11/30/2020

Today was busy busy busy working from home! But it was a busy that I could deal with. Everything got done by the end of the day, which is nice. I didn't have a lot of spare time besides time to make and eat my lunch, but I did manage to put out a few more Christmas decorations, including decorating the tree.

After logging out, I took out the compost and then walked the halls to get a little bit of exercise. I slept really badly last night, I have some insomnia issues due to covid and not being able to keep up with any exercise regimen, but in spite of that, I woke up feeling better. I emailed my doctor about stopping use of the inhaler, and she reassured me that even though it might not feel like it, I really am recovering very nicely. That made me feel better. So, in spite of a mere three hours sleep last night, I got up feeling like my lungs were feeling healthier and stronger. I coughed a few times and needed my regular inhaler after decorating a bit, which I think involved a lot of dust. This is a typical time for me to need my inhaler. I never took a single dose of cough meds today and I was able to do more stuff today without feeling winded or like my breath was catching. That's a huge step forward.

We had tacos for dinner and I made roasted taco-seasoned potatoes to go with it and honestly it was pretty much the most delicious thing I've ever eaten. I love tacos so, so much...

Well, I really hope I sleep better tonight. I managed to get some exercise, so hopefully I'll be able to sleep better.

11/29/2020

Today we started off at the grocery store to get a few last minute items. We should be set for a couple weeks now and we'll see if we end up doing another pick up order next time to avoid going to the store. Once we were done there, we drove to the Taco Time drive through for tostado salads that I've been craving. It was delish, as usual.

I slowly started decorating the apartment for Christmas, with the help of my sister, who helped move the heavy boxes so I wouldn't wreck my shoulder. It's definitely starting to look festive in here! I still need to do the tree, but hopefully that'll get done tomorrow in any spare time I might have while working from home. This is our first Christmas in the new place so it's interesting to find different spots for everything.

I filled and ran the dishwasher, and made breakfast for dinner tonight. I also wrote up my food blog post, and looked up next weekend's menu and should be set for everything without having to go to the store again, so that should be nice!

Not a very exciting day, but it was nice anyway.

11/28/2020

Today was a blend of slowly doing some chores, taking frequent breaks to rest, and watching Christmas stuff. I did a load of laundry, filled and ran the dishwasher, dusted, and vacuumed the apartment, and put away the fall/Thanksgiving decorations. I had planned to put up all the Christmas decorations, but my shoulder hurt a lot today and my cough meds only half worked because it's a different brand with a different dose, so I was a little more lungy today.

But in spite of that, I am slowly getting better. This is just taking its own time, and I need to learn to be patient with it and also learn what my body can and can't handle, and not push it too soon.

I also made a couple online orders for Small Business Saturday. I ordered my mom's Christmas present, and I ordered some honey for my baklava in a few weeks for my food blog project. Both orders came from shops at the Pike Place Market!

Leftovers for dinner and per usual, we are Thanksgiving'd out. We'll probably do some more turkey sandwiches, but that's it.

Tomorrow we have to go to the store again for a few last minute items, and hopefully I'll get the place decorated!

11/27/2020

Last night I developed an asthma attack after taking my steroid inhaler so I had to use my albuterol inhaler to stop it. I never felt quite right taking that inhaler, so I stopped using it and have been doing a little better since. I have switched to just normal cough medicine instead. It made for a bit of a rough night, but I did get a good amount, in the end.

This morning, we ventured out to the grocery store and it was very sparsely populated, so that was nice. We ordered Mod Pizza online and went to a drug store to kill time and picked out some fun Christmas decorations. The pizza was ready when I got there to pick it up and then we headed home. That is, so far, our only plans to venture into public this weekend. I may do a little bit of walking in our cul-de-sac during daylight hours to work on strengthening my legs, but that won't really be an interacting-with-people thing.

We settled in for Paul Blart, Mall Cop, our Black Friday tradition. Then we discovered the Christmas episodes of Great British Bake Off and watched those all afternoon. We made a completely store-bought, pre-packaged Thanksgiving dinner and it was absolutely delicious!

Now, we're watching The Christmas Chronicles 2, and contemplating what to watch this weekend. Decorating tomorrow...!

11/26/2020

Well, today was the Thanksgiving sans family. My sister and I celebrated by ourselves and instead of a traditional meal, I made one of my Christmas blog meals. It turned out pretty good and I'll blog about that this weekend. We watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and it was really great this year in spite of having to change the format. We ate and watched Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, then switched into Christmas movies. We did Miracle on 34th Street, Home Alone, and now we're watching A Very Brady Christmas. 

I am really tired after the cooking today. I iced my shoulder and it's doing ok. I had some coughing today, but nothing too bad. Maybe my inhaler is kicking in and helping out. Who knows, but I will enjoy coughing less. I just need to get my muscles under control again.

Tomorrow we are venturing out into public for a hopefully brief time to get a few things from the store. We have a turkey breast we're going to cook tomorrow for a day after Thanksgiving Thanksgiving meal. It's a non-conformist year!!

11/25/2020

Well, work is done for the week! I didn't really have time to do anything productive as it was pretty steady all day. Not out of control, but steady. I did watch Home for the Holidays at the same time as my bff, as it's our tradition to get together to watch it together, but obviously this year was different. I was still working at the same time though. I also finished up the Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman Thanksgiving episodes too and managed an episode of Call the Midwife before the end of the day.

After logging out, I walked slowly for five minutes on the treadmill to begin strengthening myself again. Then I did some prep work for tomorrow's meal, and took a shower. I had a bit of a coughing fit by the end of that work but it's gone now. Today is the first time in a few days that I don't have that stabbing pain in my shoulder from the pulled muscles, so I am hopeful that I'm slowly on the mend.

I tried a new sandwich from Tubs Subs tonight and it was fantastic. Ham, bacon, bbq sauce, coleslaw, cheddar cheese, pickles, and a hint of Tabasco. It is definitely one I'd get again. I've never had a bad sandwich from there though, so it's not a surprised that one was good too.

We're watching some British Bake Off and then we'll watch the Garfield and Charlie Brown Thanksgiving specials next. It'll be a nice way to end the night!

11/24/2020

Today was a much better day. Work was a more normal amount, and physically, I felt a little better. Much less coughing and just less strained muscles. I still have some bouts of coughing, I've noticed it's worse after a meal, and in the afternoons and evenings. My doctor prescribed me a different inhaler, a steroid one, and I'll start it tonight. I hope it helps, because the darned thing cost $100, with insurance!!!!

I got the ok from my boss to continue working from home entirely for two weeks after Thanksgiving, because I know so many people will be gathering unsafely over the holiday and then getting on my bus and I don't want to go out in public during that time if I don't have to. It'll also allow my body to continue working through the lingering symptoms, and I'll be able to continue strengthening my body and hopefully work on getting back into proper exercising.

I've been icing my shoulder off and on all day, and it's helping. I am babying my left arm for a bit. I did a couple chores, by-hand dishes and sweeping the kitchen, and it seemed to be an ok level of use for my shoulder. I'm hopeful that my body will be less sore tonight that I'll be able to sleep well tonight.

11/23/2020

Well, it was a banner day today. I logged in to so much work and every single item required multiple communications with people to resolve it and it was so overwhelming that my boss suggested I log out for a couple hours to let my coworker take over for a while. She was at the office and sometimes it's just easier to be there to deal with stuff, which is why I like going in more often than not. But I just felt like a failure. I have to admit though, that I'm not at full brain power yet. I think my boss is in tune with me more than I realize cuz he seems to just know when to have me sit back for a bit and let somebody else take over, even if I can't see that I need it. I ended up logging back in later in the day and finished out everything else, but it was just bonkers.

I contacted my doctor again because I think I need one of the bronchitis inhalers. The coughing is picking up again, and the stuffy/runny nose, which is typical of what happens when my cold turns into bronchitis. Hopefully I'll get that in a day or two. Once I can get the coughing under control, I can let my body heal from all the pulled muscles I'm also dealing with. I'm in a lot of pain right now, but it's just pulled muscles. This illness sucks. It's a minor case, I can't imagine what a major case would be like. 

Today, things finally started going in the right direction for the Biden administration. Michigan certified their vote, and that sort of set off an avalanche. The GSA finally certified Biden's election, and the Trump administration finally permitted the Biden administration to move forward properly. Trump and co. are total garbage, but garbage collection day is coming...!

On another note, my sister and I finally settled on a Thanksgiving dessert idea, and now I feel like the meal is truly set. I need to remember to take out our pork roast tomorrow so it's thawed in time...!

11/22/2020

Today I ventured out of the house for the first time since my diagnosis. My isolation ended yesterday. We exchanged some stuff with my parents first when they dropped by, and then walked to the Bartells drug store a couple blocks away. I picked up my inhaler and a few items I needed and since there's a Panda Express right next to it, we stopped in and picked up some food for lunch. I was so exhausted by the time I got back that I pretty much sat around for the rest of they day. I put off my food blog and will try to do it this week during Thanksgiving. I need to work on getting my strength back up before I do actual exercising again.

We watched a bunch of Christmas stuff today, including some movies we'd never seen but were very good! Jingle Jangle, The Christmas Chronicles, and Noelle. All ones I'd add to my annual viewing list! We're going to watch the new Hallmark Christmas movie tonight at 8pm. It should be fun.

I have strained my left shoulder from all the coughing I've been doing and am icing it in hopes of reducing the pain. It feels like I'm being stabbed in the shoulder each time I inhale. Apparently it's called the trapezius muscle. Fun times!

I have another week of working from home, and it's only a three day week, so that should be nice. Hopefully it won't be too crazy busy tomorrow, but at if I can manage to get a good night's sleep, it should be ok.

11/21/2020

I managed to get a really good night's sleep last night which made for a much better day today. I had my phone appointment with a doctor today to check in with the covid. She was really pleased with how I'm progressing and even renewed my inhaler prescription since she wants to make sure my lungs stay healthy through this. She said that I'm at the point where I can start exercising again, low and slow. So, since my isolation ends today, I will be walking the few block walk to the drug store tomorrow to pick up the inhaler. It'll be the perfect reintroduction to exercising.

I spent a lot of time on the phone with my mom too. We've been texting but I knew she would want to hear about my appointment and just get caught up on all the covid stuff from start to finish. My shoulder was sore from all the coughing and sleeping on it oddly, but it was super painful after pretty much two hours of holding up a phone. I've been using the heating pad on it off and on ever since, but it's just like all the other stuff with this, it just has to work its way through me.

My parents are going to stop by tomorrow for a short time to pick up a few things and drop off the brandy I need for Thanksgiving dinner this week.I'm actually making one of the Christmas dinners for my food blog for Thanksgiving, so it should be fun. Tomorrow, I'll be baking for the blog too, so it should be a nice day.

We spent the day watching the rest of our Thanksgiving stuff and got through everything except the stuff my sister doesn't like, which I'll watch next week when she returns to work and I continue to work from home. I tried to work on a garland for the Thanksgiving tree, but it didn't work out. We found some ribbon to use as a second attempt though it won't be ready for this year. It'll give me a year to figure it all out!

11/20/2020

Well today began with a basically sleepless night last night. I developed a sharp pain in my left lung, like a twinge. I've had it before over the years and it usually only lasts a few seconds or a minute before going away, but last night it just didn't stop. I started getting worried about the side effects of covid, was I having a heart attack? A pulmonary embolism? Was I developing pneumonia? The pain plus those thoughts were not conducive to sleep. I emailed my doctor with a detailed description of the symptoms and then attempted one last position in bed: on my stomach, on the wedge pillow, so slightly upright, with my arms stretched up on the pillow. Finally, that allowed my lungs the space they needed to stretch out properly and the pain finally subsided. But the position of my head and neck were still not conducive to sleeping. I emailed the doctor again with an update and then emailed in sick to my boss because there was no way I was going to be any use to them.

I set up a phone video doctor appointment for tomorrow with a different doctor than mine, but I was supposed to do that anyway, to check in for covid. I have some questions I'd like answered so hopefully I'll get the answers tomorrow morning!

Later, my doctor emailed me back saying it was basically lung cramps and that it's really common with covid because of how long and how much you're coughing. No danger, just irritating. I felt better after that. I also felt better after my sister stepped on my back and cracked about a thousand things in it, including probably all of my ribs back into place. I immediately felt better, but from about my collar bones up, I'm pretty stiff and sore. I hope I start to see an improvement soon!

In the meantime, we started our Christmas stuff. We watched The Borrowers, Last Christmas, and now the Doctor Who Christmas episodes. Leftovers for dinner and popcorn later for a treat. I hope I manage to sleep well tonight because I am exhausted!

11/19/2020

It was a day today! I was so busy working from home, I barely had time to make a super late lunch. There is going to be so much that my coworker has to work on when she goes into the office tomorrow. This is why I liked going in every day, but we're just going to have to deal with it, and I will have to adjust to it. I watched Hallmark Channel all day. I didn't have time to really focus on anything at all today.

I did manage to make a delicious pork spare rib dinner tonight. That was nice.

Today I feel like my lungs made a turn for the better. They feel lighter and more normal. I'm having a bit more congestion, but I'm hoping it's on the way out. Way less coughing today, which was nice.

More Space Force and Great British Bake Off tonight.

11/18/2020

I slept on my side last night and didn't even attempt to rest on my back and slept much better, thankfully. Work was really busy, so the day went pretty fast. It's harder not being in the office so I can't control as much and have to rely on other people, which isn't my strong point. But that's probably good for me, to learn to trust others.

Probably the most interesting thing that happened today is that we got our groceries that we ordered online for pick up. Everything was perfect and we got everything we ordered! Honestly, we may never go back to regular shopping now! At least until the pandemic is over...

I ran a load of dishes in the dishwasher today and did a load of dishes by-hand tonight after dinner. Dinner was leftovers, and tomorrow will be more tasty food! Giving Space Force a try on Netflix tonight.

11/17/2020

A less busy day working from home today. I watched some more Call the Midwife and Hallmark channel while I worked. We placed our first order for groceries to pick up at the store tomorrow. My sister's isolation ends tomorrow so she can leave, but I have to stay home till Sunday, at least.

I learned the hard way last night that I can't lie on my back right now. It sets off my coughing. I ended up sleeping really badly last night because of it. I will not be doing that again!

Nice chicken and stuffing dinner tonight, leftovers for tomorrow. Catching up with some new shows finally airing on tv. It's nice to have new episodes again!

11/16/2020

Well, it was a busy day working from home today. Pretty much from start to finish I worked the whole time! The only thing I was able to do with empty out the dishwasher, fill it with the new dirty dishes, and make lunch. I did watch Hallmark channel for a while before switching over to Call the Midwife on Netflix for the afternoon. I have come to the end of the rewatch, and now have two seasons of entirely new-to-me episodes. This last season broke my heart, all over again. I'm definitely curious about the next two seasons!

We're going to finish out The Office tonight and I'm so sad to see it end. It's been a great first watch! I'm gonna miss all the people at Dunder Mifflin! I also finished my Frederick Douglass book I've been reading for my antiracism work. I need to find more of his works to read because he's amazing.

Leftovers for dinner tonight, chicken burger for lunch. Thawing chicken for dinner tomorrow, it should be a good dinner! I miss walking on the treadmill, but I need to wait before getting back into exercising properly again. Hopefully I'll manage to sleep ok in spite of it!

11/15/2020

Today started off with some scones, and watching the governor's announcement to take the state back into near-lockdown, which is good, and will make for a sad Thanksgiving, but hopefully less dead people, so that's a win.

After that, we started an Office marathon. I ate my chicken parmesan from last week that I froze and then thawed now that I can taste again. And then I did my blog meal for dinner and it was pretty delish! I will be blogging about that next!

I did a load of laundry today, and filled and ran the dishwasher. Tomorrow I will be working from home again. My isolation goes through next Saturday so I'll be working from home all week. This is good in a way because it'll get me used to working from home more when I go back. I liked the routine of going into the office. I will continue to work on not putting everything on me to do. There are other people in the office who can come into work more often, or work on stuff when we have the time to. But I need to work from home primarily, at least until the pandemic passes, because I don't want to get covid again.

11/14/2020

Well, today was not a huge "doing stuff" day. I stayed up super late last night and slept in till almost 10am. When I got up I decided to make the cake for my blog project. Tomorrow will be the entree and side dish and I'll write about it all Sunday evening, as usual. I missed not being able to blog last week but am very glad that my taste and smell are returning.

My illness is still progressing nicely, and I've passed the time when I need to worry about initial horrible side effects, though I will still have to be on the lookout for long term possible side effects. Even mild cases can have long term side effects, so I'll have to consult with my doctor before starting up with any exercising again. The scary thing is just not knowing. How can you tell if you'll develop problems? Ultimately you have to just get on with life because you can't live in that constant worry.

And apparently the governor tomorrow is going to crack down on the state and it's going to be more restrictions because of the spike in cases right now. People will grumble, but the next step is another lockdown. Let's hope that this does the job to lessen the cases.

We watched the Psych 2 movie, finally, and then all the Psych Christmas episodes. Now we're watching The Office and will finish with an episode of The Great British Bake Off. Should be nice!

11/13/2020

Worked from home today. My coworker tested negative so she can come into the office and was able to restart my computer and get me back into the system. I got a late start and was pretty busy the whole day. I have another full week at home before I can think of going back to the office. And I have to make sure I'm fully symptom free. I am still getting through this crud, but it's progressing nicely.

My sister and I have planned some really nice, comfort-food dinners for next week. I think it'll be nice to look forward to some nice food during this time. It'll also use up some of our supplies from the freezer, which will be good too.

Every day I'm about half better than I was the day before. Every day I'm less congested, and I cough a little less, so that's good. Tomorrow is day ten, and that's when the doctor says I'll be out of the danger zone, if I was going to have any complications. After that, I should be in the clear and just waiting for the rest of the symptoms to clear out.

The weekend will probably consist of a lot of tv and movie-watching, and laundry-washing. I will also be doing my blog meal on Sunday. Good times!

11/12/2020

Well, I got a call from my doctor's office, and I did test positive for covid, which isn't a shocker since my sister did too. I have to stay home till the 21st, even if the symptoms clear out before then. It's still just basically a cold and it's already clearing out. My smell and taste are back to about 3/4, which is nice. 

If I can keep my computer connection working right, I'll keep working from home during this time. When I return I'm going to start coming into the office Mondays and Thursdays only to keep my time on the bus to half the time it currently is. It will always put me on days I'm most likely to be alone at the office. We're also probably going to really crack down on mask wearing in the office because currently I'm the only one who actually wears it the whole time, except for when I'm eating. Ironic, I wear a mask all the time, and I get sick...!

I'm sure I'll be dealing with the health department soon, and I'll have to do a video call with my doctor in a few days to check in, but other than that, I basically just stay home till the 21st. We'll probably finally figure out how to order groceries online for delivery since it's gonna be a couple weeks before we can go to the store and it was recommended that we don't order them for pick up at the store.

I'm still planning on doing my blog project since my taste and smell are returning. Keeping busy at this time is going to be a good idea!

11/11/2020

Well, today was a day. It started off with work, as usual. Then my sister texted, saying her covid test came back positive and I had to come home right now and work on getting tested as well. My phone was almost dead, but I alerted my manager before heading home and waiting for over an hour at Westlake Center for my sister to come get me. I got through to my doctor's office and made a 3:30pm appointment for a covid test, which I took. I will know in 48-72 hours what the results are. Until then, I have to work from home, and my sister has to stay home for 10 days. I will know when the results arrive if I have to do the same thing or not.

I still feel like all I have is a cold, but I won't know till the results arrive. I'm still pretty stuffy and I have a cough still, but it's all moving in the direction that my colds always do. I'm slowly gaining my taste and smell again. It comes and goes, per usual.

I made tacos for dinner which I could half taste, but it's more than I could taste yesterday! Well, if this is covid, I'm praying that this is as bad as it gets.

11/10/2020

I think today was a record short day at the office. I left the office before 10:30am and it was still so early we had to take the non-HOV lanes! My sister was still asleep cuz she's home with a cold too. I settled in to work with the Hallmark channel on. It was a pretty slow day, so it was nice to be home and work on getting over my cold.

I'm slowly getting better. My taste has returned about half strength though I still have no sense of smell, though I was able to smell the bacon my sister cooked for her dinner. She graciously gave me a few pieces, which I could taste, thankfully! I still have a bit of a cough, but probably a third of what it was even yesterday and I haven't sneezed all day. I'm still congested and might need to actually breathe steam for a while for that to start breaking up. But it is moving in the right direction, which is exciting!

Tonight we watched the newest episode of The Good Doctor, finished out the Sabrina Christmas episodes, and are now watching the Family Matters Christmas episodes. I'm trying to ignore the news of what our current POTUS is trying to do to remain in office. It's getting scary, but nobody seems to think it'll come to anything. I hope they're right.

11/09/2020

Today was a pretty good day at work. My coworker came in to help and I was able to leave around 2pm. My cold is getting slightly better, I feel less run down, so I was able to deal with working in the office. My sinuses are bad though, but this is the most precarious part of the cold, where it's starting to leave, and I have to make sure it clears out without lingering and turning into a sinus infection. I'm still taking hot, steamy showers to clear my head, and drinking a lot of water, including hot water. I still can't taste much and it's making me not want to eat that much but I still get hungry! 

My sister has a cold too. We were gonna have tacos tomorrow night but have decided to put them off till we're a little better and can actually taste them. But they are gonna taste so good when I can taste again!!

We watched the Buffy Christmas episode and are now watching the Christmas Sabrina the Teenage Witch episodes tonight.

One of the worst things about this cold, is how chapped my hands are from washing my hands all the time. They always get back this time of year, but it's super awful right now.

I've been sleeping well and I hope to keep doing so. It's the most important part of recovering from a cold!

11/08/2020

I made the right choice to put off the blog meal this weekend. I still have no sense of smell or taste and I am sneezing all the time! I'm pretty tired tonight, but overall, it's not one of those colds where I'm super sore, or anything, so that's nice.

I did some chores today. Sweeping, two loads of garbage, compost, and recycling, three loads of laundry, and putting away the clean dishes and cleaning out the sink. I'm still making myself eat meals even though I can't taste anything. Keeping my energy up is important!

We watched movies today, starting our Christmas list, the ones we usually watch earlier on. It's been nice, stress-free, delightful.

We'll see how tomorrow goes, I need to go to the office, but we'll see if I can work from home on Tuesday, depending on how I feel. If I'm still pretty wiped out, I might do better from home. So far I've been sleeping pretty well, so hopefully I'll sleep well tonight too. That's always the most important thing to recover from a cold.

11/07/2020

And today, at long last, Joe Biden was finally named the next president of the US. At long last, we could take a breath. At long last, we could start to move on. It took a long time for me to let the emotions come, but they finally have, and I have been crying off and on all evening. This is pain and fear and sadness I've held onto for four years, and now I'm able to start letting go of it all. It's a good, cathartic feeling.

On the cold front, I definitely can't deny that it's a cold. I cancelled getting together with my family tonight, and put off my blog meal till next week, because I've lost my sense of taste and smell, which is common for me in a cold. I usually get one this time of year, and after the stress and sleep deprivation of this week, I'm not surprised that my body was poised to catch something. I'm fever free, which is encouraging, and so far I'm not too miserable, which is good. I would just like it to start clearing out soon and be ready to cook next weekend.

We went to Fred Meyer real fast this morning and bought some stuff for my cold, like kleenex and chicken soup, and we also bought a big humidifier for our living room which is now set up and in use. I think it's going to work nicely to help with the dryness in the apartment.

The President and Vice President-Elect made speeches tonight, and after watching the news commentary on them, I have turned on the Hallmark channel to watch Christmas movies for the rest of the night. I need to relax!

11/06/2020

It was a busy day working from home! But it was a good day too. I did manage to get a few chores done in the kitchen in the little bits of spare time I had. I have a big cooking and baking weekend ahead and I want to get the kitchen under control before I start! I also managed to enjoy a day of Hallmark channel Christmas movies and the Home and Family show, so that was nice.

After logging out for the day, we ran to the store. We've decided to go every week instead of every other week. It actually makes for less time in the store each time, and helps us from buying too much at a time. And because it's been a horrible week for our stress levels, and we always buy out on Friday, we got Heaven Sent chicken, the best fried chicken ever! And it was perfect.

A nice hot shower helped with my sinuses and lungs a bit, but I'm still hacking and coughing. We're going to get a humidifier for our living room soon. Our apartment is drier than our old place. My theory is we were so much closer to the water in our old place that it kept things a little more humid than where we are now. The air is just do dry here, and that definitely doesn't help my sinuses!

Fresh Prince of Bel Air Thanksgiving and Christmas episodes tonight and hopefully a good night's sleep to follow!

11/05/2020

It was another full day at the office today. It was bonkers and I had to leave some stuff for my coworker to do when she comes in tomorrow, and some stuff in the in-box to work on tomorrow. My coworker is back from her vacation, so she'll be able to help a bit more. It's been a hard week mostly on my own, so I'm very much looking forward to working from home tomorrow!

I've been having some asthma and sinus issues this week. Tis the season, sadly, but I find that wearing a mask all the time is not helping. I think when I'm in the office by myself, I might leave the mask off. And possibly when there's only one other person in the office and they're in the far room with the door closed. I think those might be ok times to leave the mask off. I just struggle to breathe so badly when I wear it all day. We'll see.

I stopped by both post offices after leaving work and hit pay dirt. I snagged a giant stack of envelopes to bring in on Monday. We'll be set until our supply orders finally show up. I've been having to leave stuff waiting for mailing because we are so low on our envelope supplies so far. I feel relieved and maybe I can stop raiding the post office like a nerd every day.

Frozen pizza for dinner tonight and my sister and I decided we're getting Heaven Sent fried chicken tomorrow night regardless of the election results, being updated or not. This week has been absurd and we definitely have earned some deliciousness tomorrow! We might also do our grocery shopping tomorrow night so we don't have to out on the weekend. We finished the Home Improvement Christmas episodes, now it's time for Hallmark Christmas movies till bed!

11/04/2020

What a day at work! I was there till 4, and people just had so many requests that I swear it took half my day up! But it kept me busy, and that's what mattered. At 10am, my radio station switched over to Christmas music, and I will be listening to it till Christmas! That definitely helped me get through the day.

The election is slowly moving along, but they say it won't be till tomorrow till they're able to announce the winner. I still can't allow myself to hope, even though it's looking hopeful. If it goes the way I want it to, I'll celebrate then, but not before.

More foraging the cupboards and fridge for dinner tonight. I just don't have the energy to cook right now. Just not the right week for it. Thanksgiving and Christmas episodes of Home Improvement tonight. Miraculously, I slept well last night. Hopefully I'll do so again tonight...At least the early day that was maybe going to happen tomorrow got cancelled and I can go in at my usual time.

11/03/2020

Well, it's Election day. We're waiting for the results. The West Coast closes in 10 minutes and then we should have a better idea of things. Some people have won that I wanted to lose, which is disappointing, but I hear that the Democrats have kept the House, so there's some good news, at least.

Work was work. I stayed till a little after noon and then stayed pretty busy when I got home. It was so rainy today. I got my finger caught in my umbrella when I was closing it this morning and it pinched it so badly it drew blood and I had to put a bandaid on it. It was not a fun start to the day!

I slept badly again last night, and who knows how tonight will go. I can't think of a whole lot to say about this day, otherwise. However this election turns out, I just hope we manage to keep fighting for what's right. I can't let myself feel any hope. I haven't felt that since the last election night.

11/02/2020

Bleh, what a day! It wasn't a particularly hard day at work, just a full, busy day at work. I was alone the whole time, but at least I had the radio for company. We're running out of mailing envelopes and neither of the post offices had any when I stopped by them to look. I ordered 200 more today but I really need the first set to arrive! I'm going to have to start holding off on mailing stuff and let things build up until I can send them in boxes, if we don't get more soon.

I slept really badly last night and am super tired today. I had a bit of a meltdown when I got home from work, but dinner and a shower helped. I didn't have it in me to do the treadmill, and I probably won't tomorrow either because I will be glued to the tv...

The stress and anxiety of the election is definitely getting to me. I think it's getting to all of us. Everybody I interact with is in a bad mood right now. I'm doing my best, but I'm feeling very close to throwing a grown up tantrum.

I was going to make a new recipe tonight but I just didn't have the energy to make it and my tummy wasn't happy with me tonight, so I just foraged through the fridge and my cupboards for stuff instead. Probably more of the same tomorrow. We split the caramel apple we bought from the store yesterday, and it was very tasty! We watched The One and Only Genuine Original Family Band which I like to watch on Election day Eve. Now for some of the new Charmed on Netflix. I'm sad because Highway to Heaven was taken off Netflix before I had a chance to finish the series. I really liked that show, it was really soothing. I might need to start rewatching the Hallmark shows like Good Witch and When Calls the Heart because they're really soothing too.

I hope I sleep well tonight, because tomorrow might be a long night...

11/01/2020

Today was a grocery shopping day and we had way too much fun at Fred Meyer and all their Thanksgiving decorations! Our holiday tree is now well on the way to becoming a Thanksgiving tree, and we bought an awesome decoration for the front entry hall. I spent a lot of time cutting out the extra items on the tree skirt made out of a discount tablecloth, and will turn those into a garland for the tree.

Before we went to the store, I got a few chores done. I did all the handwash laundry, and a load of by-hand dishes. We picked up Taco Time on our way back in from the store and ate it while watching Coco for Dia de los Muertos. I did a load of laundry and made my stollen for my food blog project. 

We had leftover spaghetti for dinner and I was able to portion out 4-1 cup portions of sauce for each of us, so we'll be good for spaghetti sauce for a while, so that's good. We watched The Nightmare Before Christmas and are now watching the Thanksgiving episodes of Roseanne.

Probably gonna be a crazy day at work tomorrow. I'm on my own, so it should be interesting to see how long a day it'll be...