The Rest of July 2020

July has been a good month. We were able to take a quick trip to St. George for the 4th of July and a trip along the Oregon Coast in the middle of the month. Here are a few other highlights from the month:

Working (mostly from home)

In July we both continued to work from home. We are grateful to for the ability we both have to work from home, and that we work from companies that can provide us with this opportunity. Not much has changed since we started working from home in March. Alison mostly works from the couch in the front room and I work on the dining room table. We have talked about putting together some type of office space in the room upstairs that is, literally, empty, but we have gone this long without doing it so who knows. My office has opened up at 20-25% capacity, and I am in phase 1. I could technically go into the office, but between the restrictions and limited number of employees who are allowed in the building there isn't much benefit to going in. I continue to work from home. It sounds like I will have the option to work from home through the end of 2020. 

Alison's office is closed through the end of 2020. She will continue to work from home. However this month she began travelling for work again. She took a trip to Vermont. It was a successful trip. She participated in her company's safety training, packed her personal PPE, and did what she could to minimize her risk. She felt like the airport, airplane and hotel all took the necessary precautions to make her feel safe. The only uncomfortable situation was the rental car shuttle - they loaded it full of people (granted everyone was wearing a mask), but it was cause for concern given the current environment. It is likely she will have additional work trips in 2020. 

Tex and CC

I think both of our animals have adjusted to having us home all of the time. It is may be tough for them when we both are back at work. They continue to sleep most of their days away. Tex does love our mid-afternoon walks and frisbee sessions. 

We also take great pictures of them doing their thing throughout the day:

Opening Day

Baseball is back, finally! The shortened 2020 season kicked off in the middle of July. The Yankees played the defending Champion Nationals to kick off the season. We watched the first Yankee victory of 2020 over at Blake and Debbie's house. We hope there are many more. It will be difficult for them to pull of a baseball season in the midst of the global pandemic, but there is something reassuring about our national past time being played, even during these trying times. Baseball has often been a source of comfort and joy during difficult times, and this year is no different. 

One Car Family

The lease was up on one of our civics so we turned it in this month. Even before Covid-19, and we were both working from home we were strongly considering becoming a one car family. We questioned if we really needed two vehicles. Alison often travels for work, her vehicle would sit in the garage while she was gone. Plus, Alison's office is literally on the way to my office. When we used to both go to work we actually practiced carpooling one week to see if it would work out. We were leaning toward turning in our car when the lease was up. Then Covid-19 happened and we are now working from home for an extended period of time. It made even more sense to get rid of one vehicle. 

Paddle Boarding

We went paddle boarding on the lake, quite a few times this month. We often go early in the morning or later in the evening to beat the heat and take advantage of calm weather. It has been a fairly windy year, so finding a calm moment can be challenging. I am really glad we live in Daybreak and can go paddle boarding often. It is a great way to pass the time.