bivalent vaccine is kicking my butt tonight!

 

started hitting me more this afternoon.  i had been able to alternate between ibuprofen and tylenol....now i still feel crappy.  just achy, tired and blah. the last vaccine was just prior to last fall/winter covid hell. just wanted to get it in the system.  still out there, that silly covid.  life is getting more normal and work is more just the usual hell of work. 

lots of picu last stretch mostly extra rsv this season but there are just a smathering of all sorts of respiratory bugs. we shall see how it works out this weeks stretch. i head back tomorrow.

the drop of one shift has really made a difference mentally for me. i know i should pick up extra but i'm really enjoying being away. i do miss that little extra money some days. oh well. life is better lived less stressed out. i'd rather be more emotionally well and a little more poor. look at those sweet faces up there.

we are nearly at the year mark of having to let my poor, sweet Tusker pass. it is still a hole that seems like it will never heal completely. just so hard losing these dogs.  it for sure gets tougher the older i get. i think i just depend on them emotionally more now.  maybe it was covid and isolation that made this one break my heart more. 

i have gotten the Christmas decorations out this year.  the last two years, between Tusker and covid, i really just haven't had the heart for it all. 

i am less and less Christian the older i get as well.  it all seems like a load of crap. what religion you are really depends on what part of the world you grow up in or what time in history.  everyone seems to want to believe there are higher powers.  the God of Christianity is no saint though. all powerful and yet, that power never seems to be used to put a stop to the worst things that happen.  

this time is more just a time to reflect on the life we live and remember to be kind to others.  to be grateful for what we have and who is in our lives for real. a reminder to be gentle with others and generous with strangers. we send cards, give gifts...really it's just a way to let people who are really in our lives know that we appreciate the time and attention and kindness they direct at us through the year. 

the whole thing never really made that much sense.  Jesus had to die to save us from our sins, but then he rises from the dead 3 days later...did he really have to die? if God is all powerful why couldn't he/she just forgive us without this 3 day sacrifice? the further you get from the religion you were raised in the more nonsensical it becomes.  

most religions at their core have similar teachings. to be kind to one another, no not judge. 

this need to be right, to be in the most correct church seems more and more silly.  the religion i grew up in has a membership of less than 1% of total world population and yet they claim to be the one and only. plus those born in to the church were somehow born "under the covenant" meaning before they took their first breathe they had already proven themselves worthy of a leg up from all the others. there was supposedly a war in heaven and the people born into mormonism apparently fought valiantly.  always seemed a bit elitist and egoist, but i suspect that is part of why so many religions teach people that their religion is the best or the most right.  clearly, humans need that. want that. 

so many have died over these battles of which church, which sect is better. it's never ending, this battle. 

so i am less and less into this aspect of Christmas. the God impregnated a virgin story.  having read the scriptures they are pretty violent.  horrific things happen.  God kills off so many people or allows people to be killed off. slavery, murder, rape, polygamy...it's all in there. the whole flood thing, don't get me started!!

i did make it to the dog park today. the ibuprofen had kicked in a bit so i took advantage of feeling a bit more perky. 

happy to report most of my cards and calendars have been mailed off. like to get that stuff done. the tree and skelly's are decorated. 

i am enjoying the fake tree. i have to remind myself that the lights can stay on longer with less concern for the tree catching fire. it looks pretty, do miss walking into the smell so i still may pick up a little table top tree. need to clear off the island. always. those are junk collectors. 

got some shopping done and for sure shopping for me...i'm blaming last nights shopping spree on the covid vaccine. haha.

had to get pissed off today and cancel an order.  every so often i take the risk and buy something off those questionable facebook ads.  i think it was legit but the order had more than tripled when i got the email so i called and it was a call center in southeast asia.  it was so loud, those poor phone people must have been packed in a room.  i could barely hear the guy and i was just yelling, my order number and cancel the order. it did finally get cancelled.  the less than $40 order had been billed out at over $200.  got emails cancelling it all and called my credit card to make sure it was all okay. it was.  so happy to have that. 

hate feeling like the old lady getting ripped off. you do have to be super careful these days. so i think i have learned that lesson, once again.  haha. 

the snow is coming down! so pretty to watch. 

earlier this week the temperatures were close to 0F. chilly. did manage to get out each day for a walk.  so less lazy days for sure. feeling the need to get back to some sort of exercise routine.  need to get more fit. would love to drop a few pounds and just be more healthy feeling. 

hopefully i'll reach that point where i just get to it. 

cute picture of Sunny Boy with me. he's super sweet and remains pretty snuggly

i get compliments on his hair cut all the time.  proud to say i do it myself. that really impresses people.  

it can be a labor of love but he's pretty good about it all. this week i just scissor cut his poofy head hair and trimmed around his eyes a bit.  need to do a larger trim but will wait until closer to solstice i think.  who knows though, i may do it earlier if the mood strikes. 

i wrote down some of the low tides in the spring and summer. will have to plan earlier to get rooms in Homer i think.  love those low tides. 

me with the hat i bought in Homer last spring.  

i'm not really a hat person but sometimes it's nice. 

some spring flowers.

will be some time before we see flowers again up here. 

like their nose shots with the stars.

sea anemonies. 

it's been fun to watch their relationship develop. he still a bit of a corn cobber but overall they are super sweet with each other. 

so i guess it's been a productive stretch off. i did do stuff every day.  haven't been too productive today. happy i did make the walk though. there were times i didn't think i would. 

still not sure why there are so many 6 leg stars out there in Homer. have messaged with my marine bio professor and he's not sure why either. stars generally come with legs in multiples of 5.

watched a movie about a swimmer from Syria. based on truth.  she escaped Syria as things started to fall apart.  she ended up swimming for the refugee team in the Olympics. it was a bit slow in the beginning but ended up being a really good story. 

still trying to figure out craft for local friends. i do like to do something. 

so a few folks from Jan 6 got what they deserved for their roles in the insurrection. want to see more people get what they deserve, i really hope to see people who are further up the chain get what they deserve.  that isn't the usual though.  most of the big players will have found ways to insulate themselves from prosecution while tossing their followers under the bus. their followers willingly go under the bus for them though. 

the orange freaks dinner guests at Thanksgiving were racists assholes who want our nation to become a dictatorship so they can control everyone in a Christian theocracy.  i never would have thought we would have people freely expressing these sorts of views with no concerns for being called out for it but here we are. of course the orange fool always just acts stupid. i had no idea that guy was an anti-Semite  or whatever.  his followers mostly, i suspect, just do not ever hear any of this news. so they just keep supporting.  

look at these cute pups. just having fun on the beach.  always a happy place for all of us. 

USA team beat the Iran team. the Iran team was under a lot of pressure. they refused to sing the national anthem, perhaps by plan. the team had met with the higher ups in Iran.  people in Iran apparently applauded the USA win. we are in strange times these days. there are also people rebelling in China. they have continued with zero tolerance for covid. seems a bit over kill at this point. 

the world is a strange place. you just don't know what is going on with other people in other places. even people you think you know. i do wonder what it is like inside some peoples heads as they watch their kids walk away from the church. it's gotta start to make them think at some point.  especially those who seemed to always have strong doubts.  will anything ever change? hmm...

listening to water on rocks by the ocean....love that sound. have spent hours listening to this sounds.  very relaxing. 

Sunny relaxes after a day of running at the beach.  hard to completely wipe out dogs but the beach always does 

sorry, all over the place tonight. hopefully, i'll be back to normal tomorrow. these vaccines always take 24-48 hours to work their way into my system.  i do feel like having a reaction tells me it's doing what it needs to do

well, i guess i shall head to bed soon and hope for a better tomorrow and a good stretch at work. 

thankful for A. friends who will walk when it's 0F B. snuggle time with puppies C. being vaccinated and feeling safer...thank you science! this all could have been so much worse.