I just mentioned in another thread how I'm almost becoming a hermit LOL. Seriously, I am somewhat of a homebody and happy to be home. My husband is home too. Today I am going to get an allergy shot! Woohoo! I may wear earrings!!

Seriously though, yes, staying home. My husband is working and at times must have interaction with others, but very limited and he is being safe.

Vaccines started here but are much slower than planned. I am still on the email list from my Dad's AL and received an email this week. They were supposed to vaccinate there this week, but are now saying at least 2 more weeks. Many hospital employees have been vaccinated and local police and firemen.

Keeping in touch with others via text and phone calls. The weather hasn't been good for outside visits the last couple of weeks. Supposed to be near 70 Saturday and 50-60 most of next week so may do a drive by to see our besties. Also, hoping to see my sister and BIL, but again, an outside visit. They were snowed in Christmas, so we didn't even get to do our porch exchange of Christmas gifts.

Doing okay here. My aunt had a positive test result in October, but weeks later an antibody test was negative. Completely separately, her teenage athlete grandson had Covid, isolated at home, was sick, and has been recovering.

We are healthy here. Keeping a low profile, just walking daily and a weekly trip to the supermarket. We included my sister and BIL to our bubble. It was just the 4 of us for Christmas. My 95 yo MIL, in assisted living, is scheduled for the vaccine on Saturday. After months and months of no new cases in her facility, there have been 6 residents and over 10 employees test positive in the last 2 weeks. Her vaccine can't come soon enough!

DH and I are healthy and feeling fine. So are DD and her DH and daughter. They are both first responders and should be getting the vaccine any time now. She is a nurse practitioner in the ED of one of the public hospitals and he is a firefighter/paramedic.

Our youngest son, his wife and 2 of their kids had it after Labor Day. Three of them had very mild cases, my DIL had flu-lIke symptoms for almost a week. They are all fine now.

The local VA hospital is starting vaccines this week.

jojoco - like your DH I suspect that I had it back in January'February. It wasn't a cold and it wasn't the flu but rather just a lot of very odd symptoms and then some odd things happening in the following months. a friend of mine had the same symptoms in March and had an antibody test in November with nothing showing up.

I am being very careful as his my DH and my kids. We all wear masks around each other on the very odd occasion that we see one another.

Our numbers are starting to come down so yea, no blowing it now.

^^^are the numbers coming down? Our lower numbers were said to be because many testing sites were not open for a few days over Christmas.

Our cases and hospitalizations are way down since restaurants, bars, health clubs, etc. were closed again in November. It's a longer term trend not just post Christmas. Testing is up and down but continuing to hit 50,000 to 60,000 tests per day. We still have a lot of deaths though and more people in their 30s, 40s and 50s though the majority are still considerably older than that. I'm in MN.

So far DH and I are doing fine. Though we largely are home bodies...we will grocery shop, everyone masked, lots of sanitizer, get in and get out. Most of the stuff I used to do is now done over zoom. I do hike with friends, and I had 4 neighbors over for a little xmas gathering....outside in the sun, we sat at a distance around the fire pit for an hour. The other thing I do is go to the gym...but only for classes which are all done masked and held on an indoor soccer field so we are easily more than 12' apart...and I park myself in front of the HVAC unit so I get fresh air...and no one's air is blown on me.

I won't know if these steps are sufficient until/unless I get the disease... and that's the thing...you won't necessarily know after you get it what it was that did it.

We do have the tracking on my phone so if I've been in at least 15 min of contact within 6' or less of someone who's tested positive, I will be notified and will know to get tested and quarantine.

Still healthy here!! Knock wood.... Still believe that we will get it, or not, regardless of measures taken...But I mask whenever I go in the grocery or Target. The feed store is safe, It is a huge place with the owner and one customer at a time. No hand sanitizer for me, thank you. I wash them.

We held an indoor event back in October with full contact tracing by the city. About 700 people came through the door over a 4 hour period. If there had been any cases reported, we should have been notified, so I feel sure there was not.

maddie - our numbers were starting to come down before Christmas. But who knows what it will be like in a couple of weeks. Everyone we know had Christmas dinner by themselves with no extra family.

My DH and I are lucky to be healthy. My husband thinks he had it at some point and might be experiencing "long haul" muscle pain, but there is no way to know for sure.

The cases in our state have declined in the last month, but the percent positive is really high still (24% or so) so there is concern that there are many more cases out there. Our state is distributing vaccines, though it seems to be going slowly. Only 20% of those our state has received have been given out. I'm not clear if that's counting 2 doses or just 1. I don't anticipate being offered a vaccine until one of the last groups, but I do hope they can vaccinate our health care professionals and vulnerable population as quickly as possible.

Our city has had a mask mandate since early summer. Our state has one now. I was rather shocked to see a man brazenly walking around a grocery store without a mask this week. I'm sure I unintentionally gave him the stink-eye and intentionally avoided him. What irks me even more are the people that wear their masks, but then pull them down for everything. They pull them down so they can talk on the phone or so they can talk to an employee. (Seriously?! The whole point is to have the mask on while you're talking!!) All of those employees have to wear masks all day long, the least we can do is wear our masks properly for the few minutes while we're in a store. (Sorry, bit of a rant there.)

Put me down as healthy! Including DH. We keep our masks handy and rarely go out. I'm on Christmas break from the U so I'm good for another week or so being home. He on the other hand, is still going to work, but is cautious.

My stepdad was diagnosed about 1.5 months ago. He's 84. We (the kids) begged, pleaded, cajoled and demanded that he follow protocol, but he only did it about half way. He's recovering and is on the uphill climb, but he's still struggling with said climb. So far, knock on wood, my 85 yr old Mother hasn't displayed any symptoms. If anything, she's sick with worry about him.

Like every other state in the US, our hospitals are full and our medical staff is exhausted.

Just DH and me and we are fine so far. I can count on two hands my outings since March and a few of those were dr appts. Any other trips out were during the week, at odd hours, or to stores that are never crowded and for a specific purpose—no browsing—-in and out. Ate outside at restaurants 2-3 times this fall.

DH plays pickleball but now with a small, select, like-minded group and wears a mask during play. Other than that we take drives and walks—that’s it.

I will go nowhere in January as it looks to be the worst month yet thanks to all the Christmas travelers. Yesterday I changed a dr appt made months ago to a video appointment next week. DH does the grocery shopping every two weeks, first thing in the am when the store is near empty.

We haven’t seen our kids in a year and missed the entire first year of youngest grand. I’m just hoping we can get the vaccine and see them in the spring.

We are ok here. Ds‘s college starts on the 4th, remotely. They are required to take a Covid test after the fourth and have negative results to return to campus on the 9th-10th. Dd’s hs also starts fully remote on the 4th, with a return to hybrid on the 11th. I think this should help a little. Numbers are much worse here than in the fall. 😔 Good news, though...my MIL in memory care is supposed to get her shot next week!! 🙌🎉🎊 And my 78 year old dad got an email detailing approximately when he would get the shot aNd the process. So that is extremely good news...can’t wait for our older loved ones to get vaccinated!!!

Our state had a peak of new cases in mid-November, before Thanksgiving, and the 7-day rolling average has been declining since then.

We are good here. DH got his first dose of vaccine a week ago because of his job. Our county has completed most health care workers including those that aren’t front line with COVID patients and has completed all nursing homes and elderly congregate living. The county just announced today that it is starting to contact all residents over 75 for vaccinations. Hopefully, DD (because of underlying health conditions) and I (65) will be up in a month or so.

We also believe that some, if not all of our bubble may have had it in January. DGS had a persistent and very strange dry cough for about 10 days accompanied by occasional fever. It definitely wasn’t a normal cough and no congestion. DD took him to the doctor twice, who suspected something viral. The rest of us also had minor symptoms, milder coughs and digestive issues. DD did have the antibody test this summer, but it was negative. So we just don’t know.

I just read that Dawn Wells, Mary Ann of Gilligan’s Island, died from COVID complications. She was 82. :(

I’m thankful that we are all healthy. We stay home-I haven’t been to a restaurant or in a store since February. We order online, and if they don’t have it then I don’t need it. I’m glad that my mom gets her first Covid vaccine on Monday.

^^^. :(.

A billion likes Nini! So glad for your elder! I can't wait to hear of all elders receiving a gift of exemption from this horror!

We are well here and have been mostly strict in following the rules.

However DH and I have had to continue to work. My work is mostly outdoors with one indoor job which I wear a mask and socially distance. DH has laid absolutely everyone else off and wears a mask at all times and we order absolutely everything for delivery or curbside pick up.

I have to see my two single disabled sisters. They both live alone and are allowed 2 visitors so that is we three sisters. DH stays far away. It is complicated but has worked so far.

My one mentally ill sister is very unstable. If I don't see her frequently things go from bad to worse quickly. Both a sisters end up in the hospital far too easily. Less so if I keep a very close eye on them. Both are very stubborn in their own ways!

It is very difficult for them to understand why they can't go out and why they can't see more family. My one sister thinks well I'm going to die anyway and gets very depressed very easily in a different way than my other sister. So tough.!

I am trying not to be at the end of my tether I'm hanging in there but by a thread at times. It's a thread of strong love for everybody though.

My biggest problem is that the sister who thinks she's going to die anyway keeps trying to go out a lot. I do a lot of shopping for her otherwise she feels like she didn't get the best deal etc. I have tried for years but realize that you cannot reason with a mentally ill person. So often they don't understand. And never will.

That's why I come here to escape. Just reading about people's lives really helps. I'm sorry I'm not better at posting. Then I write boring books...

We are all still healthy....I hesitate to write that for fear of attracting the ire of Mother Nature. It isn’t luck or some kind of superhuman diligence that has kept us safe, but the privilege of being retired, able to order for delivery, live in a place where it’s easy to quarantine and still socialize outside. I can’t complain and would not anyway, thinking of all those on the front line of healthcare, those who keep grocery stores and gas stations open, and all those who have lost so much to this awful Interval in their lives. i say a prayer each day for all those who have lost loved ones and for the protection of those who go to work each day not k owing what they may encounter or what they may inadvertently bring home to their families. ❤️

(((Yeonassky))), you have so much to deal with, I’m sorry. The pressure and responsibility can be overwhelming at times. Just sending hugs and support. ❤️

@yeonassky thank you for sharing. Sending a lot of positive energy your way. I can't even imagine the difficulty people with mental illness and their families must be going through in this tough time. I'm so sorry you have to go through this. You are an incredible person with a huge heart to be the bedrock for your family.

We are all healthy and feel so fortunate to live in a lovely neighborhood with miles of wooded walking/biking trails and an abundance of nature. We have been home mostly (which I love and is a struggle for my extroverted husband). My son and DIL moved in with us in August after they sold their home before their new house is ready (2 more weeks!). It has been a challenge with 2 people working from home and only one office. My husband goes in once a week but there is rarely anyone else there. I work 2 days a week teaching preschool outside. My DIL is in healthcare and got her first dose of vaccine 2 weeks ago and my son is a firefighter and got his today. My mother 95 and living in assisted living since June will get hers on January 6. So glad to see these people getting protected. A light at the very end of the tunnel is a welcome sight!

Yeonassky, I feel for you. My husband is a support person for 2 sisters with mental health issues and it can be very frustrating and time consuming. You are a good person.

All well here. I had the Pfizer vaccine last week. Spent 12 hours at the bedside of an asymptomatic patient today in full garb--N95, face shield, hat, plastic cover gown, gloves. And people say they can't wear a mask for 15 minutes in Walmart? That infuriates me.

RNmom, from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU for what you do. ❤️

A very close relative (72) waited in line for over 7 hours today to get the vaccination. “First come first served” county in our state. There were many people older then him in the same line.

Be aware of how your county plans on disbursing the vaccine.

RNmom, you are a heroine For what you do for others. 🌹

The true heroes/heroines are the staff of the ICUs that have been dealing with Covid patients for months. I'm a Labor RN so we only have maybe 5-10 positive patients a week.

Our unit is being affected by staff illnesses now. It is truly scary to see the variance in the disease between people and how long symptoms/side effects last. Who knows what kind of lasting effects people will have.

Thank you! In return I get plenty of love for helping my sisters. I would say they aren't heavy but sometimes! Thank you everyone for understanding and empathy to those who have to help even when our abilities thin a bit.

https://youtu.be/Jl5vi9ir49g

Thinking of you @yeonassky. My DH has a brother with schizophrenia and we have an adult child with it. It is not an easy road when you have a loved one who suffers from a serious mental illness. The pandemic has made it even more challenging. Hoping and praying that 2021 is a better year!

@yeonassky that's a full plate in the best of times, but in a pandemic? You need a shoulder rub!

As we've said all throughout this year, our medical care workers and all the ancillary workers are heroes whether they are in the ICUs or labor rooms. You, too @RNmomof2.

We are healthy, our kids DGD are healthy, in-laws, siblings, nieces and nephews as well as close friends. Knock wood. We know of plenty of friends and relatives of friends who are or have been ill, so far no deaths in even our extended circle. And so far DH and I haven't killed each other ;-)

We had a very small bubble during the summer when numbers here were better and we could socialize outside in big space. Not now. I got my hair cut just before things started ramping up here again and wish I'd gone shorter since I now know it's going to be a long time before that happens again and my fast growing hair is already shaggy (not in a good way).

We don't eat out - much as I'd like to support local restaurants that's not something I'm willing to do and after a few take out experiences early on, it's not worth it. I am SO sick of cooking though. I talk on the phone with my 3 closest friends regularly and that keeps me sane and today I had the best laugh that will fuel me for days. I try to keep in mind that this is all about being able to see my family and friends again but damn it's hard some days.

There are five of us living here and we are all very careful. Most groceries are curbside pick up, very little in store shopping, always masked and plenty of hand washing/sanitizing. The week before Christmas DH got really sick. He isolated in our room and my sons made me isolate in another bedroom until we got his covid test back. Thankfully it was negative but he definitely picked up something in spite of precautions. I'm so glad it wasn't covid. It really scared me. I hope the pace of vaccination picks up soon!

Healthy here. I've been really restricting my outings since infections started ticking up, pretty much grocery store only, and I took my cat to the vet (they pick up the pet at your car). My ex continues to be in my pod, since my daughter is sharing germs back and forth anyway. We having him over for New Year's Eve (my daughter wants to show off her ma-po tofu).

We are healthy, but my husband had a bit of a scare and went to Urgent Care, then the hospital Emergency dept. with some chest pain. It was probably acid reflux or something, but he did have to spend several hours at the hospital, so he wore a mask in the house for about 5 days (I know, probably not long enough) and we slept separately.

I posted before Christmas about canceling a trip to California to meet our daughter for Christmas. She ended up coming up to stay with us for a few weeks (maybe longer, as conditions in L.A. are so bad right now). Other than my husband going to Urgent Care and the hospital we don't associate with anyone outside of our household. All grocery shopping is curbside pick-up. I'm perfectly content with our current set-up, and so happy to have our daughter here for a while! Fortunately, we have plenty of room - not only does she have her own bedroom and bath, but a separate office since she has to work. I think that she's happy that she's not having to cook for herself.

So far, I am good here. The western side of MA had low rate of incidence until recently.

They're rolling out vaccines for front line workers, people in nursing homes and the like. Although I am 67, I am in no rush to take the vaccine. I'll get it eventually. I minimize my shopping, and do most of the in person grocery runs at a small mom and pop a couple towns away. I do have to take my car in this Saturday to a larger city to have critical repairs done... and i will have to sit inside and wait as i don't have a ride. (My brakes are shot.) I arranged for an 8:30 appointment, and the place will be closed on Friday - New Year's day - so I figure it should be fine.

So far we have maintained our health while doing a few “normal” activities. My DH works from home but I work daily in a school but feel safe with precautions. My daughter is hybrid so two days in person again following the safety protocols. We allowed both soccer and ski team this year and I view the soccer as our wild card. We visit with our neighbors outside regularly and last night we met up at 11 by a fire pit to ring in the new year. Our kids are allowed to play outside or in our garage hang out area with doors open. I feel safe outside.

I will not take my mask off at all inside with non household people. I go to my car to eat at work instead of eating with other staff. We do take out only but I stopped using instacart after I began working. I do not have anyone inside my home unless absolutely necessary. My kitchen Reno will not start until vaccinations are complete. I am most likely in the next group to be vaccinated in my state so maybe next month.

I hope everyone has a healthy and happy New Year!

We are supposed to be notified through our hospital/healthcare system when it is our turn to be vaccinated. Since DH has not had a primary care appointment in a few years, this has at least motivated him to make an appointment to get himself in the queue. So, he is going this week for an office visit and bloodwork. Our state where we live seems to be doing a decent job overall. Just saw a story how the health department plans to administer vaccines at one of the sports complexes.

We are just concerned that we can get DH vaccinated as soon as we can. I work remotely but he is exposed and could bring it home to me. MIL only comes here and grocery shops 1-2 times per month. She is 73 (yes, my MIL is basically the same age range as my siblings), and the county is starting vaccinations for 75 and older probably within the week, but she would also be notified through our hospital system. MIL is also helping manage care for her sister in a LTC facility in another state. Like yeonassky, her sister has mental challenges so it is frustrating and stressful for both of them. She’s even considered moving her to a LTC facility here, but not sure that can really happen.

Having some close calls here. I care for my mother whose house cleaner tested positive. She missed a week due to what she thought was a sinus infection, only to test positive at the doctor's office. Another close call and waiting to see if we got lucky again. Our numbers are rising and it just gets more scary.

Hope all works out well for you, Arapaho.

Arapaho, that is scary! Keep us posted. RNMom - Thank you!!

Arapaho so sorry that you are having close calls. I wish I could hit the speed button on this year and be at the end of it with everybody vaccinated. And no more people hurt. Sending good thoughts your way.