Grinding your way forward does not match well with sickness.

 Dear Reader,

I was pretty seriously sick for most of the period that I wasn't updating here. I kept starting blog posts and then giving up because I couldn't think clearly to put together a sentence. Then I caught Covid. At first, I vainly thought that it was going to be a mild case because I'm vaccinated and I got my booster shot. Then came the dizzy spells that threatened to knock me down. There was a laundry list of symptoms that showed up over the first few days that I had it which made it harder and harder to function. No matter how strong your desire and will to do things, they're no match to dizzy spells that make you feel like you're on a tilt-a-whirl. And the exhaustion, oh good grief, I still have some of that fun lingering. (My go to solution for being tired in the morning did not work. I was drinking coffee because it soothed my sore throat it was odd.)

Sometimes, you just can't grind your way forward. The situation will force you to stop and rest. It will thwart your desires and possibly shake your confidence. In these moments, attack in the opposite direction and take cover. Rest, stay hydrated, and let the hellishness pass over you. Your work will still be waiting for you as you wait for the hallucinations stop. And, you never know, somewhere in the midst of the misery that you thole, you may find gold that you can use somewhere else, if you can remember it.

If you're not well, take care of yourself. The great work can wait until you're back on your feet.

Please forgive my extended absence.

 Dear Friends,

Life got screwy around here and I was having trouble being grounded enough to do my daily chores let alone my writing in any format. When that problem more or less resolved itself, I caught Covid and was sick for a month. To say the least it has been a trying experience. I am not going to make any promises that I'll be back in form for writing every day. But I am going to try. Some of this will mean preloaded blog posts that were written several days before hand and some of this may include reposting of old content (as a last resort). If nothing else, I may post a few funny memes that I have had sent to me.

I am still dealing with a lot of exhaustion and some other symptoms, but I am much better than I was last week. This has me hopeful that I can get writing done, possibly across all formats. Covid was an awful experience, even with the milder Omicron variant (which we caught at my house from school). The anti-viral medications are serious business but they taste awful and you have to choke down 4 pills per dose. I guess that's better than a horse pill, but it wasn't easy. Fortunately, I and none of my family lost our sense of smell or taste.

My eldest is making noises that he feels like he's caught a cold. Given that was how he felt when he caught Covid, I'm a little nervous. My youngest is just fine and had mild flu symptoms for his experience. And Beloved was taking care of all of us as he had the sniffles. It was a strange experience to have the whole household sick with the same thing and displaying different variants of how it manifests. I also envy the living daylights out of my husband's immune systems. It always happens like this, I get sick and I'm flat on my back for at least a week and he gets the sniffles. As he says "Well, somebody's supposed to take care of you." He's a sweet heart but I still envy his immune system. LOL

I could go on an extended rant about how my region has decided to treat Covid like it's the flu but I won't because that's a bit too far afield from the purpose of this blog. To say the least, I am not happy with it and my kids want to go to a school board meeting to demand the reinstitution of the mask protocol from last year. This is a big thing given how they dislike public speaking. But, we're all muddling by as best we can. I've finally turned something of a corner in my recovery as my congestion is clearing up. Now I just need more energy and I can get stuff done. But such is life when you get sick, right?