Random

Since I don't have any one particular topic to write about today, I thought I'd do a blogpost of some random stuff that's on my mind today.

• It's been a good couple of days for wildlife sightings in the neighborhood. Yesterday morning while out walking the dog we saw an owl being chased and harassed by several tiny songbirds. After moving from one pine tree to another, he (or she) finally gave up and flew away into the woods to escape the little tormentors. Then last night when we went out for our after-dinner walk, there were 4 deer standing in the yard across the street, calmly watching us walk past. They never run away as long as we stay quiet and move on after looking at them for a minute. George doesn't even bark at them these days! Then this morning we saw a pair of Cooper's hawks flying from tree to tree and calling to each other. None of these animals seem particularly afraid of us--obviously they see us twice a day, every day, and know that we mean them no harm.
• Around lunchtime at work today both sides of my stomach started to itch. I went to the bathroom and had a look, and small red bumps had broken out on both sides. The shirt I was wearing had some scratchy stitching on the inside, which was just irritating it even more. I went to the nurse, who raised the possibility that it could be a vaccine side effect. I hadn't considered that! She said she's heard of some mild rashes developing (in a very small number of people) several days after a shot, but that it's not considered too serious and isn't a reason to pass on the second shot. She said that if it gets worse to see the doctor, but in the meantime she gave me some cortisone cream to rub on it, a Benadryl to take, a soft school tee shirt to change into. All that made it feel much better, but the Benadryl made me terribly sleepy for the rest of the afternoon! It seems better now, though, so maybe it was just the scratchy shirt and not the vaccine at all. Who knows? And unless something dramatic happens I'll be getting my second shot bright and early on March 12.
• Speaking of the vaccine, I found out yesterday that a friend's dad had died of Covid last week. His mother is still in the hospital (she got sick too) but is expected to recover. He wrote a moving post about his dad for Facebook and added this to the end of it: And to everyone, I know we hear this all the time, but please wear a mask. My Dad took so many precautions and this terrible disease still touched our lives. If we all pitch in, some family out there can avoid going through the same pain ours is in right now. Thank you guys, and love to all our family and friends. I'm so sad for this guy. We used to work together, and he's among one of the best men I know. Seeing so many people out and about in our town without masks feels like a slap in the face after getting this news about a friend's family. I have nothing but contempt for them.
• And on a lighter note...let me tell you the latest about my buddy Little P. Yesterday when he arrived at the school I asked him what he wants for his birthday. If you remember, we share a birthday and it's coming up in March. Well, he immediately told me that he got a Nintendo Switch for Christmas but he only has one game for it and he wants the Mario Kart (??) game. Since I don't know the first thing about video games (and feel slightly opposed to buying them for kids on principle) I said, "What else would you like?" but he wouldn't name anything else he wants. So I said, "Well, we'll see." Fast forward to this morning, and Little P.'s mom said that all he talked about last night was "Mrs. Barlow is going to get me a birthday present and it's going to be Mario Kart!!" Ummmm.....that is certainly NOT what I said! Haha. So when I saw him this afternoon (like the sucker I am) I asked him to tell me more about these games he wants. Sigh. And then that spoiled little boy had the nerve to ask me, "Mrs. Barlow, can I have my birthday present early? Can you get it for me tonight and give it to me tomorrow?" Of course I told him "NO WAY! You'll have to wait!" and refused to budge. I know I indulge him too much, but I do have some limits. Some.