Happy Birthday #54 to ME!

Today is my Birthday.

Birthday #54!!

I am not turning big cartwheels about it, but I am just happy to see another year of life. It is that simple. 

I have no big plans. Me and LadyTee spend our birthdays together, and I tried to get her to just skip mine this year, and we could spend some time together for her birthday in March. It just makes me anxious to have to find somewhere for lunch, where we have to sit outside on a balcony and be COLD. I do not want to be cold, and there is no way I am sitting in a restaurant full of people without a mask. 

NO.

But she found a place, and it should be in the high 50s in my beloved ATL tomorrow. So I will make sure to wear something warm, maybe a few layers of clothes and eat and be cold. I am gonna make sure to enjoy myself. But besides that, I have no plans. 

I have been eyeing my mini-piggy bank the last few days. If you don't know, I save money from birthday to birthday, then I go put it in the bank. And I buy myself a gift. Last year, I saved a little over $500. I still have that socked away. I am going to count what I have in my little piggy bank tomorrow and figure out how much I have. I think it is around $200-300 dollars. I am putting that with the $500, and going to buy a new cellphone. Or a new laptop. I have not decided what I want to do. I need to travel to DC for a one day work trip soon, so I need a piece of carry on luggage. Not sure what I want to do... but I love opening that piggy bank and counting out my money. I think for 2021, I had some $900! It is shocking how much that little bank can hold. I forgot what I did with it, but it, but it was NOT paying bills. I bought something for myself.

I have spent the past few days pondering the past year. So much has been overshadowed by transitioning to the new job. That, and doing my best to cope with this ongoing isolation due to covid. I miss just running around doing the things I like to do. I have gone to a store, gotten to the door of the store and have had to turn around because...

"Danggit, I forgot my mask!!!!"

*LadyLee stomping back to the parking lot for her mask*

Sigh. I guess this is the new normal. Even with being careful to wear a mask, I still got covid last month. That was another highlight/lowlight of the year. I am just thankful that I came out of it with no seemingly long term issues. At least I don't know about the issues. I skipped my last rheumatology appointment, which was suppose to be last week. (It was 30 degrees that morning, and I did not want to be cold),

I think what I miss most about this past year is my good walking habit. That was the best thing ever, working myself up to walking 3-5 miles a day. Just to be out in the fresh air and sunshine was everything. In October 2022, I decided to walk after a rain shower and I slipped on some mud. I did not fall, but my foot has not been right every since, and it hurts to walk more than 20 or 30 minutes. I have had x-rays and nothing's wrong with the bones. I have sciatica on my right side now, and that makes it worse. I think that slip up just aggravated it. And I have been lazy about figuring out something more low impact to do. That is my fault. I own that. Maybe I will do better about that in year 54 of my life. 

Oh, and another thing.  Pam the Protege has been sold.

Such a funny story. I will write about it soon. But I have had two cars for awhile, since 2012. My work commute has been pretty short (9.5 miles round trip) the last 17 years or so. For the past 10 years, I only put 500 miles a year on Pam, and about 6000 miles a year on Lucy Jr. So with the pandemic and working from home, I only put around 2800 miles a year on Lucy Jr.  And here's the kicker: insurance in the inner city is sky high, so I just took Pam off my insurance and parked it. I could not get her to pass emissions, and I wasn't gonna try to figure it out. Here in GA, once a car turns 25, there is no need for emissions. 

Pam turned 25 in 2022.  And now, in 2024, Lucy Jr. is 25. Insurance would have been around $250 a month for both cars. 

NO. 

So somebody bought Pam. And the story is hilarious. I will write that up soon! LOL

I liked having two cars, but with the invention of rideshare, this is no longer necessary. Oh joy!

And I haven't had a car note since 2004. And I plan to keep it that way.

But that was the highlight of my year. I am sure more took place but I think, like I said, everything has been overshadowed by this new job. I think I got so use to my old job, so comfortable there for 22 years, so much so, that when a hard shift occurred, I spent most of my year getting adjusted. Ugh! That is a high class problem to have, though. I comfort myself with that. Not complaining, but man oh man... I am just still in awe that I had the courage to step out and do something new like change jobs. 

I didn't really even pray about it. I do remember prayers of me needing to think about praying about it. I remember praying about how I need to think about my career and where I need to go with it and where I want to land my career and think about retirement. And voila... new job loaded so fast it made my head spin.

What am I looking forward to in year 54?

I have not thought much about it. I want to have better habits. I want to be a little more courageous and intentional about my personal goals. I tend to be more internal and self-contained these days. I am working on stepping away from that to a point. I know over the past few years, I tend to focus on people who know me and accept my flaws, and I theirs (we all have them), and move more away from social media. I feel like social media is the highlight reels of our lives, the silver lining of our clouds. It is so easy to get over into comparison of my life to the shiny parts of other peoples' lives. When it fact, everybody has a lot going on that they are not posting up. 

My life is not very shiny. I wake up every morning just happy to see a new day and what it will bring. And my days are good. That is all I can ask for. 

There are 8 billion people on this planet. That equals 8 billion complex journeys, all different with complex purposes, trials, triumphs, tribulations, etc. etc... 

I will walk out my journey. 

I cannot wait to see what year 54 brings.

I will walk out my journey. On purpose. 

Blanket Watch 2023!

I was thinking about the blankets I made for the year 2023, and how it felt that I didn't meet my usual goal of making four adult blankets and one or two baby blankets. Last year I made three adult blankets and one baby blanket. I feel like I didn't crochet as much because of the new job. My mind was heavy on that. 

And I am okay with that. I had my work review today, and it went reasonably well, so I suppose I can relax now and crochet more in 2024. 

But at any rate, here are the three blankets I made. 

The name of this blanket is "Mama's Joy"

That is for my friend "Almond Joy's" Mother. 

I asked my friend what her mother's favorite color was. She said red, without any hesitation. Bright red. 

I cringed inside. Fire Engine red. Ugh. And all one color. UGH.

But I came through. I found some cherry red yarn and went for it. But it was like staring at the sun. That red did a number on my eyes! I haven't given it to her yet. It was suppose to be a Christmas gift, but that got delayed. She will be in town this weekend, so I will take it to her then. I can't wait to see the look on her face when she sees it!

This is a blanket I have made multiple times. I think some 6 times over the past decade, I believe.  

One of them was made around the 2022 winter Holidays, so I am not counting that one, since it was a carryover from 2022. I think I may have finished that one in January. But I finished the second one in July. It was a birthday gift for my Nurse Practitioner. 

But guess what happened. My NP retired! I didn't have her phone number or anything. She was just up and gone. I tried to do the Peoplefinder thing on the internet, but that fell through. Finally in December, I asked another NP if she had her phone number, and if she did, could she please text her to contact me so she could get her stuff. She did that, and last week, I was able to give it to her. She loved it!

Last but not least, "Mama Mary's Blues".

Now, this was not my usual crochet project. But it was in the same pattern book as the two above, and I have always wanted to make it. Boy oh boy, that was some craziness. It took me four months to make. FOUR months. That is too long. I didn't think I would EVER finish. OMG. 

But Mama Mary is one of my friend's mother. She was shocked when I presented it to her. It took her a minute to figure it out. 

"Is this mine?" she exclaimed. 

"Yes it is!" I replied.

This one was very special to me. I thought about my own mother while making it. And I gave Mama Mary the blanket around Mother's day. I realized my mother is gone, but even though she is gone, I was so thankful that I could give someone else's mother a gift instead. For some reason, that thought gave me solace. It gave me peace. 

So on to this year. I have already completed a baby blanket. 

I usually give myself a month, but I made it in two weeks flat. I needed something to do while I was being still with my covid. I quarantined it for a week before I washed and dried it. And I gave it to my coworker. She is odd in her design of commissioned blankets. The colors here were blush and sage, and I was at the craft store sending her pictures of yarn. She did a good job on deciding the color scheme from my pictures. She also likes three rows of three, because three is her favorite number. This baffles me. What does this three business have to do with the newborn baby? Hmm. 

But I took it, along with another baby blanket I made last year (I forgot to take a picture of that one), to my old job. It was good to deliver the one above to my coworker, and a baby blue and tan one to my workplace twin (we have the same birthday). They both liked the blankets. 

The one above -whoever my coworker was giving it to came by the job to pick it up within the hour... and went and caught a plane to Seattle. That was a lot going on. So that blanket should be in Seattle now with the newborn baby. 

So on to other blankets this year. I usually plan my year out, so it looks like I have one more baby blanket to make and two adult blankets make.

Feels like a slow year. And that's cool. 

Maybe I can work another one in if possible. You never know who's gonna have a baby on the way!

Negative!

Testing Negative. FINALLY!

Thank goodness. I try to test myself every 48 hours, and for the last couple of tests before the one above, I was seeing a faint positive line. And I was wondering.... Lawd have mercy will this ever go away?

Yes it did. I am keeping this negative test. 

Looking back on it, it was definitely an experience to deal with. I can understand how things can go BAD very quickly. I have never been THAT thirsty and parched with a cold or the flu. Wow. I could not drink enough water. I felt like I felt when I visited Denver, Colorado back in 2001, the weekend of 9-11... I could not get enough water. 

And oddly enough, I felt okay during the day. I was even able to work. Granted, I work from home. Ain't like I really had to get dressed, fight traffic, and get on into a building. But when the nighttime came, I was feeling like I had wandered into the Terrordome. 

My supervisor was wailing hard. I was looking forward to our biweekly 1:1 meeting, as I had some questions about an addendum to a report I'd been working on. He asked how I was doing, and I said fine, just dealing with the covid. All my work questions and discussions I had outlined on a scratch piece of paper went to dust. He was hollering "You must get some rest! And if you need anything, let us know."

*LadyLee wondering hard how he can help me when he's in Maryland*

My questions were not answered, and I was NOT in the mood to be trying to get a word in edgewise. He will correct my document and get it back to me eventually. 

Humph. 

But I am just glad it is over. I wish I knew which doggone variant I had. I was reading that this version is not Omicron, but some variant of it. The original omicron is over. 

Right now, I have a lingering cough. And I'll take that. As long as it disappears soon.

Be though as it may... I will continue to mask and sanitize. 

I am just glad it's over with.

My Happy New Year Gift.... UGH!

So...

I was sitting around, minding my business around New Years Day...

Enjoying my two whole weeks of Holiday leave...

Just minding my business!! 

Then this happened:

Look at that. A positive covid test. What an exciting New Year gift. :( 

You mean to tell me that I have dodged covid for close to FOUR YEARS and NOW I catch it?

LAWD.

So around January 1st, I woke up with a sore throat. And it was barely snore. It felt like I may have swallowed a fish bone or something like that. Then on the January 2nd, I woke up with a noticeably sore throat. I could feel it when I swallowed.  But I felt alright. Then on January 3rd, I noticed it was still sore, and I was a little congested. I thought it was just a cold coming on. 

That morning of the 3rd, I was putting away laundry and I opened the bottom drawer of my chest of drawers and saw some covid tests. But they were old and expired. So I was just going to throw them away. I really needed that drawer space. 

But before I threw them away, I decided to take a test to see if it was any good. 

And after about 30 seconds, that first line, the one denoting a positive test, showed up.

I knew I was supposed to wait 15 minutes, but I just happened to be walking by and saw it. 

"No, that's not right," I said aloud.

So, I took another test, using a different brand. Positive again.

"No, that's not right," I said again. 

I called my local urgent care center. We had one that just opened a mile away. I made an appointment and got tested there later that afternoon.

"Guess what," the kind Nurse Practitioner said, his eyes tinged with kindness and sorrow. "You have covid."

O_O.

I thought I would cry or scream if I ever got it. But I didn't really react. 

"Okay."

That is all I said. 

He asked me to tell him about some of my autoimmune issues. I did. He wouldn't give me the antiviral medication. He told me to go call my rheumatologist. It was too late for all that. 

My sister's best friend told me to look online to see if the antivirals clashed with any of my current medications. They did. So, I opted not to chance it. I was just going to ride it through.

And as you can see, I am still here!

I think I had a mild case. 

I had been a little perplexed about the whole thing. I do not know where I caught it. I had been running a bunch of errands on the southside on New Years Eve weekend. I always wore my black KN95 mask  every time I went into a store. I sanitized my hands every time I got back in the car. I even had Chlorox wipes in my purse, just in case I needed them. 

But like most of us, I had let things slip a little. I have worn a mask during the pandemic and even now. I did not mind being the only person in a grocery store with a mask on. I had gotten past the funny looks. But that weekend, I had started using my debit card for buying stuff. I wanted to get away from using my credit card to buy everything. I thought it would save me from swiping too much and buying too much unnecessary stuff. But with debit card use comes having to enter a pin number into the pinpad at the checkout.

And I also went to the movies. Mind you, I went to a 9:00 am movie on a Saturday morning. And there were only 5 people in the theater. And I wore my mask the entire time. I went to see The Color Purple. 

And it was good. 

Could it have been from there? Who knows. We were all spread out. It was my favorite theater, and there were only 5 cars in the parking lot. 

I don't know. 

I did some yarn shopping. I went to the phone store to look at some phones, but there was a bunch of folk in there. I left immediately. 

I am not sure where I got it from. But I wanted to drive to the southside Fayetteville city limits and jump out the car and shake my fist at Fayetteville. Then get back in the car and drive home. 

I didn't do that. I just stayed at home and dealt with it. 

But my symptoms were mild. I had a sore throat that lasted all of 4 days. I had 2 days of horrible sleep, where I was waking up several times a night and drinking A LOT of water. It was that kind of sleep where I would wake up and thought I had been asleep for several hours... but it had only been an hour. LONG nights. Ugh. 

And a ton of mucous. Wow. 

I must've gone through four boxes of tissues. YIKES.

And I drank so much water. I got to a point where I concocted fruit infused water every morning. I had some strange thing for pineapple lemon water. Water, water, water. 

It was more discomfort than anything. My joints and muscles were no more achy than usual. I have arthritis, and I could not tell much of a difference. I was really happy that I did not have a fever. Urgent care prescribed an inhaler and cough pills. I didn't have to use those. Because I knew I was on the mend when I started sleeping better. I still feel like I was inhaling water, but that's fine. 

I got plenty of water. 

My sister made me text her every morning and every night before bed. I even texted her sleep oxygen levels recorded by my Smart Watch.

You can tell when I was most sick... my oxygen levels were ever so slightly lower than my normal 95%. I am not sure this meant much, but I told my sister if I hit 80% oxygen, I was making a mad dash for the hospital!

But I feel better now. I am still testing positive after 9 days, but the line on the test is real faint. I think by Sunday or Monday, I will be testing negative. Hopefully.

"You have Covid-Lite," one of my friends said. "This new strain ain't like the older strains. It's Covid-Lite!"

I hoped she was right. I haven't been paying much attention to the pandemic news like I had been early on. I don't know what strains are out. And I know, after this is all over, I will go on and get the latest vaccine in a couple of weeks.  

That was an experience. I remembered being glued to the television early in the pandemic, scared like crazy, and doing everything I could to protect myself. I think I would have fallen apart if I had gotten covid back then! 

But I just kind of went on through it, making sure I was taking care of myself the best I could. I work from home, so I continued to work. I had an addendum to a report that was due on January 9th. And I got it done. And when I felt a little tired, I would take a break. I would leave my office and go down the hall to my spare bedroom and lay down. That has had to be the best thing about working from home. 

But I tell you one thing... I don't want to deal with THAT again. 

But that is how my New Year started out. Glad to still be here to talk about it!

Happy New Year 2024!!

*STAR DATE*

2024.01.01

HaPPy NeW YeAR!!!

This is going to be a whirlwind year! 

Let's hope that's in a good way! 

Let's get it! On purpose!

I'm believing it will be our best year ever!