Another Ginny Update!

Before we left Vero Beach, I stopped at the front desk and showed them the picture of the spelling error I shared in my previous post. They were not happy to see it! They took a picture of the error and said that their IT department would get that corrected immediately, so I was pretty happy about that!

We drove straight home, only stopping for gas and take out. I'd like to be able to say people were wearing masks everywhere, but I'd be lying. So aggravating! I just don't understand the refusal to wear a mask. We got out of the car as infrequently as possible and were very relieved to get home.

It might seem strange that we came home the day before Magic Kingdom was opening, and I got many questions about it. However, as I've shared in other posts, we've canceled all of our trips to WDW through the end of the year. As of right now, we have zero trips planned; we are not taking any chances with being in crowds. I was trying to put a positive spin on us going to Vero Beach – and we did have a great time – but the constant worry of being around other people was a lot. Just being at Disney Springs in the early part of the week involved too many people for our liking, so we quickly  went into stores, made our purchases, and left. We did get some cute things from Disney Springs and also online!

Since we couldn't be sure that, despite our very best efforts, we hadn't come into contact with something potentially life-threatening for my mom, when we got home from our trip, my brother was there to take her to his house so she wouldn't be around us while we quarantined ourselves. We pulled into the driveway and my brother had parked on the street, so we shouted across the lawn to get an update on Ginny before they left. I'm so grateful to my brother! It's been nine days, so only five more days until I can see and hug my mom again!

Let me say that my mom is amazing. The care she gave Ginny and the improvement in Ginny's ability to walk from when we left on Monday to when we got home on Friday was remarkable! It was so cute when we came in the house – my mom had just put Ginny in the playpen a few minutes earlier and she was sleeping. I called her name a few times and she slowly woke up, but it wasn't until she smelled us that she realized we were actually home and she wasn't just hearing our voices through the phone! When she looked up at us and sniffed the air, she tail started wagging and it was adorable! I will never be able to thank my mom enough for everything she does for us, but the most important has been her willingness to watch our dogs when we travel! Ginny finished all of her medications, and is walking normally, with no limping or wobbling or knuckling of her paws! We are still being vigilant about restricting her activity, but we did buy several runners to put all around the kitchen to she can walk safely on a non-slippery surface.

Since being home, we've been staying in the house other than taking Ginny for car rides. We bought her a new car seat so that she wouldn't have to stand up to see out of the window, and it's been a big hit. When we first took it out of the box, we put it in the family room so she could get used to it, and she climbed right in and slept in it all afternoon. We’ve gone for daily car rides and it's proving to be a hit!

I got my new driver's license, which might not seem exciting, but it was. I had an appointment at the DMV office on July 3 to get my license upgraded to a Real ID. It was honestly the most pleasant experience at a DMV I've ever had and I don't know why they haven't always operated on an appointment-only basis! The lady took my picture and said, "Much better. This one looks like a mug shot," referring to the license I was replacing. Let me tell you, she was not wrong. I have hated that photo for nine years and given how often we travel, I've had to show it countless times. So I was excited to get my new license in the mail and I'm pleased to report that the photo is a serious upgrade and I will no longer be mortified to hand it over to hotel and airline personnel!

Speaking of airlines, I have to praise American Airlines. We had three trips booked to California using airmiles, in July, October, and December. We'd already canceled all of our hotels, but we weren't sure how we'd handle the tickets purchased with airmiles. Well, we called and given the pandemic, they've relaxed the rules, so we got all of our airmiles reinstated to our account without any penalty! And then we turned around and used the airmiles to book flights for our spring break trip! Such a relief that we weren't penalized in any way! I'm very impressed with American Airlines this week, which is not something I've said very often!

For fun, we completed a Disneyland puzzle! You might remember that we did the WDW version of the puzzle in May, and I'd been on the hunt for the Disneyland version. It arrived this week and we finished it on Friday, July 17, which was Disneyland's 65^th Birthday!

On another note, the school board voted on how the school year would begin, and I'm glad they've made a decision because the worry was weighing on me as I considered how the decision could potentially impact my mom's health. While 100% virtual instruction for the first quarter of the year is not ideal, I do think it is the best and safest decision and I am relieved! I work with the best in the biz and I know they will work passionately to meet the needs to their students!

Forky perfectly captured my feelings
before the school board vote

Finally, we just got home from finally seeing the Neowise Comet! We've gone out on drives four nights in a row and came up empty on Thursday, Friday, and last night. Tonight, we drove out west to an area with much less light pollution and went to a deserted parking lot. We could see it without binoculars, although it was faint; with the binoculars, we could see it clearly! For two space nerds, it was super exciting!

Happy Tails to you!