Christmas Photos Gone Terribly Wrong, Vol 1

 

Not Dead Yet

Hello. Anyone there? I know, I've gone missing for a week myself and shouldn't expect y'all to be waiting patiently for my return. Today marks Day 7 since I got the test results for my Covid-19 test. It was positive. I am on Day 15 of being symptomatic. It's been a meandering two weeks of cough, low-grade fever, head and body aches, sore throat, an astonishing feeling of weakness, and diarrhea. I'd seem to improve a bit, then relapse into more severe symptoms. I'd creep back and forth from bed at night to the couch for most of the day. Doing my best to stay just hydrated enough without having to take multiple trips to the bathroom. During the worst stretch, I didn't have the strength to sit up at my computer and wore the same jammies and went unshowered for five days. Yesterday afternoon things finally took a break for the better, I actually felt like eating and found that I felt steady enough to take a shower and wash my filthy hair. Today I feel almost normal, though with a bit of a lingering dry cough and I do tire easily. For anyone who thinks the coronavirus is a hoax, I'll let you in on something. This shit is real, it is nasty, and you don't want to get infected with it. My son and I have experienced it about as bad as you can without requiring hospitalization. For our continuing recovery I am grateful. Also for friends and family checking in on us and asking if we need anything. All I have to say is, wear a goddamn mask if you must go out among others and maintain a six foot space between yourself and others. Wash your hands. If you must spread something, share accurate information about Covid-19, no bullshit conspiracy theories. Stay safe out there.  

Creeping Crud Update

Still waiting for test results. It was supposed to take 48 hours, which would have been some time yesterday. According to the website, the sample only arrived at the testing lab around 6pm yesterday. The Final Jeopardy countdown music is looping in my brain. I feel slightly less shitty than last night. Whatever virus has taken up residence in my body is nasty beyond belief. I am at Day 8 of symptoms. Stay home. Wear a mask. Keep six feet away from others. You don't want this.

 

Marriage

Today is the birthday of British essayist, historian, and philosopher Thomas Carlyle. He was married for forty years to Jane Baillie Welsh and they were intensely unhappy together. I have no idea to whom I should attribute this quote, but someone who must have been familiar with the couple said this, "It was very good of God to let Carlyle and Mrs. Carlyle marry one another, and so make only two people miserable and not four." Proving that misery does, indeed, love company. If I were a better person I would not have found this so amusing.
 

The Creeping Crud

The son and I have been swabbed for the Covid-19 PCR test. Results in forty-eight hours or so. I have made an enormous pot of chicken/turkey noodle soup. This will sustain us for a few days while I most likely won't feel much like cooking. Reid is on Day 8 of symptoms and is feeling pretty perky this evening. I am on Day 5 and in a bit of a downward spiral. It must be time for soup, Advil, and flannel pajamas. And a blankie. And my big, comfy chair. Which is conveniently located in front of the TV. Maybe Newt will cuddle with me. Yes, I am pitiful. 

2020 Just Keeps On Giving

Both the son and I have come down with some nasty viral sort of thing. Tomorrow we get tested for Covid-19, there's a testing station just a few blocks away and it's free! Cancelled dentist appointments and a pause in my seasonal decorating frenzy and living in pajamas have become the norm around here. It's one thing to laze about and accomplish little but taking up space. It's quite another to feel like space occupation is exhausting. I have become enamored of drinking this lemonade/ginger ale concoction. Hydrates and cleans out the phlegmy feeling. Time for another episode of The West Wing. 
 

December Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit