All Things EARTH... part 2

[Sailor_Sally]

Melody  It would be a good idea to purchase a pulse oximeter to keep track of his oxygen levels . You can buy them on Amazon. If you need nebulizer you can also get that on Amazon.

[awhfy]

1 hour ago, Sailor_Sally said:

Melody  It would be a good idea to purchase a pulse oximeter to keep track of his oxygen levels . You can buy them on Amazon. If you need nebulizer you can also get that on Amazon.

I ordered both of them on Tuesday. Thanks Sally

[MJC]

Melody, so sorry to hear of Les's travails but so glad to hear that he's home now.

 

We are both healthy here in the thick of things in NY with the virus spreading so quickly. Last week DH's office closed so everyone could work remotely. They have a large conference call each morning and he is kept busy with work. In our neighborhood most people are being conscientious and staying home whenever possible, and the traffic is very light. There is plenty of food in the stores.

 

With very little testing going on and no way of knowing where exactly it was being found, we decided last Thursday to self isolate. I packed the apartment with food and supplies, and other than going for walks each day we are not socializing at all. DH is in the high risk group for viral pneumonia so we acted out of an abundance of caution.

 

So what is life like, other than that my home is REALLY CLEAN?!?  We've decided to take the attitude that it's like being at sea for a long time in a very nice suite. 🙂  We go for walks on the "promenade," exercise every other day (cycle for him, Zumba for me), try to eat healthy, watch an afternoon movie while having tea, read a lot. We have long texting conversations with friends and family to stay connected. We recognize that we are very fortunate to be able to weather this situation in this manner.

 

I will have to wrack my brain to answer Anita's latest fashion quiz because my older (smaller) clothes are in storage at the lake. I probably have a pre-digital age photo of one of my answers, I just have to find it!

[laurspag]

Melody, I'm so happy to hear that Les is home.  There is no place like home to recover!  Please keep us posted.  I've been thinking about you guys a lot.

 

Margaret, I've been thinking about you too, so I'm very happy that you are checking in.  I 

 

I am not staying home, currently.  NY state is in bad shape with this virus, and there are many restrictions.  However, banking is in the category of grocery stores and so forth, so we remain open.  

 

Our stores are a mess. I shop at Wegmans, which has everything.  At least they have everything normally.  There are hardly no canned goods at all.  Our push right now is to support the local businesses, and order take out.   Our restaurants are currently not allowed to serve anyone inside.   We need to keep these business afloat. 

[pacruise804]

Melody, it is good to read the fever broke.  Hope you enjoyed your spaghetti 🙂 

 

I leave tomorrow to get DD from college since the decision was made to send all but extreme cases home.

 

Pennsylvania is closing all non-essential businesses.  I guess alcohol is essential to life though since the state stores (liquor) and beer distributors are allowed open 😉 I had (relatively) minor surgery yesterday and it sounds like I was scheduled just in time since only emergency procedures/patients are now allowed.

[awhfy]

I’m very glad my wine fridge & liquor cabinet are well stocked. It’s still snowing here too. 
 

Our college granddaughter has had all of her classes changed to on line thru May

[laurspag]

We have more restrictions daily, but understandably so.  It's  rough at work, and we now have segregated. This way, if someone gets sick, we have limited the exposure.  

[awhfy]

Good news, Les tested negative for the virus, my test isn’t back yet. We both slept most of the night, likely from relief!  Melody

[Anita Latte]

Great news Melody!

[laurspag]

Great news!!!  I wish Les a speedy recovery from his illness.  It must be su h a relief to have a negative test result.

 

This thing is spreading in NY like a wildfire.  Being in the central area is good, but it is picking up speed here also.

 

I did grab wine last night, lol.  Better safe than sorry!  

[Sailor_Sally]

Great news about Les now let's hope you are also negative.

[awhfy]

19 hours ago, Sailor_Sally said:

Great news about Les now let's hope you are also negative.

I just found out, I also tested negative!!! now to get Les over this nasty bronchitis. If weather cooperates & warms up a bit we might be able to stand on the deck for a little fresh air. It’s been too snowy/rainy till this morning. Melody

[Anita Latte]

Excellent news!!! Important to stay away now while recovering. Hope Les can shake the bronchitis quickly. Glad you have so much family around to help.

 

Sally...how are you? Been thinking about you and your lung related illness recently...hoping you stay well and getting better.

 

Today will be one week with DS home from London and we are all still symptom free and praying that we continue to be so.

 

pacruise...your DD is back home now? Not sure I understood what you meant by who wasn’t leaving the dorms?

[Sailor_Sally]

2 hours ago, Anita Latte said:

 

 

Sally...how are you? Been thinking about you and your lung related illness recently...hoping you stay well and getting better.

 

The irony is I got completely better right before we had to isolate . We are completely isolated and doing great . Today we are going for a drive just to air our bodies. I am working out almost every day , reading a lot , cooking a lot and I started closet cleaning but I can not stay motivated .

 

[Sailor_Sally]

Melody ,Glad to hear you are also negative .

[laurspag]

I put my time this weekend to good use.  The mudroom is painted.  All the trim, doors and walls.  I started to paint some of the other new doors too, but it was time to stop.  

 

I was pretty business with work related stuff yesterday morning too, so I just want to make dinner and maybe watch a movie now.  

 

I decided to use the green that we love in the laundry room instead.  I may have mentioned that when we painted our family room, we bought extra paint and didn't need it.  My husband wanted to paint the mudroom that color, but there was something about the idea that was bothering me.  I think it is because I like a variety in color, and the laundry room has a funky orange in it that I choose just a few years go.  I've lived with it, but I don't love it.  It's a small room, and I got to thinking the green would look nice in there so I chose something different for the mudroom instead.

 

I went bold.   It's kind of a dark butterscotch color?  I wasn't sure it was a very good choice, but now that it is pretty much dry, I really like it.  The room needed it.  Tomorrow I will be able to hang pictures up after work so I can take a few pictures to post.

 

Melody, I'm glad your test was negative!  What a relief.

 

I'm hopeful we all keep checking in, so that we know each other is okay.

[laurspag]

Sally, with everything that is going on, it is hard to stay motivated.  Yesterday, when I started getting all the emails about work, I was thinking that I just didn't want to deal with painting, and then I decided to work for a bit.  Once I got going, it was easy to keep myself moving because it was a distraction.  

 

I woke up this morning wanting to continue where I left off.  While I said  wouldn't hang up anything until tomorrow after work, I just went in put the pictures back up.  I rearranged them better than they were previously.  The mix is a bit eclectic in there.  Really though, I just didn't want to think about everything that is going on.  That, and my husband and daughter are doing a Star Wars marathon, lol. It's time for me to rest a bit though.

 

My husband told me a few days ago that it is okay to not do anything sometimes.  He is right. This weekend though, this was what I needed.  As challenging as it is, I feel like I'm making good decisions this week at work, and to be able to accomplish a few things at home just helps me feel better.

 

Next weekend, I'll likely do the laundry room.  After that, I will just continue along with the doors and trim, since I have a lot of that to do.  One thing about the doors...they are primed, but they still need two coats of paint.  Then there are two sides...this will take some time to get done.

 

I don't have any projects ready after that, but we will be working on the planning steps for the den, I think.  I rearranged, got new curtains and a chair last year but couldn't decide on a paint color.  We were looking through pictures online, and came up with a nice idea to plan out.

 

I'll probably work on just cleaning...just like many of you are doing.  Clean my dresser, my closet, ask myself about some of things I have around and if I still need or want them.

[awhfy]

We watched 1917 on the big tv yesterday. 1917 was a very powerful movie. Today will be Midway (both versions). If I sit & watch with Les he doesn’t try to do anything. He’s starting to improve, finally. Melody

[Sailor_Sally]

Melody when I had the pneumonia from hell I underestimated how much and for how long I had to rest to let my lungs heal .Tell Les to rest every day .

 

 

 

 

[Joby]

Melody, Glad you both received negative results!

Stay well all.

[awhfy]

3 hours ago, Sailor_Sally said:

Melody when I had the pneumonia from hell I underestimated how much and for how long I had to rest to let my lungs heal .Tell Les to rest every day .

 

 

 

 

He’s napping now, like trying to get a two year old to nap at times!!! 

[MJC]

Melody, glad to hear the good news on your tests.

 

We are watching a lot of PBS, especially Niall Ferguson's Networld series, and catching up on 2019 movies that we missed. Our library branches are all closed, so ebooks are restricted to only 3 at a time so there are enough to go around. Our governor is doing his best, but our poor doctors and hospitals are already straining. We hear more ambulances than normal. Sad times for NY.

 

We are doing fine and I'm happy with our decision to isolate early. Please take care of yourselves and take this virus seriously. We both have remote work to do, which is really helpful, and we limit the number of times we check the news so as not to stress too much.

[Sailor_Sally]

Margaret , I am so glad you are doing good . You are right in the midst of it .

We went for a drive yesterday and everything is shut down . Lot's of snowbirds have left and after having crappy weather for a few months now every day is gorgeous. I have lots of books and exercise tapes . I make myself do one most days and I did clean an area where I keep my yoga pants and tops which are now my day wear. I am also glad we isolated early .

[pacruise804]

On 3/22/2020 at 10:57 AM, Anita Latte said:

Excellent news!!! Important to stay away now while recovering. Hope Les can shake the bronchitis quickly. Glad you have so much family around to help.

 

Sally...how are you? Been thinking about you and your lung related illness recently...hoping you stay well and getting better.

 

Today will be one week with DS home from London and we are all still symptom free and praying that we continue to be so.

 

pacruise...your DD is back home now? Not sure I understood what you meant by who wasn’t leaving the dorms?

 

I got home with DD yesterday.  Initially the university went to on-line classes and students could go home if they wished but would also leave the residence halls and food services open for those who had far to travel or students with obligations on/near campus.  Last week they made the decision to send everyone home by the 29th unless it was an extreme hardship (international students) and is sounded like the few students remaining would be housed in one dorm (maybe 2 since they don't do co-ed/maybe separate by floor).  I traveled Saturday to my in-laws to avoid hotels, got her Sunday and spent the night at grandparents again, then home yesterday.

 

I posted in another thread that roads were nearly empty of passenger vehicles and we saw good social distancing practices.

 

I'm glad to read you are all symptom free still.  DD had a friend doing study abroad in London and she returned just before the shut down as well (and symptom free).

[Anita Latte]

pacruise...I bet you are glad to have DD home in the midst of all this crazy. Did you move DD out? or does she still have stuff in her dorm? DS still has just about everything in his room in his hall. I have no idea how that is going to play out...he literally got onto a plane with his backpack with his laptop and necessary school related items. Fortunately, his Florida wardrobe is completely unsuited for London, so he has a second wardrobe here...and all essentials are duplicated because of the whole power plug difference. Our plan has always been for him to be able to travel light between London and here...but now I must admit that this situation is causing me a bit of anxiety as I have this feeling of unfinished business...something that may need to be dealt with that we may not be able to deal with depending on how everything plays out.

 

Did I say this already? I forget who I tell what...I have moved my recumbent bike onto our covered patio. It lives outside now...and it has been really nice to have it outside. I get on it and work my knee. I haven't really been trying to work it for cardio...just moving my knee around and get a bit of blood flow going.

 

And I've been doing some exercises that we have learned from the MAT therapy DH was doing.

 

Mom gifted me with a bistro set for our patio too...in honor of my birthday...it has been so nice to have. DS is in the third bedroom (his "cave"), DH has been using the desk that I had moved out to the living room after the holidays (so glad I did), and I have been outside at the bistro set! We eaten outside several times too...I've been cooking up a storm. So. Much. Cooking.

 

Everything feels so mellow. There's no other place to be...no worries about packing DH a lunch...no wondering if I should go to the store. I stocked up on a HUGE amount of food...and I haven't been back to the store since last weekend. It's all been something of a fun exercise to be thinking about the inventory in the kitchen and how to stretch it out and use it all before spoilage and expiration/use by/sell by dates. I usually don't do much in the way of processed food...so I had a LOT of produce...OMG...I ended up doing 3 rather large shopping trips...the first in Walmart when I started to see certain shelf items get low...then Publix when it was becoming clear that people were likely going to be homebound...and then AGAIN right before DS came home when I realized that there would be 3 of us and that self isolation with our newly arrived Londoner was going to be a definite and not just some sort of maybe.

 

It's actually been kind of fun.