It's 6am and I've Been Up For 3 Hours

Yep.  Another night of very little sleep.  Not the best thing for a body that is trying to regain its health. It's been hard to find a position that induces sleep without also inducing a coughing fit.

Yep.  That's right.  I've been sick.  Ed has too, but he's better.  In fact I haven't heard him cough all night.  That is a first in 2 weeks.  I'm glad he isn't coughing anymore.  His coughs are ear-piercingly loud, followed by a stream of throat-clears.

Me?  I've been sick for a week.  Dry cough.  Low fever.  Is it Coronavirus?  Don't know.  Neither of us have been tested.  It's possible.  It's also possible that it is not.

I thought I would be tested on Monday.  While Ed had only a cough and no detectable temperature, my symptoms were slightly more severe. I've had a low fever with my cough.  I also developed a burning sensation in my chest.  After a call to my doctor, I went to the emergency room for a chest X-ray.  Three hours later, and after an EKG, chest X-ray, influenza test and blood draw, I was sent home with no confirmed diagnosis and told to continue doing what I had been doing:  rest, fluids, Tylenol for the fever and cough medicine when needed.  Oh, and the burning sensation is probably just acid reflux from coughing so hard, which is what I thought it was when I called my doc.  

Back to the question Is it Coronavirus?  Probably, but they didn't test me in the ER because I was not deemed worthy.  While I had the symptoms, I don't have other factors that put me in a higher classification.  The tests are being saved for the high risk cases.  They need to do that in case the number of cases spike like everyone fears.

So here I sit at the computer, drinking my tea and finishing the banana pancakes I made myself.  It's too early to log into my computer for work.  And besides, I don't feel like working just yet.

Working from home is OK.  It has it's perks.  I don't need to put on make-up and spend an hour of my day in the car.  I can wear my pajamas if I want and have music on in the background if I wish.  But there is also a downside.  I spend the day looking at all the things I need to do around the house and still don't have the time to do any of them.  And it isn't making things any easier by seeing all these people on social media doing all sorts of craft projects.  When I'm done working I'm still as exhausted as I was when I went into the office.  (Right about now my husband would be making a comment like 'Boy!  You have it rough'.)  I know I have nothing to complain about.  But like I said, it's 6 am and I've been up for 3 hours.

I just want to feel healthy again.  I'm tired of feeling sick and tired.  Once I know I'm over this I'm going to take a long walk outside.  Not doing it now because I don't want to come into contact with anyone and pass along my germs.

Well, I could go on about how the quarantine is going or what my opinion of this whole thing is, but I'll save that for another time.  Maybe tomorrow, if I wake again at 3 am.  

Self-Quarantine Wrap-Up

Not quite a week.  It'll be a week at the end of the weekend.

We spent most of the week working from home.  I picked up my laptop on Monday and spent most of Tuesday resolving connection issues.  Wednesday through Friday were productive work days.

I thought working from home would be more restful, but it really isn't.  By the end of the day I'm just as tired, if not more, as I am when I go into the office.  I think it is more because I'm not getting my morning and afternoon walk in.  I park about 3/4 of a mile from the office and have a nice walk twice a day.  Thinking I should walk around the block a few times a day just to get some fresh air and exercise.

I finished knitting a baby sweater for my niece.  The buttons I bought are too big so I'll have to wait until all this craziness is over to get some new ones.  I'm going to wait to block it until then.  Picture will come later.

I'm binding off the Audition wrap.  Should be done today.  It should have been done last night, but I was playing yarn chicken and lost.  I frogged the bind-off  row and the previous row and started again.  It uses Channel Island Bind Off which is pretty but slow.  Picture of this also coming later.

Last fall when my enabler and I went to The Wool Gathering we both bought kits for Birds of a Feather from Destination Yarn.  I picked the Valencia colorway.  I can't remember which colorway Cindy purchased.  I cast on Thursday night and only got a few rows in before getting sleepy.  Ed asked if I was making a leprechaun jock strap.  It does look that way.  Or maybe a bikini bottom.

Squeaks is thoroughly liking having us at home.  She's started a new habit, though, that is a bit annoying.  She tries to drink the water out of my glass.  Last night she managed to tip the whole thing over. Good thing we were right there to wipe it up right away or else our hardwood floors may have been damaged.  Lesson learned is to not leave any glasses sitting around.

I hope everyone is hanging in there.  I saw this the other day on social media and shared.  It really puts our plight in perspective.

Remember to practice self-care.  Take advantage of this unprecedented time to catch up on sleep, learn something new, spend time with family and deepen your relationship with God.  Peace!

Pre-Quarentine Summary

It's been a month since my last post, and what a month it has been.  There were two trips, a birthday and a complete upheaval of life as we know it.

At the end of February, Kristin and I went to Austin to scope out housing.  We spent two days driving all over the town, visiting apartment complexes and houses for rent.  It is too soon for her to sign a lease, but she did narrow down her choices.  In a month or so, she should be able to select a place.  The above picture was taken from the Oasis Taproom, overlooking Lake Travis west of Austin.  Good beer, warm weather and beautiful sunset.

Three days after coming from that trip I was on the road again, this time with Ed.  We headed out on a cruise.  We were scheduled to sail to Puerto Rico, Tortola and St. Maarten.  Bad weather caused a cancellation of Tortola.  I spent my birthday on St. Maarten.  And the US COVID-19 outbreak made the last few days of the trip extremely stressful.  I'll skip the details.  Let's just leave it at I'm very glad to be home and pray fervently that the disease and the rampant panic subsides soon.

Now that we are home, Ed and I are working from home for a few weeks.  After two days of chaos, I now have the right access set up so that I can do my job from my kitchen table.  I think I'm going to like working in my pajamas and slippers, with not worrying about my hair and make-up.

I'm going to count yesterday as Day 1 of our 'quarantine'.  Ed stayed home all day, but I had to venture out to get my work laptop from a remote location.  I was not allowed to go to the office because was in a panic over my cruise.

This morning (Day 2), Ed and I woke up early and hit the grocery store just as they opened. I should say 'stores' because we the one we usually shop at was  almost barren.  The second store had quite a bit on their shelves still. We stocked up enough to keep us in for at least a week or two now.  Since we potentially have been exposed, we wanted to make sure we wouldn't need to go out.  But I want to assure you we aren't hoarding food, sanitizing wipes or toilet paper.  A trip to Costco back in February replenished our TP supply, we only bought what we thought we would eat and there wasn't a single wipe to be found in the stores.

Time now to sign off, do a little knitting and say my prayers.

Mid-February Freeze

The past few years I've noticed that the winter weather doesn't seem to come until February.  Historically the third week of January is the coldest of the year, but lately the cold doesn't hit until mid-February.  It seems as if all of the seasons have shifted by a few weeks to a month.  We finally have snow on the ground.  Not much and it isn't going to last.

The past month has been busy.  Trisha and Craig have made a lot of progress on their wedding plans.  The venue is booked, which includes the food, drinks, cake, DJ, table decorations and ceremony location.  Her dress is ordered.  The bridesmaids dresses have been picked out, but not ordered yet.  The photographer is booked.   Later in the fall we'll go to the venue and make the design decisions for the cake, table settings, table flowers and menu.

One of my goals this year is to knit and/or finish some of the projects I already have.  First on the finish list is the Jimmy Beans 2019 shawl.  I finished the miles of I-cord bind off and blocked it.  Squeaks was very interested in the blocking process.  Not that it is done, I've worn it a number of times.  I absolutely love it!

Speaking of Squeaks, she's become my little buddy.  She won't crawl on my lap during the day, but occasionally she'll sleep by me if I'm in the one chair.  The other week she was a very tired kitty after a good belly rub.

She even let me tuck a blanket around her.

I made myself a little project bag.  I had watched a class on Bluprint and decided to give it a try.  I didn't box the corners correctly and I'm not a fan of the interfacing the instructor recommended.  I think next time I'll use a fusible batting instead.  And remember to do the corners the right way.

I love the fabric I used.  There will definitely be more project bags in my sewing queue. 

I am using this project bag for my latest knitting project, the Discovery poncho from Heidi & Lana.  I bought the kit at the 2018 Wool Gathering from YarnByrds.  It's been hovering at the top of my queue for a while.  After I finished the JB shawl I pulled it out and cast on.  It is an easy knit and will go with me on my upcoming trips.

My knitting enabler talked me into doing a Gift Along at our LYS.  Each month they will have a new project to work on with the thought that the projects can be used later as Christmas gifts.  I joined for the February GAL, which is the Twistmas hat.

Someone at the GAL suggested going down a needle size.  It is making a very dense fabric, which I hope fits an adult head.  I'm not sure I'll join the GALs each month.  Because of a conflict I won't make the March get together.  We'll see if April is a project I'd one to make before I decide.

That's about all the updates I have for now.  Happy Knitting!!