JOURNALING IS NOT JUST FOR PLANNING

 Journaling isn't just for kids or teenage girls.

It's for adults who need to get their thoughts out, who needs to vent and who needs motivation to keep going.

Journaling is the new form of therapy for some people. Journaling is the new form to help us keep our thoughts on track.

Using a calendar is a form of journaling. If we write on it every day, we can see what we need to accomplish. 

But how about using it at the END of the day.

Write on your calendar what you actually accomplished that day. 

Then at the end of the year, you can look back at all that you have done. You will feel much better than looking back at what you didn't do.

Try this and let me know how it works for you. 

COVID RESPONSE TEAM

A couple of weeks ago, I talked about having a Covid Response Team.

They are a team of nurses that check in with you when you have Covid-19.

They make sure you are checking your oxygen levels, your temperature, eating, and resting when necessary.

They sent a box to containing my "Covid Kit".

Yep; they came up with a ''survival" kit for Covid-19.

It was delivered by FedEx a day after being diagnosed. 

The box was huge. 

It had flash cards with everything from how to wash your hands to how to disinfect. 

Did you know that if you have Covid-19, they recommend that you wipe down surfaces that you come into contact with but that you don't deep clean until AFTER all of your symptoms have gone away. 

It also contained the following: 150 masks, 1 bottle of disinfectant, 6 small bottles of body wash, 2 bottles of hand sanitizer, another thermometer, alcohol swaps, 50 hot/cold cups with lids, 50 biodegradable paper plates, 50 spoons, knives and forks and 6 blue trash bags. 

Yep blue trash bags. The kind they use in the hospital. The kind that has tape attached that says "biohazardous material"

Did you know that you aren't supposed to use regular dishes while having Covid-19? 

I didn't. 

It's because even though you are washing your dishes, you still have to touch them once they are clean. You are contaminating them again before using them.   

You must put your trash in the blue bags because everything you touch will still be infected with the Covid virus after you use them. 

Now that they are saying you have to double mask, I have enough masks to last at least two months. That is if I go outside every day; which I don't.

My Covid Response Team, or someone from my team, calls every day. 

Without fail. 

My phone rings at 9am every day and I am on the phone with them for at least 30 minutes. I have had a nurse come by to check since I'm an "over achiever" and have so many symptoms.

It's good to know that someone is looking out for the ones of us that are not hospitalized. 

I just wonder; if you don't have insurance; do you still get this level of care?

WHY CAN'T I TASTE MY FOOD

Why does my mouth feel like this?

It feels like my taste buds have become swollen at the same time. My mouth is watering like I'm about to vomit. 

I have a blister on the inside of my mouth but I'm sure it's because I have been drinking so much orange juice that it's from the acid.

I make myself dinner and although I'm a pretty good cook, I burned the oil I was going to use to fry the chicken in. 

Hmmm, why don't I smell that? I guess I'm spraying way to much LYSOL.

I outdid myself today. Even though I'm sick it doesn't mean he can't eat well.

I make fried chicken, asparagus and sweet potatoes. 

I am not hungry but I try and eat anyway.

Hmm, that's strange.

I take another bite. 

I say out loud, to no one, funny I don't smell the fried chicken smell.

Then I take a bite.

Hot and nothing.

Wait, I can't taste the chicken. WTH! I can't taste the chicken. I CAN'T TASTE THE CHICKEN OR THE SWEET POTATOES OR THE ASPARAGUS. 

Sweet baby food Jesus!

I've lost my taste and my sense of smell. No wonder I didn't smell the oil burning. No wonder I didn't smell the chicken cooking. 

Ahhh Lawd! 

This is horrible. No wonder my coffee tasted funny this morning. Or maybe the lack of flavor. I kept adding sugar and cream. I thought maybe I forgot how to make it. 

Geezus! Of all things that is happening to me; this is the absolute worse! 

How can you eat when you can't taste food/ 

Eating is pure torture. Drinking is even worse. 

I tried having a glass of wine...yep; can't taste it. I can't enjoy food. 

This has to be the BEST DIET EVER!

Said NO ONE!

WHY AM I STILL FEELING LIKE THIS

Today is February 11 and I feel like crap.

I can barely sleep. I'm exhausted. My body feels heavy and I am sweating like its 100 degrees. 

I don't have a fever but the damn cough and sneezing has come back. 

Shouldn't I be feeling better now?

I am boiling water with ginger, lemon and orange peels. I'm standing over this pot like it's my life line. I am still trying to NOT go to the hospital but today, I have no choice.

It has to be better than this.

I dress, which takes almost an hour. Not because I am trying to be cute but because I have to keep stopping to get more energy.

WTF!

Man, they don't tell you about this. 

As I dress I just hope this is not the last time I will see my house. I hope it's not the last time I will chat with my kids or my friends. 

Yeah, people that don't wear masks don't understand that the people who do everything to protect themselves and still end up with; have to deal with this.

Ask me if it's a hoax! Ask me if it is fake news!

Dehydration is the cause of this. I try and eat but I really can't without having an upset stomach. 

I cook but still can't eat.

What's the use of eating when you can't taste the food?

Oh I didn't tell you about that?

Well, next week I will.

Thanks for hanging in here with me and this journey. 

WHAT DOES COVID LOOK LIKE?

Our lives are now dictated by this little machine and a thermometer.

We have to take our temps and our levels four times a day.

He has no symptoms so he has to do it as a precaution.

Me on the other hand, I have so many symptoms that my nurse has said I'm on "over achiever".

What symptoms do I have? I will try and go down the list and describe when I actually got them. 

Jan. 23, I got a monster headache. The headache continues even today, Feb. 10. 

Jan. 24th, I began to sneeze but as long as it wasn't back to back sneezing, I wasn't concerned.

Jan. 28th, I got a sore throat and began to cough uncontrollably. I still have this cough on Feb. 10.

Jan. 30th, the sneezing got worse. Is that even possible? Yes, I would sneeze at least 10 times in a row and become so stuffy that I was now breathing with my mouth open.

Feb. 1st, I am now feeling like I dragging around an extra 200 pounds. I can barely walk 25 steps without almost falling down. My legs feel like I have walked up 100 steps. My breathing is ragged and I'm feeling like I'm coming down with the flu.

For two days, the heavy feeling stays with me. Lying down is not helping. It makes it worst. I feel like I'm drowning by weight. I can't get comfortable. I can't lie on my back or on my side. I can't take it but I push on and try and get some sleep. Thank goodness this goes away by Feb. 5th.

I wake up on the 5th to a snotty nose, chest congestion and new rashes on my back and face. What in the entire world is happening? Is this cold taking a different form and causing this new reaction on my skin. My hands are so dry that I have used an entire bottle of NIVEA lotion (16 ounces) in two days. 

My hair is now brittle and dry. Dry like I have been sitting under a dryer for hours with no moisture. Dry to the point that I am scared to brush it. 

Wait, what's this. A damn cold sore! Yep; that's just what I need! This huge bump is sitting in the middle of my top lip like a trophy. Blistex aint helping this so I apply a warm cloth and hope that it helps it dry up. 

And if it couldn't get any worse....just wait until next weeks update. 

IT BEGAN AS A HEADACHE

 On January 18, I believe that it when it all started. 

Due to the fact that I barely sleep because of insomnia, I rarely sleep. However, when I was kept up because of a headache; I couldn't understand it.

My boyfriend comes home, kisses me and says, "I have a little tickle in my throat".  Jokingly I say, "is that a corona virus symptom?" We both laugh and I make him some tea.

Because he never gets sick, it concerns me but I don't really say anything. After drinking his tea, he says he has the chills. But he always has some sort of chills; it's just how his body works. 

He gets into bed around 7pm and I decide to take his temperature. It reads 100.1. Since I used to work at a school; I know this is a low grade fever but he never listens to me. He says he's ok and goes to sleep. He sleeps all night. I wake him up one time and take his temperature again and it reads; 100.9. I tell him he has a fever and he drinks some water and goes back to sleep. I'm worried because it's a fever but he doesn't want to admit it. 

I go about my evening and decide to write. After about two hours, I couldn't come up with anything, which never happens and I put my computer down because my headache was back. It was if someone was squeezing my brain from the inside and it was pushing out through my ears. 

My ears became clogged and then the headache went away after I blew my nose. 

Why is a headache keeping me up? I did what most people did. I took an ALEVE and waited. Four hours later, I was still waiting. 

So I then took two Advil and waited again. Four more hours went by so I gave up and just used ice compresses, which by the way, didn't work either!

He gets up at 4:30 am and says he feels much better and goes to work. I tell him to take his temperature and it is 98.7. I'm satisfied that he is better but I'm up too because the headache just won't let me sleep and I find a new comedy on Hallmark, REBA. Who knew that country singer was so funny AND that she had a show! I digress.

So the day moves on and the headache finally leaves. He is fine and all is right with the world until Jan. 26th.

I'm exhausted. I mean, like can barely move exhausted. I am talking to a friend and tell him that I'm tired and he says, "stop being superwoman and just stay in bed. Relax and do nothing today." I tell him I will but I get up and do laundry. Normally it takes just a couple of hours but it literally took me about 5 hours to do two loads of clothes. Between every load, I had to lay down. When I heard the buzzer go off, it took me another hour just to get the energy to get up from the couch and take them from the washer. 

My boyfriend comes home and notices how tired "I look" and suggests I just rest. Nope; can't do that because there is dinner to cook and clothes to fold and put away. I continue to drag myself around, secretly wishing that I had a maid to do all this but pushing myself to continue. I ask him how he is feeling and he says, "never felt better. I guess I had a 24 hour bug or something". He asks how I'm feeling and I tell him that I just can't seem to find the energy and he tells me the same thing my friend says; stop getting up so early and just rest tomorrow. Stay in bed and get some rest because you do look tired. 

If only it was that simple.

BLOGGING IS NOT HARD....

Some people say that blogging is hard. 

I find it pretty easy. That's because I ALWAYS have something to say.

See, I find it very easy to blog; especially if I am upset about something. However, I find it pretty easy to blog about things I observe and things that I learn while being an author.

You don't have to 'give tips" every time you blog. You can simply write about what happened during your day; while writing or not writing. 

Write about what has upset you. It's the cheapest therapy I know. 

Better yet, write about the struggles of your writing life because a lot of us want to know how you overcame that particular problem.

Last week, I met up with fellow book diva Dee Lawrence and we had an amazing breakfast at Eggspectations. I had the breakfast burrito and after seeing mine, so did she. 

We were able to chat and catch up on all that has been happening with us in our private lives and our writing lives.

After a couple of mimosas' we just sat and people watched for a bit before calling it a morning. 

We met early and before we knew it; four hours had blown by and we really didn't want to leave but life called and told us we needed to stop relaxing and get back at it.

So we said our goodbyes and inked ourselves in for another breakfast meeting to just catch up.

See, I didn't think I would tell you all that but it's part of the reason I like blogging. 

I can say just about anything I want and it relieves me of some stress. 

+LadySunshine95 says she doesn't know what to blog about but I tell her; just sit at the computer and you will be AMAZED at what pours out of your mind.

Many people think you have to blog once a day or once a week. But that is not the case. You can blog as often as you need to. I find that blogging once a week helps my mental status. Just don't go to long without a blog or people will forget all about you. 

Do you find it hard to blog and if so; what are you doing to make it better? 

Let me know or better yet; write a blog about it and send me the link; I'd be glad to read all about it. 

Until next time, keep reading and I'll keep on writing. 

IT'S RAINING BUT THAT DIDN'T STOP ME

When it's raining outside, most people want to curl up in bed with a good book and read until they finish or binge watch TV.

Not me!

This was the first time in almost four months that I could walk without the use of crutches so I did what any normal person would do.

I went out!

Yep, went out and had a full day.

First my day started with a 1 year olds birthday party. At Chuck E. Cheese no less. Big mistake. It was full of screaming children and those that were not screaming, were crying.

Well all except the birthday girl. She was asleep. She was missing her own party. Oh well, so much for the exciting overstuffed mouse and cheese pizza. 

On to the next stop.

Preakness Day Party.

Yay! I have never attended any kind of horse race and had no idea of the pageantry of it all.

The horse, the outfits and the HATS! Let's talk about the hats. First I am not a hat person, so I just ran into Macy's and picked up a quick one. 

Big mistake.

These women were donned out in the finest clothes. It was like I was sitting in church with a group of church mothers all vying for the coveted prize of "My hat is bigger than yours" prize or better yet. The "Don't sit behind me because you can't see anything past my hat" prize. 

Don't get me wrong, they were gorgeous hats; I just didn't know that people here in DC took this king of thing that seriously. 

Well now I know so I am already on the hunt for a very unique hat for the Belmont race coming up in a couple of weeks. 

Like I need another addiction. 

Then it was off to the third event of the day.

An all white party, hosted by my American Legion for the Martin and Long scholarship fund. 

It was a beautiful affair with everyone decked out in their finest white attire. Men had on their white suits and women had on their summer whites. 

But I thought all white meant, well all white. So I had on everything white including my shoes. 

Most people had on a variety of shoe colors, none of which were WHITE. What is the point of having and ALL WHITE party if you aren't going to wear ALL WHITE...just an observation on my part.

So after beginning the day at 9am; my day finally came to an end at 1AM, Sunday morning. 

Let's just say that the first day without crutches was a huge success however, my ankle wasn't to happy so Sunday, the day that it was nice and sunny outside. I spent that day, IN BED. 

Somehow it just didn't seem right but hey, rainy Saturday was just as fun!