@MusicCandy @SadMe70 A place to communicate

Oh gosh - I'm so sorry to hear that. It must be hard to get outside and care for the animals when you feel rotten - and its COLD! I got my booster and it didn't bother me at all - guess its different for every- body. My shoulder is gradually improving too and I'm doing my exercises.

I got back to the gym a couple of days, and i'm working out about 30 minutes there which is a replacement for the therapy and close to what I was doing before. I skipped 2 weeks of therapy - one week was with an assistant and not my usual therapist. But she will be there next week so I'mm go 1 more time and close it out with the practice. I'm so grateful for the improvement in pain. I'm at work and I just saw the surgery schedule - a man about my age is on to bet an epidural and cortisone shot for exactly what i have. I'd like to avoid this place as much as possible.

i am somewhat encouraged about the CT construction ect. I have good people working with me this week end - they helped me transport patients to the trailer and I have only ONE more weekend to deal with it. YEA. It is freezing to go outside. Apparently, there is a contract on the trailer and it has to go on the 17th no matter if our new one is ready or not.

I'm not happy at all about the election -I think Democrats just didn't try very hard. I'm Independent as a voter, but the conservative agenda is not going to help with equality . It is distressing to see how the less fortunate and oppressed are treated. so I just do what I can.

I hope you do all you can to get better. Sending you a virtual cup of tea - wish it was the real thing. 😘

Hello, and thank you for the tea! My armpit hurt for several days but was only swollen for about 2. This week was good with eating and exercise. I am keeping close to the 20 pounds down, going up and down a bit depending on what I am doing - last weekend was my husband's birthday so I ate pizza and pie. My body has been feeling weird due to perimenopausal stuff. My cycle lengths have been weird for a couple of years, ranging from 23 to 33 days, but the period I had last month was 43 days from the last one. I thought I was skipping one for the first time, then it showed up randomly like that! This past Monday, which was 32 days since that last weird one, I bled a tiny bit, which usually signals the next day it will start, but then it never started. I am not entirely sure how to feel about it all, but it is certainly confusing. I haven't read all that much about it, but these particular patterns aren't anything I had read about.

I did have some sad news last week. I came upon my son talking to my husband about a hospital bill that was higher than he expected. It turns out that my son and DIL have been trying to have a baby since December. (They did not tell me because they know "how I take things." Well, thanks, even though it is true!) Her periods have always been irregular, so they went to a doctor and she has been diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome. She will have a really tough time getting pregnant at all, and if she does, has a high chance of miscarriage and premature birth. She is also at greater risk of diabetes because PCOS messes with your insulin, so she's been put on meds to regulate that. I know that fertility issues can be a big strain on marriages, both emotionally and financially, so now I have something new to worry about. I have added them to the long list of people that I am praying for.

I am so glad your shoulder is improving! Glad to hear you are back to the gym and able to do some workouts! I hope your final session went well. I am really glad your pain is improved. I am grateful for physical therapists! That is about the only medical appointment I ever look forward to!

I am also glad the construction is going well, and that meanwhile you have had some good people working with you in the trailer. I hope you had good ones this weekend too! I'm glad it has been a little warmer than it was that one week. Hopefully that will hold out until you are back in the building!

I am independent as as voter also, and felt like either way the election went would not be good. I have felt the same about the last 2 presidential elections. I also feel like if someone good actually got elected to any high office, the other party would block their every move just out of partisan spite. It's so discouraging.

On Thursday I got a male goat to hopefully breed one or both of my females. The big one is probably too big for this little guy, and the other one may be too old, but we'll see! I know he will give it the old college try!!

I think I will go have a cup of tea now with my breakfast. I will toast you! I hope your week and weekend go well my friend!

Short note: I just logged on to write - at work, and now i have 4 patients!

I am glad you are somewhat better. Me too. One more night in the trailer, Thank God.

i am sorry about your DIL - that is so hard to go through as a young couple. i'll say prayers for them too.

Good luck with the goat lovemaking. I hope you have a nice day tomorrow too. Its cold again BRR.

Good morning! Pretty good week here - ate well, exercised well, not too much alcohol except last night! School has been good. The boy goat is settled in, but I have seen no signs of action when I've been out there. They are all just ignoring each other. Fingers still crossed!

I found out another piece of family news that I have not been officially told. My husband stopped by my son's house to drop something off on Wed. On Thurs night, he finally thought to mention to me that my son showed him a picture on his phone of the custom engagement ring that he and his gf went shopping for and had designed! So my son is essentially engaged but has not thought to mention it to me yet. Both my husband and a male friend I told thought it was no big deal, and he wasn't really engaged until the ring comes, and apparently my son feels that way too. My female friend that I told was outraged on my behalf. I guess that is another difference between men and women. I feel like it's a big deal and he should tell me! I think a daughter would have sent a pic from the store!

My older son and the gf are having Thanksgiving with her family - his first time going with her instead of being with us. My younger son and his wife asked to come here rather than have us go to their house. I am glad to have them, though they have a much bigger kitchen with a separate eating area. My kitchen is small with a too-big table crammed in, no dining room. I plan to do some of the prep on Tues because I have a doctor appt on Wed at noon in Fredericksburg, and am going to do a little shopping after. I have not shopped in any Fredbg stores since before the pandemic! What are your Thanksgiving plans?

My doc appt is with a podiatrist. I have pain in both feet that is getting worse in one foot. My sister told me it is bunions. I just checked my "foot care" benefits and apparently I have none, so I am going to have to pay this out of pocket. Just what I need! I don't want to ignore it longer though.

This weekend I am going to try to make myself deal with various small tasks that I have been putting off because I don't feel like doing any of them. There are maybe 5 important ones. Hopefully I will do them all!

I hope your week has gone well and you are back in your regular space! I wish you and your family and very happy Thanksgiving! You are definitely on my list of things I am thankful for!

Well - that was news on all fronts! I hope the goats do the deed so you can have some Spring surprises, fun for you to see them as babies. The littlest cat came on my bed as I was getting ready to sleep this morning and laid her head on my knee. She doesn't usually cuddle up to me ( normally my fiance) but I knew she wouldn't stay long and soon enough she was running around the room scratching the bedpost to get out.

I'm with you about the engagement. It seems like if they picked it out together, it is pretty solid. Old fashioned - he would have asked her parent and then everyone would know. I hope she is nice and the kind of girl that is right for him. As for the Thanksgiving dinner , I think i would mention the sitting issue and ask if you could cook, whatever, and bring it to their house. If they just want you to fix the meal, you could still eat where it is most comfortable. I haven't made plans. I'm not working, but i really want to just get some rest. Daughters will be with their Dad and he always cooks for an army. It is my favorite holiday, but its not the same not going to my Dad's house like we always did. Maybe when i'm not working like a dog I will care more.

So sorry about your feet. Bunions can be painful and I guess you don't have a choice when it gets bad. you have to be on your feet all day and outside work too. too bad the insurance doesn't cover it. I ended paying more for my shoulder treatment than i was quoted out of pocket, but i'm done with them now. My shoulder is better and i'm exercising it every day along with our walks and some cardio at work. good for you with the meals and exercising. i'm drinking wine every day again, so I understand we can fall into it easily.

I hope you got your tasks done. I usually tackle the easiest one first and then I have at least started and that is motivating. I cleaned out some more boxes from the basement, but there is still SO much more. Work is going OK with the new scanner.It takes some getting used to - the steps are different but i haven't screwed up too much yet. It will be good when we have used it for awhile. At least we are Inside - it is COLD. I shop almost everything on amazon or the second hand store that I love. Amazing how some items that I need are actually there, and some brand new. I get friends plants from my favorite local nursery. Feels good to go there - there are cats and bee hives and rows of all kinds of trees and plants - plus some are always on sale. That's my middle name - never pay retail.

You have fun shopping, and for sure have a Happy Thanksgiving my friend. I'll probably be sleeping.

Hello,

My son finally called to tell me about the ring after his father suggested he do so. He was just being a guy. Apparently the picture he has is one he took with his phone of a picture on the computer where it was designed, so it's a bad picture, and he just figured he'd wait to say anything until he had a better picture and/or the actual ring. I guess he doesn't get that I would still have liked to be told! He also told me he interviewed for a job in College Park and if he gets it, he's moving up there. His gf wants to apply for jobs in DC, so they had planned to move to northern VA to make her commute easier, but the MD side will work also. He has a good stable job here, loves Fredbg, lots of friends plus his D&D group. He doesn't want to go, but is doing it for her. I hope it is worth it. I moved down here because of my husband, and have regretted moving away from my family for the last 20 years.

Thanksgiving was not really that great. For years I have missed the family-filled Thanksgivings I grew up with - something I could not give my kids since we moved away - so it always makes me kind of sad to begin with. Then not having my older son here for the first time also was sad. I told my younger son and DIL to come at 2, thinking the turkey would be done at 4 and we could visit a while and then eat. The turkey ended up being ready at 2, and I had everything else done in the morning, so I sat around all day. They finally showed up at 3. My DIL makes huge beautiful charcuterie boards and she brought 2 of them, so we all sat around eating those and nobody wanted dinner. At 6 I decided we really had to eat dinner. When we were eating, my son decided to announce that once they finally had a grandchild, they would move to Korea "for a stint" because it wouldn't be fair to her parents to not be near their grandchild. Well just break my heart why don't you. I could barely speak the rest of the very shortened evening, trying to hold back tears (I did have 2 stiff drinks prior so that made it harder to cope). We finished dinner quickly and packed them off with leftovers, and didn't even bother with the pie (I ate it yesterday!).

I went to Pocahontas State Park yesterday, bringing my parks total to 20. It was very pretty and not crowded. I saved that one for cold weather because I know it is packed in summer. I needed something like that after a mostly not very happy week. I am just feeling down and sad. I will be glad of the distraction of going back to work on Monday.

My foot pain is bunions, but not bad enough yet for surgery. I am very glad of that, but not so excited to have another new pain that is not going to go away. The doctor's office said they thought I did have coverage for that, so I hope they are right! That would be good news!

The little cat sounds cute! It is just like a cat though, to cuddle until you get all comfy and then start being annoying. My loud one didn't start meowing until 5:45, but I can deal with that since on normal weekdays I am up before that anyway. It's the 3AM that I can't do! I am thinking of shutting her in a cat carrier covered with a blanket at night, and maybe she will sleep until I get up.

I hope you got some good rest on Thanksgiving Day. I'm thinking next year I should just go hiking! Were you able to do any nice walks lately?

I am glad your shoulder is doing better. Keep up that exercise! I did mine for a couple of weeks but have not been good about it lately at all. I do try to stretch my pecs most days, since the PT thinks part of the shoulder problem was my super tight pec muscles pulling forward.

I certainly understand about having wine every day. I drank more this week than I have been lately. I will try to scale back again next week.

Good job getting some boxes from the basement! I know it feels good to make a little dent, even though the rest is overwhelming. I am glad you are moved back inside for work! I'm sure you will get used to the new scanner procedures quickly, since I'm sure there will be no lack of opportunities to practice!

The nursery sounds really nice! The visitor center at Pocahontas has a beehive in clear plexiglass and that was really cool to see. They were not doing much since it's cold, but the ranger said in warmer weather it is fascinating to watch all the activity.

I guess that is enough sad news from me for one week! Thank you for being here so I can tell someone without judgement.

I hope your week was good, and you got some rest!

Hello! I don't have any really sad news this time (yay!) and only one weird health problem. That counts for a good week these says, sigh. I mostly ate well, except for that box of cookies my sister-in-law sent.... Those are all gone now and I'm not heavier! I exercised every day and took an hour walk after work one day.

I can't remember if I mentioned before, but I've been lightheaded/vertigo pretty much every morning for more than a month, with pretty low BP on a lot of mornings, down as far as 85/59. When I am not overweight, my BP is lowish anyway, so that's not drastically lower than my normal, but it is too low. I worried that the gummies were causing it, because I feel like my head is spinning when I take it at night, but I took it for well over a month without any problems in the mornings. In fact, I liked it because I slept well and had no effects in the morning, unlike Benedryl, etc. which leaves me dopey half the day. Also, I don't tend to take them on the weekends since I drink instead, but last Sunday I was lightheaded all day. Usually it clears up right about when I leave for work, but yesterday I continued to feel bad, along with nausea and headache so I came home at 11:30. I drank hot chocolate and read a book to try to rest myself, but it is unnerving. Prior to that I had already made an appt with my doctor over my holiday break, so we will see what she thinks.

I am so glad you had a relaxing Thanksgiving Day! You so deserve it!! Plus no drama, which is nice. I also had a lot of leftovers and ate them most of the week until they were gone. I was happy to not cook! I have a pumpkin cookbook from the library, and last weekend I made chili with pumpkin and sausage, and braised cabbage with pumpkin and sausage. Both were fairly big recipes, so we ate those all week on alternating days until yesterday when my husband said he had enough of both! We had Indian food from the freezer, but there is still a little left of each so he is going to see them today!

I left my cats out last night since it was warm. I've had the loud one in most of the week and she has not been too bad. She meows around 5 when I am getting myself awake, so I put her out then but she has to wait for breakfast until I am done my exercising. If I leave my room before I am done with the time for myself, it also stirs up the dog and then she wants food, and then my husband might wake up and ask me to help him with something, so I prefer to hide out and do my thing first! I hope your kitten stays quiet!

I am so glad the new scanner is working so well! I'm sorry about the terrible night. I know you probably get a lot of nights like that, but I hope not too many. I imagine holidays make things worse, since people indulge in all sorts of ways.

I got my first real Christmas tree in years! When my husband was using the living room as an office there was not room. I just pulled up saplings and put them in pots and had Charlie Brown trees, which I did like, but I was glad to get a bigger one. It is so beautiful! It was nice to go through my boxes of ornaments and choose some to put up. There are some that have a lot of meaning for me, and I had not seen them for so long, it felt good to use them again. I put out other decorations around the living room, plus other lights over the hearth and a double window in the kitchen. I leave the lights on all the time, so when I get up in the dark in the mornings, the living room and kitchen are so cheery! I wore holiday shirts at school all week, and this coming week is a spirit week with specific things to wear, like a holiday hat. I have a great tree hat that my friend crocheted. The principal is doing something for the staff every day last week and this week. So far I have dodged donut day, sweet treats day, and even salad bar day (I don't trust people there enough to eat communal food with them). However, there was also cute sock day and pizza coupon day, and I was all over those!

I am with Rachael about the Christmas music! I listen to the radio stations that play it nonstop when I am driving. At home, I have been playing some of my Christmas CDs and even some cassettes. I also have a recording transferred from a 4-record set that was my grandmother's, which we had at our house when I was growing up and I always loved it. Listening to that also makes me so happy! I have the actual record set too, so I may set up our turntable and listen to the real thing! I love the feel of putting a needle on a record! I may have even done some dancing when nobody was looking! I am so glad Rachael enjoys it, and I'm sure it makes you happy to see her joy!

I hope you have had a good week. I am glad to have you "on my team" and am glad to be on yours!!

Hello! I am on holiday break now, and it is such a relief! Every day I was worried whether I would get dizzy driving, but actually this has been my best week in a long time. I have ringing in my ears now, which is fairly quiet and I only hear when the room is quiet, but the vertigo has been very minor all week. My BP has mostly been more normal too. My principal said vertigo can be a symptom of menopause, and I googled it. It seems estrogen affects inner ear function. I had no idea! So, there is one possible cause. My doctor appointment is tomorrow. We'll see what she thinks.

My older son formally proposed to his gf yesterday, and they called me (!) to let me know they are officially engaged! So I have something wonderful to look forward to!

I exercised well last week, and got in a walk yesterday. So, despite eating cookies hand over fist (both sisters-in-law sent us a big box from a bakery in their area), so far I have not gained any weight. I will eat a ton next weekend, so my goal is to make it through this week without gaining any, and then eat whatever I want over the holiday. Then I will work on losing whatever I gained, plus the 5 more that I have wanted to lose. I have to find a new website to track my calories - the one I was using, NetDiary - which I really liked, no longer works on my old tablet. My browser is old, but I can't upgrade because my operating system is old.

I loved hearing about your =memory of playing the piano with your mom! I'm so glad that you not only have a wonderful memory of her, but you even have a video of it. I know your relationship with her was challenging, and it made me happy to hear about that memory!

I bought my tree from a local nursery, but they don't grow them. There used to be tree farms around here, so we could take the kids to pick one out and cut it when they were little. I have great memories of doing that as a child, and I loved doing that with my kids. Now there is only one farm that grows trees, but they primarily grow other crops, and have more recently added "attractions" so now you have to pay a $5 admission fee, even if you are just going for a tree! Forget that! So I went to this nursery, only to find their trees were from PA! I paid $75 for a small tree (I had to be able to get it in the stand myself), and wanted to tell the guy my mom paid $35 for her PA tree in PA! I went to the small business on purpose, but I think next year I will pay $50 at the Food Lion instead. That is already a lot for a tree, to my mind!

The decorations your fiance put up sound nice! I hope you are able to enjoy them, though I certainly understand wishing he would put that much effort into cleaning up! I think the same thing about a lot of the stuff my husband does instead of cleaning up. Or, couldn't he spend some of the time he spends on FB, remembering to take his meds? Since they are there, I hope they are bringing you some happiness! I leave my lights here on all night, and it does make me happy to see them in the morning.

I made another pumpkin recipe - pumpkin and mushroom risotto. My husband loves mushrooms and I hate them, but they are so good for you that I try to find a recipe here and there that will "hide" them from me. I put them in my black bean burgers because everything is chopped up in the food processor (and one thing I hate about them is the gross texture when I bite into a chunk). With the risotto, I dumped in about 4 times the cheese called for, and that made it quite tasty and easier to ignore the mushrooms! So as long as I treat myself like a 2-year old, I can choke down the occasional mushroom!

Good for you that you are keeping up with the stairs! Do you walk them for over an hour? That is great exercise! Are you off at all next weekend? I know it will take some time to get used to the new scanner, but I bet you are getting lots of practice and it won't take long.

How did your party go? Did you make the tortilla rollups? Those sound delicious! We have a staff party every year but I don't go. I went my first year and it was just not fun for me. You know how I am with social things, even with people I like. Plus they made us play games - yuck. That one was at the school, but more recently they have done it at a restaurant or winery. This year of course, I don't want to be around a group anyway, especially with so many unvaxxed, non-mask people who have been doing whatever they want the whole time. They just make me mad, so one more reason that I would not want to be stuck at a social event with a bunch of people!

Seeing your comment about having tea reminds me that on Wednesday, I am going to spend some time with my daughter-in-law. I have been trying to engage her because she is very depressed. Between the fertility issues (which I'm not supposed to know about so I can't directly comfort her), missing her family who she hasn't seen in two years because of the pandemic, and my son says she feels both "useless" as a woman since she can't get pregnant, and "useless" as a person in general because she is not working, so she is not doing well mentally and he is not equipped to cope with that. He says when they make plans to do something with friends, at the last minute she is so anxious that she wants him to tell them she is sick so she doesn't have to go, but when she gets there she has fun. Well that is ME all over, so I could empathize with her, but I'm not supposed to know that either because she is embarrassed. So she kept putting off my offers to do stuff, but finally agreed. We had a fancy tea together way back in April (just at home, but with special tea and cakes and dressed up a little), and she liked that, so she finally agreed to do that again, plus we are going to cook lunch together which we also did that other day.

We are spending Christmas Day with my older son and his gf (wait, I mean FIANCE!), and will see my other son, his wife, and my family on Dec 26 at my sister's house. Then I am going to mom's until Thursday.

I hope that you have enough time off this holiday to rest and spend time with your family! I am thinking about you, and hope you have had a good week!

Merry Christmas my friend!!

Your family get togethers make me feel good, just hearing about getting together with each of the ones you hold near and dear. You know how sometimes even if you don't get to do those things, it makes you happy inside to just know that a friend will have that warm and fuzzy experience. It's weird, but i do, and it makes it OK for me, just knowing that you will enjoy the smiles and hugs. I'm working both hristmas Eve and Christmas Day - just because its a weekend. but tonight when i get off at 11, Fiance and I will try to go to the 11 PM service at St. Marks Episcopal - one of the old ornate churches in the Fan. That will make Christmas for me. I always cry at the end when they turn off all the lights, and one candle is passed to the next persons candle to light ( they have a deacon at the end of each aisle to make it quicker) until the whole church has lit candles while we sing Silent Night accapella. I was glad to find an in person service at all. Masks and social distances of course.

COVID numbers are twice the number in the hospital as last March. And just about every person coming to the ED with a cough turns up positive. They aren't all that sick, but still... We hoped it would be better, but its not. I'm being extra careful, even around vaccinated people - breakthrough infections are more common than DELTA, but at least you are mildly sick in that case unless you have asthma or COPD, ect. Not to be a /debbie downer, but January will be worse. so , N95 in public.

My daughters will be with their dad for Christmas, but Rachael has been happy at my house too with the music and decorations. They are pretty, but I have my hidden angst still. I try not to show it. We didn't really have a "party" at work - we were busy and it was during the work day. They just put out the food ( yes, my roll ups were a hit" and we ate during little breaks. No games, Thank God.

Rachael and i got in our walks all of last week. We walk 3.25 miles in 1 hour and 10 minutes usually. at ork when I do the stairs, I go up and down 5 flights 30 times total, but not all at once, usually in groups of 7 or 8, It takes a little over an hour all told. I'm personally glad for no snow - it was nice and warm today. My meals have been like snacks really at home. But I normally try to wait 12-14 hours between meals, like intermittent fasting. Still enjoying wine and a snack in bed. Emphasis, enjoy. I'm not going to deprive myself of the whole experience of starting to relax, get an article t read, and my bedtime treat on the table beside me - plus one or more cats I may have to chase away from the candy wrappers. Tonight at work, I ate chex mix that someone made - for dinner - and 2 strawberry chocolates. The goodies will be gone next week. I'll get back on track then.

I hope you do have some time to have tea and cook with your DIL. Maybe alone, she may open up if she feels she can trust you. It is hard, as we know, but at least she knows you care. I have had an easy shift and I'll be back tomorrow afternoon and night. I lov

e your colorful MERRY CHRISTMAS and I wish the same for you.

Hello and Happy New Year! I have had a busy couple of weeks, so lots to tell you about!

I did spend the day with my DIL before Christmas. We went to the store, cooked the shepherd's pie, and had tea and lunch together. She had bought a cute little gingerbread cake to do along with the tea. She did open up a little - told me that her doctor told her to lose weight, and that her extra weight (which is not that much really) was interfering with her hormones and her ability to get pregnant. If she was telling me that much, I'm not sure why she didn't just say she has PCOS, since that is the real problem, but that is her choice. She said she has been to the gyn three times and saw someone different each time, which makes it harder. They would not let my son in the first time due to COVID restrictions, so they said in later visits he was her translator. Although her English is good, her vocabulary is not deep, certainly not for medical terms. She said even my son didn't understand everything they were telling them. I offered to go with her sometime if she wanted me too, and she seemed touched, though I highly doubt she will take me up on it. Still, I feel there was some level of bonding.

Christmas Day I spent with my son and his fiance. My husband did not go because he had been having stomach issues since his colonoscopy earlier that week. We had a great time, playing games and having wonderful food. After I had been there for hours, her sister called to say that their dad tested positive, and they had been with him two days earlier. More on that later!

I went to my sister's on Dec 26. My son and fiance did not go since they had that exposure. I went anyway since I was going on to my mom's, and just wore my mask except when eating. That was a great day too.

My younger son and DIL spent that night at mom's also, so I spent a little more time with them Monday morning. On Tuesday, Mom and I went to a big health food store near her and then walked on a rail trail. On Wed, we went up to a Mennonite store that she also likes, to get some slippers and other stuff she normally gets there, then walked on another rail trail. She likes to walk but needs it flat and good footing, now that she is 83, so rail trails are a good choice. We cooked one meal together, a cauliflower and sweet potato curry, that we ate for a couple of days once we finished off other leftovers. Then she wanted to make a mincemeat pie, since she loves them and nobody else in the family except me likes it. So, we made and consumed an entire pie plus most of a carton of ice cream (which she insisted that kind of pie needs), over two days, just the two of us!

My sister called us to say that they found out that her brother-in-law, that they had been with a few days earlier, also tested positive. So I had two second-hand contacts. My son and fiance started feeling mildly sick Monday, and I started feeling bad Wed evening. For me, just extra mucous (on top of my winter-long mucous!), headache, fatigue. None of us have been able to get tested since the urgent cares have 3-4 hour minimum waits, plus the ones in my town are closed today. So I don't know if what I have is COVID or not, but seems like I had plenty of opportunity to catch it. I told them I need to go back to school where I am safe! Ha! (Unless our incoming governor lifts masks mandates in school like he says he wants to do, grrrrr.) I am pretty annoyed though, that extended family members who clearly aren't being as careful as they should, passed it (possibly) to my family and now I might have it, after I have been SO stinking careful this whole time!! I was happy to be spending time with my family again every now and then, and now I won't feel safe even with them.

I have not gotten any worse (thank you vaccine and booster!), and took a slow little walk up and down my driveway yesterday. I had hoped to go hiking in the mountains over my vacation, but had no time before, and now I need to rest. I reported my symptoms on our staff reporting form yesterday, so we'll see whether they let me go back to work Tuesday or not. They might insist I quarantine 10 days since I don't have a test. I hate to use up the sick days, but I would not mind an extra 4 days off, especially if I am still so tired! I will try again Sunday and Monday to get tested, but I am not waiting for hours.