Happy 18th birthday to Tagen. He has grown into a fine young man. Polite, animal lover, sports lover and kind. It has been an absolute joy watching him grow up. Young men like Tagen give me so much hope for the future.
I haven’t had too much of a reaction to the shingles vaccine this time. Running a low grade temperature and a bit tired. My jaw started hurting again late morning so laid down on a heat pad. I had tried a heat pad last night and it seemed to have helped. I fell asleep and slept for three hours. Feel a bit achy but not bad. My tummy has felt a bit unsettled today. Trusting this is all the reaction I will have and by tomorrow it will be gone. I read the reaction can go on for about three days – we shall see what happens. My body didn’t read the rule book on how to do these things and tends to do its own thing.
Went down to take care of the chickens. It wasn’t bad walking down but walking into the light wind coming up was cold. I got their heat lamp working. I can’t get their main door to latch. Too much frozen stuff around it. I had trouble pulling it open so trusting it will stay closed. This bitter cold is to last one more day and then it starts to warm up on Sunday.
It was -10 when I got up this morning. It has climbed up to -1 so far today. The forecast is still calling for 7 as the high but I sure wouldn’t take that bet. It is to be -5 overnight and only 12 tomorrow.
No plans for the weekend. I left it open in case I had a reaction and needed some recovery time. I’ll watch the game Sunday if I remember to. Have a pot roast to put in the crock pot for tomorrow or Sunday.
Monday I have to go to Emporia to meet with someone in the afternoon. Have some errands to take care of while I am in town. Need to call and get a hair cut appointment for one day next week. I also need to get my car in for an oil change. So far the forecast is calling for temperatures to be above freezing most of the week so it will be a good week to get caught up on those things. We may get some rain but we shall see if that happens.
Hoping with the warmer temperatures coming that I can get to park in my garage again. We had a 51.3 MPH wind gust last night that blew snow all over again. Glad I didn’t pay to have the driveway shoveled out only to have had it blown close again. I’ve never had my driveway blown closed before and hope it never happens again. I miss my garage! Grateful I have a big barn that can hold all three vehicles and keep the snow and ice off of them.
The good news is January is almost over and February is a short month. March and spring will be here soon!
Hoping I can get my trash to the curb on Tuesday. It is starting to pile up as I haven’t taken it down the last two weeks. I couldn’t figure out a way to get it through the snow drifts to the curb without carrying each individual bag. It was way too cold and dangerous to do that. At least it is frozen in the garage and doesn’t stink.
The little heater I had running in the laundry room quit. Luckily I had another one. I had gotten those heaters way back in 2016 when I was using this house as a retreat center. I think the one running now is the last one of the four I had purchased that is still working. When I go to town next week, I’ll have to see if there are any to be had in town. I couldn’t find a heat lamp base so am thinking the little space heaters are sold out too. Hopefully the last one I have will stay running and help keep the laundry room pipes from freezing.
As soon as things thaw out, I will need to bribe Tagen into coming out and help me clean out the chicken coop. The leaking water container really made a mess in it and it needs cleaned out as soon as possible. Everything is frozen to the bottom of the coop right now so will need several days of much warmer weather to thaw things out. The rooster has a few dark spots on his comb which is a sign of frost bite. Didn’t notice too many others having any that are showing now. It wouldn’t surprise me if they all don’t develop some frost bite.
The FitBit the exercise program people gave me is not working. I put it on the charger and nothing happened. I chatted with the FitBit support team last night and they had me try a couple of things and nothing worked. They are going to replace it. The email address for my account is the KU Med Center Research Department address. I sent them an email this morning telling them to expect the email with exchange information. The coordinator called me today and said they didn’t bother sending them back and that the exercise coordinator that is coming to do my orientation in Emporia sometime soon would bring me a different one. Hmmm…. Wonder why they don’t get replacements? Seems they are throwing some money away. I forget not everyone is as frugal as I am.
Feeling a bit blah today from the vaccine. It has been a good day to stay tucked inside the house and to take a good long, winter’s nap. I will give my body whatever time it needs to heal from the vaccine and spend the rest of the day and tomorrow resting. I’m grateful I have the luxury of being able to do that. I’m sure by Monday I will be ready to go again.
Grateful for the love I share with my grandson, grateful my vaccine reaction has been mild so far, and grateful it is to warm up by Sunday.