a lost day

 So I got the second booster yesterday. Felt fine the rest of the evening (good, because of the meetings at church). Woke up this morning feeling not so great, and it got worse as the day wore on:

- chills and fever (at one point it was 100.2)

- muscle and joint aches

- "oogy" stomach

- sort of a dull head, not exactly a headache, but the feeling like when you're over tired or have eyestrain

- feeling tired/unsteady on my feet (I had considered driving out to get a milkshake from the Braum's drive through for lunch, but decided that was unwise given how I felt

- more micturition? I can't tell if this is a genuine side effect or if I might be drinking more water to try to feel better. 

Anyway: if you get booster 1 or 2, I hope you have an easier time than I do, but build in a day in case you don't. 

I spent part of the afternoon lying in bed. At least because I felt chilled I could turn the thermostat up to 82, which conserves both power and money

Because, yeah.....tomorrow the city is delivering a demolition dumpster, Tuesday they start removing the siding, I will see just how bad things are then. I can pay somewhat over half the cost now; the contractor's wife (who does the accounting) said they could give me six months *interest free* to pay the rest, which means I can very likely scrape all the money together (provided there are no bad surprises, and I am worried there will be, I don't know what's under that siding.) 

six months will take us in to January, which means I could get a couple more distributions from the accounts, and I think my mom could make another tax-free gift if she was able to. Also, I get a 3% raise this fall and am going to try to be very strict and frugal, and maybe I can pay some hundreds of dollars every month (once I get paid again in August, because I still have bills but no paycheck coming in until then). 

But I have a little bit of leeway. I was VERY surprised at the church board meeting last night - the moderator started talking about "well, we have a member who, as a layperson, carries a big share of work, and has stepped up over and above and has never complained about it when asked" and I literally was "huh, I wonder who that's for?" and he walked over to me and handed me a card to thank me for the times I've filled the pulpit.

In it, was a $500 Visa gift card.I was pretty shocked. 

In the past, the sometimes paid "guest speakers," but usually that was just ordained ministers from outside the church, I feel like laypeople should, as they can, step up and help without compensation.. But yes - I have stepped up on several occasions recently. I'm happy to do it, people seem to benefit from my sermons*

I know in some cases the "protocol" is to dither and threaten not to accept it, and someone we had in the past who filled the pulpit regularly just put his pay back in the offering plate but you know? I thanked them sincerely and told them that because I'm having all the home renovation done, this will pay for groceries and incidentals until my check comes in in August. And maybe they felt good being able to help. (I don't know if it was out of some fund or other, or if they just passed the hat, sometimes they do that)

But yeah: I have to activate it, if I feel a little better tomorrow or Saturday I should go to Pruett's, I"m kind of scraping the bottom of the barrel right now for meals and I need to cook something better

(*the moderator's wife told me "I have to tell you, our son told me after church, 'wow, that was a really interesting sermon, she knows her stuff' and when a not-very-communicative 18 year old says that, it means something" (But really: he's a good kid. I've talked about him before.)