September 1-September 13, Week 25-26. Maryland Phase 3 COVID

Just in time for Labor Day weekend, our Maryland Governor moved the state to Phase 3-large venues may re open but with limited admission. Our library just reopened. Movie theaters opened. Live performances are allowed at 50% capacity, or 250 people. Churches can increase to 75%. Restaurants and stores may increase the number of people allowed inside. But people are still being asked to stay 6 ft apart and wear masks inside and outside if there is a large crowd. Tom and I tried going out to dinner at the outdoor spaces in our area, but most tables have been full. Or you need a reservation. There were several restaurants that have added live entertainment. After driving around for an hour with no luck, we ended up on the patio at a local chinese restaurant, and we had it all to ourselves! The staff brought out some camping lanterns for the table since it was getting dark. The food was very good, and they even gave us some hot tea and a bowl of wonton soup for free. 

And with September comes the start of school. Governor Hogan approved all school sports and schools reopening in person, however, all counties have chosen to cancel sports and begin school online only. School systems are stating they are not prepared to begin school in person, or there are just too many kids to safely reopen. If they do reopen, they are eligible for federal funds to assist with safety measures, but it does not seem to be too big a draw for Maryland schools. Instead they are trying to make sure all kids have computer access. The private catholic schools have reopened and are allowing students back on a rotating basis at both the elementary level and high school level. 

As the weather starts to cool slightly, that excitement of the Fall and all things fall has started to settle in. But it does not feel the same this year without all the kids back to school activities. Usually we can hear the high school band practicing late into the evening as the football team, soccer team, field hockey and track teams all prepare for their season. The high school kids usually start pre season practices in mid August, but all the fields have been quiet. We are used to seeing the high school track team running through our neighborhood, but not this year.   And no pack of kids waiting on our street corner in the morning for the bus when I am heading to work. And no buses on the road slowing everything down during rush hour, but there does seem to be a bit more traffic out these days. And more kids playing outdoors and riding bikes in our neighborhood.  Frankly, I am so grateful not to have to be a parent trying to assist with online teaching for their kids. Or working online from home at the same time. Or working outside the house and needing someone to stay home with the kids while they are online learning. What a crazy mess. Some parents have switched to homeschooling systems, or put their kids in catholic schools in order to go back. 

We always enjoyed wrapping up summer with a trip to Busch Gardens and Water Country USA. We usually had to make plans quite a bit ahead of time. The hotels were usually sold out-besides the tourism activities in the area, many traveling sport teams took over the rooms and restaurants. We also had to make sure we could drop Cookie off at our friends, or get a hotel that took dogs, or put her in the kennel. All several weeks ahead of time since everything booked up fast. We've even traveled to Williamsburg during a hurricane once since we could not get out of our reservations. That was an interesting trip since the amusement parks were closed and the hotel and most of the city lost power. Still quite an experience, and they ended up reopening the park before we had to head home. This year, Busch Gardens finally opened in August on weekends only for a Beer Fest. You had to make reservations and pay extra for beer tasting. The water park never opened. In September, Busch Gardens brought back their spring Food and Wine Fest-make reservations and pay for samples. We thought we would give it a shot and see if we could get hotel reservations and park reservations over Labor Day weekend, even though we were checking the week before. Initially there were no openings at the park. But they said to keep checking back and lo and behold I got reservations for Sunday morning from 11-3(the open time slot in the park). Then Tom was able to get us a hotel room right in Williamsburg! And last but not least, our very good friends the Plunketts graciously took Cookie back even though they had just watched her the weekend before when we left to take Scott up to school.  So everything was on track and we invited our neighbors and Allison along too. Allison wanted to come home Sunday evening so she could join her online Dungeons and Dragon group. Tom did not want to drive home on Labor Day through DC. And I had to work on Saturday since I had taken off the previous Monday. So it was going to be a quick trip!

We had hoped I would not have to work late Saturday and that we could get on the road a bit early and tour around Williamsburg. Not the case. We were extra busy at work and I did not get home until 5:30. Looks like the hospitals were trying to empty their beds for the holiday weekend like they usually do. (less nursing staff on duty). But I quickly showered and threw my bag in the car and we picked up Allison and headed down the highway. We got dinner on the way and traffic was not too bad. We got to the hotel around around 10pm. On Sunday morning, we went for a stroll around historic Williamsburg and stopped in for coffee and breakfast at a local shop. The town closed off some of their streets to put out tables, but our coffee shop was packed. And there were quite a few William and Mary students out strolling the streets as well. On the other hand, the Virginia Peanut company store only allowed a few people inside at a time and we had to wait in a line outside before getting in. I wanted to pick up some peanuts for Beth and Barry as a thank you for watching Cookie. Sadly, there was no line at Kilwins ice cream, but we were still stuffed from breakfast and heading over to a Food and Wine tasting, so we missed it again! Last time we ran into Kilwins was in South Haven, MI, when we took Scott back to school, but that line was very long and we were hungry for dinner then. We strolled down the main street of the historic Williamsburg homes and shops too, but they did not have their usual outdoor market. You could still pay to get into the historical buildings, but we did not have enough time for all that.  It was getting to be time to drive over to the park. 

At Busch Gardens you had to show your printed reservation before getting into the parking lot as well as your member pass. Naturally some people showed up with no reservations and had to turn around. Once you park, they funneled us through metal detectors and temperature checks. If you passed, you went to the front gate to show your reservation again and get your membership badge scanned. And then we were in! We discovered that they only opened 1/2 of the park-a maximum of 1000 guests. The place was pretty empty. We caught up with Dan and Gloria and started around the open section of the park and began to sample some of the delicious treats. They had quite a sampling, including chinese dumplings, bangors and mash from England, steak strips with chimichurri sauce and mushroom Risotto as well as desserts like beignets and cannolis. I also discovered that I could get wine samples! We bought a punch card for one price and used up 10 punches between the 3 of us, sometimes sharing the samples because they were large enough. It was nice to just walk around the park. Mostly the roller coasters were open but Scott is our roller coaster guy, so we did not go on the rides. Instead we visited the shops, nibbled on the treats and chatted with our in house artist, Carolee Vitaletti. We have run into her over several years now, and Allison bought one of her shore bird prints. She told us how she had just set up her new shop in the Tampa Busch Gardens park when COVID hit, so she headed back to Virginia and stayed busy doing custom pet portraits and now custom people portraits. After a few hours strolling around the park, we headed out. Too bad the water park wasn't open because the weather was perfect. Traffic was a bit heavier heading back on Sunday afternoon, but we stopped to pick up dinner at California Tortilla before dropping Allison off at her apartment. She had plenty of time to join her group online and we had plenty of time to pick up Cookie. Overall a fun although quick outing. 

We definitely miss our usual end of summer/start of fall activities, like the Renaissance Fair and Maryland State Fair.

We all had Monday off for Labor Day. This is a pretty rare event for me, but my new contract company prefers that the staff not work on the holiday(cheaper if you don't work, although a few people asked to come in to work). Tom and I spent the day doing some yard work. We were going to have our neighbors over for drinks and dessert when they got back from Busch Gardens, but I was running late. I headed over to Mom B's to pick up her laundry and the nurse ended up bringing her down to the lobby for a visit! There was no one around, so we could chat through the front glass door. I was just amazed at how long my mom's hair has grown! The beauty shops have pretty much been closed since March in the facility, and I cannot take her to our hair salon. Not sure when she will be able to get an appointment again! Meanwhile, they are using barrettes to keep it off her face!  It was wonderful to see her, and even though Tom thinks she will forget who I am since we have not really visited in person for awhile, she readily told the aide when she saw me "that's my daughter!".  It was nice to spend the day at home after traveling both weekends. On the Monday before Labor Day weekend, both Tom and I were at home after getting back from Michigan which was a good thing since they ended up delivering our new couches! We decided to order couches from Amazon to replace the couch we gave Allison for her new apartment. It was cheaper to buy a new set of couches from Amazon then 1 couch from the Sofa Store. However, delivery was a bit tricky. They were going to deliver them the week before, but lost them. Then they were going to drop them off on the Friday we left to take Scott up to school. Tom got them to postpone to Monday, although Tuesday would have been better in case we didn't get back in time. However, it all worked out well with our couches coming early in the morning. We still had our old love seat to relocate. Allison decided it was too big for her apartment along with the couch and lazy boy chair. The delivery men did not need it and neither did Allison's boyfriend Gabe. So I put in on our neighborhood website and it was taken immediately for another happy college student. A neighbor woman came over to check it out and wanted it if it fit in her minivan, and it seemed to, but Tom could not load it himself. So she left and brought her husband back and the two guys slid it easily into the back and shut the door hatch! She was so happy to get the couch for her son, and very excited to visit our house! They had also lived in the neighborhood for over 20 years and have watched from afar how we remodeled and did our landscaping. She said she always wanted to check out the interior of our house and loved it. She remembers back when our place was a rental and not much improvements. Very sweet. 

We also gave away my last large screen computer to a local teacher. She was asking for a donation so she could better teach her art and photography class to her Baltimore City students. She said they were given small Ipads to work on from the school district, but the screen was so small she could not really do a good job. She was very excited to get our large monitor and equally excited that it had a camera. I have been trying to sort through items recently with Allison moving out, making sure she has all her things from around the house. Although we don't want to overwhelm her!  However, she does have that extra storage in her bedroom closet and we haven't yet sorted out the Christmas decorations! She seems to really be settling into her new space and has enjoyed having friends over for dinner and video games. Now she is really finding out what it is like to host since her friends visit often and have requests for drinks and snacks! I picked her up an extra set of 4 place settings with bowls and dishes since they were on end of summer sale 1/2 off so she'd have enough table servings. She purchased herself a set of high stools for her kitchen counter with her Target gift card that she got from her previous work group and a spice rack. It's amazing all the things you need and don't think about until you move out on your own. At least when Tom and I were married and moved out of the parents house, we got lots of gifts from our wedding and furniture donations also from parents. This new lifestyle is different for all of us!  Especially Cookie-she was getting comfortable with having someone at home all the time and taking her for daily walks. I am trying to keep up! 

Sending out a whole bunch of Happy Birthday Wishes to Sarah Seitz who celebrated her special day the last week in August. And a Happy Birthday Shout out to Dan and Dave Bozyk on Sept 2nd, as well as to Mike Bozyk on Sept 10th. Happy Birthday to everyone!  And special remembrances for September 11th. Cannot believe it has been 19 years since that horrible attack on the US. Tom and I were in England that day. 

 August 24-August 31  Week 24 COVID

So Allison moved out. One down, One to go! This was Scott's week to pack and get ready to return to Western Mich. Mostly he left everything he needed for school packed in his room. He did have a little bit of laundry to do, but he figured he could pick up essentials like shampoo when he got to Michigan. And I have been setting aside disposable masks, gloves and cleaning supplies so that he would have it if he needed it.  So he just had to load his Jeep on Thursday night, but the overflow and large items went into my van. The only thing he was really missing was toilet paper since he grabbed paper towel packets by mistake. Good thing he has a suite mate for now who already moved in since they share a bathroom!  I also spent the week getting items ready for Scott, like his annual photo collage. I like to put together an 8x10 page of the year in review, starting with photos of Scott and the family from last fall.  I was afraid I would not have very many photos  this year since so many of our activities have been cancelled, but it turned out I had too many to choose from! I did have to get it reprinted though since the first one came out fuzzy. Walgreens happily replaced it. I also send him off with a family photo from last Christmas. Plus I found a very cute plant at Loews called a "Money Tree" from South America. Just needs watered 1x a week and it loves the sun and heat. Perfect for a college dorm room!  I figured he could use some extra greenery if he is going to be stuck in his dorm room.  I was also busy picking up items to through into a back to school survival kit that I will mail to him in the first week or so(if they get to stay at school!)

Right now college students all across America are going to back to school, or trying to at least. Some schools have completely cancelled on campus learning. Some only allowing students back that need to participate in labs-like MSU. Our neighbor's daughter attends NYU-they quarantined all their students. I guess food delivery to all the dorms was not going so well-late food, no food, wrong food. And no one has really said what the plan is if kids come to school and test positive for COVID. Not like camp-when your kid was sick, you had to take them home. WMU does not require you to be tested for COVID when coming to school, but strongly recommends it. Scott just has to fill out a daily COVID questionnaire at Western-are you feeling sick? Then if he answers "No" to everything, he gets a pass so he can continue his day. 

Tom and Scott left Maryland for school on Friday morning. Tom has started a new position at work on the space program. He has actually been going into work for a few days since his project is classified and he cannot have discussions over the phone or work on the computer from home for security reasons. Fortunately he has his own office at work, so he is not too worried about running into a lot of people. And he still has a pretty flexible schedule, so he was able to take off a day. The boys headed straight to Michigan after a quick stop at the Libby glass outlet in Toledo, but then did not have much to do when they arrived. Scott did pick up some glass plates at the outlet store to have dinner ware in his dorm. He does not plan on eating many meals in the dining hall. They are supposed to have "To Go" options on the meal plan. The boys did a bit of shopping in Kzoo for bathroom supplies, but not much since Scott's Jeep was packed. He also could not pick up the large, bulky items in his storage unit, but they checked it out to make sure everything survived the summer. They were very pleased to see nothing was wet or moldy so we did not have to replace anything including his rug, computer printer, desk chair, futon frame, large posters and coffee tables, fans and vacuum cleaner.  However, they needed my van to move everything. And they could not check in to the dorm early like they did last year. They moved in a day early last year late in the afternoon when things had slowed down, but we had to pay an extra $50 for checking in a day ahead of schedule. This year with the limited numbers allowed in the building, in the parking lot and on the elevators, they are being a lot more strict. Plus when you move in, you are only allowed to bring 1 extra person in the building with you at a time. Scott's move in day and time was not until Sunday from 11-1. Usually the freshmen get to move in on Saturday before class starts, as well as those playing sports or in band, ROTC and Honors students. Certainly it would be different if Scott lived in an apartment, but he hasn't really met anyone yet that he feels comfortable with living off campus. Kinda glad he is not in an apartment since so many college students are getting stuck with their apartment lease payments even if they are not back to school. In the dorm he has his own room and nearby parking for his Jeep, and nearby dining hall so pretty much everything he could need. Although in the next few years, more of his classes will be in the engineering complex which is off campus. However, with classes being mostly online right now, it really doesn't matter where he is living. This is just really convenient for everything. 

 Allison and I both had to work on Friday. She has started her rotation for her last internship, but they have not yet given her any real projects. Instead she is still helping out with the work load from her last rotation. I was able to get done early, so I headed home to shower and pack my bag. I also packed up a few last minute items for Scott. He had put the bulky items in my van from home the night before like his futon mattress. We also dropped off Cookie the night before to our friends, Beth and Barry. We were supposed to watch their dog while they dropped off their son at Georgia Tech a few weeks ago. However, their son decided to stay home since his classes were all online. So no dog sitting for us, but Cookie was able to stay with them. I was also dragging out bags of clothes and shoes that we all decided to donate as we were cleaning out closets during this pandemic. I filled 8 trash bags with donations and had to leave them outside for a Friday morning pick up. I was just glad they started picking up used items again. Scott also cut the grass for us one last time on Thursday, and even got his hair cut! Both Tom and Scott were holding out as long as they could. Scott actually wanted to see how long he could grow his hair, but I think it was starting to get in his eyes and tickle his ears. He actually reminded me of Shaggy from Scooby Doo with his wispy hair and blonde mustache and goatee. He never really felt safe with most of the salons, but this place only allowed 1 person in at a time and they lock the door to keep people from wandering in. Even Tom felt comfortable enough to get a hair cut too. And Scott met up with his high school friend for a last visit with take out lunch at the local park before leaving for the fall term. 

After I got off work on Friday and stopped into the house for last minute packing, I headed over to the medical lab for an antibody test. I wanted to see if I actually built up any antibodies with my COVID diagnosis. It was then time to pick up Allison from her place. We headed out on the road around 4pm into a tstorm. The rest of hurricane Laura was headed our way. We were only driving to Ohio that night, but it was a sketchy trip with on and off again downpours. At least when we got to the hotel, the rain had slowed. Fortunately the traffic was not too heavy. And we don't take long rest breaks since most everything is closed along the highway. I was just surprised to see on the newsbefore going to bed that Ohio has high school sports-at least football. All the Friday night games were on the news. The poor kids were out playing in the downpour while the parents sat in the bleachers under umbrellas and plastic bags. Actually, I imagine the kids were loving it! Here in Maryland there are no high school sports or extra curricular activities.  On Saturday we pulled into Kzoo around 1:30 and stopped for lunch outside at Qdoba before meeting up with Tom and Scott. We couldn't check into the hotel until 3pm, so we did some quick shopping at Meijer beforehand. Hotels are deep cleaning the rooms, so it takes longer to check in guests. And they seal the doors afterwards so you know that no one else has gone in your room after cleaning. When we did check in,  we dropped off our bags and I talked the family into driving out to South Haven on Lake Michigan, about a 30 minute drive. Tom and Scott visited Grand Rapids that morning for lunch which is about an hour drive from Kzoo. But they were up for another adventure. We had hoped to catch dinner in South Haven, walk around and peek in some shop windows, pick up some blueberry pie and Kilwins ice cream after stopping by the Lake Michigan beach. Unfortunately, the town was packed with people-with and without masks. The restaurants were all packed with long lines waiting for tables, as well as the streets and shops with some people wearing masks and others not. We drove right through town and down to the beach. It was petty packed as well, partly because the water level is so high in the Great Lakes this year that most of the beach is under water. They even had to put up barriers along the coast line to help hold the sand. We actually did not have a problem finding parking-their lot is paid parking at the beach. Tom and Scott stayed in the car and Allison and I got out. I really came for a mission-I had always wanted to sprinkle a little bit of my Dad's ashes in Lake Michigan. Obviously for sentimental reasons-just so some of him would be in his home state and at the lakes that he loved. And this September marks the 5th anniversary of his passing. Well, it was a great idea although I did not realize how many people would be around since half of the beach was missing and everyone spread out down the coastline away from the public swim areas. Last time we visited I was able to walk quite a bit down the lake with no one around. Not this time. And I also was not expecting such high waves on Lake Michigan. It looked like the Atlantic Ocean! And with the high wind and waves came a lot of kite surfers. The people with big kites that pull them around on the water while wearing a small surfboard strapped to their feet. They actually look like snowboards for the water. It was amazing to watch them all shooting across the water. But I had a mission, and Allison and I found a somewhat secluded spot for me to wade in and sprinkle some of the ashes from his small urn. Allison even recorded it for me. So mission completed, we tried to stop into dinner in one of the smaller towns back along the road to Kzoo, but all the little restaurants were either packed or closed early due to COVID. We also hoped to pick up a blueberry pie at the fruit stands, but they were all closed too. South Haven is known for their blueberries. So we gave up and headed back towards Western. We would have loved to have eaten at one of the local restaurants near campus, but they were all packed with people and very limited outdoor dining spaces. Instead we got in a curb side pick up line at Outback Steakhouse and ordered steak and shrimp combos and took them back to the hotel to enjoy since it was getting rather late. Good thing the sun stays up longer in Michigan. We have longer days up there. But we were running low on energy by 8pm.  We did enjoyed watching the Disney+ movie Ivan the Gorilla with our meal. A "live action" movie based on the true story of a lowland gorilla that was raised in captivity after being captured as a baby in the Congo. He lived for almost 30 years in a concrete cage while performing in a strip mall circus show until an animal rights group stepped in. Of course Disney hyped it up with their talking animals, but the kids and I liked it(at least Allison and I liked it mostly). Anyhow, it is nice to be able to stream our Disney shows anywhere we go especially with Tom's new gadget, a Firestick. 

So Sunday morning we were up early. No free breakfast at the hotel. Some hotels have prewrapped food to go. All the hotel swimming pools seem to be shut down as well as their exercise rooms. We decided to have a Sweetwater Mills donut breakfast with coffee. And the whole world decided it is now officially fall and all things pumpkin are out! We fell in love with the donut shop's plain pumpkin donuts, as well as pumpkin pie and pumpkin cheesecake donuts. Although Scott and Tom especially enjoyed their huge raspberry fritters(we usually get apple).  By then it was time to wander over to school. We parked Scott's Jeep in the student lot and then drove the van  over to the front of his dorm. They stop your car to see if you are on the schedule, and then let you pull into the lot to drop off items on the sidewalk for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, Scott had to check in online. Everyday he has to answer COVID questionnaires online(do you have a fever, cough, sore throat, etc) and gets a "pass" if he answers no to everything. He had to show it to the kids checking him into his dorm before given a key. All check in was completed outside. Then he has to fill in emergency contacts and his dorm check in list online before taking everything upstairs to his room on the 6th floor via elevator with only one other person. We loaded up his move in cart while he and Tom took up the carpet and lofted his bed. On the second run, I went up with him to check out his room. He has a very nice, single room at the end of the hall overlooking the rooftop and courtyard away from the parking lot on the other side of the building this year. May be quieter with less traffic and trash noise, kids walking to and from the dining hall and class. But then again, it may be noisier with all the rooms surrounding the courtyard. The room is actually a bit smaller with a cubby area that was perfect for him to set up his desk. Very cozy since he will be spending quite a bit of time there. Although a bit hotter and brighter since he now gets the setting sun

We quickly emptied out my van so Tom and I could drive back to his storage unit and pick up the rest of his large items while Allison helped Scott unload his Jeep with clothes and linen and set it up in the room. Tom and I managed to squeeze everything from the storage unit into the back of my van, with the back door open and tied down, but at least it was just one trip. Then we had to unload it back at the dorm, carry it upstairs and set everything up before we were done. Just about 1pm. We then went to look for lunch out at one of the local restaurants and did not have any luck. Again, everything was packed or long lines outside. So we decided to pick up some Olga's carryout. The kids have never tried this Detroit based gyro restaurant and they were up for it. However, they were not very excited about the food. Anyhow, it was fast and we drove over to Scott's engineering building to sit outside and eat. We were hoping to sit in the courtyard next to the pond, but the building was closed, so we just ate at a table outside by the front door. Then it was time to drop off Scott back to his dorm and start the long drive home to Michigan. After another stop at the donut shop for some tasty treats to take home. We tried stopping into The Traverse City Pie Company restaurant for some pies to go as well as breakfast or lunch on Sunday, but they had COVID hours and were closed on Sunday. Instead we picked up some of their pies to go at Meijers, along with some Koegel Vienna hot dogs for us and Allison, and my Vernors of course before hitting the road. 

I had taken Monday off just in case we stayed late, or stopped into a hotel along the way, or tried to do something in the area with Scott Sunday afternoon. But Tom and Allison really wanted to get back for work on Monday, so Tom and Allison drove the whole way back. Again, we don't make very many stops since most restaurants along the way at the Rest Areas are closed. Even some of the Starbucks inside the rest areas are closed. Mostly we just got gas and picked up some sandwiches at a convenient store in PA to eat in the car

. We were home around midnite after dropping Allison back to her apartment and picked up Cookie on Monday.