The Bailey Planet : The Long Covid Winter

I hope you all haven't forgotten about us! I know. You probably had a long, Covid winter, too. But there's finally light at the end of the tunnel! This post is going to cover the long winter months of January, February and March.

Natalie pretty much sums up this pandemic with this what-the-heck look.

But the winter/year of 2021 actually started out OK! I came in second place in fantasy football and I only realized I was playing on about the 5th week!

And then... there was Steve Kornacki, back in action with his Gap khakis, telling us that Georgia voted for two Democrat Senators in Ossoff and Warnock. Of course, this was the day before there was an insurrection at the nation's Capitol building while Congress was trying to confirm the electoral college votes that were in favor of Joe Biden. A bunch of idiot domestic terrorists decided they could just storm the Capitol, break windows, raid the Senate chambers, poop on the floor of the hallways, beat up police officers, chant "Hang Mike Pence," and put pipe bombs outside of the DNC and RNC - all because they believed the election was "stolen" from Donald Trump. You know. Despite there being zero evidence of that. And D.C. wasn't prepared for it, even though a simple person like myself was very concerned it would happen sometime before the inauguration. In the end, five people died and there was $30 million worth of damage done to the Capitol.

You know what can make you feel a little better when people try to kill democracy? Seeing your favorite principals from across the ocean, even if it's on video! I was feeling very homesick for Vilseck High School, so I watched Shawn and Marc do a little Facebook live and it made me feel like I was home again.

We bought a C2 rower too! It was on major back order, but we finally got it about a week into the year. Our goal this year is to row 365,000 meters in 2021.

We also got maybe Todd's favorite post-Christmas present that he got with our Amazon gift cards from my mom - a new cappuccino/espresso maker!

And because Trump didn't do a dang thing regarding those who were rioting at the Capitol (and in fact, encouraged those who were there), he was AGAIN impeached. Only President to ever be impeached by the House twice!

But ALAS, some normalcy!!!!! Our first female vice president!

Everyone was excited when Joe Biden to the presidential oath!

One of the funniest things that happened on Inauguration Day was that a photographer snapped this picture of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, which became a series of HILARIOUS memes that I am still laughing about months later.

People stuck him in various TV show or movie memes. No captions needed. Here he is as Bran Stark in Game of Thrones.

And of course, with Jay and Silent Bob in the movie Clerks.

One of my favorites was Bernie in the cast of Hamilton!

To pause briefly in our series of Bernie mitten memes, Natalie got her braces off at the end of January! And I got my permanent retainers removed!

Who knew Bernie became a member of the cast of Schitt's Creek!

This is my ALL TIME favorite show - Ted Lasso! This is something we watched (TWICE) during the long Covid winter. I was so happy Bernie became a member of the Diamond Dogs!

I did a lot of walking over the winter (because really, what else was I going to do? My barbell is in an unheated garage! That metal is cold!) Every once in a while I see some turkeys. These guys were totally not afraid of me.

I ALSO got a new job in March! I am finally at the mothership, working at the FEMA Region 1 office in Boston! One of the questions they ask you for your background check is this one. How do I answer this? I've been to like, 42 countries in the last 7 years! Do I need to provide dates of travel for every single time I left Germany? Some places I went to multiple times (ie: Italy!) They did not think of people like me when they made this question!

YES.

We were also so happy that Bernie could be a part of the new BTS concept photo series.

Unfortunately, sometimes in our little bubble we could forget that there was a pandemic going on. Until you went to the grocery store and they were out of frozen vegetables again.

One of my family members sent me this over the winter. It's a picture of my grandmother back in the 1970s (in case you wanted to know where I get my super white hair - that's all natural!) She used to run a mobile library out of her car in southern Indiana.

We got a little snow this winter, although it really wasn't too bad. We got more snow than last winter but if you lived through the winter of 2014-2015, nothing ever will compare to that year of winter hell!

My garden is under there somewhere. I think we got almost a foot with this one.

Oh what? The Tampa Bay Bucs went to the Super Bowl this year? Would that have anything to do with the fact that Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski now play for the Bucs? Gotta make the kids represent!

However, this is what the youngest thinks of football. And snacks.

But LOOK! The Tampa Bay Bucs WON THE SUPER BOWL! This year is already infinitely better than 2020! The last time the Bucs won the Super Bowl, I was on a third date with a cute lawyer from New York. It's been a few years!

There's nothing else to do, so let's dress Natalie up like it's 1983. I taught her the art of teasing her hair.

Mmmm. Valentine's Day goodies. Todd keeps stealing all of my Bud Light's out of the fridge (not that I drink Bud Light very often, but sometimes I just want a cold, generic beer!) so he bought me a 24 pack of Bud Light. That should last me about 4 years.

I didn't even know they made Maker's 101! Yum!

Sometimes on my walk, I come across the neighborhood dogs. Everyone knows Toby and Bean and they're so cute playing on this big old snow bank!

In February, the deer started coming out looking for food. Stay back there, and keep your ticks away from my yard!

I had to go to FEMA to get fingerprinted but then the garage wouldn't let me out. They don't give you a paper ticket - you just use your credit card but it didn't seem to want to read my card on the way out. I had to call security (twice) before they finally showed up and let me out!

Meanwhile, when I was at FEMA, THIS was in our living room. Todd thinks he came in on some of the wood from the outdoor woodpile. I won't go into the details but let's just say he's not in our house anymore.

Here are some updated early March United States Covid numbers.

I got a new puzzle, too - this one of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a city we went to many times when we lived in Germany! This puzzle is CRAZY hard.

Aunt Betty is already legendary, but this was an EPIC Facebook post! I need to know more about doing shots in a Mexican bar while watching one of the students from the school she taught at (Thayer Academy) set a world track record! What?!?

Damn it, it's getting worse.

On a somewhat warm day, Todd and I joined our neighbor Brendan by the fire in his backyard. Looking forward to doing more of this as it gets warmer!

I finally started my new job at FEMA! I had to go into the office for the first day (to get my computer, PIV card, etc.), and Natalie wrote me a cute little note. She's the sweetest!

Bob Kraft sent the FEMA regional office a little video thanking us for all we were doing regarding the Covid testing and vaccination.

SPEAKING of Covid vaccines... I got my first shot during my first week at FEMA! As a FEMA employee, we are deployable at a moment's notice for any disaster around the country. We have to be ready, and that includes being vaccinated.

HELL YES.

You might remember that whenever we went to Da Teo in Auerbach, they would always give us these little amaretto mocha balls after dinner (although with a shot of limoncello). I really want to recreate them because they were SO good. They came out ok. Definitely edible and yummy but not QUITE like the ones at Da Teo. More amaretto (maybe next time use the fake amaretto flavoring instead of the real thing) and maybe a bit more coffee.

The first signs of spring popped up in the garden!

And I could see the first signs of spring all around the neighborhood!

Knowing I had gotten my first vaccine and that Todd was going to be going in a few weeks to get his, I went ahead and got tickets to see Snow Patrol in September. Of course, they were almost immediately postponed to 2022. Oh well.