Monday, May 25, 2020

5-25-2020 Monday-12:15pm

Good afternoon, everybody!
I've been rather off this past week.  Having pretty bad allergies this year and it is wearing me down (not that it takes much to wear me down--lol!).  Plus I got some bad news about my BFF from high school...and now there are four more employees and four more residents at my mom's apartment complex who have the virus (total of 22 as of last Monday--but Mom's doing fine).  Just was a rougher week.  One to do what I had to do and spend the rest of the time curled up with my Puffs and a good show.  ;)
****
On a brighter note--it was Leah's birthday on Thursday.  She was doing a video call with her sister, Michal, and her BFF so she and I had our call on Wednesday night.  Have you heard of the new thing where you pick one other family or household or person that you can visit and spend time with--called a double-bubble, covid-pod, covid-bubble, or quaranteam?  You have to make sure they are on the same page as you are as far as isolation goes with their exposure and precautions because you will all be at risk once you join together.  Both Leah and her sister both look like this when they go grocery shopping.  ;)
Anyways, Leah and Michal (who has not been sick after those couple of days or anyone else in the family so she probably didn't get it) are thinking of doing a double-bubble after a couple more weeks here to be extra cautious.  Chuck and Michal are both teachers so they are home all the time, too.  The boys would LOVE having their cousins over to play with or going over to their house.  Four boys under seven, I believe.  That would be so nice--for all of them!  They'll see how the next couple weeks goes and decide.  Fingers crossed!  :)
****
Meanwhile--Annie remains one happy camper in quarantine.  Doesn't want to change a thing.
 Still enjoying her CatTV shows.
****
My goal this week was to switch the winter and summer clothes.  It took a few days.  I did finish but...
...this is as far as the winter stuff got.  Still haven't made it out to the garage yet and doubt I will today, either--LOL! 
Oh well.  It's not going anywhere.
****
We've had some warmer days in the 70s.  I put the bird water dish out. 
Had Gramma Day on Saturday.  Ian and I started The Shy Stegosaurus book.  Quite a fun story.  And we had a couple Frog and Toad stories at bedtime, too.
****
  That's about it for my week.  
*she says sneezing three times in a row*
****
I keep forgetting to show Leah's before and after pictures!  
She looks so good and feels so much better.  Dagan has lost enough for it to show on him, too.  :)
****
Ian was disappointed Mama hadn't sent the video of him learning to go around in circles in the church parking lot behind their house.  He is so excited about his new pedal bike.
He still needs help starting (holding him up while he gets his feet on the pedals and a little push) but he is learning fast about turning, coasting, recovering, and stopping.  In fact, he might do them all flawlessly by now.  ;)  The church parking lot is conveniently empty lately because of the virus so he has lots of room to practice.

****
A few more pictures from Leah.
****
  Now THAT is a bubble machine!!  Never have seen anything like it!
An entertaining way to social distance from the neighbors--LOL!
The boys have Mama's sun sensitive skin so they often wear sun hats when they are going to be outside for a while.  Ian is still as silly as ever, I see.
Two cool dudes in their shades resting on the car hood.
****
Ian's preschool had a drive-by teacher appreciation day so Ian and Mama made up signs for their car.
I'm sure the boys were just plain excited to be IN the car after a couple of months--LOL!
****
Well, that's about it from here for this week.  This has been my worst spring allergy bout for years--been in full swing for a couple of weeks now.  Should subside pretty soon.  At least it's not Covid.  I am thankful for that...in great measure.  I already can barely breathe through my nose--LOL!  Take care.  Stay safe and well.  That's always my wish for everyone these days.  :) :)
****
"Set wide the window.
Let me drink in the day."
Edith Wharton
****
Note:  Love the quote today because under the pollen circumstances it really made me laugh!  ;)

19 comments:

Rita said...

My comment to get your comments. :)

Bonnie said...

How fun it is to see Ian's excitment of learning how to ride a bike! Those are special days. Leah looks great! How long has she been on the diet? My daughter-in-law has been on that same diet and has also lost a lot of weight. I sure understand the trouble with pollen. Sometimes we have to turn the air on because of the pollen and not the heat. Take care and love Annie for me!

FRam said...

Oh my my my! That Leah looks STUNNING. She appears as a totally different person. Can't imagine that model was hiding behind the bigger person look in the Before pics. Congratulations. I am always happy to see people transition out of obesity. It is killing Americans in droves.

Jon said...

I'm glad that your Mom is doing well, but it's scary that so many people have the virus.
When you mentioned your allergies, I realized that I've been having lots of sinus headaches lately (probably caused by allergies). My property is over-run with brush and weeds.

I was surprised when you mentioned the stegosaurus book. By any chance, is that "The Shy Stegosaurus of Cricket Creek"? I read that when I was 8 or 9 and still have a copy of it somewhere.

Far Side of Fifty said...

Leah looks great! I hope you are feeling better, we had the windows open but have closed them now as the pollen is bad we sure need rain. What a fun bubble machine!

Joy@aVintageGreen said...

Annie sure loves the bird videos. Ian is riding fast ! and with a great deal of happiness too. Lots of exercise for both of your grands. Glad your Mom is ok. Hope your allergies calm down Rita.
Hugs.
Joy

Deb J. in Utah said...

Hi Rita. So glad you and your family are staying well so far. I love the video of your grandson riding his bike. So fun. You are so organized. I love it. I hope your mom can stay well. We continue to have more cases here, but many people now seem to be acting like there isn't a pandemic at all. Stay well and I will see you again soon!

Lady Fi said...

The grandies are adorable!

Anvilcloud said...

Look at all of those goldfinches.

I have many summer shirts that shrunk over the winter.

DJan said...

Leah looks fantastic! Congratulations to her for making such a difference. I started a diet two days ago because I have been packing on the Covid pounds, unfortunately. And those two grandchildren are just perfect. How can it be that they have grown so much in what seems like no time at all? :-)

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Allergies can be a real bummer now, Rita, and hope that this week has you feeling better but resting is the best cure, and also having tissues and something to watch is good. Glad you and Ian had more book sharing time and that they may get to see their cousins soon and the sisters connect too. But sorry to read of more cases at your mom’s place and glad she remains OK. We’re shutdown here as well with no visitors allowed, but don’t know if there have been any reported cases in the building as it’s not shared info. Looks like you have the winter clothes all ready to be put away once you are feeling better.

Joyce F said...

Good job with the bike riding! When our sons learned to ride a bike we lived in a mobile home park. A fair size empty lot/play field was more or less in the middle of it was lined with a low pipe fence. Just right for giving a push off to get the bike ride started. The fence is long gone now (it must have been a pain to mow around) though the mobile home park is still there. The little oak tree in our yard there is HUGE now.

Divers and Sundry said...

I'm glad your mom's stayed well. It's scary out there :( I've never heard of the double-bubble, but it would ease the feelings of isolation so many are experiencing. Congrats on the clothes changeover. It's nice you have a place to store off-season clothes. Bike-riding excitement! Fun :) Pollen seems bad this year, and the oak flowers are making mountainous drifts, and everything outside is covered with green dust. A good steady rain will help.

Desiree said...

So many wonderful pictures, and the sun looks lovely and happy! Congrats to Leah and Dagan on losing weight, that is so awesome!

Serena Lewis said...

Sorry to hear you're dealing with allergies.

Praying that your Mum stays clear of the coronavirus. Such a worry with people being diagnosed within her complex. So sorry about your BFF from high school too...you didn't mention what happened so I won't make assumptions in case they're wrong.

Belated birthday wishes to Leah! Congratulations on her weight loss.

Currently, in Queensland, up to five adults from different households are allowed to visit another home. From 12 June, this will increase to 20 people. The state government has tentatively announced that, from 10 July, up to 100 people may be allowed to gather in your home for celebrations etc. They do recommend that social distancing is maintained even when visiting others. Masks have never been mandatory or even pushed for by the government but social distancing and lockdown seems to have worked here. I feel very relieved that Australia has had only 102 deaths (mostly elderly) out of 7,130 confirmed infections. My heart goes out to all those who passed. I feel so bad for the countries that have been hit hard, such as the US. Stay safe, everyone! I read that they are doing a human trial of a vaccine here in Australia on 130 volunteers. Let's hope it has a good outcome.

It must feel good to have swapped the season's clothes over. Luckily, I don't need to do that as my clothes stay in the wardrobe/drawers all year round. Not a lot of winter clothes anyways.

Well done to Ian on his bike riding...WTG! Love the look of those super cool dudes on the car bonnet.

I hope you enjoy the rest of your week allergy-free.

Love and hugs xo

GrandmaG said...

We're doing that double-bubble thing with my daughter's family who live 5 minutes away. So happy I'm able to see my grandsons throughout this weird time. Spring allergens have been awful in the midwest, too. This was the first year my eyes actually swelled!

Jo-Anne's Ramblings said...

Leah looks amazing in both photos all in all a bloody great post.
Allergies suck, thankfully I don't have an but my daughters do.
Way to go Ian

Jenny Woolf said...

I am sorry to hear about the allergies, they are so miserable. There's a lot of eczema in our family although all I get is these funny itchy bubbly things on my hands :) And good too that your mom is staying safe, but it's very tough when friends start to suffer. It does sound like a tough week and you have plenty of tough weeks with your health. But thank you for showing the good things too. I am really so delighted that you have not got the virus, and are staying safe. And oh, those are wonderful pictures of the kids. They are such a tonic aren't they ? Their enthusiasm is like sunshine! And my goodness I am bowled over by Leah's success! She looks really wonderful!!!!!! It is the best possible thing to do with the virus so rampant, it is better to reduce if possible, but it overall improves health so much. Congratulations to her! Stay safe, all of you.

pearshapedcrafting said...

I don't seem to get hay fever like I used to - although I did go for a walk around our gardens here the other week and came back in with itchy eyes and throat!
I don't think we will be seeing family just yet, the levels of virus spread haven't dropped as much as they have in the south...where the rules are being made! Leah has done so well - know how hard it is to lose weight and at the moment am staying around the same - my glucose levels are lower though so I'm doing something right! Its good to see the boys having fun! Ian is doing so well on his bike! This is the second time I have commented on this post...I keep forgetting I have to do things differently on my phone! Hugs, Chrisx