Week Thirteen (June 8-14): More Masks, Mr. E's Surgery, Gyms Re-Open >> End of Weekly Posts!

NOTE: I've decided it's time to end these weekly posts, so this will be the last of my COVID-19 chronicles. I started capturing some of my thoughts and experiences the week that our gym closed (March 17), and that date has always been for me what marked the beginning of this pandemic disruption. Now that the gym has re-opened (June 15), I'm going to return to my more irregular posting and hope to soon be able to share travel experiences again as Mr. E and I slowly resume our excursions.

Monday, June 8-Wednesday, June 10
I was pleased to see on Monday that West Elm on R Street was removing the plywood that was still covering its windows, although Safeway and Wells Fargo still hadn't shed their barriers. More of my masks arrived today -- two of the chiffon scarf kind (lavender and sea foam green) and one with kitty unicorns on a purple background. I think the latter will be perfect to wear to the SSPCA on Saturday for my Paw Pantry bagging volunteering!

 

Mr. E and I made time for some wall ball tennis after work, although we had to keep it rather short because my right arm soreness was triggered by the tennis motion and holding the racket. At least we were able to fit in one more session before Mr. E goes out of commission for a bit during his post-surgery recovery!

On Tuesday morning, we headed to the UC-Davis Same Day Surgery Center for Mr. E's knee procedure. We checked in on time at 9:30am, and he was taken back for pre-op very promptly. And then... a long wait... Luckily, he asked one of the staff to let me know that he likely wouldn't even be going into the OR until close to 11:30am, so I took advantage of the time to do the grocery shopping at Safeway and then returned to read in the waiting room until he was done. I picked up his medications at the pharmacy in the next building, and we finally got home around 2:30pm. A long day for a relatively quick procedure! Mr. E got settled in on the couch downstairs with his ice packs and elevated foot, and the rest of the day passed quickly and quietly and with minimal pain for him, which was awesome.

I  made our weekly Wednesday Starbucks run to pick up breakfast and coffee the next day, and Mr. E was back at work by mid-morning, resting his leg on a hassock and keeping the ice on as much as possible. The pain was again minimal, so he decided to skip the prescription and just stick with generic Ibuprofen when necessary, which also freed him up to enjoy a cocktail in the evening. He took a slow and careful walk to the garden in the evening while I was busy with my virtual weekly Spanish class.

Thursday, June 11-Sunday, June 14

We received the fantastic news on Thursday that our beloved Capital Athletic Club would be re-opening as of next Monday, June 15. Yay! I can finally get back to the pool! When I went to the garden in the evening to harvest, I discovered a lovely surprise of several ripe figs on the tree. Yum! I hadn't expected them to be ready this early, and they were delicious.

Friday was a relatively quiet day at work once I made progress on my current grant project, so I took advantage of the down time to make a trip to Beers Books to restock my reading options, including a splurge on the new Stephen King book along with two used books to help balance out the account. Mr. E made a beautiful caprese salad as part of his dinner, using the fresh basil from our garden with buffalo mozzarella and two heirloom tomatoes from Market 515.

I repeated my SSPCA volunteering again on Saturday morning and stayed for the entire 3-hour shift this time since the food delivery had arrived the day before. We had plenty of dry food for small dogs, large dogs, and cats to repackage into the 3-pound Ziploc bags. Our crew of four packaged just over 500 bags during our group shift. Not bad! I came home for some lunch before heading off for a Target trip in the mid-afternoon. We then coordinated with E&C to have a potluck dinner because I wasn't in the mood for takeout. Mr. E and I made two of our homemade pizzas (one with tuna, one with meat, both with zucchini and mushrooms and fresh tomatoes), and they provided a big salad and fudgy dessert brownies. We were able to spend the entire evening out on the patio, enjoying our dinner and drinks and then playing Michigan Rummy, a game that my family used to play when I was a kid and that I taught the group. So fun to have friends who enjoy games and are up for learning something new!

On Sunday, I tried to call the CAC to reserve a lane for lap-swimming on Monday, since there's a new system in place to help manage the number of swimmers in and out of the pool, but there was no answer. Mr. E and I enjoyed our brunch at home out on the patio and then went up to the Natomas Target and BevMo for a couple of errands. The construction on I-5 was causing major traffic snarling, so I was able to navigate via surface streets as an alternate route for both the outbound and inbound journeys. We drove through some parts of Sac north of downtown that I don't think either of us had ever visited before. It's always eye-opening to get a glimpse of different areas that don't typically hit our radar. For dinner, I made zucchini chips and okra ratatouille with tofu and shrimp (part of our new house rule that every meal must include zucchini - ha!), and we wrapped up the evening sipping wine out on the patio.