I’m sorry I haven’t posted in a while. Last week was Thanksgiving week and the week prior was extremely busy and stressing with something I plan on writing about later. But on Saturday, WifeGeeding tested positive for COVID-19. She’s been experiencing mild symptoms throughout the week, but on Saturday morning, she lost all sense of taste and smell. Since she’s a schoolteacher and with Monday around the corner, we opted for a rapid-test. For the most part, she’s fine. The only major symptom I may have is extreme fatigue. But then again, maybe I’m just bored and depressed. Whatever the case, I went to get tested yesterday and expect to find out the results by Wednesday. The kids seem just fine and will be quarantining at home attending class online again. Too bad we didn’t have a competent administration who could have enacted measures to protect the American public from the pandemic from lasting as long as it has.
At the beginning of Thanksgiving week, I was slightly perturbed at WifeGeeding’s family for inviting everyone to travel down to attend a high school playoff football game. I thought it was an irresponsible thing to do considering the rising COVID numbers and having everyone travel from all parts of Texas to attend a game they didn’t have any close friends or family in. And you know how high school football games are treated, with little respect to anything related to pandemic prevention. They claimed they would be careful by brining their own food and not going to concessions, but the ineptness puzzled me. WifeGeeding’s brother cancelled because someone at his place of employment recently tested positive for COVID, so that helped take some pressure off of us. It bothers me greatly being put into a position in which I have to put the safety of my family over peer pressure of pleasing other family and not looking like the black sheep of the bunch.
As for Thanksgiving, I was really pleased with my turkey. Some years I really get into the whole cooking experience, other years, it’s a burden. Last year, I found a great brining kit from Urban Accents. It includes everything, including the brining bag. What I love about the brining bag is that it’s the perfect place to dispose of bones and all the other uneaten leftovers. This year, I used my gas grill to try to smoke my bird with woodchips since I don’t have a traditional smoker. Out of the four burners, I left the outer two on low, placed the bird in the middle, and added woodchips every so often. It may have been my best bird ever. I also mastered some great sides which added to the experience. Thankfully, WifeGeeding still had her senses of taste and smell at the time.
The only other thing we did was travel to visit my parents’ grave at the local National Cemetary on Friday. I like to have the kids place some poinsettias by the headstone, as well as, an American flag. The kids seem to enjoy doing it each year, and it’s fun to see both of them compete at seeing who can find them first. But I’m feeling weird “dragging” the family down there to do something only I need to do and I’m not sure if I even want to do it anymore. If it wasn’t a long trip and didn’t take so much out of the day, I’d probably feel different. I get the sense that “real family” to everyone else is anything related to WifeGeeding’s clan. I used to feel strongly at trying to honor my parents by having their grandkids who they never got to see visit their resting site and for them to know and honor their heritage, but now I’m thinking, what’s the point?
In a conversation yesterday, I accidentally combined Best Buy and Bed Bath & Beyond by saying “Best Buy & Beyond”. You know, if they merged, that would be a great name.
I have a feeling there are going to be a lot of social media photos of Elves on the Shelf wearing masks and other personal protective gear with everyone thinking they are the most imaginative.
