The Friday Five, 2/3/23: 5 things I've been up to this week

Well, the first part of this week was fun, at least—on Saturday, my boyfriend, his mom (in visiting from Indiana), and I went to Frankenmuth for the Zehnder's Snowfest. The very next day, I started getting cold symptoms, which I attributed to being outside in the winter weather all day in Frankenmuth; I took a COVID test and it was negative, so I went to go see my parents, with masks on, thankfully. On Tuesday night, I took another COVID test and it lit up fast—I'm positive for COVID. For the second time. (First time was Dec. 2021)

Owl ice sculpture at Snowfest, Frankenmuth
Owl ice sculpture at Snowfest, Frankenmuth

What I've been up to this week:

  1. Day trip to Frankenmuth. I have only been to Snowfest one other time, in 2013 with friends, and I remember it being cold but fun. My boyfriend's mom was in town from Indiana, and the three of us went on Saturday, partially for Snowfest and partially to use my free birthday chicken dinner perk at Zehnder's. It was very busy there but we did some shopping and went to Prost for lunch—a charcuterie and wine bar, this was my second time there and they don't take reservations so we had to wait about 1.5 hours to get in—saw the snow and ice sculptures, and then did Zehnder's for dinner, thankfully with an OpenTable reservation I had snagged that same day. Zehnder's never disappoints and they always send you home with a ton of chicken and sides, too, which is generous for an AYCE place (usually you can only eat what you can and then you can't take home leftovers, for regular AYCE restaurants/buffets). 
  2. Using up the last of my birthday freebies. I still have some that expire in February, but on Sunday, I went to Buddy's in Farmington to get my free four-square pizza. I had another "free four-square pizza with purchase," too, so my boyfriend used that and we got a pepperoni pizza and their garlic bread with cheese. I still have my free Crumbl cookie to get and a few others that expire mid-February, so we'll see if I get to use them or not.
  3. Being diagnosed with COVID. Today I am pretty tired but overall this is a lot better than my last go-round, which was the OG Omicron, I believe, in December 2021. On Tuesday it just felt like I had a bad cold (stuffy nose, slight cough), and I worked a half day and then napped. I've been working this entire week although slightly different hours (like 10:30-5:30 one day instead of 9:30-5), but today I may have to call it, as I got 8 hours of sleep and I'm pretty tired. I do have some things to do this morning but I may nap later. 
  4. Starting Paxlovid. Last time I had COVID I had the monoclonal antibodies, since I had Crohn's—some people get these intravenously, which would have been my pick, but instead I got four shots to my stomach, which was pretty bad. However, I started feeling better almost immediately after that. This time, the drug of the day is Paxlovid, and I started it yesterday, so I'm hoping it will help; I lost my sense of smell on Wednesday and it has not yet returned, too, but thankfully my tastebuds are still fine. 
  5. Watching TV shows. I started a new one on Hulu called The Watchful Eye, and it's really good so far—the only caveat being, it actually airs on Freeform, so there are two episodes up on Hulu and then I'm guessing there will only be one per week. I want to catch up on Servant and Shrinking on AppleTV, too, and I've been watching Married at First Sight, The Good Doctor, and Young Sheldon yesterday; I also saw there's a new Call Me Kat episode out. 
Charcuterie board at Prost, Frankenmuth
Charcuterie board at Prost, Frankenmuth

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