I did not mean to be a public health threat

 The urgent care doc on Thanksgiving morning was WONDERFUL. He knew my diagnosis would likely freak me out, and he was SO NICE and SO REASSURING. I was even able to call his nurse the next day and ask for cough suppressant tablets and a rescue inhaler. He said my lungs were clear, told me what to look for in terms of antibiotic resistance (I am on 2 different antibiotics-- one for the sinus infection-- and he said the walking pneumonia and pertussis they're seeing aren't always responding to the z-pack. AWESOME), was in excellent holiday spirits, etc.

I asked him if I should stay home from Thanksgiving, and he said he would not necessarily want me at his table but I had been sick for 16 days at that point and was fever-free so likely not that contagious. He said it was up to me but I was ok to go. So I did. 

I really did FEEL fine (except for the chesty cough). 

We had a lovely time.

Ben sent a message to Minnie's doctor (whom we had JUST SEEN for an ear infection on Wednesday-- and I was not wearing a mask (even though I WAS wearing. a mask two weeks ago at Jack's check up) because my cough was much less frequent and I felt FINE but then toward the end of the visit, I coughed like someone in a Victorian novel dying of something that was until just a few years ago vaccine preventable but then everyone stopped getting vaccines hashtag FML and the doc was like oh you're sick, too, and I was SO EMBARRASSED and SO regretted not wearing a mask and I was like no really I am so much better.) asking if she should be re-evaluated for her cough in light of my illness, and we went to bed, humidifier blazing.

WELL. At 8am on Black Friday, the pediatrician called me to be like OH MY GOODNESS EVERYONE NEEDS TO BE ON ANTIBIOTICS AND ALSO QUARANTINE. Especially Ben and Cooper, who both had a cough. She said Minnie and I were likely OK because we have been sick for more than 2 weeks, but the rest of the fam was a super spreading cell of disease. AND BEN WAS BLACK FRIDAY SHOPPING AT THAT EXACT MOMENT **head desk** I did not mention that part (although in light of the no-mask coughing situation, she would surely not have been surprised-- just disappointed). So anyway-- she prescribed z-packs for all, and we are resting nicely in our germ bubble. We even made turkey and ham and all of the things yesterday so we'd have leftovers.

To make room for our living room tree, we just sort of tipped the whole room back and to the left.

And we shrunk down our table from 8 people to 6 even though there are 7 of us.

Germy germy cookies

Annabel was not a super helpful tree decorator, as you might imagine. Especially because Minnie hung so many low ornaments of the front tree.

I seriously love this dog.

Minne was THE CUTEST tree decorator.

So was Dorothy.

I took ten thousand pics like this.

Annabel loves Dorothy the most.

Minnie said she was most thankful for baking with me, so we immediately made pies.

Second Thanksgiving.

Annabel is going to eat the tree. It's just a matter of time.

I LOVE THIS TREE SO MUCH. Although maybe I put on too many strings of lights. 

It took 2 hours to clean up dinner last night, and I felt like I might die, but then Jack made this morning's pull apart cinnamon rolls because he is THE BEST.

SO FESTIVE.

Ben took the kids to to tree farm (we are doing outside things just like COVID times), and I stayed home to rest but then instead of resting, I made fluffy jello, stuffing from scratch, green bean casserole, and a veggie tray. I also got the brussels sprouts ready to roast. I AM WHO I AM, and dinner was not going to make itself.

5 on a Friday: ugh I just don't want to break the chain (48/52)

1. I don't have much to say because I am SICK. 

2. When I woke up on Thanksgiving morning, I felt like I had a block of concrete in my sinuses. I was on DAY SIXTEEN of a terrible cough. Days one and two saw a mild fever/chills and some body aches, but days 3-14 were just the cough. I think I had a fever on day 15, and Wednesday night I felt kind of crappy at bedtime. Thursday morning, I was SURE I had a sinus infection, so I went to urgent care.

3. Where I was diagnosed with a sinus infection. 

4. And also PNEUMONIA and PERTUSSIS. Oops.

5. Also Minnie has an ear infection.

Happy Thanksgiving

 Happy Thanksgiving, my friends. I wish you delicious food and wonderful conversation with your favorite people in the world. As always, I am so thankful for this blog and all the people I have met through it.

On this day, I am enjoying extended family and eating until I burst, drinking too much (but it always seems like not enough) champagne and thinking about the people I would also like to gather with who are at their own tables having their own dinners and hopefully also thinking about me.

I am remembering all of the Thanksgivings of my childhood and early grown-up years that I took for granted-- all those years I assumed would come again and again and again with the same face across the candles, the same mishmash of food smeared on the same china. I miss everyone-- my babies when they were babies, my young self who was so careless with time and had SO MUCH HAIR, my grandparents, my grandparents' siblings, my dad. 

Here's to the happy golden days and knowing when we're living them.

Random Word Wednesday: Disaster

 

OK NOW THIS ONE IS APROPOS.

I have a couple things to talk about under the heading of disaster.

LET'S START WITH MY FACE.

From the nose down, my face is beet red ALL OF THE TIME. WHAT IN THE ACTUAL HELL.

I know that my Augustinus Bader rich cream does not irritate my face because it looks awesome when I go to bed. SO. It is something I am using in the morning.

Aveeno calming face wash? I used this  FOREVER but the calming line was recently rebranded and reformatted, so maybe? I also use it before bed, but I wash my face at night in the shower, so maybe it's a less soap/more water scenario that my skin likes better? Just to be safe, I bought a CeraVe cleanser from Target to try.

Lancome Renergie night cream that I use in the morning? Almost certainly this is the culprit, but I had a bunch left and didn't want to stop using it.

Lancome UV Expert? This smells amazing so probably is also not good for my skin. But! I need sunscreen!

Tarte tinted moisturizer?? I don't think so, but I also do not think it HELPS.

(I have a green Clinique SPF primer that is FOR red skin, but it also seems to be an irritant)

(I have tried Clinique daytime moisturizers with SPF, and they have all made my face red and angry, even the green lotion that is for red skin)

The problem is that Augustinus Bader does not come with sunscreen, so I need something with an SPF. I bought Neutrogena Hydroboost because it is supposed to be good for sensitive skin, and it is OK-- a little thicker than I would like it to be, and I still have redness around my mouth. But for $15 I can be a sport.

I have been slathering Minnie in CeraVe ointment since she was born, so I also snagged their serum and daytime moisturizer-- CROSS YOUR FINGERS FOR ME. Anyone else with rosacea have any moisturizer with SPF recs?

Ok, disaster number 2: MY OVEN. We got it fixed (under the warranty) to discover the heating element was cracked in half, which totally explains why it was having trouble heating. 

BUT NOW WHY DOES IT SUCK?

It is still just not the right temp, cannot quite get hot enough for frozen things (frozen pizza is like 48% of what gets made in our kitchen), and cannot maintain a target temp accurately enough to make cookies that aren't flat. **whine whine whine** I think more repairs are coming (the warranty communication is... unsatisfying). BUT IT IS HOLIDAY COOKIE SEASON, DARN IT.

As disasters go, these are pretty mild, I guess...

Time Tracking Tuesday: A Sunday

 Minnie woke us up at 7:13 am, and she climbed in bed with me to watch Aladdin. I mostly fell back to sleep, only to be woken up for real at 7:45 when Jack came in to let us know he was on his way to golf 18 holes on the last day of Madison parks' golf season.

At 8-ish, Minnie and I got out of bed, and she scampered down the driveway to grab the newspaper while I laughed at our snowman and his constant hum.

I'm still all about the bagel and lox breakfast, and I also looked at blogs and the paper while I ate.

At 8:45, I set a 15-minute timer when I was struck by how terribly cluttered the laundry room was.

By 9 am, I had a giant bag of LITERAL GARBAGE from that room as well at the 2 drawers of the kitchen table and the three drawers of the table under the mirror in our main room.

From 9 to 1, I just cleaned the house, pretty slowly and not necessarily well. Here I am looking just freaking fabulous in Minnie's room, where I started my work.

I also did Dorothy's room and the girls' bathroom, as well as the front hallway floor, and I did some general plant maintenance.

By around 11, I was onto my bedroom and bathroom and still looking amazing.

Coop went to dive practice (not our Sunday to drive-- phew!) Jack came home from golf and did some homework before heading to actual work, and Ben cleaned the boys' bedrooms and the downstairs family room. The girls just sort of loafed around and did some sort of self-directed craft project with toilet paper rolls and beads and SO MUCH GLUE.

By noon, I was done with 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, and I dusted the living room part of our main room. I ate a lunch so half-assed it didn't even deserve its own plate while Ben fed the kids and himself, and then I got started on the kitchen.

Also, I still looked FABULOUS.

Ben ran a few errands (INCLUDING GETTING A PRICE ADJUSTMENT AT KOHLS BECAUSE HE IS SECRETLY A 67-YEAR-OLD WOMAN) and came home with our grocery order.

Before I put the groceries away, I went from this

to a much more presentable THIS:

From about 1-4 we put away groceries, folded and put away laundry, made a couple of beds-- I am not totally sure where the time between 1 and 4 went, to tell you the truth. Lots of letting the dog in and out, helping Minnie with various things, hearing about Cooper's inward double (he is working up to replacing all of his 1.5's and 2's with 2.5's), etc.

At 4, we finally persuaded Dorothy and Minnie to get dressed for the day (LOL), and we rounded up hats, gloves, and coats for Coop, Dorothy, Minnie and ourselves so we could all actually leave the house (I KNOW RIGHT)

We had a quick dinner at the golf course restaurant (we all miss summer)

And then we made it to a north pole party and christmas tree lighting event at our favorite outdoor mall. SO FUN!!

Despite that awesomeness, Dorothy's highlight of the day was her 6:30 pm trio practice at her dance studio. She is so excited to have a trio this year, loves the girls in her group, cannot wait to perform this number on stage-- all of the things. The studio calls solos/duets/trios "specials," and I can assure you, Dorothy feels VERY SPECIAL. Also, the girls were all wearing Lulu dance studio pants hashtag spoiled AND THEY DIDN'T EVEN PLAN IT.

Dorothy and I got home a little before 8, right in the thick of the bedtime scramble. Minnie and I are reading the Junie B. Jones series, and I love telling her the name of the next chapter and listening to her guesses about what will happen based on the chapter title-- so cute! Jack needed help with trigonometry, and I tried really really hard to help him (LOL).

Ben and I closed out our night with our current fave show Shrinking and were in bed by 10, which is a pretty recurrent theme of all of my days. (Also we ate SO MANY OLIVES my god).