Am I Cursed? (#TheSundayPost)

The Latest in my life ⛈️

Feel free to skip this long rant!

My husband started isolating with Covid last Tuesday in our spare room, so I’ve been looking after my daughter alone. I stayed off work on Monday with a sinus infection and headache and got a prescription for antibiotics and a steroid nasal spray. Unfortunately, my daughter came home from school that night with a stomach bug, which is the first illness she’s had since her Type 1 Diabetes diagnosis. It was a challenge to keep her blood glucose levels stable when she was vomiting and not eating, though the nurse reassured me I was doing everything right.

As if this wasn’t stressful enough, we then had strange problems with our electronic devices. First, my phone decided that it detected “moisture in the charging port”. It hadn’t been in contact with any water as far as I knew, but I left it to “dry out” as instructed. I couldn’t get rid of the error and it wouldn’t charge even when switched off. Eventually, it ran out of battery and I started using my Kindle instead. But then I got the same error on that device too! I ordered a new charger for my phone and after a couple of days, the error message disappeared. But I’m having to send my Kindle back.

Then my daughter’s phone decided to join the party. It started switching itself off randomly. Since we use it as a medical device to alert us of impending hypos, this was really worrying. I did a lot of frantic Googling on my sluggish old laptop to try to resolve it, but no luck. I now think that my Samsung charger must have somehow caused this, as it’s the only common link between all three devices.

I had to switch to finger-pricking to check my daughter’s BG levels instead of scanning her Libre 2 sensor. Eventually, my husband got her phone up and running again. But unfortunately, while I was able to scan her with it, it would no longer sound an alarm if she was going low. She had to sleep in my bed so I could keep a close eye on her and scan her every hour through the night. We were constantly fighting hypos. It was exhausting, but somehow we got through it. I’ve now replaced it with a new sensor which has at least partially fixed the issue.

Thankfully, my husband is now out of “quarantine” and my daughter is back to her usual self. I am still suffering from horrible head and neck pain, which my GP thinks is a tension headache. The stress and lack of sleep probably haven’t helped. I’ve been prescribed a muscle relaxant and given some neck exercises to do while I await a physio appointment. So far, the meds have made me drowsy but have not helped much with the pain. I’m hoping they’ll kick in after a few days.

We’ve had such a run of bad luck this winter: family and pet illnesses, bereavements, stress at work, broken devices, car trouble, and so on. For example, this morning our toilet had a leaking pipe and water was dripping through the ceiling so we had to call an emergency plumber. My mum joked that I need an exorcist for my house. Perhaps she’s right. I’m not usually superstitious, but I’ve never known such a relentless string of calamities and misfortunes. Did I break a mirror recently? Am I being tested (or punished) by some higher power? Am I a character from a tragic play who has somehow gained sentience? I suppose it’s just life, and the proverbial happens. Trying to stay positive as I know it can’t last forever.

Writing ✍️

I wrote about half of my “genre switch” piece for my writer’s group last weekend, but haven’t had the time or energy to attempt the rest yet. I’m already over the deadline, but since no one else has submitted yet, I’m hoping it will be ok. 🤞

Reading 📖

I finished reading The Maelstrom by Matthew Barnes last weekend. I gave it 3 stars and my full review will be coming soon. I’m now about halfway through The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, which I’m finding a great comfort. I also cheered up my daughter by reading her Harry’s Mad by Dick King-Smith and we’ve started on The Magician’s Nephew by C. S. Lewis, both of which have taken me right back to my childhood and given me some much-needed escapism.

Watching and Listening 📺

• I finally caught up on the last couple of episodes of The Apprentice. The candidates are amusing and frustrating at the same time. There’s no one I really want to see win so far.
• I found BBC’s documentary Jay Blades: Learning to Read at 51 absoloutely fascinating. It was interesting to see how phonics can work for adults and there was a discussion on falling literacy standards nationally.

Quote of the Week 💬

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer.

It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog. This is your news post, so personalize it! Include as much as you want or as little. Be creative, it can be a vlog or just a showcase of your goodies. Link up once a week or once a month, you decide. Book haul can include library books, yard sale finds, arcs and bought books..share them!

~Kimberly

How was your week? Can you relate to feeling super unlucky? Have you read or watched anything interesting lately? Let me know in the comments!