Hi all. Sorry to have dropped off the face of the earth. I indeed did come down with COVID-19 shortly after husband Ray started exhibiting symptoms. I started a Zoom meeting I thought I felt well enough to attend with a 99-degree temperature and said goodbye 1 1/2 hours later at 101.5. Ray called physician-daughter Sarah who told us we needed to go immediately to Urgent Care so we could both start on Paxlovid. I was reluctant. “No, honey, I’m sick. I just want to go to bed,” Her response was, “Mom, with Paxlovid, you can be sick for four days. Without it, it might be four weeks.” Enough said. We got in the car and headed to Urgent Care.

I had different ailments than Ray. He had a terrible cough. I had a terrible sore throat and earache. True to Sarah’s word, after four days all of our symptoms subsided. I took two COVID tests two days apart that came up negative and decided I was well enough to head to Texas for a writing retreat I had helped plan over a year ago. We also had to meet with a roofer to seal the deal on our choice of materials for a new roof for our Victorian. So, off we went.

Let’s just say that waking up at 3 a.m. to make a 6:30 a.m. flight, staying up too late that day, and then getting up early to go to church with friends in Sherman, Texas was perhaps a bit too much for this girl. I arrived back home having trouble thinking clearly and also feeling super exhausted. This was exacerbated by the knowledge that I was facing a 5 1/2 hour drive the next day to get myself to the retreat center. Ray quickly ascertained that he didn’t feel okay with letting me head off by myself so he offered to go with me. I appreciated his willingness to do that. I was certain left to my own devices I might not be up for making the drive.

We made it and I had a great time at the two-day retreat as a participant with other Story Circle Network women. After it was over, I offered to drive back. “Nope,” Ray said. “You’re really pale. You need to rest.” He got us home safely and since then I have remained just a little under the weather. He is also limping a bit but is a few days ahead of me in this recovery process.

So, the moral of this story is get your vaccines (we were up-to-date) and stay away from crowds unless wearing a mask. We took a train ride without masking and we both think that might have been the place we were exposed. Also know that this “lighter” version of Covid is no walk in the park and that post-Covid fatigue and brain fog are real. I am still having to get more sleep than usual just to function half-way normally.

I hope to be back to my daily blogging routine as of today. I missed connecting with all of you and look forward to getting back to sharing my life, family, and stories. Take care of yourselves and stay well. Mask up if you need to. Believe me, you want to avoid this if you can.