Health updates :) and other odds & ends

• 
  Woke up the morning after this post ( = Thursday/yesterday morning) feeling better... not 100%, mind you, but better. I was still tired (didn't sleep well, again  :p ) and throat a bit scratchy -- but the heavy, fatigued, "foggy" feeling was gone, thankfully.  By last night, I was feeling much more like myself. 
• Much better today... still a bit of a tickle in my throat, perhaps, but it felt better after another warm saltwater gargle, and a steamy shower. I had a better sleep last night too, so I don't feel quite so tired. 
• I took a second rapid test this afternoon, 48 hours after the previous one. It was also negative. :)  
• Since I'm in the clear and feeling better from whatever it was that was ailing me, I think we'll go ahead & keep our haircut appointment tomorrow. If we do that, though, we'll have to go to BIL's for early Easter dinner as well.  :p  I guess I'll just cross my fingers the weather will allow the windows to be open for a while, maintain a distance as best I can and maybe bring along a mask. I wouldn't be surprised if Younger Nephew & his wife are wearing them (they are even more paranoid/cautious than we are...!), and if they do, I will too. 
• I had a telephone consultation Wednesday night with a local surgeon about having my gallbladder removed. It felt a bit weird to be agreeing to put my body into the hands of a surgeon I probably won't get to meet face to face until I see him in the operating room... but I'm tired of having this particular sword of Damocles hanging over my head. I've checked him out on Google, and the reviews are mostly very good. He asked me about my basic medical history and about my gallstone issues, and assured me it's a very common surgery and most people are able to return to normal eating patterns after a short adjustment period. 
• He said he'd have his secretary call to schedule my surgery. (Still waiting for the call -- although, to be fair, it's Good Friday and the office wouldn't be open today.)  He said it would likely be about two months down the road ( = mid/late June-ish?).  That might sound like a while, but to be honest, I had fully expected to be waiting for quite a while longer than that -- especially for something that's not urgent-urgent, with so many surgeries postponed and rescheduled because of covid. 
• This past week on Today With Hoda and Jenna, 30-year-old Donna Farizan chatted with three women -- a mother, a midlife woman still hoping for children, and Candice Bushnell, creator of "Sex and the City" -- about the choice to have children. Later on Instagram, Donna talked with Melanie Notkin of Savvy Auntie about being childless by circumstance. Melanie also wrote about her experiences for the Today website.  Great to see this topic being covered on a mainstream network program!  
• Sian Prior was the guest on "The Book Pod With Corrie Perkin," speaking about her new memoir, "Childless: A Story of Freedom and Longing" (which I hope to get to read, eventually!). I mentioned listening to Sian discuss her book on another podcast, here.