I got to have a sleepover with the twins at their cottage!

He said

Well, shortly after going to bed last Monday, I embarked on what would be a rapidly progressing rough night. It first started with a bit of a headache and then progressed to a sore throat and a cough. By a very restless 3:00am I put on a mask and did my very best to try and get any semblance of rest. Without testing I already knew what the rapid test was going to tell me. I somehow managed to avoid getting COVID the time when Emelia and then Danielle had their run-in with it in April. But, with more and more people testing positive again with the new strain, and it starting to hit friends and people at work, I guessed it was only a matter of time…

By 6:20am Tuesday morning I had a rapid test that confirmed (almost immediately) my suspicions. I let work know and we slowly began adjusting our week to shelter-in-place and quarantining. And we went back to the place of wearing masks 24/7 in the house and isolating each in our own spaces—me in our bedroom and Danielle & Emelia finding their own spaces together. But the main part of the plan was really to take it day-by-day, rest and try to get better. Thankfully, I had been through two rounds of vaccine and two rounds of boosters, so the chances were high that symptoms would be greatly minimized and my recovery fairly swift.

So, there really isn’t much more for me to report this week, other than my symptoms really being the worst that first night, but steadily improving and getting better. Each day I tested, and continued to show positive, and thankfully the opposite was true for Danielle & Emelia! And what’s more to the point by Tuesday afternoon, I was just stir-crazy enough and already feeling better enough that I could take a spin on the stationary bike. I for sure did take it a lot easier than I normally do going or 30 mins compared to my 55 to 65 min outdoor rides. But, it felt good to be able to do that, and while there was a ton of sweat, it made me feel a lot better.

So, I am happy to say that with the precautions we’ve taken as a family we managed to keep Danielle & Emelia away from having a second run-in with COVID, and more importantly with today’s test result showing a very, very faint line, meaning by tomorrow my last day of self-isolating, I should be fully recovered and able to return to life as normal—albeit masking up a lot more again it seems. The only real bummer is that I really did think deep down I was going to be able to fully evade it for the full run of this virus. I mean I dodged it significantly when it was in 66% of our household members. So getting it, was a really kick in my impervious pysche.

And that’s the real lesson here… When the mask mandates were lifted three months ago it took me a while before I first stopped wearing them in public but eventually I did. With this last variant flare-up, I really should have started wearing a mask again—especially at work. But, I just hadn’t because if I am being honest it felt normal again not wearing one every single day. I was reminded of how it used to be. Looking back, and even though our time with COVID this past week was relatively easy and consequence free I probably should have started wearing one again.Given this run-in and where we are with the current variant I will switch back to old masking ways, if for no other reason that doing our part to stop the spread.

She said

Needless to say the focus this week was John dealing with COVID. When he started coughing and having a very restless sleep Monday night into Tuesday we pretty well knew what this meant. With a positive result on his part in the early hours of the morning Tuesday I messaged my supervisor and let them know I would be working from home. I am beyond fortunate that I work for an organization that allows and encourages this practice when dealing with COVID in the house.

As soon as we knew John was positive we revamped our household to ensure that we could all stay safe and isolate John away from the rest of us. I moved to the living room couch for sleep and we set up cans of Lysol all over the house to sanitize constantly. Emelia moved to masking in the house and made sure we were testing daily. Thankfully with all the measures Emelia and I did not contract COVID again and we are almost out of this latest round.

With daily testing after a few days we were able to get Emelia out of the house and she could go on with her friends and we could keep her at her softball games and practices. We were grateful that this is the summer break week for cheer so we didn’t have to take her out of that. Emelia took everything in stride and was extra careful around her dad keeping her space and helping me with extra cleaning around the house.

With another negative test result Emelia was able to do something she has been waiting for since last summer, head to the Carter’s cottage for the weekend. She was so happy to get back with her besties and even better the girls other best friend Neeka was also meeting the girls up at the lake. From all accounts the girls had the best time, Emelia came home sun soaked and exhausted but smiling from ear to ear. I guess we were able to salvage some of this week after all.

With isolation for John now up we hope that tomorrow he will have the official negative covid test so he can return to work on Tuesday. I head back to the office tomorrow ready to be back in our regular routine.