2020's Got Us All Feeling Like This Momma Alpaca...

 

It has occurred to me that I never did post any pictures of my time away.   

It was lovely. I am convinced that the best time to visit Martha's Vineyard is off season, be it early Spring or late Fall.  While it was a bit sad to see that many shops had not just closed up for season, but for good, there was still plenty open and beautiful sights to see.

We took a car this time.  Being off season it's a piece of cake to get around the tiny streets.  In the summer, it's bike or bus hands down, which can make it tougher to get to the outer parts of the island. We finally made it out to Aquinnah and Gay Head Lighthouse.  The view was breathtaking...

The cliffs are a result of erosion.  Years ago you could hike the edges but not now.  It's far too dangerous and efforts are being strongly enforced to slow the slide into the ocean.  There's a specific kind of calmness to the island off season that just doesn't happen mid summer.  

Because of COVID we had to wait a half hour or so for our table at the Black Dog Tavern for lunch, but the view, and the meal, never disappoint me...

While it was a bit disappointing that many things are restricted because of COVID, the island's response and diligence to preventative measures is extremely reassuring.  Upon entering every shop and restaurant you MUST sanitize your hands, even at the spa I was required to wear a mask for my massage.  I was only permitted to put it down when I was lying face down on the table so I could breathe. Youngest also did not have to wear one while in the pool swimming. Course, he was the only one in the pool at 8pm.  The Hubs found me this great pillow for the couch in one of the shops.  I love it. It says "No Worries" on the other side, but this side is a great reminder for us all, particularly in 2020.

Our most favorite place on the island is Island Alpaca.  If you've never felt alpaca fur you are seriously missing out.  Some of the fur is so fine and soft it's as if you're not touching anything at all. My Mom ordered me some soft deer skin, alpaca lined slippers from the gift shop for my birthday.  They may be my favorite thing ever.  I splurged on some crazy yarn for a scarf. 

The weekend was nice, calm, and relaxing.  Youngest only told me I was "wasting his day" once, at 830 am Sunday morning.  Apparently, he'd been up since 6 am and was bored.  Had I known I'd have met him on the roof for breakfast.  Oldest and I had gone up the night before and checked out the "city" lights below. 

This in the town side.  Once it's dark the ocean side is pretty boring.  But I assure you, there is no better place to see a sunrise or sunset than the roof of our Inn. We ended up coming home on an earlier ferry.  Hubs was still having difficulty breathing which made hiking completely out of the question, and the boys were running out of money and things to do. But for a brief 12 hours or so it was nice to only have to worry about myself.  The boys went antiquing and had a really good time together, which they desperately needed.  The months have not been kind to their relationship, and they really needed this time to spend together to heal some of the damage.  It also helped that their room was HUGE, convenient to the gym and pool, and included a front porch with rocking chairs to take in the island sights. They were also fans of the fuzzy bathrobes.

Coming home was less than awesome as real life is messy, loaded with laundry, and grocery shopping. I went back to work, Hubs went back to work on Thursday and is still muddling through.  Some days are good, others he needs to take breaks to breathe.  

Bonus son isn't feeling great lately.  We are checking on him daily to make sure he doesn't fall off the Earth.  He lives alone, and it's not unusual for us to not hear from him for weeks on end, so if he gets really sick it's unlikely we'd know. 

Oldest got his mid term grades, 4 As, 1 B, one C.  The C is because he missed a quiz.  Hopefully he'll be able to pull up the grade with some strong labs and test grades.  Chemistry is his only "in person" class, so it's plausible he'll make the Dean's list again. No pressure on him though, remote learning is hell for everyone engulfed in it, and sadly it's looking like Spring semester will be more of the same.

Youngest tried a Jujitsu class Saturday.  He loved it, and came home with a black eye.  Unfortunately he can't do the classes because his schedule at UPS is working nights. He asked me today to help him with a resume, and we found a job online as an entry level metal fabricator, and sent his new resume in.  Funny, when he was a Freshman he wanted to do the metal fabrication vocational program, but when the new school opened they discontinued it and he was forced into plumbing. He loved it though and was generally good at it.  We've had many conversations about now being the time to learn a trade that can carry him through.  Hopefully it's sticking with him.  Fingers crossed. he's also 20 minutes from being done with the driver retraining he has to do, and his car finally has plates and insurance. It's a slow and steady pace, 2 steps forward and one step back, but it's movement nonetheless.

As for me, I'm looking forward.  I did some emergency shopping today in case the world goes crazy again next Tuesday. COVID cases are popping up all around us.  Coworkers, family, friends of friends. I may save my scarf project for when I'm inevitably quarantined. Christmas is only 8 weeks away, and with Oldest's birthday is in 2 weeks, I've started looking for the best deals.  I picked this up for my niece today...

 Because who doesn't want a giant unicorn for Christmas?

I know I could use one.

Rumor is they fart rainbows. 

Maybe there will be a pot of gold at the end of 2020, 

instead of what is usually at the end of a fart.

Welcome To Hell, I Seem To Have Forgotten My Handbasket....

If I have 2 apples and the husband has 7 apples, I have the least amount of apples.  But that doesn't mean I don't have apples, it just means I have less apples. Someone really need to explain this to the president.  Saying he's the least racist person in the room, is admitting he's a racist. How no one on his team has explain this to him is amazing to me.

We voted already.  And when I say we, I mean myself, Oldest and Youngest.  We took a Sunday morning, looked up every platform of each candidate running, and made educated decisions based off our ideals.  Some were were aligned with, some we were not, but we voted. I promptly gave our ballots to the city carrier at work who delivers to the town hall so I know it was received the very next day.

The husband proclaimed he will be going in full hazmat suit on election day if need be, or he will come to his senses and early vote tomorrow at the town hall.  My money's on the latter.  He's not a fan of people lately.  He is however, feeling MUCH better.  It took 3 weeks to get the inflammation down around his heart and lungs, but he is definitively on the mend.

This whole election thing has gotten out of control, and we're not in a swing state.  We literally have lines of supporters of both parties on opposite sides of the streets downtown.  Today while I was trying to get out of a side road to deliver to my next box 15 feet away, an organized car parade was going by.  

They saw me. 

They could have easily let me go.  

They did not.

Thirty cars later someone let me out, I got to the box, and then I sat for another 30 cars. Finally someone flashed their lights, which I thought was my sign to go.  

Nope.

Car after car they swerved into oncoming traffic to get around me, until it's clear they can't without risking death, and then for the next mile I am now part of the parade, in the Postal truck, lights flashing for delivery, until I get to the neighborhood I turn off into. The entire time people are beeping at the parade, swearing at them, flipping them the bird. It was hostile. Ugly. Nerve wracking.

Not the way to get votes.  

Not. The. Way. 

I'm praying for y'all in the swing states. 

Those of you who have to walk through the lines of political stumpers. 

I'm not good at confrontation.

And yet I think that's all we have now.

God help us all.

As If It Wasn't Stressful Enough...

 The husband checked himself into the hospital overnight on Monday.  He's been having issues breathing for months and when the fatigue finally hit him hard  he went to have it checked out.  They kept him overnight.  He was bored out of his mind. He tried to escape. They talked him out of it. I did manage to run him a book, which I had to leave at the reception area, because no one is allowed visitors right now. Now, while I understand the COVID restrictions, they really need to take the *husband* factor into things....

Him: "They asked me what medications I was on.  I said none because I couldn't remember any of them."

Me: "But you're on four..." 

Him: "So they think it was caused by an underlying infection."

Me: "Did you tell them you had MRSA?" 

Him: "No."

Me: "But MRSA can lay dormant, and would need a specific antibiotic"

Him: "Well, too late now." 

Seriously, I'm not so sure not allowing wives in to recant medical history and pertinent information to the medical team is the best idea.  Anyhoo...

He arrived home on Tuesday night after a barrage of tests. They scrubbed his brain through his nose for COVID, twice, and turned up negative. When it was all said and done, the lining around his heart and lungs is inflamed.  It's called Pericarditis.   Apparently it's most likely caused by a viral infection that has irritated the lining, and will usually resolve itself with high doses of ibuprofen, except of course, when it doesn't. And of course, it hasn't, so if by Monday he's still not great we'll be heading back to the doctor for the next level of treatment. Hopefully this time I'll be allowed in to sidebar.

Youngest has agreed to try an additional medication to help level him off.  He's still working toward a starter dose on the depression medication, and this new med will help offset the manic parts so he can better manage all that he's dealing with.  He's taken these meds both before and done well with them. Except he was 10 and I was managing them for him.  At 18, he's not so great at it. His allergies have been killing him and he's been running a low grade fever, so he's been taking Zyrtec. On Thursday, he took the next level up on his base med and his Zyrtec at 3pm since he forgot in the morning.  He went to work at 6, and at 10pm when he came home, he took the new med and some sleep CBD.  And then he decided to take his brother's melatonin without looking at the bottle. Apparently his brother takes a fast dissolve 10mg tablet.  Youngest has never taken more than 3mg. Needless to say, he slept like a brick encased in concrete. Then, eight hours later, he took his morning dose of his base med (this part is fine) and accidentally took his new med again (this is NOT fine.)  He was nauseous and later sick... really sick.  Well, duh... (insert face palm here)

So after a serious meltdown about how I'm trying to poison him, he flat out refused to take them.

  *sigh* Ya'll I just can't right now...

Tonight we had a talk, we're cutting them in half, and he's agreed to try them for 2 weeks. Fingers crossed we can get him through the early side effects, because this is ridiculous. 

Oldest has been my saving grace lately.  Helping out around the house, generally showing concern, laying low until his COVID tests came back negative. And while he's had his share of needing Mom's help (like when I had to get out of bed at 6am to fix a payroll issue for him) he's managed to reconfigure the printer for me, take care of his own dinners, and help me with some basics around the house. Don't worry though, he'll still occasionally call me in a tizzy about fixing a spelling error done with washable marker on a shirt he needs for a party... in 30 minutes. You know, just so I don't think I'm all done raising him yet. 

Meanwhile, the husband is home from work.  When I asked him what he had planned to do this weekend while I was at work, he mentioned helping his brother in law stack wood. Like, 27 cords of wood, for the winter.

I asked him if he had the ER doctor on speed dial. 

After a stern look, and an implied divorce if he even thought about it, he reconsidered.

Vacation can not come soon enough...

Bit Of This And That...

I wrapped up a bunch of finances that have been lingering for a bit and the money to do so all hit my account at the same time. Not gonna lie, I went a bit crazy.  I bought steak and toilet paper in the same trip.

2020.

It's make me reckless.

I also bought a mega pack of sharpie markers for work. 

Clearly, I am out of control.

Currently I'm just sitting here in my jammies, under two blankets because I'm too cheap to turn the heat on before Halloween, churning through a small mountain of laundry, while the dog sighs her why aren't we in bed yet?? sighs, and Hubs watches the soccer game on TV. 

Seriously, forty five has never looked so sexy, am I right?

I booked our weekend away and the travel to and from.  Fingers crossed it doesn't rain because it's non-refundable. The hotel has instituted a "2020 clause" in which I can change the dates free of charge, which puts the mind at ease a bit. Pictures will follow I promise, even if they are just of me in a chair with a book in my lap. I love that working Sundays has allowed me to pay for this get away in cash. I may continue to ride the Sunday OT wave while it lasts.

I've been researching front load washers in my spare time. 2020, what have you done to me???  I'm not happy with our current top load one.  I just don't feel like it gets our clothes clean.  Originally I bought it because it doesn't have the agitator in the middle so it could accommodate blankets and comforters. It seemed like a solid idea.  A bottom agitator that would allow for more room and just as much cleanliness.  Turns out, not so much. I'll likely tuck the old one in the garage and eventually donate it via our local buy nothing site or to Habitat.  I hate when a useable appliance goes to the scrapyard. For someone, a functioning, albeit crappy washer, is better than no washer at all.

The boys are in the city this weekend.  Oldest had to work at the college so he headed in early, and I drove Youngest in after his shift at UPS. While I'm a bit of a wreck about what possible trouble they are getting themselves into, I'm reminded that they can get into just as much trouble at home if they wanted to. And, not gonna lie, the peace and quiet is kind of nice.  The weekend has been beautiful here, the kind of weather I want to work outside in. The Hubs and I did some grocery shopping once I got home, and had ice cream for dinner. It's also kind of nice to not have to cook, or think about cooking, for the night. They'll have to lay low from their grandparents for the next two weeks as the contact points for potential COVID infection makes my head spin so it's better to be safe than sorry. Oldest will be tested again on Thursday though so that makes me feel a bit better.

Our state is just over the 1% positivity rate, which given our population and mass transit, is remarkably good.  But you still need to be careful.  I'm hoping the most recent, news worthy case (y'all know who I'm talking about) will result in a positive thing for the country. It could swing both ways really, either leadership FINALLY takes this seriously as a public health issue and encouraging and modeling mask wearing, or the whole thing falls to anarchy and chaos. I am really trying to stay blind to the politics.  I will vote, of course, but we are definitely at a crossroads in this country, and I'm not sure I want to be smack in the middle when it all shakes out. 

But, the political signs are really cracking me up. 

Like this Biden sign:

BYEDON 2020 

And then there's the Trump signs, that suspiciously never seem to include Pence, that say, "NO MORE BULLSHIT."

Which honestly, I just don't understand.  What exactly is the bullshit we're being spared of?  The political back and forth?  The last four years of non conformity? Or is it in hopes of sparing us more bullshit, by a reelection, as if to say the bullshit that has happened the last 4 years will change in the next four? I just don't think that one was well thought out.  

Then there's only one sign I can get behind, PEOPLE SUCK DOGS 2020. 

I'd support putting those signs all over the neighborhood.