Mini TR for another Boston Road Trip - updated Nov 22

[pkondz]

Yeah the missing ingredient was vegetable stock...which I don't think was a huge problem, but I think I should have added more water to the sauce as a substitute because it was a little too thick!

Most likely. You didn't have any soup base? Bouillon cubes?

 

[KathyM2]

Most likely. You didn't have any soup base? Bouillon cubes?

Nope nada. But now I do lol so...the next time we make it will be better!

 

[Steppesister]

One of them was a spagetti sauce with lots of veggies, but well chopped and hidden...just the way I like many of them lol! I was actually surprised when my DD wanted to put zucchini in the sauce...but it was really good!

I always put onions, bell peppers and mushrooms in mine and often bury some zuch in there too. LOVE that kinda awesome s sauce!

Yes, I have to remember that. At least I got the photo lol

And a smiling kid.

 

[KathyM2]

Hi DisPeeps!!

What a long strange trip this is!! I am on day 58 of quarantine....things are still locked up pretty tight here, although they made an announcement today that some more businesses can open for curbside pick up, so that's something. Although even when things do open up...I'm still nervous that without a vaccine or real treatment in sight...we'll be in for a whopper of a resurgence...but what do I know...that's just my fear and I do tend to be somewhat of a pessimist....

That said....we have had ridiculously cold weather here with snow this past weekend. Today is finally sunny though and we are looking at temperatures in the double digits at last (that is celsius of course lol) and it's supposed to be really warm this weekend. Of course that will make the whole social distancing thing even more difficult for some, but I will be happy to not need a parka to walk the dog.

It has been almost exactly two months since we returned home from our cut-short Disney trip. It now seems like a distance memory of the "before times" as some have started calling it. I also like "BC" ie: 1 year BC (Before Covid) lol...I have a feeling we will remember a lot of things differently before this crazy time. The good thing though, about the world being shut down though...I have done a lot of things I never had time for.

The baking: Scones and REAL Devonshire cream, lots of chocolate chip cookies, blondies, brownies, rice krispy treats galore

The cooking: pasta sauce, loads of stir frys! Steak!! chicken a million ways, pizza, fish, french fries and more!!

The crafts: diamond beading, rug hooking, painting, melty beads

Other projects: patio furniture assembly - still a WIP but hopefully will get there when it really gets warm out!, decluttering closets and kitchen drawers!!

And of course...dreaming about future travel and when we can get back to it!! My barely used AP is burning a hole and I can't wait to get back to Disney to use it...safely of course. But it's fun to look at resorts and dream of when I may get to stay there...and meals I may one day get to enjoy....Maybe I'll start a dream PTR with no definite date in sight just to get down all the places I hope to go....

In other news...my DS (age 17) has just 8 more (online) days to finish up his schoolwork for the year. He is SUCH a procrastinator it's making me crazy. They stopped assigning any new work a week ago, and he could be done by now if he hadn't left everything so late. He says he will get around to it but WHY NOT NOW!!! It's making me nuts as I am the planner and would NEVER leave things this late....I just have to trust that he will get around to doing it in time to not blow his year...ugh!!

Hope everyone is well and dreaming on about trips...once other DIS'ers start more definite trip planning...maybe I can figure out a time to go that will work in some DIS'meets!!

 

[pkondz]

Hi DisPeeps!!

they made an announcement today that some more businesses can open for curbside pick up, so that's something.

Ah! Hadn't heard that for you guys.

I'm still nervous that without a vaccine or real treatment in sight...we'll be in for a whopper of a resurgence...but what do I know...that's just my fear and I do tend to be somewhat of a pessimist....

Well... technically, there's supposed to be an increase. People forget that "flattening the curve" is not "stopping the infections". The goal is to reduce the number of people getting sick at once. The curve still has the same number under it... it's just a flattened curve.

That said....we have had ridiculously cold weather here with snow this past weekend.

Yeah! What's with stealing our weather!

It now seems like a distance memory of the "before times" as some have started calling it. I also like "BC" ie: 1 year BC (Before Covid) lol...

I've heard of BC, but not "before times". Has a … ring to it.

The baking: Scones and REAL Devonshire cream, lots of chocolate chip cookies, blondies, brownies, rice krispy treats galore

Yum!

The cooking: pasta sauce, loads of stir frys! Steak!! chicken a million ways, pizza, fish, french fries and more!!

And more yum. I've been doing more cooking too.

The crafts: diamond beading, rug hooking, painting, melty beads

Oh, coo! Any photos of completed projects? (Or ongoing ones?)

Other projects: patio furniture assembly - still a WIP but hopefully will get there when it really gets warm out!, decluttering closets and kitchen drawers!!

I hear that. As soon as I have some days off (in 4 days) and nice weather (fingers crossed) I need to do some repairs/construction on our gate and deck.

And of course...dreaming about future travel and when we can get back to it!!

In other news...my DS (age 17) has just 8 more (online) days to finish up his schoolwork for the year. He is SUCH a procrastinator it's making me crazy. They stopped assigning any new work a week ago, and he could be done by now if he hadn't left everything so late. He says he will get around to it but WHY NOT NOW!!! It's making me nuts as I am the planner and would NEVER leave things this late....I just have to trust that he will get around to doing it in time to not blow his year...ugh!!

I'm sure he'll get to it... with a little mother's prodding.

 

[suse66]

That said....we have had ridiculously cold weather here with snow this past weekend. Today is finally sunny though and we are looking at temperatures in the double digits at last (that is celsius of course lol) and it's supposed to be really warm this weekend. Of course that will make the whole social distancing thing even more difficult for some, but I will be happy to not need a parka to walk the dog.

Wasn't it awful? I wore my winter jacket and mittens when I was hiking on Sunday!

In other news...my DS (age 17) has just 8 more (online) days to finish up his schoolwork for the year. He is SUCH a procrastinator it's making me crazy. They stopped assigning any new work a week ago, and he could be done by now if he hadn't left everything so late. He says he will get around to it but WHY NOT NOW!!! It's making me nuts as I am the planner and would NEVER leave things this late....I just have to trust that he will get around to doing it in time to not blow his year...ugh!!

Oh, I feel your pain!! I have a 18 year old exactly the same.......completely making me crazy as well.

Hope everyone is well and dreaming on about trips...once other DIS'ers start more definite trip planning...maybe I can figure out a time to go that will work in some DIS'meets!!

I started a PTR for a potential December trip. Who knows if it will happen or not but it's fun to dream!

Well... technically, there's supposed to be an increase. People forget that "flattening the curve" is not "stopping the infections". The goal is to reduce the number of people getting sick at once. The curve still has the same number under it... it's just a flattened curve.

True.

Yeah! What's with stealing our weather!

I know, since when does southern Ontario get Winnipeg's weather??

 

[KathyM2]

I've heard of BC, but not "before times". Has a … ring to it.

Yeah kind of in a YA appocalyptic fiction kind of way...

Oh, coo! Any photos of completed projects? (Or ongoing ones?)

This is my Eeyore diamond bead kit - barely started. I will try to post a "finished" pic...in a few months lol hopefully

Wasn't it awful? I wore my winter jacket and mittens when I was hiking on Sunday!

I know...terrible!!

Oh, I feel your pain!! I have a 18 year old exactly the same.......completely making me crazy as well.

Sooooo frustrating!!

 

[pkondz]

This is my Eeyore diamond bead kit - barely started. I will try to post a "finished" pic...in a few months lol hopefully

That's gonna look really nice! Yes, please post a finished photo, when done!

 

[DonnaBeeGood]

.

 

[pkondz]

Yup, this is the part that I am trying to get my brain wrapped around, after I can let go of the (irrational) fear. I think that the fear for a lot of people, myself and my kids included, was that with less activities to do, the fear of the unknown was allowed too much head space, literally. Not in any way minimizing the severity of the illness for some people, but without testing everyone the data that we have isn't totally accurate for the total number of asymptomatic or lightly symptomatic cases, which makes the overall picture look more grim if you are only focused on the numbers of serious infections and deaths; of course, time will tell, and this is the whole world learning about a new virus in real time. My daughters finally had a light bulb moment of "hey, mom was a pharmacist and has been exposed to germs since before we were both born" and thought of every day during every flu or illness season that I came home from work without performing a major decontamination Star Trek style and immediately picked them up for snuggles and hugs and nursing in my work clothing and everyone still stayed relatively healthy for the past two decades, so I was *finally* allowed to hold the baby again last night!! I am still likely to stay a bit more cautious in the future, but I am confident that my introverted life will return to normal. And I am still planning a summer 2021 Disney trip which would be great if the Mary Poppins attraction was ready by then

That's definitely part of the problem. Too many people not knowing what's going on and grasping at anything. It's a very human reaction to an unknown event.
Very glad to hear you got to hold the baby!
I'll see what I can do about getting the Mary Poppins attraction up and running by then.

 

[KathyM2]

"hey, mom was a pharmacist and has been exposed to germs since before we were both born" and thought of every day during every flu or illness season that I came home from work without performing a major decontamination Star Trek style and immediately picked them up for snuggles and hugs and nursing in my work clothing and everyone still stayed relatively healthy for the past two decades, so I was *finally* allowed to hold the baby again last night!! I am still likely to stay a bit more cautious in the future, but I am confident that my introverted life will return to normal. And I am still planning a summer 2021 Disney trip which would be great if the Mary Poppins attraction was ready by then

This is a really good point. It is so hard not really knowing enough about the new virus to be able to know how scared we really should be. Glad you got to hold the baby though!! Summer 2021and Mary Poppins would be awesome...I'm also really excited about Ratatouille, and all the other new attractions like MMRR that I haven't ridden yet...

 

[DonnaBeeGood]

.

 

[Steppesister]

Although even when things do open up...I'm still nervous that without a vaccine or real treatment in sight...we'll be in for a whopper of a resurgence...but what do I know...that's just my fear and I do tend to be somewhat of a pessimist....

The good news is that in the states down here than have been open for weeks now have seen none.

The baking: Scones and REAL Devonshire cream, lots of chocolate chip cookies, blondies, brownies, rice krispy treats galore

Mmm!! WOW!

And of course...dreaming about future travel and when we can get back to it!! My barely used AP is burning a hole and I can't wait to get back to Disney to use it...safely of course. But it's fun to look at resorts and dream of when I may get to stay there...and meals I may one day get to enjoy....Maybe I'll start a dream PTR with no definite date in sight just to get down all the places I hope to go....

I"m making definite plans for Italy this September and finally have some solid AirBnbs booked. Love having something to plan and look forward to! But, I hear ya, Disney seems so far out of reach right now, at least in a way I feel I could truly enjoy it. I'd go even if just one (deluxe) resort was open along with DTD, but no WAY am I going to wear a mask in 90+ degree heat. Forget it. Especially with sunlight kills the virus in less than a minute.

In other news...my DS (age 17) has just 8 more (online) days to finish up his schoolwork for the year. He is SUCH a procrastinator it's making me crazy.

I think it's a universal plague on all teenagers everywhere. I just cannot fathom why they do this!! They wonder why they are so stressed out all the time. Min is in the exact same boat and needs to just buckle down and get to it!

 

[KathyM2]

but no WAY am I going to wear a mask in 90+ degree heat.

This. I wore one yesterday just to go to a store and felt suffocated and it's not even that hot here. Granted I think my mask is cotton and that's probably not the most breathable thing. I really feel for all you health care providers that have to wear one for many hours at a time.

 

[DonnaBeeGood]

.

 

[pkondz]

Yup, it sucks. I'm opting for a face shield right now and hoping that I'm channelling sexy Storm Trooper versus exhausted welder.

 

[Steppesister]

This. I wore one yesterday just to go to a store and felt suffocated and it's not even that hot here. Granted I think my mask is cotton and that's probably not the most breathable thing. I really feel for all you health care providers that have to wear one for many hours at a time.

It sucks. For sure. Most of us have headaches by the end of the day, sometimes even after only an hour or so.

 

[KathyM2]

Let's see...what's new around here...ho hum.....crickets...

I have made brownies, banana chocolate chip muffins and am perfecting the smoothie bowl...so that's something!! Take that Jamba Juice. No need to spend $10 on you anymore! I have ordered some acai powder and pumpkin seeds to make the toppings even more interesting, and because I am a lemming, I also ordered some of those cool looking bowls to put said smoothie bowls into, made out of coconut or something.

Was going to try baking own bread too...ordered something called "bread pan set of 4" from Amazon....and what showed up was...mini loaf pans for say, mini banana bread loaves or something so...yeah, had to go back to Amazon and get actual bread pan...waiting on that now...

Here in Toronto we are still pretty locked down. I have seen my parents and a couple of friends for socially distanced park walks but that is it. The rules are pretty unclear and people are starting to use their own discretion and judgement for what is ok. The problem is....a lot of people have zero common sense and that is what scares me. I just don't get how it's ok to go into stores and shop....but not ok to go into the homes of friends and family. I guess because you are likely to get closer and forget about distancing...but if they would make rules clear about just always wearing a mask or distancing even when visiting....I don't know. I just think like, if this is gonna be a longer term thing...they need to start making it part of everyday thinking....sorta like how "safe sex" was drilled into everyone (although not everyone practices that either so...there's that...) Not trying to get political here, just musing.

My 17 year old DS is finished school for the year...yay!! By the skin of his teeth!! The good news is, that his boarding school in a tiny town in the US looks like it will be re-opening in the fall, and he did so well there. Now we just have to convince him to go back - assuming we are allowed to cross the border by then. My daughter has about a week left in her online school year and then she will be done too. We have convinced her to sign up for an online course since she won't have much else to do this summer. I have no idea what my son is going to do with himself. He has applied for a few jobs, but I really think only the most ambitious of teens with connections and who complete hundreds of applications and then follow up on them...will have any chance in hell of scoring employment...and my DS well...let's just say ambition isn't his strong suit at this point!

In Disney news....not much. Starting to give some thought to when I may be able to use my AP again...maybe I should book something for Jan or Feb? So that if masks are still required at least it won't be so stinkin' hot? That's where my thinking is now. I guess with a refundable deposit that wouldn't be much of a risk? Should know more about travel and border restrictions by the time final payment is due? Thoughts? Does anyone have trips booked around that time that I could try to coordinate with?

Hope everyone is doing ok out there!

 

[Steppesister]

Sounds like you're keeping busy! Lots of good food going on there!

The good news here is that in all the places that have been opened for going on a month now have seen no giant spikes, and most have seen none, so it's looking like it's safe to probably open the vast majority of the world now. Brazil seems to need a few more weeks, but Europe is now open today to tourism as well. Hopefully you guys can open too. Not knowing your local stats I don't know, but in general I think it's pretty much over in terms of "pandemic". Sure there will be crop ups as there are every year with most viral illnesses but the massive crush that we saw is done. And given places are now open with some guidance, I think it's safe to say there won't be an overwhelming 2nd wave. So..... hope??

No trips for me on the horizon yet. I'm trying to focus on Italy right now but hope to get there a couple times between this Sept and next. Time will tell....

 

[KathyM2]

The good news here is that in all the places that have been opened for going on a month now have seen no giant spikes, and most have seen none, so it's looking like it's safe to probably open the vast majority of the world now. Brazil seems to need a few more weeks, but Europe is now open today to tourism as well. Hopefully you guys can open too. Not knowing your local stats I don't know, but in general I think it's pretty much over in terms of "pandemic". Sure there will be crop ups as there are every year with most viral illnesses but the massive crush that we saw is done. And given places are now open with some guidance, I think it's safe to say there won't be an overwhelming 2nd wave. So..... hope??

I really hope you are right with this optimistic view!! Our government doesn't seem to be so optimistic with almost all university classes already going online for September...and high schools haven't figured it out yet, but I have a feeling they may not be back to normal either...sigh. Maybe they will change their tune if there aren't big spikes when things do open up....