July 6-July 10, 2020 Week 17 COVID

We are busy getting ready for our upcoming Seitz family vacation in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. The weeks and months leading up to this trip have been rather stressful as we have been busy watching the COVID spread. Here in Maryland the numbers hospitalized for COVID have been decreasing. Looks like Texas, Florida and California have the worst numbers especially in large cities. At work, we started getting tested every week now, including the patients and residents. I am still happy that they do the oral testing at work. I am not happy with our new Rehab company. We have been so overwhelmed with learning a new computer program on a smaller Ipad Apple Mini. We don't have the best internet connection in our building, so it really slows things down when trying to type out notes. Plus we had to put all our current patients information in the computer so we could move forward on documentation. It took me a week. They also are attempting to start us on their usual program routine which includes two meetings each week, both for 1 hr. Most of the meetings are set up for continued learning. That would normally be a nice addition, but not right now. Probably would not have been as bad if we had our limited number of patients. However, starting July 1st, our facility decided we needed to start taking in more patients. Including some that have tested positive for COVID. An added stressor while planning on going on vacation.

And to top it off, one of our OT team members is out for two weeks with a COVID diagnosis. We also found out that our new management will not provide extra pay for sick time with a COVID diagnosis. You can use your own time off, 80 hours worth of time, but we don't even have any time earned since we just started. So they said we could start taking negative time and work it off later. Great. Plus they let one of our OT members go for now, so we are really short on help. I already had an argument with my boss and fellow OT about working 6 days/wk. I politely declined. I am happy to work on the weekends if I can have a day off during the week. Or sometimes they need extra help for an hour or so, to do evaluations. I can be flexible, but I don't want them to get in the habit of expecting us to work 6 days/wk. We apparently talked management into rehiring our OT assistant, at least as a part time/as needed/PRN staff member, but they have not yet brought her back.  I have been working 10 hr days, treating 10 patients each day. Not easy during normal operations, but even worse when you have to worry about PPE and disinfecting supplies and equipment. At least they started giving us the N 95 masks to wear on the COVID unit. As I mentioned before, I declined to work with the known COVID patient. I did not want to take any further chances on catching something before vacation. Also we have patients spread out around the building and they need to be seen in a certain order to avoid spreading possible COVID germs. Which makes it tougher for all of the therapists to see the patients on the same day. Also, once we go onto the COVID unit, we cannot see any other patients the rest of the day in any other part of the building.  It does not help that the facility has also been moving people off the unit during the day after they complete their 14 day quarantine with no symptoms and not telling us ahead of time. It really messes up our treatment schedule. We are still seeing patients in their rooms, one at a time. At least I got a better handle on the new software, but it is definitely not user friendly. I am getting a bit of last minute technology training with our new systems. I was just excited to find my speaker button on my cell phone when I had to run two family meetings from the COVID unit! That is saying something when I compare myself to our good friend and neighbor, Dan who does not even own a cell phone! I am just glad I did not have to figure out how to do Telehealth services-doesn't exactly work when you are in a hands-on profession. I have been very impressed with our Speech Therapist who spent several hours treating patients in another facility over the phone.

So I have been trying to get some things done for our trip in the evenings when I get home, although it is tougher when I get off work so late. I did get my tires checked at Costco and filled up on gas on Friday night. I also dropped off supplies to Mom B. since I was going to be gone for a week. And I had to get her laundry back to her, so I was busy washing clothes. Plus packing for our trip. I usually don't have to worry about packing cleaning supplies, or extra pillows, but it seemed like a good idea. I have been stockpiling some cleaning supplies, paper goods and snacks for the trip, along with some tasty meat. Don't think we are going to do a whole lot of eating out in restaurants during this trip. Tom was hoping I could have Friday off to pack or even leave early. That was our original plan when I only worked 4 days/wk. Instead I had to go into work on Friday. We also thought we could spend some time on a few side trips on the way down to Tennessee, but that was before COVID.

Tom and Allison enjoyed dinner at a coworkers house with her family during the week. Allison also traveled up to Girl Scout Camp during the week after work to participate in a virtual online Campfire Sing a Long. She was so excited to sit out by the campfire and belt out GS songs on a cell phone. I was impressed they even had any internet connection out there!

I  put Scott to work getting ready for our trip since he is done with his online class and is not working. I had him cut the grass and water all our plants. Although I am not sure why we even bother to try to grow veggies. Between the deer, our one chipmunk and now the squirrels, we have lost all our tomatoes as well as all the blossoms off our zucchini and cucumber plants. The deer also ate up my Tiger Lily and Day Lily flowers in the back yard as well as my potato vine and zinnia flowers next to the garage doors. Tom ran out and picked up a squirrel cage to see if he can trap a few a decrease their population. We seem to have a small squirrel family in our yard that love our sunflowers in the bird feeder. I must admit, the squirrels are adorable and seem rather young. They love to play and chase each other all over the front and backyard, but they are a pain. I have caught them chewing on my bee house, and it looks like they nibbled on all the green tomatoes. I found a tomato in the driveway. Looks like the only thing we can grow for ourselves are the jalapenos.

 I also had Scott drop off and pick up Tom's shirts from the laundromat and drop off Cookie to our friends, Beth and Barry after he gave Cookie a bath. He was also busy cleaning up his room, cleaning the turtle tank and installing the new automatic turtle feeder I picked up for him.

Fortunately I got off work a bit earlier on Friday, ran my errands and came home and packed the van. We also put all of our bikes on the bike rack, so we were ready to roll early Saturday morning.

July 11-July 19th. COVID Cabin Vacation! Week 18

We headed out for Tennessee early on Saturday morning for our Seitz Family vacation. We were joining Grandpa Seitz, Tom's brother Mark and Wife Linda Seitz, their son Eric, his wife Sarah and daughter Claire and their daughter Stacey and her husband Matt. Unfortunately, Tom's sister Susan and husband John opted out this year, and the Seitz family friend, Alex from Germany was unable to travel to the US.  We could not check into the cabin until 4pm, and the drive was about 8.5 hrs. A very nice car trip since it was the back roads through Virginia on I-81. A whole lot less traffic than traveling south on I-95. Although these days there is a lot less traffic on most roads. I noticed it has been a bit busier, but still not the normal traffic jams. And people are still driving crazy because there is less traffic. Also the protests across the country for social injustice has slowed a bit, but COVID seems to be spreading more so in the South and Western states.

We arrived around 3:30 Saturday afternoon and started unloading the van until 4pm while the cleaning crew finished up. The cabin is located in a cluster of rental units built off the side of a small mountain near the Pigeon Forge strip. The cabins are built on the side of a mountain, 5 stories tall! We all enjoyed our own rooms and bathrooms, as well as a large game room and movie theater, family room and big kitchen table to share meals. Pigeon Forge is basically a tourist town and looks like a combination of Orlando and Myrtle Beach. Lots of tourist places like The Titanic Museum, Wonder Works and the Hollywood Wax Museum. Lots of dinner theaters including the Dollywood Stampede and buffet restaurants, putt putt golf courses and water parks. And traffic on the main strip was incredible! Bumper to bumper, and that's in COVID times. We can't imagine what the traffic looks like during normal times!  There's also an outdoor downtown shopping and entertainment center called The Island surrounded by two rivers with a walkway. It was nice to be so close to all the activity, but being in our cabin felt very isolated. Although we had a little bit of an issue with noisy neighbors hanging out on their deck late at night. Not exactly spreading out room on the side of a mountain!

We had to stop into the grocery store for some extra supplies for the week and ran into the Kroger. So did everyone else on the planet! We could not believe how busy the stores were. Very crowded but most people were wearing masks. I was just excited that I could still use my parent's home phone number for discounts! We enjoyed some hot dogs for dinner and Allison and I got busy on a few puzzles.

On Sunday morning I put on my Wisconsin Catholic mass on tv. Afterwards our family decided to tour a local knife store(world's largest!). Besides looking at tons of knives there were  popular swords from video games and movies/shows like The Game of Thrones and The Hobbit. We also toured the civil war museum and crystals/fossil collection and kitchen item stores located in the basement.  Tom and Scott visited the cast iron store nearby and Scott bought himself a mini cast iron pan. we opted to get lunch to go at The Monster Mash Burger joint. The whole place has classic monster posters on the wall and they play monster themed music. The kids especially enjoyed listening to the theme from Disney's Haunted Mansion. We also wanted to do spend part of the day doing some hiking in the nearby Smoky Mountain National Park. We headed to a few popular trails in the mountains after lunch with waterfalls through the town of Gatlinburg. Also very touristy. Unfortunately, the trails are very popular and there is no parking on the small roads running through the mountains. So we drove past the trails and out of the park(after a short cut straight up the curvy mountain roads and then down again which completely terrified Allison and I think killed my car air conditioner!)  We still were interested in some hiking, so we found a paved trail along the Pigeon River in a park that Eric, Sarah and Claire had walked earlier in the day before heading back for a rib dinner. We wanted to stop into the Bush's Bean museum and store, but sadly they were shut down for COVID.

On Monday we celebrated Allison's 25th Birthday! We were still interested in hiking and this time headed to The Smoky Mountains through  Townsend, a much less crowded tourist town. We found a wonderful dirt trail traveling alongside a rocky river. We discovered that you needed to go early before any other tourists woke up if you wanted to do anything. The park opened at 8am, so we started our hike at that time and had no trouble getting parking and hardly saw any other hikers on the path. It was so wonderful to spend time in the mountains.  After returning to the cabin for lunch, Tom, Allison and I headed over to an indoor shooting range to try our hand at machine gun shooting! The range had a special 30 min range time with ammo and a lesson on shooting an M 4 automatic military grade weapon. Plus a tshirt! We bought a session for Allison and some extra ammo for me to also take a lesson too. We had a great time and even had a few gentlemen come over and watch us shoot! We all had  dinner together and enjoyed some custom cupcakes we picked out for Allison at a nearby bakery while she opened a few presents I packed as well as some gifts from the family. I think little Claire loved Allison's birthday balloon the most!

Happy Birthday Wishes to Nicholas Bozyk whose special day landed on Friday, July 17th. Happy Birthday Nick!

On Tuesday the Seitz men headed off for a White Water Rafting trip. Allison, Stacey and I decided to try and find some bears in the Smoky Mountains. Everyone recommends driving through Cades Cove in the Smoky Mountains to catch a glimpse of the bears. We did the long, non stop drive on a one way road through the Smoky mountains. We did spot lots of turkeys and deer, but just missed the bear sighting according to the Park Rangers! It was still a beautiful drive with lots of meadows and woods and the big mountains in the back. In the afternoon I tried to visit the community swimming pool, but it was packed. Instead, Allison and I found a sandy spot to swim in a river near the entrance to  the Smoky Mountain National Park. We certainly had quite an experience climbing down the rocky river bank and crossing the swift, rocky river to the opposite sandy shore. The water was very refreshing and very clear. We had fun looking at all the fish while wading in the river and relaxing on the shoreline .  The men also reported having a great run on the river and none of them fell in!

On Weds we took Grandpa tubing on a local river. This was his first tubing trip and mine also. We figured it was going to be a relaxing, lazy river kind of event. Unfortunately, the entire population of Tennessee also showed up and the river was so low, we spent most of our time getting stuck on boulders. The river was a solid yellow of inner tubes for 2.5 hrs, and I relied on Scott and complete strangers to push and pull me down the river. Meanwhile, Allison was busy helping Grandpa and cousin Stacey(with her recently operated on ankle) make their way down the river. I was too worried to get out of my tube since I did not think I would be able to get back in!  I also knew I would have a hard time walking down a rocky river bed. Since I had never been tubing, I did not know what to expect and was not upset by the experience. But our seasoned "tubers" assured me it was terrible and want me to go with them in Maryland. Anyway, it gave Grandpa and I an adventure to really remember!  And if that wasn't enough of a thrill for the day, a few of us decided to try out the nearby mountain coaster rather than take our chances at Dollywood during COVID times. A small group tried out the coaster first thing in the morning-a small cart pulls you up the mountain and then you ride down a curvy rail with hand controls to manage your speed. They had so much fun we went at night when the lights were on. And it was packed. The group stood in line for an hour before boarding but everyone had on masks and they kept everyone separated. I just hung out and took photos, but it was a beautiful night and felt like a visit to the Amusement park.

July 15th Happy Extended Tax Day!  Fortunately(or unfortunately), our family had completed our taxes back in April. Mom Bozyk's taxes were extended, so I was busy signing paperwork and making out checks to the government before our trip. Our accountant waited to submit the sale of the Florida house since Mom had to pay a hefty capital gain sales tax. We checked out the Florida house since it was flipped and posted for sale on Zillow. What an amazing transformation and the house was initially  up for sale near $1 mil. Dad Bozyk sure knew how to pick the waterfront properties!

On Thursday we decided to get out our bikes. We all had a hard time deciding on a bike trail. No one wanted to ride up and down hills. There was a long paved trail alongside a road outside of The Smoky Mountain National Park that half of our group decided to try out after revisiting the river hiking trail. Our family opted for the paved bike path in town. We parked at the end of the trail in a park and unloaded. We headed down a beautiful pathway along a river, behind The Island. Since it was early enough in the morning, the pathway was pretty clear and we quickly rode through a small neighborhood into The Island Shopping and Entertainment area. None of the shops were open, so we continued on to the end of the bike path at another park where an outdoor, social distancing high school graduation was going on. We also drove past The Pirate Voyage Theater(Dolly Parton production) and stopped to check out their barking seals in an outdoor pool!  The shops were beginning to open as we returned to The Island so we locked our bikes and stopped into a few shops, including Parrot Mountain. They have a local zoo that houses just exotic birds and you can actually purchase hand fed baby birds. This was their local store and they had several bins of baby birds as well as adult parrots on display. Allison and I had a great time chatting with all the birds! After lunch at the cabin, Tom, Allison and I decided to tour a local cave. Scott was not as comfortable heading into the crowded cave with COVID issues, but we figured we could keep ourselves separated. However, it turns out a whole lot of other people decided caving was a great idea, and unfortunately most people did not wear masks and our group was rather large. But we decided to give it a go, kept our masks on and kept moving forward while keeping our hands clean with hand sanitizer. It really was a wonderful cave to explore with an underground river and waterfall and a very large, open underground cavern. And a whole lot of stairs and small bridges over the underground rivers. We spent 1.5 hrs hiking through the cave which was a great relief from the excessive heat and temperatures above ground in the upper 90s. And when we came out, it was raining. Allison especially enjoyed watching the thunderstorms roll in over the mountains from the deck of the cabin. It's amazing how loud the thunder is in the mountains and quite a light show with all the lightning. The rain was a nice break since the temperatures were in the upper 90s all week.

Friday was fishing day! Our group had to split up since we only had one pontoon boat which took 4 of us at a time, plus the captain, Ryan. Scott joined the early morning group and Allison and I went out before lunch. The temperatures were getting pretty hot, and fish are not usually biting as much later in the day but Allison and I managed to each catch a fish-a hybrid for Allison and a bass for me. Allison seemed to have the lucky pole! Since it was later in the day, the lake was not as crowded and we were all just so happy to be able to spend time on the lake with a relaxing boat ride. The lake was about an hour drive from the cabin with a large dam at one end and multiple small islands scattered along the entire length. We even spotted a few nesting eagles.  A wonderful end to a wonderful vacation. That evening I ran back into town to pick up a few souvenirs and watched the wave of the new tourists arriving for another busy week.

Thank you so much Grandpa S for another terrific family get together! Wish we did not have to worry about the COVID virus, but we did enjoy a break from the daily stress we have all been under since the beginning of the pandemic in March. It was terrific getting to spend time in a new part of the US, especially The Rocky Mountains. When we weren't exploring tourist areas, we enjoyed relaxing at the cabin, reading on the deck, doing puzzles, watching movies in the cabin movie theater, relaxing in the hot tub, spotting wildlife including a feral kitten and enjoying little Claire's conversations and activities! Tom even managed to get in some school work and Allison connected with her D and D group via internet one evening. We also enjoyed some tasty meals together including ribs, burgers, spaghetti, pizza, steak and of course, Taco Tuesday!  It was nice having a grill out on the back deck to prepare our own meals.  Here's hoping for a family visit again next year that is COVID free!

We also had some wonderful news from Eric and Sarah Seitz. They are expecting another little girl in November and picked out the name Emma Kathleen.  Claire will have a partner in crime!

June 29-July 5th, Week 16 Covid  Wear a Mask!

Happy Birthday America! The 4th of July landed on a beautiful and very hot Saturday. With Covid, there were no parades, concerts, fireworks or parties this year. We were looking forward to the return of our BSO(Baltimore Symphony Orchestra) 4th of July concert and fireworks. We missed it last year while the BSO was on strike. Instead, we spent the day preparing food for an evening dinner party with our neighbors. We joined Dan and Gloria for a rib dinner with Key Lime Pie for dessert. Scott and I were not too hungry though since we broke down and enjoyed some coney dogs during the day. We were inspired by the 4th of July Nathan Hot Dog eating contest. I also pulled out some old fireworks and Scott and Allison had a great time in the evening shooting off all kinds of old noisemakers. So did the rest of the neighborhood it seems. Boy was it loud! Poor Cookie sat on everyone's lap that evening.

On Sunday evening we enjoyed a "Hamilton" watch party with Dan and Gloria. They came over for pizza and salad and we watched together. Tom enjoyed it more than he thought he would. Allison and I really enjoyed it and Dan and Gloria did too. We also enjoyed an ice cream cake to celebrate Allison's birthday early. We are planning on traveling to Tennessee to visit with Tom's family next week and Allison's birthday falls on July 13th. We decided to celebrate a bit early by opening some of her birthday presents that we did not want to pack. She got a lot of clothes, mostly exercise clothes and shorts. Plus she was asking for an electric kettle to make her hot tea, and Tom bought her a sushi making kit since she and Gabe really enjoyed trying to make their own. She also picked out a new Vera Bradley purse online since they were on sale. We also discovered Vera Bradley face masks so we each bought one for our upcoming vacation to Tennessee, and I purchased a duffle bag. So Sunday morning, we opened some of her gifts and enjoyed cake with Dan and Gloria that evening. We were so surprised to see Dan and Gloria had bought her a present as well-and it turned out to be a Vera Bradley cosmetic case!  Too funny. Allison and I also treated ourselves to a mani-pedi on Friday. I desperately needed a pedicure. Our salon takes reservations and does not have very many people in the shop at once. All the seats are spread out and have plastic barriers between the staff and customers. After Allison and I had a pedicure, we asked if we could get a manicure since they were taking precautions. And we were all wearing masks. It felt like heaven!

I also spent Sunday afternoon visiting face to face with my Mom! The facility opened the door of their hair salon and I was able to sit outside and chat with my mask on for about 20 mins. It was the first time since March that I was able to see her. Naturally I did all the talking, and Mom seemed to enjoy watching the large, fluffy clouds blowing past, as well as the wind in the trees and the birds and planes overhead. I am sure she also enjoyed getting a breath of fresh air. She has been taken out to the courtyard occassionally for a walk and picnics at times. But mostly the state is demanding residents stay in their apartments.

June 22-28, 2020 Week 15 Corona Virus Pandemic

So I finally received a job offer last Sunday night from the contract company, RehabCare. Apparently my email bounced back(recruiter spelled Seitz wrong). Our Rehab staff was busy emailing each other last week. At first, our full time OT was the only one to get a job offer. I got my offer last Sunday night and one of our OT assistants received her offer on Monday. Our other OT assistant did not get an offer. Both of those girls have been at the facility for 10 years. I feel really bad for the staff that did not get a job offer. Our rehab manager was offered a position, as was our 2 PTs and one PT assistant. The other two PT assistants are not interested. We also have two Speech Therapists. One was sent to another facility but both received job offers. None of us were offered our current salaries. We all took a pay cut. But at least this contract company pays for Holidays and Continuing Education after 90 days, plus a 401K plan. Not like the last contract company I had to deal with at my previous job. They did not offer any of that. And this contract company considers 30 hrs work week full time, so I don't have to commit to 40 hrs.  We will start with our new management on July 1. I have been busy filling out all their online paperwork. Not easy in a big Tstorm when the power kept flicking on and off. We had so much rain we thought for sure Ellicott City would flood again. Good thing it stopped when it did. Our neighborhood streets were beginning to back up and flood. We had lots of trees and branches down from wind and soaking rain and half of our neighborhood lost power. So far this year though we have not had many severe storms.

Meanwhile I needed to take my 3 Personal Days so I would not lose the pay, so I took off Weds to Friday. I will get paid for my vacation time, but we lose all our sick time. Our company must have been feeling sorry for the staff, (or they received some government funding) because we all got a Covid Bonus check. It's just that the therapy checks were smaller than the rest of the staff. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth though. Helps cover a bit of our lost sick time. But now we have to start all over building up Paid Time Off. I still have vacation scheduled for July with the Seitz family in Tennessee, so I already informed the new company that I am taking the time off. So far it is not too busy, so the staff should be able to manage. My coworker was supposed to take off some time too for her daughter's wedding, but the family decided to postpone the ceremony until next year. Pretty much the entire staff postponed or cancelled their vacation plans. Our supervisor was supposed to travel to Hawaii after their daughter's high school graduation. Right now if you travel to Hawaii, you are put into quarantine for 14 days. I could do that if I was independently wealthy! Of course, I would end up staying longer than 14 days! The question is, when you get some place, what is actually open or available. Maryland is currently in Phase 2 of reopening. The mall opened and Allison and Gabe took a stroll through the building, but Allison said not all the stores are open. It's hard to tell sometimes what is or is not open at this time. Restaurants opened indoors at 50% capacity. Most Marylanders are wearing masks when they go out. Even gloves if you have to touch a lot of things like shopping carts or the gas pumps. The staff at the stores are still wiping down the carts after use or have cleaning supplies available at the doors to wipe down the handles. Our YMCA reopened, but I am not interested in working out on the machines. The exercise classes are still being held outside.  I attended the pool aerobics classes, and those have not been restarted, just swimming laps. And you need a reservation.

Most importantly my hair salon reopened! Allison and I could not take it anymore, so we headed in to get our hair cut. Almost Heaven! They check your temperature, everyone is wearing a mask, including us through the whole process and limited number of people. I would have loved getting highlights, but was really not planning on spending that much time in the salon(usually takes over an hour for highlights and cut). Instead, our salonist, Ellie had my hair washed, cut and blow dried in about 20 mins. Same for Allison. She is even offering to cut hair at your house.  Now it is much more tolerable wearing all the safety gear at work with shorter hair! Tom and Scott are still holding out. And to top it off, Allison and I are getting a pedicure next week! Probably skipping the manicure. I don't mind someone working on my feet, but I can skip the fingernails for now.

And the Maryland zoo reopened! Since we are members, we took advantage of the Members only days and Allison, Scott and I went on Friday. Weds and Thursday sold out. You have to buy tickets ahead of time and make a timed entry reservation. Keeps the numbers down and people spread out. They are only open from 10-4, and reservations were every half hour. We got in at noon on Friday after Allison got her hair cut and brought in our lunch. It was nice to get out for a big walk around the zoo, and see the cute baby chimps! One of the zoo curators said they need to put away the cute babies cause it leads to too much grouping of humans in one area. A few displays were closed, including cramped, indoor spaces like their cave with Maryland night creatures.

I also spent some of my time off running errands-dropping off supplies for my mom. Still cannot visit in person. Her facility  recently was told the state wants the residents to continue to remain primarily in their rooms, including eating all their meals in their rooms. Also they want all staff in Assisted Living Facilities and Nursing Homes to be checked for COVID weekly now as well as the residents. I lucked out having the oral test last time. Not sure my nose will be able to tolerate that much poking! If and when they start. That's a whole lot of tests per facility. By the time they get everyone tested and get the results back, it will be time to retest! And it definitely is not an easy virus to follow. Our facility has decided to start taking in more hospital patients. Even though they are testing patients before they come to us, we are finding some are testing positive for covid while admitted to our facility, even after just a few days. And even after testing negative twice. And some have symptoms, like fevers and a cough and others don't. And the staff that work with them are testing negative. So hard to follow. But in order to stay in business, the facility has to admit some patients. They are all put on two separate units now, in their own rooms and restricted to their rooms. It makes it a little tougher to provide therapy, with less therapy equipment and little mobility. And wrapped up like a Christmas present with gowns, masks, face shields and gloves. Isn't it time to retire yet?

I also did some shopping at Costco, although they continue to have less and less on their shelves that you really need. Still can't find the cleaners I would like including Lysol spray or wipes and hair gel. I did manage to order and pick up some cheap face masks-good for outside or quick runs to the store. And I stocked up on some meat products. Still low supply here or expensive. Basic items like milk, eggs, cereal, canned/frozen vegetables, frozen french fries or pizzas, even ice cream are more plentiful. And that includes paper towel and toilet paper!  Our neighborhood continues to have fund raisers for food pantries as well as clothing collections. I put together two trash bags of mens/womens tshirts and shorts for a neighborhood clothing donation to downtown Baltimore. Looks like places including Good Will have reopened.

When I'm not trying to figure out what is open I am still busy reorganizing closets. Like I said, there really was no place to drop off donations, but I think they are getting started again. In the meantime, I am having fun looking through old photos and letters from friends and family I dug out from the back of the closet. Scott even helped me out by reorganizing and cleaning out our food pantry. Good thing the dump is accessible!

I also had to take Cookie back for a  quick check up during the week due to her infected anal gland. Fortunately she is all cleared up and I had the vet peek at her paw since she had a nick from the recent grooming. All's well. Still dropping off in the parking lot for the vet visits.

The highlight of the weekend was celebrating our 33rd Wedding Anniversary on Saturday, the 27th. Tom and I tossed around some gift ideas, but really could not agree on anything just yet. Tom wants to change out our gas stove for a gas range/convection oven combo. I really don't want to give up the gas oven which is what you have to do. Plus we already have an electric oven. I know the convection oven is faster and more consistent, so I wouldn't mind trying one. But not willing to give up my gas oven. And we talked about buying a new outdoor cooler, but they are a bit pricey. We could also use a new footstool/coffee table, but the quality leather furniture is so expensive. And we can't agree on another style. I like the storage units, but ours was bonded leather which wears off. We do agree we would both like another soft sided water bed mattress(also very expensive). So for now, we settled on cards and flowers. Plus I picked up Tom some new shorts for vacation.  We also discussed going out to dinner, but the whole experience is a bit dampened by coronavirus. So we opted for having our neighbors Dan and Gloria over for dinner on the patio and a movie. I had to work that morning, so Tom and Scott were busy cleaning, decorating and cooking a prime rib roast, potatoes and corn on the cob as well as bacon wrapped asparagus. I made an apple/berry cobbler with vanilla ice cream when I got home from work and Tom made creme brulee with a kit we have had in the cupboard. Everything turned out delicious and we enjoyed watching "The Invisible Man" on our outside movie screen. Gabe also joined us for dinner. Dan and Gloria had the chance to meet him. He and Allison spent the day together, out to lunch with a walk around the lake and a paddle around  lake in our double kayak. We have been storing our kayak at a coworker of Tom and Allison's house. They live on a small lake and they love taking our tandem kayak out especially with their young daughter. And we love having the kayak being used rather than hanging in the garage rafters. So Gabe seemed to enjoy his first kayak experience. If we can figure out how they can transport it, I think they would enjoy taking it out on our bigger lake at the local park.

Our local schools are finally out for the summer, but not much happening for the kids this year. Pretty much all the summer camps have been cancelled or have limited numbers. The community pools are all closed. Amusement parks have not yet reopened.

All summer sports are cancelled. Kids are going to have to figure out how to entertain themselves this year. Scott also finished school completing all his homework and classes at the beginning of the week and ending with a 3 hour final on Weds. Now we just have to wait for the grade! He is just so happy to be truly on summer vacation. He spent a few days hanging out with his old high school friends-out to lunch and watching movies, playing video games. He is just so happy to be done!