Omicron has paid us a visit. It started with me, the only one of us who doesn't go to school every day. I started feeling off last Wednesday (January 12th), but didn't feel bad enough to put life on hold until Friday (Jan 14th), when I spent all day huddled in a recliner in the corner of my bedroom, watching a K-drama on Netflix. It was a snow day, minus the snow, with a whole lot of slick ice, so Jeff and the kids were home from school. Jeff did everything and I have to say it was such a relief not to have to push through a sickness. I resisted succumbing to how rotten I felt until Jeff sat me down and turned on the TV on Friday morning.
My symptoms weren't terrible, just fatigue, headache, stuffy head, and a cough. But I sure didn't feel good! My appetite was gone and my body was limp. On Thursday when I was starting to accept that I was coming down with something, I went to our local free Covid testing center. There was a line of close to 40 people standing outside in the 33 degree rain waiting to be tested, so I turned around and went home without getting tested. What was the point? I was going to stay home while I was sick, regardless of what sickness I had, and standing outside in the cold wet for hours with a bunch of sick people just to get tested seemed like it would do more harm than good.
Anyways, I felt rotten for two whole days, then feeble for another two days, then finally felt able to face life again by Tuesday (January 18th). My dry cough and moderate fatigue lingered all week, but I was functional. On the same Tuesday that I was emerging from my sick cocoon, the elementary school nurse called and told me Rose wasn't feeling well. I gave her permission to test Rose for Covid, and by the time I came to pick Rose up 20 minutes later, Rose had tested positive. The nurse gave me a sheet of paper with instructions on it and an injunction not to send Rose back to school for the required five days, and only then when her symptoms had subsided. So Rosie came home with me and we watched shows together and drew pictures together and I gave her lots of extra screen time.
On Wednesday (January 19th), the middle school nurse called to tell me that Jay was in her office not feeling well. I agreed to have him tested for Covid, and drove to pick him up from school. Jay actually tested negative, but because he had a few symptoms, the nurse told me that he could not return to school for a week. Jay said the office was swamped. Everyone is getting sick! Half of Jeff's 5th period class was out sick with Covid last week. Teachers are all stretched thin covering each other's classes during their planning periods, since so many are out sick. It's a wild time of year.
Rose's symptoms stayed even milder than mine (thank you vaccines!) but she was limp and headachy and stuffy for four days before she started feeling more like herself. Jay's symptoms never worsened and he was probably the most resilient out of all of us. But then again, he had Covid once already, last May, and he's been vaccinated. So who knows! Jay still has to stay home till his quarantine period is up.
On Friday (January 21st), I kept Amber home from school because she had mentioned that her throat was dry for the past two nights, and since she and Rose share a bedroom it seemed inevitable that Amber would get sick. I decided to avoid another run-in with the overtaxed school nurse and keep Amber home. It was the right decision. Amber slept in an hour later than usual and by Saturday, her head was stuffy.
This weekend was the WIAA Coaching Conference in Tacoma. Jeff and I were signed up to attend, along with the entire high school track coaching staff. The school district reserved rooms in a hotel for us. We had Grama Leslie all prepped and lined up to watch our kids for two days and two nights while we were gone. Then our kids started dropping like flies, and I bowed out of the conference. I will have to update my coaching credentials elsewhere. Miraculously, Jeff stayed healthy enough to attend the conference. He got tested for Covid three times in the week leading up to the conference, because clearly all of the people in his house had it. But he never got a positive test, so to the conference he went. Another overnight date was ripped from my bosom by the pandemic.
It's been over a week since I did much of anything outside my home. We ordered Costco fresh same day delivery to restock our fridge. When Jeff got home from the conference on Saturday night, he was so tired, he laid on the couch all evening. Then he started getting a headache and realized that maybe he was finally starting to do battle with omicron himself. So he called in sick for church and emailed his talk to the bishopric . We watched someone else give Jeff's talk for him via church on Zoom today. It was interesting hearing Jeff's words read by someone else, especially when he mentioned me! Haha.
Needless to say, I did not take many pictures over the past week and a half. I managed to produce artwork for my family art club by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin. The weather was frigid and foggy. Even though I wasn't fully recovered, I was healthy enough to start going crazy by the middle of the week. Doing battle with winter is exhausting. My injured leg is still achy, so even when my cough does subside running is out. January is the worst. On Wednesday I went on a walk and listened to the most melancholy classical piano music that I could find, by Debussy and Chopin. Sometimes listening to peppy happy music helps bring me out of the glums, but other times it feels good to revel in it a bit. Debussy and Chopin helped me through. And the sun came out the next day!
Sunshine is medicinal in the dead of winter.
1 comment:
Tragic fallen carrot noses!!!! Even in the glums you are hilarious!
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