Thread 25 - Covid Cohort - Christmas Trees, No Omicron Please!

NY plans all changed here thanks to Covid. MIL was coming to stay for the weekend but will now be on her own 🙁 We will call her but she won't do technology. DD(16) is going to the park in the nearest town to hang out with friends, drinking canned cocktails and watching the fireworks. She has a lift home so at least DH and I can have a drink. DS will be isolating in his room, shouting at the Xbox (if any of his friends have stayed in). Still no symptoms but secretly wishing he would lose his voice!

Nice range of New Year plansbon the thread. DS1 and GF off to a houseparty, DS2 was invited to a games party by a friend who has now told him that the invitation was for the whole family, so the rest of us will do that as long as we can take the dog - she hates fireworks so we can't leave her alone for the evening to quiver in fear

We had 2 nights in a row Sun/Mon with some of dh’s extended family playing board games and it was such good fun, we’re doing it again tomorrow til the early hours! Amazingly dd might actually choose to join us and turn down a party invite - so I hope it doesn’t fall flat as she’ll then regret choosing us over her friends! Ds always loves games nights so he’ll be there.

Changing the subject, has anyone heard about Manchester offer holders days? I think they may not be doing them in person but it’s not altogether clear to me.

One DC going to house party, another having 2 friends over snd 3rd might go to a friends with another mate as they have an empty house. Me and DH invited to mini party with 3 other couples but could be cancelled due to covid. Lovely friends but Would rather stay in with a takeaway, cocktails and board games at home (being a sad almost 50 but tired and being at home means you can go to bed).

If anyone is going to watch Attenborough and the mammoth graveyard this eve on bbc...the biologist Ben Garrod is a lecturer at UEA. Ds1 says he's his favourite lecturer, Ben always has time to chat to Ds and his mates after his lectures and takes an interest. Ds is keen for us all to sit and watch it together later.

Gosh, not made any plans for New Years Eve, or asked the others. I do love a board game so maybe that will happen.

We'll all be staying at home and playing board games. DS is planning to cook, he had a Middle Eastern cookery set for Christmas. We will probably watch a Harry Potter film as they seem to be the only thing we can ever all agree on. Not sure about staying up till midnight, DH always wants to watch Jools Holland, I'd rather stick pins in my eyes (sorry @Heifer). So it gets awkward. Tonight I am going to see West Side Story with some friends.

@Fruitygal I think. you are right about LFTs not picking up positives very well once the peak of infection has passed, but if they aren't picking it up you probably are no longer infectious, hence the day 6/7 thing for coming out of SI. If you want to know for definite then PCR is the only way at that point but you are probably too late for avoiding infecting others.

DS and I have just watched a parents info webinar from the Royal Agricultural Uni. It was very useful. I need to get on and send them all his disability info.

DS is out on NYE, I guess with his new girlfriend (who we haven't met but is coming over on Monday).

DD is having friends over as DH and I were going out too. But our plans have been cancelled due to others having Covid in their households, so we will be confined to upstairs while DD's party goes on downstairs. And then one of us will be driving them home at 2am. Thank you, DH, and all the best for 2022

I shall be asleep NYE. We don't go anywhere. My youngest will be asleep. Ds2 is bound to be gaming. Ds1 is home but going clubbing in Norwich (uni city) I've told him I don't want him back home after, so he's staying at his house there. But he told me today that no one else is moving back for at least 10 days. So I guess I'll have to let him home at some point. He's taking a girl from our village with him. He's not keen on going now. But doesn't want to let her down. None of his other mates could get tickets.

Sorry to hear of 18th bdays plans being ruined. Plus also nasty family issues. I've got my own fair share of family problems so can sympathise although nothing so toxic as some of yours.

DD is now out of isolation having tested negative on days 6 & 7 so she can go to her friends for NYE. She didn't have any symptoms and thankfully neither DH or I have caught it. Was very lucky as both DD and I have been given lots of LFT from school over the past 18 months, and although we do test at least weekly they have stacked up.

I have read that if you use the new type which is just nasal if you have cold symptoms they recommend that you also do a throat swab too as it's more effective. Lots of negatives with just nasal but positive with throat.

My own personal feeling is that if you have cold symptoms you should do a PCR as I don't feel LFT work once you have symptoms for quite a few days, but are great at catching asymptomatic.

Feels odd this week not checking for Uni offers. DD is still waiting for Loughborough and York (Biology) so Im not sure if it's bad news that she hasn't had an offer from them yet or not.. Reminds me she needs to book onto the Sheffield offers open day.

So what plans do you all have for NYE? DD is out at friends, and DH & I are staying home with Joules Holland :-) As DD is out I'm going to cook a roast beef dinner (DD only eats white meat)

A box of LFTs we ordered on Monday just arrived so we have enough

@mummyinbeds Friends son has been in the isolating 18th situation - cocktails and beers with pizza delivered to 10 friends by mum ordering and had a mini party online with online games like online crazy golf. Outdoor axe throwing party!?!? with pub with mates after once out of isolation. Parents did chinese takeaway with fizz with the older relatives the day after and he unwrapped his pressies.

Oooh! The ones I ordered on Tue arrived today so that should last us another week with the ones we had left.

Ha! Council giving out boxes of 20, DSs will be able to test and go to the balls!

Sorry to hear there are more people testing positive. At least @Alsoplayspiccolo your DH might be able to get it out of the way at home and not get stranded anywhere isolating. There seems to be a general view going round that we are all going to get it anyway, so maybe it should be like chicken pox - we try to get it at a time which suits us!

I have discovered that Bristol City Council has a Covid test van which will be in the carpark of the Aldi I use this morning, so I am off foraging!

Oh no @Alsoplayspiccolo sorry you've got a rubbish birthday coming up too.

DH, DD and I have all tested negative again and DS still has no symptoms. I've got him a PCR test for tomorrow which he can drive himself to so I won't need to go near him.

I've got him pizza and beer (Corona of course 🤣) ready for his birthday and he's happy gaming in his room without me going in to nag about A levels.

Sorry to read about the illnesses. We had to rearrange everything with older Step Kids due to Covid.

I'm now 'making nice' on video calls with my brother - despite their behaviour over my fathers will. Suffice to say I never saw the information they legally should have sent over, the money wasn't ahem..what was expected, and I stupidly signed over being an executor to make their lives easier (my family is in Canada so executors in different countries - they said - would be difficult). My father warned me not to trust them, that my brother would do whatever my sister in law said and I thought he was being mean. Wish I'd listened to him! Its really sad as my brother and I were always close, but SIL always had an issue with our closeness. I really make the effort for DD's sake.

I'm so sorry to hear about all the colds and covid, and the isolation birthdays, it's all a bit rubbish isn't it. We were relieved to have a normal Christmas this year after spending the whole 2 week holiday last year ill with covid, so I really feel for you all.

Dd has had loads of shifts from Sainsbury's over the holidays - she did 46 hours between the last Friday of term and Christmas Eve and has 8 hours today and 5 tomorrow. I'm so thankful she isn't going back to mocks! She's not had time to look at her History coursework as it is.

I did a LFT a couple of days ago, as ds3 had mates round to play monopoly. I asked them to test before coming, thought it only fair that I test too as I was making them lunch. I left my negative test on the side. I was just about to go to work and thought I'd throw it out. There was a massive fat pinky coloured second line. I thought it was a strange line, really fat, then realised the white plastic edges of the test were pink too. I looked at DH who was trying to hide his laugh. He'd drawn across it with a pink sharpie. Not funny really. But he thought it was. That's the sort of thing Ds2 would do.

DS has been doing quite a lot f note making for revision but I really don't know how helpful it is. He plans on going out on NYE and I suspect he's hoping he gets Covid again so he doesn't have to sit his mocks straight away in Jan.

Oh no @Alsoplayspiccolo how rubbish! Feel well soon and make sure you celebrate when you are well.

Oh no, how disappointing although I suppose it explains why you’re feeling so rotten @Alsoplayspiccolo. I do hope you feel better soon. My family laugh at me but I always keep my test for an hour just in case it turns positive! I agree with you that revision for these mocks is hard, they could mean everything, or very little, we just don’t know. I’m hoping there’ll be some clarity from the powers that be soon.

Well, after testing negative (I thought) this morning, when I went to throw the LFT away, there was a faint second line, so I took another one and it came up positive straight away.

At least I know why I’m feeling so rubbish. Just called DH to tell him and he said he’s started to feel duff now too.
So, isolation birthday for me on the 2nd too.

Many thanks @EwwSprouts

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn Second part tonight BBC4