Jan 4-Jan 10, 2021

What a start to the 2021 New Year. Almost as crazy as 2020! We watched a President Trump Rally in DC turn ugly with a raid on the Capital building while the Senators and House Reps were meeting to finalize the count on the Electoral college votes for the incoming President. No matter the objections, looks like Joe Biden will be sworn in as the next President on Inaugural Day.  Never a dull moment in our neck of the woods. Especially when politics is involved. 

Our January weather so far has been mild enough to get outside and de- Christmas the house. Work is slow for me since we are still trying to recover from our super spreader, so I had Tuesday off. Instead, Scott and I started taking down the outdoor Christmas lights off the trees and shrubs. I was busy gathering extension cords and reorganizing the garage. Scott put up the ladder and pulled the lights down from the trees before it started raining. On the weekend, when it was sunny and dry, Tom and Scott pulled the lights off the house in the morning and packed them away in the garage. In the afternoon we were busy taking down all our Christmas decorations inside the house. How sad. I so love having all the twinkly lights at this time of year. 

Tom and Allison were back to work this week. Allison actually had to start back to work on Sunday which is the reason we came back from Williamsburg early. Looks like her Northrop finance department kicks into high gear at the beginning of the month and beginning of the year, no matter what day it lands on. She also has been busy working long hours the entire week and has so far put in 20+ hrs overtime! She may not qualify for those recent stimulus checks if she keeps up this pace! Her friends even put their weekly Dungeon and Dragons game on hold since Allison has been so busy although she did get a visit from a few friends with a drive by to drop off some tea and a mug, some candles and a blanket for support. Tom also returned to work in the building, but is also able to complete some projects from home on the computer. 

The best part of my work week was getting the COVID vaccination on Friday the 8th. CVS came to our facility and set up shop in the HR office, giving out shots from 10am to 4pm. We filled out our paperwork the week before so I had a short wait to get my shot. Afterwards they ask that you wait 15 mins to make sure of no allergic reactions. I then took a photo with our advertisement poster and sent it to my mom's facility. Their manager sent out an email asking family to send in photos requesting staff to get their vaccinations as many healthcare workers are hesitant to do so. I was worried about my mom all weekend as I received several calls on Friday from her nurses telling me she wasn't feeling well and had actually fallen a couple of times in her apartment. She is currently on isolation as is all of the building since several staff members tested positive for COVID and she was exposed. Fortunately she has tested negative each time and they tested her multiple times. Can't figure out why she had a bad day. So far all the lab tests look good. They did bring in the Nurse Practitioner to check her out but nothing out of the ordinary. They can't get the vaccination soon enough! They told me to hold off on picking up my mom's Christmas decorations I guess in case they are infected. I did drop off a very cute Snowman picture frame with mom's Christmas card photo and our framed family photo. I had a lot of fun returning to Kohls last weekend to use up my Kohls bucks and do a little after Christmas shopping, picking up some gifts for next year and some snowmen for mom to decorate her apartment after putting away the Christmas tree. 

I've been enjoying reading Christmas cards and letters too. It would appear the the US mail just basically quit delivery after Dec 11th. My mom's monthly apartment payment for December still hasn't arrived which I mailed on the 11th. Dad Seitz still hasn't received his Christmas box which was rerouted through Indiana due to a wrong shipping label(that one was on me!)

 

Scott was busy trying to enjoy the last week off school before classes start again. He had a quick visit with his high school friend Matt, but mostly spends his time chatting with friends online and playing video games or working on his computer art. And Tom and Scott have been sampling some beer at the local pubs, including another trip to Guinness for lunch and a drink while sitting outside at their own fire pit. The only issue Scott has currently is that he was unable to renew his driver's license. When you turn 21, you need to renew your license. He signed up to renew the license in person because they won't let you do it online for the new license. Plus he needs to bring all his personal information for the real ID. However, the MVA closed all in person appointments and never rescheduled him yet. He sent in an email and is still waiting to hear from someone. He needs to renew his license before returning to school since it looks like the soonest appointment he could get now would be at the end of February. 

We finished the week off celebrating our Raven's football team win over the Tennessee Titans in the first playoff game on Sunday afternoon. Allison and our neighbor's Dan and Gloria came over to enjoy the game and a chili and bratwurst lunch. Dan and Gloria also brought wings and peel and eat shrimp. And the day before I made some more chocolate covered Oreos for dessert. I found Tom some Java(coffee)flavored Oreos, Nutella Oreos and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough/Brownie and Cream triple layered Oreos that I dunked in Ghiradelli chocolate along with some more big pretzels. All the desserts seemed to be a big hit. And so was the game! Very exciting! Can't wait for the following game next weekend, and I got to wear my new Tucker jersey. 

Unfortunately I missed our virtual Girl Scout choir sing a long workshop scheduled Sunday afternoon in the middle of the Ravens game. We usually get a full house in January where our GS choir teaches traditional songs to troops. It's a lot of fun but with all things was scheduled as an online event. I would have actually tried this one, but the game cane first!

Happy Birthday to the Birthday Girl, Mom Seitz on January 6th! Feast of the Epiphany! or the 12th Day of Christmas. Traditionally, Christmas decorations should be taken down on the 5th. Any sooner is considered bad luck.  Looks like we were basically on schedule and we can all use some good luck for the New Year!