COVID Marches On

 Now everyone has it or had it except for Angela, who is Last Woman Standing!

Of course, she may have it and be asymptomatic.  Kevin is back to work.  He has a few residual symptoms but is doing much better.

I did test a couple of days ago and wow, was I positive!  I mean, any positive is positive but it was a very, very dark COVID positive test.

I also started coughing a couple of days ago.  Again, blood oximeter levels are fine so it is just annoying mostly.  If I talked, I coughed. A lot.  So I didn't talk much. I am better today; still coughing but not as much. 

Miriam and Isaac are both the sickest now.

At least my foot is still good!  My plantar fasciitis foot.  Isn't that just the best looking boot?

We are a Mess!

 Wow!

COVID is marching through our family and we are a mess!

But not a dangerously sick mess, thankfully.  The really weird thing is that we had COVID in November 2020 and while Kevin, Naomi, Lydia, Isaac, Joseph and I were sick, the younger five didn't have any symptoms.

This time around, everyone is falling to COVID.  Rose spiked a fever of 103 yesterday afternoon and was miserable, poor darling. There are people coughing some, with sore throats, little appetite, and so on and so forth.

Ugh!  However, we have a blood oximeter and no one is having trouble with oxygen levels so hooray!

I did want to mention that my BOOT is working great and my plantar fasciitis isn't bothering me at all, which is a miracle considering that other parts of my body are aching.

Tired children!

Rose actually FELL ASLEEP last night on the couch, which is so not like her.  In her view, naps are for wimps. She looked angelic in a sad, sick kind of way.

I am pretty sure I am feeling better and am thankful. I will test for COVID shortly and see if I am still showing positive.

Good News and Bad News

 The Good: Miriam and Angela are home and had a great time in D.C. with my parents!

Also, I bought a weird boot for my foot and have been wearing it in bed.  It is helping my plantar fasciitis. Yeah!

Bad News:  Kevin has COVID!  He has been sick since Monday and last night I suggested he take a test. And it was positive.  I have been a little sick also but my test was negative.  But I don't know; I think I probably have a super mild case that just didn't show up.

Anyway, Kevin feels lousy but is not seriously ill. We are all vaxed so I am pretty sure we'll get through this fine.  It isn't fun, but we are managing.

This Week

 It has been a quiet week here because Miriam and Angela are out east with my parents.  They are having a wonderful time touring the greater Washington D.C. area, and my dad says the girls have been particularly excited about the art.  Both are enthusiastic artists. They didn't get that from me.

So just the five kids here at home and me and Kevin, of course -- and you'd think that would be silly, that life with five kids would be quiet but it IS compared to seven. Of course we miss the girls and are excited about them coming home next week, but I know they are having a fabulous time with their grandparents.

Rose keeps making progress with reading, which is wonderful.  As I've said many times before, kids vary one when they are able to read well.  She is 8 and now pretty fluent with simpler words, but she isn't going to be reading perspicacity any time soon! Anyway, I found this delightful set of books by Mo Willems (also famous for the Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus book) and Rose is enjoying them very much.

When I was her age, I was reading the Chronicles of Narnia. When I was almost 9, I was reading James Herriot with ease.  KIDS VARY!  :-)  I am very happy with her progress and 

I took the younger three children to Pearl's Fen, which is a nearby park with a walkway and a bunch of wildflowers.  Very pretty. There is also a stream with a bridge.

This is another park, one that has play equipment. Tell me that's not cute!  I dare you???

In other news, I got my excusal letter from Fairborn Schools!  Hip hip hooray!!!  Hip hip hooray!  I am very relieved to have that in hand.

The older two boys are vigorously doing college.  Isaac has a heavy load this semester and says Physics 2 is really difficult.  He is very independent and is managing, but yeah, hard!  Joseph has 2 college courses.  He is enjoying the programming one the most.

Feet!

 For three months now, my left foot has been hurting. Based on Doctor Google, it is plantar fasciitis.  I am almost certain it is.

I tried home remedies for 2 months (not very diligently) and then finally broke down and made an appointment with a podiatrist. I had to wait a full month to get in, but thought, Ok, he will help.

It was for September 7th.

Except it wasn't.  I had a God nudge to check the morning of, and the perky receptionist informed me that no, my appointment was for October 7th!

Argh!

Not that I am angry at the doctor. I know everything is crazy after COVID years.  It is just wow, long time.

So I have decided to get serious about home remedies.  It seems pretty obvious that tight calves are a big part of the problem.  If I stretch often, my foot feels better.  I also bought a compression sock and just ordered a boot for sleeping at night. It will keep my foot at a ninety degree angle. Hopefully all this will help.

My foot doesn't hurt ALL the time, but it hurts often enough to be really annoying.

So I am praying I can sort this out, and soon. I need my feet to feel good!

So far my right foot is fine.