January 22 Sunday
The one, the only, Marvelous Marbles HaglerJanuary 23 Monday
Getting walloped by a winter storm today, really the first bonafide one of the season. At least 30 cm up to now, and it's far from over. Wind is kicking up too, potential for ice pellets overnight, and toward the end of the week they're calling for plus 10 and RAIN. One of Mother Nature's mood swings is in full effect. Or Old Man Winter? Maybe they're having a freakin' baby. * This sleep struggle is getting to be crazy. Didn't sleep last night at all, and only passed out around 3 in the afternoon today. Janice got home from work after leaving the car in the driveway this morning because of the incoming storm - she only works up the street, so not too big of a deal. We think we found a snowplow operator to do the season; we booked and paid for it, so hopefully he shows up! * We're fairly sore from the Shack workout yesterday, as anticipated. This is the most dedicated we've been for going to the gym in a long time. Maybe ever. But today had to be an off day, I don't even know that they're open. Pretty well the whole city shut down by early afternoon. No power outages here yet, but the night is young. * Just heard our snowplow driver do the driveway, so that's a bit of a weight off our shoulders. * We went down and got ready to bake those cookies and make supper, and Janice tackled the laundry, when suddenly she got a wave of nausea come over her. She sat on the couch and shortly after, while supper was nearly done, told me she had to go upstairs because she was going to be sick. Indeed she was. The past couple of days, since being at that packed-like-sardines bar Saturday night, she's been clearing her throat a lot, and had some soreness in it. Sunday night it appeared she was getting a cold. Now she's coughing and out of it in bed next to me. I put supper together on a plate and put it in the fridge for her hopefully for tomorrow, and finished baking those cookies, and she was flaked out in bed when we settled down. Our loyal little Marbles followed her right up the stairs when she said she was going to be sick and stuck by her side, he's such an empathetic little guy, like all our cats were. I insisted that she stay home from work tomorrow after such a rough night. She took a covid test and it came up negative, but there's a flu going around too, and that appears to be what it is. Or a really, really bad cold. I'm going to take good care of her. * Man, the news today... they keep finding out how deep the Russians are into the GOP in the States. It's scary, but not scary - because Russia as they are right now, I don't believe they can bounce back on the world stage under their current leadership. It's almost like they're trying to bring the U.S down with them, though, and Ukraine. If AG Garland doesn't get off his ass and act faster, I'm going to wonder if he's in Trump's pocket. I've been thinking that for a while now. * The snow continues to fall, and I guess I'm going to shut this down... but not before saying I just found out my brophew Shawn is on the upswing and is hoping to be released from the hospital maybe tomorrow. That's a relief. I didn't think he wouldn't handle things, but I'm just glad that he's actually moving ahead now. His brother Chris, and their mom, are flying out tomorrow to be with him, so I'm happy he'll have that. I hope Roy is resting easier now. * Quite a day today... and that's how it was.
January 24 Tuesday
Not much progress on the sleeping front. Was up pretty much all night, so I read a bunch of stuff online on various sites, and actually spent a few hours finishing Mima's 'Always Be a Wolf' novel. Which had a really satisfying, noir-ish ending to it that really resonates. * Janice indeed tested positive for Covid, and although her digestive issues resolved pretty much, the cold/headache/fever part stepped up in its place. She's not that bad, though, we thought it was just the flu really. I'll be taking care of her through it - chances are I'll wind up getting it, but we'll deal with it as it comes. Janice had to call off work today and tomorrow as well, of course, and she's scheduled for six days vacation after that, so it looks like we'll be doing a whole lotta nothin', but we like just being together anyway. Today, for instance, while she was sleeping beside me this afternoon, I watched 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' on Crave. How the hell I let this movie get past me for so many years, I have no idea - what a masterpiece of filmmaking. A major head-trip of a movie, and anybody who knows me knows I love that type of show. It definitely demands to be watched twice, so when Janice was awake, later on I watched it a second time with her. She loved it too. We also watched HBO's 'The Last Of Us' this week, which I felt was actually an improvement on last week's debut. Pretty good. The scariest thing about that show is that it's actually plausible. * Anyway, earlier in the day I got out to shovel out Janice's Mom's house... her front deck and entrance, and did a pathway to our front steps. Our plow guy sufficiently did the driveway last night. * Supper tonight couldn't have been much easier. Janice only wanted toast because of her Covid woes, and I had the supper she didn't have last night, which was grilled chicken, corn and rice. * I forgot to mention, the temps were standard today, around the minus 3 range, and it's supposed to dip down colder tonight to minus 10. Daytime today was bright and sunny, so a pretty good reprieve from yesterday. * My brophew Chris was to go out to visit his brother Shawn out in Vancouver today with their mom to offer moral support for Shawn's aortic dissection issue, which is evidently under control. That was a bit of a scare, but Shawn's the epitome of health, so essentially this is just going to bounce off him, where it would take down most of the rest of us. I'm very thankful for that. So are all the rest of us! * News-wise, I got word that bill C-22 got through third reading in the House - that being an increase to the Canadian disability benefit. We're actually doing okay right now, but an increase would give us more breathing room, and maybe even make it able to get things done that we need more quickly. In the States, they're allegedly closing in on a Trump indictment, something they've been saying for over a year now. Mass shootings down there are tragically typical, with way more of them than there are days in the year so far. What a sad state of affairs. * Marvellous Marbles Hagler got his required bedtime snack, we're both laying here watching TV at nearly 3am, and I'm gonna finish it at that. * That's the kind of day been.
January 25 Wednesday
Day 2 of Covid for me, day 3 for Janice. It's kind of rough, but not quite as bad as many horror stories I've heard, perhaps because we've got all our vaccinations up to date. Although Janice is having a harder time with it because of her immunodeficiency problems. For me, the coughing is pretty intense at times, like it is every time I get a cold or something like it. I don't know if it's actually bronchitis or not, but it's very raw, like a bark or something, when I cough. That brings me to headaches, which are pretty bad with this. But, I have my stash of Sudafed Advance, which I swear by when it comes to all things sinus related. It's like a magic bullet for me. Janice, on the other hand, has to be careful with what she takes because of the meds she's on. She takes Tramadol, which actually is very effective for her. Plus the cannabis she takes really smooths the edge off the pain. The oil does help me sleep, but not every time lately, likely because of this viral infection. * Our sleep schedule is way, way, way off as a result of dealing with Covid. We get sleep when we can, basically, kind of like having a newborn baby. Three hours here, four hours there -- it's good that as of Wednesday, Janice is on holidays until next Wednesday, though it puts a real damper on her vacation. Still, we're together, and that's the main thing, and both of us will tell you that. Each other is all we need. * Our diets are pretty stripped down for now, limited to toast and Diet Canada Dry. We don't have much appetite for anything else. Janice has already dropped ten pounds, so the road to recovery is going to be a little longer because of that. I didn't lose any weight, myself, even though I haven't eaten much of anything either. * Something I should note that really helped was when I suggested we both shower. It'd been three days, after all, and we were certainly due, but we had to bring up the gumption to get it done. I have to say, it was quite invigorating. I took it first, and ran the water as hot as I could on my chest and back for a bit, and it really did help renew me quite a lot. Janice did the same and felt the same way. Perhaps tomorrow we'll do the same thing, it was that effective. * I'd like to notate what the weather was like on this day, but I don't have a clue, because of our wacky sleep schedule. I do know that temps are supposed to go way up and a lot's going to melt. * We watched AEW Dynamite tonight, with a tribute for the now-deceased Jay Briscoe, with a tribute match involving his brother Mark and comrade Jay Lethal. Good match, and it was emotionally invested due to the circumstances. Jay Briscoe's tag team partner/brother Mark did it to salute his brother, with a supportive and sentimental audience and announce team. It was a bit of a tear-jerker. Both those guys are devout Christians, and Mark's faith really shone through at the end of this. I hope Mark can overcome this and continue to prosper, in tribute to his fallen brother. * That's more or less the kind of day it's been.
January 26 Thursday
Well... our sleep schedules are still way of kilter. Basically more of the same, sleep when we can, because it's interrupted a lot by headaches, coughing and more or less bad rhythm. Really, as long as we get the sleep we need, at least we get that. * We've both been running a mild fever since this Covid thing descended on us, and that, of course, doesn't help our sleep efforts. I did take Tramadol myself today when a headache was threatening to release an alien baby through my skull or something, but I more or less just handed it a Snickers. Better. * Today was actually a marked improvement for both of us, healthwise. This whole sleeping-while-we-can thing pays off quite a bit, and we did the hot shower again today and it helped us as much or more than it did yesterday. Janice is dealing with bouts of nauseousness that's been a bit stubborn, though, keeping her from eating much. It was toast for both of us tonight for supper. I also baked more ginger snaps as it seems to have a bit of a calming effect on our bellies. The TV was off for the majority of the day as we just talked a whole lot or surfed the web or whatever. We basically remained horizontal for a lot of the day, save for the latter part of it when I felt well enough to venture out to the grocery store to get a few things, like soup and bread and bananas. I wanted to go when it wasn't busy, so I waited till a half hour before closing, and there was really just staff there at that point. Of course, I wore a mask, and avoided any contact with anyone, using the self-checkout. Being up and around and getting the fresh air kind of livened me up a little bit. * Earlier in the day, it was just plain ugly outside. Lots of rain and ice pellets, with pretty high winds made it enough to knock power out for awhile, although we were sleeping when it all happened, and we only figured out the power outage when all our clocks thought it was midnight. Which screwed me up too - 'we slept THAT long??' Now the temps are dropping back below freezing, which'll make it interesting tomorrow for commuters and pedestrians. * After we had our toast and DCD and made cookies, we headed back upstairs, where Janice could lay down. She probably shouldn't have gotten up; I did go to the store without her, I didn't want her being up too long. She had to take Gravol tonight, like last night, and is attempting sleep beside me right now. I'll make the same attempt very shortly. * We have a great little guy in Marbles who's very faithful to us, going everywhere we go. I think he can tell when one or both of us is ill, because he cozies up to us more. I'm thankful he's such a healthy little guy for his 17 1/2 years. We rewarded him with a little catnip and some munchies to go with it. Now he's faithfully asleep on my lap. Let's see if I can join him. * And that's the kind of day it's been.
January 27 Friday
Pretty much everything's status quo from the last day or two. Although honestly, we're finding out firsthand now that Covid is that guest that just doesn't friggin' wanna leave. It's got one foot out the door, then it turns around and is like "...and another thing..." Our fevers were back today, appetites back on the wane, headaches, the whole nine yards. Although, as the day progresses, it seems to get better. Sleep has been the same... get it when we can. I'm certainly no stranger to interrupted sleep, but it's weird to see Janice up with me at 5 in the morning. We seem to be getting it in three or four hour intervals, or less. Damn... just lost my train of thought. Yes, I did take oil. I'm trying to go back to sleep after sleeping for three hours, now I'm here at 7:21am, and Janice just passed out beside me. Let me indulge a little thing we do for each other... when we go to bed, we give each other our shirts, and we use those shirts to cover our eyes when we go to sleep. It's gotten to the point we have to have it. * Anyway, today was chilly out, minus 6 or so with clear skies, and it got to minus 13 during the night, enough for our furnace to kick in. Which is hardly ever. This heat pump we got is saving us loads of cash. * So, I don't know what to think of this, but now that I'm on disability benefits, I'm also getting Old Age Security. Sure, it's great the money ticks up a bit, but... OLD AGE?? Cripes, I'm fifty friggin' seven. Although when I think of it, when I was young, people my age right now seemed old to me, too. My poor Pop only lived to 57. I think he actually inspired a lot of us boys in the family to take care of ourselves so we can live far beyond that modest benchmark. I have brothers in their 70s, and they just don't fit the same definition I had of 70 years old even just 20 years ago. They're re-defining it. Or maybe that's just how we see it? Perhaps it's just perception. * The day's a bit of a blur, because of our asleep/awake cycle that we've got going on - or rather the lack of one. We opted for toast today once again, only this time I gave Janice a banana and ginger snaps to go with it. One other thing we noted was Janice has been missing her probiotic Align supplement the last few days. We both take it, it keeps us feeling good. But her missing it this week I think is one of the sticking points to her getting better. Between that and taking her meds. She's been missing those too, so I'm wondering about a kind of withdrawal effect going on. Tonight she took all that stuff, plus the food she ate, and she seems pretty good. She's lost at least ten pounds over the last few days. She's been very tired, but I know we're on the other side of this at this point. Every day is a little bit better, even though it often doesn't seem to begin that way. * Let me tell you, our little Marvelous Marbles Hagler has been a stalwart for us, sticking by us all the time. The sweet thing he does lately is, when we're in bed, just like a little kid he wants to come get under the covers with us. So he lays there and sleeps, or else he lays on top of the covers between us and sleeps. He's such a sweet little guy. * We watched 'Real Time With Bill Maher' tonight - I'm finding he's getting more conservative in his views the older he gets. He has guys like Bill Barr on, gets a big backlash from his generally-liberal audience, and then goes on a ten minute rant about 'Woke' or something. I'm getting a 'get off my lawn' kinda vibe from him these days. I might not agree with everything he says, but I'm always interested in other points of view that aren't combative or idealistic. Discussion is what bridges gaps, after all. * The big thing in the news right now is another black guy got killed by what's basically a gang of five cops. The twist in this story is, ALL those cops are black. There's more going on with police down there than meets the eye, and the colors of them. It's something they have to focus on and fix, or that country is going to continue to literally tear itself apart, all in the name of itself. It's scary and heartbreaking to see it all happen like this. * Anyway, that's the kind of day it's been.
January 28 Saturday
Time to close out another week. This is 28 days in a row - like, frig man. Where do I get the time? Well, this week, that's mainly thanks to Covid. I assume today was sunny out and kinda sorta mild, because it was this evening. I say 'I assume' because we got to sleep super late last night and slept all day, with not a regret in the world. Because, as it turns out, sleep is the best weapon against this illness of ours, of which today is the anniversary of our exposure to it for a week. Honestly, it amounted to being a bad, bad cold, but I certainly don't want to deal with it again. I especially don't want Janice to. * We both woke up here and there and at different times today, but neither of us objected to actually trying to sleep this virus away. Today was a day for the upswing side of it. It's probably the best either of us have felt since we came down with it. You can hear it in my voice when I talk, but Janice, not so much. She sounds great, and is eating without any issues at all, same with me for that matter. We opted for chicken & rice soup for our first real meal in nearly a week, with a bunch of crackers. I finished up some laundry, and then brought Janice out for a little spin just to get her out for a little fresh air and away from the house. It was a dark, cool evening spin around Moncton and Riverview around the outskirts. Driving by my old workplace in Riverview was slightly melancholic. I do miss the days I worked there when times were good, that being when I worked for my original boss. But leaving was an awakening for me, really. I know now what kind of person I can be without subjecting myself to such undue stress. It's evident that I haven't truly been 'myself' in... maybe ever?? And it's been almost six months since my last anxiety attack. This is unusual territory for me. And I like it. * We got home from our drive, were greeted by MMH at the door, and we locked up and headed upstairs for the night to partake in our resumption of watching 'Battlestar Galactica' on disc. We're now three discs deep into season 1. Yup, this just might be my favorite show ever on TV. It's amazing how well it's held up over the years. Now Janice is on her Cookie Jam facebook marathon beside me, MMH is resting on my lap, and we're waiting to get tired because we slept all day and it's now 3:27am. At least now Janice can say she's pretty much on vacation where we're both more or less in the clear concerning illness. * And that's the kind of week it was.
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