Coronavirus and Happy 35th!

this year has definitely not been how i thought it would turn out to be…

in case ya’ll are wondering, it’s year 2020…the year the coronavirus stopped the world. we’ve been sheltering in place for over 2.5 months now. you can’t go out to get groceries/supplies without masks, movie theaters have been shut down…disneyland is closed!!! The Dow Jones went down to 18,000 from a high of almost 30,000. when walking down the street, if someone is coming toward you, we walk into the street in order to keep 6 feet distance. i had planned a week long trip to LA for our anniversary/my birthday in mid-May. we were gonna use the LA pass to go to universal studios, do studio tours, all things Hollywood…the pass and flights would all be free using my points…but all those plans changed. just glad that these were refundable.

many people have lost their jobs especially in the hospitality industry (hotels, restaurants, etc). our renter lost her job at a restaurant and is now on unemployment.  thankfully, anson’s and my workplace are considered essential services (mine dealing with the poor and housing and his with providing storage to other companies that are essential). i kinda had to fight to be able to work from home a couple days a week. Anson has been working from home to the point that he is almost short of going stir crazy. he’s even started a garden in the back (40 green onion plants…I like :), has been working out with weights, weeding, and filling in gaps in the patio with polymeric sand. he’s glad his workplace will try to start bringing people back in in mid June and he’ll be part of the first wave to test it out.

all in all, not how we thought this year would start out, but we definitely don’t have it as bad as some others. it seems that the fed is making sure we don’t collapse into chaos. the government took swift action and sent most people checks for $1200 (we didn’t qualify) and those on unemployment get an extra $600/week. we’ll get thru it; I don’t doubt that. they’ll find a vaccine and at some point, we’ll be able to shake hands and hug again without a feeling of trepidation. I worry a about our economy though and how small and big business alike will close it’s doors for good. what is waiting on the other side of this pandemic seems like it’ll affect us for years to come.

so…since my birthday plans were derailed, how did i celebrate? we don’t do anything elaborate, but it’s just nice to have it acknowledged. memorial day fell on the 25th this year, so it was nice to have the day off. anson and i walked to starbucks for my free drink (venti mango dragonfruit) and then to safeway to get a free movie from redbox (jumangi: the next level). courtney came over to drop off my chick fil a card, homemade cookies and bread, and jada came right after to give me two tomato plants and a baby maple tree (hope they don’t die by my hands:). for dinner, we got takeout from outback steakhouse since i have two gift cards (one from victoria and another from chase ultimate rewards).

on wednesday when i went back into the office, nancy gave me donna karen body lotion, jada gave me garden tools (she really wants me to become a gardener during this pandemic), and sheri had baked a red velvet cake in which nancy supplied the strawberries on top. since it was wednesday, we had free oatmeal, and since our co is non profit with no money, we also received donations of Mediterranean food for lunch. my coworkers are so not adventurous, so i was able to bring home more food for dinner. yay! yeah…i know i have a funny way to celebrate. i find joy in getting things for free…i think it’s a much better way to enjoy life…and you can probably retire sooner too lol. i hadn’t checked our finances for the last few months since i was afraid, but the market is coming back up, and all in all, we’ve only lost 5% of our total monetary assets. if you calculate anson’s RSUs and the appreciated value of the house (which we’re gonna refi since rates are drastically low right now), we’re actually in the green too. always best to play the long game…and in the short term when things are crumbling all around you, look away and try not to cry…happy bday 🙂