Vaccinated

Last Thursday I received my second Pfizer dose and then on Friday, the SO received his first Pfizer dose! We were the last two to receive it in my family, so that's really exciting. We celebrated by having the family over to the new house for the first time on Sunday. 

So I figured today was a good day for another COVID update post, not something I thought I'd be writing in April 2021 when this all started. 

Right? Instead my left armpit was swollen

Almost Back to Work

We are having discussions about going back to work soon. This is good and bad news. I do MUCH better in the office, I'm just not a work from home person. I miss my coworkers so much. I miss wearing normal clothes (although I'm considering tossing all my jeans permanently). The bad news is that in less than a month, I'll be 55 minutes away from my work and 40 minutes away from TC which is 50 minutes away from work. The triangle of death. I did it from January to March last year and it's NOT sustainable. The good news though, is that my boss and the president are completely supportive of permanent remote work for our office. 

But again, I hate that. My current thought is to go in once a week on TC's day off. Except if my entire office is remote and I'm the only one in... why am I going in at all then? We have talked about having a single day where we all go in but what are the odds that I can swing that as TC's day off (he gets two a week and I like one to be on the weekend so I can do clinics and spend time with the SO)? Who knows. 

So we'll see what happens. I know my life isn't sustainable as it is, so something has to give and it will. I'll keep you all updated about that. I have plans. 

Now if I could work 5-6 hour shifts... I could
swing that easily, except not financially! oh well

New House = Gardening!

I can't believe we swung that during a global pandemic and in the market the way it is. The house will get its own post at some point, at least the garden will. But I've been really enjoying going over there on the weekends and doing yard work and planning out my garden. 

I've decided to try to grow a variety of food this year to see what we actually eat and to make sure SOMETHING grows because we don't know the weather patterns just yet. We are pretty close to the bay so hopefully it's a good climate for various things. 

My friends are helping out virtually, which has been so fun! I have to give a shoutout to Nicole though. I sent pictures of every plant in our front yard and she was basically able to tell me every single one on the spot. She also helped me prune a tree and answers all of my gardening questions regularly. Highly recommend her as a remote gardening tutor! 

Yah this was a trip lol 

Vaccine

So like I said, I got the second vaccine on Thursday. It knocked me on my ass on Friday and I was still affected all day Saturday and some of Sunday. I almost felt like I had mono again with how fatigued I was. Saturday morning I wanted to go ride but then had to take a break from carrying laundry up the stairs and stopped half way through to moan about it. Sunday I did ride but was so ineffective because of the fatigue. But by Monday I was feeling good again. 

I have to say, I'm so impressed with how the vaccine is being rolled out here. The SO was eligible on April 15th to get his (everyone in the state 16 and older) and he got it on April 16th. My experience was seamless. Arrived 15 minutes early, got shuffled in while people checked ID, medical card, and my signed release. Went up to the stage (it was in an auditorium lol), the people giving the shots were so nice, then sat in the crowd for 15 minutes and I was out. Same experience for the second one. 

Hopefully everyone is getting their vaccines soon!

Me on day three after the vaccine lol

Making Travel Plans

With the SO having his green card and both of us getting our vaccines, we've begun to talk about traveling again! We can now travel internationally (he couldn't leave before he got his green card) but we also have some stuff we want to do in this country. 

My first stop will be San Diego to visit L. I miss her so much and it killed me to be going through some bullshit the last time she was up in this area. So I'm planning on flying down there as soon as the SO is considered fully vaccinated (we put a hold on all travels until then because it's just safer) and L will have me. 

We also need to get out to Toronto, where the SO moved from and where he lived for 10 years prior. I'm not sure when we are going to go. 

Other places on our/my list in the country are: Austin, Pittsburgh, DC (Thanksgiving for his family's celebration), NYC, Michigan (my family's cabin), and Yosemite. We also want to get back to Tahoe! 

Outside the country, well, first Canada for sure as I said. We need to get back to the UK to visit the SO's family and refresh his pretentious accent. I also want to go to Ireland and Iceland. We had plans to go to Japan the moment he got his green card, which obviously didn't happen because pandemic. But that's high up on the list too. 

I can't wait to get on a plane again! Haven't been on one since January 2020. 

This made me laugh but oh man this country

Summer Fun

Moving this summer means that we've got a lot of around-the-house things to do, but we also have things to do outside the house that are now (well, as of when we move), nearby. 

Within walking distance, we have a big shopping center with a movie theater. We were part of a movie... club... thing? previously? Basically you paid something like ten dollars a month and got a free ticket every month, or maybe it was twenty dollars a month and got two free tickets? I forget. But something like that where if you went once a month it was worth it (you could also roll a certain number of tickets over). So we might do that again! There's also some shopping there and a bunch of restaurants. We've been to the stores and to get take out a few times, but we'll eventually be able to actually go to dinner and a movie there!

We're also way closer to the amusement park, so we plan to get season passes this year and go regularly. I think it opens up to residents pretty soon and at a reduced capacity, which I feel like can only improve the amusement park experience. 

The main reason why I want to focus on
relaxing and fun this summer

Gym Time!

The SO and I are doing really well with our fitness lately. He's been doing a lot of lifting, like 3-4x per week and some cycling with my brother on the weekends. When we move and when things open up, he'll start cycling more. In normal times, he usually cycles to work and back every day and then goes on a couple longer rides a week, plus lifting. 

I've been a bit more sporadic with what I'm doing, lifting once a week with the SO and then playing this obnoxious but addicting fitness video game that includes a ton of core work, I've also been hiking a bit too. I'd like to do some more lifting in the future as well as go out once a week with the SO on the bike for cardio, but what I'm most looking forward to is going back to climbing. I had just gotten into climbing in the fall of 2019 with my brother and then the pandemic hit. I really want to go back to my gym. The moment that I'm considered fully vaccinated, I'll probably try going! 

I think my ideal gym schedule is not a gym schedule at all, but more of just a lot of fun physical activities each week. Lifting with the SO, bouldering with my brother, playing that fitness video game, cycling with the SO, hiking with friends. You know, just staying active and having fun! 

I say no worries all the time oh dear

Well, hopefully this the beginning of the end, right? Man I hope so. 

I think some things will stick with me for good. For example, I absolutely love wearing masks inside when I'm with people I don't know. I haven't been sick since November 2019 and haven't been stay home for more than a few days sick since I had mono in May 2019. That is just fabulous. So I plan on at least having one on me probably for good. 

But I'm just so excited for any kind of semblance of normal. We're almost through it, you guys.