It is March 17, 2021 and it’s one year ago that the Bay Area started it’s Shelter-in-Place order. Schools, sports, concerts, and Disneyland closed on March 13th and we had one last weekend out before everything else shut down. I can barely remember what it was like to be in a crowded restaurant or bar or a staff meeting of 25 people huddled in a small conference room.

Our numbers have gone down this past month and Alameda County finally got moved from the purple to red tier last week. The kids went back to in-person school on Monday (3/15/21) and they are happy to be there even if it is for only two days per week for 2 hours per day. They have to have a COVID test every two weeks, wear a mask throughout the school session, are not allowed to eat on campus, and have to come home for a noon-time Zoom meeting with the whole class.

Jes is still working from home and it doesn’t look like he’ll have to go back to the office any time soon. I am back at work all my working days and also started working some shifts at the vaccination clinic that opened up at the Oakland Marriott Convention Center last week.

All 4 grandparents are now fully vaccinated along with Joy, Jia, and myself. Johnny got his J&J vaccine last week and I’m pretty sure Jes and Jason will get theirs in another month or so.

We went to Hawaii last month for ski week and it was a nice change for us. Hawaii is still under certain strict rules but it was all worth it. In fact, we booked a second trip while we were still there and will be heading back there next month for Spring Break. Flights were cheap and we have enough points to stay at the Sheraton for free this time.

Disneyland announced that they are allowed to open starting April 1st and they will actually open on April 30th at a very limited capacity. I have no idea how much a ticket will cost and how long it will take to actually get a reservation.

Life is so weird right now and everything still feels like it’s in limbo. Changes happen so frequently nowadays that we just live day by day. We have had a lot of take out and delivery this past year and hope that it went toward keeping some local places afloat. Here’s a list of our usual places we eat and order from regularly: Off the Grid food trucks on Saturdays, Royal Indian Kitchen, Bowl’d, Thai Noodle House, Hong Kong City Restaurant, Angel Fish Sushi, La Penca Azul, La Val’s Pizza, a variety of pho places, and Trabocco.

The kids are still going to Kung Fu on Saturdays at Lincoln Park and swim at Aquatech on Fridays. We are down to one car after the black car finally called it quits in December. It just stopped turning on so we sold it for a few hundred last month.

I started meeting up with friends at outdoor places. Had an afternoon picnic at a park with Teresa and baby Eleanor on Saturday and then an outdoor brunch with Elaine on Sunday. They’re both vaccinated so it seemed less risky and it was so nice to see people in person again.

I hope that this summer will feel a little more normal but I won’t hold my breath.