Week 17

Welcome back and happy Tuesday! I hope everyone is doing well and at least having some nice weather to enjoy. Things are heating up over here with a few 90 degree days and mostly mid to high 80's. This is perfectly normal for us as we move into May. I can't believe the quarantine has been going on for 40+ days now. Honestly I've lost count and just wish I could see an end in sight. The uncertainty is getting to me and I know this whole ordeal weighs heavily on all of us.

Here are last week's pictures:

Day 111- Monday, 4/20/20
The pets sure do help to keep us going.  Brandon and Bella have been enjoying some frisbee time daily in the backyard.  She is really the only reason he ever goes outside aside from forced chores. 😉 I'm also hoping the warmer temps eventually get him out of hoodies.  Today is overcast and not too warm but he'll regret wearing a hoodie the rest of the week.

Day 112- Tuesday, 4/21/20

Here is the other guy keeping us on our toes.  Rusty's random bursts of morning energy, his friendly chatter at all hours, his loving rubs especially around meal time, his purr-filled lap naps, and his funny antics with the crazy scrub jays lightens our mood and comforts our soul.

Day 113- Wednesday, 4/22/20

Here's shot of a pretty flower by the poolside for Earth Day.  This is my citronella plant.  I really need to add more of these to my yard.

Day 114- Thursday, 4/23/20

I'm working remotely today taking Zoom meetings on the comfy couch in the home office and then retreating to the backyard for a break here and there to get some fresh air and take in some nature.  There are many birds singing back there, a squirrel running the fence, and this rosebush newly blooming.  The white ones always look so delicate.

Day 115- Friday, 4/24/20

TGIF!  Bella's always gets her puzzle toy filled with treats Friday night and we always watch a Netflix movie complete with pizza rolls and mixed drinks. Tonight it's Bellinis and Gemini Man--a movie that has been at the top of our que for months. I'm not sure what it is with Netflix but we hardly ever get any of our top 5 picks anymore which has never been a problem before.  Anyone else notice this?

Day 116- Saturday, 4/25/20

It's super warm today but I'm starting early and using the shade to help me tackle this backyard. At least I got a good workout and things are starting to shape up.  It will take a few weekends to get through it all but I actually don't mind being out of the house and being able to work on something outside.

Day 117- Sunday, 4/26/20

Time for a Sunday driving lesson with Brandon.  He's getting the hang of it and feeling more confident behind the wheel.  Later we enjoyed some Korean short ribs John grilled up for dinner. Yum!

Wait!  One more:

April's Family Photo

We talked about wearing masks for this one but then forgot.  Maybe next month if it's still required. This was obviously taken during the Golden Hour in our backyard.  Justin will be able to join us next month as his school year in coming to an end. Can't wait to have him back for summer.

That's it!  See you next week as we wrap up March and  here's to hoping May will be a better month on all accounts.

Week 16

Hello and welcome back. I hope everyone is still safe and managing this shelter-in-place (SIP) situation OK. It's so hard not knowing when it will end and not being able to make plans for anything.  I'm a planner so it messes with my mind a bit but at least I have work distractions to keep me focused on planning for that.  The wonderful spring weather and being able to get outside has also been a nice distraction that I'm hoping will continue.

Here's a look at last week's pictures:

Day 104- Monday, 4/13/20

I'm happy to see my roses in bloom.  The yellow ones are my favorite. I also had to snap a shot of my neighbor's driveway while walking past to check mail.  They worked hard all weekend to create this cool chalk design and I love it.

Day 105- Tuesday, 4/14/20

I'm working from home today and I love the slow start where I can enjoy my morning coffee in my PJs.  I do eventually get dressed even though I'm not going anywhere. It's important to keep a routine and I feel like I'm more productive if I'm dressed.  While working from home I also wish I had another one of these cute eyeglass holders. This one is out in the family room but I could use another to go in the home office where I keep a second pair of glasses handy.  I'm pretty sure there is also an owl version and maybe dog version of this same holder.  I need to check on that especially since it helps me be mindful of where I leave my glasses to find them later.  Multiple pairs for multiple locations are a must.  Sad but true that it's come to that.

Day 106- Wednesday, 4/15/20

Brandon's spring break is over so he's back to full on distance learning.  Thank goodness I don't have younger kids that actually need help with that.  He's great at staying on top of it even if he does turn his math graphs into paper airplanes every now and then. 😉  This afternoon when I got home from work we both had a fun time outside trying to recreate and old picture of him and Bella for a project I'm working on.  It was wonderful how into it he was and he amazes me with his attention to detail making sure the picture was as close to possible as the older version some 10 yrs ago.  I'll share the side by side once I get the pictures done of the boys.

Day 107- Thursday, 4/16/20

Another day working at home.  It's interesting what sort of morning things I miss out on since I'm usually up and out to work even before the sun.  This morning I enjoyed seeing Rusty interact with his bird that is back from last spring.  This bird taps on the slider door and squawks repeatedly at him for attention.  Sometimes he's into it and other times he's annoyed by it.  The bird is lucky he never gets out.  Later it was a great sunny spring day to walk the dog in cropped pants, and flip flops.  I was even inspired to let my bare feet feel the coolness of the newly cut spring grass.  It's the simple things that help keep us grounded.

Day 108- Friday, 4/17/20

California poppies are in season and I was lucky enough today to come across many patches as I made my way to Hopkins Rd in Davis for a work package pick up. With so many buildings on campus closed it's been interesting navigating the package pick up for deliveries.  I never know what to expect or where I'll have to go to track one down.  At least it was a naturally beautiful location this time that I rarely see so I much enjoyed my venture away from the lab to receive this package.

Day 109- Saturday, 4/18/20 

John's favorite Ben and Jerry's flavor is Phish Food and I find it hilarious that he had a pint delivered from 7-eleven today along with some beer to get him through the weekend.  He was also kind enough to order a pint of a couple other flavors for Brandon and I. Yet another sign of the times.

Day 110- Sunday, 4/19/20

All this warm spring weather has inspired me to plant our tomatoes and I think many other people had the same idea since the garden center at our nearby Lowe's was packed with people.  Everyone was great about social distancing and wearing masks though plus I got in and out of there much quicker than I expected.  Hopefully we have a good crop this year.

That's it!  I look forward to seeing you back next week with more fun times in quarantine, as if.

Week 15

Welcome back and happy Tuesday!  We're all still stuck safe at home but at least we had a few things to celebrate last week to break up the monotony.

Here are the pictures to prove it:

Day 97- Monday, 4/6/20

I had to walk across the med sci part of campus to pick up a package with a critical sample and wore my mask while out to do so but the only living creatures I ran into were these ducks.  Masks are the latest requirements for going out.

Day 98- Tuesday, 4/7/20

Happy Birthday to John and Bella!  We celebrated with homemade pizza for dinner during the golden hour and then enjoyed a cake Brandon and I made yesterday.

Day 99- Wednesday, 4/8/20 

Sign of the times- empty creepy buildings and empty sad parks.  Tupper hall where my second lab is on campus has very few windows so it's usually dark and kind of creepy anyway but even more so without people and a taped off playground is just sad, but important in these times.

Day 100- Thursday, 4/9/20

It's Brandon's official spring break week even though he's been home for the past few weeks already.  Normally I'd take him to see a movie over break but that can't happen so a movie at home it is.  I picked something with dogs in it because I knew he would like that and this movie was an interesting Japanese stop motion film with a lot of great dogs.  What I didn't realize was it's a film about a dog flu that gets them quarantined to a deserted island to protect humans. It also involves politics with and unruly leader not listening to scientists who want to make a vaccine.  LOL--almost to close to home.

Day 101- Friday, 4/10/20

TGIF!  It seemed like a long week and I'm glad to be home after working longer than expected today. It's great to see the front yard bushes in bloom with pretty pink flowers--a welcoming sight driving up.  After making it through another week of uncertainty and change drinks are in order so cheers to the weekend!

Day 102- Saturday, 4/11/20

I'm not done doing fun things with this kid before he starts up online classes again next week.  Today we colored eggs to get ready for Easter and here is our carrot colored cat happy to help out where he can.  I think he's waiting for the Easter ham to make an appearance.  We also had fun with a family Zoom call involving my parents, my sister with her kids, me and all my boys from different locations.  It was great to see and talk with everyone.  It's probably been at least 10 years since we've all been together and able to chat at the same time. 

Day 103- Sunday, 4/12/20

Happy Easter!  I hope everyone had a blessed day.  We are blessed with great neighbors.  Our neighbor to the left helped put together an Easter Bunny drive through the streets of our citywide neighborhoods which was a lot of fun to see for all, and our neighbor on the right offered up some yeast after hearing we had been searching for 2 weeks with no luck.  Easter dinner would not have been the same without these wonderful dinner rolls we traditionally have with every holiday meal.  I'm thankful for such great neighbors and a wonderful community that's working together to help get us all through this.

That's it!  See you next week.  Continue to stay safe and sheltered.

Week 14

Happy Tuesday and welcome back!  This is whole pandemic thing is scary and staying home is getting old and boring but super important for staying safe. At least our governor is on it and getting us prepared for the worst so we don't become overwhelmed like so many others have. We're holding strong and hoping for the best. Everyone please keep doing your part to help.  

Here are last week's pictures which are getting harder and harder to take as it's hard to find inspiration stuck in this situation but it is what it is and should also be documented:

Day 90- Monday, 3/30/20

I still have to work in the lab a couple days a week to take care of my cultures keeping them alive and also testing important clinical samples but that's ok because it's nice to be able to get out and do something that's helpful for animals anyway. Our lab is also isolated and has to be kept super clean so it's much safer coming here than going to the grocery store for sure.  In the afternoon this kid is finally up and out of his room.  He's taking it all in stride and really doesn't mind becoming a hermit. It's easy to let him be to do his own thing but also important to help him engage in others things especially now that his homework packet is done and next week is spring break.  He'd sleep ALL day if it were up to him.

Day 91- Tuesday, 3/31/20

Happy 19th Birthday Justin!  Today is his birthday but the pictures are from last week when we celebrated right before he returned to HSU. He picked a great Cold Stone Neapolitan ice-cream cake for us to enjoy.  Good thing his celebration was last week because Cold Stone is now closed until further notice even for takeout. 

Day 92- Wednesday, 4/1/20

Time for a new month.  John and Bella posed with my monthly marker since it is their birthday month.  Later that evening I had a Zoom Booster's meeting. Who knew Zoom would become and important new way of life?  I had a meeting yesterday, today, two tomorrow, and one on Friday.  Hopefully none of them get Zoom Bombed which apparently has been a problem with college and high school kid classes recently.

Day 93- Thursday, 4/2/20

Another work day in our empty lab but I did get to take a nice walk to another building for sample pickup and on the way there and back I passed no one (the campus is pretty much empty). I did find these interesting flowers in bloom that look like they are made from crinkled tissue paper though, and I enjoyed taking in some fresh spring air before having to isolate in the lab to process samples.

Day 94- Friday, 4/3/20

At least this Zoom meeting is mostly for fun.  I usually have my morning coffee with my long time work friend Nadira but we can no longer meet in person so we've decided to at least have a virtual coffee date once a week to catch up.  It's important to keep social connections as best we can and it was so nice to talk to her again.  We also found out today that Brandon's schooling will continue to be on-line through the rest of the year starting back up after their spring break next week.  No surprise but we hadn't heard officially from the school district until now. Surreal times!

Day 95- Saturday, 4/4/20

We're experiencing a lot of rain this weekend and even so Bella still needs her daily walk.  We tried to wait for the rain to let up but it wasn't happening so out we went in the pouring rain.  She doesn't mind at all and as long as I have an umbrella or a good hood I'm fine with it too. For dinner we had Mexican and John brought public enemy #1 to the table.  LOL!

Day 96- Sunday, 4/5/20

Yep it's still raining on and off all day and probably tomorrow too.  I tried to get to the store before it started again but no luck and you'd think the rain would help keep people away but no luck there either. The store was crazy with people and now we are supposed to be wearing mask out although I saw very few complying just yet.  We'll see what the next week brings.  In other news, we finished Ozark and are now working through The Handmaid's Tale. What would we do without streaming TV especially since our cable remote broke Friday and its all we can really watch right now.

Ok that's It!  Stay safe, stay home, stay positive, wear those masks and hope for the best.  See you next week.