It Finally Happened. I Caught The 'Vid

You Guys.

You know all that traveling I've been doing? 

Well...yeah. 

Our little get together was just a petry dish for COVID.

Out of 90 people, I think I know of 5 (including myself) who have it.

Super fun.

Ok, so here's the deal. It's super annoying and inconvenient.

BUT. I'm very lucky.

I have asthma. 

And so far, I haven't had any respiratory issues.

I had body aches like crazy the first 4 days. 

I have had a stuffy head/nose (not drippy though) for since about day 4-6 (today is day 6 for me). 

But let me back up first. 

I got home Thursday afternoon and instead of lifting, decided to walk. I'm on a team for work that's about steps/activity and our team is in the top 30 (out of like over 800 teams).

Anyway.

I woke up Friday and felt under the weather. Kindaaa how I've been feeling all week? I felt pretty good the days I was in Boston.

I had a light day Friday and got through the day without any real issues.

Saturday I received a text message from a colleague who had tested positive. I did not feel well Saturday. Not terrible, but not well.

Oh yeah, we were also pet-sitting Willow for a few days. 

I asked Steve to grab a test on his way home (he was also picking up the girls from my mom's). 

I stayed on the couch/in bed all day basically. I took the test as soon as he got home and people. Before I had the chance to set the test down, it was positive.

Literally immediately after

Like, 5 minutes later

My little bedmates 

I sent my friend (who I work with, and who also has the VID) this pic when we both realized we both had it (she also works remotely, from another state) to show her how beautiful I was. I didn't want to take PTO (too much to do). Another reason I love working remotely. 

This is day 5. The evening of Day 5. 

On day 6, I still feel off. My head is very stuffy. My body aches have subsided, but I still feel "off".

I haven't worked out for over a week and I'm dying to. I just know that I absolutely cannot do it. I'm still winded doing anything. I'm still tired. I'm fatigued. 

It's really annoying and really weird. 

I also lost my sense of taste and smell. I never had a great sense of smell - I feel like I lost that years ago. But to not be able to taste coffee....it's weird. Hot liquid...with a faint taste of coffee/creamer. 

I hope I don't have any of the "long term" covid symptoms. I will not like that.

Like today on Day 6...I cannot fathom doing a workout. I'm so just...blah. 

I've been isolating for the last 5 days. Having very little contact with Steve and the girls. 

I'm masking any time I'm out of my room. 

I have another 5 days before I'll feel more comfortable being around them.

Steve has been helping so much with everything...which is very nice. He's not waiting for me to ask him. He's just doing it. 

The Olympics 2020...er 2021...or something

Dude.

Do you guys remember watching the Olympics as a little kid with the whole family in the family room surrounding the TV? 

I have distinct memories watching gymnastics with my mom and sister. 

And swimming and diving with my dad. 

Always rooting for the United States (duh), Australia (where my dad's family lives), and China. 

I'm not sure why we watch China.

I mean, I get that we're Chinese...but it's not like any of us ever really lived in China.

Maybe it's because generally speaking, the Chinese aren't the most athletic people on Earth and it's amazing to watch them be so...athletic.

Is that bad to say? Lol. Whatever.

ANYWAY.

It's fun to watch the Olympics with the girls. They aren't SUPER into it yet (maybe in 3 years?) but when they are, it's cool to watch the awe in their eyes. Pretty cool.

It's been fun, albeit a bit weird.

Our favorites by far: gymnastics, swimming, diving. I watched some weightlifting, track and field and beach volleyball as well. So good. 

The USA came in with the top number of medals overall and the most gold as well. YAY Team USA!

Winter Olympics up next!

Family in Town

It's been a year and 4 months since we've seen Steve's sister and her family. They live out in California and prior to the pandemic, they visited once every 6 months or so. 

But then COVID.

So it's been a long time.

We got to celebrate Father's Day with Steve's family and it was a lovely day! 

The kids got to play and swim in the neighbor's pool and jump on their trampoline. We got to catch up.

It's amazing to see how fast the kids have all grown.

The next few weeks of Summer are going to be busy! I'm excited for it.

Family/cousin time for the next 10 days until we leave for vacation.

It'll be super busy next week, as I we try to spend time with them and fit in planning and packing for our trip. We will be bringing all our own food and water (the water on the island is not drinkable) so there are a lot of logistics. 

Anyway, the girls had fun playing with Grandma and Grandpa's neighbor's little girl, who is a couple years old. They have a pool and trampoline, etc. so they all had a great time. 

So between now and vacation, we will be busy! There will be a lot of things going on, with the end of the school year for the girls - only 2 half days left! And planning and packing for vacation.

Let the Summer fun begin! 

Finally! Time With Friends!

To say it's been too long seems like such an understatement. 

For Memorial Day weekend this year, we finally got to hang out with our friends.

I've seen them here and there, but not in a large group - because, DUH.

So a couple of weeks back a few of us starting texting that we should get together. 

It's officially the kick-off to summer and all the adults that we hang with have been fully vaccinated. A couple of our friends work in health care, so they got their vaccines early. A couple of friends are teachers as well, so they got theirs "early" too. So it was nice. And we were outside the entire time.

The kids got to play together (ALL TOGETHER) for the first time in months.

Steve got to see his buddies for the first time since before his back surgery, which was back in October.

So the boy on the far left is Andy, I've known him since I was 10. His oldest son is 12 and it's totally weird. The one in the middle is my male BFF, Rich and I've known him since he was 19. And then Steve 😍. I became good friends with Andy and Rich's wives. These are the families we go on vacation with. 

They own over 20 acres here. There's a creek, motocross track, and Rich's big ass barn back there. He eventually wants to build their forever home back there. 

omg so good! I didn't get a pic of the rest of the food - smoked ribs, chicken wings. 

The weather held out, surprisingly. We went into this weekend at 46 and rainy on Friday. It wasn't supposed to top 60 on Sunday when we hung out, but I think it got up to 62? At least it was sunny. We definitely got a good amount of sun.

And we got to chatting about our upcoming vacation! We are 30 days out!

It was so nice to see our people again. There's so much more to look forward to too this summer! 

May 19, 2021

It's a historic day 'round these parts.

There are new mask guidelines out.

The CDC says fully vaccinated people "can resume normal activities that they did prior to the pandemic."

"Fully vaccinated people can resume activities without wearing a mask or physically distancing, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance."

Local businesses around my area have already put out statements that they are either saying vaccinated people can go maskless - but not how they would exactly police that.

Other organizations I'm seeing are requesting proof of vaccination in order to go maskless. This is like where I get my eyelashes done at a salon. Due to the nature of the work, we can't exactly physically distance - employees will continue to wear masks, and they ask patrons to show proof of vaccination or mask up.

I will be honest. I will feel weird going maskless. I will feel naked. 

Steve is ready to go maskless. I understand. He has/had to wear a mask at work all day long. 

I didn't since I work from home. 

However, even after the CDC put out guidelines, NYS had to decide whether or not it would follow the same guidelines.

We heard Monday that yes, we would be.

And we heard that Wednesday, May 19 is the day.

Of course, there are people who have openly said "I'm not about to get vaccinated, but I'll lie so I don't have to wear a mask anymore." 

Ok - I guess? I mean, I feel for the people who cannot get vaccinated. Those with compromised immune systems, or kids under 12. 

My two littles will still need to mask up when they are out and about - for their safety and for the safety of others. 

So...I dunno. Part of me is like YES, OPEN THE FUCK UP. Restaurants are going back to almost full capacity and no more curfews. 

But part of me is a little hesitant/scared too. 

I guess we'll see how it goes! I'll be fully vaccinated Tuesday and Steve a full week after. 

Many of our friends (if not all of them) have been vaccinated also, so I'm SUPER excited to hang out with them again. We kinda stopped after our Halloween party because the numbers were going crazy. 

Our group already made plans for Memorial Day weekend and are planning a BBQ and then a month after that it's vacation time! With this same group. I'm so excited! 

Shot #2

Ok, you guys, 4 weeks went by pretty quickly and I went and got my second Covid Vaccine shot today (Tuesday, May 11). 

The anxiety leading up to this shot is incredible. 

I know several people who have gotten the shot and have legit felt like shit for a day - up to 3 days! Symptoms as severe as a bad flu. 

Then there are others on the other end of the spectrum. Basically no side effects. 

That includes my 74-year-old little mom. She said she was legit "fine".

My sister - who is 43 had extreme fatigue the next day.

Coworkers have ranged from very fatigued/sick to "fine" but maybe a sore arm.

My clients are also on either end of the spectrum. Either HOLY SHIT I'M GOING TO DIE or "eh".

THE ANXIETY IS REAL PEOPLE.

I got the shot at 2:24pm.

Don't mind my oil change reminder sticker lol. There's a guy at Steve's work who has a very...distinct silhouette so...they made stickers. I'm DEAD. 

I was done just in time to pick up the girls from school. 

By 4pm my arm is sore and getting worse.

I'm trying to move it around. 

Fingers crossed. 

Two weeks till I'm free again. Well, you know what I mean. 

#BYEKIDS

Today's the day. 

THE DAY.

416 days since my kids were in school full time. 

It's a day we've all been waiting for.

Not just because of the pandemic and all of that.

When Mila was born 9 years ago (WTF?) Steve's life of working 3 days a week and having 4 days off went OUT THE WINDOW.

He became a stay-at-home parent those 4 days and was on baby watch while I worked outside of the home.

We were very lucky that our kids were only in part-time daycare their entire lives. This is something I'm proud of. I believe in daycare 100% don't get me wrong. I worked in several throughout high school and college. So I've experienced the kids who were there from 7am - 6pm Monday - Friday. I just didn't want that for my kids if I could help it.

Thankfully for Steve's job, it allowed us to do this.

Right when things started to get "easier" (does that ever really happen?) we decided to have Ava! So now he was home with a 2.5-year-old and a newborn on his "days off" when I went back to work. 

So as time went on and the kids got older, we talked about what his days would look like when they were both in school.

The bus shows up at our house at 7:50am. It drops off around 4pm. 

That's 8 hours of kid-free time.

Ava was in preschool last year and while that was 5 days a week, it was only for like 2.5 hours. So Steve got a taste. A small taste. He had just about enough time to run some errands or do a quick side job.

THEN COVID HIT.

And the kids were home indefinitely.

we'd joke (lightly - since, duh we're not totally tone-deaf and realize how lucky we really are) that his countdown to free time was on PAUSE.

"I was so close" is what he'd say. 

So today marks a very important day. 

A milestone, even.

For the first time EVER, BOTH our kids are in FULL-TIME school. 

The house was all antsy with excitement last night AND this morning.

I helped get the kids ready since you know, it's kinda like the first day again.

But I did warn Steve that he's going to HAVE to get up and get the kids out of the house ON HIS OWN when it's his turn. I'm still going to be working out and showering so he'll need to manage.

I am doing him a favor though - I told him I will make their lunches the night before so he can just grab them. 

So excited this morning! 

Oh no, here we go. We've been lucky so far.

Wearing masks and being psycho about handwashing has been good for more than just COVID precautions.

Neither of our girls has had even a slight cold this cold season. 

Usually they are the kids with constant runny noses because of school and daycare.

I remember when they were babies, other moms and I would joke and call it "daycare nose" because what the actual fuck. How can a nose run that constantly but yes it's not sickness or allergies? 

Anyway. 

Ava started with a cough earlier this week.

Nothing crazy. 

It hasn't gotten worse. 

No other symptoms.

So when it was time to fill out the school survey, I answered honestly and said she had one of the symptoms listed. A cough.

I got a message saying to keep her home and follow the "Return to School" protocol. Which means doctor visit and COVID test to get cleared.

So of course, that's what we did.

(I'm SO grateful for having a flexible job).

I got an appt for 11am and off we went.

Ava and Mr. Hedgehog waiting to get checked out.

Poor Bubba fell asleep right before dinner.

Since she "had symptoms" the COVID test was more invasive than mine was. They did the brain-touching kind, but Ava did great. I knew she would.

I ran around all day I felt like. 

After her appointment, I stopped at Steve's work to get more washer fluid.

Then after that, I stopped by my friend's work, which happens to be our Allergist's office and signed paperwork for Ava to start allergy shots. 

She's just always suffering or has these flare ups that we can't figure out. I didn't want to start shots because she's just so small. And 4 shots is a lot.

But, her new pediatrician did convince me that her daily allergy issues is much much worse. 

So, ok. That's all the kick in the ass I needed. 

After THAT we came home and I had a 1pm call.

I took that call and then it was almost time to pick up Mila from school.

As soon as GF got in the car she said "I have a scratchy throat - it just started"

OK THEN.

As the evening went on, her runny nose got progressively worse.

I made the decision to just keep her home and go through this process again with her. 

Sigh. I guess I have to be happy that this is legit the first time they've been under the weather since A YEAR AGO.

That's very unusual for my sickness-prone children. 

And, I'd rather deal with all this now, before they go back to school full time in 1.5 weeks.

Back In School

Over the course of the last few weeks, CDC guidelines have changed and they are now saying that kids can be 3 feet apart and be ok regarding the transmission of the Coronavirus. They are also now saying that it's a low risk of catching this virus on surfaces. Everyone went nuts in the beginning to literally disinfect every single thing and were literally drinking bleach...and it's not transmissible on surfaces. Or, the chance is low. 

Whatever. 

Because of these new guidelines, many districts around our area were starting their reopening plans to get students back in the building 5 days a week.

There are so many factors. 

They sent out surveys to both students and parents asking what the preference is.

We obviously chose back in school full time. 

My kids have dealt with this entire thing in stride. But it's time. They need to be back in school with their peers and go through their curriculum in a more traditional fashion because neither Steve nor I are teachers. 

Kids will have to wear masks (they are actually pretty good about this!) and they have to be 3 feet distanced apart. There will be designated areas outside for mask breaks and they will likely spend a lot of their time outside anyway. I'm grateful we're heading into summer so kids can be outside more. 

Ironically, the date that I'm writing this (April 21) it's actually fucking snowing.

ANYWAY. 

There was a school board meeting last week indicating that things would change soon and that there'd be a survey going out.

Then the results of the survey were last night.

I was so on top of making sure I was around to watch it and then totally forgot. Fuck!

So I joined the Zoom meeting 27 minutes late. I had to stick around for a while before I gathered enough information to realize that they are opening schools back up full time for Primary and Elementary students!

HALLELUJAH!

COVID VACCINE

Welp folks, I finally got my first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine!

I was eligible a while back with having asthma, but due to my surgical procedure, I opted to wait so I wouldn't get a positive test and ergo not be able to have my surgery. 

I then had one booked for the end of May - it was the only available slot and the location was about 45 minutes from my house. The second dose would be early June. 

Now that the eligibility requirements have changed many more Vaccine Clinics are opening up. 

So, I went online and snagged a closer appt - both in proximity and in time.

Ready to go!

The entire process was super efficient and super easy. After getting the shot, I had to wait in the lot for 15 minutes to ensure no allergic reaction. 

My arm is SORE. Very sore - sore enough to wake me up in the middle of the night. 

I'm anxious to get my second dose on May 11. 

#doyourpart

We Hung Out With People!

It's no secret that the girls haven't hung out with any of their friends outside of our circle. 

Mila had made a bunch of friends during her short few years at school and since the pandemic hit, we haven't been able to see them much.

No more sleepovers.

No more indoor playdates.

Now that the weather is breaking and Spring is on its way, we are able to get outside and actually SEE people.

Nora is a little girl who Mila met in first grade and they became fast friends. Their first grade teacher requested to put them together in second grade as well and they loved it.

We had sleepovers, playdates, you know, all the typical little girl things.

Then COVID.

We were able to go to Nora's birthday party since that was a ropes course outdoors - the kids wore masks but had a great time!

Then we had a random nice day in November and we had an outdoor playdate.

And FINALLY! It was warm enough to play outside for an afternoon.

We were invited to go to the park near our house to play on the playground and to hike to the small waterfall.

I fell in at one point and got soaked up past my ankles. I took my socks off and squished in my boots for over a mile. 

Spending time with kids their age was everything. They ran off and just played and talked and talked and talked. Luckily we've spent enough time with this family that it's not awkward to chat with the mom - lovely (SUPER SMART) lady who is a college professor and has some really cool stories. Like doing research on sea turtles laying eggs and since they lay eggs at night, she had to hike five miles to find them at midnight to do the research in another country and ended up dislocating her knee! Then had to hobble FIVE MILES back to wherever she could get help! LIKE WHAT? This family was supposed to move to Australia for a semester while she did more research, but due to COVID, that got postponed. What a cool job, right? 

ANYWAY.

Now that the weather is nicer and we can be outside (and people are getting vaccinated) we'll be able to do more of these playdates. 

One Year.

Holy bananas you guys.

It's been a year. 

A YEAR of working from home, full time.

Because of a fucking pandemic.

A pandemic that our country has been unable to control.

A pandemic that started when we had the absolute worst person as our leader. 

A leader who did nothing to try to keep this pandemic from getting so bad.

And now all the people are suffering because of it.

It has now been one full year of working my full-time job out of my home.

Well, minus the 7 weeks I was unemployed. 

I absolutely, 100% cannot believe that we are at a year of this.

My kids haven't had any sense of normalcy in a year. 

My little one started her first year of REAL school during a pandemic and has lost out on a true Kindergarten experience.

All of this being said, I do realize that we are some of the lucky ones. 

Even though we were directly affected by it by me losing my job, we still ended up in a better place than before. 

So many people are still suffering in horrible ways.

No job.

No way to pay rent.

No way to pay for groceries.

Kids not in school.

So I'm still grateful that we have what we have.

It's so weird not knowing what life will be like in a few months. In a year.

Will schools be open?

Will we be able to travel?

It's just so weird that it's been legitimately 12 months since this all started on Friday, the 13th of March.

I remember the day like it was yesterday.

I remember texting my daycare provider to let her know that we wouldn't be sending the kids but that I'd still pay her for two weeks until "this got figured out."

Well, obviously we're still figuring it out.

Trying To Keep Them Engaged

It's no lie that this whole "homeschooling" thing sucks.

And we are in the group of people who aren't actually suffering all that badly from it.

Both Steve and I have jobs that are flexible enough to allow us to make it work while the kids are NOT in school full time. 

I'm not sure how other working parents do it! What if they can't split their week up and what if they can't work from home?

Regardless, it's not an ideal situation for many reasons.

Both of my girls are social creatures - and Mila had the opportunity to make friends and develop those relationships during K - 2nd grade. 

Ava didn't get that opportunity (as much).

Because I work full time and Steve is doing homeschool Monday - Wednesday there are not a lot of extracurricular things that we participate in.

It's just too much.

It's all via Zoom, so parents have to help get set up, etc.

There was ONE extracurricular thing that I was excited to sign Mila up for.

It's a once-a-month art "class" on Mondays from 4:30 - 5:30pm. 

We could sign up for all or just a few. We signed up for all because what the heck.

We logged in, got our materials ready and both girls got to follow along and do their art. They drew a panda together.

There were several kids logged in and two of Mila's friends were also on. It was cute to hear them say "hi! I miss you!" to each other.

There was also one kid who legit whistled the entire time and had his microphone on and no one told him to mute. So that was loud. 

And yes, they are still in pajamas, even though it's dinner time.

We have 6 more "classes" to take us to the end of the year-ish. The first one went ok. Mila said she enjoyed it and will do it again next week. It ended around 5, so it was only 30 minutes.

I think it's a great way for her to interact with some kids she normally wouldn't during her two days in school. 

Happy Chinese New Year! (A little late)

We originally planned to celebrate Chinese New Year on the weekend of February 12th. We didn't get the chance to because we ended up having to quarantine because of the positive cases popping up at Steve's work.

So me and the girls ended up going to my mom's after 2 full weeks of staying away.

My kids have never experienced celebrating this holiday and to be honest, we didn't like actually celebrate. 

We did have the traditional "hot pot" for dinner. A big pot of soup with a ton of items to cook in the broth.

Noodles, meat, shrimp, veggies, tofu. 

All cooking in this amazing-smelling broth.

Mixed together with some sort of Chinese BBQ sauce mixed with thick soy sauce and hot sauce.

The smell was so nostalgic.

I think I had 4 bowls of soup and goodness. 

I'm so glad my girls got to experience a little of it! 

They also learned how to say "Gong xi fa chai, hong bao nah lie" which means in English "Happy Chinese New Year, hand over the red pack of money" lol.