It has been a long time since I’ve seen my brother and sister-in-law. I have really missed them and looking forward to spending time with them. One of the things I have missed is watching Christmas movies on the Hallmark channel while drinking some wine. For the first few days that is what I did, though I did fall asleep often. Between COVID and flu shots and jet lag, it was a strange first week.
I still managed to get some time in while also spending some great time with my sister in law Sunni and my brother Ken. Ryan came up to celebrate birthday on December 24th and I then went back to Pittsburgh with him. I spent most of them weekdays in Worthington and weekends with Ryan. We didn’t go many places due to COVID-19 and instead enjoyed each other’s company.
Views from runs
After a weekend in Pittsburgh I rented a car and came back to Worthington. From there we went shopping and drove to Tionesta to stay at a winery and visit my mother and aunt (another blog post).
Then one morning (January 5), I woke up and found that China had changed the entry requirements. Now there are more tests and a 7 day requirement to be in the city of departure before leaving for China. Never mind this is literally the day after I return from Wisconsin and that I had made other plans. The good news is that I had done most of the things I wanted to do before that as it was a possibility anything could change.
I then changed my hotel in LA, requested the tests, and cancelled the other things I could. Ryan wanted me to go back to Pittsburgh a day earlier to spend more time with him so I quickly packed everything I had to get ready to bring everything to his place. I met Ryan in Butler at a Mexican restaurant. It was a great dinner with Ken, Sunni, and Ryan.
I will also miss the kitties and puppies, especially Groot and Jax, the coolest cats. Actually Groot is pretty difficult to get along with but I think he liked me. It was difficult to say goodbye to Nina. She’s used to be my dog, and loves her new home, but still remembers me.
Putting a wrinkle into future plans was the announcement a few days later that China Southern flights are suspended due to 5 COVID cases. This means I may be stuck in the US. Though it means more time with family, it also means I have to teach online in the middle of the night.
Not only were flights cancelled for a few airlines, the majority of flights were all cancelled through the end of February. This is primarily due to the Olympics in Beijing and Chinese new year celebrations. They want to keep the cases of COVID in low numbers.
I will be enjoying more time with family and cats and dogs!
Eventually we had a foot of snow and also some very cold temperatures (-8C to -21C). What else do you do besides shoveling? Make snow angels!
