Surviving 30 days of self isolation
Saturday, December 26, 2020
Religion
With the stress of Covid 19 lurking in every corner and self-isolation, the good thing is that my husband has now found Religion. In fact, he starts off his days with a prayer. As soon as he wakes up in the morning, rolls over and looks at me, the first words out of his mouth are, "Oh, Dear God". I am so blessed.
Saturday, August 1, 2020
Day 129
Oh, Dear God..... Day 129 and we are still living with social
distancing, masks, business shutdowns, rioting, loss of jobs, political
sparring.....but that's okay. We're here
and on the other side of the dirt.
Lots of thoughts today that run the gamut from A to Z.
I am going to get the somber stuff out of the way so I
can close with something humorous. And
we all need to chuckle now and then, don't we?
#1......Many people I have known throughout my life,
some closer than others, have passed away during these past 3 months. More have died from chronic illnesses, heart
attacks and accidents than have passed away from the COVID-19 virus. But other
than the numbers of the COVID deaths being reported for statistical counts, the
nation isn't aware of these folks no longer being with us.
I'm wondering if the intentions to honor these loved ones
by hosting a Celebration of Life event will ever take place. At what point, if
ever, does the moment pass where the need to be surrounded by friends and
family for comfort passes?
And if they do take place, when we're able to get out and
mingle with others....will we be doing much of anything besides wearing black
and repeating the same words of sympathy to friends and family all experiencing
the horrific loss of a loved one? Seeing
the same mourners doing and saying the same things? Not a pleasant future ahead for those of us
touched by the losses.
Over and done with...on to more pleasant thoughts.
#2......I've noticed I have gotten lazy with my choice of
words when I'm writing. If I can't spell the word correctly, then I substitute
a simpler word that I can spell. Is this
normal? Or a sign of..........other
things?
#3......Things
are not always what they appear to be.
Case in point...now this is not a thought for those who
are easily offended by descriptions of situations that could be of the "50
shades of Gray" type.
Stop reading right now if you are.
Stop reading right now if you are.
Here goes....
My husband and I stood out in the heat for
many hours yesterday while waiting for President Trump's arrival. Being of a certain age, upon learning of the
location, my first thought was about the bathroom facilities.
Upon arrival, I saw there were limited numbers of
port-a-potties. So, I decided to pace myself with the water intake. Before we were to be moved to another
location, I thought I'd risk it and go into one of them. Wouldn't you know, the
one I picked was not on level ground and my standing in one particular spot
caused it to tip suddenly which caused me to panic but I quickly shifted my
weigh and I righted it. Safe to assume I
was not going into one of those again.
Therefore, I drank nothing else.
Flash forward 2 hours later to the tarmac. Hot concrete, no breeze, no shade, high
temperature and blazing sun..... and me not drinking any water and rapidly becoming
dehydrated. And on the verge of passing out.
Add lots of people with phone cameras.
Now, picture me bent over at the waist, leaning on the
metal row divider, with my husband standing really tight against my body as he's pressing me firmly against the divider to keep my legs from folding and to prevent my falling to
the concrete.
Add to this, visualize the motions
I was making to keep my balance and his coordinated movements matched to mine to keep
me on my feet.
If you should ever see any online photos or videos of me trying to
stay upright at this event, please know it's not what you think.
Enough said.
Friday, July 17, 2020
Day 115
Here we are, still waiting for this crisis to be over.
Not really knowing who to trust and unsure of what is fact or fabrication;
accurate or embellished.
I never thought that events or situations in this country
would be manipulated for political benefits.
In other countries maybe, but never here.
We elected persons to office who were going to serve in
the best interests of the people. They
were never to be self-serving.
Spending time alone has given me more time to listen
rather than speak. And this time alone
has allowed me to analyze, think and watch what other people are saying and
doing. Is this good? Time will tell, I
suppose.
But, this self- semi-isolation has done one thing for me
that I never expected.
Remember when we were kids, that Time took forever? When we never thought our birthdays would
come? Or how impatient we were as we
counted down the days for Christmas?
And remember when we realized that as we got older, the days just skipped by and
became weeks, then months and then years in what seemed like a mini-second? There weren't enough hours in a day and not enough time to do all we wanted to do.
Well, I'm finding that time has slowed down once again.
There is no real point in rushing to get anything done, because the days are
longer than before.
How did this happen?
Would it have happened anyway?
Ask us what day it is and notice that it takes a minute
to answer...... because it doesn't matter.
Ask us what time it is and notice that we need to think
before giving an answer.....because it doesn't matter.
Life is moving at a slower pace now and it gives us more
time to smell the roses. That's not a
bad thing, is it?
Wednesday, July 8, 2020
Day 106
Lord have mercy!
Numbers of infected people keep going up, but thank
goodness the number of deaths are not.
Looks like we're going to be expected to wear masks for
the time being and only God and the Government knows how much longer.
Speaking of masks...I hate wearing one; but I do.
The first one I wore had 2 ties that ran behind the head.
And having to tie a knot and bow meant I usually ended up getting my hair
caught each time I put it on and off.
Then I graduated to the ones that had 2 stretchy bands
that went around the back of my head.
Those were easier to put on, but it took strategy not to have the back
of my hair looking like a rooster in heat. I was thinking my next hair cut and
style would be chosen by how it would work with the face mask.
So, I made an appointment to get a suitable, mask
friendly haircut.
Then, remember I mentioned my husband accidentally
stepped on my big toe? I lost half the
nail as a result. I wear open toe sandals during the summer and it looked funny
to have a skinny strip of red nail polish on a toe that should have a large
nail.
I went to CVS and bought fake toe nails to make the
broken big toe nail match the other.. I
followed the instructions, glued it on, painted it red and was very, very
pleased with the result.
Now, fast forward to my haircut appointment, talking to
another client who is sitting over 6 feet away from me. Remember we are in full
view of each other.
The back of my ankle started to itch, really bad. I didn't want to bend over and scratch it
because I was in the middle of a haircut.
Just something you might want to think about. If you're wearing a fake, glued on toe nail
(in this case, on the left foot) and the back of your right ankle starts to
itch, DON'T try to scratch it with the
big toe on your left foot if it's a glued on nail.
Especially if
you're in a situation where others have a clear view of your toes..
Do you understand why I'm saying this?
God bless this woman for just glancing at the now halfway
unglued, hanging by a thread, toe nail and continuing the conversation as though this was a normal occurrence.
I'm sure she had a story to tell when she got home.
Tuesday, June 30, 2020
Day 100
Oh, Dear God. Did
I ever think we'd reach a triple digit number of days of self-quarantining and
social distancing? No, I did not.
I won't deny the fact that this is testing me....big
time.
Little things that used to bother me have now become big
things that bother me.
Case in point...The Last One.
Does that mean anything to you? It does to me. It means I have to open a new box, or refill
the jar or restock the whatever.
Many, many moons ago do you recall my mentioning a contract of sorts where household responsibilities
were to be shared as the situation came up? I remember; my husband doesn't.
Consequently, I find the tea pitcher almost empty, but
not completely, so he's excused from making tea and refilling the pitcher.
Pringles potato chips....2 chips at the bottom means the
container doesn't yet need to be thrown away.
Toothpaste....one itsy bitsy squeeze from being
completely empty.
Toilet paper....3 squares remaining on the roll and the
cabinet empty of spare rolls. This is
something I always check, and for obvious reasons. This is the one I always mention (nag about)
to my husband.
These were little things, but not anymore. Not after 100 days of close quarters.
Last night, I checked the toilet paper situation and sure
enough...3 squares and no spare roll.
I thought it might be time for a meaningful lesson. You know me well enough by now to see where
this is going, don't you?
I always wake up before my husband does and this morning
it was no different.
Except I removed all the extra toilet paper rolls from our
"Primary" bathroom along with the boxes of facial tissues. ( I'm
grinning as I type this.) I left 3
squares on the existing roll.
Then I went outside to have my coffee and to enjoy the
view, knowing I would be hearing someone call my name for help. And I did.
And since no one enjoys drinking a cold cup of coffee, it
took awhile to respond while I finished my coffee and to bring him what he
desperately needed.
Meaningful lesson learned, I think.
Sicilian wives are great teachers.
BTW, my toe is fine, but I lost half the nail.
Sunday, June 28, 2020
Day 96
Let me tell
you how yesterday went.......
Just so you
understand...My husband is tall; I am not.
My husband is thin; I am not.
There's
more...As a surgeon he has become accustomed to having someone next to him,
when he's in the operating room, handing
him surgical tools as he needs them. He
doesn't realize that "Home" routines don't work that way. He still thinks that his projects come with
"an assistant".....aka, Marilyn.
On the other
hand, I'm the kind of person that prepares before starting a project. I make sure I have what I need and the
amounts of each thing I need and I prep as much as possible before I
begin....It makes things go smoother.
And, I expect to work on, and complete, the project on my own without
asking for help from anyone.
Let me bring
you up to date.
We have a side
by side refrigerator and the ice maker has not been working properly. My remedy
for fixing it would be to call a repair man and leave an experienced person to
deal with and fix the problem.
My husband's
remedy is to research the problem on YouTube and to fix it himself.
We discussed
the situation. He insisted he could fix it and DID NOT need my help. So, I foolishly
agreed. I hoped he was right and could fly solo on this project.
I saw him
getting his tools plus a flashlight and a mirror.
I heard him move the refrigerator away from the wall. And he confirmed
he had turned the power off. And then he began to fix the problem. Things seemed to be going well.
About 15
minutes into the job, I heard a cry for help, and that 2 extra hands were
needed, ASAP. Obviously, mine.
I reported to
the kitchen, to find him halfway into the freezer right below where the ice
cube collector bin had once been. He had removed it to get better access to the back panel.
He needed
help in holding up the heavy motor as he attempted to unscrew the panel holding
it up. Translation, I was to reach around him and hold the motor up with my left
hand as I shone the flashlight into the work area so he could see the panel.
Remember when
I described our bodies? Well, it's very
difficult for a short person with short arms to reach around someone in a very
limited space and balance on tip toes as you extend arms further than they were
meant to be extended.
After what seemed like an eternity, but probably only
5 minutes or so, my arms began to tremble and I told him I couldn't hold the
heavy motor up any longer. He said that
of course I could.
Well, I
couldn't.
I let go of the motor; it hit his head and he reared back in pain. As he did this, his foot jerked back, caught my left big toenail and brutally smashed it.
I let go of the motor; it hit his head and he reared back in pain. As he did this, his foot jerked back, caught my left big toenail and brutally smashed it.
In addition,
the screws he was holding fell into a wide tube leading from the freezer to the
refrigerator motor. They are not retrievable.
The fridge motor sounds funny, but it's running. The ice maker isn't running at all.
Current
status?
Anthony has a
band-aid on his forehead. My big toe is wrapped and I'm going to be wearing
open toed shoes for a while.
The repairman
is coming Tuesday with a new ice maker and will check the fridge motor at the
same time.
Today is
another, and hopefully better, day.
Tuesday, June 23, 2020
Day 92
I keep learning what "not to do" things. And to keep you from learning the same
lessons, I feel I should share them with you.
Now, this is a pretty specific product so it may not be
something you're interested in, but you never know.
You may recall that several weeks ago I told the story
about my wearing thigh high compression stockings that often slid down my legs
and dragged on the floor from under the trouser legs. It was so embarrassing. And they'd slide down in spite of my reaching
down every few minutes to pull them up.
Picture yourself pushing a shopping cart down an aisle at
the grocery store and the woman in front of you keeps reaching for her thighs,
tries to grab "something", pulls it up and then rubs her thighs all around from front
to back.
I guarantee that at this point you're not concerned about
whether she has the covid virus or not, you're thinking she has a horrible skin
condition going on under her slacks and
she's scratching madly. And then you watch her touch items on the
very shelf you're going to reach for.
I was that woman, but I was just pulling up my stockings
before they dragged on the floor. I
didn't want to be that woman anymore.
Fast forward....
I found a medical adhesive that you roll on your thigh and
press the stocking on to it so the stocking adheres to it and doesn't slide
down.
I bought it and it worked....very, very, very well. I now
have an antiseptic cream on my thighs as the raw skin fills in.
But this isn't the worst part.....
I'm letting my hair grow out so I can tuck it behind my
ears. I also have one ear that sticks out a little bit and the hair makes it
stick out further.
I know what you're thinking...and you're right.
Before I saw how tight the adhesive would be on my
thighs, I added some to the back of my ear and pressed until it dried. It really pinned my ear back. In fact it's flat against my head and really doesn't
match the other ear.
It's going to be awhile before I can again wear a
protective mask that wraps around my ears.
And there is no way to tuck any hair behind that ear.
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