your water idea is a good one. I am not comfortable with the communal water cooler and hot water dispenser in our kitchen at school, with so many people there not taking the virus seriously. So I have been bringing a thermos of cold water and a second thermos either with tea or more water, so that I have all my own water for the day. If I am going to walk after work, I have a third bottle in my car.

This new surge of COVID is very scary to me. I worry for friends like you in the healthcare field. I am more scared to go even to the grocery store or Walmart now. I dread that they might bring kids back to school in January. I am very torn about that because so many are struggling and they need to be back, yet I'm terrified of catching the virus and giving it to my husband. I keep you in my prayers, and I am grateful for all the people out there caring for the sick. I am sorry that so many people out there are acting so irresponsibly and making it worse.

One thing I enjoy on the weekends is a leisurely hot breakfast instead of cramming something down while I pack my lunch. So, I am off to the kitchen to make tea and hot oat bran, with peanut powder for protein, ground flax, and dried cranberries.

I hope you are doing well and not too exhausted from work!

Hello,

I am being very lazy so far today. It's 10:30 and I have yet to even feed my animals. I am avoiding thoughts of cleaning and organizing the basement! Last week I took those heavy bags to the dump and of course pulled a muscle in my lower back trying to heave them into the dumpster. I had to cancel my trainer this week and take it easy. But, I found 2 good yoga for low back videos and I did one each morning and one each evening, and it is almost better now. Just back to my regular aches and pains! It did not hurt me to walk, so I still got a little walk most days. People have started giving me goodies, and I can't resist homemade cookies at all. My sister-in-law sent us a box of stuff and I am plowing through that too even though it is not homemade. Argh! I have no self-control! My alcohol has not been too bad at least.

Last weekend I also did a craft for gifts for my family. When my younger son was in 3rd grade, I helped in his class when they made leaf prints on white flour sack tea towels. We did some for Christmas for my family, and most years after that we tried to make something. As they got older it was just me and I don't do it every year now, but I saw a neat video on facebook. They were making shirts, but I got blue flour sack towels. You lay shapes on the material, cover up the edges, and spray bleach on the area. The surrounding part bleaches and when you lift the shapes those are still the dark color. I had some trees, snowflakes, jumping deer, and Santa. I put them in various arrangements. Lots of blotchy spots and crooked designs, but it was fun and they are cute I think.

My online student groups are going well. I really enjoy it and look forward to certain students in particular. There is one 2nd grader that I worked with in K who was a giant pain in the butt. Now his mom is sitting in the room with him and she makes him behave much better (and maybe he's just growing up some), and he's actually pleasant and pretty capable. I really enjoy having my own little room too. I can get up and stretch when I need to, and I feel safe in there. This week our school board decided to bring all our kids back for full day on January 19. I wish I could be vaccinated before that happens.

I can't remember if I told you we are trying to spend Christmas Day with our boys. I asked if the two of them, and my DIL, and my other son's gf, would all get tested a few days before and strictly quarantine after that - no gas station, grocery store, nothing. Just stay home. My husband and I will do the same. They agreed, but then my son said his gf is spending Christmas Eve with her family and then coming back to be with us. He says they are getting tested too, but I don't know that they will all quarantine (and it's 4 different households of people) so now my safe Christmas is not going to be safe after all. I am really upset about that. I want to spend a day with my children, our first real get-together since March, without worrying that my husband will catch this virus from anyone. I want to eat, play games, have fun. But now I have to worry, and I'm really annoyed. My husband and I have given up all of our quality family time and vacations all these months and I want one stinking safe day. Grrrrrrrr. I really needed to vent about that.

I hope you are keeping well and safe. I am glad you have the extra equipment. I continue to be so grateful for health care workers like you. I get so angry at the people being unsafe and irresponsible, when people like you are risking your lives every day. I continue to keep you in my prayers. I am glad you went ahead with your gift drive. There are so many needy people. Our principal sent a message asking for donations for an un-named co-worker, who is apparently having a very tough time. Hopefully there will be a very good response. I am with you on committees - I hate that kind of stuff. Another reason I like my storage room office is that I don't have to share my personal space with 5 other people! I can eat in peace and stretch anytime I want. I am pretty wimpy and conflict-avoidant though. Good for you for going ahead and doing what needed to be done for those families!

I love lentil soup! I like pretty much anything with lentils. That is nice of your boss to send you pizza! I am sorry about the stye - those are very annoying.

I broke out the Christmas music this week also! My parents had a multi record set that we played a lot as kids. My dad got one of those converters and we saved them to digital, so I now play them from my Ipod. When we were recording, one of the records stuck for a second or two, so that is now on my digital copy. I love hearing that because it reminds me of playing the actual records. Yesterday I was listening to them in my car, and I kept thinking I heard stuff hitting my windshield. Then I realized it was record static noise on the recording! I still have the records, and my son has my record player. He is going to bring it on Christmas and we will listen to the actual records.

Does Rachael like to go see Santa? I guess that is very hard to do this year for anyone. I know our fire dept brings him around on a fire truck every year and they are still doing that.

I hope you have had a good week. I think I should go feed those hungry animals!

I bet you had some bleating goats when you went out to feed them! There is a rhythm to farm life that is so different from city life. I have nostalgia when I remember my childhood at my grandparents homeplace in N.C. Especially at holidays- it doesn't feel right that they are all gone now, even the farmhouse and land is gone and houses built all around. It makes me sad but memories are forever.

So sorry you hurt your back lifting bags. That must make it hard to even think about tackling more. The thinks that I want gone are trailers and piles of wood and heavy tools i couldn't lift if I wanted to - but there's that annuity to fall back on. (Terrible) I love the online exercise videos too - good that you found some that work for you. i make myself do one 30 minute video every evening when I;m home.

Good for you with the crafts I used to crossstitch a lot, but my eyes can't handle it anymore- plus just lost interest after a couple of big stiching projects. I gave them to my Mom so now i have them back. Still have they yarn and patterns though - too many. Your tea towels do sound like fun and not too much extra work. My grown sisters and I decided not to share gifts at Christmas, but we give nice birthday gifts. We all have charities that we donate to and we all have enough stuff anyway - trying to get rid of it in fact. Rachael just likes seeing and opening presents - doesn't matter what you give her. She loves seeing Santa at the mall (but not this year) but she doesn't like to get too close to him. She waves and calls out HO HO HO, and he recognizes her every year, and the helper is the same lady too. Maybr next year. We do want to look at some lights in the neighborhoods - people sem to really decorate a lot this year. I don't know what to say about the family gathering. It turned out to be just as well for me working the week-end so I don't have to even try anything like that. Rachael and her sister will go to their Dad's and that is fine with me. I really like Thanksgiving much more than Christmas , now there are no little ones in immediate family. That would make a difference. But Rachael still plays the music and that does cheer me up.

I wonder if they will continue the in school plan now that the numbers are astronomical and still climbing. We are seeing lots more ER positive patients than we did in the first wave. More admissions, more sick people. but on the bright side, the VAC is coming to us first dose next week we hope. It is voluntary and many colleagues are declining it - but i feel it is pretty safe with the large scale successful trials. I know there may be some normal side effects, but i get that with the flu shot and the shingles when I had that one. I will let you know how that goes.

My eye cleared uyp after I got a salve from the drug store . A minor thing, just annoying and patients looked at me like.. are you OK to be taking care of me? I am just like everyone- getting through this one day at a time.

On your recorded music, that must take you back to happier days to hear it. We found a taped recording of me and my sisters singing together as adults. We were a quartet growing up but as we scattered and moved apart- we didn't have the oppertunity to do it like we did before. The recording w=is so funny- we sounded good at that point in harmony, but we laughed and joked in between too which is priceless. My nephew made us each a CD. I have been working on some harder Christmas piano solos in the evening and it gets better each time. Rewarding and relaxing too. At least I don't have to sing O Ho;y Night like my mom made me do at our family gatherings on christmas Eve. It is impossible for an alto.

Have a nice rest of the weekend. Supposed to be warmer which makes me HAPPY. That snow was pretty and then gone. Yea.

Hello! My back is doing better and I'm back to doing my usual exercise videos in the mornings. I have not gotten a walk this week, but I plan to go Monday morning. I am on vacation now, and here I am up at 11 pm the first day. I won't make a habit of that, but every now and then it is nice!

I am going for my first Covid test at an urgent care on Monday afternoon, and I am a bit scared about the nose swab. It sounds pretty painful. They didn't want us to make appointments, so I hope we can actually get it done, and that the results will get back on time. We will see.

We attempted our recorded concert tonight. Not the biggest success ever! First we tried to play all together but there were lags and we were all at different times on the playback. So we decided to do 4 solos and recorded that. I was on an old ipad and apparently it has a bad microphone so when I played there was no sound, but everyone else was ok, so we are just going with that. If I see my boys in Christmas Day, that means we are all negative, so we may try to record a trio live to add to the recording. We will play whatever we have for Mom on Dec 27.

I am trying to get lots done this weekend and Monday morning, then after my test I will quarantine for real until Friday. I went to the feed store today, will do groceries tomorrow, and hike Monday morning. I have planned stuff to do at home Tues-Thurs. A friend gave me 2 gallons of goat milk so I can make some cheese on Tuesday, and I have various other things to do.

I hope your week has gone well!

Hello,

I had a wonderful Christmas Day with my boys! My husband and I got tested the Monday before and stayed home all week. The rest got tested later, all negative. My son's girlfriend's family all tested negative too, so hopefully she was safe when we were around her. I did not like that test at all, and hope to never have to do it again!! We went to my son's house and played games all day. We didn't have a sit-down meal, just grazed all day as we played. It was fun and I needed that. I have missed them!

Two days later we all had lunch at my sister's to see Mom. That was also very nice, though I was not so comfortable with being around four others who were not tested. My sisters wore masks some of the time but not the whole time. Mom and my brother-in-law did not. Two social outings in a week is quite the whirlwind for me!

Otherwise, I have spent my vacation at home except for a couple of short walks at local parks. I have eaten way too much, had a lot of alcohol, and did not exercise much. I need to get my act together. I know I will be better once I am back to work on Monday, but the pounds keep inching up and I am going to have to get some bigger pants. Sigh. I don't even know what size to get. My hips and waist are never on the same size on those size charts! Plus I need short ones. I saw some "dress yoga pants" with pockets on an ad on facebook, and they look nice but they are $75. I need to look into something similar but cheaper. I hate clothes shopping anyway, but buying clothes online without trying on is daunting.

Your Christmas songs sound really nice! I am glad you still enjoy playing! I like our annual concert. I would probably enjoy playing other times if I ever got myself to do it. I am glad your video lessons are going well too! I can always hear our band teacher at school doing her online lessons when I go past her door. I imagine it is pretty hard to teach an instrument online.

How did your first dose of the vaccine go? Did you have any problems with it? It is 3 weeks between doses, right? If they really bring our kids back on Jan 19, I hope I can get vaccinated soon. They will be eating lunch in the classroom, a full room of unmasked kids in a small room, coughing, sneezing, sticking fingers up noses and touching stuff. I want some protection. I know people keep saying that lots of schools have been back, plus daycares, but I'm still worried if I'm going to be around all that when I am unvaccinated, especially with the attitude my administration has had from the beginning, not taking it seriously or enforcing masks for the adults. I don't feel that safety is a priority there because they don't think there is a serious problem.

My husband has a friend who works at one of the hospitals in Fredericksburg, who told him that nurses at the ICU in the other hospital here walked out one day because they ran out of PPE. I don't know if it's true or not, but I can't imagine how hard and exhausting it is to work at a hospital at all. I know it is only getting worse for you all, and there will surely be a surge after these holidays. I certainly can't blame you for being on a short fuse. I hope that you will at least feel safer once you are fully vaccinated. I continue to keep you in my prayers.

I hope that you are hanging in there, and will get some downtime soon!

Happy 2021. at least lets pray it will be betterfor a lot of people. I can hear the joy in your voice that you had some quality family time over the Holidays. It is risky with being around unmasked and untested people- but i think you did your best. I have not had any get togethers holiday speaking, but my girls did with their Dad and that's enough for me. Rachael still plays the Christmas music, so now she will have to play her CDs. It makes us all happy in the house when she is happy. I did get some extra pay for Holiday diff, and that helps.

We are getting way more people positive ER and admissions than the first wave. Ous sister hospital is dicerting wards to just COVID and it is expected to get worse the 3rd week in Jan. I think i read in the news about the F'berg hospital walkout. Their PR said they were compliant, but I don't doubt that they were not getting what they needed. Nurses would never walk away from patients unless they tried every option. We have not had that issue at all, and we are getting the Vac- most of us anyway. There are still staff who dont trust it, but I wil get my 2nd dose next week. They say the 2nd can make you feel worse the day afterso we have to be off the next day. The first one wasn't bad except sore arm, like the flu and shingles V. I had already.

I am betting with the rise in numbers that they will not go back to in school leaning mid January. Plans change all the time and it would certainly be smarter to wait . The governor may make a mandate if numbers keep climbing. Teachers should surely be in the top tier of folks who get it. There are more vaccines coming too, and that should help. We got Pfizer.

I know how hard it is to not indulge in food and drinks during the holidays. I hope you get some pants that work. like me, when you are short and short waisted, the off the rack clothes just arent right in all the tight places. I don't have to dress anywhere these days not going to church, so it doesn;t matter in my case - my scrubs are tie waist. I know you will pick back up your good habits when the routine is more "normal". I'm confident in your strength and resolve to be healthy.

Speaking of which, i heard a radio program with a doc talking about the rise in peoiple with GERD since the Pandemic/ stress response. He spoke about the different kinds , and said some psople have one that doesn;t involve the burning sensation - silent reflux. It happens when the sphincter is weakened and the pepcis backs up in your esophagus ( sorry for the gross details) and some symptoms are constant need to clear your throat, cough, lump in the thrat, and others. I said, wait a minute - I HAVE that! not every symptom but enough to know. I never thought about it because I thought you had to have the burning heartburn, but not so. Then,i looked it up - nasopharangeal reflux and the causes and i'm right down the middle of it . Eating while lying down. too close to bedtime, wine ,chocolate,caffeine . All ME. Others are overweight,smoking and no exercise- so I'm off the hook there. But fortunately online resources give hints to rverse it. I won't stop drinking 2 cups of coffee, but not close to bedtime, I won't drink wine and eat chocolate in bed anymore. I will cut back to 1/2 wine early and try to not eat before bed. It's hard working nights and then wanting to eat, but I will adjust. The other remedies are drink alkaline water ( i ordered a special pitcher/ filter) and a tsp manuka honey daily. The medicinal type is expensive and it is from New Zealand - but i ordered that too. The constant backflush is corrosive and stays there ( eww!) and the honey coats the esophagus. I knew the in bed eating wasnt good, but now I have the evidence to stop. i cant believe I had something that i didn't know about for a long time --i read all the medical papers and i never even heard of it until this chance program. I don't want to take a drug if the lifestyle changes can help. you are the only person I talked to about this so sorry about the ugh factor. I hope you enjoy the rest of the week-end.

Here's to us keeping at least one or two health resolutions. ( you didn;'t tell me what you play in th family band)

Hello! I play the clarinet in the family band :-)

Did you get your 2nd dose of the vaccine? How are you feeling from it? The school system sent out a survey this week to see who would want one. They may have it by the end of this month. It will be Moderna, so 4 weeks to the second dose. That means end of February at the earliest when I will be fully vaccinated, yet so far they still plan to bring kids back Jan 19. Today on FB I saw a mom in the classroom I will probably be in, looking for other kids from the class so she can have a birthday party. I went down to our nurse's office on Friday to ask her something, and she didn't even have her mask on, with other people in the room. It is discouraging! I am hoping the governor will close schools again. We are rolling along with the virtual program, so let's keep it up until we are vaccinated!

I just spent half an hour looking at pants on Amazon, probably the third time I've looked, and I just can't figure out what will fit me. I have a really dorky pair of wide legged dark blue jeans that I bought to wear in the barn that fit me, and I wore them to school one day last week. I have an old black pair that fit but are starting to wear at the seams, and a pair of corduroys. I will stick with those 3 pair for now! You are so right that short and short-waisted makes it so hard to find pants, especially when my belly is way too big.

My exercise, eating, and alcohol were better this week since I was back to work. We did make pizza last night though - my husband makes really good dough - and that was so delicious! That is way more bread than I normally eat, but I told him I don't want to make it again for a while. It was a really nice treat but we need to space it out some! We had just made some over the holidays.

I have heard of GERD but don't know much about it. Did you try your idea of not eating/drinking in bed, and has it helped? How about the alkaline water and honey? I had not heard of manuka honey and had to look it up. Do you order that online? I have heard about medicinal honey's antibacterial properties for healing wounds. Have you used it for that too? No worries here about the ugh factor! It helps to have someone to talk to about health stuff, and I'm glad we can do that!

I am off next Friday for a teacher workday and had thought about finally trying a new state park, since I did not get to any at all during all of 2020, but the visitors' centers at the two closest ones that I have not been to yet will not be open that day. I only go when those are open so I can get a shirt for my collection! So, I found a wildlife refuge with some short trails (2.5 total miles) that is about 45 minutes away. It's a federal refuge I think, and free, and looks like it will be open. I wanted to at least try someplace new. Plus it looks like it's on a creek or something, which I always like. Something to look forward to!

I hope your week has been good, that you have found some relief from the reflux, and that you are safely vaccinated with no side effects!!