Video Door Bells, My New Job, and My Lazy Butt and Keeping My House Clean

 This blog was started in August 2020 and I somehow sent it to drafts.  I  have added an addendum.  

I have a video door bell.  I LOVE it and every night when I go to bed I look through the clips from the day. When I first got it I was viewing the clips and saw a strange person leaving my house.   It was a rather large-ish person, appeared to be a woman with short hair.  I played it back about 3 times when I finally recognized the purse.  I was pretty fixated on the large butt to be honest and when I realized it was me I was horrified in a rubberneck-looking-at-an-accident type of way.  I couldn't stop viewing the clips of me coming and going.  Every night those are the first clips I go to. I walk funny, I have "hangy" down things from the backs of both arms.  My voice, dear God, my VOICE is not what I imagined to the point that I try not to talk while walking in the house.  If I am gone for the day I leave with a "sort of" spring to my step and return dragging and shuffling.  Carrying out the garbage clips are good for a laugh and the one with the flying roach should be on Americas funniest videos. It is a way that I can judge my posture from day to day and view any weight loss(which hasn't happened).  It really is sort of sad watching me carrying in my groceries or the dog food that I get delivered from Pet Co. I struggle.  A lot.  I'm getting old.  I don't understand how my 29 year old self got to look like this but it happened and I have the video clips to prove it. When I fix my real hair my mirror is forgiving and I think it looks nice.  Then that thought gets sideswiped by the video door bell.  I am so glad that I  usually wear wigs.  

I started working  in a  doctor's office last week.  I love it.  I have a job with measurable outcomes and get to spend time with some really great patients. I look forward to work days.  The office is proactive in keeping their staff safe and that is a plus.  I have my own little room with a wall to wall window and a bathroom.  I really wish that I could retire but I have not been wise with my finances and pray to God that I can work at least 3 more years.  I am happy in this place so life is good.  

School is partially in session and due to return to full time next week so I still have Becky's three.  I will miss them but do not miss trying to teach them.  It causes a conflict from the  nice easy going Mimi  to the teacher Mimi that I am not sure I even like.  This last weekend I had Joshua's two and we had a cousin play day at Chico State Park outside of  Ville Platte, La. They spent the morning on the splash pad and it was a welcome relief from the heat.  Aries and Allison had taken over my room and made two different tents.  Allison's tent was pink tones and one great room.  Aries's tent had a front room, weapons room, a place for his army to stay and a place to eat.  Aries has a great imagination.  I am a very very lucky Mimi to be blessed with these five angels. 

When I am off I find it exceedingly difficult to muster up the energy necessary to clean my house.  My house is pretty big and I keep toying with the idea of selling and downsizing to something that I can put on Becky's farm.  But I am so happy when I come in my house.  It has changed so much from just 2 years ago that it is shocking and I love it.  The other plus is that I have extra rooms for guests.  I still have things that need to be done before I can even think about selling and for those improvements I have to work, I have never been much of a housekeeper.  I worked so that I could pay someone else to clean.  It is ridiculous that I cannot keep my house in order.  I got hooked on a few "reality" shows and I end up "resting" in front of the TV to catch up with other peoples lives.  I have set myself up a schedule with a "reward" system.  I have jobs listed that need to be done, a time frame to do them and finally my reward of butt-to-couch time. 

Catch up time.  I didn't realize that I had not finished this post from last August 2020.  So to catch up: Josh has been staying with me during covid and to help around the house.  This has solved the problem of the home work schedule that I started and finished in one week.  Joshua is great at cleaning.  He just doesn't do dishes. An added plus is that he is able to do the things that I was going to have to hire out like ridding my ceilings of that hateful popcorn crap that they used to spray on.    I still hate to look at myself on the video door bell but not much I can do about that! My self improvement continues.  I have another job in a hospital that I love.  The staff is fun and have put themselves out to help me get accustomed to a new field of nursing, I have a great boss and the work is consistent.  I am struggling with the physicality and it makes me realize that I am aging.  I will be having weight loss surgery if all goes well this September and that is going to help tremendously.  Now I have to work to pay for the plastic surgery that will need to be done.  Or not.  I think that I will just duck tape the excess skin up and out of the way.  In the past year Covid has run thru our family like crap through a goose.  Now we are looking at a new mutation the Delta. I am no longer home schooling the grands and that is a fabulous blessing.  They deserved better.  I am a much nicer Mimi-grandma than teacher-Mimi. I am closing now  I need a nap or to catch up with the alternate reality on TV. 

To Vax or Not To Vax - Spoiler alert: I am not an antivaxxer

 Covid 19 has had continued long reaching effects in our country.  People are still sick.  Now we are back in masks even if you have had the vaccine because of the mutations and some people do not wish to or are unable to take the vaccine.  I have promised my daughter that I will not pass on disinformation so I will not be posting links for or against.  Fact: The vaccine is not a cure, just like the flu vaccine will not prevent or cure the flu.  This illness is with us.  Fact: You can still get Covid even if vaccinated, just like the flu.  Fact: Both Covid and the flu can kill you.  Fact: The Covid delta variant is more rapid spreading  than the original.  

I had Covid 19 in November and repeatedly questioned the diagnosis with my PCP because I did not have a persistent cough, high fever,  or extreme fatigue. I was treated immediately with Hydroxychloroquine, Azithromycin, steroids ( in a reducing dose over 2 weeks) and a steroid inhaler.  I also had a cocktail of OTC medications that I still take today.  I lost my taste and smell a week into my 10 day isolation  for about 3 days.  I was very fortunate and thank my PCP for  the treatment.  About 2 weeks later I developed a post Covid sequalae in the form of a horrific rash that lasted 3 weeks  and did not respond to anything we threw at it including steroids. Miserable does not describe how I felt.    At the end of the 3 weeks it left as quickly as it appeared.  Since then I have had persistent shortness of breath which my cardiologist calls Covid Lung.  It is getting better.  In January I was curious and had my blood drawn to see if I had antibodies.  It came back with the result of "abnormally high" level of antibodies.  Huh.  I have retested periodically since then with continued results of positive antibodies although no longer abnormally high.  For personal reasons I have resisted getting a vaccine which is why I periodically test for antibodies.  Can I get Covid again? Absolutely!  But so can my friend who is vaccinated.  Can I carry the virus to someone else? Yes again for both my friend and me.  Can I die from it?  Yes again just like my vaccinated friend. To be fair there are articles to be found that say I will bite the dust sooner because I just have current natural immunity that has not been augmented by a vaccine. I believe that the jury is till out on that one and since this virus is not even 2 years old  yet and we don't have enough information.  I can site articles for both sides.  My personal feeling FOR ME is to wait till my antibodies run out and then get the J and J single shot vaccine.  However I have a dilemma: My hospital is mandating that all employees be vaccinated by a set date (to be fair as have most healthcare facilities to date... and I was expecting it) If I don't take the shot I will not be able to earn money to pay my bills thus will not be able to buy things that I like.  You don't have to take the shot, it's a free country but pretty soon if you don't have a vaccine card you are not going to be able to go out to eat, fly anywhere, go on cruises or go to shows.  And most importantly you may not be able to get a job.  

What does that sound like to you people who read the bible?  Revelation 13:17 ESV  " Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of it's name." I am not suggesting that the Covid vaccine is in any way the mark of the beast.  When that time comes it will be so much worse.  The purpose of this blog is to show how we are being deadened to accept whatever the government  says is good for us.  Is the vaccine a good thing? I believe it is but I do not believe that we should be forced to take the vaccine because the government says we should or that we will be penalized for our free choice. If you choose to not get the vaccine then you accept the potential consequences up to and including dying.  It should be your choice.  More and more we are being propelled into accepting something that we may not want.   There are TV ads, politicians, celebrities, face book posts, memes, and twitter posts to demonize the unvaxed.  We are selfish, we hate people, we are conspiracy nuts, we are  Republicans,  and we are ignorant. The best yet was when I was asked "don't you want Covid to end?"  sure I do, but it's never  going to (thank you China) it's going to be here for a long long time mutating it's little heart out.  Today I had a conversation with a woman.  I apologized to her because I was on my phone texting about my hospital's new mandate and the time frame involved.  She said well you have had the vaccine, correct?  I think she assumed so because I am old and fat. ( Two high risk categories for Covid and a host of other things) I told her no because I still have antibodies.  "That won't do anything" was her response.. I responded that it was my choice and still under consideration to end the conversation because you can't argue with a person who has no understanding of the antibody functionality. 

The government does not need to be making decisions about my health choices.  It could be said that most of the "suggestions" that have been made by state and federal governments are for our own good.  Remember seat belts?  Buckle up for life!!  Now it's law.  Decisions like that have been made for our own good for years and we have let it go. It is the subtle changes little by little that we have gotten used to and not given it a second thought.  It's for our own good, look at all the research... for everything from seatbelts to cigarettes.  And it IS good.  There in lies the problem. We are slowly being conditioned. We are becoming so used to "government" making decisions for us that we are not questioning their right to do so.  The outcry about the vaccine is the first time in my memory that Americans are pushing back and we are being shamed for it.  They have upped the ante, now its going for our entertainment and jobs.  This is is less and less a free country and we have allowed it to happen.  

I have a CHOICE to make.  I don't know yet what it will be as I still have antibodies.  Unfortunately I soon will have to make a choice and that is such a damn shame.