March 1-March 7, 2021

  In like a Lion, Out like a Lamb. March started out with rain and chilly winds which was a benefit since it dried up all the muddy puddles. Most of the snow is melted, but it left some big puddles along with some rain showers on the sidewalks making it difficult to take Cookie for a walk. She just loves marching through all those puddles. I even put a sweater on her to help keep her from getting too wet and dirty. But it was not enough. And just when I got her cleaned up, I had to give her another bath to get off all the mud. I did sign her up for a haircut, but she'll have to wait a few weeks. I did not take her in earlier because it was still pretty cold and she gets a very short cut-did not want her to freeze! So now is the time for her spring shearing!

And speaking of water, looks like the family is sharing the same type of problems. We needed a new water heater which Tom replaced. Then Allison called us this past week saying water was dripping into her apartment from the ceiling by her laundry room next to the kitchen and front door. We figured her upstairs neighbor(who I call Thumpy because that person walks around very loudly)must have had a leak in their washer, hot water heater or laundry tub. Allison was busy putting out bowls and pots(don't think she owns a bucket!) to catch all the water. Then she had to put towels in the containers to keep the drip noise down so she could fall asleep. She also moved quite a few items into her bedroom to keep things from getting wet in case there was a bigger disaster overnight. We couldn't talk her into going upstairs and speaking to her neighbor about it, but she did get the maintenance staff to stop by the next day. They just came to the door and said they would be back to repair the ceiling. Allison said she heard work being done upstairs and the maintenance worker said they have had to repair the washer in that apartment before. We did notice what appeared to be water damage in that spot when Allison moved in and had her take lots of photos and make a note of it on her move in slip. So they just stopped in and repaired her ceiling again. Guess she'll see how it goes. 

She did come over for a visit on Friday night after getting a hair cut at the salon near our house. She is getting ready for the wedding she is attending with Gabe on March 14th in New Jersey. She picked up some chinese food for dinner for all of us(shrimp and broccoli for me on Fish Friday!) and we watched the finale of WandaVision on Disney+. We also saw "Coming 2 America" on Amazon. It was cute, but I still like the first movie better. Allison has never seen "Coming to America". Just bits and pieces, but the new movie also reran a few of the scenes from the original movie. (all I can say is everybody got old!).  

I also had my second acupuncture treatment Friday evening. I pretty much made an appointment every week and I am hoping I continue to have great results. I am also taking advantage of any time off work to get to the pool at the Y for an exercise class. I really like having some time off during the week-so much easier to make appointments and run errands with less people out. So I didn't mind going into work on Saturday. Since Tom and I don't really have any big plans these COVID days, I don't mind going in for a few hours since I have the rest of the day to myself. Turns out Dan and Gloria invited us over for dinner at their house on Saturday night. I was on dessert duty, so I ended up making something with St Patrick's Day in mind-a layered pistachio pudding with a shortbread crust and cream cheese base. Very tasty and easy to make. I actually put it together on Friday so it had time to settle and chill overnight. We had an incredible Prime Rib dinner with a hot cauliflower casserole and cold crab salad at Dan and Gloria's topped off with my dessert. Just when we started in on our coffee the doorbell rang and the next door neighbor stopped by with homemade pastries. She was paying Dan back for helping with repairs on Zippy the Wonder car. Tom donated the Toyota Echo to Dan and Gloria so she could use the car to drive into Baltimore a few years ago when she had a Home Health job driving her patients to appointments. I think it had around 200,000 miles back then. Both of our kids used the car to learn how to drive and complete their tests for their license. Tom originally bought Zippy to drive down to DC many, many years ago when he was working on a project and was reassigned to a facility off the DC beltway in CardeRock. So when Gloria finished her Home Health contract position, they sold the car to the next door neighbor so their 4 kids could use it to learn how to drive. So far their oldest daughter has graduated from Zippy, and the second daughter is busy practicing. However, the girls have put Zippy through the paces. Their first daughter drove it up and over the hill at our local neighborhood park when she hit the accelerator and not the brake. Smashed up the bumper and front end. It also supposedly has been hit by a deer. They scraped up the windshield when they ran the wipers without a blade. And recently they dug it out of the snow and found the alternator needed replaced and now the tire rims need replaced when someone hit a curb. Dan has been nominated as Zippy's personal repair man since their neighbor is not so into fixing anything. Dan has been trying to teach him some of the basics as well as a few complicated repairs but I think he has a new job for life! And Zippy must be at 300,000 miles by now! We just love driving by every day and waving hello to Zippy as she is parked in the street in front of their house. So Hagit made some traditional Hebrew treats to say Thank You and we got to share. We also had a great conversation(a whole group of vaccinated people!). 

Schools have just opened on a hybrid schedule in Maryland this week after being closed for a whole year. So kids, if they choose, can go into school for a few days and complete their week learning online or just stay home and complete the year online. Hagit is a 3rd grade teacher in downtown Baltimore so she was filling us in on the challenges of splitting your time between educating kids in class and those online. No Thank You. At least the teachers have been added to the vaccine priority in Maryland. There's talk about making this type of learning the 'new normal'. We also talked about scheduling Tom for an in class visit at her school to cover STEM subjects sponsored by Northrop. 

One person who is very tired of online learning is Scott. He would be most grateful to return to the classroom but it does not appear to be in the works for Western.  He just finished his midterms and admits he is getting burned out. He is basically stuck in his dorm room and only goes out to pick up his meals. We try to keep him distracted with sending care packages and cards. Tom ordered him a big blow up palm tree(necessary for every dorm room). I packed him up a St Patrick's Day Goody box and sent it off early. We actually will be picking him up at the end of March, so even though he feels like time is dragging, it will go by fast.  Tom and I have also been sending in Scott's resume for possible summer Manufacturing Engineer Internships in various locations, but so far no luck. He actually had one request for an interview, but it was for a permanent, full time position in an ice cream factory! Darn! 

I also spent the weekend putting together all of my mom's paperwork and adding up her deductions for her 2020 taxes. I was still receiving tax documents in the mail right up through this first week in March. Fortunately her accountant said everything and everyone is behind due to COVID, so no great rush or worries. And I am trying to wrap up some paperwork of my own-transferring a previous IRA into a new account as our broker switched to Morgan Stanley from Merrill Lynch. 

Celebrating his Birthday this week in sunny Florida, right after his wife Susan(Seitz)-Happy Birthday John!

March 8-March 14th, 2021  Happy Pi Day!

This week we were treated to a taste of Spring. The weather really warmed up and the spring flowers have started blooming including the crocus and daffodils. And the trees are starting to bud, especially the maples. Not a great time for allergy sufferers. Lots of sneezing inside masks. At least it is not COVID! Cookie has been enjoying her walks even more(me too since I don't have to bundle up or put on her sweater). No more puddles, although we could use some rain as everything starts to bloom. 

The most exciting news of the week! Our Governor started lifting some of the COVID restrictions as people scramble to get vaccinated. Although the changes are slight, it is an actual breath of fresh air! Even though guidelines continue to change daily, one of the best improvements was being able to hug my mom during a visit on Friday! From one vaccinated person to another! We still had to sit 6 feet apart and wear our masks, only visit for 20 mins and in a small room off the lobby. Families are not allowed to roam freely through the nursing homes or assisted living facilities yet, or visit in the residents rooms. And still only 1 person per visit.  I also still had to make a reservation for the meeting and get COVID tested 72 hrs before stopping in. But that last restriction was lifted on Friday. Meanwhile, Mom B looked great and her eyes got real big when she saw me! And I gave her two big hugs!  We have not seen each other since her birthday visit in September, and have not hugged in a year!  I do send her cards and notes every week when I drop off her supplies. Have not had any luck getting her to answer the phone in her apartment. She really has trouble speaking, but follows directions and does not seem to have declined much in her ability to get around with her rollator in her room and on the floor, helping with her self care skills and participating in group activities(when they are allowed to run them).  And the staff always tells me how happy she seems, always smiling. Thank goodness. Looking forward to the time when I can bring her back to our house, go out on the town and visit with Cookie! (Cookie loves her some Grandma!)

And now Cookie looks a whole lot better with her recent haircut on Saturday. Tom took her in and picked her up. I was busy at work on Saturday. Our facility has been trying to ramp up the rehab admissions. Still a bit slow with the restrictions-hospitals are being asked to continue to put off non emergency surgeries or procedures. So most of our rehab people have been residents that live in our facility with a small, steady flow of hospitalized patients  that have had medical complications or fractures from falls. Some of those patients coming from home have decided to move into our Assisted Living Facility, so I am getting a bit busier on my side of the building. Also spending more time helping on our rehab side completing evaluations as well as spending a day at one of our local facilities covering for their OT that quit. We have been seeing a few more patients that had contracted COVID and are still trying to recuperate with all sorts of symptoms from respiratory and cardiac issues, muscle weakness, swallowing issues and cognitive deficits. And many people feel very depressed as the quarantine restrictions remain in place. Patients have to remain in their rooms for 12 days on isolation when entering most facilities, and we still cannot bring them into our therapy gym. We still have to wear our masks with a face guard and gowns in the isolation rooms. And everything gets wiped down with clorox. Still trying to keep at least my M-Thursday work schedule if at all possible. 

I keep trying to get to my swim exercise class at least once a week, but the classes can fill up fast. Only 20 spots and you need a reservation ahead of time. Our Governor eased up restrictions for the number of people allowed in for restaurants, shopping, entertainment venues, churches and gyms but most places still want a limited number with masks and social distancing or reservations to keep the numbers down. I am still going to tv mass on Sunday morning. Turns out, the wedding Allison was supposed to attend with her boyfriend on Sunday, March 14th in New Jersey was rescheduled for June. Her Ultimate Frisbee teams have not started up again yet. She is happy that her exercise gym reopened at her apt complex, including their clubhouse. She can get back on the treadmill, but also does a video workout in her apartment. I pulled out a set of 3lb hand weights for her to use from the back of my closet when I was cleaning it out. (Still a work in progress). I did manage to pack up all of my snowmen and put out the spring decorations, including getting a jump on the Easter decorations. Seems like all the holidays come at the same time! This year Tom's Birthday lands on Easter so I am also busy birthday shopping as well as putting together Easter baskets. Another reason I enjoy having the extra time off during the week. I also took advantage of my time off to get my oil changed and tires rotated, ready for the big trip to Kzoo. Tom decided to help Allison with her oil change and found out his oil pump sprung a leak, partly in our garage. Looks like he's getting a new pump for his birthday. And he's celebrating with an early birthday present-a streaming service from the AHL so he and Allison can enjoy the Hershey Bears Hockey games at home. He's really hoping they start opening up the ice rink to the general public. So far they are only allowing season pass holders into the games. It's still a limited number, spread out around the rink with masks on. You can't even go up to the food stands-you have to remain in your seats and wait for someone to come take your order. I assume they let you go to the bathroom, but who knows! At least it is a step in the right direction! No more COVID please!

Wrapping up the month of February

February 15-21, 2021

     Happy President's Day! Happy Paczki Day! Happy Fat Tuesday! Happy Ash Wednesday!

Special Happy 25th Birthday to twins, Caroline and Clayton Bozyk on Saturday, Feb 20th!  

What a very busy week this has been. We started off with a National Holiday(Presidents Day) and some people off work(mostly government workers). And no sooner did we finish with special Valentine's treats, but it was time to give up something for Lent! Tuesday was the last day to pig out on the sweets since I planned on giving them up during Lent(at least the chocolate treats!). 

I did go looking for some of my favorite Fat Tuesday treats. Paczkis! Those fat little cream or jelly filled polish donuts. I mostly saw the New Orleans favorite, King Cakes(very similar to a cinnamon coffee cake), colored in purple, green and gold with a surprise baked inside-a plastic baby! And pancakes seem to be a big part of Baltimore's Shrove Tuesday celebration. So much food, so little time!  And before I knew it, Ash Wednesday was upon us and no meat. Nothing but beans and rice. I did have the day off and I managed to keep up with one of the Ash Weds traditions-ashes! Turns out the Methodist church nearby where Scott's Boy Scout Troop was affiliated with had drive through ashes available in the afternoon for a few hours. Since I was out running errands and dropping off supplies to my mom, I decided to swing by and get ashes. I figured there would be a long line of participants, but when I pulled into the parking lot it was empty. Except for some guys reroofing the church building. There was a small table set up but no one there. Just a jar of ashes on the table and I almost got out to do it myself except the pastor came running out and apologized for having to take a box into the building. He was happy to give me some ashes on my forehead(drive through method) with the use of a Qtip! Very clever. He also gave me a Lenten packet with some palm crosses(getting ready for Easter!). I did not get a mass in-you still have to put in reservations and I am not exactly sure about my weekly work schedule. 

Turns out I did have Weds and Friday off again last week. My patients were bundled into 3 days. I am still just working in one part of our building-the Assisted Living facility. We still have to get tested twice a week for COVID. We are still on 14 day isolation precautions due to a recent positive COVID test in one of the staff who did not get the vaccine. So since I had some time off I used it to participate in my pool exercise class on Weds and Friday morning. I try to take advantage of the time off and opportunity to participate in the Pool exercise class. You have to make a reservation a few days beforehand, and it fills up quickly. It has been so nice to be able to get back to my favorite exercise class. 

I also appreciate the extra days off to spend doing extra projects and running errands. I decided to have lunch on Friday with Allison and picked up some McDonald's fish sandwiches after my swim class. That was quite an experience. I checked at two different Chick Fil A's for fish sandwiches first. Allison was pretty sure they had them last year, but apparently not this year! Instead, I ended up getting an orange street cone stuck under my front bumper while driving through the ridiculously long drive thru at the large, local Chik Fil A. A very nice man helped me pull it out from underneath!  After our lenten meal and catching up with Disney's Wanda Vision at Allison's apartment, she asked me to join her in dress shopping. Turns out she has two, not one wedding to attend with her boyfriend Gabe. He is actually in one of the weddings set in March in New Jersey. I told Allison she needed a fancy dress and off we went to Burlington. They usually have a great selection and fantastic prices. Unfortunately, it looks like they have not been stocking the store like usual and even stopped selling items online. We did however manage to find a very lovely dress, and even a few others for work when she goes back at terrific prices. They closed the dressing rooms, so we had to sneak into the bathroom to try on the pile of dresses we pulled off the racks. Looks like she will need one more fancy dress for the second wedding. Guess we will just have to keep shopping! 

On Saturday I spent the day cleaning the house and Tom cooked a steak dinner for our neighbor's Dan and Gloria. Afterwards we decided to rent the movie "News of the World" with Tom Hanks. It was very good, although a bit hard to follow at first. We have enjoyed a few, first run movies at home including 'Wonder Woman' and 'Love and Monsters'. On Sunday we had Allison over for dinner and we watched some Disney movies. A new release about a super hero squirrel! Very cute but Tom skipped that one. We did sit through the Disney movie with the computer generated dog in 'Call of the Wild' with Harrison Ford. I think we enjoyed the dog in Love and Monsters so much better. Mainly because it was real and not computer generated! And cute!

Mostly it was just Cookie and I at home during the week. I've been taking her out on a lot of walks. Since the weather has been rather nasty-cold, sleet, snow, our neighbor Gloria has decided to wait for better weather to become our dog walker. She did get Cookie out on one nice day. And since we had a some lousy weather over the weekend, I decided it would be a good time to give Cookie a bath. It is not too easy to get down and wash her in the bathtub, especially with the glass doors, so I decided to use the kitchen sink. It is just my height and has a sprayer, so she put up with me scrubbing her down and then a long brush and blow dry. She'll go in for a grooming when the weather warms up, so for now she has to put up with kitchen sink baths. 

Tom was out of town during the week. He was asked to go down to the DC Dulles area to teach a statistics class for 10 participants in a support company for Northrop. Tom usually teaches this class with another person, but because of COVID they kept the numbers down. So when he returned, he pretty much had lost his voice. He also said he really did not get many breaks since the participants were busy asking him questions at that time. And the class was supposed to run Monday through Thursday, but we had a snow/sleet storm so they sent everyone home Weds night. Instead, Tom ended up teaching the class remotely from home on Thursday while I battled the elements getting to work. I have several appointments on my calendar next week so I am still hoping for a light work schedule. 

Other exciting news on Sunday, my mom had her second COVID vaccination! I scheduled an indoor visit the first weekend in March at her place. I have to get a COVID test before visiting, at least 3 days ahead of time, still wear a mask and stay 6 feet apart sitting behind a plastic barrier

. Not sure when the CDC will determine when vaccinated people will be able to get back to life. 

February 22-28, 2021  Happy Birthday to Tom's sister Susan who celebrated her special day on Friday the 26th with a Lenten Fish and Chips dinner at the beach in Florida with hubby John and Dad (Dick)Seitz. 

Over the weekend,  while Allison was visiting, our neighbor Gloria gave Tom a call to let him know she had an email link from the University of Maryland scheduling COVID vaccinations during the upcoming week at our Baltimore Convention Center Field Hospital. The email had been circulating in our neighborhood all weekend but I did not bother to tell Tom. Most people found out that it was a shared link and most people were being turned down for appointments. Gloria used to work for the hospital system though and she received her COVID vaccination downtown at the hospital so Tom took a chance and logged on. He was able to make appointments for both himself and Allison on Monday morning and Gloria's husband Dan also made a Monday morning appointment. My mom received her second vaccination on Sunday the 21st with her entire Assisted Living Facility. I went online to sign up for an indoor visit scheduled on Sunday the 28th. I figured that would give us both enough time to have an immunology bubble built up, although we still have to wear masks and get tested 72 hrs before visiting, even with the vaccinations. And we still cannot roam freely in the facilities. Happily the Maryland positivity rate is going down and is currently at 3.4. Still doesn't help school openings. Teachers and Teacher Unions, School Boards are still struggling over wanting to open and wanting all teachers to be vaccinated. They just opened up vaccinations to teachers, however, there just aren't enough vaccines to go around. We have plenty of places to deliver them, but not enough vaccine. Fortunately, the Johnson and Johnson vaccine produced here in Baltimore was just approved this weekend by the FDA. And it is only 1 shot. So more people (that want it) should have a chance to get the vaccine. 

Turns out Monday morning was another snowy/sleeting day. Tom and Allison even had a tumble on our front lawn while walking over to Dan's house. We have had varying snow and sleet storms and all the snow piles have turned to ice. I even had to dig out a huge snow drift that was frozen solid in front of our door so the neighbors could get in. Tom had used the snow blower on the driveway and sidewalk last week, but left a pile in front of the door that froze solid. But I figured the bad weather could be an advantage for Tom and Allison getting their first vaccine dose since most people don't like to travel in bad weather. Dan ended up driving all of them down and parked nearby in a parking garage and headed into the Convention Center. Dan's website had him filling out medical paperwork, but nothing for Tom and Allison-that did not look good. As they neared their vaccination scheduled time, they figured someone would come by and turn them away. However, that did not happen and all 3 got vaccinated! Dan fit's the age limit of 65 and Tom and Allison have letters stating they are essential workers in Defense and manufacturing, but they did not need to fill out anymore paperwork. I was so surprised, but very excited that two more members of the family have their vaccine. Both complained of some soreness, while Tom felt a bit dizzy and Allison felt a little under the weather during the week, but nothing serious. I am also excited that they were given follow up appointments for the second vaccination. By the end of the week they closed that vaccine site to Baltimore City residents only due to complaints of inequality on vaccination distribution. 

It was a very busy week for both of us. Naturally as our furnace needed repairs recently, the hot water heater decided to spring a leak. Tom thought he could salvage the unit by changing a hose. Unfortunately, the tank kept leaking and putting out the pilot light. Tom decided since we have had it for 15 years that it was time to replace the unit. So we were without hot water for 2 days. (Guess we were still better off than the family in Texas). They had been without power, water, internet and even cell connection for at least a week during a severe cold snap and snow/ice storm. Most of the country has been under some storm warning for the past few weeks with lots of multiple car pile ups on the freeways with over 50 cars or more in some states. Most of it has been due to ice storms. They are the worst! 

Tom decided to purchase a slightly smaller hot water tank and install it himself. He borrowed my van and drove to a Home Depot about 30 mins from our house-that was the only place that had the one he wanted in stock. He brought it home and disconnected the old tank. He discovered that it was probably a good idea to put in a new one since he discovered our old tank appeared to have rusted out. He was able to bring the new tank into the house and down to the basement with a dolly, but the old tank is just too heavy and bulky to move by himself. Probably will have to wait until Scott comes home for some extra muscle to move it! I am just happy to have hot water again so I can take a shower and get the laundry and dishes done!

I was also happy to have just a 4 day work week, going in on Saturday. I was able to sign up for one of the Pool classes at the Y in the morning on Thursday. I was happy to have time off again during the week since I had some appointments on my calendar. I finally had an appointment to try Acupuncture for my hip and low back pain with our insurance provider. I wanted to try something better than just getting a cortisone injection per the ortho recommendation. He also told me to come back in 10 years to get a new hip! I can't wait that long and I am not crazy about cortisone injections-they don't last very long, so once you start getting them, you usually have to go back multiple times. And you can only get so many since it has side effects  like thinning your bones or eating up any cartilage left! I wanted something to help with my pain so I could get back to moving again. I remember Mom (Bonnie) Seitz having acupuncture on a trip to Hawaii and reported wonderful relief. I must say after just 1 treatment I felt so much better. And nice to have it covered by our insurance. There are more Physical Therapists and Chiropractors using dry needling to aid in pain management and increasing mobility. Looking forward to more treatment sessions and getting back to my exercise class. I also took Cookie in for her yearly check up. I tried to see if I could go into the clinic during her visit with the vet, but they said their staff is not yet vaccinated so as usual, I sat in the parking lot and they took Cookie in. Everything looked pretty good, except I was shocked to hear she had worms in her stool. Looks like she picked up some nasty stuff on all those walks! Since everyone has been home for a year now, the whole neighborhood has been out walking their dogs and getting puppies. Cookie must have eaten something contaminated out on her walks since she is such a garbage hound! Now she is on medication for a few days. And I gave her another bath at the end of the week since she has been getting so muddy with all our walks through the puddles on the sidewalks as the snow and ice begins to melt.  

On Sunday Tom decided to have our neighbors, Dan and Gloria over for dinner. Tom purchased several steaks and made mashed potatoes with broccoli/cauliflower salad and homemade whiskey sours with appetizers. I decided to go get my hair cut. I am still wearing a face shield, so it is nice to have a shorter hair cut to deal with all the mask ear straps and face shield band. We missed having Allison over for the weekend-she was busy visiting with her friends and Gabe. 

 

Happy Ground Hog's Day! Feb 1-Feb 7 

  The Ground Hog swore he saw his shadow on Feb 2nd. Not sure how since it was overcast and snowing in Puxatawney, PA as well as here in Maryland. But supposedly he did and now we are to expect 6 more weeks of winter, according to the little rodent. So far he is right. We have had cold temperatures and another snowy day so far this week, but nothing extreme. We even creeped up to the 50s which pretty well melted everything we had last weekend. And with a little bit of warmth, I noticed my daffodils are all starting to peek up out of the dirt. And the bluebirds keep coming back to visit their nesting house. So no shoveling for me this week. I did have a poor start to my Ground Hog's Day. I forgot my purse at home and had to drive all the way back to pick it up. I thought I would take a quick route home via the freeway and it turned out to be the slowest with a traffic jam! I felt like Bill Murray in his Ground Hog movie. Just glad I did not have to relive that morning!  Our neighbor Gloria planned on taking Cookie for walks when I was at work, but I have been home more now, so I take Cookie out pretty much every day when the weather is decent. I just don't like walking her when there are lots of muddy puddles on the sidewalk from melting snow(she manages to walk through every one of them and gets filthy!) So on Sunday morning, she got a bath in the kitchen sink!  I  had a few days off work since things have slowed down in my section of the building.  We had a positive COVID case,  so we are still following CDC guidelines and recommendations not to work between our two facilities-the Long Term Care/Rehab unit and the Assisted Living unit where I have been seeing residents. So my boss thought it would be better if I consolidated all my patients to less days of the week rather than going in  for just a few hours every day and only seeing one or two residents at a time since they only get treated 3x/week. 

The extra days off gave me time to drop off some more video tapes to Costco to download to DVDs and to look through some of the Bozyk photo collection. I picked up my mom's Valentine's Day decorations from her storage unit and while I was there I pulled out a few more boxes of photos and video tapes. I have also been working on the Bozyk/Borg family tree online, trying to pick through my mom's notes and journals. I also keep updating my address book since a few of my Christmas cards came back undelivered due to family members/friends moving with no forwarding address. Thank goodness for the internet since I am almost always able to locate people online or even through Facebook(it has some good use!). However, I just can't seem to get enough information for my family tree, especially for those people from the 1800s unless I pay for a service like Ancestory.com. And I am having some difficulty with the photos since many of them are not labeled, so I don't know who is in the picture or where it was taken. And I don't really have a lot of family members left to ask that may know! I do enjoy the challenge however of figuring out the history. Tom asked why I find the Family Tree  so interesting. To me it is like completing a puzzle, which I especially enjoy. Plus I like learning  the history of our families to see where we all came from. 

So I am trying to preserve the photos and videos that I have and Costco has the best prices on their services. And I recently found out that they will be closing their instore booths and providing less services online by Feb 14th, so I was eager to drop off as many items as I could before that deadline. Since we expected some snow over the weekend, the stores were all busy and packed. Especially Costco. I could barely get into the parking lot as the line for gas was blocking the driveway. And with the Super Bowl on Sunday afternoon, the crowds have not lessened. Good thing Maryland's COVID numbers are dropping, along with our positivity rate currently at 5.9%.  Tom and Allison are next on the list for a COVID vaccination. They recently received their letters from Northrop outlining their need for vaccination since they are considered essential workers in the field of manufacturing and Defense. Especially for Tom who is currently working on top secret space projects and needs to be in the facility, meeting with other staff members. However, every time they have someone in the group test positive for COVID, they have to shut down and do a thorough cleaning. Both Tom and Allison signed up on several websites, getting "in line" for a vaccination. Allison continues to work from home. She even interviewed for a permanent position of her choosing with data analysis/Finance and got the job! She will start her new rotation in June and will receive a top security clearance like Tom. So she will probably have to at least go into work at some point. However,  even after COVID days have passed, many companies are looking at offering their staff the opportunity to continue to work from home as needed. Which can be a nice option. Even schools are looking to cancel snow days, providing students with the opportunity to keep learning remotely, online. Unless of course there is a power outage. Which fortunately we have not had widespread. We did get some heavy snow and ice and a portion of our neighborhood lost power, but nothing extreme. 

We ended up enjoying the Super Bowl game with our neighbors, Dan and Gloria. They invited us over for dinner and the game Sunday evening, including Allison and Cookie. Allison ended up carrying Cookie over to their house to avoid further puddles since I just washed her! Tom and I brought Buffalo Chicken dip and dessert- brownies, plus I made an apple crisp. Dan and Gloria served Maryland Crab soup with steak, german potato salad and a green salad, as well as having chips and salsa and some homemade peanut butter cups. Way too much food, but so very good! And the game was interesting to say the least. No one in our group really wanted to see Tom Brady take home another Super Bowl win, but it was nice to see Tampa Bay have that opportunity over Kansas City since they just had a win last year. And that is how the crazy game turned out! Looks like Tampa Bay and Tom Brady were favored after all. 

And since I had some time off work during the week, I decided to sign up for my swim class on Friday morning. I have not been to my exercise class in a year, and it felt wonderful to get back in the pool! It is just not an easy feat. They don't offer as many classes as they used to. You have to sign up ahead of time with a two day window before the class begins and often the class is already full. They can take 20 people in the shallow pool and we are lined up in the pool with lane dividers, 5 per lane,  to keep 6 ft apart. You get your temperature taken when you enter the building and have to wear a mask except when you're in the pool. I skipped the shower afterwards since I did not want to wash and blow dry my hair. They removed all the blow dryers anyway. So I changed and came home and took a shower. I am hoping I can continue to get into the classes since it felt so good(and so normal!).

Happy Birthday to Eric Seitz! He was gifted a day off work to celebrate his day on Friday , February 5th with his girls! 

Feb 8-Feb 14th, 2021 Happy Valentine's Day! 

We wrapped up this week with a subtle Valentine's Day celebration. Tom is still not vaccinated and does not feel terribly comfortable eating inside restaurants yet. And we don't really enjoy eating a meal while freezing outside in a tent, even if it has a heater. Plus there are not very many of those around anyway. Instead we stayed home and swapped Valentine's goodie bags and enjoyed a homemade steak dinner.  I spent most of the week wrapping up Valentine goodie bags/boxes and cards for Scott, Allison and my mom and delivering/mailing them out. Plus I sent Mom and Dad Seitz a framed photo I had printed off our Christmas pictures. At least the mail is now getting delivered in a timely fashion. I also treated myself to a mani/pedi Sunday afternoon. I had to go in later though since we had a horrible ice storm that left my car and the driveway/streets coated in a sheet of ice. 

I have been collecting tax documents for us and for my mom. I also spent some time speaking to our broker. I was surprised to hear that our Merrill Lynch advisor left the company and switched to Morgan Stanley. He had been with ML for 20 years. I guess he decided he had more flexibility to make recommendations for his clients at MS than he did working for ML. So I decided to switch my account over to him  since I  trust him and enjoy working with him which we have been doing for the past few weeks. But I left my mom's account at ML. They are owned by Bank of America which she uses and it is just so much easier to keep track of all her finances with one stop shopping. Not to mention it was quite the challenge over several years to get it organized and is doing just fine. If it ain't broke. So I used some of my days off to make the phone calls and set up a new account online with Tom's help as well as contact the new advisor at ML. Turns out it is a guy I worked with initially when I opened Mom and Dad's account, so we had a nice chat catching up. 

I also spent a day off making a dentist appointment. I called during the week to see if they had any openings for a check up. I have not been to the dentist in over a year. We usually go at least twice a year, but I wanted to wait until I had my second vaccination. Turns out they had a cancellation and were able to see me. We have a wonderful dentist. She and her techs/hygienists have all been vaccinated. They continue to wear extensive PPE and have large filters in each exam room. You have to wait outside for your appointment and then they come get you and take your temperature. They actually opened their front door because they were hot with all their PPE on, but it was a bit chilly for the rest of us. However, good air circulation! Tom and Allison had already been to the dentist last year. I was surprised they felt comfortable with a dental appointment during COVID. But with all the precautions from the dentist office, the risk seemed low. 

Tom actually just got a hair cut in a barber shop for the first time since COVID began. Funny he felt less safe with a mask on getting a 20 min haircut in a barber shop than a 30+ min dentist appointment with his mask off. Anyway, he has been trimming away at his hair for the past year, but had an upcoming class that he was teaching and decided he needed to be a bit more presentable. He mostly stays home, so was not so worried about how he looked. Even when he goes into work he is usually by himself in his office. And when he is not working, he is busy writing his Thesis. His class ended on Friday before Valentine's Day. He basically is writing a book and has 5 chapters scheduled. He is currently on Chapter 2 and has had to go back several times for rewrites per his professor. Appears Tom is trying to put too much info into this project and the prof keeps asking him to cut back. Makes it tougher to decide what not to include since Tom knows all the info is important. At this point, the profs are just trying to get him through the process to get to his PhD. 

Scott is working diligently on his online coursework, trying to stay warm in Michigan. The dorms actually were out of heat for at least a day-not sure why. Usually the kids are melting in their dorm rooms and keep their windows cracked open so they don't overheat as they don't have control over the temperature in their rooms. Good thing he has plenty of warm clothes and blankets. 

Allison is working hard from home on this rotation. She continues to enjoy meeting up with her friends for sessions of Dungeons and Dragons and visiting with boyfriend Gabe on the weekends. She really misses working out in the clubhouse at her apartment complex. The building has been closed down for remodeling for several months. Instead she is working out in front of the tv and I pulled out some hand weights for her to increase her work out level. She is excited that her college friend, Jen, recently bought a house near Salisbury and can't wait to visit after she is finished moving in with her fiance. Her other friend Sophia also bought a house with her fiance in New Jersey. I imagine there will be a lot of road trips once the COVID spread slows down while America gets vaccinated. Even Scott is hoping to visit with a girl in person that he has been talking to with some online college friends in Louisiana for about a year. I will just be excited to visit in person with my mom! She is scheduled for her second vaccination on the 21st of Feb, so I made a reservation to visit on the 28th of Feb. Still wearing masks, but a big step forward!

 

Jan 25-Jan 31st, 2021

. Covid Shot 2

We ended this week with snow. So far this has been a fairly mild winter with not a lot of snow or ice. Not to say that it hasn't been cold. Before this snow storm blew in it was quite frigid and windy. It made walking Cookie a bit challenging.  Although my neighbor Gloria is going to try to come to my rescue. She has been off work since last summer as a traveling Cardiac Nurse OR Manager and is bored. She has volunteered to take Cookie for walks during the week. That would be terrific since I sometimes get home late and have to take a COVID shower before doing anything around the house. Including walking Cookie. And now Tom has been going into work a bit more frequently, so Cookie is home alone during the day again. Missing all the company. So Gloria was able to take her for one walk before the weather turned. And then she had to travel with her husband Dan to Ohio for a  family funeral, so it is a work in progress. 

And when Tom is not going into work he is at home in the basement working on his computer. He noticed the house seemed a bit colder the past week, especially down in the basement where he has his office. Turns out our furnace had stopped working. It did seem like the house was a bit chillier than usual. We also have a gas fireplace set on a thermostat so we weren't freezing, but there seemed to be a bit of a cool breeze moving through the house. Tom did a quick lookover but couldn't figure out the problem. He wanted to call a repair company that specifically works on Lenox, our furnace brand. Mainly to make sure they could get any parts necessary. Turns out there are a few Lenox parts stores in the area, so it really did not matter who we contacted. But I did contact a Lenox repair company on Monday night. I was able to take off Tuesday from work since my caseload was light. When I contacted the repair company though Tuesday morning they said they don't service our area anymore. Would have been nice to know when I checked their webpage and called and made an appointment the night before. No matter, we went with Plan B of calling the company that worked on our air conditioner 4 years ago. They did such a great job then, and did not fail us this time. I called Tuesday morning and the repair man was out by 10am. He was the same guy that fixed our air conditioner and he remembered the issues we had with that unit, better than I did. (like mice chewing through the wiring outside!). He quickly discovered that our furnace motor was burned out and he was able to locate a replacement part which he picked up and installed all before lunch. Unfortunately he reported that since COVID, the cost of parts doubled and are more scarce since most come from you know where-(China). He tossed around the idea of replacing the whole unit, although that would include both the furnace and air conditioner. To be fair, our gas furnace is about 24 yrs old, so it has held up pretty well. Even the guy that sold the part inquired about installing a new system. But as Tom said, paying less than $1000 for a repair is much better than a $12,000  replacement for now! And it seems to be working quite well. Just in time for the snow we had this past weekend. We also had a small snow and sleet storm blow in on Monday, but the roads were pretty clear by Tuesday afternoon. Waiting to shovel. 

Other big news this week was my scheduled #2 COVID vaccination on Jan 29th. CVS came in again on Friday. Turns out I was off on Thursday from work as well to work on Saturday. I was not crazy about working the day after my vaccination. I had heard the second shot could be more intense. I would agree, but it hasn't put me completely down. Unlike my first Pfizer shot, this one caused my arm to swell more with more pain/discomfort in my neck and across my shoulders although it did not last as long. The weirdest feeling is having my lymph nodes swell quite a bit with pain under my left arm where I got the shot to the size of a softball! It is listed as a possible side effect. Made working a bit uncomfortable the next day, but Tylenol seems to be really helping with the discomfort/muscle pain/headache and swelling. Hot shower feels good too!  

Although staff have now received both vaccinations, we continue to wear masks and face shields at work and get tested twice a week. I was surprised to see one of our nurse's aides at my facility tested positive for COVID last week. Turns out she did not want the vaccination. I thought everyone got the vaccination, even those that were initially hesitant. This info is difficult to know since I have to worry about my mom sitting in her apartment, not vaccinated yet, relying on nursing aides to care for her that may not want to get the vaccine. Especially since there are still staff members at my mom's place testing positive for COVID.  Not only that, but it brings up the question of where are these people catching the virus -from out in the community, at home, or is there still some traces of the virus in our building? And you still have to worry about new patients coming into our building and possibly catching COVID. We have slowly been taking in new patients, but not enough to keep all 4 of us OT's busy all day. And we are still not allowed to travel throughout the building to treat patients, so I have been primarily treating the residents in our Assisted Living wing. 

 I also get continuous updates on my mom's health and her facility is testing the residents consistently as well. Especially if they were exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID which seems to keep happening on and off. Fortunately, mom got her first vaccine on Sunday, Jan 31st. CVS sent in about a dozen employees to get ahead of the upcoming snow storm early on Sunday morning. They had 100 residents to vaccinate as well as  100 staff!  

Besides having the furnace repaired, I spent my days off going through the Bozyk family photos from my mom's storage unit. I had planned on taking old video tapes and kodachrome 8mm film in to Costco to have it converted to DVDs. I checked their service online and discovered that they were closing down all their in store Photo Centers by Feb 14th. Granted I have not utilized the photo center in quite some time. I used to get all my film cartridges processed there(it was very cheap!).  But since everything is digital now, I don't have to drop off any film. And if I want any photos printed now I usually send them to Walgreens. Their prices are very good and they usually have discounts for prints or special projects like calendars or the quilt I printed for my mom. But Costco had better prices for video transfer. So I was busy looking through all the photos/videos and movie reels to drop off at the store before the deadline. Looks like I could still use their service after the deadline, but then you have to mail it in. This way I could just drop off the film at the desk. Should be done in a few weeks. Can't wait to see what I end up with! I was also interested in having some photos restored-colorization restored and tears repaired however it is about $30 per photo-a bit rich for my wallet. And while I was looking through photos, I was also trying to pick up names here and there for my Family Tree. I managed to add some more names and dates and discover some more family members. I also discovered that one of my Great Great Great Aunts on my mother's father's side(Borg) married into the Phillips family. The family had 10 children and one of them discovered oil in Oklahoma, establishing Phillips 66 oil company. Another of the Phillips boys had a very large ranch in New Mexico and donated a portion of the property to the Boy Scouts, known today as Philmont Boy Scout Reservation! Scott's BS troop scheduled a trip and trained for the long hike when Scott was in his last year of scouting, but we all opted out. Too much work preparing for the strenuous daily hikes. I also discovered a ceramic nativity set that my Grandmother Borg made which I had given up on ever finding! I looked through all of my parent's Christmas  boxes in two different houses and never found them. It has been 6 years since I moved my parents to Maryland, and lo and behold I found the statues in a small cardboard box at the bottom of a box of photos! We didn't have time to look through all the photos when we were moving, so I never came across it. Not sure why my mom packed them in that box, but I am glad the mystery is solved!

I also check in with Scott via Skype. He was still struggling with his online schedule and assignments-the school and staff seem to have a difficult time ironing out all the online issues at the beginning of the semesters including due dates for assignments and correct zoom codes to log in to live webcasts, but after a few weeks things seem to be straightening out. Looks like Scott will be all virtual however. We were hoping at least one of his engineering labs would be in person, but not for now. Scott also had to sign up for housing for next school year, so he chose a single dorm room on the same floor in the same hall right across from his current room. This one however has it's own bathroom which Scott prefers. No more sharing the one shower and one toilet! Here in Maryland, the public schools are still primarily online and the Governor has announced he wants to return to the buildings by March 1st. Looks like our county is still pushing for an April start date. Teachers are still hesitant to go back into the classrooms until they get their COVID vaccinations. Our state is passing out COVID shots to categories 1A and 1B-all hospitals, nursing homes, first responders, Group Homes and Assisted Living Facilities as well as those 65+. 1C will be essential workers like the postal service, grocery store employees, teachers. Even Tom and Allison in Manufacturing/Defense. Tom and Allison are still waiting to hear from work on how/where to sign up.  

Well, looks like I need to bundle up and do some shoveling. Not sure how much snow we are going to get but I want to be able to get out of the driveway on Monday to get to work!

 

 

January 11-January 24, 2021 Surviving COVID Vaccination! Better than watching the Raven's play. 

  So it has been 2 weeks now since I had my first COVID vaccination and I am still testing negative for COVID, twice a week at work. So far, so good. No real side effects except for the sore arm at the beginning and maybe extra tired during the week coming home from work. Like I just could not get up off the couch. Looking forward to my second vaccination scheduled at work on Jan 29th. And I just signed my mother's consent form-she will finally get her first vaccination on Jan 31st. It cannot come soon enough. Her building is considered an Assisted Living Facility, even though it is affiliated with a nursing home. The ALF vaccination schedule is under the 1B roll out, so her building was skipped when they came by to do the nursing homes under 1A roll out. However, in my building, the ALF and nursing home is considered under one roof, so everybody was vaccinated.  We still keep getting staff members testing positive for COVID. Not sure who, but I am guessing it is new staff getting hired to come into the building. I still believe if you have not yet been exposed to the virus, you are way more susceptible to catching it when you enter a facility that has had an outbreak. Even with all the cleaning and use of PPE. Again, it is a very sneaky virus! Some staff members that caught the virus before Christmas have not really bounced back, mainly with complaints of breathing problems, body aches and pain, headaches. And some of our residents that caught it have not bounced back to their previous levels either. Plus we still lost a few residents from complications due to COVID, a month or so after they first contracted the virus. My building went back to our rule of not working back and forth in our ALF and Nursing home section. So I have been assigned to the patients in the ALF side during the week. But my patients usually only get treated 3 times a week, so some days are busier than others. I was very busy when most of the residents returned from the nursing home/rehab side back to their ALF apartments at about the same time. They all were sent to the rehab/nursing home side after contracting the virus and going to the hospital. They immediately were sent back to their apartments after a two week isolation period, but that did not necessarily mean they were all better. The CDC however considers you "COVID" free because you are not supposed to be contagious after that time. And the isolation period dropped from 14 days to 10 days. But as I mentioned, it does not necessarily mean you are "all better". I was so busy one week that they finally sent over an OT assistant to help me out with treatments. Also the nursing/rehab caseload was low since they were not able to bring in any more patients. Recently, our positive case numbers in the building have dwindled so they have been able to bring in more rehab patients, sometimes up to 4 or 5 a day. So our other OT has been very busy keeping up with evaluations. Make hay while the sun shines. That is not to say that we are entirely COVID free. It seems that we usually have at least 1 person test positive each week, and it is primarily our staff. I see several therapists that I worked with in the past have been receiving their vaccines, as well as my brother in law, Mark S who delivers radioactive treatments to hospitals as his current retirement job. My neighbor Gloria is a traveling nurse and was able to receive her vaccine at a local hospital where she used to work this past week. She said there was no waiting when she went for her appointment. And our physician neighbors received their vaccinations at work in the hospital.  Hoping Mom and Dad Seitz will be able to get their vaccinations soon. I posted my Shot Day photo on Facebook to encourage others to get their vaccinations, as well as sending it to my mom's facility as they have staff members declining the opportunity.  They don't seem to be alone as the news reports of many health care workers declining the vaccination where others that want the vaccine can't get it!

I keep my fingers crossed for my mom's building since they are not vaccinated yet, and they keep having cases of COVID in both staff and residents. My mom has been confined to her apt since Christmas. She has been exposed to positive COVID staff members but thank God has not tested positive herself. She did have a very bad day where she fell a few times and the staff said she just wasn't herself, but she seemed to bounce back and they did not find anything wrong with her, including several negative COVID tests. Jan 31st cannot come fast enough for her! In the meantime, the staff finally let me pick up her Christmas decorations. They were worried her Christmas tree and decorations would spread COVID. I don't blame them. I usually take the decorations right over to mom's storage unit, or leave it in our garage for a few days so I was not so worried about catching anything. Plus I can always spray it with my precious little Lysol that I have left. I finally was able to switch her over to some decorative snowmen to brighten up her room. It's hard to come up with things that might interest her, besides food and sweets! I was wondering if she could manage one of the sticker art books, but I am sure she would need someone to do it with her. I have seen her manage the coloring pages by herself. Not sure the staff has that much time to spare to sit with her and do an activity. I was thinking of putting together a jewelry sorting kit like Sarah Seitz made for Mom Seitz. My mother loves jewelry! But even trying to pick up discount jewelry during COVID times is not so easy. No real garage sales, and even the Good Will stores prices are expensive around here. I keep sending her in magazines along with my supply runs to her place, and I always send her a hand written card to keep her up to date(which she won't remember, but that's ok). She can still read out loud, just cannot come up with her own words usually. At least she was able to get to their hair salon right before Christmas when they allowed the hair stylist back in the building for 1 to 1 appointments. They also tried window visits again but it is too cold to sit outside, so they were setting up the clear barriers with masks inside and then just Facetime visits. I am just waiting for both of us to be vaccinated and hoping we can have an actual, in person visit at that time!

So I am primarily still working M-F with an occasional day off if the work slows down.  I did go in on a Saturday to help out on the rehab side with some evaluations for new patients. So far everyone we have taken in tested negative for COVID. Lets hope it stays that way. We definitely got in trouble when we took in Positive COVID cases. It's a bit tricky to refuse taking back the residents that live in the building if they test positive for COVID when the hospital is ready to discharge. And I am definitely not excited about working for the new contract company. We switched over the beginning of Dec. and they are just now doing a facility wide computer download which means on Monday none of us will have computer access. We will have to do everything on paper, so we tried to hurry and get some of our heavier paperwork done the week before like evaluations or progress notes since we won't have access to any of our previous notes. And we did not get holiday pay for MLK day like we used to with our previous company. Technically we do not get any holiday pay, but since we were transferred during a sale from the previous company, we are supposed to get 6 paid holidays. Not sure that even went through. 

I did enjoy our last week having Scott at home while he started his classes online. He had issues(of course)logging into a live class and had to go through the presentation himself and then figure out the homework on his own. He found out later when he tried to log in the following week that the web page code was old. He needed to have a classmate hook him up.  He also had a quiz scheduled on Friday the 15th, but it was supposed to be a day off, Spirit Day,  since the kids were allowed to come back to campus on that day. The school was supposed to reopen on the 8th of January, but it was pushed off because the Michigan Governor extended a shut down until the 15th. However, school must go on! So the quiz was cancelled, and Scott and Tom headed out on Friday the 15th to drive Scott's Jeep back to Kalamazoo. The week before Scott had to drive up to Elkton, MD on the border of Delaware to get his updated driver's license. Since he turned 21 he needed a new license and turn in his documentation for a real ID. He had an appointment set up in December when he came home from school. Unfortunately, they closed all the MVA offices for several weeks over the holidays due to COVID and they were supposed to sign him up for another appointment. However, he never heard back and when he checked the local offices, they did not have any appointments until February. Plus he could not do any of it online. So Tom joined him and they drove up to the office for a scheduled time slot. I managed to find Scott the appointment-only one available at 4pm on a Tuesday afternoon, about a 1.5-2 hr drive. It actually took a little less time to drive up there since traffic continues to be light due to COVID. They actually got there a bit early so caught some lunch beforehand. Afterwards the clerk told Scott she was going to mail him the license which he was not crazy about, but he did not seem to have a choice. When they were done, they drove to the Costco in Delaware to do some alcohol shopping. (no liquor stores here in Maryland Costcos). Tom was hoping to buy some of Costco's special Irish whiskey I spotted in a recent advertisement, but they were already sold out. And the MVA said Scott's license would take a month for him to receive, but we got it in the mail at the end of the week! Too bad he had already left for school

. 

 The night before Tom and Scott headed to Michigan, we had Allison over for a steak dinner and to watch hockey. Afterwards Scott packed up his Jeep since the boys headed out very early the next morning. They wanted to beat some snow and ice that was heading our way. They managed to have a clear, pleasant drive and arrived early in the afternoon. Scott was not able to return to his dorm room however until Saturday morning. The dorms had the kids sign up for a move back in time, even though they did not have as much stuff to take up to their rooms as they did in the fall. The school just wanted to make sure the kids did not all try to arrive at the same time. The dorms still limit visitors to one per student, limit the number of people on elevators and also keep the front doors locked. Scott has to check in at the desk every time he enters and show a COVID checklist on his phone, asking if he has a fever, or cold like symptoms. He did not have to get a COVID test when he returned, but they are offering them. Tom on the other hand had to get a COVID test when he got back to Maryland before going in to work again. 

So they ran a few errands, picking up some back to school supplies for Scott and tried to find a place to eat since Scott did not have a move back in time until Saturday morning. Most of the restaurants in Michigan are closed except for outdoor dining and carry out. They ordered pizza on Friday night for the hotel and on Saturday night they tried eating indoors at a campus restaurant/bar with individual booths inside. Someone came in and had a temper tantrum about the mandatory mask law although not sure what the problem was because if you sat down to eat you could take off your mask. People are crazy. The boys discovered the food was good though. We tried to eat there before but it was always crowded.  On Saturday, Scott was able to get in his room and drop off his stuff including his computer and new printer, clothes and school supplies. On Sunday, they drove up to Grand Rapids to kill some time, eat lunch before Tom headed to the airport. Again, very difficult to find a place to eat lunch. Mostly seating was available in outdoor tents, not always heated. Not much open. Tom said airport security was a bit heightened coming back since it was so close to Inauguration Day and the recent attack on the DC Capital flying into the Baltimore airport. But he had a nice, almost empty flight back home. Allison and I picked him up at the airport in the evening and headed back to her apartment for dinner. We stopped into a new chinese restaurant near Allison's place to try it out and were pleasantly pleased with the quality of the food. So now she knows another place for carry out. We also checked out her local grocery store-very nice, not a chain store. And we started the Disney+ series "Wanda Vision"-a Marvel storyline that is supposed to take place after End Game. It's about Wanda a witch and Vision an alien robot who get married and live their lives through the decades like a tv series hinting at "I Love Lucy", "The Dick Van Dyke Show", and currently "The Brady Bunch". We were not sure we would like this show, but it is getting interesting and mysterious. They make sure to leave you with a cliffhanger wanting to know more about the story. Even Allison is hooked. This took the place of our Mandelorian Star Wars series with a new episode very Friday. So the following Friday we had Allison over for dinner and another episode of "Wanda Vision". 

On Saturday night Allison and I caught the Ravens/Buffalo Bills game with our friends Dan and Gloria at their house. The game was on later in the evening, but Dan and Gloria fixed a light dinner. We enjoyed their company, along with Cookie, but did not enjoy the game. Sadly, the Ravens looked terrible and lost. Probably better losing now than having to play Kansas City! Tom and Scott opted out of watching the game. Too stressful. This weekend, Allison came over on Sunday to catch the Green Bay/Tampa Bay game and have coney dogs for dinner. 

Scott discovered that school is just as messed up online this semester as it was when they switched to virtual last year. He still does not have a good handle on his schedule. This semester he is taking a Cost Analysis class, Sustainability, Engineering Leadership and Metal Casting. He was so hoping to have an in person Metal Casting class since it is mostly a lab, but because Michigan Gov Whitmer closed in person classes, his lab is virtual. No fun. I was hoping they woudl at least open up the labs this semester, but it is not looking promising. Meanwhile, Maryland schools remain virtual for the most part. Private schools/catholic schools have hybrid schedules with kids having in person classes a few days a week, taking turns. Our Governor is demanding students return to school now which is causing quite a bit of commotion, for and against. Our county is still pushing for an April 1st start where other counties are looking at starting back sooner. All the winter school sports have been cancelled. Our restaurants are open for limited seating in our area, but Baltimore closed all restaurants for indoor and outdoor dining over the holidays and through the football season. Not good for the economy. 

 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!