Week 37 - Vaccine hopes and a TeamChallis test

Monday

A ridiculously busy day with a lot of meetings. I then went onto UkuleleLand call, it was nice to play together but I am definitely having virtual meeting overload. 

Tuesday

Cracked out the first of my Christmas jumpers today. 

Ended up being another crazy busy day. I would normally have a video call with John but my head was swimming. I kept feeling dizzy and I couldn't face any more screen time.

Wednesday

Driving to drop Woo off at the bus-stop we heard the news on the radio that a vaccine had been approved and was set to roll out within a week. We were listening to radio 1. After the news bulletin the dj - Greg James was going wild with joy.  I like him anyway,  he seems a genuine and happy guy.  

Anyway his joy was quite infectious... pardon the pun. I've not been optimistic about anything through this.  I've always thought- the kids won't be back to school before summer,  this won't be over quickly,  it'll get worse now these rules have changed etc. And in me I feel like I want to retain that caution.  But I couldn't help but feel hopeful and joyful when I heard him singing and whooping.

He was playing this song and singing "vaccination". It made me giggle and I shed a happy tear or two.

The working day was a bit calmer, fewer calls and a bit more time to get stuff done.

I had a really good chat with John in the evening. We were talking all sorts including poetry and mindfulness.

He also said that he thought that Mum would be in the first tranche of vaccinations. He was likely to be in the 4th as an over-75. Mum should be vaccinated by Christmas, but he could be waiting until March time. So this is great news, but anyone who thinks it means a quick end to this situation is mistaken.

More vaccinations should get approval over the coming weeks and months which will speed things up. But certainly it isn't going to impact Christmas arrangements much. 

Thursday

was a weird old day.  We were about to leave for school when Bunnykins said she didn't feel well - headache, stomach ache and feeling dizzy. 

We took her temperature but it was normal.  However I thought best to be cautious because Bunnykins never says that sort of thing to get out of school - she's desperate for good attendance.  And also I'd been feeling dizzy (though I had thought it was to do with my eyes and spending so much time on the computer). So I thought - er on caution and stay home.  I told the school and said I didn't think it was a covid thing but that I just thought it best she stayed home. 

Anyway in the afternoon I got a call from the school asking if we could get her tested because there has been another case at school and the symptoms were similar to Bunnykin's and it presents differently in children. 

Mark also said he'd been feeling dizzy! So 3.30pm we were all 3 off us at Cleeve rugby club getting a test! 

The test process was horrid. Bunnykins went first, we helped her. We couldn't manage the throat swab without her gagging and wiggling. The helper said that we could just do the nose swab. It was painful for her as she has a lot of nose issues with her allergies. She was really brave but we were all "come on, it'll be OK". Then it came to my turn...I was such a baby! I was gagging and carrying on with the throat swab and then with the nose one I was whimpering and complaining. It was ridiculous. And then as soon as I finished I did the most enormous sneeze that just went everywhere... it was grim! 😂💦

That afternoon and evening my dizzyness felt really bad - maybe it was just being so aware of it. 

Friday

So we started the morning fairly relaxed in that we didn't have to be up for school runs. I did a walking workout, even though I was feeling a little light headed. Woo got on with her school work online and Bunnykins started a bit of on-line learning though her stuff wasn't at all structured like Woo's who was just dialing into her scheduled classes. 

About 9.30am we got back the test results to say that we were all negative. It was quite a relief. Bunnykins had the option of going into school but decided to stay home. 

Saturday 

I was really glad that my walk with Ben didn't have to be cancelled. We had previously been planning our Christmas walk for this day. We had had a meal booked at the Checkers inn. The meal had been cancelled as no pubs are open in tier 3. But also our walk was in another county - and we shouldn't cross out of our area if we are tier 3. So we quickly came up with another plan though I didn't have time to plot it on OS maps, but the idea was that we walk up to Tog hill which would keep us in the county.

It was raining quite a bit when we set off, so Mark said I should wear the new walking coat he got me for Christmas. I walked along the cycle path until I met up with Ben. We then headed out past Oldland Common and through Beach. The roads were flooded with run-off from the fields, and alot of cars came by making that section fairly meh. But then we got onto the footpath heading up to Hanging Hill and Landsdown. It was steep and muddy, but it was a pretty path and Ben had plenty of chocolate nuts to hand out when we got to the top. 

These pictures are all me figuring out the route - not texting or scrolling on social media 😀

The views from the top were great and it had stopped raining. 

We walked across to where we could see we were 3km from Tog hill but it was a downhill and a big uphill. It was going to be 50mins to get there. It was already 11:30 so we thought it probably wasn't going to be sensible if we were going to get there and back and home before it got dark. We sat on a stile and had some lunch. It was windy though and we were getting cold. 

We walked back and even saw some blue skies. 

It was a great walk. 24 km in the end.

We walked back via Wick and went to Warmley cafe for a hot drink before saying goodbye and walking our own way home back along the cycle path.

When I got home, Mark had made a chilli for us. After tea we got the tree up, made some smores and sat down to watch the second of the Hobbit films. 

Sunday

I was pretty stiff in the morning, but got myself up and got the slow cooker on. Mark had gone off for a run with Jason. Hannah brought M up to the park and I took Bunnykins across so that they could do a parkrun. It was chilly but bright. We had a good walk around and chat. 

When we got home Mark was already back. We got the smoking man going, the Christmas tunes ringing out and got the tree decorated. 

We also had a game of cluedo

And then some blackjack for buttons

This year I also thought we should put some lights up outside. We never have before, but it seems like a community minded thing. I got some solar fairy lights and the girls and I made some decorations out of old necklaces and crystal beads.