June 30, 2020
Last day of the month...then we repeat all over again starting tomorrow. The never ending cycle continues.
June 29, 2020
June is almost over with. I just remembered making all these monthly payments on the first of June and here we are...
July is upon us. What did I accomplish in the month of June? On Friday, we got picked up by the Catos and made it
to a drive-in movie theater on the southside. They were playing "Twister". One of the scenes from the movie involved
a tornado wiping out a drive-in movie theater. We had good weather except for a few noise distractions that eventually
resolved themselves. On Saturday, we were off to the pool at the Nichols and then to Marlow to hang with Brendan
and Kim. On Sunday, we got the new patio dining table set up and the tiki torches installed. The Knapps came over
for a bit to end the night. I had planned on going into the office today to work but that didn't happen.
June 26, 2020
Friday is finally here and guess what? I don't want to do anything this weekend. I just want to relax and not worry
about anything. It's been a crazy week once again. I only made it the office one day this past week. It was Monday.
I worked from home for the rest of the week. I only have two meetings this morning and I'm home free. I am loving
the JBL bluetooth speaker. It is portable and produces excellent audio. It's on par with the Sonos speakers. Jake
and Haley's wedding is coming up during Labor Day weekend. It is still scheduled to take place in Mexico. We
have airfare and lodging booked but I am 90% sure the wedding won't happen considering the spikes in positive cases
across the board. Emily and Wyatt came by last night with pizza and wings. I got the fire pit going last night and it
felt great. Too bad the weather is super humid today and for the rest of next week. The Sahara dust storm is upon us.
It's crazy how sand from Africa made it across the Atlantic Ocean. We are off to Yukon/Mustang tonight!
June 25, 2020
I worked on the back patio for most of my morning yesterday before the temperature got too high. After noon time, the
temperature increased a bit but went back down in the late afternoon. We finally got yeast to make bread, but the
pandan sweet bread recipe is quite complicated. Even thought the ingredients are simple, the process to knead the
dough and wait for it to rise can get complicated. I think you have to let the dough rise like four different times.
No one has time for that. I told Sharon I'll make the bread if I'm really bored this weekend. This means I won't
be making them. I like that we have no weekend plans but end up doing something. We literally take it day by day now.
Friday night is with the Catos and the rest of the weekend is up in the air. Thank you for the pride goods, Sterling!
I'll be sporting the button down this weekend at some point.
June 23, 2020
The dumbbells are working just fine. I upped the weights a bit this week. My goal is to get back to where I was
pre-covid. Yesterday we had three people in the office including myself. I wanted to join the girls for happy hour
later in the afternoon but I ended up working. Instead of pushing a presentation draft to tomorrow, I worked on it and
submitted for review. The Kendra Horn yard signs came in and I'm stoked. I should give the second sign to Jen because
she's also a fan. I hope Kendra wins again!
June 22, 2020
I took off last Friday and came back with a bunch of Teams messages about the Houston and Dallas mask orders.
The firm took a stance that if masks are required when in public, the firm will not reopen our offices.
This aligns with the uptick in cases that have skyrocketed Texas numbers. With people moving around and summer
upon us, people think it's back to normal. This is certainly not the case.
June 18, 2020
I have this dry erase board in my office that lists all of the projects I am working on. More than half are completed
and some have been postponed until next year. I have a few more new projects coming up and I'm too lazy to update
the dry erase board. I will need to get a wet paper towel to erase the finished projects. That's just too much
work. I'll get to it soon because I am starting to freak out with what all I have going on.
June 17, 2020
Parker finally made it home yesterday. Poor guy has been at the hospital for almost three weeks. I bet he won't remember
being away from his parents for that long considering he's a newborn. He's eating and gaining weight as we speak.
We sent them some Japanese delivery yesterday for a late lunch. Too bad we can't be there soon to visit them
and to finally meet Parker. Hopefully we can be in San Antonio in late August right before the trip to Mexico.
With all the spikes happening, especially in Texas, I'm not sure if the Mexico wedding is going to happen. We are
supposed to connect at Houston Hobby so we will see how it all plays out in the next couple of months. For our firm,
if we travel internationally, we are asked to self-quarantine for at least 14 days upon returning from the trip.
This shouldn't be a problem because I don't foresee the firm moving into the next phase anytime soon. With the Trump
rally happening in Tulsa this Saturday, Oklahoma will certainly see a significant increase in infections. Tulsa
expects many people traveling in from other states to attend the rally. I'll be home filing my nails.
June 16, 2020
So much for working in the office for most of my week...Marci and I were back in the office yesterday thinking
we would be there for most of the week. Here we are and it's only Tuesday. We decided to work from home is better today.
I don't have any meetings to contend with. I have a bunch of administrative tasks to take care of to get the
July and fall audits going. Many of my projects were delayed or push to the fall so today is my day to get a handle
on scheduling them. I spruced up the back patio a bit this morning. All of the leaves were coming down as if it's
autumn. I dusted the patio chairs and fluff up the pillows. The mowers are supposed to come today. We have moved to
a weekly schedule as opposed to every other week. Sharon has been great at keeping the lawn watered. The grass
seeds she put down a couple weeks ago are starting to sprout. We have grass growing in the back corner of the backyard.
A shed used to be there and we have since demolished it. What was left was an muddy space that was not leveled
with the rest of the lawn. We added dirt, grass seeds, and plant food.
June 15, 2020
Cases are spiking all over the country. Oklahoma has opened and continues to spike. We officially reopen our offices
today for folks to come back. Less than half of the OKC office is coming back voluntarily. I think people will
revert to teleworking due to the increase in cases. My original intent was to work in the office a few days out of the
week. I'll stick to that plan until we go in hiding again. The new dumbbells are sweet. I think the only thing I'm
missing now is a workout bench. If we do end up getting it, I'm not sure where the bench will go unless we create
a gym in the garage. It was nice to work with weights again. I can return the case of bottled water to the fridge.
Sharon can have her light dumbbells back.
June 12, 2020
I had every intention to come into the office this morning but that didn't happen. My head is pounding. I'm just
glad Friday is finally here and guess what I'm doing this weekend? Not a damn thing...I really do enjoy not having
plans. The only thing we having going on tonight is to go out for dinner. I'm really impressed with a lot of the
businesses. Republic pulled most of their seats from the bar and every other booth table was blocked off. Almost
all of the customers at Lowe's had no masks on but when I went to Home Depot, almost all had their masks on. It's
weird how it differs from one business to another. Also, I'm noticing more and more employees are not wearing masks.
I continue to wear my mask in public, even to pump gas. However, I don't wear it when I'm going into a restaurant
to eat. It's like taking two steps forward and two steps back.
June 11, 2020
Just when you think things can't get worse, Trump says, tweets, and does more insane stuff. I'm so ready for this
guy to be down with and go back to his bankrupt businesses. He has yet to produce his income tax returns to show
that this fool has not paid income taxes.
June 10, 2020
It's been great being back in the office this week. Granted it's only my coworker and myself, it's good to have
a daily routine that's outside of my home. Being confined to one space for a long time can feel like an eternity.
I still can't get over how we all have been under lock down for over three months. I picked up a lunch special
from Sushi Go Go earlier. They did not allow people in their dining room. They see you arrive with your takeout
order and bring the food to your car. It was quite easy and somewhat contact-less. We were informed that a group of
our friends tested positive for COVID. The group of friends all went out to a local bar during Memorial Day weekend.
Lucky for us, we did not go. However, it doesn't mean we are safe. I bet there were some indirect contact with this
group at some point so we need to wait and see. Baby Parker remains in the hospital. He is eating and gaining some
weight but he still can't keep himself warm without the heating lamps. I bet he is loving getting pampered around
the clock. I hope he gets to go home soon so his parents can have him 24/7!
June 9, 2020
Jennifer B. has the best hacks so far. I've learned a few things from her since we all went into quarantine.
It's okay to bake a whole loaf of banana nut bread and a full batch of cookies. Don't feel like you need to eat them
all in one sitting or even throughout the next few days. Keep out whatever you think you'll eat and put the rest
in the freezer. The baked goods will remain fresh when you take them out again to eat. I like to cut up the brownies
and slice up the banana nut bread before storing them in the freezer. This way, you can eat them on the fly without
having to deal with cutting them up. Please you can eat the frozen baked goods immediately without having to thaw.
It will taste like raw cookie dough...if you're into that. Another tip Jennifer B. shared with us is to get
buy dumbbells that are out of stock. She subscribed to their mailing list so they'll let her know when the
dumbbells are back in stock. I subscribed to it weeks ago and finally got an email from them last night. I purchased the dumbbells
this morning and I'm super stoked. Goodbye regular gyms and hello home gym! That's the one thing I missed since
working out from home. I never really had weights to work with other than a pack of bottled water that is barely
heavy. Another tip that Jennifer B. suggested was to show your video when on conference calls with people. This was
way before COVID-19 happened. It's great to see people's reactions and how they speak because you can tell a lot
just on the visual alone. You can't really feel the room if you only hear someone through audio. There are a couple
tips that she shared with me and it's been "life changing".
June 8, 2020
Today is my first time back in the office since we all went into hiding. It was weird having to pack up my
computer monitor, docking station, and all other desk supplies that I have at the house.
June 5, 2020
Friday is finally here! Baby Parker is still in the hospital. He can't keep himself warm so he's been basking under
heated lamps. When he's under the lamps, he's able to eat around the clock. Hopefully he gets to leave the hospital
soon so he can be home. We are looking at visiting the Liaws in late August before the trip to Jake and Haley's wedding.
If we end up catching something in Mexico, we won't be giving it to Baby Parker. Hopefully we can stick to the plan.
June 4, 2020
I'm glad I told Dianna to snip some more of my hair. She was about to be done and I noticed my hair didn't have the
volume it had pre-COVID. She then realized that my hair was in fact a lot shorter before COVID and she started
chopping off a lot more hair on top. After a couple minutes of styling, my hair was back to how it was before
we all went into quarantine. It was funny having the exchange with her because I didn't want to insult her, yet I wanted
to let her know I was not satisfied with the cut. In the end, it all worked out and we laughed about it. I am very
happy she is no longer up north in the Quail Springs area. Her new salon is literally two minutes away. I was also
pleased to see my gym being right next door to her, but I have since canceled my membership. I don't anticipate
going back to a gym environment this year or really ever at this point. I have all I need at home.
June 3, 2020
Instead of getting the lawn mowed every two weeks, we have switched to weekly. The grass has been growing faster than
before because of the rain and warm weather we have been getting. Sharon's goal is to get the backyard grass in
tip top shape. It's looking a lot better back there than the front. The flowers are blooming in the front flower
bed as well as the rogue flower bed along the side fencing. The plants in the backyard are going to be wild. They
will do their own thing and provide additional privacy from the neighbors.
June 2, 2020
Doing that one lap around the lake isn't so bad after all. You sort of get used to it. Every time I do the lap, I try
to go faster than before. Paul and Blain are both very fast and can maintain their speed or even increase as we go
further in the route. I am always the last to arrive, which is fine. As long as I finish the route, I'm golden like
everyone else. It just takes me a couple minutes to be in line with the rest of the group. I'm glad Paul picked us up two road
bikes for the lake loop. We need to get brakes fixed on my bike because there have been some close encounters
when we cross the streets.
June 1, 2020
Congratulations to the Liaws for welcoming their first born! They may have some more kids so that's why I'm saying
the baby is their first born. I think they didn't want kids at first but decided to try after a few years of being married. I can't
wait to meet Parker later this summer or fall. Di Chang needs to let us know when it's okay to come visit Baby Parker.
We are scheduled to return to the office by mid June. Employees will have the option to return full time, part time,
or not return to the office at all. Once we figure out how many are coming back and how it's working, a determination
will be made to enact the second phase of employees returning. The date of when that phase starts is still yet
to be determined. A lot went on last week with the firm on multiple fronts. I'm ready to be back in the office.
Working from home is good but I'm not sure if I want to be working remotely full time. There are pros and cons.
I cancelled my gym membership and have been working out from home. I stick to my morning routine during the week
and sleep in on the weekends. I try to stick to the high protein/low fat diet to complement the morning workouts.
All you need is a yoga mat, drinking water, and a pack of bottled water as your weights. We looked into buying dumbbells but
they are very expensive. I still need to make my way to Blain's garage to take advantage of his workout equipment.