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Always Packed for Adventure!

It's the destination and the journey.

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Social Distancing in Littleton: Week Thirteen

Last week, I wrote about feeling sick, and needing a Covid Test. I was anxiously waiting for the results on Thursday, when I received a call from a very apologetic nurse, who told me that my first test had become contaminated, and that I needed to take the test again. She was very nice, and made a same-day appointment for me at a nearby facility.

Dan had to work, so I drove myself to the second test. I knew it would be unpleasant, but I wasn’t too scared. There was only one car in front of me, and I was tested within ten minutes of arriving. The nurse who tested me, seemed very nice….

And then she jammed the swab up my left nostril, causing so much pain that I immediately burst into tears. My nose started gushing blood, and she gave me a travel pack of Kleenex. I used every single tissue to stop the bleeding. She gave me a second package to-go, and I used most of them before arriving home. My nose was still leaking blood the next day.

I nearly gave up, but I was still concerned about Covid, so I let her finish with the right nostril. It hurt. A lot. She told me that if she doesn’t make people cry, she’s not doing it right. Can anyone verify? The nurse on the first test made me teary, but I wasn’t sobbing. I was crying and shaking the entire way home. It was horrible.

The next morning, the results came back negative.

I was relieved, and I definitely think that given the circumstances, the test was the responsible thing to do. That said, if a similar situation comes up in the future, I’d likely just quarantine for two weeks, and skip the test.

Here’s a few pictures of me: sick and pitiful.

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In sad news, I learned that The Annenberg Space for Photography has fallen victim to Covid 19.

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It couldn’t sustain the economic fall out. This one hit hard, as the Annenberg was one of my favorite art spaces in Los Angeles. It was a true treasure and a loss for the city. The museum always had thought-provoking exhibitions that left you with a new perspective. Here are links to two of my previous reviews of exhibitions at the Annenberg: Generation Wealth and Sink or Swim.

We discovered that we have a nest on the front of our house, below my step-daughter’s bedroom window. I spotted three babies, who seem nearly ready to fly. They are cute, but as soon as they’ve left the nest, we need to figure out a way to make it a less appealing spot for future families. We have bird shit all over our driveway.

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I felt better by the weekend, and we were able to attend a BBQ with the neighbors. Great food and new friends! I felt safe being outside, and I can imagine that this type of party is going to be a frequent activity in the summer months. There is a block party planned for the last Saturday of the month. This is the first time I’ve lived in a neighborhood that has block parties. We’re bringing baked beans and a cake.

We watched The Hunt, a surprisingly funny, and creative horror/suspense movie starring Hilary Swank and Betty Gilpin. I don’t want to give anything away, but it has excellent story structure, and the themes are timely. Gilpin has some great one-liners.

Dan received a gift of Vosges Truffles. They were beautifully presented. The truffles had unique flavors, including curry.

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A less fancy, but not less delicious treat was born, when Dan decided to put brandy butter on cinnamon rolls!

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And some cat pictures. Here is Tom being extra cute with his mice. He likes to hide them in shoes or slippers, even if you happen to be wearing them at the time. He also fetches and on Sunday morning, I threw the pink mouse across the room about fifty times. He wouldn’t have stopped, but my arm was getting sore!

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tags: Covid-19 Nasal Swab, What is the Covid-19 Nasal Test LIke, My Experience with Covid-19 Nasal Test, Does the Covid-19 Test Hurt, Nose Bleed with Covid-19 Test, Injury from Covid-19 Test, Did the Covid-19 Test Make You Cry?, Contaminated Covid-19 Test, Should I Get Tested for Covid-19, Social Distancing in Littleton, Social Distancing in Colorado, June 2020 Colorado, LIfe during Covid-19, Corona Virus Nasal Test, I Had the Corona Virus Test, What is the Covid-19 Test Like, What Does it Feel Like to have a Nasal Swab, Does the Nasal Swab Touch Your Brain, Covid Testing in Colorado, Covid Drive-up Testing Colorado, Negative covid-test, Sick in June 2020, Local Gems The Annenberg Space for Photography, The Annenberg Space for Photography, The Annenberg Space for Photography Sink or Swim, 2020 Business Closures, Economic Vitim of Covid-19, Annenberg Space for Photography Closure, Annenberg Space for Photography Century City, Baby Birds Nest Colorado, First BBQ of 2020, Vosges Truffles, The Hunt Movie, Plot of The Hunt 2020, Hilary Swank The Hunt, Betty Gilpin The Hunt, Cinnamon Rolls with Brandy Butter, Cute Pictures of Cats, Cats with Toy Mice, Thirteenth Week of Social Distancing, Social Distancing at BBQ, Sterling Ranch Colorado, Sterling Ranch Block Party
categories: Eat, Life, Visit, Watch
Thursday 06.18.20
Posted by Karen Lea Germain
 

Social Distancing in Littleton: Week Twelve

Things in our neighborhood opened up a few weeks ago, and we’ve remained cautious. However, this week, we took a few calculated risks, which may have been a bad idea.

We ate out in a restaurant for the first time in months. It was unplanned, as we had to return an item to American Furniture Warehouse and we were hungry. Initially, we had ordered food from an Indian restaurant to take-home, but when they were backlogged, we canceled the order, and dined-in at a Waffle House.

I can’t believe that Waffle House, especially for dinner, was our first post-lockdown/dine-in meal. It’s disappointing that we went this direction. That said, the restaurant was empty. For a majority of our meal, we were the only customers, and then a solo customer sat on the other side of the restaurant. Masks all around and the restaurant was spaced out, so that even if it had been at capacity, we would have been far from other customers. It felt safe…or at least as safe as they could make it for dine-in. I felt good about supporting the staff and they seemed grateful to have us.

I finally got my hair done. I made the appointment weeks ago, after careful consideration that the situation, with covid regulations in place, would be low-risk. This was my first cut/color in Colorado and I was thrilled to find a mobile salon that comes to our neighborhood.

Cuts on Location offers a full salon in an airstream trailer. It’s very cool. I had been going to my Los Angeles stylist, Vanessa, for fifteen years, so it was a difficult transition to find someone new. Luckily, Crissy was amazing. I love my new cut and color; definitely much over due and appreciated.

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As with the Waffle House, precautions were taken and it felt low risk.

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I felt normal and healthy during my appointment, but shortly after returning home, I came down with a high fever (101.9) and chills. I was nauseous and had an upset stomach. I basically went to bed at 2pm and slept for six hours.

We are fortunate to have neighbors who are doctors and they gave advice on OTC fever medication, so I took Aleve and the fever broke around eight-thirty pm. It’s now the following afternoon, and my fever has not come back. I’m very tired and still feel “off.”

I’ve just returned from UC Health in Colorado Springs, where I was swabbed for Covid- 19. Getting the test was surprisingly easy. We made the appointment last night, and there were only a few cars ahead of us at the drive-up testing site. It took about twenty minutes total, and I should have the results within twenty-four hours.

The swab was uncomfortable. It was a sensation that is hard to describe. The swab goes pretty deep up the nose and scrapes against something squidgy. They had to swab both nostrils, each taking about 10-15 seconds. My eyes were teary and it was unpleasant, but not so much that you shouldn’t get it done, if you need it.

The hardest part of this situation was emailing my new hair stylist. She couldn’t have been nicer about it, but it was hard to tell her that she (and the other clients/other stylist) may have been exposed. Whether I have Covid or another type of virus, it really hit home these things happen. You can feel healthy in the morning, and be sick by the afternoon. You don’t know that you’re sick. It makes me feel more nervous about things opening up, even with precautions.

In other news, we had our garage floors coated this week, and Dan was finally able to organize his workshop. He was so excited. It looks awesome. I love how the bikes are mounted.

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We watched Michael Winterbottom’s new film, Greed, starring Steve Coogan and Isla Fisher. Although it didn't get very high ratings, I thought it was thought-provoking and timely. Also, truly unexpected with its characters and plot twists. Coogan plays an egocentric fashion mogul, who doesn’t care or realize the impact that his influence has on others.

Lately, I’ve been reading many articles on fast-fashion, companies like H&M and Zara, Greed calls them out, especially with a slew of shocking facts about the fashion industry that are shown during the credits. Greed is book-ended with the same quote from E.M Forster’s novel, Howard’s End. Howard’s End is one of my favorite books ( the film version is a favorite too,) and the quote deals with the idea that everyone makes choices that impacts the lives of others.

Last weekend, I wrote several new pages for my novel, and I had a zoom meeting with my writer’s group. I’m feeling really good about making progress towards life long goals this year. Despite all that is happening, great things are going on in 2020.

I’ll end with two cute picture of Tom. Dan took the one of Tom on the stairs, and the second one, I took when Tom climbed into my office cupboard.

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tags: Social Distancing in Littleton, Covid-19 in Colorado, Cuts on Location Littleton, Hair Salon in Airstream Trailer, Business in Air Stream Trailer, Mobile Hair Salon, Best Hair Salon in Littleton, Colorado Testing for Covid 19, UC Health Colorado Springs, How Does Covid Swab Feel, Tell People You Tested Positive for Covid-19, American Furniture Warehouse, First Quarantine Hair Cut, First Quarantine Restaurant, What to do if you Test Positive for Covid-19, Greed Michael Winterbottom, Greed Steve Coogan, Greed Isla Fisher, E, E.M. Forster Quote, Fast Fashion Problems, Favorite Movie Howards End, Cute Cat Pictures, Covid-19 Testing Colorado, Garage Make-over, Home Improvements Colorado, Garage Design, Garage Floor Coating
categories: Life
Thursday 06.11.20
Posted by Karen Lea Germain
 

Social Distancing in Littleton: Week Eleven

it’s week eleven and although we are still following social distancing precautions, the main news is no longer Covid-19. The virus fears have been replaced by anger, sadness, and outrage due to the police murder of George Floyd.

I don’t know how anyone could watch that video and not be angry. What happened to George Floyd should never happen to anyone, and it has been happening time and time again to black Americans. Justice is decades overdue and this particular situation seems like it might finally be a turning point. Somehow the protests and the general energy seems different this time, like a wave turned into a tsunami. I head from a student in Brazil that they are experience a parallel situation, with many deaths and people standing up against hate.

I have to confess that as a white person, I’m not sure how to help. Of course, obvious things like speaking out when I see an injustice and supporting my friends who are affected. I love them and my heart hurts. I also am confused beyond that. I’m hearing some friends say that they want their white friends to speak out and others say that we should keep quiet out of respect. Both feelings are valid. My gut tells me to choose my moments of when to speak and focus on listening to black voices. Be supportive to their leadership. Help, not hinder.

On social media today, there was a trend to post a black page in support, and more important to stay off social media, to allow black voices to take center stage. I generally don’t participate in these types of things, but I felt that I should to show my friends that I support them. It felt so insignificant in the grand scheme of things.

I also feel incredibly naive, reading my friend’s posts and really listening to their pain, I’m realizing the extent, impact of not just blatant racism, but also micro-aggressions. I didn’t realize the profound fear and worry they experience. I never really thought about the privilege that I experience. I’m going to vow to listen more, learn more, and try to understand. Stop living in a bubble.

My heart hurts.

This is so much heavier than the corona virus.

We did have some beautiful things happen this week. We ran into our friends, Julie and Ryan, while buying furniture. They also moved here from Los Angeles, but we have not seen them since the virus. It was great to catch up in the store, all of us wearing our masks and no hugs.

We watched the shuttle launch and that was magnificent. Felix watched it with us and it was cool to be able to tell him that he has been to Kennedy Space Center, even if he doesn’t remember it. We need to go back.

The weather has been gloriously hot. We’ve been cycling every day and getting fit. We’ve had afternoon rain showers, giving us the most vibrant double- rainbow that stretched over our neighborhood.

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Dan took this great shot; the fields are full of them!

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I was thrilled that my micro-fiction story, “Pepper,” made it on the short-list for A3 Review’s May contest. You never know where inspiration is going to strike and this time, it was from meeting a broken robot named Pepper at the Waldorf Astoria in Las Vegas.

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And my usual cute picture of Slinky and Tom. Cuddling the cats always helps when I don’t know what else to do.

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tags: George Floyd, Black Lives Matter, White Ally, A3 Review May Contest, The A3 Review, Pepper by Karen Lea Germain, June in Colorado, Social Distancing in Colorado, Social Distancing in Littleton, Black Out on Social Media, June Weather in Colorado, Colorado Nature, June 2020, Being White in America, Heavy Heart, Pepper the Robot, Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas
categories: Life
Thursday 06.04.20
Posted by Karen Lea Germain
 
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