Mischief Monday - Back At The Beginning

Happy New Year! 

Wake me when it is over!

It is a new year, but we feel like we are back where we started in 2021. We are locked down again.  Covid cases surge to the highest numbers yet.  It is really a mess. You would think after 658 days we would be better at this! 

In the province we live in, Quebec, lockdown means: Curfew from 10-5 (work and emergency only reasons to be off your property), closing of all non-essential businesses, no theatres,  no eat in restaurants, no indoor sports etc. Schools are closed until at least January 17.  No inside visits to friends/family. 

Now it is confusing for our peeps because Lady works in Ontario. So far their new measures, delaying school until Wednesday the 5th at the time of this writing (it may have changed or change yet), means the centre she works at is closed 2 extra days. She will be working at home online. 

For Man, who is working at home forever most likely, this has a minimal impact on this life. 

Lady finds herself laughing that in November she was thinking about the endemic (a word she only just learned about then) and now here she is thinking about lockdown and wondering if the entire 20s will  be dreadful. 

We are trying to be optimistic about this year, but it is hard. We do have some things to look forward to this month. 

Hailey will turn 12 on January 13. 

Celebrating me will be the highlight of the month for sure!

Lady and Man will get dose 3 -which Lady read is still one dose less than the new recommendations (so perhaps dose 4 is something to look forward to!)

We do hope you all had a wonderful, relaxing, holiday and you are healthy. We promise not to be too depressing with the state of our world! 

Covid World

 It has been a bit since we talked about how we are doing here on day 486 since the first day of lockdown. Things are slowly returning to normal. Masks are still required in public places and now 1 meter distancing is required instead of 2. Businesses are all up and running and capacity limits have been removed as long as 1 meter can be kept between groups. This is how it will be until 70% of us are double vaccinated. It is estimated that we will hit this milestone by the end of August here in Quebec. 

We know some of you are thinking, how will we reach that number as you in in places where this will never happen.  Well, we were slow to get the vaccines rolling but at the time of the writing of this post 82% of people 12 and older in Quebec had at least 1 dose and 45% had both.  Ananda wide it is about 80% one shot and 50% both. Perhaps it is Canadians general trust in our healthcare system or the fact we have had such harsh lockdowns that has us all very motivated to get both shots. Or maybe it is our desire to leave winter behind and travel and we know vaccine passports will be a thing. Whatever the reasons, I am proud of my fellow Canadians for coming together for this.

I had my second vaccine (I am club Moderna) a week ago. My arm hurt like insert HBO words here. For a few hours the next day I was exhausted and felt a little feverish. I had set my schedule so I could nap and I did. After this all that remained was a sore arm and some fatigue. I had the best nurse while I was convalescing. 

We hope things are safely returning to 'normal' for you too. 

Mischief Monday - The Pandemic

Lady is so astonished to see so many of our plans living 'normal lives' on social media. It is a reminder to us about how bad things are here. We have are having record number of cases. ICUs are at capacity. Children's Hospitals are treating adults. Vaccine roll out is slow. The only silver lining, if there is one, is less people are dying, but the life long injury to some who have live isn't understood yet. Lady read about there first double lung transplant to a Covid survivor recently. The possible long term damage for survivors is just not known.

In the province we live in, Quebec, things are 'ok'. Schools are closed. Stores have rules. We wear masks. We have a curfew. Things in the province across the river where Lady works, Ontario, are scarier.  They have a much stricter lockdown starting today. Schools are closed, more stores are closed, outdoor spaces are limited. If you are reading this first thing Monday morning, it is possible Lady is trying to pass through the first checkpoint of her life. The provincial boarders are closed to anyone who is not essential, so Lady, armed with her letter, hopes to make it across to work. While she can do much of her work online, there are times she needs to be on the ground with her clients. 

In happier news, Lady was able to receive her first dose of vaccine, Moderna, on the weekend. While she had some mild side effects, she said it is the price she is willing to pay to get back to 'normal'. She got to go because she is a health care worker. It is hoped our Man will get his by the end of June. As someone who can easily work at home and has no underlying health conditions he we will be the last group to go.  Most of Canada is doing doses 4 months apart so it will be early August before Lady has her second. 

All of this has us a little down. Lady is working long hours as well, so as always we are desperately behind visiting. Lady made a rule early in the pandemic and one she has only broken 2 or 3 times in the past year, she will spend a minimum of 4 hours per day, awake, without a screen in her face. so this means many days, after she has spent 10 hours working, she needs to completely step away from screens (and visiting all of you). While she misses you all, she knows this, along with her exercise and chocolate habit are what is keeping her going. 

To a new week and one that is hopefully a day closer to the end of this (it is day 399 for us today!)

Mischief Monday - Cone and Covid

First, Phod would like to report mistreatment because he has had to have some cone time over the past few days. Seems his ears are bugging him and he won't stop scratching them (which is making them worse). So for periods of the day he is having cone time.

Second, we thought we would give a little Covid update. We live in the province of Quebec. The numbers here are not good. We are in a lockdown. This means only essential businesses (gas, pharmacy, food) will allow you in the store. Other businesses can do curbside pick up. Everything but gas and pharmacy have to be closed by 7:30. It is now illegal to be outside your house (with some exceptions) from 8pm to 5 am. You are allowed to take your dog for a walk, but not your husband pretending to be a dog (click HERE if you haven't heard this story). The children are still going to school.  

Now I, the Lady, work in our neighbouring province Ontario. They have no curfew, but non-essential businesses are only doing curbside pick up as well. The kids are all doing online learning (no going to school). In March of 2020 when we had the first lockdown, my work was not deemed essential. However, it has since been made essential, so she can see her clients. While part of Lady would like to have a vacation, it is in the best interest of her clients to continue to access services. Autism treatment is really healthcare. So approximately 2 days a week I go and see people (I am doing a combination of telehealth and in person).

As for the vaccine, the roll out is going slow here in Canada. The belle province of Quebec is giving the 2 doses 90 days apart (which goes against all the science and has me frustrated). I expect I will have access to it maybe by the summer. I suspect the Man, given that he can work from home forever, will be one of the last people eligible. We will both go when it is our turn. 

It occurred to me this morning that the worldwide deaths of about 2 million so far, would be like 2 of Ottawa (our nearest city) disappearing. It made me sad. Stay safe and healthy dear friends!

Covid Chic

If you are going to wear a mask, let's have some fun with it.  

I was lucky my mom made me some masks. My favourite being this one, made from one of Angel Loki's bandanas. 

Then I bought myself a few ones. I have always been a lover of fun socks, now it is fun masks! 

While the numbers of cases in our area are on a sharp rise, we have been hunkering down in self imposed isolation so we can spend Thanksgiving with medically fragile family members. We are lucky to be able to make these choices as the Man is working at home until at least April 2021 and I can arrange thing so I am at home. Stay safe, healthy and chic friends! 

 

Day 190

Today marks 190 days since the pandemic really hit us (and things first shut down). We thought we would give a little update on life here.

The Man works at home now and might forever. He is starting to consider getting a better desk and going to the office for his chair and extra monitors. He misses his coworkers, but likes not having a commute and getting a daily nap. He misses traveling. 

The Lady goes to the office 2 days per week, this makes it much more difficult to guard her. She liked it better when she didn't have to go at all, but this a reasonable compromise that allows her to support her clients the best. What she does like is traffic is very light as so many people are still at home. She is happy to be back to working full time most days (although she wishes it was 4 instead of 5 days a week and hopes once the September craziness, which is always crazy in her work calms down, she will be able to make that dream come true!) Surprisingly, Lady actually doesn't miss traveling one bit! She loves being home.

Ottawa, the closest major city, appears to have entered the second wave. They have been posting 50+ new cases a day. Cases have gotten into longterm care again, including one where a friend's husband works.

In both provinces most kids have gone back to school. Quebec made it mandatory but Ontario created an online option. Lady can't figure out province wide how many kids went back but it appears to be between 60-80%. Looking at her clients, that feels about right. 

In both provinces around where we live, there are fines for not wearing masks inside. Social distancing is encouraged, restaurants/movie theatres have to keep groups apart. Lady has eaten inside a restaurant 3 times and felt fine (that was before the numbers started to climb again, it might be some time before she goes in again).  

Lady and Man are still very careful about what they do.  Lady says it is always a risk benefit analysis. The do essential errands (groceries, pharmacy, hardware store) and essential self care (Lady has been to get her hair done, but her stylist has moved to a home salon and she is the only one there, she also went to the eye doctor and tomorrow tries out the dentist which she is so excited for because she was suppose to go in May).  They have been out to eat (essential socialization with friends Lady will say). She says she has honestly only not felt safe one time and that was at the Asian grocer (they bought enough rice wraps they shouldn't have to go for a long time!)

Overall, the pandemic is an inconvenience for us. We feel lucky about this. We know it is much more for so many people worldwide. 

That is how things are here. We hope everyone continues to be safe and healthy! 

Week 9 - A Covid Update

It has been a while since we gave an update of life here in a pandemic, so we thought we would.

We have entered week 9. The number of cases around us remains low. The number in our province is high, mostly because Montreal is Canada's epic-centre and is a mess. 

In week 9, we have the biggest openings in the province (outside of Montreal, Montreal is being treated as a completely separate place). The schools re-opened yesterday. Sending your child is completely voluntary. It appears less than 20% of the kids in our area are returning. Parks have opened to walk through. Some construction has restarted. More stores with curb-side pick up can open. The boarders to everywhere but Ottawa (where Lady would work if work was a thing) are reopening.  We are seeing the first phases of reopening and we will see how it goes!

The Man has been told he won't be going back to the office anytime soon. He is able to work from home and will get to continue to do that. He misses seeing people and the separation between work and home, but is overall ok.

The Lady has no idea when she will go back to work and what that may look like when she can. Social distancing is not a thing for most of her client work. She really is in no hurry. She enjoys this new world. The only thing she doesn't love is that now everything is on screens, so she is making sure to have 4 full awakening hours per day without any screen time. So depending on how her day plays out with fake work or f-work as she calls it, sometimes we don't get to blogs.

We continue to have a great routine which includes a special breakfast on Sunday. Usually the Man makes pancakes or waffles but last Sunday he made French Toast. 

Supervising

Waiting

Breakfast

So in summary, we are all good and safe and Lady says the adjustment back to the real world will be much harder than the one into quarantine for us. It is good that it is going to be a slow one!

Hope you are all safe and doing ok!

Mischief Monday - Entering Week 4 of Covid

Hi pals,

We hope you all are safe at home and staying home as much as you can. Today is the start of week 4 of self isolation for us. We are hearing rumours this is our life for at least 3 months. If it keeps people safe and healthy, it seems like a small price to pay. (Lady selfishly wants it to go on until September so she gets the summer at the lake. We have a private beach that only the neighbours use so we could easily socially distance). 

Nothing to see here

Given that every region of the world is doing something a little bit different, we thought we would share what is happening in our 'hood.  We are mandated to stay home unless we are out for essentials.  Man continues to work from home. Tomorrow, Lady will be able to apply for social assistance as she is technically unemployed (ethically she can't abandon clients so she has some unpaid contact with them weekly).

I am not killing bunny for something to do

In our province, Quebec, the boarders are now closed (except for essential travel) and there are checkpoints on all the roads. We were talking to a neighbour, who is essential construction (making cement sand for a new hospital that is being built) and he said they have to travel with papers, to show the police why they are out. What this means for us, is we can't cross the bridge into Ottawa to go and visit any of our friends and family on that side of the river.  Lady couldn't go to the centre she works with in Ottawa (they are closed at this time anyway). Given we weren't planning to cross the river, it doesn't effect us at this time. There are big fines for being out for no reason and for not distancing. All the parks and playgrounds are closed because people couldn't follow the rules.

What, we are watching another Marvel movie?

They continue to tighten the rules on what is an essential business and more places are closing. Starting yesterday, almost everything is closed on Sundays again (like when Lady was a child) to give those working time off.  When Man has to go out for supplies he will take some time off of work and go on a work day. It will be less busy, as many people around here work for the government and are trying to work from home, so it will be safer. 

Wake me when it is over.

Lady says she is amazed how busy she is in this new life. In fact, she isn't getting everything done she wants to in a day! Maybe if she spent less time napping. . . . . scrap that, we like our afternoon bed nap. 

Phod has settled to having the people home all the time. The first 2 weeks he was very stressed, but he has now accepted this new routine. We both like getting 2 walks a day. 

We get a lot of alerts like this on our phone

Because we live in the country, there is little danger of running into people. Besides the neighbours (who we have spoken to from a very far distance), we have only had to practice social distancing 2 times. Once for a guy getting his mail. We just stood back (more than 10 feet) until he got into his car. Once for a cyclist who was struggling her way up a hill. We walked on the other side of the road. 

So all that to say, we are good. The curve doesn't seem to be flattening yet, but we are doing our part. We are doing well and everyone but the Man wonders how we will ever go back to leaving the house again! 

We hope all of you are doing your part too and staying safe and healthy.

Lee and Phod

A Work Day During Covid - by Lee

Lee supervising the Man

Hi pals,

I thought I might share what a workday looks like in our house now. The Man is still working. The Lady is now unemployed and doing work-like things to keep busy. Our routine is very different. This is how it goes as I now dictate the schedule

by 7 am - as the sun is up, I wake Lady up (as the sun is coming up a little earlier every day, I am waking her up a little earlier every day)
30 minute walk - I make sure Lady is still getting her exercise
breakfast for us
Lady does her other exercise/morning things
By 8 the Man has started work
Lady starts her morning work by 9
between 9-10 Phod needs a coffee break
12 - people lunch - sometimes treats for us
12:30 - Outside time - it is like lunch recess
Back to work for Man, work like things or cleaning or hobbies for Lady
3 - quiet time (sometimes the Lady naps, sometimes she just reads)
4:30 - walk
6:30 our dinner
7 - out again
Evening on the couch with he TV or maybe the peeps will play some games
9:30 - Lady and Phod go to bed
11 - last time out before the Man goes to bed

So as you can see, we are very busy in isolation!

Hope you are all doing well and are safe and healthy!