Howdy, y’all! OK, so maybe that headline is a bit dramatic — or unreadable (translation: Freedom, finally). But for the first time in a year, I feel free. The self-isolation that started March 17, 2020, will finally be over starting April 7, 2021, as I have gotten the COVID-19 vaccination.
I got the Pfizer one. For the first shot, I felt a bit sluggish after, and my arm hurt a bit. But it wasn’t much. For the second, I felt more sluggish than the first and achy. And my arm was 10 miles past dead. I had to use an ice pack. But it finally was OK after three days. I won’t be officially fully vaccinated until two weeks after the last dose, hence the April 7.
My mom and I have SO MANY plans. We are going out to dinner — somewhere that has outdoor seating — on April 7. Then we are going shopping the next day. We are going to follow all of the usual safety precautions: wearing a mask, social distancing, etc. And if we go somewhere, and it’s really crowded, we’re out.
I just want to be able to go out for things other than doctor’s appointments. I miss it so much. But we don’t want to press our luck or anyone else’s, so we aren’t going to be reckless. There is still a pandemic. But now I don’t have to worry as much about whether Joe Selfish McNoMask is out and about. I’ll stay away from morons like that, but I know I won’t be worried.
So, the other news of the week: We had a totally CRAZY storm day Saturday/Sunday. I say storm day and not just storm, because we got hit three times in less than 24 hours. The first two were heavy, but they were absolutely NOTHING compared to the 2:30 a.m. Sunday storm. The rain, wind and HAIL. I have never in my life seen as much hail as I did with that storm. Usually hail just last for a few seconds or minutes. It hailed for probably 15 minutes.
We don’t usually get storms this intense. I definitely had vibes of the 2011 tornado outbreak. We are situated near mountains, and usually storm systems head toward us in such a way that the mountains help keep it from being intense. But when the storm system “comes up the interstate,” as we say, then the storms are crazy.
And we normally just get hit with one storm when they go through. But this system gave us three wallops, and the last one was terrifying. Thankfully, nothing major was damaged, but our flowers got their butts kicked. And the hail ruined the paint on our porch and shed door.
The storm clouds were crazy before one of the earlier storms hit. My mom and I saw the clouds, and we ended up going into the basement for safety. We hadn’t seen clouds like that in person before. I wish I had stuck around to get better photos, as this was just in the beginning:
And our poor flowers got pretty much ruined. I am glad I got photos of them before the hail.
So, anyway, yikes on the storm. I really hope that isn’t an indication of what kind of weather we’ll be having this summer. I mean, March came in like a lion and went out like a lion. But next week, it’s supposed to be super nice again.
I hope everyone out there can get vaccinated soon! In the meantime, stay safe! Well, I mean, always stay safe. But like, stay extra safe, I guess?
Until next time!
Frazzled Daisy 