2020 Puzzle

 We had so much fun finishing this 2020 Puzzle that I decided to frame it.  I don't think we will ever forget last year but I love having this bright memento on our wall.

Usually when we are working on a puzzle, we are convinced that one piece is missing but until this puzzle we had always managed to find it in the end.  Not so this time!  Yes it's a 2020 Puzzle!!!!

COVID Vaccine

 

Big news of the week!  George and I both got our COVID vaccine!  The appointment I had scheduled, and mentioned in the last post, didn't happen because they ran out of vaccine.

 

On Tuesday I got online and checked St. Luke’s.  An appointment popped up, but it was at 7:00 a.m. in Nampa, which is 30+ minutes away so I thought I would check and see if I could get a later time.  I couldn’t and by the time I went back to lock in the 7:00 a.m. time it was gone.  I decided to keep working on it so I checked several places – St. Luke’s, St. Als, Walgreens, Albertsons and Fred Meyer.  I refreshed every 15 minutes or so and after a couple of hours, one popped up at Fred Meyer down on Fairview, so I grabbed it!  I also saw one for Fred Meyer on Chinden but for some reason there were no 2^nd appointments available for the next dose so I settled on the appointment at the Fred Meyer Pharmacy.  Happy day!

 

I texted George at work and suggested he try to get one too.  I got online for him and found one, since he was coming in the door, he did the final paperwork.  The best part – the appointments were for the next day.  George’s was at the Fred Meyer that is near his work.  Mission accomplished!

 

I can honestly say that I hardly felt anything at all when I got the immunization.  Maybe a little pinch but truthfully, I was surprised when I realized that the pharmacy tech had already pulled away and it was done.  My arm was sore but not enough to cause any problems and it went away totally after about 2 days. George said his arm felt normal the very next day. The 2^nd vaccine is scheduled for March 25^th.  I’m hoping that this one is just as easy for both of us.   Now they are talking about a 3^rd shot! Yikes!

Valentines, Snow and Vaccines!

For the past couple of weeks,  I have been trying to get an appointment for a COVID-19 vaccine.  I checked clinics and pharmacies multiple times a day but never had any success.  Friday night about 10:30, I tried one more time and scored an appointment at the Fred Meyer Pharmacy!  Yeah!  Now I just hope that they don't run out of vaccine before then!

In other news, my prayers for snow finally were heard and we had a beautiful storm!  Why do I love the snow so much?  It is just so peaceful, well peaceful as long as I can stay home and watch it fall.

"I find myself mesmerized by the falling flakes again.  A snowfall is like a fresh start, or a cover for past problems. Sometimes both."

Favorite quote from a novel I just finished that was set in South Dakota. 

While Johnny and Monica enjoyed a Valentine's Day dinner out, George and I had fun entertaining Isabella.   Do Johnny and I look alike?  Facebook facial recognition software thinks so!  Every time Monica posts a photo of Johnny, I get an alert that she may have posted a photo of me.

Isabella and I had fun practicing cutting and gluing to make a Valentine for her Mommy and Daddy.

I think  they turned out pretty cute!  I tried to talk George into taking the one I made into work and hanging it in his cubicle but nothing doing there.

I do love my family to 'pieces'!

This was from last March in Dubai when we thought mask wearing was a novelty!  Little did we know that we wouldn't be leaving the house without a mask for months and months and months with no end in sight!

A last photo of my little Valentine and wild child Isabella enjoying the snow and a crazy sled ride!  She loves to go fast and has no fear!

Ground Hog Day

Remember the old movie with Bill Murray, "Groundhog Day"?  That is kind of how my life feels right now.

You know it's bad when a trip to the dentist or the eye doctor is exciting. Or when you get dressed up to drive to the restaurant for a curb side delivery of your dinner!  Sometimes I want to chat with the Amazon delivery guy but I haven't yet wanted to engage in conversation with the telemarketers who call.

We have tried our very best to avoid Covid-19 and that has definitely changed how I live my life.  I miss going out to eat.  I miss spending time with friends.  I really miss Sunday family dinners.  I miss traveling.  I miss in-person church.  I miss going to the movie and shopping in person.

I have had 6 friends from my age group in 3 different states have Covid recently.  Five of them had mild cases and recovered quickly but the 6th is in the ICU fighting for his life.  The worrisome thing is that you have no way of knowing if you might be the ONE who gets hit hard.  So I wear my mask and social distance and avoid crowds.  My 'people circle' is small these days.

I try to keep my complaining to a minimum and carry on....hoping that the end is in sight.

We start back to in-person sacrament meeting tomorrow and word is that we will be back to the 2 hour church schedule by the beginning of March.  As George's Dad was prone to say, "Happy Day!!!"

On Monday those of us who are over 65 in Idaho, can schedule a vaccine appointment!  They have asked that we 'younger' elderly wait for the 'more' elderly to get theirs first and I will do that but I really look forward to my turn.

I shared this way back at the beginning of the pandemic.  It is still meaningful today.  I fully understand that I have merely been inconvenienced.

Hiking

I have hardly been out of the house these last couple of weeks since Matt's positive coronavirus test. Since I was starting to go stir crazy, George and I went to Celebration Park on the Snake River where we could hike and stay comfortably 'socially distanced'.  

Thoroughly enjoyed this chance to see a new part of our beautiful state and didn't get closer than about 20 feet from anyone!

Thanksgiving 2020

I'm thankful that we were able to still enjoy Thanksgiving while doing our part to slow the spread of Covid-19. We dropped off pies for Johnny and Monica (pumpkin for her and apple for him).

Then we had the full Thanksgiving dinner for George, Matt and me. It is a good thing we like leftovers. Also thankful that Scott enjoyed dinner with his roommates and Mary, Mark and boys with the Reynolds family.

 

Same old, same old....but a change is coming!

Life has been good over the last few weeks!  I've gotten to spend time with Isabella which is always a treat. Here she is celebrating successfully completing 4 puzzles! 

Monica, Isabella and I made a quick trip to the grocery store wearing masks of course as per the new requirement in our county.  She isn't bothered at all by the mask.  John and Monica have done a good job teaching her the importance of the mask.  Funny that I still said, "Smile!" before I took the picture.  Old habits die hard!  I love her cute pose with the cupcakes.

We were able to celebrate Anna's birthday at our house.  Here's a fun fact! She was born on 7/11 and Matt was born on 11/7!  

Unfortunately with the rapid rise in COVID-19 cases in Ada County, we have decided to temporarily suspend our Sunday dinner tradition.  It makes me sad but I think it is the right call since George and I are in the high risk group because of our age.  I still have to remind myself that we are senior citizens but the fact is WE ARE!

I'm working hard on the thousands of slides from the days before I started making photo albums.  I've thrown away all the blurry ones and many of the 'scenery only ones'.  I have them in chronological order and am going through them one last time before I figure out how to digitize them.  

I did find many treasures like this one of the first time baby Mary met her aunts Tammy and Karen.

And this one when she met my much loved Aunt Mary.  Yes Mary is named after her.

I finished my little cabinet and filled the cute bottles with the sand and shells I've collected from our travels around the world.  I love it!  I will never be a minimalist.  I just love my 'stuff' too much.  This week I was talking to my friend Sandi, who was my neighbor in Spain and is still my neighbor here in Eagle.  We shopped together a lot during our Spain years and could both open European pottery shops.  We agree that our pottery and other treasures give us JOY! 

Even though our county has gone back to Stage 3 on the Reopening Idaho plan, we were still able to have church today.  It was only 45 minutes and just like last time, all 'social distancing' protocols were observed.  But this time we all wore masks and we didn't sing!

I am sure that 45 minutes is the longest I've worn a mask at one time.  I think it is necessary but it sure is HOT!  I saw an ad for a company that is selling shirts and masks that match.  Maybe I'll have to buy a set!

Now for the change....for the first time in 43 years I am going to go to work.  Monica corrected me, by saying that I have worked for all these years, I just haven't gotten paid.  I guess that is right.  

Starting tomorrow, I will begin training for an 8 week job as a census enumerator.  I'm excited and a bit nervous too.  I have been so relaxed with my schedule during this pandemic, probably the most relaxed schedule I've had since I was a child enjoying carefree summers.  My days have been almost totally my own to organize for the last 3+ months.  It may be a shock to the system but I'm up for the challenge!

Cancer Update

 You may wonder why Scott's photo introduces my 'cancer update'.  Well it is a long and good story!

I had my 6 month checkup with my doctor at OHSU in Portland scheduled in late April but because of COVID-19 clinics were only seeing patients with emergent conditions so my appointment was rescheduled for June 24.  The plan was for George and me to drive over, stay in a hotel and go to OHSU for an ultrasound and CT scan and then see the doctor.  I would have my blood work here in Eagle.

My doctor, Dr. Madison, is fully booked at least 6 months out.  Can you imagine what it was like for his schedulers when they add to cancel almost 2 months of appointments and then reschedule them?  He had to add an extra day of clinic to his already full schedule.

The good news for me is that when my blood work came back it was excellent.  In fact, the calcitonin that is the marker for my type of thyroid cancer, had actually come down! After consulting with his nurse, we decided to schedule a phone conference with Dr. Madison.  During that conversation he decided that there was no need for me to drive over for scans because with my super low numbers, they wouldn't show anything.  So we cancelled the appointment.  Yeah!

George and I had been looking forward to seeing Scott when we were in Portland.  We hadn't seen him since Christmas and that is a long time.  So we had him fly over for a long weekend. That way he could see everyone!

It was perfect!  Way better than an ultrasound and CT scan!

Isabella was happy to see Uncle Scott!

We enjoyed lots of family time since there isn't much to do during a pandemic!

Family time is the best time!

Another Week Down!

Starting back to church was the big excitement of the week.  I've gone out a few times to the store but I do always wear a mask.

Deseret Industries opened  for donations but it is 'by appointment only'.  I had to go on-line and get a ticket that said a specific time for my 'drop off'.  Actually I got 2 tickets for 2 different days.  Matt borrowed a truck and dropped off an old bed for me and then on Saturday, George and I dropped off a car load.  They told me that they had been super busy since reopening.  Lots of people used their 'stay at home' time to clean out!  They have lots of rules.  You have to sort you donations into 3 categories - clothes, electronics, or 'as-is'.  You pull up, stay in your car until directed forward and must wear a mask.  They prefer that you take things out of your car and put them in the appropriately labeled box without assistance, although the young workers did help us.  I guess they were being kind to the elderly!

My other two accomplishments this week were to go through our 72 hour emergency kits and update them.  Ours still had 'child sized' rain ponchos and since my baby is now 6 ft. 3in, I don't think those would help.  I have it all organized in our backpacks and one large container.  I even have each labeled with what is in each pocket and I've noted what needs to be rotated.  Miss Super Organized here! Now I need to move them to convenient shelves in the garage.  And if we ever have to use them, I'll be hoping that we can go by car.  The packs are a bit heavy!

 The other accomplishment was buying containers for all my 'keepsake' treasures and completing the inventory as to what is in each box.   When I am gone, I hope my children will appreciate this effort.   Now if they want to look at my papers from 1st grade or my mother's scrapbook from 1948 or see the cards George and I exchanged while dating, they will know exactly where to go.  Or if they get the sudden urge to wear a hat from the best barbecue place in the world, "The White Pig Inn", they can find it with ease!

The next weeks projects include digitizing all our 3000+ slides.  Is there a reason to pass on 20 photos of Alcatraz from 1979 or the San Francisco Aquarium or Yosemite?  My inclination is to keep the really good ones and throw the rest away. I have asked the kids to weigh in on this decision.  Of course I will preserve all the ones of 'people'....I've already found some real treasures there, like the ones I used in the Father's Day posts.  This project could take a LONG Time. I'm set in case we have to 'shelter in place' again!

One project that I'm really excited about is refinishing this little cabinet.  It was my mother's and is definitely not fine furniture.  She bought it to have in her kitchen and used it to store pop and chips.  Matt, my woodworking expert, thinks it was built in the 30s or 40s.  I love the old leaded glass.  I haven't done anything like this in years.  To make it look 'shabby chic' I'm using chalk paint and wax.  So far so good.  It helps that it doesn't have to look 'perfect'.  Little nicks give it character!  This one should be finished this next week.  Yeah!

I'm also just about to be totally caught up on the photo books I make after each trip that we take.  The Dubai Book is only a few days away from being finished.  With no trips on the horizon, this feels a bit sad but I am sure we will get to travel again someday....maybe not until after a vaccine but it will happen.

This week we are trying a social distancing ladies lunch.  It is bring your own lunch, a chair and meet at the park. 

 I may even go get a pedicure so I can wear my sandals with pride!

So life is still good and my days are busy with projects!

Back to Church!! Yeah!

It's been 16 weeks since I attended church.  Last time was in Mary's ward in Harper's Ferry, West Virginia on March 1st.  We missed the next two weeks because we were traveling and then President Nelson announced that all church services worldwide would be discontinued.

 I have loved our 'home church'.  It has been sweet to have George pass the sacrament to just the two of us and to discuss what we have learned as we've individually studied 'Come Follow Me' during the week.  I even played the opening hymn for us once.

We've also had some excellent 'Zoom' meetings with our ward with missionary reports, talks, lessons, and even special musical numbers.

Even though I did enjoy the "home church"  and "virtual church" it felt good to go back today.

Our Bishop received 5 pages of very specific instructions as to how this was to happen.  There are 8 wards or congregation in our Stake.  For the 'reopening' we are using 2 buildings, 4 wards to a building.  Each ward is assigned one week per month so for the foreseeable future we will attend church services one Sunday a month, have 'Zoom' lessons or meetings on the other 3.  1/2 of our ward attended a 45 minute meeting at 10:30 and the other half at 12:00.  The building was cleaned in-between meetings.

The building was set up like this. As you can see, we sat on every other row.  This made it possible for the Priesthood holders who passed the sacrament to walk down the unoccupied rows rather than having us pass the tray down the row as we usually do.  Everyone who blessed or passed the sacrament wore a mask and gloves.  The water was set in every other spot on the tray.  The bread was  also in the small cups usually used for water.  We didn't return the cups but were asked to put them into ziplock bags which were provided and then throw them away.  Inside the bags, there was an antibacterial wipe for us to use to clean all hard surfaces around us when the meeting was over.

They asked us not to use the water fountains, to maintain proper social distancing and to not 'linger' in the building.  That was the hardest part since we haven't seen each other in the last several months. We really wanted to visit!

I felt perfectly safe and protected.  My only problem was that I felt my 'dry scratchy throat cough'  coming after we sang.  I didn't want anyone giving me the stink eye, so I quickly went outside before the 1st cough, coughed a few times and then went to the kitchen where I found some Dixie cups so I had a drink and then went back into sacrament meeting carrying some water.  It worked.  I didn't create panic by having a coughing fit!

The rule is that if anyone who has attended any of our meetings tests positive. we have to immediately stop all meetings.  Idaho is having a bit of a spike in cases so that could happen.  However, I feel confident following the direction of my church leaders.  It was also made clear that no one should feel that they are OBLIGATED to come to church.  If you are not comfortable attending the meeting with others, then you should stay home and continue 'home church'.  

Covid Contests

To keep the family busy and involved during this COVID-19 Pandemic we have had a series of family contests. I think it really helped us adjust to the new normal of staying home.

First contest was to guess how many rolls of toilet paper George and I actually had.  We had some already plus we filled a suitcase with more when we left Dubai.

Actual total of TP rolls that we had -71. YES we are toilet paper hoarders!

        John won this contest with a guess of 66.

Next question involved how many photos we took on our trip to Dubai

        There were 3 categories:

How many total photos did we take during our 10 day trip?

How many photos did George take?

How many were taken on our cell phones?

For the overall winner, George subtracted their guesses for each category from the totals and added the 3 numbers.

      Over all winner was John

      Matt guessed exactly the total number of photos we took which was 2250 - pretty impressive!

      Scott guessed closest to the number Dad took which was 250

      Monica guessed closest to the number on cell phones which was 1518

Our next activity was a Quarantingo game.  Unfortunately only the girls of the family got involved with this one.  Monica completed every activity!

 But Mary earned a special award.  One question was to find the oldest thing in your home.  Mary and Mark have a coin from 1816.  It was given to Mark by his grandfather who got it from his father, who was a plumber.  That is really OLD!

Matt dug out a big bush in our front yard that was right out the front door by the sidewalk.  Our competition was to guess when Dad would notice that it was gone!  It took 4 days before he noticed and Monica won this one too! 

Next one was to poke fun at me a bit!  I had never watched the TV series Gray's Anatomy before and I've been binge watching it.  The question of the week was, "How many episodes Mom watched in a week.  John got this one almost exactly right.  And the number I watched in a week.  22!!!!  I dream about the characters sometimes.

Last question involved our visiting cat.  The neighbor's cat, Shadow, likes to come and visit us.  She wanders in, gets petted by George and sometimes takes a long nap before leaving us.  Somedays she comes over multiple times, other times she will go for days without making an appearance.  The question was, "From Monday morning until Friday when we go to bed, how many time will Shadow come over to visit?"  

The breakdown:

      Monday 5 visits

      Tuesday 5 visits

      Wednesday 3 visits

       Thursday 0 visits

       Friday 1 visit

Monica won this one with her perfect guess of 14

Our last event was one that we all could win.  The goal was to walk/run 50 miles in one month.  And there were even medals!  You can tell how emotional the awards ceremony was for John!

And I think the medals turned out pretty cute! It's a coronavirus, naturally with crowns and toilet paper ribbon and even a hand sanitizer dangle.  

And a good time was had by all!

Prizes will be awarded for each competition whenever I can get out to a store!

COVID-19 - Week #10

I just counted and this is the starting of the 10th week since we got home from our Dubai trip to start 'sheltering at home'.  Some days I feel a little stir crazy but mostly I have survived.  My house has never been so organized.  I've finished going through and redacting my old journals and organizing my memorabilia into notebooks.  Our children will thank me for this someday.

I finally got my brow and lip waxed which was wonderful....I know vain and frivolous but still wonderful!  I've been knitting again, or more appropriately TRYING to knit.  I have managed to figure out how NOT to make my knitting so tight and also isolated the mistake I was making to add stitches.  I ordered some new yarn and can hardly wait for it to come in so that I can see if I can actually follow a pattern now!

I just finished making my photo book for the Kenya 2019 trip.  I've done 2 Zoom Bookclub meetings and 2 Kenya Keys Zoom board meetings.  Technology is great!

I'm still baking a lot and everyone is happy with that.  Bread and rolls and cookies - actually lots of cookies and we now have a favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe!  I was also happy to learn that even with all the baking, I've only gained about 4 pounds! 

Our evening walks have helped me not gain more.  Plus I've been doing some AARP exercise.  They make me feel young and fit, unlike the other exercise videos I've tried.  Most of them make me feel old and fat!

On our nightly walks we have loved watching the baby ducks and goslings. It was chilly here last week so we saw this cute little duck family huddling together for warmth.  The mom has a large family of 13 and has done a wonderful job of keeping them safe.  With cats and dogs plus foxes and herons, it is not easy keeping ducklings together and alive.  Oh and storm drains...they say that a huge number of calls to our fire department this time of year are to rescue baby duckling caught in storm drains.

 Also fascinating to watch the geese.  There is one large group of what appears to be 3 families that have formed a community and are always together.  

This family has the youngest babies.

Then in this photo you can see the two families - one with 'teenagers' that are almost as large as they are and the other with middle sized tweens!  You can't get too close or the ganders will hiss and act threatening.  Geese make great parents.

Speaking of birds - we have so many that I fill the feeders daily.  I love watching them so it is worth the effort and expense.

Matt and I were thrilled when we had several days of visits from the very striking Western Tanagers as they migrate north to the McCall area. 

Other frequent visitors to our feeder - American Goldfinch, Lesser Goldfinch, House finches and the show stopper Western Tanager!

Matt got this great shot of one of our hummingbird visitors.  I love them!

Thanks to Matt,  the little garden is ready to be planted.  Normally in Idaho, you plant on Mother's Day but this year the following week had temperatures into the upper 30's so I'm glad we waited.

And of course we are spending a bit more time with Isabella and her Mom and Dad.

Chick-fil-A delivery

Pretty exciting when you and Grandma have matching shoes AND you find a painted rock that perfectly matches!

The kite I bought years ago in China was a popular diversion one afternoon. 

And we even did a little fishing in the ponds by our house.

Another fun fact is that I filled up my car on April 9th and have used a little less than a 1/4 tank.  Fred Meyer grocery pick up continues to be the way I feed the family.  It is easy and efficient.  They do a good job picking out produce and I am happy.

The church is making plans to reopen soon but the guidelines at this time say that they don't suggest attendance for people over 65 so I guess we'll be enjoying 'home church' a while longer.  

All in all, it hasn't been a difficult time for me.