July 4th Vacation

I mentioned earlier that our July 4th vacation is still on!

Our friends have 4 beautiful boys whom we've watched grow up since the very beginning. I've known their dad since he was a 19 year old boy himself!

So we've known this family for a long time. Their oldest boy is 8 months older than Mila. Their second boy is a year older than Ava. The twins are a month older than Ava. (So me and Trista, the mom were pregnant at the same time!)

So they rent a condo every year (I think) and this year they asked us to come with! Our other friends (whom we've also known pretty much our entire lives) is renting the condo right next door. Each condo is water front (so we can dock our boats) and each condo is 3 floors.

It's perfect.

Especially now. We've all been quarantined for 3 months now. 

Our group of friends is ready to hang.

Here's why we decided it was ok:
- We're sharing living quarters with friends who are like family to us - who all have been quarantined themselves.
- We've already seen these friends here and there sporadically.
- For a majority of the time, we'll be on boats on the water

Steve and I decided to rent a boat for the entire time we'll be there.

Our friends have a boat. And could fit our family of 4 (with his family of 6!) but we all thought for everyone's comfort (the only way to get around is by boat - er, the easiest way to get around is by boat) we'd get another boat.

The original plan was to actually rent two jet skis, so our group would have a couple of "toys" along with a couple of boats.

Alas, due to FUCKING COVID-19, many marinas didn't bring the jet skis out this season. Not sure if it's due to maintenance, cleanliness, or what. So no go on the jet ski.

So we went with a 24' Pontoon Boat! PARTY BOAT! With the 4 of us, we'll have PLENTY of space to relax on the deck. The girls can bring their toys and can play. We'll have shade...

I can't wait.

We're getting a discount since we're renting it for the 3-day weekend.

I can't wait to watch the fireworks from the boat.

We will be staying here:

We are renting the left side unit (3 floors). Well, our friends rented it. We are staying with them. Our other friends rented the place next door. 

And we are renting the boat from Aqua-Mania.

it's a 2017 and includes Bluetooth speakers and GPS. 

Since our friends are being so generous and aren't asking for us to help pay for the condo, we are going to make sure the group is fed well during this trip! For anyone who knows me IRL, knows that I love to menu-plan and cook for people. 

Last minute our other friends were added to the trip. So I'm just that much more excited! These friends are friends we've literally known almost our entire lives. Steve and Nick have been friends since childhood. So it's only natural.

They have a little girl who is 4 days older than Ava. We've done a ton of family shit with them, obviously. They are family to us and we absolutely can be 100% ourselves with this entire group.

I absolutely love them and cannot wait for this short vacation. We were even talking that since the one family goes up every year, we might as well book next year's trip while we're there this year. That's what they did last year!

So we'll see what happens. I always wanted to have an annual trip somewhere, but never figured it out. This may be it!

Living Room Update - REVEAL!

So here's the before:

Mind you, I've already cleared all the shit off the top of the credenza. It had huge speakers on it and just...stuff. 

AND TA-DA!

Even though we're "closing" the openness, the room actually feels and looks bigger! 

We obviously need to work on the finishing touches with artwork and such on the walls. We have some pieces, but I really want to do big canvas prints of the girls. 

We are totally in love with how it has turned out. I absolutely LOVE our new couches! And we can allllllll sit and relax at the same time now! 

Living Room Renovations - Update

So where did we leave off?

Oh yeah. Ok, the wall that needs to be drywalled, mudded, sanded, mudded, sanded, etc. 

So we struggled with how to create something that would make a HUGE MESS when sanding. Our girls, as you know, have asthma as do I. So we just can't have this shit floating through the house (well, it's obviously not good for anyone). So we built this "room" and Steve is using his heavy duty gas-mask with filter. It's working....kind of. He's attaching his shop vacuum to it so it'll suck what it can.

This scaffolding is really coming in handy! 

our new couches :). But here you can see the paint on the walls behind it. Turned out great!

Ok, he's actually in there now sanding away.

Once we get a few layers on there and sanded evenly we'll be able to paint. It's the LAST THING WE HAVE TO DO. Other than fix where the tape peeled the new ceiling paint off the wall. Ugh. And we missed an entire corner some how. 

But the goal is to be complete with this project by the time my PTO is over. I "go back" Monday.

We have 3 days.

So we didn't end up getting a coat of paint on Saturday night. We did prime the wall and stuff, but just couldn't bring ourselves to get all set up at 9pm. So we tackled it Sunday morning. 

COVID -19 WFH day 1,957

It sure feels like that doesn't it.

It's fucking crazy.

This shit is fucking crazy you guys!

So NY was on PAUSE until Friday, May 15.

So on Saturday, May 16, some businesses started to open.

Where I live, we've met the 7 out of 7 criteria to start to reopen.

My company is what is considered "professional services" so we are in Phase 2. Whenever that is.

There's a LOT to consider.

1. Where will people sit if their workspaces do not allow for 6ft of distancing?
2. Who will be cleaning the office constantly (we have a hired cleaning crew, but they only come once a week on Fridays).
3. Who will clean the bathrooms after each use? We don't have one bathroom for our office-mates only, it's for the entire floor, including other tenants. Um, NO THANKS.

Those are just a few that I can think of.

My direct supervisor (who is pretty fucking high up in the company) pretty much has said during staff status meetings that it's unlikely we'll go back to the office and back to normal.

Ever.

We've proven to ourselves and our clients that we're 100% capable of working remotely. We probably get MORE done because of it.

I know I take way less breaks.

I used to get up and go chat with people in the hallways, at their desks, etc. Now I'm just sitting in one spot...

I've been adding/editing this post for a while now.

My company put out a notice saying that even though we are considered "phase 2 - professional services" and that can start opening soon? that our earliest back to office date is July 17.

JULY FUCKING SEVENTEENTH.

I mean, I'm all for it. I am doing well now after figuring out my childcare thing. Even without having camps this summer, I think we'll be able to swing it. My mom for a couple of days. Steve being home. I can get through ONE day a week with them home and me working.

At least there won't be homeschooling to deal with.

ALTHOUGH.

Watching my child "get it" is magical.

I hate math.

But when I was teaching it to Mila?

So awesome.

And, Mila is amazing at art. We've always known this.

But damn.

We're doing the best we can. Sometimes we have days when the girls are ON POINT with school. Other days? Not so much.

Grateful that we have the flexibility to stop and start and not allow ourselves to get too stressed out.

They are also loving nature and just being outside.

Happy Tenth Anniversary

We didn't do a damn thing this year.

We were supposed to be in Santorini on the actual anniversary of our wedding day.

But we're here, in quarantine.

This is not going to be a typical anniversary post.

I was going to post one of those on May 29.

But I couldn't do it.

Why?

Because there's so much shit going on in the world.

My day was spent at home, doing random shit around the house, smiling at my husband of 10 years, every time we caught each other's eyes for a sec.

But I was thinking of George Floyd. 

George Floyd is a black man who was viciously murdered by a white cop.

Yes, it has happened again.

A white police officer (who is meant to PROTECT AND SERVE) put his knee on Mr. Floyd's neck until he was silenced forever.

He begged for his life "Please, I can't breathe" and no one did anything to help him.

This happened less than 3 miles from where an old supervisor of mine lives.

With her black husband.

And black step kids.

What THE FUCK IS GOING ON?

The world is a fucking mess.

Mr. Floyd was murdered.

If he had been white? I'm pretty sure we all know he wouldn't be dead right now.

I'm infuriated.

I'm enraged.

I've spoken to my children about racism.

And about being kind to people.

I explained to them that I experienced it growing up.

I was told to "go back to my country" many, many times.

But.

BUT.

That will never compare to living my life in fear every single day because of the color of my skin. 

10 years ago.

10 years ago Steve and I happily lived a life of oblivion.

What's that saying?

Ignorance is bliss?

We were too young to know any better. We only knew what we knew growing up.

10 years ago social media isn't what it is today.

So 10 years ago, this outright RACISM wasn't splattered across every single one of my electronic devices.

Social media made racism visible.

What has happened to humanity?

#BlackOutTuesday

#BlackOutTuesday

#BlackLivesMatter

Pool's Open!

Welp, we did it. We opened the pool Memorial Day Weekend and officially kicked off summer. We made sure to acknowledge why we were enjoying this day "off" from work and said our thanks to those who served and gave the ultimate sacrifice. 

The weather called for sun and high temps in the 80's for several days in a row. 

Steve's been draining the cover for a while now and it was time to pull the sucker off. 

It was really hard. 

Steve had to take off his clothes and jump in to get the leverage to get the rest of the water out. The leftover water in the pool is FREEZING to say the least. And he was in his underwear. LOL. 

The BEST. 

I'm STILL laughing. 

Because after we got the water out and the cover off, he was STILL in his underwear. Thank God we don't have neighbors. 

ANYWAY.

We also got ONE railing up. The wood needs to really dry out before we can paint it.

It was in the high 80's and got to 91 and stayed there for a couple of days. We were enjoying our pool pretty early this year and it's pretty awesome. 

We did you have a few things to work on. 

Steve had to spray a wasp's nest that was under the deck.

We have a leak (or two!) and patched one. Our water level was lower than it should've been for how much we drained it last year before winterizing. Steve found one leak pretty quickly and patched it, so now he's looking to see if there's more than one.

During my time off, we absolutely took advantage of those early 90 degree days. I can't wait until the railing's up!

It's one of MANY projects we have going on.

Steve made a spray room in our garage

Steve's dad came over to help for a bit. They completed 5 of these guys. We have 9 left to do!