by Diane; Update #2 on seeking a new normal : A new widow's winter holidays

 Sunday, November 29

Just as I was reveling in my studio/living room at 2:30 AM in the morning my nose became super congested and started dripping relentlessly. Couldn't breath with the c-pap even after wearing a stocking cap and sitting up higher.  I started sneezing. Maybe six times in a row. Never had a cold start so abruptly. Was it allergy? So at 4:30AM I started the day with breakfast and an antihistamine. Did some writing on the computer and even read a magazine. Then went back to bed for an hour but didn't sleep.  So some of my fancier plans for the thanksgiving meal went to the way side but still made delicious roasted chicken breasts with roasted vegies and a mashed sweet potato/pumpkin dish topped with fresh pineapple, chopped ginger, and coconut milk baked in the oven. I ate my dinner in the company of a zoom meeting with Wenzel family and even some of son-in-law Sam's Edge family in Calabash, North Carolina.

 Friday I continued to be symptomatic and I isolated myself with the remote possibility that I had COVID.  But Saturday in the middle of the night the symptoms went away.

Pictures about Don's life spread out on the kitchen table. Draft after draft of his life story continues. But now beginning to have it processed enough to write a smaller version to submit to the Albany Democrat-Herald as an obituary.

Monday, 7:00 AM, November 30

   My day schedule:

5:50 AM  get up and try to think of something to be thankful for. Like Don trained Kevin to use the sprayer so he could spray bleach on the moss covered driveway making it less slippery.

6:30 AM  Three Bob Mill's gluten free pancakes with bumblebee salmon, chopped celery, blueberries, butter and real maple syrup,  fresh pineapple, and a slice of avocado.

7:00 AM  Shower followed by Tai Chi

8:00 AM call furnace dealer for repair and cleaning

                 Then call Rainbow Disaster Repair for mold extermination estimate

                  set up rides to and from Mammogram and physical therapy to improve posture

9:00  AM  bring plexiglass cabinet on wheels to bedroom studio and move paintings from garage into cabinet

10:00 AM  second small breakfast ( for mild GERD) and fiber supplement in juice from stewed prunes

Rest of the day maybe a walk maybe cutting down dry foliage and planting bulbs.   Work on surprise Christmas gifts and usual Holiday celebrations. It wasn't suppose to rain.

Tuesday, 9:00 PM, December 1

I had precious time to paint for an hour. Since my cataract surgery a year and a half ago colors on some paintings are way different than I thought. Dancing with my five grand children was started before two of them were born in 1997 or 1998 and I have been working on it ever since. Today I moved my hip out and cut out some of my front torso to make more room for the youngest grandchildren. The yellow band at the bottom was too yellow so I covered it with non-toxic cadmium red deep by Liquitex.

Talked to a friend about the furnace and found out that the radiant oil heaters in each room left on at a low setting works without any forced air moving molds around the house. And if left on low is no more expensive for her than the furnace but ours is a gas furnace.  So confusing what to do. Happy though that I am now addressing long term problems.