June 2020

Another month has gone by with us close to home. Most of my assignments are virtual. I go out for an on-site interpreter assignment about once or twice a month. If it wasn't for going to the barn we would be stuck at home. The virus continues to spread especially in areas that have opened up too soon (states down south.)

This month Sophia was able to participate in a dressage schooling show. This is only her second off property show on Nicki. The organizers did a great job spacing riders to ensure the riders were spaced out and not too many people were at the barn at the same time. Kudos to them. Sophia rode training level three and first level, test one. She did an awesome job. I am so proud of her. We will be doing a rated show at the same venue in July in hopes of qualifying for a regional championship. And they hoping that regional competition doesn't cancel like everything else has!

Sophia finished out the school year strong. Steve did too. They both hit their grove with online classes. The school did a drive by celebration for them with signs and balloons. Teachers were curbside waving. Each student got a gift bag with a mask!

Sophia was on the yearbook committee this year. They struggled to complete the book as so many pictures had not been taken. There were no pictures of the clubs and the candid shots were limited but they did an impressive job working virtually to put together a wonderful keepsake.

Our pets are all doing well. Loki is still pushing boundaries with the cats. Boba and him are playing more, sometimes a little too rough but for the most part it is going well. Loki still isn't a fan of the crate. We are working with a trainer and hope that we get this resolved so we can go out for walks or even just ice cream as a family.

May update

Another month with very limited going ons. School and work are still virtual. We aren't going out except to go grocery shopping and even that is very limited. The only change this month was the barn opened and they are able to teach lessons in small groups. Sophia is back at the barn three or four days a week. This makes all the difference in her life. She is much happier. It also makes all the difference in our lives as we drive her back and forth and spend more time out of the house (both pros and cons)

Here are our annual May 1st photos in front of the azaleas.

 The biggest news this month was we adopted Loki. We have been looking for a puppy for quite some time. When we lost Kaegogi in June of 2018 we considered getting another dog but realized we are so busy it would be hard. With Covid-19 and the stay at home orders it seemed like a perfect time to bring a puppy home. Evidently we were not the only ones who thought that. Every time we would see a cute puppy on Petfinder or Adopt-a-Pet they would be gone before we could even get our application finished. Steve's friend's mother knew a director of a rescue and put us in touch with her. She sent us a picture of Loki and Steve fell in love. 

He was supposed to travel up from the south on April 17th but missed the transport. We were told it would be about two more weeks and we were willing to wait. Unfortunately on April 24th we were told he had parvo and was hospitalized. They weren't sure he would make it. They contacted us on May 2nd and said he was home and doing well. He would be traveling to the area the week of May 4th. He arrived in on May 7th and we brought him home on May 8th. He is super sweet. He is going to be a BIG boy. He is thin after suffering from parvo but no doubt he will fill out. I was a bit worried about Boba accepting him but thus far they are doing good. The cats teaching him so boundaries too. He loves to cuddle and seems very smart. He doesn't like the crate but we will continue to work on that.

I was not able to get my Pasta Plus birthday dinner as they have closed during the quarantine. Steve picked up a delicious dinner from Carrabbas for me. The dessert was out of this world! My Mother's Day/Birthday gift was some bleach! Amazing how the value of things change during this pandemic. In all fairness I didn't want anything this year.

Sophia continues to work on the activity boards for the therapeutic riding center as part of her Girl Scout Silver Award.

The pets are all doing well.

April update

There really isn't much to write about for April. We followed the stay at home orders and only went out for essential reasons, weekly shopping or to pick up take out food. Steve was able to get some shopping done for Leslie and leave that by her door. It is so hard to be distanced from everyone.

Sophia and I have done some baking. We made some bread which was delicious. We also made a yummy chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Steve found a bag with a Christmas gift that I had hidden and forgotten about. I honestly don't remember if it was from 2019 or 2018! It had a nice shirt and a game called Smarty Pants. We enjoyed playing the game several times.

We got a new back fence. When they were installing it they notice a birds nest in the rhododendron bush. We went out the next day and took pictures. There were one babies and one egg that had not hatched. A few days later we noticed the nest was empty. We aren't sure if the mother moved the birds or another animal got them. I hope it is the former.

We have been tossing around the idea of adopting a dog since Kaegogi died in June 2018. We never really acted on it because Steve and I could not really get in sync. When he wanted one I didn't and vice versa. Now seems like the perfect time because we are home so much. We aren't the only ones who thought that. We have been looking for dogs on Petfinder and they are there one day and adopted the next. Aaron, a friend of Steve's, adopted from K-9 Lifesavers as had his mother. His mother still kept in touch with the director. She made an introduction. After a couple of emails back and forth she sent us a picture of two puppies. One was a black dog, perhaps a Belgian Malinois mix. I did some research about the breed and wasn't sure it was the right breed. Steve assured me it was not a full-bred and things would work out. We were sent his picture on April 17th. He was supposed to arrive from the south on April 17th but missed his ride. Thank goodness because he ended up getting parvo on April 24th. The foster knew what to look for and got him to the vet as soon as possible. It was touch and go. He was hospitalized for a week. He pulled through and went back to foster on May 2. They would be sending him up the first week of May and we would be able to adopt him in early May.

Spoiler alert-he is home and doing well as the newest member of our family. More to come in May!

All our other pets are doing great.

March- a month to remember

This month seems like a chapter from a science fiction book. We are in the midst of dealing with Coronavirus, Covid-19. This virus started in China with it's first reported cluster on December 31. On January 7th the Chinese government confirmed it was Covid-19. As of January 30th a total of 9976 cases had been reported in at least 7 countries. The first Covid-19 case reported in the US was on January 20th. On March 5th we had our first case in Maryland.

Sophia rode Nicki during the in-house dressage show and did AMAZING. She rode her musical freestyle to the music she put together from Grease. She earned at 78.13 on the musical. This is a very high score. She rode a 77.59 on Training Level 3. She also moved up a level and did the first test of Level 1 dressage and rode a72.59. Sophia and Nicki are an amazing pair with lots of potential. The Pony Club dressage rally is scheduled for April but may be cancelled due to the virus.

There was some questions about the Girl Scout mall sleep in being cancelled but luckily enough it was early in the month and it was not cancelled. It was one of the very few things not cancelled. The girls all had a blast.

Steve and I took Leslie out for her birthday dinner. We went to a sushi and hibachi place downtown. It was so great to spend time celebrating Leslie. We didn't think she would be here at this time last year. She was given 6-9 months and thankfully the chemo has slowed down the spread and we get more time with her. 

Sophia got her haircut for the first time in almost two years on March 11th. She loves it.

On March 10th the schools announced all out of state field trips would be cancelled for the rest of the year. Sophia was supposed to go to Hershey with her choir. 

On March 12th schools announced they were closing for two weeks. On March 13th the kids were told to pack everything from their lockers to take home. 

By March 13th people were panic shopping. You could not find toilet paper, towel paper, hand sanitizer or bleach wipes in stores. Other items like milk and bread were hard to find too. Here is the paper aisle on March 13th.

On March 16th all group lessons at the barn were cancelled. Sophia was allowed to go and ride Nicki until March 23rd. On March 23 the governor announced that all non-essential businesses would close. On March 25th she found out she could not longer ride Navajo. This is the same day we found out that the schools would remain closed until April 21st. On March 31 schools announced they would start online learning on April 20th. 

On March 16th a lot of my work moved to VRI from home. A fair amount of my work also cancelled.  Some of my work is considered essential so I was still going to a couple of job sites including VRS. I was sent equipment to do VRS at home so I will start doing that from home in April.

When I found out Leslie was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer last March I had just started knitting a wrap. I promised her if she lived long enough to have me finish it then it would be hers. The poncho I made Sophia took three or four years so I was hoping she would fight for it. It became our running joke. But I worked hard to finish it because I couldn't wait to see her in it. The wrap was knitted with love and I hoped she would feel it when she wore it. I finished it in March. She picked out the buttons online and once it was all done I drove it over. I was sure to keep more than the 6 foot distance they are recommending because she is high risk for Covid. She loved the wrap. 

With all this extra time at home we are trying to find fun stuff to do. I started working through the practice swatches from my color cable book. 

Sophia and I tried baking the cake we made a couple of years ago with Kim. It was an epic fail. The cake stuck to the pan. Our frosting was too thick BUT it tasted great.

Our pets are enjoying having us all at home.

And here is a horse from the barn showing the grass is always greener on the other side.