My Life- Thoughts and Happenings

[luminousone]

Wow. Format has really changed since I was here last!

it is very hard for me to read the forum from my phone (with my old eyes, haha!). But I suppose I’ll get used to it eventually...

And I’m grateful Kamurj has kept this going!

Anyhoo- I’m on winter break now, so that is nice. I had a pretty lazy day yesterday - just did some laundry and spoke with friends and napped. 

Health wise I seem to be doing well - my temperature has been normal this week, so that is great! I go in to see my doctor on the 30th next.

My sister had her first chemo treatment on Friday. To complicate things it had snowed the day before (on the east coast) and she lives an hour away from her cancer center. But she made it there fine and she is doing okay so far.

I have met with other family members via Zoom a few times lately - and that was fun! I actually saw cousins I hadn’t seen in a few years, so that was nice.

I am still staying and working from home and have my groceries delivered (or I do no contact grocery pickup), and that is working well for me. So thankful for those shopping for me!

Nothing else exciting to say - I am writing this at 2 am. I think my neighbor knocked on my door, but by the time I got up, she was gone. Or maybe I just dreamed it. Anyhow I’m (somewhat) awake now. 

It is pouring down rain all night! Maybe that means good snow up in the mountains. We will need a deep snow pack for our water this next summer.

I’ll pop on again in a few days when I’m more awake and more coherent...

[Jibralta]

Nice hearing from you! Glad to hear that you are feeling good, and that your sister is doing ok.

[Seraphim]

So glad to hear you and your sister are ok. Have a great Christmas if it is possible. 

[luminousone]

On 12/20/2020 at 9:25 AM, Seraphim said:

So glad to hear you and your sister are ok. Have a great Christmas if it is possible. 

I will, Sera! It will be just me and the cat, but I firmly believe in staying home due to the virus, so I’m okay with it. I will likely Zoom with my sons.

[luminousone]

Well. I started Winter break on Friday night, and took the day on Saturday to be lazy and recuperate. Yesterday I also didn’t do much - watched church online, and did a few loads of laundry. My plan was to knock off some projects/cleaning this week.

But. It is hard to get motivated! I did make a list. And there are still a few hours left in the day to get some of it done. Lol.

I think I do better when I have the structure of work. But - I am determined to take time off from that. 
 

Okay, I guess I should at least go clean my bathrooms... Sigh...

[Jibralta]

10 hours ago, luminousone said:

I think I do better when I have the structure of work. But - I am determined to take time off from that. 

When I was laid off earlier this year, it took a full month before I really started to relax. Yeah, my last job was really stressful, but my inability to relax was also due to in part to the whole "work routine" that I've become accustomed to since my early 20s....  it sucks!

Then, when I did finally start to relax, I got another job! Wouldn't you know...

Here's hoping that you are able to relax. But don't put too much pressure on yourself about it, or you won't be able to lol!

[luminousone]

Good point, Jib!

There are a few things at play here:

I have ADD so I have to intentionally organize my life and schedule

I am still under treatment for cancer (I’ll talk more about that in a bit)

It has been rainy and cloudy and dark and dreary here. 
 

So - to address the above: cleaning the bathrooms is tops on my list. Having a list is very helpful for me. These are things that need to be done, and have been done quickly or not at all through the past few months. Because I have been sick and all my energy was going to my job and to getting well.

I have been ill since January. First with a profound virus. Then stumpy for a few weeks, then another profound virus where I couldn’t eat for 9 days. Then, a week later they figured out my cancer had returned, and quickly put me on chemo meds. Which meant I still could not eat very much.

Thankfully I have had a lot of “cushion” so losing 60 lbs was not a bad thing, necessarily.

But I’ve been sick. At times, it took all my energy just to get to the bathroom and back.

So let us just say that I have sooo much cleaning to catch up on. I did what I could, when I could. (Thank goodness for disinfecting wipes and Swiffer mops!)

I couldn’t hire anyone to come in, because - COVID.

However, my doc and I think I have had a low grade infection since January, independent of the cancer. After a third antibiotic (or maybe 4th?) my temperature is in normal range! It was running 99.4 since January!

So, I am feeling ever so much better! Not 100% yet, but sooo much better. So it was nice to dig in today, to see what I could do.

I didn’t do the bathrooms last night. I went to bed early instead.

But this morning, the sun broke out for a bit - and it occurred to me that part of my lethargy had to do with the dark, dreary, days. I perked up a bit, and dug in for a deep cleaning. I actually listened to Heather Cox Richardson with her take on political history and what is happening now in the US, so that kept me occupied while I did the cleaning.

So - I got one bathroom done! I scrubbed out the trash can, really scrubbed the baseboards, etc.

I’ll do the other bathroom tomorrow. Or the next day.

The last time I scrubbed the bathrooms down like this was early January, just before my son and his girlfriend flew into town for a visit from the Bay Area. And I got sick 3 days later...

So much has happened since then!

[luminousone]

Oh my goodness-

My youngest son dropped by to bring gifts and to pick things up. We wore masks, but he did come inside. He needed to gather things from his room. (He has been staying at his dad’s during COVID).

Anyhow, he left a gift that is joint from both of my sons. Which I will open tomorrow.

My in-laws usually celebrate Christmas on Xmas eve - my ex’s grandpa was a pastor, and so this became their tradition. So my son stopped by briefly before going off to that celebration, and I will Zoom with both sons tomorrow.

However, I was just picking up after he left, and I noticed that my ex husband’s partner had sent along a gift for me! I peeked in the bag, and she had chosen very thoughtful gifts for me! (Better than my ex ever would have chosen). She is so thoughtful!

I did not buy them any gifts this year. I never have. It is just weird. 
 

But she really put thought into the gift. If she were not with my ex, we would probably be friends.

On a different note, I just Zoomed with my siblings and their adult kids. So fun - we are in states from coast to coast! It was my niece’s birthday today and my sister’s tomorrow, so lots to celebrate.

Merry Christmas everyone.

[Seraphim]

Merry Christmas!🎄

[Jibralta]

2 hours ago, luminousone said:

But she really put thought into the gift. If she were not with my ex, we would probably be friends.

That was sweet of her.

[luminousone]

Had a quiet but good Christmas yesterday. Just did things in my own pace all morning - got up late, vacuumed, read, delivered chocolates to my neighbors, and then Zoomed with family for Christmas.

it was great to see my boys together on the Zoom. Then a few other family members joined us too. It was low key, but nice.

Talked with a few friends today to catch up, so that was fun.

I’ve been hearing about the vaccine - I figured as a cancer patient (over age 60) that I might qualify for the vaccine fairly soon. But now it looks like it may be offered to educators first. Either way, I might be up for the vaccine in a few months.

I have a dr appointment next week, so I’ll ask my dr if he wants me to get it, if offered soon. My guess is - yes. But since I am on chemo meds, I need to check with him.

it would take a while for the immunity to develop. First dose of the shot, then the booster a few weeks later, then the immune response is more developed in a few weeks after that. So it is a 6 week process. And important to note that kids under 16 cannot receive the vaccine, and also - you can still get a mild case of COVID after the vaccine. And you can likely then give it to someone else.

My guess is that schools will still need to be hybrid for a while. But maybe I can be there in person in the Fall. (However, they will have to find me a spot though - they turned my office into the isolation room...)

Schools in our area are all online, but I am betting they choose to go hybrid this Spring.

We shall see.

 

[luminousone]

I was supposed to go in for a CT scan this morning. It was a fasting one, so I dutifully did the fast. And then went out to the garage but- my car wouldn’t start! So I had to cancel my appointment, because by the time a truck would get here to jump my car, I would have missed the appointment. Ugh. 
 

I do have a battery charger hooked up to it now, so hopefully my car will start tomorrow morning, as I have a dr appointment tomorrow. The CT got rescheduled for next week.

I need to order a car jump battery pack. Then I could have gotten to my appointment. And back.

And at some point I need to get my car to the dealer for an oil change and recall work, so they can check my battery then...

It was super cold this morning (for here) with pretty frost all over the plants in my yard. 
 

[Jibralta]

Argh, how frustrating!

One winter, when I was a teenager, I literally had to jump my car every morning before school! I made sure to park it so that I could roll my mom's car up next to it when it came time to leave. Every frickin morning! 

And then occasionally it would die when I was out and about. I've gotten stuck in parking lots, waiting for the person parked next to me or across from me to return so that I could beg to use their battery 😂 

It was such a pain in the ass. When those portable chargers came out, I seriously considered buying one! But somehow, I didn't....

[Seraphim]

Dang!! Cars that won’t start always come at the worst time! 

[luminousone]

On 12/30/2020 at 7:07 AM, Seraphim said:

Dang!! Cars that won’t start always come at the worst time! 

I ordered a battery pack jump starter- that should take care of it next time.

I was able to hook my battery up to the charger overnight, so I did make it to my dr appointment the next day. CT is rescheduled for next week.

My dr was all excited about the battery jumper, haha. I think he is into cars, and I guess he carries one in his car. His nurse said she had to use it once, so staff members have also benefited too. 

I asked doc about the vaccine and he thinks it will be a while before it gets to my group. They will let me know.

My book group is strangely meeting in a few minutes. None of us had plans to go anywhere for New Year’s. That is a good thing this year with COVID!

 
Friends are beginning to ask for prayers for their family members that have COVID now. In different parts of the country. Rural and urban areas. I’m staying home!

Happy New Year everyone! Here is to a healthy, happy, peaceful, normal year ahead!!!

[luminousone]

On 12/30/2020 at 1:53 AM, Jibralta said:

Argh, how frustrating!

One winter, when I was a teenager, I literally had to jump my car every morning before school! I made sure to park it so that I could roll my mom's car up next to it when it came time to leave. Every frickin morning! 

And then occasionally it would die when I was out and about. I've gotten stuck in parking lots, waiting for the person parked next to me or across from me to return so that I could beg to use their battery 😂 

It was such a pain in the ass. When those portable chargers came out, I seriously considered buying one! But somehow, I didn't....

Since you are so practiced, you could probably do it with your eyes closed now.

I didn’t think I would need the battery pack - my car is only 4 years old. Sigh. Probably a defective battery or alternator. 
 

Anyhow, the battery pack would also be useful in an emergency or power outage, because it can power up other things too.

[Seraphim]

Happy New Year!

[luminousone]

4 hours ago, Seraphim said:

Happy New Year!

Thank you! Happy New Year too!!!

And good riddance to this year.

[luminousone]

I think my sister had her second chemo treatment today. I’ll have to call her tomorrow to see how she is feeling. 

My book group met tonight, briefly - but didn’t continue, because one of us was out sick. With COVID. Ugh. She is nearly 80 years old. Hope she is okay. 

I have two nurse friends that have received the vaccine, and I presume my ER doc friend has gotten hers too. 
 

I have been hearing about people that have been going about doing things (in rural areas) and for months, somehow not contracting COVID!! But now - this week - COVID has hit those communities, so people are coming down with it. Sadly. Family members of friends of mine. Now they believe in it!

We just have to hold on a bit longer!

On a different note - While it is not yet the new year here- many of my friends and family are in the New Year already, being in a different time zone.

There are periodic bangs outside from fireworks. My cat is not happy and is hiding somewhere in the house. Our city has an ordinance against fireworks for much of the year - but they are legally allowed today. So only one day of it. And it will be increasing for the next few hours until midnight.

Here’s to a much better New Year- with health and abundant peace!

 

 

[Jibralta]

14 hours ago, luminousone said:

Since you are so practiced, you could probably do it with your eyes closed now.

You would think--but it's been so long now since I've jumped a car that I really don't remember what to hook up first!

Happy New Year!

[luminousone]

First day back to work. Just a planning day. It was actually a short day for me, because I had to go get my CT scan first thing. (I had missed my appointment last week because my car battery died). Anyhow, that took a few hours, so I started late.

I mostly worked on low key stuff- emails, planning and scheduling. Tomorrow students are back.

Oh, and my battery jump starter thing was delivered today - so if my battery dies again then I can jump start my car.

[luminousone]

CT results were good. They showed healing in the bone. And I’m feeling a lot better too.

My sister had her third chemo on Friday.

No school tomorrow as we have the day off due to MLK Jr holiday. So I was lazy today, knowing I have tomorrow to get it done (cleaning, yard work)

My brother said that my mom’s care center all had the vaccine last week, so I’m happy about that. She will be 100 years old in a month!

No vaccine for me yet - maybe in February if they get some supply. But I’m staying home and getting groceries delivered right now anyhow.

At some point I would like the vaccine so I can fly out to see my mom - if and when they start allowing visitors. That will be a while. And her health is tenuous (frail).

At least I hope my brother can get in to see her as soon as he can get the vaccine, since he lives nearby her center. But he doesn’t think he can get the shot until February either. He is next in line, but supply is an issue in his state too.

 

[Jibralta]

Glad to hear that the results of your CT scan were good!! Hope your sister is holding up well with the chemo. I hear it can be tough.

[Seraphim]

I am glad both you and your sister are doing well and you are feeling stronger. ❤️

[luminousone]

Lol I lost my thread - it was buried somewhere. But I found it through recent comments. (Thanks for that- saved me some scrolling).