This week was a little stressful.

I woke up on Monday morning with a chest cold and a cough.

I took the online Covid assessment of my local health authority and was advised to get tested for Covid.

I booked my test online and was lucky to get an appointment that morning, within 2 hours of the assessment.

I told my daughter, which was a little scary, and get myself ready to go.

I got to the assessment centre and checked in. I was assigned a number and given a socially distanced seat to sit in. I was registered and into the testing pod in 5 minutes. The health practitioner who was going to administer my test was very nice, explained the test and showed me the swab. The swab was teeny, so I relaxed a bit. He then made a joke about amnesia and we had a good laugh. It definitely broke the tension.

The test took about 3 seconds. It was a little uncomfortable, but not as bad as I thought.

I was told it could take up to 3 days for my results. I was let go and followed the path out, sanitized my hands and went back out to my car.

I read the pamphlet I was given on self isolation and went directly home. I had to avoid common areas and choose which bathroom to use until my results came in.

Luckily, my home office is in my bedroom, and I hunkered down to work. (My daughter got ready and went to work as well. She works retail, so she checked in to make sure she was okay to go in, and away she went.)

It was very hard to focus while I was waiting for my results. I had supper delivered to my room by my daughter and had to announce every time I left my room.

I slept, which was surprising.

When I woke up Tuesday, the first thing I did was check my email. My results were in!

I logged in with my health card. The results were NEGATIVE.

I was so happy. I let my family members know and

I immediately sent an email to work to let them know and to advise I would work from home until I was better.

My self isolation was short lived, but I still had the stinking cold.

Thankful that is wasn’t Covid, I worked from home (with some time off to get rest) for the rest of the week.

Then, the cases started to rise and the places of possible exposures started to increase.

My anxieties were on the rise again, and the thought of going back into lockdown ate at me. My psoriasis got worse. I started chewing the skin around my nails again. Sigh.

I live in the Atlantic Bubble. We’ve done so good up until now. Our mandatory masking and the travel only within our 4 provinces seemed to keep us safely wrapped in a low cases blanket. Our restrictions in my area have been tightened up for the next 4 weeks to see if we can get things under control. If not, I fear we’ll be back into another lockdown around Christmas.

For now, I am going out only when I need to and follow the public health protocols to keep those around me safe.

For now, I’ll keep myself busy with crocheting and housework to slow the anxieties.

For now, I’ll hope for a Covid free Christmas.

For now, I’ll hope you’ll all stay safe and healthy.

Take care of yourselves my friends.