The GLYSB returned on Monday, January 3 at 6:45am PST and Happy Dancing followed it’s departure!

Daughter, still not feeling 100%, had worked four out of the five previous nights, including Sunday night. I had gotten Ben ready for his first day back at school solo. He put up a bit of a fight, ran outside to climb to the deck roof… the usual Ben Shtuff, but I didn’t let it bother me. He was getting on that bus, come Hell or High Water!

Tuesday was a repeat of Monday with Daughter at work and me getting Ben ready on my own. He was a little better Tuesday morning. There was no running outside, probably because it was another 35°F (2°C) frosty morning, like Monday. Happy Dancing… etc… all good!

The afternoons were a bit rough. The barometer was up a bit and high pressure always makes Ben a little extra agitated. Daughter was exhausted from work and getting over being sick, and I was tired from trying to keep everything together and running in the right direction.

Daughter had a few nights off from work starting Tuesday night, and I swear I heard a Hallelujah Choir singing! I ran a few errands Monday and Tuesday, but mostly I rested. The high pressure made the sky clear and blue which was pretty after all the crappy weather, and the temperature even climbed up to 60°F (16°C)… downright toasty after weeks of numb fingers and toes.

I was excited that Daughter would be home Wednesday morning to get Ben ready and onto the GLYSB. I thought I might be able to stay in bed even. HA! Yeah, right! Ben and Dogzilla Bounced me at 5:30am. I told Ben it was still dark and I wasn’t going to the living room yet. No way! He heard the seriousness in my voice and got in bed with me.

Daughter got up a little after 6am and gave him meds and got him ready. I eventually got up and assisted. I had to get up, if you know what I mean. I answered the call, got a cuppa from the Coffee Dragon, uncovered Sven, put a scoop of kibble in Dogzilla’s bowl, and took some sunrise pictures. It was nice to see a few clouds back in the sky… pressure dropping… good news!

I actually ran zero errands on Wednesday. I stayed in my jammas all morning and did a whole lot of nothing! I walked around the back and side yard a bit, I gave Sven a couple Dubia Roaches (so gross… I have to use a spoon. I can’t touch them), I played fetch and tug with Zeus and scratched his itchy spots… generally just relaxed. The week was going pretty well, and with Daughter off until Friday night, I was looking forward to more relaxation.

So Wednesday afternoon we’re waiting for Ben to come home. I’m getting snacks and his tablet set, kinda puttering around… then Daughter gets a call from his school… Dun Dun Dun Duuuuunnnnn 😱 The bus pulled up at that exact moment cuz of course it did, so I had to wait to hear what the call was about.

After getting Ben settled-ish Daughter said “You’re gonna need to go to Rite-Aid or CVS to get a testing kit.” I laughed hysterically and told her there were ZERO home tests anywhere. She told me his teacher said he had a bit of cough Tuesday, more cough on Wednesday, slept all day Wednesday and said his head hurt. They wanted him to get a Negative test or stay home for ten days! Jiminey Cricket On A Flat Tired Motorscooter!! I looked at the calendar and counted days. His ten days would be over on a weekend, and the Monday was MLK Day, a holiday, so the first day he could go back would be Tuesday, January 18. FML!

Daughter looked all over for a testing appointment, a Rapid, a PCR, anything… the soonest she could get was the 12th and with a two day response time on results, it was pointless. I resigned myself to having him home until the 18th… Winter Break 2.0. I vented and complained, but I accepted.

Now I’m venting and complaing to all of you… isn’t that nice of me?! At least I have pictures of Sven to share too😉

First of all I want to say that I am extremely happy that his school is taking the Kooties very seriously and erring on the side of caution. I really mean that too! However… I have not heard Ben coughing, At. All. He has no fever, no runny nose, no nothing. He slept all day? Why is his🤬 teacher STILL letting him sleep?! We’ve told her and told her not to let him sleep. It messes up his already difficult sleep schedule. His med doctor has even told her not to let him sleep.

The pressure dropped, of course he was more relaxed. We’ve explained about how the pressure affects him over and over and over… in fact, we discussed it during his IEP meeting before break and even the District Rep remembered he had a thing with the barometric pressure.

He said his head hurt? I call bullshit on that! There have been bazillions of times I’ve tried to ask him if he had pain somewhere, and my answer is always the sound of crickets. This child has a pain threshold beyond high. He didn’t even cry when he was two years old and nearly amputated his finger in a bike chain/gear. It took twelve stitches, but at the time, he just looked for something to clean the blood up. He never cried or complained with his many ear infections. We never knew he had an ear infection until his eardrum burst and fluid started leaking out. Bullshit! He did NOT say his head hurt.

Breathe…. breathe… Sven pictures?

I seriously think this teacher just does not like dealing with him. He is challenging, I know… but that is her job. I think she lets him sleep so she doesn’t have to deal with him. We’ve asked for communication and she can’t be bothered. I’m hoping that since he will be considered a high school student in the Fall, they will move him away from this room and this teacher.

Daughter left a message for the school nurse asking about the CDC switch to five days. The nurse called back this morning and told Daughter that since the teacher said he’s “showing symptoms”…🙄🤦🏼‍♀️ Ben has to do the full ten days or show a negative test. They discussed the sleeping issue too and the poor nurse just kept apologizing. Daughter told her that she appreciated the concern and how seriously they are taking it, but that it’s frustrating cuz we are NOT seeing ANY of the symptoms the teacher is claiming. It’s also frustrating that they just opened his age group to boosters. He got his second Pfizer in June so we’re thinking about going ahead a getting his booster now. If he was gonna get the Rona, he would’ve gotten it while Daughter was so sick, at Christmas. GRRRR!!!

More Sven?? Yeah, I think I need a look at his goofy face to calm down…

So anyway… obviously all my plans or thoughts or intentions for getting back to WP and having some kind of Life are once again on hold unless an at home test falls from the sky. The school nurse said they are trying to get a supply in so they can test the kids there before they call the parents. I guess some schools in the district have them, but not them. If they get some, she will call us to Come On Down😉 Ben going back to school would be better than winning fabulous new dining room furniture, or (dramatic pause) a new car.😂

What else can I rant about? I can complain about all the Idjits setting off fireworks from Thanksgiving through New Year. Daughter worked New Year’s Eve, as she always does, so I was home alone with Da Boyz. I doped Dogzilla up on benadryl hoping to keep him from barking his fool head off, but it didn’t help. I would love to take those fireworks and shove them… 🤐 anyway… At least everything was still wet so the fire danger was lower.

I’m done complaining for now. It won’t fix anything and while it’s good to let it out, too much is just boring. I read an article about how Awe is good for kids and teaching them to find wonder is good for their mental health. I can remove the pay wall on articles I have subscriptions to, so if you wanna read the article it’s here.

And in the spirit of finding or experiencing Awe, I leave you with a video/slide show of Wednesday night sunset. I was able to get Mercury in a picture. I’d seen that it was visible without binos or a telescope so My Sciencey Stuff Nerd 🤓 really, REALLY wanted to capture Mercury. And I did!🥳💃🏼 First, here’s the video with ALL the pictures

and here is the picture by itself

It was an awe-inspiring way to end a Not Great day! Also, I’m not sure if I will be joining the SLS group on Sunday or not. I have a couple songs in mind besides the obvious 🎶Don’t Fear The Reaper🎶 but it comes down to time, and how many interruptions I have to deal with. I’m sick to death of the word TRY, so I shall attempt to do a SLS post.

How are you dudes finding 2022? Is it the same for you… just more of the 2021 nonsense and hassles? I’m still lurking, dropping the occasional “Like” or comment. January 18th is the new Freedom date. Maybe I’ll get lucky and a testing kit will fall from the sky, or the ones Daughter ordered from Amazon will come before the 22nd🤷🏼‍♀️

Keep on keepin on and smile, laugh and/or guffaw as often as possible. I certainly will be. And look for moments of Awe! They’re good for you! Science says so 🤓 and not just MY Sciencey Stuff.

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Hugs!!!

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All images are mine