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Sunday, April 26, 2020
Another week .. another weekend ... quarantine new normal
It is Sunday late afternoon/early evening but as always it's really hard to actually know what day it is. The weekends are at least a little different from the week days as I can sleep in and we have a little bit of a different routine than during the work week. But Monday to Friday is just a blur really. I get up, get dressed, make some tea, move to my desk to start work and eventually after work move over to the couch to watch some TV with Mike or read. We get take out from our favorite local restaurants or make some food at home. Yeah, nothing much exciting really.
I try to go for walks during lunch time to get out and get a little bit of exercise but I haven't been very good with that last week. I'll have to try and do better this week. Been definitely reading more than normal which has been kind of nice. Also been watching a lot of CNN. The White House daily briefings are ... I don't even know what to say really. Let's just say, it's a crazy world out there right now and leave it at that.
Two more weeks ahead of covering at work and then three weeks off for the furlough. And then we'll be at June 1st and we'll see where we stand at that point. It's so hard to know as every day feels like a week and every week feels like a month these days.
Yesterday we were lucky that we had some nice weather and we were able to take advantage of that and went for a nice walk in Litchfield at the White Memorial Foundation. Explored some different trails and walked a little under 4 miles. Was good to get out and get some fresh air. Today it's cold, windy and rainy. Just went to the grocery store and picked up some breakfast from a local diner. Watched SNL while we ate and had mimosas.
Letter/Mail Update: Received a letter from/owe a response to: Nina/WA.
Posted by Hanna at 05:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Sunday, April 19, 2020
One week blending into the next ...
It is Sunday late afternoon/early evening but in all honesty it feels hard to keep track these days, what day it is. Every day kind of blends into the next lately.
Last week was uneventful for the most part. Work has been less busy, a downturn in new bookings and a lot of delayed relocations. So of course the company I work for did have to take action to determine the best way forward to weather this storm and for all of us to come out of this relatively whole. So the current plan is to furlough employees in waves so for the next three weeks I will still be working but half of my team will be on mandatory leave so I'll be covering for people. Then the following three weeks (May 11 to 29) I'll be on furlough and will be applying for unemployment, back to work on June 1st. While of course it is not ideal, I do think in these unprecedented times that it is the right way forward to try and keep the company stable and for all of us to stay unemployed long term. They are also covering our health insurance premiums for the three weeks we are on furlough which is a big thing and definitely helps ease worries.
So ultimately I think the next three weeks will be relatively busy for me, covering partial caseloads for two of my co-workers plus my own files. Plus assisting the team with any issues as my position of Associate Team Lead. But then after that I will have three weeks with absolutely nothing to do. I'll have to see how to fill my time during those weeks. Will try to make the best of it, decluttering my closets and dressers and checking on things I have been meaning to do for ages but never got around to it. And well there will probably be a good amount of sleeping and procrastinating thrown in for good measure as well - who am I kidding?
This weekend, Saturday, we went to the grocery store & liquor store and picked up some breakfast from a local diner. The weather was pretty cold, windy and damp. But today, Sunday, the weather was quite a bit nicer so we took advantage of that and went for a hike a White Memorial Foundation in Litchfield, CT. Not a ton of people on those trails so there wasn't a big problem keeping your social distance.
And tomorrow is already Monday again. Let's see who next week plays out. Hope everyone is staying safe and healthy!!
Letter/Mail Update: Received a letter from/owe a response to: Nina/WA.
Posted by Hanna at 05:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Sunday, April 12, 2020
Happy Easter
Happy Easter! :) I hope everyone who celebrates is having a nice Easter Sunday. I am really not huge into Easter but I do enjoy some of the candy/chocolates and the fact that it usually means spring is here. We have been having some decent weather and there have been flowers and blooming trees/bushes and even some green leaves sprouting. Always makes me happy to see nature wake up again. It is all a bit surreal this year of course with COVID 19 and the quarantine going on but just need to make the best of it of course.
Last week was pretty uneventful. I guess how much can be going on when I work from home and pretty much am at home 24/7? I did go for some walks during my lunch hour. And we ended up having Good Friday off which was nice. We originally had a 1/2 day scheduled and our company gave us the full day off. A nice unexpected surprise and a nice 3 day weekend. Of course tomorrow is already Monday again. Not sure how that happened?
I didn't do all that much on Friday. Slept in a bit, then made a broccoli strudel, started a new book and wrote a letter. So a relatively productive day. On Saturday we slept in and then ran some errands. The grocery store, liquor store & drug store and then picked up breakfast from a local diner. Today we decided to get outside for some fresh air and took a ride to the Hudson Valley in upstate NY for a hike at Falling Waters Preserve in Saugerties, NY. Some pretty views and it's always nice to walk near water. Had a nice hike/walk and then headed back home. I have watched the latest Outlander episode, had some dinner and am now just lounging around. Will probably catch up on some TV in a bit.
Originally this is the weekend where we were supposed to go to Niagara on the Lake in Canada for a 3 day wine tasting weekend. Of course that ended up being cancelled. Let's hope we can reschedule it once this all returns to somewhat normal. For now we just all need to stay put.
Letter/Mail Update: A letter will be going out tomorrow to Celia/MA. Received a letter from/owe a response to: Nina/WA.
Posted by Hanna at 06:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Monday, April 06, 2020
Happy April
Happy Monday - Happy April. Another week and weekend gone by. Really not much going on right now obviously due to COVID 19. Working from home and on week 4 now of doing this I think. I have been dragging my feet getting up every morning. It's all a bit surreal. Most of my evenings are either spent reading or watching CNN with Mike.
On the weekend we took advantage of the nice weather on Saturday and went for a walk/hike in the Hudson Valley again in upstate NY. We went to Olana which is a really nice place. We had been there before some years ago and it was nice to go back. Was nice to be out in the fresh air and get some exercise. This quarantine is definitely making me gain weight as I am not moving much and definitely eating and drinking more than usual. But I guess a lot of people are in the same boat judging from social media.
Sunday we didn't do much. Slept in late and then went to the store and to our local dinner to pick up some breakfast. Caught up on a bunch of TV (we will start to run out of our recorded shows at one point - guess we'll need to look through Netflix and Amazon to find more stuff to watch) and relaxed. I made a noodle casserole which turned out only meh. I think the recipe actually has potential but I made the mistake of using the wrong kind of cheese and it just didn't seem to go together. Oh well. Better luck next time.
Well let's see what this week brings. It's Good Friday this week and originally that's the weekend we were supposed to go to Niagara on the Lake. A little sad we can't go now. I know it's a small sacrifice in the big picture of things but still.
Letter/Mail Update: Received a letter from/owe a response to: Nina/WA and Celia/MA.
Posted by Hanna at 11:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)