I woke up at 4:00 am with a splitting headache and then couldn’t fall back to sleep. So I am feeling a bit fretful and complainy this morning.
I don’t want Carla to get Covid. I have been doing my very best at isolating, but it is slightly tricky with my husband being back at work and me, you know, having to feed and care for my child. I wear a mask any time I venture out of my bedroom. I spend as little time in the “main house” as possible. Carla cries at bedtime because I can’t hug and kiss her goodnight. We have a little stash of rapid tests and have been making good use of them, and Carla and I went to the pharmacy the other day to get PCR tests. (That was nerve-wracking – we both wore masks AND I kept all the car windows wide open the whole time.) (My husband calmly reminds me that we were all just in a car/hotel room together, windows closed and maskless, for fifteen days.) Carla’s PCR test was negative, mine was not. I don’t know how I could manage to be the only one to get Covid, but if that’s how it works out, I will be very glad. Carla did just get her booster before we left, so I’m hoping she was at Peak Immunity when she was exposed to me and my germs.
Here’s what I want to know about isolating in a home you share with others. How does it WORK? My bedroom is not magically on some alternate air circulation system. Every time I open the door, surely germs are escaping into the rest of the house. My mask isn’t trapping 100% of all the little Covid particles. HOW can we avoid getting Carla sick? It seems impossible. And yet, some people manage? I think?
The next two bullets are Deeply Boring and yet I cannot bring myself to delete them.
I have been trying to do a little work from my bedroom. This means phone calls, my least favorite task of all. Do you recall the bank that charges us an annual “inactive” fee for an account whose sole purpose is sit there as collateral until we pay off a loan? (All the mind-numbing details are here.) After three years of arguing with people who cannot grasp simple concepts who work there, we sailed through 2020 AND 2021 without a late fee, and I was so delighted! They’d finally made a note on my account that there was no reason for me to make a deposit in an account that I cannot access, and had stopped charging me! You can sense what’s coming next, right? My husband alerted me this past May that we had now been charged a total of $12.00 in inactive fees. (Which means they DID charge us in 2021; we just didn’t notice.) Perhaps the bank had waived the fee in 2020 because of The State of Things. And apparently we simply did not notice when we began to lose $2.00 a month from the account. Whoops. As I have mentioned a billion times, normally I HATE making phone calls. But this one particular issue makes me practically giddy with wanting to tell someone how ASININE and RIDICULOUS it is. I was Let Me Talk to a Manager level irritated, after FIVE YEARS (minus the 2020 exception) of this nonsense. So back in May I called the bank and gave the lucky person who answered my spiel about how we should not be charged an inactive fee because the purpose of the account is to remain inactive. Unlike all the other brainless fools everyone else I’ve spoken to at the bank, she IMMEDIATELY understood that it was ridiculous to expect me to add even a single dollar to an account that I cannot touch. Not just ridiculous, but virtually impossible, considering that I don’t have checks or a debit card for that account, nor do I have digital access to the account, nor do I live within a 20 minutes’ drive of the bank. The account is under the control of the bank until we pay off the loan. The woman I spoke to Got It. Like, without my having to do anything but sketch out the basic issue, she said incredulously, “Well that’s ridiculous. Of course you wouldn’t want to add funds to an account you can’t touch! There’s no reason you should be paying an inactive fee on an account that’s meant to be inactive!” It took the bluster out of my Let Me Talk to a Manager sails, but it was SO mollifying to be understood. She said that she would talk with the bank supervisor and get the charge reversed AND she would have them make a note on our file. I was very pleased with the interaction. (Usually, the person I speak to says that ALL we have to do is deposit something in the account! It can be as little as a dollar! Once a year! And there are branches in X and Y and Z cities! Which, yes, I get that this sounds like a small amount of time and money and a very minimal hassle, but THE PRINCIPLE.) You know, perhaps, where this is heading. We came home to another statement which, alongside the credit of the $12, included a debit of $2 for a new inactive fee. ENDLESS SCREAMING.
Yes, I have a second bullet point about the banking thing. This morning, I called the bank and asked specifically to speak to the person I’d spoken to in May. Her name was similar to a fairly common name, but one syllable was different – like “Carlotte” instead of “Charlotte” or “Car-ree” instead of “Carrie” or “Samintha” instead of “Samantha.” I love her with my whole heart. She made things happen AND fully grasped why this situation is so stupid/frustrating. The person I spoke to put me on hold and then said that Samintha was not available but he would connect me to customer service. Sad, but okay. Customer Service means, as I discovered, the customer service line for the entire national banking system, when really I wanted to talk to someone (Samintha, sob!) in my local branch. Oh well. The customer service agent was very nice. His name was Tryin’ with a B. I explained to him that this is an annual problem, and gave him the quick and dirty details, and then he explained to me what was happening. “Oh, I think what the issue is, is that you have a LOAN, and this is a CHECKING ACCOUNT (it’s not, actually – it’s a money market account that we cannot access), and since you haven’t made any deposits or withdrawals, they are charging you an inactive fee.” Yes, thank you for repeating the exact same thing I just told you. And, nice as Tryin’ was, he couldn’t DO anything about it because the only person who can DO anything about it is the manager of my local branch. Tryin’ promised me he would call me back but I’m not holding my breath. I think I will see if I can get a hold of Samintha tomorrow.
I get canker sores about once a month and they are GOING WILD right now. I think this is a hormonal thing, but maybe it is a Covid thing? Who knows. Seems like EVERYTHING could be a Covid thing. And yes, canker sores are different from cold sores. They are basically little ulcers that occur inside the mouth, usually on the cheeks or under the tongue. Sometimes I get them on my gums, too. They are AWFUL. I have a massive one under my tongue and one on the very back part of my tongue right where my tongue brushes up against my bottom molars.
The news is so enduringly turbulent. I just typed and erased a 634 word diatribe about one of the various Hot Button Issues that is driving me mad/making me worry that I have made a terrible mistake bringing a child into this fraught world. But I don’t like to write about Hot Button Issues on this blog, so I deleted it. (If I want to torment myself gnash my teeth and rend my garments over The State of Things catch up on world events, I will look at the news or go on Twitter.) Not that I have anything new or groundbreaking or interesting to say anyway; just vents/frets/threats of walking into the sea. There are SO MANY things going on and I have Feelings about many of them and yet I feel like it is utterly pointless to talk about them. The people I might discuss them with either disagree with me strenuously, which means voicing my own thoughts would lead to the type of confrontational encounter I HATE, and not to mention there’s no way I can convince anyone to feel differently from how they do; I don’t know enough of the background and facts, nor am I well-spoken enough to craft a convincing argument… or they already agree with me, and discussing things will just drive us each deeper into the pits of despair/rage we are already existing in.
I have eaten the last of the Reese’s peanut butter eggs.
My father (a physician for 40+ years) (I don’t know why I feel like I have to make sure you know he’s qualified to give advice) suggested that I make sure Carla is getting enough calcium. This is an ongoing concern, but one I haven’t properly fretted about recently, so I’m in Full Fret Mode right now. Apparently, she needs 1,300 mg of calcium per day – or four servings. She doesn’t get enough calcium. She refuses to drink milk – yes, even chocolate milk. She eats a bunch of cheese, and there is 200 mg of calcium per ounce of block cheddar or per 1/4 cup of shredded cheddar, so that helps, but it’s not enough. She only eats yogurt occasionally. She doesn’t even really like ice cream (and has never liked milkshakes) (she IS related to both me and my ice cream loving husband, I assure you). She eats cream cheese – it’s one of her non-pork camp foods this summer – but, despite having both “cream” and “cheese” right there in the name, there is only 26 mg of calcium per two tablespoons of cream cheese. (And NONE in the whipped cream cheese!) My mom and I walked through a whole list of foods that contain calcium and of that list Carla eats two things with moderate consistency: chickpeas and cheese. And sometimes yogurt. Very rarely, almonds. My mom was being really creative, too. What about calcium fortified orange juice? What about almond milk and almond butter? Carla does not drink juice and she will not touch almond milk with a ten-foot pole. I have no idea if I could get her to eat almond butter but my confidence level is low. Some people have suggested Ensure, but my guess is that if she refuses milk/juice/milkshakes, she will refuse Ensure as well. My current plan is try to coax her into drinking a smoothie every day. I can pack it with yogurt, almond milk, AND calcium fortified orange juice. She likes smoothies. We used to drink a mango smoothie together every week on the drive to ballet practice. But I am not sure if I can get her drink one every single day. My father thinks we should start giving her Tums. (We cannot do the Viactiv chocolate calcium chews.) Probably we will have to use a multi-pronged approach, with smoothies on one prong and roasted chickpeas and plenty of cheese on another prong and Tums on another prong. If you have any magical calcium ideas, I will prong them right up.
Our refrigerator is unplugged and empty right now. This is something we’ve been planning to do, for awhile, and it’s not like I’m making big elaborate dinners at the moment, so it seems like a good time. We bought the fridge in 2011. It has some real advantages, like that it is beautiful and also it holds a TON of food. But it’s been plagued with issues almost from the beginning. To name a few: the door closing mechanism fails on a regular basis (I have learned how to source the replacement part and repair it myself), the ice maker broke and had to be repaired, the water dispenser pressure dropped off precipitously for no discernible (or fixable) reason, the bottom of the fridge fills with water that then turns to ice, the ice maker and dispenser chute are often coated with a slick black mold, the electronic panel frequently disconnects from the temperature readout and makes an incessant tinkling noise. ET CETERA. The most recent repairman I had in the house informed me that the ice problem was A Known Issue with this brand of fridge (GE/Samsung) and that it is unfixable. (He also said that if he’d known in advance this was the fridge we had, he wouldn’t have come out because he knows it is unfixable and wouldn’t want me to have to pay the service fee his company charges for sending someone to our house; he declined to charge me the service fee.) He suggested that best thing we can do is unplug it for three days, wait for the internal mechanisms to thaw, and then plug it back in and hope it works for about six months before we have to do it again. So that is what we are doing: we are thawing out the fridge in hopes that it will magically reset. We are lucky enough to have a second (though much smaller) fridge in the basement, so I have relocated the foods we cannot live without/cannot bear to toss. It is a jumbled mess down there, but at least it functions. However, now I have to run downstairs for every little thing and it’s a pain. (My husband keeps asking me, “Are you breathing heavily because you just went down two flights of stairs to the basement to get a plum and then walked back up two flights of stairs to the bedroom or because you have Covid?”) My father thinks, in a non-pressurey way, that we should just replace the damn fridge already. But I am one of those people who wants a key appliance to LOOK a certain way, and I have grown accustomed to how spacious it is. And have you SEEN how expensive refrigerators are?!?! I am not in the mood to spend one-, two- or three-THOUSAND dollars when a refrigerator should be a ONE-TIME purchase. Of course maybe we will plug the fridge back in and it will refuse to work and we will have to buy one anyway. Fun times!
Speaking of fun times, summer feels like its coming to a close. I feel like there was so much anticipation about the summer, and our Road Trip!, and now the Road Trip! is over and Carla only has two weeks left of camp and then school will start before we know it and then it’s practically Thanksgiving, which might as well be Christmas and then a WHOLE YEAR will have passed.
A final Covid fret (for today, at least): My husband and Carla are following all the Covid protocols set forth by the CDC, my husband’s workplace, and Carla’s camp… but I am still fretting. I am being Very Strident about Carla wearing her mask, and her camp is mainly outdoors, and they only admitted children who were fully vaccinated, but ACK. I am fretting that Carla (despite having no symptoms and still testing negative on a rapid test) will somehow spread this stupid disease to others. (Also, I am very grateful for my little stockpile of rapid tests.) I hate being contagious. It is STUPID and I HATE IT. Well. As of tomorrow, according to the CDC, I am okay to leave isolation and rejoin the public, as long as I wear a mask. I haven’t taken a rapid test since the one that read positive, so I don’t know that I am negative yet, and that seems Kind Of Important, even though no one else (CDC, I am glaring in your direction) seems to agree. Anyway: I don’t have anywhere I plan to go, but the reasons that I COULD are positive: I have no fever (I don’t think I ever did) and my symptoms are improving. Except for the crankiness. That has, if anything, increased.
What are you fretting about? What’s making you cranky? Any complaints to share?
For the canker sores, which I used to get on the regular, I have a couple of suggestions. Try these https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TYW877C?ref=nb_sb_ss_w_as-reorder-t1_ypp_rep_k2_1_11&&crid=ZUWAWEBZ1TJT&&sprefix=xylitol+loz
If the link doesn’t work, look up OraCoat XyliMelts. They are basically xylitol lozenges, and if I have a sore spot in my mouth they clear it up. They reduce the acid in your saliva, which helps, and also kill bacteria.
You could also try lysine supplements, according to Google. I used to use Pantothenic Acid as well and that helped shorten the duration. They are miserable, canker sores.
I will have to check these out! I have tried a mouth “gel” that creates a film over the canker sore (and tastes awful) and I have tried special mouthwash, but haven’t tried these options. Thank you for the ideas!
As I understand it, the thing about a virus spread through the air is that the little particles don’t stay aloft forever, or even for very long: they fall. So even if every time you open your door some little airborne viruses sneak out with you, they descend to the floor before getting to, say, the other side of your house.
Also, and this may be out of date because things keep mutating, but it at least USED to be the case that a person had to inhale a FAIR NUMBER of those little airborne particles in order to contract the virus themselves: it wouldn’t happen if they inhaled, like, one particle. So again, even if a few escape with you when you open the door, and even if they somehow got all the way to another part of the house, and even if they were all somehow inhaled by Carla, it wouldn’t be enough to make her sick.
So that’s why isolation works: even if you occasionally come out of your room wearing a mask, it’s just way, way, way, way fewer particles in Carla’s air than if you were in the same room with her, unmasked and breathing normally.
And, like, think of all the medical professionals who are working in close proximity with actively infected/contagious Covid patients, but EVEN SO their masks protect them!
Also, in case the timeline is helpful/applicable: I was in the car with Paul when he was positive. We were in the car together all weekend; he felt fine Friday/Saturday, felt sick on Sunday and got a positive rapid test that day. My tests were negative Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. On Thursday I took a PCR test and it was positive.
THIS IS VERY HELPFUL. Thank you! I feel considerably better about the whole thing after reading this.
That bank thing . . . yes- the principle of the thing. I am cranky about the DMV. I’ve been here with my elderly parents for hours DESPITE the appointment times that took much effort to obtain. I have no idea how to isolate AND care for a youngster. I know I wanted to make another remark but the DMV has temporarily caused me to lose my mind.
I found this Twitter thread so helpful when we thought we might have to isolate someone in our household:
https://twitter.com/joeyfox85/status/1508527893567131652
Very clear, simple directions, at least for those lucky enough to have multiple spaces in their homes…
Oooh this was such a great resource, Elizabeth! Thank you!
The Clean Air Crew has more on this, plus loads of other helpful advice.
https://cleanaircrew.org/someone-in-my-home-has-covid-how-do-we-isolate-safely/
I had COVID last month and did not spread it to anyone in my family, despite living in a small house and breathing all over my children on the day before my positive test. The isolation/masking precautions do seem to work reasonably well. Good luck and feel better soon!
Tahini is a great source of calcium (426 mg/100g). If you make or buy hummus, it’s easy to stir in some extra tahini while keeping the flavor profile approximately the same. You might also think about treats like chocolate-peanut butter powerballs, but substitute tahini for PB. There are versions that are more earthy-crunchy (chia-flax-maple syrup) and versions that are more like straight-up candy (buckeyes), but something in that family might appeal to Carla.
!!! Tahini! Okay, I will look into the power ball idea – thank you!
Here’s my Covid isolating story: I got it in May when my husband was in Australia for work and I was the only parent available for my three kids. I masked indoors and did my best to make them mask too. My youngest was also DISTRAUGHT at the lack of goodnight hugs and kisses and I would hold my breath and hug him. I drove them places with masks on and windows down. It wasn’t perfect but also it wasn’t a quarantine because life. None of them got Covid. In comparison, the kids DID get Covid on our “vacation” to Alaska and when we got home my husband decided to take his chances and took no precautions at home. He got Covid. My takeaway was that it is possible to avoid transmission, but also that it can’t be perfect in real life and you cannot control it 100%. Do your best and try to be at peace with that.
<3
Our latest Covid patient was my 19 year old who had been sharing a car/hotel room with 3 other people (including my immuno-suppressed husband) for 48 hours before she had undeniable symptoms and a nearly instantly positive rapid test. I picked her up from the hotel and she and I shared a car with windows open and wearing N95 masks on and then she went straight to her bedroom where she stayed for the next 8 days. She wore her mask if she left her room, but took it off when she brushed her teeth or showered in the bathroom that we all use. No one else got Covid from her, not even the other people she was sharing a room with! It is hard to predict who is going to get it and how.
I just basically wanted to send a hug for all the annoyances and frets, which are well-founded, IMO. I also love all the good covid resources shared here in the comments!
I confess to being much more lax these days because I have nobody to worry about infecting (I assume cats can’t catch covid). I’m so happy that your isolation period is almost up! <3
I have been to the dentist TWICE because I thought canker sores were a gum infection. I have Sensitive Snowflake gums and see a periodontist regularly (next Friday, yo), so when something happens to them, I freak out. Anyway, my dentist now asks “are you sure it’s not a canker sore” and, no, I’m never sure. So I don’t have an answer, but you’re not alone. Maybe it is related to COVID, though.
I do not have an answer for you on Carla’s calcium problem because I have a similar issue with my husband and protein. We are vegetarians (for environmental and ethical reasons), my husband has a million allergies/intolerances, and when we did the math on it, it turns out he’s feeling tired and rundown because he’s not getting anywhere enough protein. It’s exhausting to figure out food.
Oh, man…I’m sorry to hear you got a souvenir that isn’t most unwelcome. I’m glad to hear that it seemed to be fairly mild and no one else in the house came down with it.
I think you’re doing the best you can to try not to share the virus with Carla and your husband. My son caught it a week after going to the college dorms in January, and since home is close enough, he had to come home (so the school can provide the limited resources to ones who are from far away). He stayed mostly in his room or in the office we designated as my office where he did his school work (I moved to another space for my office). We opened windows downstairs where the office is, and whenever I went in to his office to give him something to eat/drink, I held my breath. I asked him to wear his mask if he ever came out to the kitchen, even if it’s just to pour himself some juice. No one else caught it. So I do believe your precautions are good enough.
I’m irritated for you about that bank issue. Arghh!! I hope you get hold of Samintha soon.
I always feel very “back in my day” about appliances lately. They just don’t LAST. And they aren’t repairable! I hate it.
We kept Elizabeth in isolation when she had covid until she was testing negative and it took nine days! Nine! And she was the least sick of anything we’ve had this year. She had a runny nose for a day. And had to spend nine days in her room for that day of runny nose. No wonder this is spreading like wildfire, I bet most people wouldn’t have even tested when we did and people are ignoring all the best practices and etc. Anyway, my point is thank you for caring about this and not being a jerk. You are doing a good job.
The BANK THING zOMG.
I’m cranky about summer being nearly over, too, and time going so fast in general lately. It needs to stop that. How am I supposed to “smell the roses” and enjoy life when it goes by in such a blur?!
Ugh the refrigerator woes are bringing me back to spring of 2020 when our fridge temp started to increase. We hired an appliance repair company but they were waiting for info from the manufacturer and we got caught in the middle of the endless finger pointing between the repair company and the manufacturer, and we kept having to put our food in a cooler/refreshing the ice/etc. And it was the worst. They determined they couldn’t fix the issue so we bought a new fridge. This was before the crazy supply chain issues set in so it was not bad, although we were restricted to buying what would fit in the space so ended up getting the exact same fridge we had but a newer model. So I would say replace the fridge before you have to go through the defrosting process again! It is such a pain to not have a reliable fridge. Granted, we do not have a 2nd fridge so we were screwed when our stopped working and it was just awful.
As far as quarantining goes, I double masked for about 4 days around my boys. The 18mo didn’t test positive until 10 days later so I think he got it at school. And then the 4yo tested positive 10 days after him so I think he must have got it at school too (in our state, close contacts can continue to go to school as long as they are symptom free). And both boys were BARELY SICK. Like almost unnoticeable. The 4yo had the slightest case of the sniffles, the toddler had a low grade fever for half of a day. That was it. They were soooo fine. They’ve had colds that were significantly worse than having covid. So if by chance Carla gets it, try not to feel guilty. I slept in a different room for 4 nights, too. But I could not fully isolate from my kids since they are so young. And they were around me up until I tested positive so had likely already been exposed. Covid is so weird!
I can so relate to the pickiness thing. Luckily our 4yo loves milk. The toddler is not picky but doesn’t seem to like milk although allegedly he drinks it at school. But if I had to pick from the list of high calcium foods Paul will eat, I’d come up with a very short list. he doesn’t even like cheese or ice cream! he will eat yogurt. But spinach? heck no. Honestly I probably didn’t have enough calcium as a kid either. I barely drank milk – it was a battle to get me to finish the glass we’d get with meals. I am glad to never have to drink a glass of milk again. I only drink milk if I have a cookie to dip into it!
A potential prong for the Calcium War, would she like dry cereal as a nibble/snack? (I’m assuming the dislike of milk extends to pouring it over a bowl of cereal also) I used to bring a baggie of dry cheerios to school with me every day to graze on. I know there are a lot of calcium-fortified options out there.
It’s entirely possible to share a home and not transmit the virus. Our friends tested positive. The masked in the house and ate all their meals outside – not one of their kids ever got it. And don’t get me started on the CDC and their mixed messaging. Particularly, the “you don’t need a negative test” to get out of isolation. That is the most inane ridiculousness – particularly when you already have a LARGE swath of the population that won’t even follow the most basic rules to begin with.
The bank and the fridge – OMG, just one would be enough to send me right over the edge – but both at the same time?! It physically pains me to know that any appliance we buy these days are all manufactured with planned obsolescence in mind.
Sending you a bunch of hugs; I think it’s something we all need right about now.
SUZANNE I feel you on the appliance thing. My big freezer died. Just died. Like, I got home from the lake and my husband said “you need to look at the freezer, it won’t stop beeping and the temperature keeps rising.” It just DIED. Luckily we have a tiny beer-fridge-size freezer and two fridge freezers, and I was able to save most of the things. Not all, but most. HOWEVER, it’s really really really inconvenient and now it’s completely dead and now I have to get a new freezer. When we only plan on living in this house for another year and I DID NOT WANT TO SPEND MONEY ON IT. But, well, we need one. Sigh.
The bank thing burns me up AGAIN!
Re: calcium. My suggestion would be to try those smoothies, but maybe try cashew or macadamia nut milk. They are creamier and way better tasting than almond milk, in my opinion. If she eats chickpeas roasted, that’s awesome too. What about hummus? Or tahini treat balls, which I think someone else suggested. I made “cookie dough balls” out of chickpeas, and they were pretty good. If you want the recipe it’s here: https://www.yummymummyclub.ca/blogs/nicole-macpherson-meatless-mummy-con-carne/20160307/chickpea-cookie-dough-drops-recipe but you could sub peanut or almond butter for the tahini if the tahini is too bitter of a taste, and maybe add an extra tbsp of maple syrup.
Tip: Put window fan in the room where the positive person resides- exhausting OUT. It creates negative pressure and helps prevent any airborne particles from escaping that room.
My 4yo caught COVID back in April and gave it to me before she had the slightest symptom (wouldn’t have even thought to test her if we weren’t alerted to the close contact by her school). Somehow I was the only lucky one to catch it, so she and I spent 10 days either in her bedroom or outside while my husband tried to work from home and care for the 2yo, neither of whom ever caught it. We didn’t wear masks unless we were right next to a negative family member- didn’t wear masks in our shared bathroom, nor if we were at the kitchen table (we staggered meals with the healthy folk). The kids were a bit freaked out that we caught this thing that everyone had been talking about for 2 years, so we tried to keep it as cautiously chill as we could. Still kind of a amazed half the family didn’t catch it since I’d put our diligence at about a 6 on a 1-10 scale. And my daughter’s only symptom- a high fever for about 8 hours and then completely back to normal, yet she continued to test positive for 10 days! Weirdo virus.
Your writing – even about complaints, frets and small annoyances, is pure joy to read.
We just had a banking issue a few months ago that was SO stressful and SO annoying and it took countless calls and trips to the bank. We got different answers from every person we talked to. Argh. All was fine in the end, but the principle of how long it took to get sorted out rankled us to the point we considered switching our bank entirely.
I’m sorry so many things are hard and crummy and making your fret, my sweet internet friend. Show yourself lots of grace and get better soon <3
Sorry about this miserable time you’re having! Those frets are real. It will pass, I promise (or at least be different!). ^_-
So strange about the CDC guidelines! Wot? In Ireland (not a shining example at all at all at all) you can rejoin society 48 hours after a negative antigen test AND 7 days of isolation. Again, we’re only mediocre at covid!
I do know several families in which some people got it and others not, so fingers crossed. But don’t be too hard on yourself if Carla does get it.
My teenager and I take calcium and vitamin D gummies. I take them because I’m post-menopause and need the extra calcium. The teenager is nearly vegan and doesn’t eat much in the way of dairy. Point being, a kid’s version of the gummies could help!
ACK, I’m so sorry you have Covid! Friends here just traveled to PEI and also brought it home (not all of them also). When my husband brought me German covid our daughter never got it, but I was equally distraught at the possibility and we both hated the no hugging (even though she’s 19).
The banking details were NOT boring but I am incandescent with rage on your behalf – why is everything like this a bloody Kafka nightmare? I wouldn’t let it go on principal either.
We have what sounds like the same fridge, and on the whole it’s been splendid, but we have the same ice problem. Funnily enough, the first time the ice maker went it was a tornado knocking out our power for three days that fixed it. It’s gone again though and we’ve just decided to live with it (although my ice-loving heart that felt like a fridge with an ice maker was a Magical Princess thing to have will always be sad about it).
My daughter is lactose intolerant and was drinking almond milk but presently is not even really doing that and I am now remembering that I should worry about her getting enough calcium. Frig.
Your blog not updating in my stupid blogroll and my failing memory at least now mean that I can go backwards and reading about your road trip before the crappy aftermath.
Ooh, came back to say one thing we did when I was trying to make sure my kids got their calcium, was frozen Go-Gurt (yogurt) tubes — so like yogurt ice-pops.
I’m so sorry you are going through all of this, especially the fretting and crankiness. So many of our family members had it a few weeks ago, most from traveling. Although, I have a good friend with three young kids, and all three have covid. They have no idea how that happened, but they are getting through it.
I used to get canker sores all the time, so I think it’s hormonal too.
Praying things look up for you all!
I have heard SO many stories about people who live in the same household and one person gets Covid while everyone else is negative. It even happened to my friend’s parents while they were on a cruise! In a small room! He tested positive a few days in but she never did. Isn’t that crazy?! Covid is such a weird virus.
I know I am very late in commenting but I wish I had stayed home until I tested negative, even though the CDC said I was fine to be in public masked after 5 days. I think it was day 9 when I went somewhere with my mom and that’s when I think I gave it to her. UGH. It makes me mad that I wasn’t smarter about it. 🙁
It is so hard to know what’s right. The guidelines are so… confusing.
Honestly, I don’t even trust the CDC recommendations anymore at this point… it’s like they’ve given up or something.
I feel you on this particular issue: “The people I might discuss them with either disagree with me strenuously, which means voicing my own thoughts would lead to the type of confrontational encounter I HATE, and not to mention there’s no way I can convince anyone to feel differently from how they do; I don’t know enough of the background and facts, nor am I well-spoken enough to craft a convincing argument… or they already agree with me, and discussing things will just drive us each deeper into the pits of despair/rage we are already existing in.” I have so many thoughts and don’t know if there is a point to share them with anyone at this point .