September 14-September 30th, Week 27-28 COVID 

Happy First Day of  FALL -September 22. 

On September 19th, Saturday morning, Allison and I visited my mom for a 20 minute, outside/inside Birthday celebration! (only 2 guests allowed at a time). Mom B turned 84 this year, but we could not celebrate completely together. So we had to make due because of the COVID restrictions. Her facility has been COVID free for the past two weeks. Therefore, the Md Dept of Health is allowing the residents to come out of their apartments again, and to eat  all their meals in the dining room. First they could just have dinner, then lunch and dinner, and now all 3 meals. Many of the residents in the facility got quite comfortable with having their meals delivered and declined to go to the dining room! Unfortunately, you have to pay for delivery. They were paying to have their meals delivered when they were quarantined in their rooms. Usually you only pay if your are sick and cannot come to the dining room. Not because you were confined to your room not of your own choice or fault. After all, it is a business, and they have to schedule more staff to serve trays to all the separate rooms, 3x/day. There is a large dining room on the main floor. Mom's 3rd floor has its own separate dining room, and I imagine it was not easy keeping my mom in her room all the time. When the residents do come out, they are supposed to wear masks. I had to drop off a box of disposable face masks for mom since the staff said most residents cannot tolerate the heavy cloth masks. Not sure how consistent my mom has been wearing a mask-she can't really understand and remember the whole concept of protection from the virus. But she has her own masks if she'll wear them. They also cancelled all group activities, but now are slowly bringing them back, like BINGO and Exercise group-socially distanced of course. Mom B seems to be taking it all in stride. Good thing she cannot remember missing out on anything. She pretty much lives life in the moment, so anything is a good thing! So we still cannot enter the building. And if she were to leave, she would have to be quarantined(for real)for 16 days. Fortunately she has not really had to go out for anything. She only missed a dentist appointment. And the staff thought she should be seen by a Speech Therapist in house because she was coughing during lunch-they were worried she might be choking on her food/drink. Turns out it was nothing. I didn't think it was an issue-I know she has post nasal drip that makes her cough quite a bit. Just to be safe, they recommended she sit at a table with no distractions when eating her meals. Good thing we have mandatory social distancing!  They also treated her for a urinary infection, which I always wonder about the accuracy, but it was just a bit of antibiotics, so no real harm. I was just upset that they never told me until after I got the monthly bill. As I said, she cannot come out, and I cannot go in. So it makes it tough to keep a close eye on things. 

And to celebrate special events, like 84th Birthdays. But we made the best of it. Allison made a beautiful, big card from all the Grandkids. I bought a huge Birthday Balloon Bouquet(still no flowers allowed) with huge numbers 8 and 4 in helium balloons and a dozen multi colored Happy Birthday balloons alongside. I bought a birthday card that plays "Happy Birthday", a Birthday Girl tiara,  a small chocolate cake for Mom and some small cans of Vernors ginger ale.  Plus lots of cupcakes and cookies to share with the other residents on her floor and staff. Plus I wrapped up some gifts including a few long sleeved shirts(it is starting to get a bit chilly), some jewelry, hand lotion, lemon scented soap and a small box of chocolate truffles. My brother Mike sent her some pumpkin scented body spray and she had a Birthday card from my brother Dan and wife Sheila. Allison and I sat outside on the patio and they brought Mom down to sit at the door of the dining room while we sang Happy Birthday!  She looked terrific! They also announced that the in -house Beauty Salon was reopening, so Mom is on the list for a perm and hair cut. I know she will really enjoy that! So not exactly how I planned on celebrating my mom's 84th Birthday, but I am just glad to have the opportunity!

Surprisingly, I have been incredibly busy at work, especially after Labor Day. It would appear that our facility management decided to go for it and bring in as many patients or hospice patients they could find, all around Maryland to make up for lost revenue when the virus first appeared. Our facility manager did not want to take any chances on exposing our residents to the virus, so they did not accept rehab patients for several months. The positivity rate in Maryland has been declining, so I think they feel more comfortable opening up the units to rehab patients now. And since we have less staff working when we switched to operating under a rehab contract company, there is more work for the rest of us that are left to manage. Even though the new company said they would bring in extra help when things picked up. I think they forgot that part. We also have to rotate working on Saturdays, but can't always take time off during the week. Plus we have had a lot of people that seemingly were talked into coming for therapy and then decided they could have gone right home. Which makes for a lot of unplanned paperwork when they up and leave ahead of schedule. And to make it more crazy, the new rehab company decided to upgrade our computer system. They shut it down on a Friday night at midnite and it was not up and running again until noon on Saturday. It just so happens I had to go in to work that day, my Mom's Birthday-on call for any evaluations that came in Friday night. I decided to wait and go in after noon when the computer was supposed to be up and running. So after visiting with my mom, Allison and I enjoyed lunch sitting outside at the Little Market Cafe in Olde Ellicott City(place that Gordon Ramsey visited). The place was packed and getting even busier. Glad we went earlier in the day. And it was fun catching up with Allison. But work was not fun. Even though the upgrade on the computer system was done, we were having terrible problems logging in and staying logged on! And now they have added a second ID system-calling in for a security code every 2 hours. Extremely annoying when you have to stop your treatment to go get your cell phone to call and get a security code. Especially annoying when you are on an isolation unit and have to change your PPE to leave and get your cell phone. None of us like taking our cell phones around the facility, especially on the isolation unit. My facility decided to place all the hospital patients on one, long hallway rather than 2 small hallways. After they reach their 16 day quarantine, they are moved off the unit to bring in more patients. Each patient has their own room and bathroom-no sharing. It gets a little crazy on the floor, and is very tiring when you have to constantly change your PPE to visit the rehab gym for equipment. We have just been allowed to bring 1 non isolated patient into the gym at a time-no other staff present. And they have to wash their hands before and after treatment and everything they touch has to be sanitized. Not sure it is completely worth it. And still no group treatments. Our residents also can come out of their long term care rooms if they are wearing masks. And Activities  has BINGO and exercise group in the hallway, socially distanced. Still, it definitely appears that most residents have demonstrated quite a decline in their function and physical condition with the limited attention and isolation. We have had more falls, including fractures in both our Assisted Living apartments and Long Term care rooms .And it would seem out in the community since most of our patients are coming in with hip or shoulder fractures due to falls. So not only are we busy with rehab patients, but still having to treat quite a few of the permanent residents. And it seems that we have lost quite a few residents as well, and not to COVID. Not a great time to be living in a facility. Although I still feel quite comfortable about having my mom in her apartment.  Mostly because she has always had a fairly upbeat personality, and thank goodness, can't remember what is going on! I feel like she is much safer living in the facility than she would be living at our house since they follow more strict guidelines with use of PPE and sanitation. Meanwhile, we have all had our flu shots. I have to get one for work and I did a drive through with Kaiser. Allison actually went in for a physical and got her flu shot. Tom usually opts out and Scott needs to wait to come home. 

Thank goodness I have not had any symptoms of COVID, and neither have our family members or friends. We have not had any confirmed COVID patients coming into my facility since July. Still trying to follow the restrictions, especially since we should be expecting a MD State inspection soon. They missed us last year, and then got really behind with COVID. An article in the paper mentioned many facilities in Maryland getting huge fines for not following the COVID protocol. One of the facilities I worked at on a part time basis was fined $315,000! I know they can't afford that. One of my previous coworkers from my last rehab center works there and said they are not allowed to bring in any more patients. She is worried since she does not have much work there and is traveling to another facility near DC to make up for lost hours. But it still is not enough to pay the bills. And she is now the caregiver for her Adult Down Syndrome brother. Very scary times. So I guess I should not be complaining that I have too much work, but it is pretty exhausting. When I started out as an OT, I usually treated 6 patients a day. There was at time when I had up to 12 patients a day, but we had techs that worked alongside us, and it cut our own work in half. Now I see 9-10 patients daily by myself. Plus our company only allows the therapist to do all the paperwork, so more typing for me. On a tiny Apple Ipad so I've had to resort to reading glasses! Some places allow the assistants to help out with paperwork. Not us. And the paperwork has to be done when you are treating the patient. So it is especially annoying when you lose the WiFi on the small Ipad, or now have to log in with an added phone call for top security! Plus with this new rehab company, we have to spend more time training by participating in online inservices several times a week. So it really interrupts our day. I was so getting used to having 3-4 patients a day and coming home before 3pm.It gave me time to get errands done, help cook dinner or go to the grocery store.  Now I get home around 7:30 each night. And I was not used to working 5-6 full days a week. I needed an extra day to take care of myself, and run errands and get to my pool exercise group. 

Our YMCA and local gyms are open, but on a limited admission basis. Most of the exercise classes were being run outside in the parking lot-not easy for me to do that anymore. I have tried to make reservations for my pool exercise class, but they only take 10 people, and there are not very many classes available after work or on the weekends. And I am not really a lap swimmer person. Plus the locker rooms were not open, so you had to wear your swim suit there and go home in it(wet). No place to change. That would not have been so bad when the weather was warm, but it is starting to get dark and chilly earlier in the day. I am lucky if I can get home long enough to shower, wash my uniform, eat a quick dinner and take Cookie out for a walk before it gets dark. Most nights I can't get it all in and Cookie gets a walk in the dark with a flashlight. That makes for interesting walks sometimes. One night we got snorted at by a startled deer! I can tell you I was just as startled! So Tom wants to know why we are paying for the gym if we don't use it. I really did not want to stop my membership since you end up paying a fee for renewing your membership if you start up again. For awhile  it was considered a tax donation. And our Busch Garden membership was extended even though we pay a monthly fee. We found it hard to give up the membership since we pay so much less than new members as we have had it for about 20 years. And our family still enjoys visiting Williamsburg, VA. Especially during the holidays, like Halloween. We are waiting to see if the park will put on some type of Halloween celebration. 

We have also been staying busy with yardwork. I have started planting my fall flowers/mums and pansies. It's time to take out my summer flowers. I was just excited to see that I was able to get a few milkweeds growing this year. And even more excited to see them full of monarch caterpillars! So glad to be helping to add to their population.  I spent a few days edging the entire driveway, sidewalks and curb(we have a very big curb since we are on the corner). Twice in one season! That is a record. It takes me about two days, even with the electric edger. Plus sweeping up all the loose grass and leaves. I  also wanted to take advantage of the season and get some new grass seed down. I planned on getting more done than I could accomplish in one weekend with raking/thatching, laying down topsoil and spreading seed. After Tom and I stopped into Home Depot to buy supplies, it was just not enough. I needed more. And grass seed is so crazy expensive! I usually just work on a small area at a time, and we have quite a big lawn! I wanted to take advantage of the nice weather, but it seems like we went from summer to winter rather quickly, even with a few nights of frost warning. Even though the meteorologists predicted a warm Fall. Not so. Tom has taken over the grass cutting(we sure miss Scott's help with this!). And he still had to put down weed killer since the lawn company he hired this year has been lacking. We also spent an afternoon helping our elderly neighbor trim some big branches off his cherry tree located near out lot line. Tom has a small chain saw and ladder that made the project run a lot more smoothly and quickly than our neighbor with his handsaw trying to cut through large, heavy branches. And Tom has been struggling with one of our garage door openers. He installed a new one, but it seems to keep slipping on the track and never consistently shuts the door all the way. Tom even replaced the springs since they broke, but still not working consistently. It is a good brand-Genie-but Tom may have to bite the bullet and buy a more expensive unit. He's also been doing more of the cooking since the kids are gone and I usually get home late. He had a bit of a mishap with the oven though when he put some stuffed pork chops on to cook in my last blue glass pyrex casserole dish-and it exploded! Guess they recommend now when you use the glassware at high temperatures that you add some water. Of course it only happened when I gave my other dish to Allison. And what a big mess to clean up on the bottom of the oven. Not to mention, there went dinner!

Tom has actually been able to go into work more consistently with his new space program. Just waiting for further security clearance. In the meantime, he has been busy with his new class, writing up his thesis. He thought he would just be working on his own project, however, as a class, he has to critique other student's work, which he feels is a waste of his time. But unfortunately it is a class. So he has extra work that he'd rather not be doing. At least his thesis is coming along quite well and ahead of schedule. Congratulations to Tom who earned a Masters of Philosophy in Management by completing all the prerequisite work to his PhD!

So when we are not busy doing yardwork, schoolwork or going to work, we have been enjoying a plethora of sports! How crazy to be able to watch Football, Basketball, Baseball, Golf, Tennis and of course, Hockey all at once-live! We especially enjoyed watching the hockey games leading up to the Stanley Cup and cheered on the new champs, The Tampa Bay Lightning. We were also happy to have NFL back and cheer on our Ravens. We hosted a Sunday dinner with their first televised game and had Allison and our neighbor's Dan and Gloria over for a watch party. They invited all of us over for a Monday night football game and dinner too.  And Tom and neighbor Dan have taken up Thursday night football games together. Not sure if and when College Football will take place for the BIG 10 or northern teams. The southern teams have started playing and there has been negotiating for starting the BIG 10 season, even with President Trump getting involved in the discussions. Western still has not announced a planned season. Definitely no Homecoming events. I certainly missed the Uof Maryland/MSU game this past September that was scheduled here in Maryland. I was looking forward to another visit by my brother Dan and wife Sheila and attending the game.  Our local schools sports teams are also  still on hold. I ran into Allison's high school field hockey coach. She said they may try to have a Fall sports season in the spring. Going to be very crowded on the fields. Meanwhile the Fall teams like soccer, field hockey, football, golf, track and tennis are all just having team building meetings. I imagine it would be hard to try out as a new player. School classes are all still online, although our Governor gave the green light for students and teachers to return to the classrooms. Our county is still in Phase 3 recovery from COVID-more people allowed in indoor spaces but still follow social distancing and wear masks. Not so apparent at places like the grocery stores or box stores like Walmart. No one really follows the one way signage anymore. They stopped counting the number of people entering stores, except maybe for Trader Joes. They always have a line out the door. And no one mans the front door to clean the carts anymore. Some places leave cleaners out for shoppers, like the grocery stores. Costco continues to spray down their carts when they bring them in with sanitizer. We continue to keep hand sanitizer nearby.