Plus none of that helps end this stupid crisis or help feed people or whatever. It is me...in front of a computer. So sick of it.

Finishing a devotional. I write poems a couple of times a week. We have a huge garden. I've canned and frozen stuff. I hike 4 miles three times a week. I take pictures on my place a ton. I had to make a website a few weeks ago for my internship. Writing a letter to a niece as she goes away to college. Practicing piano. Reading books. Been there. Done it.

I have a writer's group tomorrow night. Sharing part of my devotional I wrote.

Plus, I am currently doing my internship for which I am writing on my blog, creating a personal devotional, making presentations ( or was...that is out), organizing a churchwide devotional ( I am getting my rough drafts now from people. They are awesome.) I am currently writing 4 papers for a seminary class this week. In the fall I will have another class. I have stuff to do. I am just really lonely.

But none of these can be done with other people. I get bored being all alone. Whoo hoo. Organize pictures that no one will look at. Need to throw away probably 2/3 of them. I need people.

Yeah, been there and done what you have done. So sorry. It isn't fun.

So what in the world is productive that someone with an empty nest can do now that we have to hunker down again? I don't need to be on this board 24/7, but I can only clean and study so much.

I don't want to say I like this post, but I feel the exact same way and have a kid in college who is affected and elderly parents. It just stinks.

I just read this article today about how the Delta variant is so much worse for pregnant women. I just learned about a young worship leader who is in the hospital, on a vent, just gave birth to a baby a little over 2 pounds in a neighboring town from me. So sad. https://www.kxan.com/news/coronavirus/variants-effect-on-pregnant-women-to-be-discussed-by-area-health-experts-at-1030-a-m/

Which is the reason I got it. I am not really concerned for myself. I just don't want to pass it onto anyone else. So the fact that I can now is really disappointing and means that once again, I can't do anything I love to do. I had planned to join choir this month after being out of it for 18 months. ( I sang for 40 years before that.) Lots of other stuff. Back to being a hermit. I HATE THIS. And you guys will get to have me hear on the board 24/7 since I cannot go anywhere else not. You guys are back to being my only friends. Sigh. It was so nice to start reconnecting.

I guess. I am sorry, but no one I know lists out 15 or more things EVERY DAY for a contractor to do. No one. Now that said, this was almost a decade ago. We just finished remodeling and he is like a totally different person. He let so many things go that he would have demanded be fixed to his standards, but then again he painted everything because no one can paint as perfectly as he does. I know my husband. He was fine with it. Really. And he teases me over TONS and TONS of stuff. That is one of the few things I got him for. If you can't take it, don't dish it out.

Huge hugs and prayers headed your way.

Yes. I am mad, though they have the right to behave this way. But it can still make me mad.

Got it. Thank you.

Oh my goodness. Praying!!!

Yeah and see that is a difference I have. My husband would jump in and fix the vacuum cleaner because I mentioned it was broken, even after a long day of surgery or do a science experiment with a kid. He didn't know how to rest and could not rest if I needed something done. I have never given him a to do list ever. Things are always fixed immediately, before I have time to ask. Now, on talking to him. He DIDN"T give solutions. Some people would be thrilled at what he does. He validates me, listens to me, but doesn't offer solutions, WHICH IS WHAT I WANT. I get VERY VERY frustrated with things with no solution. ( Hence Covid really bothers me. I cannot fix it.) So when we had the problem that I was home 24/7, but an extrovert who needed to be out with people and he was an introvert who was with people 24/7 and just wanted to be home alone, dates were an issue. He would go if pressed, but really wouldn't have fun. He had spent his social capital at work. That never really got fixed until he retired. Well, not quite true. Once I had only one kid left, I went back to work which helped me a ton.

Yes, I didn't explain it very well, but this is EXACTLY what my husband meant. I don't except help very well and want to do everything myself, so I had to learn to accept help. Yes, this is EXACTLY what my husband was thinking.

Yeah, but you were not on the receiving end of lists every single day of the things my husband had "noticed." But my husband found it pretty funny. He is able to laugh at himself. One of his best traits is his sense of humor.

Ok, that helps, though I really want no one to get really sick and/or die. To me, that was the whole point.

Perhaps, but it is also the way people are wired. We did a remodel and the contractor played a joke and twisted a star just a millimeter off and we wondered how long it would take my dh to notice. My dh came in and was talking to us about I don't remember what and as he talks, he walked over and twisted the star back. Like, I would NEVER have noticed it. Ever. I am not observant. Part of my husband's make-up is noticing what needs to be fixed. That seems like a character trait and not a habit.

Can you explain to this non-mathy person in basic English, please. ( Not being snarky. Those stats just looked REALLY alarming to me.)

If she lived nearby, for sure I would do this. But since seeing her means going there to stay, it just doesn't make sense to make that long of a trip for an hour outside. Plus, right now in our state, the temps are just brutal and not sure she could be outside for an hour unless it was really early.

A couple of things. I have a perfectionistic spouse who can be critical. He is even more critical with himself than he is with anyone else. Here is what helped: 1. Realizing that he needs for things to be done right and to be right. To do otherwise is unacceptable for him. He must morally do what is right as he is responsible. Part of that is his profession. Anything less than perfection means affecting another human life. So imperfection is not allowed or someone could die or live with a disability. So realizing that it is HIS problem, HIS outlook, helped it not be so personal. 2. I spoke up. Example, once I cleaned the kitchen, even swept and mopped. His only comment when he came in was, " We need to get out the vacuum cleaner to vacuum the food hiding in the corners around the finials." Later, I explained to him that this made me feel like a failure. Nothing I did was good enough. He explained, "I said we. And I did it later in the day." Yeah, that just reinforces it. I needed him to say thank you and to notice what I did well. He did so, and it helped A TON. 3. A major medical event completely took that particular trait away. Good enough is his new mantra. Not wishing your husband to have something like that happen. Though he is sometimes still hard on himself for not being the perfect parent or whatever...though honestly, being retired from his profession took a lot of pressure off as well. He cared WAY too much. People loved that about him, but it almost killed him. Don't know if any of that helps.

Yeah, this confuses me. If it won't hurt me and protects others and keeps them from dying, then to me, it is morally wrong not to get it.

See to me ( a non mathy person, so maybe I just don't get it), this shows that unvaccinated people can still be seriously ill, which I thought it would be really rare. Plus, not going to look it up, but also I read that those vaccinated have just as much of the virus in their nose and such, so we can spread it just as much as an unvaccinated person. I got the vaccine so I could lead a normal life and quit worrying about spreading it to others. That isn't true. I guess my expectations were not right. BUT I WANT TO BE NORMAL AGAIN. It was so nice to hug my friends, hold hands while praying, not breathe through a mask or hide in my house. I could visit my mom, in particular, who if she gets it this will be REALLY bad for her. I mean, I guess since we are both vaccinated, the risks are lower, but she could still be hospitalized with a bad case and still have long term consequences, which I wanted to avoid. So now I am back to not seeing her anymore, which makes me really sad. So freakin tired of this. I want to live my life.