COVID-19 Time Capsule

I haven't blogged in awhile but this seems like a good time to update. As I write this, we've been sheltering in place for over 12 4 months now due to the COVID-19 pandemic. What we're going through now is unlike anything within living memory, and someday it will be interesting to go back and remember what it was like. I imagine Daniel and Rebecca telling their own kids and grandkids about this time. I'm actually finding it pretty interesting to go back and look at this and seeing how things have changed over just a few months.

As I begin get back to this on April 21 May 15 July 20, the US death toll exceeds 44,000 (177,000 worldwide) 87,000 (307,000 worldwide) 140,000 (600,000 worldwide) and both Dallas County and Texas are under some manner of shelter in place order Texas was under shelter in place until end of May, while Dallas remains under SIP until at least May 20 reopened in May, with the predictable elevation in case rate that followed. There's not an end date yet in sight, and even once things relax some, we don't expect to return to a true "normal" for at least another year, as it'll likely be at least that long before there's a vaccine.

Our last days of normal life before

For our family, March began as a normal month. March 5-6, I had the 2nd annual North Texas Probate Bench Bar CLE conference at the Gaylord Texan. Several hundred attorneys packed shoulder to shoulder in a conference room with no concern. Coronavirus was in the news but it was still something off in the distance, so we could joke about the hand sanitizer swag the sponsors were handing out. Little did we know that hand sanitizer would soon become hard to find.

March 6 was a Friday and Daniel and Rebecca had a noon dismissal to begin their spring break. A few hours later we were on our way to Orlando for our family's first trip to Universal/Disney World with my parents. We didn't know it then, but that would be their last in-person day of school for at least the 19-20 school year.

That Saturday, after braving the crowds to enjoy the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, we capped off our first day at Universal with a Mardi Gras parade. Sunday evening we transferred to the Boardwalk Hotel to begin the Disney World portion of our trip and Monday morning came early as we rope dropped Hollywood Studios park. We stood in a 2 hour line to ride the brand-new Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway ride that had opened just the week before and managed to score boarding passes for the hottest ride in the park, Rise of the Resistance. Over the next days, we enjoyed Epcot and Magic Kingdom too, and at some point, I'll try to write a more detailed post about that. For now, it's just surreal to think about that week in the crowds compared to what has followed.

Our trip as scheduled called for us to fly home late Saturday night so we could rest up before returning to work and school on the 16th. But that week in Florida felt like we were living in one universe and reading about coronavirus in another parallel universe. As the week progressed though, those worlds came closer and closer. That Wednesday the virus was declared a pandemic, March Madness was closed to fans, the NBA postponed its season, and Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson announced they'd tested positive.

Thursday at lunch, we began talking seriously about cutting the trip short and planning ahead in case domestic flights were cancelled. By dinner, we'd made the decision to leave the next morning and for my parents to rent a car to drive home rather than flying. That night we watched the Epcot fireworks show on what we now knew was our last night. Right after the show, I saw the alert on my phone that Disney World had announced it would close, following Disneyland's announcement a few hours earlier.

Friday morning felt gloomy as we checked out and headed to the airport. Logically, I knew leaving early was the right call but part of me wondered if it was overkill; what would two more days hurt after all the crowds we'd already been in all week? Rebecca was heartbroken about missing out on Animal Kingdom.

If our time in Florida had been like being in a bubble away from it all, just with a little more hand sanitizer, I was abruptly jerked back into the real world when I ventured to our neighborhood Kroger the day we got home. It was crowded, many shelves were bare, and everyone wore grim faces. Out of the bubble, into the apocalypse, it seemed. Disney World felt like a world away now.

When we'd landed in Dallas, we got an email from the school advising that school would be closed for the next week. Dallas County wasn't requiring businesses to close but Kevin and I had decided we'd stay home for 2 weeks as a precaution in case we'd been exposed in Florida. Within a week though, Dallas County had issued a shelter in place order, which remains in effect. Every so often school would push the return date back a little further, then eventually schools were closed for the academic year. Kevin plans out the kids' school schedule, oversees their work, and turns it in. It's less "homeschool," more "supervised distance learning." It's not ideal--the kids miss their teachers, friends, and routines, and we're poor substitutes for that. But, they've made it work pretty well.

Since we got back, we've all spent every day at home. Save for errands, running and cycling, and, for the kids, some social-distanced visits with the neighbor kids, we're here all day. When this all started, Whole Foods and Kroger were very limited on their produce and meat selection so I discovered the Korean H Mart in Carrollton and its bountiful selection.

Initially public health experts advised not to wear masks then began encouraging them once evidence suggested that masks helped asymptomatic carriers avoid spreading the disease. While masks are suggested, Dallas County does not require it. I've been wearing one for over a month since early April though when I go out and feel safer at the stores that do require masks (Whole Foods, H Mart) than Kroger (as of 7/20, every store I visit requires masks).

Kevin shaved his and Daniel's heads with a trimmer but Rebecca and I haven't had a haircut since before this all started. She picked an opportune time to grow out bangs while I feel increasingly shaggy. Rebecca has grown her hair out during this time, Kevin and Daniel are doing DIY cuts at home, and I've been back twice to my stylist with masks, limited salon capacity, and reconfiguration of the chairs to enable distancing.

For the most part, "going to Court" these days means appearing by phone or Zoom. I've had one in-person hearing on a temporary guardianship but everything else has been remote. Today I had a Zoom hearing so I put on a blouse and suit jacket over my jogger pants. The "Court, but only from the neck up" look.

We haven't eaten out at a restaurant have only recently eaten out for the first time since this started, tacos on Torchy's patio with no other occupied tables nearby, but we usually get takeout once or twice on the weekend and I cook the rest of the meals. It feels like I'm always cooking and we run the dishwasher about every other day to keep up.

It's been a month since I filled up with gas. Gas prices are super low, but no one's got anywhere to go.

We've met up twice in Waco for an outdoor picnic with my parents. I'm glad we live close enough to be able to do that. Not sure when we'll be able to go visit them at their house or have them out to ours. 

About which, we bought a new house in our same neighborhood and moved a few weeks ago, which is a whole post for another day, but all 4 of us being home so much really made clear that we needed more space. Now, with 3700sf, we've got more room to accommodate all of us being home during the day, including separate work spaces for Kevin (guest room) and me (office...once Wayfair finally sends me my desk). Which is good, as the kids' school will be virtual at least through September 7, but realistically, probably at least the whole fall semester. With Texas currently a coronavirus hot spot it's hard to see why the situation would improve to any meaningful degree in the next several months. (Maybe if we had better leaders, but hey, we have the worst president in our history in charge during the worst possible time, so...) So I fully expect that the kids will be schooling from home as Kevin and I both continue to work from home. Not ideal, but at least we'll have more space to enable us all to do so.

Going back and looking at this after a few months away from it is eye-opening. Look how much the numbers changed just in 2 months. What will they look like in another 2 months? Another year?

The bare meat section that awaited me at Whole Foods on March 13.
Disney World felt like another lifetime even though we'd left Florida just hours earlier. Sh*t felt pretty real pretty fast.

The line to check out at Kroger on March 13.
Notice no masks, no distancing at this point, so the line really is that long.

Our socially-distanced dinner party with our neighbors.

During the shelter in place, the Dallas County Clerk's office was closed to the public.
This is all you saw if you went to the office. It was surreal.

Kevin giving Daniel a haircut in the front yard.

One of my masks. I'm assuming masks will be standard attire for the next few years at this point.
And maybe every cold and flu season?

For awhile it was hard to find flour in the stores so I bought some from our pizza restaurant.

Dressed for Zoom Court, but only from the neck up.

The kids' school did drive-up only pick-up days and had a sign kids could pose with to mark the end of the school year.

Playgrounds were closed for awhile and signs have been up reminding about maintaining 6 foot distancing.

Farewell Tim Cat

Earlier this month we said goodbye to our sweet old Tim cat. For the first time since I was Daniel's age, I don't have a pet.

He was 18 years old and had been part of my life since I was a junior at A&M and he was a kitten. Tim and I lived in 5 apartments and 2 houses in 3 cities and gained a husband, 2 kids, and a Todd cat along our journey together. He was around for nearly half my life and the kids had never known a time without him.

From the beginning, Tim was a playful, loving cat. He loved snuggles in my lap and also jumping up on the kitchen cabinets, and he was still jumping up from floor to counter to fridge top to cabinets until the last year or so when he finally started to show his age.

I was definitely "his person" but he was fond of Kevin and the kids too, once we got past the toddler stages. In recent months he would go over to Daniel and Rebecca so they could pet him and scratch his tummy. He rewarded them by rubbing his face on their clothes, which I told them was his way of telling other cats "they're my people!" On one memorable occasion, the kids were eating dinner at their "little table" and Rebecca made the mistake of turning her back. Tim took that as invitation to explore her dinner plate, leading her to burst into tears as she angrily cried, "Tim licked my avocado!"

Cats have a reputation for being solitary animals wary of strangers but when we'd have big groups of friends over Tim would almost always come down to join the party.

He was diagnosed a few years ago with hyperthyroidism. Given his age, aggressive treatment wasn't appropriate but we started giving him pills every day to help manage it. Even a few months ago though he was still doing pretty well, considering. I noticed he was losing weight but he was still eating and drinking pretty well. 

His last week though, I noticed he was no longer eating and spent almost all his time sleeping on the carpeted stair steps, and his arthritis seemed to make movement difficult and painful. So on a Thursday night, I told the kids that the time had come for us to say goodbye. I explained what it meant to put a pet to sleep and why it was the loving thing to do for Tim at that point. They both wanted to be there and after some consideration, I agreed, provided Kevin was there to take anyone who got overwhelmed outside. 

That Friday, I resolved to make Tim's last full day as comfortable as possible. I worked from home, turned on the fireplace for him, and carried him to lie on a soft towel in front of it. I watched as he leaned into the heat and, feeling the warmth, stretched his stiff muscles to lie down in relaxation. I didn't want him trying to climb the stairs and falling so I brought him a bowl of water, which he seemed glad to have, and carried him up to the litter box. That night I wanted to leave the fireplace going for him and didn't want him on the stairs so I slept on the couch to be near him. Aside from the Roomba waking me up at 3m for its scheduled cleaning though, it was an uneventful night. Tim didn't move from the fireplace but would sit up every now and again to lick up some water. He was as comfortable as I think he could have been.

Saturday morning it was time for the one-way trip to the vet's office. As we waited in an exam room I held Tim in my lap as the kids gently petted him and talked to him. Then it was time. First, catheter insertion in his paw in the back. Then, once he came back to the exam room, it was time, and as the kids and I stroked his head and told him we loved him, he passed peacefully and painlessly. 

We talked about the adventures he and Todd, now reunited in Cat Heaven, must be having and how Tim was surely taking advantage of his resurrected healthy body to jump on cabinets again and eat all the avocados he could imagine. I had wondered if the kids were too young to see the procedure but I'm glad I decided to let them come. I'm glad they saw that death was peaceful and painless and I hope that experience may make future losses of pets and other loved ones easier. Afterward we went for breakfast together and told funny stories we remembered about Tim and read our Cat Heaven book. We all miss our Timmers but are glad he isn't suffering and thankful for the memories he gave us.

Farewell old friend, and thank you for being a loyal and loving companion.

A few pictures from our 18 years together:

Update

Lots to update since my last post, including:

1. End of last school year

2. Daniel losing teeth
3. Padre trip

4. Daniel's birthday

5. Six Flags
6. Canada trip

7. 1st grade/last year of preschool

8. Rebecca's ear piercing

I'm sure I'm forgetting more, but for now, this'll do.

End of last school year

Daniel's science fair

Last spring Daniel's school held a science fair with voluntary participation. Daniel was one of the few kindergarteners who decided to do a project and he worked on it for months. He decided to research the types of materials that do and do not conduct electricity. Here he is showing off his presentation.

After the science fair Daniel came home with a participation ribbon. We were proud of him for taking on this project and devoting so much effort to it but a few weeks later we had another reason to be proud. It turned out he had earned a second ribbon that day too--honorable mention for the K-2 group. The reason we didn't know about it is that he let a friend borrow his ribbon since she hadn't done a project and he didn't want her to feel left out. We're proud of his accomplishment but even more proud of his big heart.

International Dinner

May brought the International Dinner at Rebecca's school. As always, it was a fun night with good performances by the kids and good times with friends.

Kindergarten End-of-Year Celebration

May also brought the end of Daniel's kindergarten year, including the end of year celebration. The kids learned and performed several songs for the parents.

Blessing of the Students and Last Day of School

Rebecca's school also had a blessing of the students and last day of school celebration. Rebecca won the All-Around Student award and was quite proud.

The kids both spent the summer at Apostles Day School. They enjoyed it and it was nice for us to have one pickup and one drop-off again for a few months. Daniel's teachers, who had taught him in preschool, were impressed by his improved maturity and focus. He wanted them to challenge him this summer and they did, even giving him multiplication to work on! He loved it.

Daniel loses his 2 front teeth...in 1 night!

Daniel's two front teeth had both been wiggly for a while then one night, as we were eating dinner at Fuzzy's, they both came out! He pulled the first one while we were waiting for our food and the second as we were sitting visiting with friends. So I went home with 2 teeth wrapped up in my pocket and the tooth fairy paid the "twofer bonus" that night!

Padre trip

In July we took our annual trip to South Padre Island with my parents. As always the kids were thrilled to spend time with Mimi and Baba.

We also celebrated Daniel's birthday and enjoyed playing at the beach (kids were much more eager to go out into the ocean this year than in past years) and swimming in the pool. I was really impressed to see how much the kids' swimming skill has improved. Daniel can swim the full length of the pool several times in a row and Rebecca can almost make it one full length. Both are good about rolling to their back when they need a breath then rolling back to resume swimming. They're both much more confident too. Kevin and my dad also went fishing one morning and we ate the results for two days' worth of lunch. 

And of course no trip to the beach would be complete without sandcrabbing. Daniel was bold enough to pick up even fairly big crabs and toss them in the bucket. Rebecca found a different approach of scooping crabs up with the bucket. Surprisingly, it worked a few times. They were pretty proud of their haul!

Daniel's birthday
We got a head start on celebrating Daniel's birthday while at Padre but his big party was the following weekend. Breaking from past tradition, he decided this time he wanted a roller skating party rather than swim party. He enjoyed celebrating with kindergarten friends and friends from preschool days and before. He's pretty fearless on a pair of rollerblades, too!

We also had his last ADS Montessori celebration of life.

I can't believe my sweet boy is already seven years old. I love so much about him but especially his big, caring heart. He's the most thoughtful person I know--not the most thoughtful child, but the most thoughtful person, period. I love seeing him grow into the person he's meant to be and excited to see what the next year brings.

Six Flags
Last spring Daniel successfully completed a reading challenge at school and earned a free ticket to Six Flags. We had actually never taken the kids there despite it only being 30 minutes from home so we decided the free ticket was a good reason for their first trip. I thought a Sunday afternoon in the summer it would be hot and crowded but was pleasantly surprised that the weather and crowds were both better than expected.

The kids enjoyed the log ride so much we had to do it twice in a row. They also liked most of the rides in the kids' section. We were hoping to stay till park closing time but some stormy weather shut the park down early. We're looking forward to going back again though, maybe during the Holiday in the Park season.

Mont-Tremblant, Canada trip
Last summer we journeyed to Mont-Tremblant, Quebec as I raced the half Ironman race there. That race was largely about scoping out the venue for the longer, full-distance Ironman race so this August we returned for that one. I've got plenty of details on the race itself here, but for this blog I'll just sum up that the race was long but I finished. It feels great to be done and while I don't intend to do another full IM distance anytime soon, I definitely want to do another one someday.

The trip was fun but had an unfortunate bit of bad luck. Unfortunately Air Canada misrouted our whole flight's luggage to another city and we had to spend a lot of time and energy over the first 2 days of our trip calling Air Canada for updates and frantically scrambling around trying to replace our luggage so we could have changes of clothes, toiletries and, for me, gear I was counting on for my race. We finally got our luggage Saturday afternoon but unfortunately that didn't give us the lost time back. I mean, better that it was delivered late than never I guess, but ugh.

When we weren't dealing with that we took the kids to explore the village and do fun activities like the luge, bungee trampoline jumping, and rock climbing wall. They enjoyed it all. Daniel's favorite was the luge, Rebecca's was the bungee jump. They were disappointed though that the big carnival slide that had been in Ironman Village last year wasn't there again though--as far as they were concerned, that was their favorite thing in all of Canada! They did enjoy seeing mascots Toufou and Ironman again though.

Mimi, Baba, and Uncle David came to join us Saturday night and the kids enjoyed getting to hang out with them. Rebecca didn't think David could ride the luge by himself; he bet her a bite of her dessert that he could, so all I heard afterward was how Uncle David took her dessert ;) 

On race day they came out to see me as I came in for transitions and spent the rest of the day exploring the mountain. It was late at night when I finished and the kids were already in bed but still awake, so they put on shoes and came out to watch my finish in pajamas. It was fun to have them there and afterward Daniel asked me how old he has to be to do an Ironman of his own. Maybe someday I'll be the one cheering them on as they head into the finisher chute to become an Ironman--we'll see!

Back to school!
We now have a 1st grader and a primary class preschooler! 

Daniel's classes started back up on August 28. He like his teacher and while he's sad that a good friend from kindergarten transferred to another school for this year he's thrilled that 2 boys he's been good friends with since preschool are both in his 1st grade class. So far he seems to be enjoying first grade. He says approvingly that it's harder than kindergarten! 

He's particularly excited about his after school activities--baking class on Mondays, chess club on Tuesdays, and computer programming class on Thursdays. Tonight after dinner we enjoyed a delicious apple popover he baked in class as he told us about taste buds and the importance of balancing sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. He also used a Toys R Us gift card from his birthday to buy a teaching chess set and has been practicing and improving. Another week or two and he'll probably be better that me, though as I haven't played much and not in years, that's probably not saying much ;) It's fun to see the newly sparked interests and I'm glad he gets the opportunity to learn these new skills after school.

Meanwhile, Rebecca enters her final year at Apostles. She loves her school friends, especially BFF Athena, and the teachers. She comes home excited to tell us about challenging works she did and is reading quite well now, even taking a shot at some of the chapter books Daniel is reading. She's not really at that level yet but is proud to be able to read a little from it. She really likes reading the Gerald and Piggie books and can read those without any assistance usually. I know she'll thrive once she gets to kindergarten but I'm excited to see what she gets to do and learn in her last year at Apostles.

Rebecca gets her ears pierced!
Earlier this year Rebecca said she wanted to get her ears pierced. We had twice gone to the piercing place at the mall and twice she had decided she wasn't ready after all. Which was fine, and I always made clear that it was her choice and I'd never rush her to do it. 

She hadn't asked about it in a few months but a few weekends ago it happened that I was going to be bringing her along on an errand I needed to run to a tattoo parlor. It probably wouldn't have occurred to me to have my daughter's ears pierced at a tattoo parlor but for having recently seen an article about how that was actually a far better place to get a child's ear pierced than a mall store. Better an experienced pro with high-quality sterile needles than a teenager with a piercing gun, turns out. I asked if she wanted us to bring the earring studs we'd bought along to get hers ears pierced and to my surprise, her answer was an emphatic yes. 

On the way there we talked about what to expect and I reminded her that it's her body and her choice, and if she decided she wasn't ready that was fine. She sounded confident that she was ready; I reminded her that it would hurt, but only for a minute, and then after a tiny bit of hurt she'd get to enjoy having pierced ears forever. She said she was on board. (Why was I going to a tattoo parlor in the first place? To put down a deposit; for more details, see race report above).

When we got there I asked Rebecca if she still wanted to do it and she said yes. So we asked for the piercer and Jeremy, a man with a ZZ top beard, piercings, and tattoos, came over to meet us. He said he'd be glad to pierce Rebecca's ears and went to prepare the room. I looked over at Rebecca. She looked a little nervous but determined.

We went into the piercing room and sat on the table. Jeremy showed us the hollow sterile needles he would use to pierce, each one brand new and sealed in plastic. He would perform the piercing by piercing the ear, gently pushing the needle through the ear, then inserting the earring into the hollow center of the needle, then removing the needle and attaching the earring post to the back. Rebecca said she was ready and it was time.

When the first needle went in Rebecca began to cry but she was able to sit still until the post was on the back of the earring. She crawled into my lap for some cuddles and deep breaths. I told her that if she wanted to quit now we could and we could do the other ear another time but she said she wanted to do the other ear too. So I told her to take a few more good deep breaths and then when she was ready, we'd finish this. Through it all Jeremy was patient with her and made her, and me, feel comfortable about the whole process.

For the second ear Rebecca knew it would hurt but was brave enough to do it anyway. I was really proud of her. In another minute we were done. I showed her the results in a mirror and she burst into a big smile. Jeremy sent us home with care instructions and a bag of uniodized salt for cleaning.

2 weeks later, the healing has been painless and easy and she couldn't be prouder of her earrings, or of herself for being brave enough to do it. The piercing studs have to stay in for another month but I told her after that we can get other designs so she's excited looking forward to that.

It's been a busy year for us...so maybe a good excuse why I haven't kept up with the blog?