Showing all posts in Stamford

Yesterday, May 20, they finally opened up the city a bit. Not sure really what changed other than restaurants are from now on allowed to serve guests at tables outside at a 6 feet distance and I think all the shopping malls are now opened too, but of course face covering is required and all the other social distancing things we are ordered to follow. Jim took Thor for a walk downtown in the afternoon yesterday and saw that all bars/restaurants outdoor seating were full and there were news teams filming it all (I found an article, read HERE)
It’s exciting that things are opening up. We’re not really planning on going out to eat or go shopping at the mall anytime soon, so it won’t change much for my husband and myself, we’re happy to distance ourselves a little longer. Since we have read that countries has got new cases since they opened up from quarantine, I think it’s smart to continue distancing ourselves a little longer to see how this will turn out. But nonetheless, yesterday was exciting anyway and it gives us hope for a bright and functional future. Some people can go back to work and companies can hopefully survive. It sounds like Jim will have to work from home for the rest of the year which he is happy about, and lot of other companies has realized that they don’t need to pay for big offices because their employees can work from home, so, it looks like that will be the new normal after all this. 

No news on when dance studios will be reopened though. Or when our building will be allowed to open the gym. No news on anything really, the only thing that has changed from yesterday is like I mentioned above that restaurants can serve food with limits and shopping is opened. And we have heard that hairdressers can open up but not for haircuts, only for blowouts, which is one of the weirdest things I’ve heard all year haha. 

So, our days will continue like it has the past fourteen weeks. But I am thinking of if I should go to the grocery store soon on my own though (we have only ordered groceries online for delivery for the past three months). Fruit and greens is what I miss the most and I can tell that my body is starting to feel weird without it. We haven’t ordered for a few weeks now and we have run out of fresh ingredients (we do have some frozen veggies and dried fruit). We have some carrots and lemons left, but that’s it and my body is not happy and both Jim and I are extremely tired and feel a bit sluggish at the moment. Sure we can order for delivery again, but I want to pick out my own stuff cause most of the time the things they send us is about to go bad in a day cause they pick up the first thing they see, I like to take my time and find the best banana or the freshest salad or an item with expiration dates that isn’t tomorrow. If only one of us go into the store, keep mask and gloves on, pay with the watch and we wipe everything off when we get home, it should be ok.
(( I know I know, we sound like dumb idiots for taking such precautions, but we believe the biggest problem is that most people don’t take these kind of responsibilities. Even if they don’t feel sick themselves they can still spread it around to so many others – just look at Sweden, most people think they are ok, they eat at restaurants, they party at clubs, they send their kids to school and hang out in big groups in the parks, but it results in spreading it around and then hospitals refuses to help people 65 or older, way more people are dying because others are idiots [I really really hope it turns out in the end that Sweden did the right thing, I have way too many people in Sweden that I care about]. So, in order for us to be able to sleep better at night, we want to do absolutely everything we can to not get the virus  < though, I think it’s possible we’ve already had it >  and spread this around. This is not going to be forever, a little extra distancing doesn’t hurt us ))

The diner next to our apartment early yesterday morning

May 19, 2020

On Friday we had 27°c! We ordered a bench for our terrace that arrived last week. I’ve been wanting a second area out there, like a little coffee and reading nook, and a bench seemed like a good idea since it gets so windy up there and we need sturdier things. We sat there all Friday night, just listened to music and talked about life, it was lovely. 

On Saturday we went on our usual weekend walk on the “cute street”. Every weekend for the past month we have been walking there to see when the Lily of the Valleys would bloom (I do this every year). This weekend a lot of them had started to bloom, the whole street smells wonderful. Unfortunately I can’t bring any home like I used to do in Sweden, cause they grow in peoples yards, not out in the wild. So I creepily walk up to people’s front yards to stare at and smell their flowers. 

On Sunday, Jim decided that it was time to get our first take-out coffees since the lockdown started. He put a mask on and went to a drive-through. He picked up two coffees that I wiped off with sanitizer wipes at home (the cups, not the coffee haha) and two bagels that we put in the oven for a minute before eating // since they say that the virus stays on surfaces for awhile so we decided in the beginning of all this that anything coming into the apartment has to be carefully handled and wiped // Aah, it was nice to drink coffee that someone other than myself had made haha. I miss going out to eat, can you tell:) 
After a weekly cleaning of the apartment, dealing with laundry and wiping off all surfaces in our home, Jim suggested that we leave Thor at home and drive to Bartlett Arboretum about 15 minutes from our apt. Felt weird to leave the pup, he hasn’t been alone for over two months. We decided to get ice coffees on the way to the garden. Of course, once again, we wiped them off in the car and used hand sanitizers on ourselves. 

When we arrived, we were kinda shocked to see how much people there were. Holy moly, we’ve never seen so many at that place before, the parking lot was completely full (it kinda makes sense though since a lot of other parks are closed still). Everyone seemed to be walking the different trails in the forest so Jim and I decided to go check out the gardens where actually noone else were. Thor isn’t allowed in that separated area so we have never checked it out before cause we always bring him. Not much blooming but it was still very beautiful. And it was so nice to be just the two of us. Yes, Thor is “just a dog” but he is a family member that needs full attention when we are with him, so a break felt nice. 

Of course we were wearing our scarves, ready to pull them up over our faces if we met someone,
and so did people we met. Feels weird, looks weird, but this is the new normal
Since barbers and hairdressers has been closed for two months, hubby has been leaving his beard to grow.
We’ll see how long his beard and hair is once this is all over hahah

Yesterday, the books I ordered over four weeks ago finally arrived. I have so much to read now that I don’t want to do anything else hahah. But I need to find time for it. It’s funny how much busier my husband and I suddenly have become since the quarantine started. I have things to do nonstop throughout the day. But I guess the biggest change is that I cook all our meals at home now and for two people instead of going out to eat and to maybe, only maybe, be cooking for myself once a day, and that takes a lot of time  

Anyway, today is another lovely sunny day and I will try to take some time to sit on my bench and read while the sun is still out. 
Have an awesome week!

March 18, 2020

When we left Manhattan and moved here, I really didn’t think we were gonna live here this long. Today it’s three years since we moved to Stamford, CT
I don’t feel at home here in this city, it’s still just a between place for me. But I do love our home. I have been isolating myself for a little over 3 weeks now…just in case you know,..and it suits me
I love being home, I love having my hubby home, I love that we don’t have to interact with other people It’s terrible that this is what’s going on in the world, but at least I can say that considering the circumstances, I’m totally ok with it. Maybe it’s the cancer in me. I feel safe inside my shell/home

March 5, 2020

Good Morning! How are you doing these days? Crazy world we live in right now, huh? I hope you are safe and healthy! 

As you know, we have been isolating ourselves as much as possible for a few weeks now. I kinda like it, but it is also important to us to get outside and get some fresh air and especially getting some energy out. Yesterday after our morning coffees we took Thor to Bartlett Arboretum park (been there many times before). It’s a smaller park but still fun for at least T to explore. We had a fun time, even let him off leash on the soccer field next to the forest and he seemed to really enjoy it. On our way home we decided to stop and pick up some food. We came home and only few second later T peed on the rug in the living room. Not only was it strange that he peed inside especially after he had been peeing all over the forest, but I also notices that it was blood coming out in the end of the stream. Oh shit! Jim called the vet immediately and they told us we could come in 45 minutes later. We ate our food and then we had to leave. 

Our first thought was that it could be uti, and that’s what the vet said too. But, apparently it isn’t rare that pomeranians get stones, so they checked with ultrasounds, then took three x-ray pictures and then I guess they somehow got a urine sample, they kept him for a long time. J and I just stood in the tiny little examination room waiting and waiting. I felt unusually calm, just like I always stayed calm and away from worry when sitting in waiting rooms for this and that last year. Maybe it’s because I know there’s nothing I can do and that I shouldn’t worry until I know the answers.

Anyway. After an eternity the vet came and told us to come look at the pictures. Poor thing has many many little stones in his bladder. They are pretty small which is good but unfortunately many. // We also found out looking at his pictures that his right hip isn’t perfect so now we are going to be extra careful so we don’t need to deal with a disaster of that later, I blame the slippery floors in our apartment. // Depending on the pH in his urine, he might need surgery. There is a chance that we could go straight to changing his diet and these stones can go away, but it seems more likely that he needs surgery and then change the diet, but we don’t know until the results come back Monday. 

Surgery on such a small dog is of course scary to think about. My little baby ♥ But they do these kind of surgeries all the time so I’m trying to not think of worst case scenario. But oh so expensive. Our vet gave us a number that seemed waaayy to high for what we have found from searching online and talking to other vets so we’ll see where we end up for that. I hope he doesn’t need it. Please keep him in your thoughts today and especially tomorrow. We have noticed a little bit red urine which is expected and he has a rash that we think he somehow got at the vet (I’m not happy about that!), but he’s not in any pain or anything which is good and he eats/drink like normal.

The new diet that can help prevent him from getting stones isn’t exactly good for his potential pancreatitis problem. He has a special diet now with very low fat and the new diet we would have to put him on has a higher amount of fat so I’m not sure how we are going to deal with this, but that is a later problem, we don’t know anything yet so I’m not gonna worry for now. Today we will focus on giving Thor a million extra kisses and snuggle him whenever we can. In an hour we’re gonna take him for a long walk to the park and then just have fun all day, maybe give him his extra yummy treats:)

Last year I had two surgeries where they had to scrape out shit that was making me sick and now Thor might need a surgery like that as well. One thing after another. No matter how positive you keep your thoughts, how much good energy you send out in the world and how nice you are to others, you can never predict when something will happen to someone. There are many things we can plan for and control in our lives, but there are things we have no power over. My PMP was a rare and completely random chromosomal shitshow that I had no control over, and Thor’s stones isn’t something we had anything to do with, they appeared and now we need to help him get rid of them. The only thing we have control over is how we deal with bad news or bad situations. We can chose to freak out or we can choose to stay calm and keep thinking positive thoughts. If he needs surgery, then we will be here for him and help him to a safe recovery. My heart hurts, I wish nothing bad would ever happen to my little baby, but it is what it is and all I can do is to care and show him love ♥

September 29, 2019

Good Morning and Happy weekend! How’s the weather where you live? We are having a really beautiful weekend so far! Yesterday we had 27 degrees and blue sky, I LOVE IT! We started the day by driving down to Harbor Point. We bought coffee at a little cafe, continued driving down, parked and walked to sit right by the water. What a beautiful morning! Thor was like a little toddler with ants in his pants, he didn’t really feel like sitting down too much, haha, but we still got a very relaxed time in the sun drinking coffee.

We only stayed for about an hour and then we had to head over to a new vet for Thor’s appointment to get him microchipped. T didn’t make a peep when the vet lady put the giant needle in his neck I am so proud of him! I was the one holding him so he wouldn’t move and I stared right at it to make sure it was done correctly, but Jim was standing a bit away looking the other direction. So now if T ever gets lost (oh I hope not!) and a rescue team finds him or if someone brings him in to a vet, they can reunite us. T can now also travel internationally. We aren’t really planning on bringing him anywhere (cause he doesn’t do well on planes) but in case we would like to he can now avoid quarantine. 

Since we didn’t know if he was going to have any side effects (it’s rare that dogs get any but you’ll never know) we stayed with him most of the day. We went to the gym just for a little bit, then took T with us to a mexican place. After some chips and guac we continued to sit outside at Tigin. Such a hot day, it was nice to be outside. Back in the apartment we knew T was ok so we went to sit at the rooftop without him. So nice to just sit and do nothing. In the evening, J grilled us steaks, I then watched the Pearl Harbor movie and we went to bed somewhat early cause we have a full day planned today:)

Today is International Coffee Day, so this morning we went for a walk with Mr Fluff to get coffee. Jim is at the gym right now and once he is done we will bring some pellets, water and a travel dog bowl and drive to New York. We are going to explore Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown. We have talked about this since we moved here so I’m excited to go today.