Days 346-352 A Rant

 This post is going to be a bit ranty.  I find myself once again being disappointed with society and I have some things I need to say.  (Also, new this week~ Joe Curtatone, the Mayor of Somerville, is my spirit animal.)

First- Teachers
Teachers are not the problem.  Teachers are not the reason kids aren't in school.  The virus is the reason.  The eight months of letting the virus run unchecked for eight months is the reason why.  People who won't make responsible decisions are the reason kids aren't in school.  Yes, teachers have been advocating for a safe workplace but that's very different than saying they don't want kids in school.  No teacher wants an empty school.  No teacher wants to put his or her life in danger to make that happen.  Both of those statements can be true.   In Massachusetts our state leaders have demanded schools be reopened to full capacity, five days a week by April 1st.  There is so much wrong with that ultimatum.  First, many districts cannot do that safely. Second, many districts have just begun phasing students back into the building, in hybrid form.  The amount of planning to make that happen has been monumental.  Teachers have been asked to shift their way of teaching again, with little time to prepare.  To make schools shift again so quickly is not right.  How much can teachers handle?  Then, there's the issue with the fact that teachers have been moved lower on the vaccine list. It's really hard to watch teachers in other states get vaccinated while we just wait.  It really makes us feel unvalued, under appreciated, and like we are disposable.  Finally, the governor has decided to open up a whole lot of industries, at the same time he is demanding a full return to school.  If you want kids back in school, that has to be the actual priority.  Not music venues, not sports venues, not full restaurants.  (I say this with the strong belief that all of those industries should be supported so that they can remain closed or at reduced capacity to help ensure a safe return to school.)

The Vaccine
I can't believe how p*&^ poor Massachusetts' vaccine roll out has been.  We are so far behind other states. It's unbelievable.  We were super lucky this week to get JO's dad an appointment. I'm glad we took the Natick appointment that we saw available early in the morning. If we had waited for Gillette it wouldn't have happened. The wait times on the website were upwards of 22 days. (News Flash~ the website is still garbage.) It's embarrassing.  

People
Many people just are taking this whole thing seriously and it's really disheartening.  We ran an errand at a store at the mall yesterday. I kind of felt guilty about the errand because it wasn't essential but I figured it would be ok in the store because it's large and we wouldn't be there too long.  The parking lots were full.  The mall was full.  Restaurants were full.  There are still 1600+ cases a day here in Massachusetts.   So many people have died.  It's really just sad.  I really thought we would rally as a country, the way we did after 9/11.  Instead, our most selfish tendencies were exposed. As a society, we have no self-control, we have no desire to follow simple guidelines like wearing a mask (or maybe even two), and no desire to support those people working in industries that need to be closed right now.  

Ok, my rant is over.   I'll leave you with a picture of the fire pit table we enjoyed at Bow Market on Friday night.  It was a lovely way to end the week!

Days 339-345 February Vacation (another week in the living room)

 This week was February Vacation.  We usually travel during this break so it was a bit sad to just be in the living room again.  I miss Palm Springs, a lot.  I'm looking at the day count on this post and I can't believe it's creeping up on a year like this.

As an ode to Palm Springs, I whipped up some mojitos for us to enjoy.

We also took advantage of the virtual programming for Modernism Week.

I was so desperate to get out of the living room, that on Wednesday I headed to Harvard Square to run some errands. The sun was fooling me, and it was actually a lot colder than I realized so I cut my outing short but not before I visited the Out of Town News Kiosk to see our "Harvard Square Love Story" posted on the display!  

I also had some extra time on my hands, so I got caught up watching the news out of Texas.  While Ted Cruz tried to ditch the cold weather for a sunny vacation to Cancun, essential workers were killing themselves trying to keep up with feeding people.  This picture kind of hit me hard. You can see the desperation. 

I also had a chance to take a few more "live" fitness classes.  This barre class kicked my butt!

Now we enter the long stretch of school, 8 straight weeks with no breaks until April Vacation.  Hopefully we'll get an early spring so we can get outside more.  And speaking of teachers.  Vaccinate them now!  It is unreal that in Massachusetts we aren't prioritizing teachers.  And don't get me started on the CDC guidance.  Teachers need to be vaccinated. They are working in congregate settings.  Many districts are bringing lots of kids back to school (which is obviously a good thing) but teachers deserve to be safe.  I feel like if I was a young teacher I might leave the profession after this year because of how teachers have been treated.

Oh, on Thursday I tried to book a vaccine appointment for my dad.  I don't want to rehash the whole thing but it took seven hours, two computers, and multiple tabs. It should not be this hard.

In the end, we did get a spot for my dad.  I'm not sure how we will get the second shot since next time I'll be working.

Today, we decided to go sledding.  We had seen kids sledding a few weeks ago when we explored the big park in the city during a snowstorm.  It was so much fun!  It was nice to feel like a kid again.  It was nice to get away from the computer and get outside.

Days 332-338~ Super Bowl, 2nd Impeachment, UConn's Back @ #1, Self Care, and Valentine's Day (Oh my!)

 This was a pretty busy week, as far as pandemic weeks go!

First, there was the Super Bowl.  As Russ says, it seems like it was a pretty pricey super spreader event!  It was fun to watch Tom Brady win yet another title, even if he doesn't play for us again.

On Tuesday, my Huskies played a huge game.  It was awesome to get to actually watch the game live and it was absolutely awesome to watch our freshman phenom, Paige Bueckers, dominate in crunch time and it was great to beat South Carolina, a team not quite as annoying as the green team, but definitely up there on the list. 

The big focus of the week, was of course the second impeachment trial.  (You know what would have been better. Holding him accountable in impeachment 1, so this one wouldn't have been needed.)  The house managers did an amazing job of laying out the case for the sake of history (since a conviction wasn't going to happen.) If inciting an insurrection isn't impeachable, then I'm not sure what is.  I'm hopeful the courts will pick up where this left off because he must be held accountable.

The CNN chyron person was spot on with this one!

Back in Covid World, Massachusetts ranks 46th in vaccine distribution and its just appalling.  This week our governor accidentally created a black market when he expanded eligibility to chaperones of 75+ seniors.

Oh and this little tidbit about Florida, I'm all on board for this one.  

On Friday, I celebrated Valentine's Day with my students.  A few weeks ago, they started talking about Valentine's Day and it was the first time they really seemed sad about something.  (this group has a pretty positive attitude) I decided to do something a bit crazy. I raided Target, bought 400+ Valentines cards, and made bags for my kids containing 22 cards, one for each kid in class.  Then I arranged for my parents to pick the bags up and they kept them a surprise until the end of the day.  We dumped out our bags all together and it was just so fun to see their smiles.

Speaking of Valentine's Day, did you see this display at the White House.  It was just so lovely, normal, and thoughtful.

For Valentine's Day, JO and I ordered a special "Valentine's Day Dinner" from Moona to enjoy at home.  Oh my gosh, the food was absolutely delicious and paired perfectly with bubbles chilling in my champagne bucket.  And of course, we watched Casablanca at the Brattle thanks to their virtual screening.  I'm so glad we kept the tradition alive!

I also spent some time this weekend focusing on self-care.  My friend is a wellness teacher, who runs retreats with a friend of hers.  I can never go on the retreats because they usually interfere with school, but they hosted a "virtual" weekend retreat and it was just what my body needed.  I took five classes, over three days, and enjoyed the community conversations post class.  It was so nice to be able to take a Melt class from my friend who's been through a lot of challenging times lately and it was nice to put my body and mind first for a few days!  I know there are a lot of bad things about the pandemic, but the ability to connect virtually with people all over the country has been a real plus.

Days 325-331 Snow Day Fun and Fire Pits

 Well, winter has arrived, after a pretty mild December and January.  Thankfully, the winter weather brought with it a much needed snow day.  I was so relieved that this past storm was a real snow day because we all needed a break.  JO and I celebrated with "Snow Day South Sides."

Rainier celebrated with a cozy nap in his new favorite, fluffy blanket.

My friend sent me this link to "Love Stories" in the Square.  I just had to submit our story, because Harvard Square, and the Out of News Kiosk, have played such a huge part of our love story.  It's pretty cool to think that our story will end up in a time capsule.

On Thursday night, we actually went out and did something.  We managed to book a fire pit table at Bow Market.  Bow Market has created a really safe, socially distanced outdoor dining experience, complete with fire pits.  I know the pandemic has been awful, but fire pits becoming a thing at city restaurants is a huge win.  We bought a bottle of bubbles from Rebel Rebel, chilled it in the snow that was surrounding our table, and enjoyed oysters and HotBox Pizza.  It was a great way to spend a night. It was so nice to be out of the house, doing something.  These last few weeks have been tough so this was a nice escape. 

One of the things that has been tough about the last few weeks is the vaccine roll out in Massachusetts.  It's been a mess and teachers got bumped down another level and trying to navigate the website is horrible.  We did some investigating because we want to be able to get our parents appointments right away when they are eligible.  Thankfully, this wonderful woman who was on maternity leave developed a website that makes the whole process smoother. I hope the state rewards her for this work.

On Saturday, we tried a new to us restaurant, Gran Gusto.  We're rarely over in the North Cambridge area but I've always had this place on my list.  We got take out last night and it was delicious. I was super impressed by the portions, price, and quality.  JO went inside to pick the food up and said the interior was super cute.

On Sunday, we were both working non-stop but JO put a stop to that by demanding we go outside and play in the snow.  We headed over to Danehy Park, Cambridge's largest park.  Wow! We watched the sledding for a while and JO is actually, right now, ordering a sled for us.  We played some snow soccer and made snow angels and enjoyed the beauty of the snow on the trees.  It was a perfect break.  I've been missing having new experiences lately and this weekend was full of them!