For the past couple of weeks, I have been going into the office one day per week, and two weeks ago, they now require a temperature check when you go in.
The first day that I went in, the temperature check came back elevated. (Although I was pretty sure the thing was inaccurate), so Dan told me I needed to go home and then about 20 minutes after I arrived home, I received a call from the HR manager requesting that I go and get a test.
I booked myself for a test the following day at a drive in place not too far from home. When I arrived, I was surprised to see several men in army fatigues. I took my place in the queue, and when it was my turn, the guy held up a sign that had a phone number, which I dialed. I was then talking to him on the phone while he was standing right outside my passenger window. He scanned my code that I received when I booked the appointment. He then placed the test on my passenger seat and directed me to park on the other side and ADMINISTER THE TEST MYSELF!!! What?!?!? This is how they increased the testing numbers, by expecting people to self-administer the test.
So I did it, I stuck the swab down my throat and up my nose. I am not convinced I did it properly, but it came back negative thankfully.
Tuesday, June 16, 2020
Wednesday, June 3, 2020
Things I have learned in Lockdown
1. The only person in my house who really needs to leave the house on a daily basis is me. The kids are happy staying in our house/garden all day long. Brad does like to get out a bit, but mostly just for exercise.
2. Teenagers need A LOT of sleep. How lucky is Lauren that she gets to sleep until 11 everyday. I have stopped trying to get her up any earlier. Her brain is forming, just like toddlers. And her behaviour is that of a toddler sometimes too, except when she is helping me with all my technology questions.
3. Being a dog owner is a lot more fun than I expected. It helps that everyone is here all day, everyday. But Archie is ALWAYS happy to see me, even if it's only been 5 minutes since I saw him last.
4. Brad and I drink A LOT of coffee, like at least 2 bags per week. Thank goodness for the coffee pot.
5. And we also drink a lot of beer. 5 PM is beer o'clock everyday. It's hard not to have a cold one when the weather has been so amazingly gorgeous. And G&Ts as well of course. We just discovered Monkey 47 Gin which is fab. (Our recycling bins are overflowing after about one week, thankfully our neighbours are away so we can use theirs for the overflow.)
6. The girls really only need about 2 outfits, as they just wear the same clothes day after day, yet their laundry baskets are overflowing. That is a true mystery.
7. Sunshine makes things seems not so bad ( I suppose I realised this before lockdown), but I can't imagine what our days would have been like if they had been gray and dreary.
8. The "key workers" that society depends on the carry on are some of the lowest paid, but hardest working people. From the doctors and nurses to the bin men to the all grocery delivery people and grocery clerks and stockers. I didn't realise how much we really need these people, more so than the bankers, etc who make all the money.
9. Human contact and interaction is necessary. The zoom calls are nice to see friends and family, but it is not the same as seeing people in the flesh. I do appreciate that I have been able to talk to my Miami girls several times on video chat! And talk to multiple members of my family in different parts of the world at the same time.
10. Tik Tok is taking over the world (especially for tween and teen girls). Everytime I turn on a hot hits UK playlist, the girls start randomly dancing in the middle of the kitchen. I don't really get it, and I can't remember a dance 5 minutes after they have taught it to me!!
11. Teachers work really, really, really hard! I have so much more respect to teachers now that I have tried somewhat successfully to homeschool Drew and Alison. (Lauren has mostly gotten on with it herself.)
12. Our neighbour is serious about his football training. He trains at least 2 hours everyday, and his dad develops drills for him.
13. Working from home has its positives and negatives....the positive is that I can work in my lycra if I want to, and work as early or as late as I want. The negative is that I have access to all the food all day long, which would explain the few pounds I have gained despite doing more exercise. I guess all that walking really does help.
14. I am so thankful for FitState, my lovely work out people. They were very quick to organise Zoom workouts from the very beginning of lockdown, and have continued with over 10 classes each week at different times that we can join for a very affordable price. I am so, so, so thankful for that.
15. There are SOOOO many books to read, and not enough time to read them. Just as there are so many shows to watch and not enough time to watch them. Brad watched "Tiger King," but I decided not to subject myself to that sort of rubbish. The kids and I have been enjoying "Modern Family" and Brad, Drew and I really enjoyed watching "Race Across the World," which is similar to "The Great Race" in America. I learned a lot about South America!
16. Watching sports is a huge part of Brad (and Drew's) life. It has been really tough on Brad not having sports to watch live, read about and listen to commentary on. He did watch "The Last Dance," about Michael Jordan which was a good distraction. Apparently, the Premier League may restart in about 2 weeks time with no crowds but we shall see.....
17. Journalists are really good at asking the same question in a different way. Before they said anything about what would happen after the lockdown rules changed, about 80% of the journalists asked what the rules were going to be. And then when Dominick Cummings was called out for breaking the lockdown rules, for at least 3 days, almost every journalist asked another question about his activities, etc even though Boris Johnson made it clear that the case was closed!
18. Having a family bathroom is tough. We had started our bathroom refurbishment just before the lockdown started, so we have been without the 1st floor bathroom from end of March-beginning of June. Which means that the kids have been showering and brushing their teeth in our bathroom! (and leaving their clothes and wet towels on the floor!) It looks to be finished by mid-June. I can't wait!!!!
19. Some days I feel like all I did was cook and clean the kitchen. You don't realise how much food everyone eats until you are all eating EVERY SINGLE MEAL at home. We have ordered takeaway about once a week, but it still seems like I am almost always thinking about eating or what we are going to eat for the next meal.
I have to say that when we look back on 2020, it will provide memories unlike any other year.
~We haven't travelled anywhere since December 2019
~All sporting events were cancelled
~Public transportation usage decreased by 90% for nearly 3 months
~schools closed
~almost everyone I know was working from home
~we have only filled the car with petrol once since February
~we added a dog to our family(!!!)
2. Teenagers need A LOT of sleep. How lucky is Lauren that she gets to sleep until 11 everyday. I have stopped trying to get her up any earlier. Her brain is forming, just like toddlers. And her behaviour is that of a toddler sometimes too, except when she is helping me with all my technology questions.
3. Being a dog owner is a lot more fun than I expected. It helps that everyone is here all day, everyday. But Archie is ALWAYS happy to see me, even if it's only been 5 minutes since I saw him last.
4. Brad and I drink A LOT of coffee, like at least 2 bags per week. Thank goodness for the coffee pot.
5. And we also drink a lot of beer. 5 PM is beer o'clock everyday. It's hard not to have a cold one when the weather has been so amazingly gorgeous. And G&Ts as well of course. We just discovered Monkey 47 Gin which is fab. (Our recycling bins are overflowing after about one week, thankfully our neighbours are away so we can use theirs for the overflow.)
6. The girls really only need about 2 outfits, as they just wear the same clothes day after day, yet their laundry baskets are overflowing. That is a true mystery.
7. Sunshine makes things seems not so bad ( I suppose I realised this before lockdown), but I can't imagine what our days would have been like if they had been gray and dreary.
8. The "key workers" that society depends on the carry on are some of the lowest paid, but hardest working people. From the doctors and nurses to the bin men to the all grocery delivery people and grocery clerks and stockers. I didn't realise how much we really need these people, more so than the bankers, etc who make all the money.
9. Human contact and interaction is necessary. The zoom calls are nice to see friends and family, but it is not the same as seeing people in the flesh. I do appreciate that I have been able to talk to my Miami girls several times on video chat! And talk to multiple members of my family in different parts of the world at the same time.
10. Tik Tok is taking over the world (especially for tween and teen girls). Everytime I turn on a hot hits UK playlist, the girls start randomly dancing in the middle of the kitchen. I don't really get it, and I can't remember a dance 5 minutes after they have taught it to me!!
11. Teachers work really, really, really hard! I have so much more respect to teachers now that I have tried somewhat successfully to homeschool Drew and Alison. (Lauren has mostly gotten on with it herself.)
12. Our neighbour is serious about his football training. He trains at least 2 hours everyday, and his dad develops drills for him.
13. Working from home has its positives and negatives....the positive is that I can work in my lycra if I want to, and work as early or as late as I want. The negative is that I have access to all the food all day long, which would explain the few pounds I have gained despite doing more exercise. I guess all that walking really does help.
14. I am so thankful for FitState, my lovely work out people. They were very quick to organise Zoom workouts from the very beginning of lockdown, and have continued with over 10 classes each week at different times that we can join for a very affordable price. I am so, so, so thankful for that.
15. There are SOOOO many books to read, and not enough time to read them. Just as there are so many shows to watch and not enough time to watch them. Brad watched "Tiger King," but I decided not to subject myself to that sort of rubbish. The kids and I have been enjoying "Modern Family" and Brad, Drew and I really enjoyed watching "Race Across the World," which is similar to "The Great Race" in America. I learned a lot about South America!
16. Watching sports is a huge part of Brad (and Drew's) life. It has been really tough on Brad not having sports to watch live, read about and listen to commentary on. He did watch "The Last Dance," about Michael Jordan which was a good distraction. Apparently, the Premier League may restart in about 2 weeks time with no crowds but we shall see.....
17. Journalists are really good at asking the same question in a different way. Before they said anything about what would happen after the lockdown rules changed, about 80% of the journalists asked what the rules were going to be. And then when Dominick Cummings was called out for breaking the lockdown rules, for at least 3 days, almost every journalist asked another question about his activities, etc even though Boris Johnson made it clear that the case was closed!
18. Having a family bathroom is tough. We had started our bathroom refurbishment just before the lockdown started, so we have been without the 1st floor bathroom from end of March-beginning of June. Which means that the kids have been showering and brushing their teeth in our bathroom! (and leaving their clothes and wet towels on the floor!) It looks to be finished by mid-June. I can't wait!!!!
19. Some days I feel like all I did was cook and clean the kitchen. You don't realise how much food everyone eats until you are all eating EVERY SINGLE MEAL at home. We have ordered takeaway about once a week, but it still seems like I am almost always thinking about eating or what we are going to eat for the next meal.
I have to say that when we look back on 2020, it will provide memories unlike any other year.
~We haven't travelled anywhere since December 2019
~All sporting events were cancelled
~Public transportation usage decreased by 90% for nearly 3 months
~schools closed
~almost everyone I know was working from home
~we have only filled the car with petrol once since February
~we added a dog to our family(!!!)
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
Operation Dog: Success!
The kids have been wanting a dog for quite some time, and so we got our hampster Renegade in January to satisfy their need for a pet.
At the park last week, they decided that they REALLY REALLY wanted a dog, so when we got home from our walk, they went upstairs and prepared a persuasive presentation on why they needed a dog in their life. They spent almost an hour on it, and they were so nervous and excited when they were doing the presentation. I will say their teachers have done a great job with teaching the persuasive writing, Brad was on board straight away. I took a few more days to come around, but I caved eventually. how could I not when they were RELENTLESS about it!!!
So, introducing: ARCHIE SCHEINER. He is a cockerpoo puppy born on 2 March 2020. We collected him from Ilford yesterday (30 April). He is SOOOOO cute and happy and they kids are beyond thrilled. I haven't seen them so happy in quite some time. We are still working on the potty training and crate training but hopefully that will come with time.
First night home, Lauren and I slept on an air mattress in the kitchen. He fell asleep in Lauren's arms several times and we attempted to put him in the crate to sleep, but he was not having that at all. He was missing his mom and his siblings. After a few bits of crying and escaping, we decided to let him sleep with us. He curled up next to Lauren and slept until 6:15.
At the park last week, they decided that they REALLY REALLY wanted a dog, so when we got home from our walk, they went upstairs and prepared a persuasive presentation on why they needed a dog in their life. They spent almost an hour on it, and they were so nervous and excited when they were doing the presentation. I will say their teachers have done a great job with teaching the persuasive writing, Brad was on board straight away. I took a few more days to come around, but I caved eventually. how could I not when they were RELENTLESS about it!!!
So, introducing: ARCHIE SCHEINER. He is a cockerpoo puppy born on 2 March 2020. We collected him from Ilford yesterday (30 April). He is SOOOOO cute and happy and they kids are beyond thrilled. I haven't seen them so happy in quite some time. We are still working on the potty training and crate training but hopefully that will come with time.
First night home, Lauren and I slept on an air mattress in the kitchen. He fell asleep in Lauren's arms several times and we attempted to put him in the crate to sleep, but he was not having that at all. He was missing his mom and his siblings. After a few bits of crying and escaping, we decided to let him sleep with us. He curled up next to Lauren and slept until 6:15.
Friday, May 1, 2020
Week 6.......
It is week 6 of being on lockdown and the wariness on all of our parts is starting to set in. The kids are getting harder and harder to wangle into doing school work. Lauren is getting up around lunchtime. All three of them are spending WAY more time on electronics than the should be. It is hard to convince them to do much else. I will say that Drew has been outside playing football quite a bit, although today is a rubbish day weather wise. Alison is of course doing her gymnastics all the time. She has been good about doing her conditioning twice a week, although not without a bit of coaxing.
As for me, I have been working from home my three days a week (with the exception of the 2 week Easter holiday), which makes things a bit more challenging with trying to get the kids occupied. I have exercised every day in April so far. It has been very helpful to have my local fitness company who is doing 11 online classes per week so I am able to do some HIIT, Pilates/Yoga, strength training and circuits amongst my runs. I have also been doing a lot of reading as well as doing my new favourite type of puzzle, the codefinder. I bought a small book and I have nearly finished it! I also have weekly pub quizzes on-line with my quiz team: I enjoy having something to look forward to every Tuesday night at 8 PM.
As a family, we have played some Scattergories, which is fun with the kids and we are almost the entire way through Season 4 of Modern Family.
As for me, I have been working from home my three days a week (with the exception of the 2 week Easter holiday), which makes things a bit more challenging with trying to get the kids occupied. I have exercised every day in April so far. It has been very helpful to have my local fitness company who is doing 11 online classes per week so I am able to do some HIIT, Pilates/Yoga, strength training and circuits amongst my runs. I have also been doing a lot of reading as well as doing my new favourite type of puzzle, the codefinder. I bought a small book and I have nearly finished it! I also have weekly pub quizzes on-line with my quiz team: I enjoy having something to look forward to every Tuesday night at 8 PM.
As a family, we have played some Scattergories, which is fun with the kids and we are almost the entire way through Season 4 of Modern Family.
Saturday, April 25, 2020
Random Thoughts after a month of Lockdown
or Lockin, or quarantine, or isolation. So many names for what is happening right now. The term I have heard the most that I want to adopt comes from my favourite podcast The High Low, and it's "The Panny-D". (And they are also name Pandora and Dolly, so it's a double-barreled name!)
Here are just some random thoughts and observations from the last month:
~what in the world am I going to do with all these Ocado grocery sacks now that they are no longer collecting them and I have to do one HUGE grocery order every week as we are all 5 eating all 3 meals a day at home. Not to mention all the coffee, beer, and snacks consumed. As well as all the baking. Alison has deemed Wednesdays to be baking as a science lesson.
~I feel more relaxed, but I sometimes think I should feel more stressed. I think most of that stems from the fact that I don't have to be anywhere at a certain time, or get the kids anywhere at a certain time.
~The kids are obsessed with Roblox. Like they could probably play it for 10 hours straight without even using the toilet. Thank goodness school is back in session so they are not doing it quite as often.
~"Modern Family" is funny. And the kids enjoy it. I am usually the only member of my family laughing out loud, but Drew does giggle every once in a while.
~Drew says he wants to go to Turkey because there is no coronavirus cases there. I am not sure where he heard or saw that, but's is just funny and so not true
~Lauren is definitely a teenager! She sleeps SO much and her room is a disaster area.
Here are just some random thoughts and observations from the last month:
~what in the world am I going to do with all these Ocado grocery sacks now that they are no longer collecting them and I have to do one HUGE grocery order every week as we are all 5 eating all 3 meals a day at home. Not to mention all the coffee, beer, and snacks consumed. As well as all the baking. Alison has deemed Wednesdays to be baking as a science lesson.
~I feel more relaxed, but I sometimes think I should feel more stressed. I think most of that stems from the fact that I don't have to be anywhere at a certain time, or get the kids anywhere at a certain time.
~The kids are obsessed with Roblox. Like they could probably play it for 10 hours straight without even using the toilet. Thank goodness school is back in session so they are not doing it quite as often.
~"Modern Family" is funny. And the kids enjoy it. I am usually the only member of my family laughing out loud, but Drew does giggle every once in a while.
~Drew says he wants to go to Turkey because there is no coronavirus cases there. I am not sure where he heard or saw that, but's is just funny and so not true
~Lauren is definitely a teenager! She sleeps SO much and her room is a disaster area.
Tuesday, April 21, 2020
It's Official
3 more weeks of lockdown, as announced by Dominic Raab, who has been deputised to act on behalf of Boris Johnson to act as Prime Minister. All of the journalists keep asking the same question in different ways "What is going to happen after the lockdown is over?" And the answer is always the same "We can't say yet what it will look like because we are looking at the science to make decisions about the steps after the three week period has passed." They should be asking about testing and PPE and things like that.
So that means at least 3 more weeks of WFH and home schooling. My guess is that the schools may go back in the beginning of June, which would mean the kids would have their last term of school, which would be good for all of them. The kids were really excited for lockdown at the beginning, but now they are all saying that they can't wait to go back to school. Lauren I think is missing her independence of getting herself to and from school and seeing her friends, and Alison is just missing her friends. I think Drew doesn't mind the homeschool so much, but he is missing his friends as well.
As far as Brad WFH, I think it may extend out even longer because they have gotten accustomed to working from home. The kids have been very respectful of his use of the reception room for calls and such, which is good.
I am going to think optimistically about the adjustment back to school and normal routine next week. This weekend, we will set out a time table for Drew and Alison for next week, and I will let Lauren continue to get on with her timetable. Hopefully she will PE this time. Lauren has taken up residence in Alison's room for the last two weeks, as well as Reni. That will have to come to an end tonight so that it will feel more like normal routine. They tried to get Drew to have a sleepover as well, but he wasn't have any of that craziness!!!
So that means at least 3 more weeks of WFH and home schooling. My guess is that the schools may go back in the beginning of June, which would mean the kids would have their last term of school, which would be good for all of them. The kids were really excited for lockdown at the beginning, but now they are all saying that they can't wait to go back to school. Lauren I think is missing her independence of getting herself to and from school and seeing her friends, and Alison is just missing her friends. I think Drew doesn't mind the homeschool so much, but he is missing his friends as well.
As far as Brad WFH, I think it may extend out even longer because they have gotten accustomed to working from home. The kids have been very respectful of his use of the reception room for calls and such, which is good.
I am going to think optimistically about the adjustment back to school and normal routine next week. This weekend, we will set out a time table for Drew and Alison for next week, and I will let Lauren continue to get on with her timetable. Hopefully she will PE this time. Lauren has taken up residence in Alison's room for the last two weeks, as well as Reni. That will have to come to an end tonight so that it will feel more like normal routine. They tried to get Drew to have a sleepover as well, but he wasn't have any of that craziness!!!
Tuesday, April 14, 2020
Easter Break
So today is the last day of Easter Break for Brad. He took the last 5 days off, which was really nice! We obviously didn't leave the house, but we did have some fun playing games, watching movies and hanging out!
Alison has perfected her standing back tuck, Drew has rediscovered "Cars" and Lauren is organizing the "AMA" (Adopt Me Awards) with a friend she has made through playing Roblox. Her IBF (Internet Best Friend, I guess it's the modern day pen pal.)
We also watched "Wreck-It Ralph" and "Ralph Breaks the Internet," both of which were very entertaining, well thought out and creative in terms of how the inside of a video game looks.
We had a great time playing Scattergories and the girls have discovered Words with Friends.
The weather was absolutely glorious!!! Really warm and sunny, so we were able to spend a lot of time outside and had all the doors open on the patio.
Brad and I also joined Alison in her gymnastics conditioning and it is REALLY hard! I was sore for about three days after I did it with her. I have so much respect for her determination and ability to do way more press-ups than I could ever dream of doing. And her abs are so amazingly steel-like.
Tik Tok continues to take over life as we know it. The funniest thing in my opinion is when Brad and I know a song, the girls are so surprised. There are some old songs making a comeback on Tik Tok.
The grocery items that are now really hard to find are flour and brown sugar!!! I was hoping to make a carrot cake for Easter, but couldn't get brown sugar. We almost had a complete disaster last Saturday, as we ran out of coffee!!!! The horror, that would be absolutely terrible. So I spent about 30 minutes going to three different shops before I was able to procure 2 bags of coffee in advance of my grocery delivery. I discovered that the corner shop/news agents only sell the freeze dried coffee that doesn't really cut it.
Alison has perfected her standing back tuck, Drew has rediscovered "Cars" and Lauren is organizing the "AMA" (Adopt Me Awards) with a friend she has made through playing Roblox. Her IBF (Internet Best Friend, I guess it's the modern day pen pal.)
We also watched "Wreck-It Ralph" and "Ralph Breaks the Internet," both of which were very entertaining, well thought out and creative in terms of how the inside of a video game looks.
We had a great time playing Scattergories and the girls have discovered Words with Friends.
The weather was absolutely glorious!!! Really warm and sunny, so we were able to spend a lot of time outside and had all the doors open on the patio.
Brad and I also joined Alison in her gymnastics conditioning and it is REALLY hard! I was sore for about three days after I did it with her. I have so much respect for her determination and ability to do way more press-ups than I could ever dream of doing. And her abs are so amazingly steel-like.
Tik Tok continues to take over life as we know it. The funniest thing in my opinion is when Brad and I know a song, the girls are so surprised. There are some old songs making a comeback on Tik Tok.
The grocery items that are now really hard to find are flour and brown sugar!!! I was hoping to make a carrot cake for Easter, but couldn't get brown sugar. We almost had a complete disaster last Saturday, as we ran out of coffee!!!! The horror, that would be absolutely terrible. So I spent about 30 minutes going to three different shops before I was able to procure 2 bags of coffee in advance of my grocery delivery. I discovered that the corner shop/news agents only sell the freeze dried coffee that doesn't really cut it.
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