One day at a time

Since I last wrote I have had 6 days with fever and 5 without, and only a few of the non-fever days consecutively. At some point last week I realized that I've been sick longer than not during this quarantine time. I just have to take it one day at a time and act accordingly. I've had a few days with a burst of energy and almost feeling human again! The rest I'm a bit more somber and tired. Regardless, I'm trying to still do what I would do on a 'normal' day. (Normal? What is normal?) I cook, clean, walk the dog, and I've started going out a little bit more now that I am having fever free days. 

Side thought: I spoke with my doctor the day after my visit to the ER and he looked at all of my test results. He was so glad I went in and was able to rule out a lot of things. He said he wasn't sure why they told me it was bronchitis other than if they were using the term bronchitis as an umbrella term to basically diagnose me with a viral respitory illness. My chest xray was clear. The thought still lingers, and many people have reached out to me to share that they think it must be the coronavirus. Maybe when there are reliable antibody tests, and once i feel fully recovered that will be the only way to tell. My doctor suggested that I may have a strain of the virus that is not showing up on tests because I am not the only one to be exhibiting such symptoms and test negative. I think I keep coming back to it because it's the only thing that makes sense and there are a myriad of online articles out there documenting people with mild cases that stay sick for weeks and weeks like me, and they only tested positive right at the beginning of their illness. 

Anyways, enough of that! Despite all of this I am really trying to keep occupied and create good times with the family. 

Cade's hair is getting way too long... good thing the salons are starting to open again!

Alex showed off his cooking skills twice this week with some awesome broccoli cheddar soup, and a coffee cake for Mother's Day!

This year Cinco de Mayo was on a Tuesday! Taco Tuesday! Dan slow cooked some pork belly and we had pork tacos and watched The Three Amigos :)

This week the weather was also mild which made for some beautiful evenings. One evening we pulled out the cornhole boards and had some fun.... until Cade threw a bean bag on the roof of our porch covering! Oops!

Thursday Alex's school organized a car parade as part of Teacher Appreciation week. Alex worked on a sign and we lined up with probably 50+ cars to drive through and surprise his teachers who were on campus to clean our their classrooms. Click here for a video of the car parade. 

No pictures of this, but Saturday was a fun day. I was feeling well enough and the weather was perfect so we resumed our Disc Golf hobby since the courses are open again! And Saturday evening was the first UFC fight card since the pandemic started, and Dan was particularly excited about some of the fights, so we made a whole lot of chicken wings and enjoyed a live sporting event for the first time in a long time.

For Mother's Day the boys, with Dan leading the way, worked together to pick, print out and assemble some awesome picture collages (because they couldn't 'picture' their life without me)! We had coffee cake for breakfast and smash burgers for dinner. We also explored around the Judson Nature Preserve area to further enjoy the weather and get me out of the house.

I know that the next picture just looks like a lump of black in the middle of the grass, but that's our puppy Carson. I took the picture because usually when we bring him to a park he is restless and never relaxes. I've been spending a lot of time in the backyard with the dog and I think because he's gotten better at relaxing out there, he was able to just lay down and rest while we played frisbee for a long chunk of time! Yay!

Lastly, I just wanted to share a few random thoughts on the pandemic. Because aside from being sick, a lot of things are changing around us and it creates a lot of mixed emotions. Like, is anyone else just tired of the words 'social distancing'? Or how much do you just HATE all of the commercials catered to these 'trying times'? I don't know, maybe it's just part of my denial or resistance to admit that any of this even really happened. I just kind of feel like we all hit a giant Pause button and one day we'll press Play and go right back to where we were. That isn't going to happen. It will never be the same. For some it's because of the loss of loved ones. For others it's because of how it affected their job, whether they were furloughed, fired, required to work from home, just plain couldn't work at all. Some stores will never re-open. Big events with large audiences may never happen again, or at least it will be awhile. Even here in Texas where most things are allowed to be open, people have chosen not to. And for the most part, people are more okay with staying home than they were before. Summer will be different. What will pools be like? Water parks? Amusement Parks? We've planned a few one day trips to state parks because it's not even an option to camp right now. (Remember Texas is mostly private land so you can't just go camp very many places) Dan can't even travel or take leave until at least July 1. But I'm sure once he can travel he'll have a lot of work to catch up on! What will marching band be like for Cade? Will they even have a football season in the fall? And what will school be like next fall? So much talk of different ways to do things and I just want it to be like it used to be. I fear for the arts, as they are the classes and organizations with the largest gatherings. Will any of my performing groups resume? Lots to think about. 

I've been trying to not let my mind go wild with all the uncertainty, so I'm focusing on my scriptures, some family history, blogging, and creating memories with my family. I'm so glad to be quarantined with them! Also, I have a saying that I turned into a sign for my wall quite a few years ago, and it means more now than ever! Much love to all who read this, and take care of yourselves in all the ways!