Checking in -- sort of ghost town?

Hey folks. Just checking in. Lots of life going on for all of us but the board seems mighty quiet.

We are still in the process of supporting mum (99) in her being in her own home; our new kicker is NY has said we (NC) are on the 14-day quarantine/must do Traveler Electronic tracking when we are there. Which defeats the purpose of our being there to help her get to appointments, groceries, etc. So for now the sisters in two other states can still go.

My immediate family is all doing well, considering the virus and learning to work from home, have kids at home. Grateful they have already had lots of life lessons to equip them for change.

Hope you are all well.

I have, FYI, finished my month with husband gone; marks the 4th month out of 68 I've been on my own. :)

Hi Annie (and everyone)

It's always so good to hear from you.

It's a bit different for us in NZ. Thankfully we have had no community infection for over 75 days and the only cases that we have now are returning New Zealanders who have to go into mandatory 14 days isolation on their return at hotels that are paid for by our government. At the moment we have 25 active cases in the facilities and around 5000-6000 in total in the facilities. The returnees have to return 2 negative tests before they are allowed to leave after the 14 days and if anyone tests positive they are moved to a quarantine facility until the test negative.

We are not allowing anyone other than New Zealand citizens or residents to enter the country and of course we are not leaving the country either. For a nation of travelers this is a bit difficult but we understand why. A lot of us have had overseas vacations cancelled (including me!) but we know that the world will still be there once we are allowed out and about again...….well, at least we hope it will be!

We have a sort of normality now. No restrictions on anything. Most people have returned to work (unless their jobs were lost during the lockdown) although many of us have taken the option of working from home 2-3 days a week. I am doing 2 days a week at home - Monday's and Fridays which almost seem like a lovely long weekend. It's Winter here so it is nice not to have to leave the house in the cold and dark to drive to work......and I get to keep my slippers on all day ;-)

Shopping is back to what it was prior to lockdown, although I still wipe down the supermarket trolley with a disinfectant wipe, still avoid crowds and standing too close to anyone, and still wash and sanitise my hands after being out anywhere.

We are expecting a new grand daughter to arrive at the beginning of August and I wonder what sort of world she will be growing up in. I suspect it will be very different to the one we are used to.

We see the stories from other countries and are thankful that our government had the courage to put the county into lockdown early enough for us to conquer the virus. We are not naïve enough to think that we wont get community cases transmitted again but we have the framework in place now to deal with these if/when they occur. It all seems a long time ago now since we were in lockdown. Time sort of stood still for those 4-6 weeks. But we don't forget how and why we did it.

I am very thankful that my family and friends have all been safe and have maintained their employment.

It is very quiet here on the forum which is understandable as everyone has other things to think about at the moment.

I hope that all of you are hanging in there and doing ok. Thank goodness for the wonder of the internet so that we can all still remain in contact.

Kia Kaha (stay strong)
Lisa

Hello Everyone!
Kiwi, I so wish that our government had followed the lead of NZ and some of the other countries who got AHEAD of the virus. So good to "see" you Annie! You always keep this forum grounded and focused. It is very very quiet on the board right now. I am normally traipsing around Europe all summer, so not being able to travel at all is strange. I'm definitely going through travel withdrawal. I've been doing a lot of cleaning up, straightening up, painting, decorating around my home. It helps to keep me busy and to stay out of the kitchen. Still at goal weight, but haven't been working out like I should. I'm so ready to get back to a normal routine, but we all know that normal is not the same as it used to be. I am on the re-open committee for my school, and I can tell you there is no real clear cut answer. Personally, I think we should go virtual until the districts have a clear cut plan in place. We will see.

It is crazy, this site used to be so busy, now it's dead. I'm stressed the max with moving, probably the biggest problem is I need shoulder replacement surgery and the doctor here won't do it because I won't be here for 6 months of follow up. So I have to wait until we get moved in in CO and travel to Vail (2 hours!) for the surgery, probably early September. Living with the pain is no fun. I haven't even been hiking, my favorite thing in the world, just because I feel so yucky. Seeing my feet are fine hiking may improve my mood. Plus surgery will probably ruin ski season. Oh well, should be living my dream after that. Here's a view from my new house. Halfway between Rocky Mountain Park and Winter Park ski area. Attachment 28589

Sharon,
So sorry that you need surgery! Congrats on the new house! Those floors, that view!!!!

Come visit anytime!

Wow! What a view!!!
Hope you are feeling a little better soon.
Get those boots on and get out there for a walk - you know it will make you feel better :-)

So sorry about surgery, your new home looks amazing

Sharon, you know we'll come out when it's safe to travel! I love CO; lived there as a kid. (outside Grand Junction and then in Ouray).
House is gorgeous and kudos on how quickly you've gotten things together.
Prayers for your shoulder to find relief until you can get it fixed.


KIWIGAL -- NC has mandatory masks, but about 35% are NOT wearing them and of course no enforcement, I think its just common deccency to be considerate of others but apparently it is so politically charged in the states we are not getting there.

I tried to get Jim to consider moving to NZ about 2 years ago. I love everything I know about it. However, it would be a difficult distance with 6 kids between us, and grandkids. Sigh.

We are currently still on the "unclean" list to travel to NY so Jim's sisters are alternating time with mum. Our NC cases are climbing daily, as are hospitalizations.


I have lots of elderly friends (if I'm 68 they are in their 80's); I have friends with cancer, with kidney failure, with other frailities. So the NOT wearing mask thing just seems so hugely selfish and just plain mean.

Hugs to everyone!
Bright side - while 2 of my kids had Covid, both recovered well and did the antibody serum thing. The other 4 have been okay so far.

Annie, I'm sorry I can't help you with anything, but I would like to say thank you so much. You are a very important part of this forum. I see your comments in many posts. You are an amazing person. Thank you again for helping us!

Annie & Others,
It looks to me like you are doing well. It is good to see there is hope out there. I have been trying to have this surgery for the last 20 years going thru my different Insurance companies, obviously I have had no luck with them. No Coverage for Weight loss. I am going to Mexico in September to have my Gastric Sleeve done. I am so very terrified but also very excited I have just started everything and I am on the right track now. I hope to here about more stories of all the successful folks out there.
Thank you in advance for any help or recommendations anyone has.
Paton

Hi All!

I second Annie (aka Ma) is one of the most amazing people out there. I am blessed that she came into my life that's for sure. <3

I'm doing really well - finally health wise. I have a lot of pain, but everything else is doing well. So much so I decided to get an arm lift and had my first consult Monday AND they are going to do surgery August 15th. This has been something I have wanted to do since I was a child. Literally. Be gone flabby arms. I am through with you!

I also finally decided on a new truck and it is currently being converted in Indiana. Should be done sometime in September. :-)

We have remained Covid free in my family and I hope we keep it that way.