It's a Boo-thday alright... meanwhile, some wise eyes in the room

This is a birthday card my dear friend Pen made me.  (She's a real whiz at her Cricut machine.)  "Boo-thday" does seem appropriate this year, and not just because my day falls on Halloween.

1. The mid-term election forecasts are making me pretty antsy.
2. I've been dealing with a pretty serious long covid relapse for a couple weeks now, and it's wiping me out.

I wake up every morning around 5:30am with a lot of inflammation in my cheeks and jaw.  I use the bathroom, then head to the kitchen and hold ice packs over my eyes while I gargle with warm salt water for 15 minutes.  When things calm down, I pop a Lemon Mint Ricolla Lozenge in my mouth, go back to bed and watch Youtube videos on my tablet until I doze off again.

I wake up an hour or so later with an aching face and a jaw that is very sore, stiff as a board.  Things don't ease up until mid-afternoon or so.  Around 5-6pm, oral inflammation sets in.  Ugh--I really am sorry for sharing all this, no one wants to read it.  I'm just burnt out.

This January will mark my third year anniversary of dealing with long covid.  All I can do is try and manage the symptoms one day at a time, and when I get 1-2 days of calm, rejoin society (like a couple weeks ago, when I was able to meet up with friends from the Senior Center at Chili's).   

Other than that, I'm just hoping I see some long-term recovery in 2027.

As long as I'm here... have you ever bought something and wound up doing something different with it then originally intended?  A couple weeks ago I was on an arts & crafts site looking at the different things for sale, and saw this macrame owl crafted by a young woman in Bali.

It immediately reminded me of the 1970s, when macrame seemed to be everywhere.  Hanging planters, ladies fashion... I bought her last macrame owl, intending to hang it beside a piece of artwork above my couch.

When it arrived yesterday (even nicer than I expected), I hung it on a magnetic hook on my (metal) front closet door while I ran to get a hammer.  But when I came back and saw it perched there...

I think this owl had found it's home.  It sure is a nifty looking thing, isn't it?  The eyes and nose are hardwood nuggets.  I love it.

On that note...I don't have much else to say.  I just wanted to get something new blogged.  I'm not very fond of my last post with all those former birthday photos, it felt a little too self indulgent.  Plus it makes me pine for healthier, happier times.

But I did enjoy all the very kind feedback, thank you again.

I hope everyone has a great Halloween, and (sorry my conservative friends) I hope we get that Blue Wave and a Democratic House & Senate again, and a cure for long covid while we're at it.

Thanks again for the lovely cards Kim, Robin, Pen & Bobi.  Bobi, I loved that wood bookmark, thank you.

And thanks to everyone as always, for being here.