November 10-November 22  ?Another Shut Down due to COVID?

The gift that keeps on giving. Not the kind of gift we were looking forward to at Thanksgiving. But Maryland's number of positive COVID patients has shot up. We were at the 3.0 positivity rate and below, but it is now at 6.0 and seems to be rising. And the crazy thing is, not sure what people have been doing different. This is a crazy virus. Maryland has not really opened up the state that much over the summer. People stayed mostly outside, including eating at restaurants. There were no limits on the numbers of people allowed into the stores like early Spring, except Trader Joes, but most shopping experiences seemed spread out. Stores keep people spread out while standing in line to check out. There are still cleansers available at entry ways to wipe down grocery carts. Although I keep hand sanitizer in my car. Schools stayed virtual,  including sporting events. All big events were cancelled including festivals and fairs. And most everyone wears a mask in Maryland when they are in public places. And especially in the nursing home where I work-we have been following CDC guidelines of using PPE since March. But when we had a wound care MD come into our facility with a positive diagnosis, it seemed to start spreading like wildfire among our residents as well as some staff members. Currently 2 out of 3 Physical Therapists are out with COVID. So glad the new management company cut back our staff. We have 1 PT in the building that just started to replace our therapist that left for the Philippines. I missed several days of work because I was feeling ill. I tested negative for COVID when I was finally allowed to return to work. I had an upset stomach, stuffy head and headache. Normal cold/flu symptoms but also COVID symptoms. So I had to stay out of work for 4 days after the onset of my first symptoms and then have a COVID test when I went back after I was feeling better. Except they did not have any COVID tests in the facility when I was ready to return. So I had to take an extra day off. I prefer to take the time off without pay since I don't have much paid time off. My fellow OT's have started having the same symptoms, but so far have tested negative for COVID. However, one OT visited with her son that tested positive for COVID, so she had to take extra time off to quarantine. It's hard to keep up! Because of the rise in the state, Maryland demands nursing home staff and residents be tested twice a week. And since our facility has such widespread COVID diagnoses, over 30 residents now, we are basically treating everyone like they have COVID and wearing N95 masks in the building with each patient on isolation precautions. It is very frustrating as you come to work each day not knowing what the new guidelines will be, or who is sick or who went out to the hospital. And as the pharmaceutical companies roll out the new vaccines, I will probably be the first of those to get it since I work in a nursing home. Little nervous about getting it, but also it will be a big relief not to have to worry about bringing home the virus to family and friends. 

Fortunately there does not seem to be any issues in my mom's facility. Thank God. Her facility is actually the best one in the county. Pretty much if you have serious medical problems, it is almost impossible to fight off COVID it seems. The residents in all facilities have had to return to isolation precautions, remaining in their apartments or rooms. With the cold weather, outdoor visits with residents were just getting set up indoors. I was going to schedule an indoor visit with mom starting the 1st of November, but they had to stop all visits, indoor and out. When our numbers were low, they were able to eat in the dining room all spread out and participate in BINGO and exercise groups, also spread out. But now they have to go back to their rooms. I try to send in magazines for mom to help keep her busy. She does have a working television in her apartment at least. Hard to think of things to keep her active since she really needs some supervision and guidance to participate in activities. At least with her memory loss, she lives in the moment, so she probably does not realize how much time has gone by or what she may be missing. Small blessings. Being locked in your room, especially when you have dementia is not necessarily a good thing. Residents don't get the attention they need  and we have seen secondary issues occurring, like falls and fractures, weakness and depression, limited medical appointments with some sadly leading to more loss of life. I know the holidays are going to be tough, but we all try to support one another. 

And even though November started off pretty rough during election week. and seems to be dragging on, I still had plenty to celebrate as we rolled into mid November, starting with my birthday. Although I did not get my Birthday wish as far as the election was concerned, I must say I had a very enjoyable weekend Birthday celebration with the family even though it landed on Friday the 13th!!  Allison came over after I got off work and brought me dinner!  Tom bought me breakfast from Starbucks before work and picked up a chocolate mousse birthday cake from a new bakery he and Allison discovered near her apartment. After dinner and a viewing of Disney's weekly Mandalorian, we Skyped Scott so he could "share" my birthday cake while I opened my presents. Tom picked up some great gifts including a new silver charm bracelet I wanted with a small Eiffel Tower charm from my trip to Paris with Allison after she graduated from high school. I also got a few more masks, a carrying case for my cell phone and a new glass cover, some Disney socks. my yearly wall calendar and some Scottish Elderflower flavored gin(Tom got my hooked when he brought some back from one of his work trips to Scotland). Allison picked me up a reusable cold pack for my aches and pains after a long day at work. And Scott picked me up some cute State of Michigan earrings I spotted while shopping in Kalamazoo. I say I had an enjoyable weekend celebrating my birthday. I was scheduled to work, but since the COVID virus spread we had a lot less patients to treat. We also had one of our OT staff return to work since we had been so very busy the last few months when COVID numbers were down. So now we have more staff and less work. However, it is good to have reserve staff since as I mentioned some of us tested positive for COVID, or have been around family or friends that tested positive and cannot return to work until they complete a 14 day quarantine. So actually not having to work Saturday was a great Birthday gift. It gave me extra time to do yard work! Even though I had finished raking up all the leaves in our street the weekend before, all the rest of the leaves from the maple trees alongside the road fell on the yard. Even Tom admitted there were too many to mow, so he and I raked them all into the street for pick up. I started picking them up while Tom cut the grass. He also had to replace a few large fence posts in our backyard that have been rotting out and starting to lean. I also took some time to paint a small bookshelf I picked up in the neighborhood for Scott's room. He has a pile of school books from Western that I thought needed a home. So I had to clean it, put down some primer, sand it and paint it twice, along with a cork board I also picked up from the neighborhood "curbside" shopping. And it is getting tougher to get things done outside now with the shorter daylight. I decided to spruce up my fall flowers and replant the mums. I also had to trim back my butterfly bush and summer flowers. But during the week,  Cookie and I have had to take a few flashlight walks in the dark, but only when the weather is mild. We still get spooked sometimes from the night time creatures roaming the neighborhood. Like our fox population that love to "scream". Sounds like someone is being killed-very eerie. 

So I finally had to quit scooping up leaves from the street when it got too dark. On Sunday I was hoping Tom, Allison and I could go out to lunch for my birthday. I wanted to eat outside, and it was supposed to rain early in the evening. Plus as I mentioned, it gets dark early and cold too now. So we decided to go out for lunch. But most of the places in our area that we wanted to eat at with outdoor dining didn't open until 2pm or you couldn't make reservations. So I thought it would be nice to drive out to Frederick(about a 30 min drive) with Allison this time and have lunch at the same brewery Tom and I visited on my electric bike hunt. Turns out it was a great decision. First Allison and I  started the morning  out with a trip to the nail salon for a much needed mani-pedi after tv mass before heading out to Frederick. The weather was a bit chilly with clouds and a few sprinkles which kept the crowds down at least. We got a table right away on the roadside in front of the restaurant and we were able to bring Cookie too! She had a great time visiting all the people and everyone wanted to pet her of course. I had a fabulous dish-lobster and old bay grilled cheese on brioche bread with a fried egg and hollandaise sauce on top . Allison had a personal pizza and Tom opted for a breakfast burrito. All very tasty. Afterwards we walked along the street and did some window shopping. Allison bought some loose tea and some pumpkin whoopee pies for all of us for dessert, and Tom and I stopped into a distillery to try their whiskey and gin(more gin for me to take home!). We also strolled along their river walk which I would imagine is a lot of fun for open air dining and concerts in the summer. Overall a very nice afternoon and fun checking out all the different stores. We'll definitely have to go back during non COVID times to really explore the rest of the town. They also have a cool civil war medical museum there which I have not found anyone to go with me yet, but I'd like to check it out. I've heard interesting things about it. 

I've also continued my monthly Girl Scout camporee meetings online. Our group is still hoping to hold the event next May 2021. We have been planning several scenarios though depending on the virus like having a one day event spread out rather than an overnight. Or if we can have an overnight, having all the girls in tents instead of cabins spread out. Activities are pretty much the same as well as the food, but we discussed making everything separate and sanitized. At least most of the activities would be held outdoors. And for the most part we have the whole event planned out, just not the process. At this time of the year I would also be participating in Holiday GS choir events starting with parades! Not this year. 

And keeping up with the COVID schedule, the Universities have started to shut down due to increased level of COVID. At least some have switched to just online, but others have told families to come pick up their kids at the last moment. Western University planned on sending the kids home before Thanksgiving break. We got a refund for leaving the dorm early. Some kids obviously can't leave or won't leave if they live in an apartment or just commute to school. But all classes are online anyway. We planned on picking Scott up on the 20th when the dorms shut down. He is not finished with his semester however. He still has classes online until Dec 18th, but the professors were busy trying to get all the projects done that needed to be completed while the kids were still officially on campus. Especially his lab work. But things were still not completely set in stone. He had several lab projects that were supposed to be turned in on Friday the 20th, but they cancelled all in person sessions, so he had to drop off his projects and let the professors run the experiments on their own and hope for the best. Such is school in COVID days. So Tom flew up to Grand Rapids on Thursday and Scott picked him up at the airport and dropped him off at the hotel. On Friday Tom borrowed Scott's car to run some shopping errands, including picking up a coconut cream pie for Scott's Birthday  from Traverse City Pie Company. And some Vernors for me from Meijers while Scott was taking an online quiz in the morning. When he finished, he packed up his computer and dirty clothes and the two headed to Dayton Ohio for the night. They decided to take a side trip and visit our friend John D on Saturday morning. They all met for breakfast and a stroll through the Dayton Air and Space museum before Tom and Scott headed home. I was happy to take Friday off from work which gave me plenty of time to make up Scott's bed, scrub out his bathtub and do the grocery shopping for Thanksgiving dinner since I worked on Saturday instead. So very happy to have Scott home, even if it was because of COVID!

Happy Veterans Day! Special thoughts go out to my mom's cousin in law, Joe Petraitis who passed away this week at 94 in Nokomis Florida and served in the Navy. 

 

November 1-November 8, Quote of the Week, MD Governor Hogan "Wear the Damn Mask"!

Looks like the number of Covid cases increased this week in Maryland. Not sure exactly why, but we had more cases pop up in my nursing home too. Mostly nursing staff, but we have 3 residents that tested positive. Last week I had to evaluate and treat one of our COVID patients. She wasn't doing very well, and was transported to the hospital, but returned to us since she did not have pneumonia. They started testing again a few weeks ago every Monday. It had been down to only 1x/month with limited number of COVID in the state, but has since been bumped again. I have been tested twice so far after being off testing for 90 days due to my previous positive test results and both times negative, but I was starting to feel bad. I had an upset stomach and stuffy head, no fever. By the middle of the week I was feeling bad enough to ask to go home. As soon as that happens, you have to stay home for 3 days after the last of your symptoms. So I went home on Weds and have been out of work since then. I still don't feel terrific, but was well enough to get some house and yardwork done. The best thing to do when you are home from work is to Christmas shop online! I got a bit of a start. I also took advantage of stopping into the local Hallmark store since I had some coupons and November was the start of their Holiday Open House. Guess I should have started shopping back in July though since a few items I was looking at were sold out. Or they did not receive some items at all because of shipping issues with COVID. I did have a good time Christmas shopping though even if I was feeling too well. 

I needed some enjoyable activities this week to take my mind off the elections. Just as the country seems divided over Trump vs Biden for President, so was our household. I've decided to stop watching the news stations and talk shows-too stressful. But that doesn't leave much on tv. Especially when you are home stuck on the couch feeling sick. (hence the online Christmas shopping). And now my evening tv is depressing since Alex Trebek from Jeopardy recently died from pancreatic cancer. How sad. Amazingly Alex was able to work up until 10 days before he passed away and taped enough shows to get to the end of this year after a 36 year run as host. It will be interesting to see who takes his place. So when you are home sick and flipping through the tv channels, most of the choices of daytime shows (besides talk shows, home improvement or cooking classes)include court cases such as The People's Court, Judge Judy, and Judge Mathis to name a few. I actually enjoy listening to all the different cases and the rulings. Now with COVID,  it is interesting to see how some of these shows have adjusted to new taping with online/zoom participation and lots of plastic shields as well as smaller or no audiences. I also continue to enjoy catching up with movies including "Roman Holiday" and I started the scary movie series "Insidious". And Tom and I caught another new episode of Disney's "Mandalorian". But as I mentioned, when I was feeling a bit better I got up off the couch and was busy with projects around the house.

It rained last Sunday so I couldn't get all the Halloween decorations put away from outside. Or rake leaves and trim bushes. On Monday we had a very strong wind storm. I was quite surprised to see a large branch down in our backyard off our Cleveland Pear trees when I got up in the morning. I was especially surprised I didn't hear the branch break since it was just behind the bedroom window. The funny thing is I deliberately planted those trees as they are supposed to be sturdier and less likely to break or crack in strong winds. Guess the tree didn't get the memo! Tom was very happy to spend the day cutting up the large branch with the chainsaw and cutting the grass. Since he was able to work from home it gave him extra time during the day to cut up the branch. Now that we have less daylight after turning the clocks back on Halloween night, it is even harder to get things done outside. At least it is sunny in the morning going to work but usually getting dark when returning home by 5:30. It also makes it tougher to take Cookie for walks. I was actually happy that my rehab department decided to rehire one of our OT assistants. She started back to work on the day I went home sick which was convenient. Other staff are worried she will take work away from them, but I am happy about it. I am tired of working 7-9 hr days, 5-6 days a week. Another reason I think I got sick. Besides having to work with all the layers of PPE -either sweating or freezing, and with the change in weather, getting much colder and a bit rainy.  That's why it was so tempting to get outside this past weekend as the weather warmed to the low 70s and it was just so beautiful. It was hard not to go outside. I was also happy to spend less time working with our COVID patient while staying home! 

And since it was so beautiful outside, I got to work on our leaf piles. We usually get a ton of leaves piled up right in front of our big garage door. Makes it hard to pull the trash cans in and out without leaves falling into the garage. I am so happy to have my Toro leaf vacuum to get an early start on cleaning up the leaves this year. I was busy sucking up all the leaves by the garage door, the front door and in the flower beds before I started shoveling up all the leaves in the street. Tom's version of cleaning up leaves is to mow them all up when he cuts the grass, but that usually just leaves big piles of chopped up leaves that kill the grass(we have this conversation every year). He is not one to spend time bagging leaves. So I usually end up doing all the bagging. I feel like it is such a futile attempt however as the leaves just keep on falling while I am busy shoveling! Even though the colors are so beautiful, I felt like the trees were just mocking me! And I say shovel because I found it is much easier to sweep leaves into our snow shovel if they are in the street and put them in recycle bags for weekly pick up. It just takes time though since we have such a long curb in front of our house. Just don't want the leaves clogging up the storm drains. I remember as a kid growing up in Detroit, everyone used to rake their leaves into the streets and then burn them. Not today. 

So I made some headway on the yardwork over the weekend, as well as gathering up all the last of the Halloween decorations and by Sunday I stopped to take a break when we dropped in on our neighbors to watch the Ravens vs Colts football game. Allison joined us after coming over early to walk Cookie for me. She also took up most of my Halloween decorations into the attic(my hip does not enjoy climbing up and down the attic ladder too often). Then we all headed over to watch the game and enjoy some snacks. Our neighbors had lots of leftover munchies and dessert since they hosted a dinner for the retiring co worker from the FDA who Dan bought the cow painting for at Busch Gardens. (she liked it!) We were happy to help them clean up some of their goodies while enjoying the Ravens win over the Colts. A much more enjoyable football game then last weekends disappointing loss to the Steelers as well as the horrible games played by both MSU and Uof M on Saturday. On the other hand, Uof Maryland seems to be having a very good year(so far). And they are part of the BIG 10. Sadly I am missing out on attending any games at Maryland with my brother Dan and family this year with COVID. And Dan and wife Sheila are still in Houston as he has not yet been asked to return to Pittsburgh for work. 

Allison enjoyed her beautiful weekend on a hike with boyfriend Gabe on Saturday. Not sure how much more of this warm weather we can expect. Tom and Allison have been meeting for lunch on Fridays during work hours. They invited me along since I was at home for Chinese food. I thought the won ton soup would do me some good, but unfortunately the place they picked had no indoor or outdoor dining. Carry out only. And Allison really did not want Tom and I in her place since she tries to keep down the visitors with her D and D group meeting there once a week, but she made an exception for Tom since he was feeling fine. Allison and her group have been trying to be careful since they already had to put the in person gathering on hold as one of their group members tested positive for COVID.. 

I also spent time at home on my sick day packing up one more care package for Scott. I wasn't going to bother since he will be coming home in two weeks. But I couldn't help myself. He also took down all his Halloween decorations. At this time he would probably be decorating the dorm room for Christmas. Seems everyone skips over Thanksgiving. Especially now with COVID-all the Christmas decorations have been up in the stores with Christmas shows and music out on tv and the radio. I even spotted some neighbors putting up their outdoor Christmas lights. Although with the wonderful weather, who can blame them. We are waiting for Scott to return home on the 20th of November so he can put up all our Christmas decorations. He won't be done with school however. He will finish his term online from home up to Dec 18th. Right now he is busy cramming in last minute projects and labs before leaving campus. And the profs keep adding in more work, including group projects. Tom plans on flying up to Grand Rapids on the 19th of Nov and then the two will drive home in Scott's Jeep. Scott needs to bring home his computer system to finish his classes as well as most of his clothes. He will lock up his dorm room until he returns for the Spring semester on January 11th. Right now he is looking at signing up for those classes. He has also sent out some resumes for summer internships, but there is not a whole lot of listings available at this time. He wasn't even able to tour a local plastic manufacturing company as a class assignment due to the COVID restrictions. It looks like most companies have put internships on hold until they see how next year turns out. 

I was even checking out the job listings for OTs since our current rehab department just reported they will be switching to the new management team come Dec 1st rather than Jan 1. The current management company also tried to stop their reimbursement for continuing education which we were supposed to get after 1 month of employment. I am hoping to get reimbursed for a cognitive test kit I just purchased. And the new company offers so much less than this contract company as far as benefits. I guess the only good thing is that we will all still have our jobs. Especially since there are not a lot of  other job postings at this time. So many facilities have had to cut back on staff or close their services due to COVID. And facilities like ours don't want substitute part time staff coming into their buildings for fear of spreading COVID. It can also be too hard to keep up with the cleaning of equipment and following PPE guidelines while working with patients. Our facility was just able to start bringing 1 patient into the rehab gym at a time if they were off the two week quarantine period, but we had to stop when COVID popped up in the building. They also stopped in -person family meetings in our facility as well as my mom's, so I was not able to schedule an appointment with her as they have moved inside due to the change in weather. They also had to put a hold on  Activities and eating in the dining room even though the residents were spaced apart. So I just keep dropping off small care packages to my mom, along with a written card to keep her up to date(for the moment). 

 October 12-October 31, 2020   Masks on Maryland-and not just Halloween Masks!

   October is one of my favorite months! Usually. Starting the very first day of October, all of the scary movies come out on tv and cable. And for the past 10 years, The Walking Dead and Fear The Walking Dead start up their season-my favorite zombie apocalypse show that set off a whole lot more shows just like it. This year the show branched out and added 'The World Beyond' which I have not yet embraced. I have also been enjoying lots of spooky movies that I have seen a million times, as well as trying some new shows. Tom and I watched "Dystopia" on Amazon. It stars John Cusack and although started out a bit slow, about a young couple that find a rare comic book series that seems to be predicting the future, full of plagues, wars and devastation. Not to be confused with our current realty. Turns out we really liked the series. And Allison recommended a British story, called "Good Omens". Rather strange story about an angel and demon that are good friends. A cross between The Exorcist and Monty Python. A bit long and slow, but clever ending. 

And usually our family schedules a visit to Busch Gardens HowlOScream event in Williamsburg in October. For the past 2 years, Scott has flown home over his Fall School Break from Western Michigan to attend the event, full of Haunted mazes and houses, lots of spooky decorations and great food. He didn't have his Fall Break this October, and Busch Gardens did not schedule HowlOScream because of COVID. Instead, they decided to host a Halloween Harvest with Trick or Treating for kids dressed in costumes during the day and spooky, scary stuff scheduled for the evening. They had 4 hr scheduled reservation times on the weekends only during the month of October. On line reservations opened up in September. Allison was able to make reservations for Tom and I, our neighbor's Dan and Gloria, herself and her boyfriend Gabe whom we invited along(in lieu of Scott). Sorry Scott. Tom dropped off Cookie at our friend's house on Friday while I was at work. We all headed down in separate vehicles on Saturday Oct 17th. Tom was able to make hotel reservations without any problem. Tom and I arrived before lunch, actually checked into our hotel early and had lunch at a new BBQ restaurant next to our hotel. We were able to sit on the patio and eat and had a fabulous, tasty meal. Afterwards we walked around a local General Store while waiting for Allison and Gabe to arrive. They drove straight to olde town Williamsburg for lunch and some shopping. Gabe has never been down to the area, so Allison was acting as tour guide. She also finally got her ice cream at Kilwins(been trying all year in two different states!)but usually there was a long line. Since it was a bit colder out, there was no line for ice cream and she introduced Gabe to a family favorite. Meanwhile, Tom and I tried to find a parking spot to join them in town. We could not believe how crowded it was and finally Tom gave up and left after driving around the streets and few public parking lots with no open slots. There are also a lot less parking spots available since they closed off several streets to put out tables. I think Allison and Gabe got the last paid parking spot in the parking garage! We are guessing that the local University of William and Mary may have had a Homecoming Weekend event since there were so many college age kids out. 

Since Tom could not find parking, he took me over to a bike shop to check out an electric bike. I have been thinking about getting an electric bike since I am having so much trouble pedaling and keeping up with the rest of the family on the bike paths. They did not have a small enough bike for me to try out, but it was nice to see one in person and talk to the salesperson. We then headed to the hotel to catch up with Gabe and Allison. The Busch Gardens event did not start until 8pm. We had a few hours to fill, so I suggested hitting a few distilleries and breweries for taste testing that I noticed in a tour guide. There are a lot more microbreweries and wineries popping up in the area.  Gabe mentioned wanting to try Meade and there was one distillery that just made Meade(like beer with honey) and that's all they make. Plus you can buy just honey. So we stopped in and sat in their newly opened patio seating area and did a flight of meade for sampling. Definitely not Tom's favorite-too sweet for him. We just hope his comments did not overly offend the owner who was busy waiting on the guests! But it was fun sitting outside and trying something new, and Allison picked up some honey for herself. Then we tried a distillery that served rum, gin, whiskey and beer. Tom and Gabe tried the whiskey samples and I tried the gin. This place was a bit dingy and no seating outside, so we did not stay long. And their alcohol was pretty strong but not very tasty. And they were out of hot chocolate mixed drinks,  so after a few samples,  it was time to eat. We decided to stop into Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner since they had an outdoor patio. The meal was terrific and quick and we headed to the Amusement Park full of excitement. 

Sadly, the event was not what we hoped. First they really did not put up any of their decorations and they kept the park very dark. They did not open the park up fully-just half, and not our favorite half. Tom and Gabe managed to ride one of the favorite roller coasters but in the dark-they did not even bother turning on the lights. And they only had two coasters open, one with an incredibly long line. The darkness made it even harder to walk around the park with masks on too. They had scary characters in one area only, not spread throughout the park like usual. They did not even play the spooky music. Our friends Dan and Gloria had planned on eating dinner in the park, but the food choices were limited. We even had a hard time locating a pumpkin ale that Gabe was interested in and this is a park that was built on beer. They usually have multiple bar areas open with lots of choices, fun glassware, awesome Halloween desserts and meals, and lots of scary souvenir shopping including my favorite Halloween jewelry lady. She was not there, but our friend and painting artist, Carolee was set up. Dan actually bought one of her funky animal paintings-a small cow portrait for a coworker retiring from the FDA(they work on cows!). So we finished walking around half of the park and ended up chatting in a small bar area in the Ireland section where we found a pumpkin ale for Gabe. And we discovered that we were getting a 50% discount on any shopping items, so Allison was able to buy her Dragon coaster set. (she has picked up quite a few dragons for her collection at the little store in Ireland). So hoping next year we won't have COVID ruining our favorite holiday event. On Sunday after breakfast we all headed our separate ways. Tom wanted to get home early to pick up Cookie and get the yard work done. 

The following weekend Tom and I headed out on the road to continue research into electric bikes. The weather was terrific and I wanted to do some fall color touring. I mentioned a drive down the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia. We have never gone since we usually have activities scheduled. Tom talked to a coworker who said they spent a weekend doing the fall color drive on the Parkway which turned out to be a 4 hour traffic jam because of all the people. Definitely not worth it. The color is OK this year, but nothing spectacular. Most of the trees seem to be just dropping their dried up leaves before turning all the brilliant colors. Instead we checked out our local bike shop, then drove down to DC to check out electric bikes, and finally over to Frederick, MD for another electric bike shop. I was not having much luck finding a proper fitting bike, plus my hip is bad so I still have a hard time pedaling. And the prices are amazing, from $800 to $4000. I guess I am really looking for a moped! Although my bike shopping was not terribly successful, we did enjoy our drive from DC to Frederick along the 270 through western Maryland. We still got our color tour, and after shopping in Frederick we headed to the historic downtown area for lunch at a table out on the closed off streets. Don't think we have much more time for outdoor eating as it gets colder and darker when we fall back. 

Since Scott did not come home for his fall break last weekend, I did not have my Halloween decorating assistant. I  put out some decorations, but Tom did not want me to go all out since we did not plan on passing out any treats. Our neighborhood is planning on giving away prewrapped goodie bags, but Tom feels that even putting out goodie bags is risky, and worries about kids making a mess or taking too much, or spreading COVID. So no Trick or Treating at our house. Turns out, 120 houses in our neighborhood pre planned trick or treating at the curb. There were lots of tables set out and candy shoots to keep social distancing. I had to work that Saturday, but got home in time  watch the trick or treaters make their way through the neighborhood. I took a quick shower and helped prepare dinner for our neighbor's Dan and Gloria who came over for a more formal Halloween dinner(minus the dining room). We tried to keep the house dark and hide in the back, but we still ended up with kids coming to the door. Guess we have a good reputation for passing out awesome candy! Tom even put up a sign in the yard on Friday to let people know we would not be passing out candy, but it was too wordy and you couldn't read it when driving by. I told him a big note saying "Wife has COVID! No Candy" would have worked. Especially since I had to evaluate a COVID patient at work that day. We have been pretty lucky and COVID free since August, but it seems to be picking up a bit again. 

Decorating for Halloween actually started way back in September as well as the stores stocking up on candy and selling spooky stuff. Many people were still going all out with decorating. I am surprised they haven't put their Christmas decorations out yet since the stores are busy putting up Christmas trees and lights already. We enjoyed our Halloween meal with our neighbors, complete with chocolate martinis for dessert. And then we sat down to watch "Antebellum"-a new movie release. It was quite confusing for the first hour and 45 mins. Tom and Dan were falling asleep. Gloria and I were just trying to figure it out until the very end. Not as clever as "Get Out" which I recommended for the night time entertainment. Tom thinks that would have been a better choice. I would have been happy with a bowl of chili and a movie and bonfire outside, but it was pretty chilly that evening, and as Scott pointed out, we needed to lay low to keep the trick or treaters away. 

I did however buy a new fire pit just in case. I was surprised I even found one online for a good price. Most have been sold out all year for people staycationing at home in their backyards all summer. My previous fire pit was purchased back when I had my Girl Scout Troop during their high school years. It finally rusted through with one last bonfire in the backyard. Tom had been trying to schedule an outdoor dinner party for his work friends, Nishay and her sister. They had Allison and Tom over for dinner outside their house last month and Tom wanted to repay them. He was having trouble finding an evening during the week when everyone was available and the weather was still nice. He finally scheduled a dinner date-mainly carry out kebabs and naan bread with brownies for dessert! And a very nice bonfire, but it finished off my fire pit. 

We usually schedule a trip to college as well for Homecoming and Parents weekend mid October. The past two years we have been visiting Scott at Western Mich. Last year it was just Allison and I since Tom was traveling for work. We drove up on a Friday and returned on Sunday. We had a wonderful time visiting with Scott with a very full day of activities. We dragged Scott to the Western Homecoming football game. I especially loved the entertainment before the game by the marching band as they headed onto the field and we followed along. Allison and I were enjoying the game, Scott not so much. We agreed to leave after halftime(of course when our team started scoring!). But we promised Scott a trip to a local apple cider farm which was a whole lot of fun-picking apples, eating donuts and drinking cider, and then a night ghost tour at a local cemetery where we learned alot about the history of Kalamazoo. So not this year, but hoping for next year!

For now, Scott just has to enjoy my weekly care packages. He is keeping up with his mostly online classes and wrapping up the labs. He was supposed to visit a local manufacturing plastic plant as one of his lab assignments but the company is closed to visitors during COVID. And enjoying his Halloween decorations. He actually carved one of the tiny pumpkins and drew an incredible Disney Haunted mansion with a computer program. He's also enjoying an early birthday/Christmas gift-a new bifold phone/computer/camera. It's come in handy for his schoolwork on the fly. His D and D club has still not opted for an online weekly gaming or in person so he does end up spending a lot of time cooped up in his dorm room. So its nice to have some extra distractions to stay busy besides school. And he's atually looking at the Spring schedule already!

Allison seems to be keeping busy with her group of friends, even when they don't actually get together as much as they'd like. Plus her new job is time consuming as she still learns the new position all from home. She did take a weekend after getting back from Busch Gardens to visit her college friend Jen in Salisbury. She stayed at her apartment with her fiance and they had fun visiting the Salisbury zoo, carving pumpkins and catching up on spooky movies together. She even stopped over to take Cookie for a walk and give her a bath before we headed to Williamsburg. Wish she could do it more often since I usually have to work late and don't get a chance to get Cookie out for her daily walks. 

Tom however has started going into work since he is assigned to a high security project, with a small break when someone tested positive for COVID. He also finished up his last class but was hoping to spend more time working on his own thesis. Instead he had to review other students theses for the class. During his down time however he is focusing on his own work.  

I've done a few things online myself. Not by choice. I skipped our virtual Girl Scout choir practices. Just not my thing. I don't mind showing up in person to help out with the newbies, but its just not the same singing in front of a computer screen. I did have a virtual meeting with our broker from his house one evening. He has not been into his office since March. I need him to switch over another 401 K since I have switched employers again. We won't start working for the new company until January but we are slowly winding down with this company. I was a little annoyed to hear that they may not allow us to have the continuing education money we are supposed to have each year. I was looking into purchasing an expensive cognitive assessment that I have wanted for a long time. Now they are trying to pull out on that deal. We also continue to be very busy at work with me spending about 9 hrs a day since we are low on staff and the facility keeps pulling in extra patients while the COVID numbers are down. One of our Physical Therapists has had enough and decided to quit and return to her family in the Philippines. We had a lunch buffet to wish her luck, as well as celebrating Bosses Day with a breakfast buffet. It's nice to do some normal activities. 

I finally got a day off during the week while working Saturday. Tom and Allison were also off that day, so we had lunch outside with Allison at a nearby burger place. Afterwards we discovered a newly remodeled German restaurant in an old house around the corner from her place with a coffee shop upstairs. We stopped in for coffee to go since we already had lunch, and then went to Allison's place to watch Disney's release of The Mandalorian's new season. We'll have to give the German place at try. Especially since we missed Octoberfest!

 October 1-October 11  Week 29-Week 30! That's a lot of PPE!

     This month got off to quite a rough start. In July, my rehab facility sold the therapy department to a contract company. We learned at the beginning of October that the current company, Rehabcare, has sold out to a new company called Select Rehab. So starting in January I will have another, new management company. This is why I never took a job with a contract company. They sell off faster than mortgage companies. And just when we thought Rehabcare was the worst, we found that the new company, Select is even more crappy! No paid vacations, no paid continuing education. I am starting to take a look at other options out there, but this is not exactly the best time to go job searching. Not a lot of good choices right now. And it makes it worse with COVID. Not sure how good other facilities are following precautions. 

Meanwhile, our facility has been very busy. The administration is bringing in lots of rehab patients, from all over Maryland(and not the best rehab candidates) with less staff. So far I have been working overtime and 6 days/week. They want to make up for lost revenue from March when the virus broke out and our facility stopped bringing in patients. We also have to be more flexible with work schedules. Our OT assistant has to take off work once a week to stay home with her step kids since they are not at school. So she has been working every Saturday, but she cannot complete evaluations. So I have been taking turns with the other OT to cover extra work on Saturdays.  At least we have not had any positive COVID outbreaks among staff or patients/residents. And now the CDC has dropped weekly COVID testing to 1x/month. I am still off the list of those to be tested until Nov 1 since I supposedly tested positive back in July. They decided we no longer need to wear the N 95 masks(which is kinda nice since they are very constricting and hot). We just switch out regular hospital masks when we enter the isolation unit. 

Maryland is still on Phase 3 COVID recovery. The MD governor made an announcement that Nursing Homes would be opening up for visitors, but that was not accurate. It only meant that restricted visits would go inside rather than outside since the weather is changing. Everyone thought they could all go running back inside the facilities to visit their family members on the rehab units and in their apartments. Not so. They still have to make appointments, sit six feet apart with masks and a plastic shield between everyone. And only 2 people allowed at at time per visit. And no passing things back and forth. Same thing at my mom's facility. At least the beauty salon opened in her building and she got a perm.  

We still have to place patients on a 14 day isolation when they come in from the hospital. That has made a lot of people angry. But better safe than sorry. We have had to explain that we are still in a pandemic to quite a few patients and their family members! All their clothes need rewashed and belongings sprayed with Lysol or wiped down before coming into the facility. We are allowed to bring in one patient at a time to the rehab gym for treatment if they are off the isolation unit. They have to wash their hands before and after and wear masks and everything they touch needs wiped down. Thank goodness we now have a very nice tech who is helping out with all the disinfecting. We still have to wash all our equipment that we take down to the rooms also. And that takes time too. 

So I am tired now! I don't have as much free time at home to get projects done or run errands. Instead I have to pack in as much as I can when I am not working. Like yard work. I spent the past two weekends readying a few areas of the lawn to spread grass seed, along with a few more trips to Home Depot for more seed and dirt. I am so happy to see baby grass growing! At least we have had weather in the 70s and sunny with just a bit of rain-great for growing grass. I am also trying to climb up into our garage attic to bring down some Halloween and Fall decorations. Don't think I will go all out since I don't think we will be participating in Trick or Treating. And I don't have Scott home to help me. Halloween started early this year-back in September. All the Halloween and Fall decorations were out back in September at all the stores, including lots of candy! I have been busy packing up Halloween and Fall goody boxes for Scott at school and shipping them out. He had fun decorating his dorm room too. Besides starting to get out the decorations, I have been busy trying to plant the last of my Fall flowers. Such a nice time of the year. Our leaves are just starting to turn colors, but also fall from the trees. So I have started bagging(let the fun begin!). I also stopped into my mom's storage unit to pick up her fall and Halloween decorations and dropped them at her place. I think it helps with orientation to see the change in seasons. Our neighborhood as also been busy putting up Halloween decorations. Cookie is not thrilled with the decorations-she is especially fearful of a big, crouching light up cat that turns its head back and forth. And there is more than one in the neighborhood! Cookie will actually walk up on the lawn to bark at those big cats! Such a brave dog. 

October also saw the start of taxing our County residents for every plastic bag they use by a nickel. When you check yourself at the grocery store, it asks how many plastic bags do you have. I collected all my cloth bags and have been using those at the check out, but it sure slows things down. I like Allison's idea of just putting things back in the cart and bagging them at the car. Then I don't feel like I have to rush, or put everything in a bag. They even charge for the plastic bags over the dry cleaning. Maybe not a great time to start being environmentally sound-more expensive for residents to do the right thing. Especially for those out of work. And they weren't sure about spreading COVID with use of personal bags. I also find I need to launder my bags since some things tend to leak, like meat. I usually try to find the plastic bags at the store to put the meat in to keep it from getting in the cloth bags. Good thing I have all this extra time in my life for these new procedures. And the paper bags some stores offer also charge a tax.  Not just plastic. They have also banned styrofoam take out containers which has been a burden on some of the small restaurants since the substitute packaging costs more and there is a lot more take out these days. 

I have been keeping up with a few Girl Scout events on Zoom. We had an initial meeting to discuss our annual Camporee that was cancelled in May. We met to discuss the possibility of hosting the event next year. At least most of our planning is already done. We mostly talked about changes if we are still following social distancing, cleaning procedures, etc. And it may turn out to be a one day event if we are still not allowed overnights. And it was fun seeing Allison, even if it was only o a Zoom meeting! I did skip the Zoom Girl Scout choir practice however since I was busy watching the Ravens play. And I really don't enjoy meeting on Zoom. At least I am slowly getting the hang of the Zoom system. (kinda). 

We had Allison over to watch a football game on a Sunday afternoon and she stayed for dinner before heading home to play D and D online. It has been pretty crazy trying to keep up with all the sports. The NBA finished with the Lakers taking the championship. Los Angeles responded by having happy riots. Now we have the NFL to follow, although they have had constant changes in their schedules due to players testing positive for COVID. The fluctuating schedules make it more difficult for Tom and neighbor Dan to get together each week to watch a game consistently. So far, only the southern states have college football.  And baseball is winding down, getting closer to the World Series. Maryland ran the Preakness horse race on Oct 3rd with no one in the stands except horse owners. Swiss Skydiver won-a filly which is unusual. And they decided the Maryland state song(Maryland, My Maryland) sung to the tune of Oh Christmas Tree/O Tannenbaum was too racist, so they did not sing it or play it. They have used the song for the opening of the event since 1909. It actually was written as a poem to support the south during the Civil War. It picks on the Northerners referring to those states as "Northern Scum" and refers to Lincoln as a tyrant. So I guess it is a bit outdated. And yes, Maryland is the northern most southern state. Apparently no one could come up with a better tune or lyrics.   Instead they decided to play "Knock, Knock, Knocking on Heaven's Door" in honor of Baltimore. Which I guess hits home since the city has seen about 232 murders so far. Looks like they also stopped singing the lyrics to "My Old Kentucky Home" at the Kentucky Derby too. And we all know what happens during the National Anthem, not only during the NFL, but other sporting events. I think they should stop playing the songs altogether. When and why did sports become so political? Maybe when it became big money. I did take advantage of a Sunday afternoon Ravens game and made a hair appointment for a cut and highlights. I knew I would have to be at the salon longer and this way I had the whole place to myself!

Allison has been staying very busy, not only with her new position at work. She seems a bit frustrated with this new  rotation though since she is not familiar with the job duties. And the last intern did not do a great job orienting her to the work. So she is trying to figure it out herself which is not easy. And when she is not working, she is working out at the apartment gym or is entertaining a few friends at her apartment. A small group even started getting together for Dungeons and Dragons rather just online. She also has been spending time with Gabe, going on hikes and visiting him at his new house. They even traveled to New Jersey for a weekend visit with some of Gabe's friends for a small Octoberfest of their own. Allison even won the beer stein holding contest amongst the girls! (Must be her German bloodline!). Gabe enjoyed drinking the beer!

We keep tabs on Scott mostly through Skype. He seems to have finally fell into a routine with his online classwork and in person labs. Still a bit rocky however. He had one in person class that had to switch to online when a student tested positive for COVID. His in person labs are a bit skimpy-plastics lab mostly has them watch videos of experiments and write lab reports. He actually seems to be really enjoying his machining lab since he actually gets to make something! He even learned how to use a lathe to make the threads for large metal screws, however he was a bit behind since he could not locate the class during the first week, and he had overlapping classes then as well which he had to drop because the school started switching classes from in person to online.  I would say he spent most of this semester learning how to be flexible. I am sure every kid in America feels the same way. And even cheated out of a quality education. Learning online is just not the same as in person. Although Scott says he is also enjoying his Plastics class and actually feels like he is learning something new and interesting. Not the same for Quality Assurance class.  Here in Maryland most of the county schools remain online. Some counties are talking about starting up in person learning in the next few months. Seems silly to start deep in the flu season. Our county is not even considering hybrid or in person classes  until Feb 2021.  Same with school sports. 

The month of October also started off on a very sad note. On the first Sunday of the month, there was a knock on our door early in the morning. Our next door neighbor was in distress. They had just heard that their 47 year old daughter died suddenly at home in South Carolina. Married mother of 4 teenagers. She had been complaining of headaches and her family heard her pass out in the bathroom, called 911 and she was gone. So very sad. Paul and Phyllis are  older parents in their late 70s. Their eldest daughter was with them as they quickly packed the car to head down to Sherrie's house. Our neighbor's son Darrel, (our age) who lives with them had already left the day before to travel to SC. Paul was just asking if we could check the mail for them. Of course Tom and I were happy to keep an eye on their place as they did not know when they would be returning. Tom also cut their grass a few times and we put out their trash cans. The least we could do.  

Then I received an email from eldest cousin, Lisa Bozyk Parmentier in Michigan. She was asking for information on the Estate Sales company I used when I traveled to West Bloomfield to sell off Mom and Dad B's houses and belongings. I had not heard from my cousin Lisa since the beginning of summer. She was always posting on Facebook and then nothing-I was unfriended. She said her account was hacked and she dropped Facebook. She sent me a message but I guess it never went through. Turns out my Uncle Jim Bozyk, my Dad's younger brother, has dementia. They were looking for someone to help sell off their lake house belongings. I was confused about the status of his wife, my Aunt Mary. Turns out she passed away this July from a heart condition. I was shocked since I did not hear anything from the family. No written announcement, no obituary in the paper even. I guess my Aunt said she did not want any special services. And of my three cousins, the eldest and youngest are not speaking to the middle child, Marcia. She was living in the Lake Tipsico house, trying to care for my Uncle Jim. But Lisa, the eldest, decided he needed more care than Marcia could provide. So Marcia had to move out of the house and I assume is currently not working. Lisa was not even sure where Marcia moved to at this time-maybe her son's house. Sadly Lisa also said they will have to sell the Tipsico lake house because no one in the family can afford to keep up the cost. The property has been in the Bozyk household for over 65 years. My Aunt Mary and Uncle Jim took over the property from my Grandparents Bozyk when they passed and they built a new, modern house on the property. Very sad. I sent the girls some flowers in honor of my Aunt and now I need to send some flowers to our neighbors. 

A very sad start to October.