Week 18

Welcome back and happy Tuesday!  We're just plugging along patiently waiting for things to get back to something close to normal although SIP orders for our county are now in effect through the end of May. This means a whole other month stuck at home which is getting old. At least I can escape the house 3 days a week to work in the lab.  It does help.  Maybe in June things will look up although I'm afraid it will be a really uneventful and boring summer. Mostly I just pray come fall schools can safely be back in session. The whole online learning is fine short term but not the most ideal way to truly learn anything especially if you go to a learn-by-doing school like Justin.  Bottom line is we have our family and we have our health and we'll do what it takes to keep it that way.

Here are last week's pictures:

Day 118- Monday, 4/27/20

Face masks have been recommended for awhile but not required in our county until today.  I've been wearing them for some time out in public but most people haven't so I'm kind of glad they're now required especially in stores and enclosed spaces.  Today when I went grocery sopping both places were screening people at the door and not letting them in without a mask--crazy sign of the times.

Day 119- Tuesday, 4/28/20

I'm doing my best to engage this kid so after finishing remote work this morning Brandon and I decided to make cowboy cookies.  Miraculously I had all the ingredients on hand without even planning which is a good thing because if I had needed anything it's unlikely the stores would have been stocked. Way more people are baking than usual and I get that because it's fun to bake together and rewarding too.

Day 120- Wednesday, 4/29/20

I worked in the lab this morning doing some QC testing on media plates to make sure certain bacteria are growing properly on them.  That triangle effect on the left is called a CAMP reaction and it helps identify that organism (Step ag) from the rest.  There are staph, strep and e. coli organisms on this plate and all (in addition to mycoplasma) are common causes of mastitis in dairy cattle which is what Vet Med media services sell the plates to test for.  I'm mostly explaining this so in years to come I can look back and remember some of the things related to my work.  Later at home I did more record keeping type work online and happy to have this cat keep me company as he napped nearby.  Just like a baby he looks so cute and sweet when he sleeps.

Day 121- Thursday, 4/30/20

Today I'm working remotely again but the internet is down and I can only take my Zoom meetings on my phone with the mobile network. It's very spotty in my house at best so I had to set up outside in my front entryway to make my meetings happen.  At least it was a beautiful day and I was able to get through it all without further incident.

Day 122- Friday, 5/1/20

It's a new month so I posed with the monthly marker by some May flowers. Earlier when I went to change my calendar I noticed how empty the entire month of April was so I flipped back to the beginning of the year to compare.  Huge difference!  January was crazy busy and super overloaded which I don't love but April was completely empty and just so sad looking.  Here's to hoping we can all get back to a happy and healthy balance soon.

Day 123- Saturday, 5/2/20

We spent most of the day in the yard soaking up the nice weather and working to get everything pruned and fixed up so we can enjoy the space for summer.  It will have to be the place we retreat to for fun and good times since we can't travel or really go out.  Of course all the hard work in the sun exhausted us so John pretty much settled down for the night to watch a movie and fell asleep before the previews were even over.  Haha--this is actually his new normal regardless of yard work or not.

Day 124- Sunday, 5/3/20

It's starting to feel like summer with warmer temps in the 90's which also means it's time to start watering the lawns again.  The sprinklers were tested this weekend but unfortunately the city that just put in a new water meter messed up our front system so we can't use them until that's fixed.  Our only option was to go old school and bust out the movable sprinkler which brings back fun memories of me as a child and my kids when they were younger running through this type of sprinkler in the hot summer sun.  Good times and i was so temped.  LOL!  Later John grilled burgers and dog for dinner which of course also fell in line with the summer vibe going on.

That's it!  I'm happy to be starting a new month and hoping it's a month where we can start to see the vision of a what the transition back to reopening this country may look like.  Take care and stay safe.