Dear Reader, This blog post is full of raw emotions and written in a present tense by Liz during the 2020 year.
The Beginning…
February 2020
As soon as the media had shared the reality of the coronavirus and its spread from Wuhan, China we did not feel like we were in danger or that our planned trips were in danger, we just felt like we needed to be prepared. We were able to visit Singapore in February although some rules and regulations were already taking place in slowing the spread of the virus. Our experience traveling in the beginning of the pandemic, especially to Asian countries was a breeze. We washed our hands frequently, always carried hand sanitizer, kept distance from people as much as we could, and was just mindful for all the signs and rules related to the virus. We made it through our Singapore trip with two layovers in South Korea with no issues or symptoms that shown we had the virus. We did not quarantine ourselves after we got back to the states (because at the time there was no push to do so), but then the statistics of the virus spreading to all parts around the world was increasing. Our friends and family started joking at first with us that we probably had it or brought it back, but then the jokes had become serious statements and although we still have not been tested, we never experienced any symptoms and those we were around did not eitherโฆ.so I would say the safety precautions we took while traveling paid off.
March 2020
We had another trip planned right after Singapore to another Asian country, Japan. After coming home from Singapore, we realized that there was a possibility our Japan trip would be postponed, or even cancelled. Unfortunately, as other states were starting to shut down school districts and having employees work from home, we started thinking about cancelling our trip to be safe for the sake of our family members sanity. We honestly did not want to cancel it at all and felt that because we made it through Singapore and South Korea just fine that we would be better off in Japan anyways because of how clean they are and their number of cases were decreasing. As I started getting word that the school district I work in was doing an extended spring break, we made the choice to stay home, and shortly after that decision was made, we started cancelling our hotel reservations and then ultimately the airline cancelled our flights anyways and the school district closed for the rest of the school year. We are extremely grateful we did not lose any money on the cancellations although it took a long time to get all our refunds. We felt crushed when we couldnโt go to Japan and then begin to worry about our other three trips we had booked for 2020.
Not only were we worried about our trips, but we were now worried about job security as well. The world has not had to shut down due to a pandemic before and there were so many questions and uncertain answers that we felt like we were going crazy! Thankfully, Brent has a secured job position and they seemed to be doing just fine with everything, on the other hand the school districts closed, and I was panicked that as classified staff (paraeducator) I would not be getting paid. Fortunately, that was not the case and remote learning was put into place and I was getting paid till the end of the school year.
Job security is one worry that the world was having, then all of the sudden mass panic occurred, and people were buying meat, toilet paper, cleaning products, hand soap, milk, eggs, dry goods, and other items like they would never be coming back! We ate so many frozen pizzas the first couple weeks of the shutdown because there was nothing left and the stores could not keep up with restocking and the amount of people coming in. Chaos. And stupidity? It was the oddest experience we ever had. I had to get toilet paper from my mom because we could not find any and were literally out due to procrastination of grocery shopping before the state went whack-o.
April 2020
Remote learning has been such a crazy experience. I was part of a small group stationed at our elementary school to hand out Chromebooks, instructions, and chargers to our families that needed them so their children could successfully do online classwork. Every five Chromebooks we passed out to families we had to sanitize the gloves we were wearing with hand sanitizer and although some of us brought masks, because we were outside and 6 feet apart, we didnโt feel the need to wear them. Out of all those families we distributed Chromebooks I personally am unsure how many have been participating in the online classwork. My biggest worry was for our kiddos in our significant support needs program. How are they going to be able to do this? Some of our kids are not able to use a computer. How can they be successful without our support? As remote learning started after spring break, it was slow participation at first, but then it started to pick up and I know not only myself, but my team as well, were overjoyed seeing our kids participating and just seeing little videos or photos of what they have been working on at home. Our team have been frequently checking in with their general education classes with Zoom meetings and different platforms such as Google Classroom and Seesaw to be able to create content that our kiddos are able to do, without trying to overwhelm their parents. I have seen the frustration their parents have had because they feel like they are failing their kids and donโt feel like they have the same teaching abilities, not to mention when Wi-Fi starts to fail or they have technological failures. My own co-workers who are also parents have been frustrated and stressed with the process of remote learning. Some of our kids may regress, but to ensure their health and well-being remote learning had to happen.
Every day the news was changing about COVID-19 and what the state or country was doing to help lower the spread of it. As the school districts closed, so did hair salons, bars, restaurants, breweries, gyms, etc. Any business that would have more than 50 people as a social gathering in one place. Thankfully, take-out orders and delivery was still allowed. I knew that my part-time job at local brewpub would change, especially knowing it was my second income and so those who served full-time would be on the schedule instead of me. It was a shock at first, but because I work for an amazing and caring company, I was still receiving a paycheck although I did not work any hours. My heart was exploding with gratitude.
At this point, the pandemic had caused the economy to shift, frontline workers and essential workers were running out of PPE (gloves, masks, disinfectant), we were ordered to stay at home, the death toll was still rising from the virus, hospitals couldnโt keep up, businesses were filing bankruptcy or closing their doors for good, toilet paper was still hard to find, and the best and worst of people were coming out.
What did we decide to do at this point? We decided to do surgery on our dog Bane to amputate his tail because his Happy Tail was getting worse and we were tired of taping his poor tail up all the time and wiping blood off all furniture, walls, clothes, everything. (If you’ve never head of Happy Tail, it is where the dog wags their tail so hard it hits objects or walls and splits open, causing an open wound that does not heal quickly). His surgery was scheduled April 3 and it went well: the post-surgery process was a bit more complicated. We had to take him in twice a week for bandage changes (at this point Brent was now working a couple days from home because of the stay-at-home shelter put into place). During this time some day-cares were shutting down and one of them was the day-care my nephew would go to, so when my brother had to go back into work, I would watch him a couple days and Brent would take Bane to work because he had to be watched while I took our other dog Bolt with me to babysit. Unfortunately, one day we decided to leave both of them at home alone (of course it was during a huge snowstorm too) and Bane licked out his stiches (there was no bandage at this point because he was healing well). We had to take him back into the vet and get staples (ouch) then he had a small infection and now going into May we are still visiting the vet for check-ups and bandage changes. It has been a lot of stress, money, and care, but one blessing of the quarantine was that we were able to do the procedure, which in the long run is great for him and us and were able to stay at home without taking days off to help care for him.
Could there be another positive outcome of this quarantine?ย We decided to sell our townhouse and build a new stand-alone house!ย We have been looking for a new home since 2019 and were not finding anything we would want in our price range or there would be other offers on homes in such a short amount of time we would miss out on them.ย Another trip of ours was cancelled, this one also crushed us because it was us going to relax in the Maldives and explore two days in Doha, Qatar.ย The airlines cancelled our flights and the hotel in the Maldives reached out to us to cancel our reservations.ย So with another refund on the way, a stimulus package sent out, and I was able to work a few shifts back at the brewpub to start delivery, we decided to look for a new home.ย We decided on a new build because they were offering incentives (30k towards design, half-price lot, another 11k towards design if we close with their lender) that seemed too good to be true and those would change daily.ย We signed a contract in one day after doing a virtual tour of model homes via Zoom and then had to list our current home for sale within 10 days, and then be under contract to sell within 60-90 days.ย Turns out we were not the only people looking to move, in one day our townhouse was listed and sold!ย The next plan is to move out end of June and spend quality time at my parentโs house while our new one is being built.ย Hopefully, we can move into our new home in the fall or early December the latest.ย ย ย ย
May 2020
Starting a new month during this COVID-19 situation has been interesting. May 6th Governor Pollis announced for Denver that masks had to be always worn when going outside your home and into a business or if you are working, but the stay-at-home order would be lifted and now it was more of a recommendation to stay at home. Salons and other businesses that closed completely could open back up, except for restaurants, bars, breweries, and brewpubs.
Finally, Baneโs tail had healed up enough that he had two vet visits of bandage changes and now he is free of bandages and on the road to full recovery! His tail just needs to heal some scabs up and grow hair back (woohoo!).
Remote learning has been doing simply fine and shifts at the brewpub were picking up although it seemed the brewpub was always fighting complaints and health department calls due to city residents that wanted to see a small business fail. Incredibly stressful! As the owner was thinking of ways to get more people to come in and stay within the cityโs quarantine/social-distancing boundaries, the weekend of Motherโs Day was a tailgating weekend which was a success! Although there was going to be music provided by the Grizzly Rose, those same residents complained early in the morning before the event had started to the local police department which then shut down the music and any open containers of alcohol in the parking lot. The amount of support for brewpub was still amazing throughout the weekend and families were enjoying themselves eating pizzas, playing cards, cornhole, drinking free sodas, and staying 6 ft. apart outside their car and had groups of less than 10 people. The brewpub was on News 7 for respecting the guidelines and was able to voice the opinion and struggle of small business owners trying to stay alive during this time compared to an establishment in another city which had ignored all safety regulations regarding COVID-19 and opened full business where people were no longer social distancing and were waiting 2 hours for food (mind blowing).
To celebrate Motherโs Day, we had bought cards and flowers and did drop offs to our motherโs homes. It came up so fast with everything going on that it just seemed such an odd time to celebrate it, but we did in at least some way. The following week had been quiet, although some stores were opening back up the โsafer-at-homeโ is still being pushed and there are still restrictions on what you can do and how businesses are staying sanitized. We have been able to make an appointment for the design center for our new home on June 4th which is exciting! It is a one-time four-hour appointment and with COVID-19 they will have restrictions for not touching samples and they will be locked so only contract holders are able to go inside. The weather in Colorado has been warming up to 90-degree days, usually pools would begin to open and they are not due to the pandemic, although certain lakes have been open, but social-distancing is โenforcedโ.
The school year is ending, and I had to go into the building twice, once to pack up our SSN room and gather our studentsโ belongings, and then again to help organize all of the studentsโ belongings to be ready to be picked up during the week. Very sad and eerie knowing that usually we would be having field day and field trips which now is all virtual or must do at homeโฆI am hoping school will be able to start up as normal during the fall, but it is still unknown. Thursday, May 21st, last day of school! Usually, the last day consists of chaos, cleaning, parties, movies, treats, etc. This year, two zoom meetings, about 30 min each. One for 3rd grade (which our students did not attend) and one for our program (which they all attended and so did the SLP and social worker, yay!). It is a very emotional day, thinking how the end of the year was all remote and we donโt get to hug goodbye, plus the slideshow of pictures we had taken over the year was so wonderful it brought tears to all of our eyes (I hope the parents teared up too).
Some positive and terrifying news we found out is that restaurants are able to open back up on Wednesday May 27th and although we have a plan for how to be successful at the brewpub, it is still stressful to think about all the extra steps and rules we have to follow during this crazy time. But we have expanded the patio even more to accommodate a larger amount of people while following social distancing guidelines, so we will have a busy summer, hopefully!
June 2020
The brewpub has been busier than ever! We have added more outdoor carts with bus tubs and water stations, signs, etc. to help with the upkeep and sanitizing everything as much as possible. There have been a lot of trial-and-error situations to figure out the most successful plan. The brewpub has been continuing the carry-out food and to go beers at a high rate as well. We also found out that Switzerland has been cancelled and therefore decided to go to a Harris family reunion down in Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri in July.
July 2020
Independence Day festivities have been cancelled in most counties/cities across the U.S. so there were not any large gatherings to watch firework shows and BBQs I believe were kept to a minimal. I worked at the brewpub on the 4th and ended up getting off early because it was slow due to it being a holiday and ended up spending the time with Brent, his co-worker (Jay who retired and was moving) & girlfriend, Cindy, and Joe. The rest of the month I worked a lot at the brewpub and Brent was also busy at Keller.
We decided to drive to MO for the family reunion while taking COVID-19 precautions. This was the first trip we decided to take since coming back from Singapore in February. Driving across different states was interesting to see the differences in mask mandates and rules. Colorado has been fairly strict, especially Denver, when it comes to wearing a mask while entering a building. As we stopped into different gas stations the rules became less strict as we got closer to MO. There are still signs that say to wear a mask and to be social distanced, but people following those rules varied. Hand sanitizer was available right as you enter a gas station and most places had masks available to buy. We made it to Sunset Beach which Brentโs Aunt Terri had rented a mansion (through a friend for a discount) for the family to stay in. It was amazing! Being around family members, social distancing was not enforced as well as mask-wearing (although down in MO in general they hardly enforced masks), but there were no known cases or anyone feeing ill and at the end of the trip we came back safe and healthy. A funny story is that we actually left our drone in one of the wardrobes in the room we stayed in which had to be found by the housekeepers then eventually shipped back to us in Colorado because we were already a 2 hour drive away from the house and all family members had left as well.
We ended up staying the night in Kansas City in a very nice Marriott hotel and explored the city a little bit since neither of us have truly stayed there. We went to a brewery (Boulevard Brewing Co.) and enjoyed some craft beers and snacks. They recently opened back up from a shutdown to implement new COVID-19 safety restrictions when we were there. We then went to another brewery, which was also a coffee shop (Rochester), and then enjoyed some BBQ at Q 39. The whole experience was delicious and amazing! We then walked around to an area that was recommend by our server at Q 39 that looks like a part of Spain. It had beautiful architecture and water fountains with sculptures that did remind us of Spain, and it was very surreal to be wandering around that area knowing it was in Kansas City, MO. The Spanish architectural area is called Country Club Plaza built by a local real estate developer, JC Nichols, in the early 1900s and is based on the theme of Seville, Spain.
August 2020- September 2020
School is starting later than originally scheduled and it will start remotely. The district created learning pods which is a classroom of students who will be in-person in school, but receiving instruction remotely and learning pod leaders will be classified staff to oversee these pods for safety purposes. I agreed to be a learning pod leader and so did a fellow para who will be in the specialized learning pod working with SSN students. The learning pod was a stressful experience because trying to work 12 Chromebooks with students who are in the same grade but have different teachers was mentally draining. Between behaviors, technology issues, and just the general COVID-19 rules of wearing a mask, social distancing, etc. the days were mentally exhausting. In September, my specific learning pod (4th grade) had a handful of students with COVID-like symptoms and although there were no positive cases, our pod was put into quarantine for 14 days. I cried. The overall stress of working the pods and working at the brewpub put me over the edge. During my quarantine, the district decided to go back to in-person learning for elementary students, and hybrid for middle and high school (remote learning is still an option). The beginning of the school year is always crazy but coming back after remote learning with new restrictions has been extra crazy. Plus, we had three new students while two stayed remote. Half our teacher staff decided to do remote learning and then we had about half come back for in-person. Most of our SSN staff came back except for one paraeducator due to safety concerns for her son, but we were able to grab a para from another school for the time being because their SSN program is strictly remote learning.
October 2020
My hours at the brewpub decreased, due to cold weather and the fact that I worked so much over the summer my boss is trying to give me time off (so thoughtful). There has been a spike in cases in Europe and also in the U.S., specifically Adams county here in Colorado so now restaurants and bars are at 25% capacity which means the brewpub can only have 50 people inside. We still have the patio available, but with cooler weather it has slowed down. Everyday at the school, we are uncertain if we will be going back to remote learning or not, which it seems like there is a strong possibility of that happening. There also has been talk of a second shut down happening, so the state is on edge. Also early voting is available for the election which has been extremely intense, so there as been even more stress on top of that. We did celebrate Halloween, Brent was Jeffrey Dahmer, and I created a โcereal killerโ costume. We went to one get-together first with about 7 people inside, then went to the Haifleyโs new home to hang out (5 people). There were still quite a few trick-or-treaters between both houses, but a very low key night. Before the get-togethers, we met my Dad, Aunt Kathy, and Uncle Chuck to see the progress of our new home. They were painting the outside at the time were there, and the inside is coming along nicely! The cabinets, flooring (besides the carpet) and countertops were in. Funny story, we thought we were getting a blue house, but it was actually green! The green looks really nice, but we were convinced we had chosen blue, so our minds were set on blue for the last 6 monthsโฆhysterical! That is what we get for designing the outside of our home over Zoom during the first shut down.
November 2020
On the house front our walk-in date has been pushed to Nov. 13th instead of the 9th because the carpet we chose was not backordered (which the people did not know when they tried to install it Nov. 2nd) and so we had to choose different carpet that will be installed the 11th. Thankfully the new carpet is upgraded (since they messed up) and similar to our original pick, just lighter in color.
Unfortunate news, our friend tested positive for COVID-19 and so Brent is quarantined for 14 days and I self-quarantined until I get the results of my test backโฆthe differences in how a corporation and school district decide when to quarantine is mind-blowing. Brent has to be quarantined regardless of his test results, but I could back to school since I am showing no symptoms. Because I am an SSN para and work VERY closely with students in multiple classrooms, I decided to self-quarantine to hopefully eliminate exposing more adults and students than necessary if I am positive. My brother and nephew also stayed home because my brother was experiencing ill symptoms. Now COVID-19 has hit our inner circle and the stress of it all is mentally draining.
Good(ish) news, my brother and nephew tested positive for strep and both mine and Brentโs COVID test came back negative (same with all of our friends besides the obvious). I went back to work on Monday, to receive news that we are going back to remote learning because of the increase in COVID cases in not only Adams County, but also the whole state. We are now experiencing basically a second shut down. Remote learning starts the 16th and will continue until January. This whole situation is extremely stressful for the families and the educational staff, now there is rushed panic for sending home materials to students that will hopefully help them be successful during remote learning. I still have not worked at the brewpub since November 1st because of the cut in hours and crowds based on COVID and new restrictions of 25% indoor capacity and curfew for 10pm. 2020 just keeps getting worse instead of better. On the bright side, our house is still coming along, and we will have our walk through on the 13th and close on the 19th, in that sense we are super excited about our future.
Our walk-through went well, we had a friend go through beforehand to tape anything he noticed that we typically wouldnโt. The only super odd thing that happened is that our oven is not the double-oven we chose, so waiting to hear back about that situation. Remote learning starts on Monday, I am feeling very lost about it all, but the silver lining is that I can start early with packing and cleaning everything up before we move.
Remote learning has been stressful, just as it was during the first shutdown in March, but trying to be more interactive with multiple zoom meetings and creating true lesson plans have made the stress levels sky-rocket. Not only did remote learning start, but our closing date for our home was pushed back and therefore we were not able to move-in during the time we had planned. This created a whirlwind of trying to re-schedule furniture and appliance deliveries, plus internet, gas, and electric to change as well. Brent and I have been living on edge since we were no longer able to move out and the anticipation of getting to close on the new date has been wearing us down tremendously. We are supposed to close November 24thโฆhopefully this happens so we can celebrate Thanksgiving in our new home (which we do not have the double-oven because it was discontinued, but we do have a really nice conventional oven that looks aesthetically pleasing). During our personal crisis, more counties in Colorado have turned to level red with an increase in COVID cases and even one of our own students in the SSN program has been in the hospital with a positive case which makes us all very worried for him. I still have not worked at the brewpub although they are trying to open earlier to become a coffee shop and have customers support local businesses vs Starbucks. Based on social media and the work chat channel, it has been busy but with a lot of kinks to work out. All I have been doing is trying to put out positive vibes into the universe to get through this historical pandemic.
We did not close, again. Thanksgiving was extremely low key, we stayed at my brotherโs and had brunch with my Mom. When my Mom, Nick, Taylor, and Keegan went to Taylorโs parentโs house, Brent and I made a salad, mac and cheese from scratch, and steak for our meal this year. We did buy some turkey for snacking. Also had single serving pumpkin pie and we baked chocolate chip cookies. We have been down in the dumps about not being able to close on our house and have had to reschedule deliveries like crazy. The stress is unreal, and Brent and I are just trying to make it through each day. Plus side, I have worked a couple brewpub shifts and the owner gave everyone a paycheck even those who havenโt worked at all or only a few shift like myself. This made my heart swell with gratitude and I hope that the company stays strong through the colder days.
December 2020
Maybe, just maybe, we will be hearing about closing on the house. December 2nd, we FINALLY received news about moving forward with closing on our house. Although we were still waiting to hear if we could even go through with the closing that day. We decided to show up to our final walk-through anyways, then chose to drive to Longmont to the title agency to close. While still hearing doubts from all directions. Literally down to the wire, we wired funds 1:59pm when the cutoff was 2:00pm to be able to transfer the same day and receive the keys. We did not have the final numbers, so we rounded up, which apparently wasnโt enough, we were $125 short. We forgot the checkbook, had to drive all the way back to Broomfield to grab it, then back, before 5pm so they could accept it. Turns out our lender was about to leave for the day and not wait for the final check even though they knew it was on its way, which would have caused us to finish closing the next day. The whole process with our lender had been so infuriating and that final step was even worse. Thankfully the wonderful patient closer told them to stay because of all the obstacles we were going through to get this closing done and then just like that, we got the keys right in our hands. We astonished that it actually was done and done just like that. The journey was rough, but we made it. We moved in right away during that week and weekend, it is so wonderful to have our home. There are a few kinks that still need to be fixed, but it is a work in progress, and it is livable. We have our new couch and furniture assembled and are making our way to get window treatments done and light fixtures for the bedrooms. WE DID IT!
Update on moving in, we are still unpacking and organizing and buying things. We have most blinds up in the windows and curtains up in the living room. Unfortunately, we had a mishap with our washer and dryer, the fittings were not tight enough and therefore water was leaking from it when we were doing loads of laundry. In the short amount of time we had used it, water was dripping down the wall to where we didnโt notice it until there was water leaking from the garage ceiling. We did not know it was the washer originally, so we called the warranty guy who called his plumbers and he also had a mitigation team come out to take out the wet material. Hours into this and no one could figure out the leak, then they finally moved the washer and there it wasโฆat that time because it was our own doing they all had to stop working and we have to replace the drywall and insulation they had cut out. What a week! We tightened the washer so there was not any more leaks and we asked an old friend/co-worker to do the drywall in the garage. We asked a contact from warranty first, but with paint and all other materials he was charging over $800 which we did not plan on spending. So officially this home is now broken into and we have a few things to already fix up. Of course, it could have been worse, but it is still a bummer situation. Next up we have the electrician coming out to check lights that do not turn on at all. Oh the joys of a new home, hopefully, that will go smooth and fixed before Christmas.
On the pandemic front, cases are still increasing and since we have moved, we have stayed in a lot more and have only seen a select group of friends and family members. We both have had family members that live in the Midwest who have caught COVID-19 and so far, they have been able to recover. My dad is extremely cautious, so we have not seen him in person in an awfully long time and probably will not see him until 2021. My other family have seen the new house and plan to be around for Christmas, but no one is really traveling this year due to the virus. I have worked a shift about once a week at the brewpub, and of course it is still all outdoor seating so with the cold weather itโs been a little rough, but the brewpub is surviving! A lot of restaurants have closed completely or only doing take-out, some have tried to have tents in their parking lots and heated patio, but it has not been good for them. A vaccine has been created (Moderna and Pfizer) and has been administered out to some Coloradoans, mainly essential employees such as healthcare workers, but it is a start! Hoping the next few months, we see a decrease in cases, and we can slowly go back to re-opening restaurants and other businesses. I am incredibly grateful that both Brent and I have sustainable jobs that have kept us financially stable and we were able to close on our new home.
Oh Happy Holidays! Christmas Eve, although it seems that most new homeowners experience some tragic event involving their home, we had the pleasure of experiencing a large grease fire in our kitchen. Thankfully, the damage could have been worse, but we did scorch a corner of our cabinets and bubbled the front of our microwave. Yayโฆ the recipe for disaster was an au jus using prime rib drippings and pinot noir. Due to the events, we have learned to be cautious while using high heat on our powerful gas stove and smothering a grease fire indeed does work.
What a welcome into the new year of 2021!
With all that said there is our journals of good ole 2020 aka Quarantine aka “What The Hell” aka “Stay Healthy” Who knows what could happen next…
Comments
What a wonderful diary of your experiences during this trying time. I enjoyed reading every word! Love to all! โคโคโคโค