Two Years of the Covid-19 Pandemic - Friday Focus

 Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. Happy Friday! I am so happy it is the weekend soon. I am on my lunch break as I edit this post and looking forward to 5 pm now.  This week I was reading through some old posts I wrote back in March 2020 at the start of the pandemic when I realized that two years ago this week, the pandemic started. You can read my early pandemic blog posts here. I spoke about how there was no toilet paper left on shelves and this was the first week of the pandemic. My work place told us to go to a temporary work from home situation while we waited to find out what to do next. All of a sudden things escalated and the cases started rising. I was fearful of this invisible virus that could kill people. I stayed inside and all stores and restaurants and theatres were closed. It was a shock to me. I also was going to get married on May 2nd,2020 and was still hopeful that the situation would be better by then. I was very sad and disappointed when my worst fear came true that we couldn't get married in May like planned. I ended up postponing my wedding four times and then had a wonderful wedding in September 2021. 

In the first post I wrote about the pandemic, I wrote that I hope to go back to the office and have a normal work week. It now feels so normal to work from home. At that time there was so much fear and uncertainty. Now that we are so used to this new normal or way of life, I take all the safety protocols and feel more confident that I can avoid Covid. But at the time I thought you could get it easily in the air or touching a surface at a store. Now that the milder versions of Covid that are more like a cold to those vaccinated, it gives me peace of mind that if I did get it, it wouldn't be so bad and feel like a cold. Even with Omicron surging in mid December, we kept distance from large groups to be safe and the rapid tests were so hard to get our hands on before a large gathering and we felt safer keeping our distance and not furthering the spread.

 We are still not done with this pandemic, and there are cases climbing in China now. So we will have to see if this new variant affects us the same way or spreads this way. This comes at a time when they are lifting the mask requirement indoors in most places in Ontario. I know I will keep wearing mine for some time until I feel more comfortable since we have gotten so used to wearing them now.

We have become more used to this way of life. Wearing a mask, washing hands and sanitizing after touching anything, keeping distance from others. I was so used to going to the office four days each week (I worked from home one day each week) going to the gym each week, seeing friends and family more often, going shopping, seeing movies, attending events and craft fairs and the list goes on. Now life is so different and it is the new normal. I feel that I will take a long time to adjust back to our life that we had previously. I wonder what that will look like. 

Thank you for visiting my blog today and I hope that you have a great day and weekend. Stay safe!

Knitting Hat and Reading On

 Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. This week is going by quickly and I can't believe it is Thursday already tomorrow. So far this week work has been busy and I have spent a couple of nights watching the Bachelor finale. It was really dramatic this time around and it was interesting. I was knitting while I was watching last night, except not as much as I planned to since there was always something going on that I wanted to pay attention to. I made some progress since last week on the Rock Cap by Veronica Wilson on Ravelry. The pattern is relaxing so far just kn1,p1 for the rim of the hat. 

I am still planning on finishing the copy cat cowl. I plan to do a Michael's run this weekend to get more of the yarn to finish it up. I also feel like it has been way too long since I have gone shopping at Michaels. I might just make a day of it and go shopping to a few stores I haven't done that in so long with the pandemic. Speaking of, it seems to be getting better here and they are lifting mask restrictions by the end of the month. I don't think I will stop wearing the mask just yet. It seems soon to do that in my opinion. Millie also agrees it is still good to cover up your face just in case.

I am still reading Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid and enjoying the character introductions so far and the start of the story. I am also reading Expecting Better by Emily Oster and enjoying reading about pregnancy and prenatal testing. The book is very informative with facts and also going into the perceptions of what to do when pregnant and testing out the myths regarding what to do when pregnant. 

Joining along with As Kat Knits for Unraveled Wednesday.

Thank you for visiting today and I hope you are having a good week so far! 

Have a great day!

Weekend in Quarantine

 Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. This weekend I mostly stayed at home. In Toronto there is still not too much open like movie theatres, stores, and restaurants due to the pandemic. I got groceries and got food for Millie. I use these weekends to get things done around our home and to work on some of my goals. I worked more on the puzzle today that my sister got me for Christmas from Indigo. It is such a cute puzzle, I love the plants, the cat in the window, bookshelf, and how it is a cozy scene.

I read more of The Bookshop of Yesterdays by Amy Meyerson. I also read a lot of the book Expecting Better by Emily Oster this weekend. There is a lot of good information and it is interesting to read right now.

Millie had a relaxing weekend too and we had a lot of cuddles together. She is such a sweet presence when she is curled up on the couch beside me as I watch TV or work on my computer.

Last night I was working on planning for the week. Here is my weekly spread of stickers set up before wrote down some of my plans. I really enjoy planning on Sundays for the week ahead and just seeing my week and to dos to mentally prepare. I consult my planner throughout the week and it keeps me on track with my goals and things I want to do.

I starting knitting another chunky basket by Angie Cruise because I just wanted a fun knit to make while watching TV this weekend. I have plans for socks soon once I get the right needles I need which are smaller double pointed needles than I own.

I hope you had a good weekend! I like these weekends with no plans as well to just stay home and get things done. I know we will be back to normal or hope to be soon but for now, I just have my weekends with my little family. I hope that you have a great start to your week!

Have a great day!

Finished Knitting the Simple Bunnies Toy

 Hello Friends,

                                 

I hope you are doing well. I haven't been posting here much lately, but I keep thinking about posting and sharing my knitting and reading progress and what has been going on in life lately. I have been busy with work, Millie, and planning my wedding going on the 5th time. It is really crazy how long it has been dragging out and we now have a date for September 26th. The way it is looking is we will have a ceremony with family and close friends and then go to a restaurant. We aren't able to have the big reception party afterwards as planned due to Covid-19. So that is where we are at now with the wedding and nothing is ever final and from previous times we know it is last minute that things can change. But Liam and I are just ready to get married now so it will probably happen as planned this month in September. 

I finished knitting the Simple Bunnies toy for my nephew. It was a fun knit and I hope that he enjoys holding it and looking at it. He is now 4 months and is growing so fast. I was looking after him lately and he is smiling a lot and making a lot of sounds.

Pattern: Simple Bunnies by Julia VR

Needles: US 6, 4 mm circular needles

Yarn: Snuggly Wuggly by Loops & Threads in soft gray

Millie is doing well and adjusting well to our home and being with us. She is playful and sweet. We are so happy to have her here. She follows us from room to room and enjoys spending time with Liam and I. She is attached to us both and loves a lot of attention. It has been really nice to be working from home and just being home more in general to spend more time with her as she gets used to our home.

One of her favourite spots by the window a blanket in a basket

I am reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin, as you can see my reading has been very slow lately. I will work on finishing this book, then plan to move on to another one I own soon. For the remainder of the year, I will make more of a point to read more.

Thank you for stopping by! I have my next project in mind now and looking forward to starting soon. Lately I feel like knitting has been slow and on hold and I really want to get back on track with it. Also blogging here with you all is so fun and I miss it too. Things are still crazy here with the Delta variant and no end in sight for Covid-19. It is another one of those unpredictable times when we are in one of the waves. We are in the fourth wave now and hope it is a short one. Stay safe!

Have a great day!

Finished Knitting the Simple Lines Baby Hat

 Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. This week has flown by again and I am glad it is Friday. I have been feeling well since I received the vaccine. At first I was tired and had some headaches but I am over that now. I am happy that I got it and feel so good about protecting myself and others from Covid-19. It will be two weeks since the vaccine on Sunday so that is when you are more protected after receiving the dose. I look forward to getting the second dose in September or hopefully sooner. 

I have finished knitting the baby hat for my nephew now. I used the simple lines baby blanket pattern by Heather Tucker on Ravelry. I also finished knitting the Simple Lines baby blanket last month and have included it in some of the photos to show the completed set.

Here is the complete set of the hat and the blanket that I will be gifting my sister for my nephew. The monkey in the photos won't be a gift to my nephew, my sister bought me this stuffed animal from IKEA years ago and I thought looked so cute for the photos. Maybe I will knit a snuffed animal for him in the future that would be so fun to do!

I hope the hat fits him well. I have heard that he is a bigger baby for one month old, and so I knitted it a little bigger in case. I was following the pattern for 6 month babies. I thought I would knit it bigger so he can also wear it longer. It stretches pretty well too so he will be able to wear it in the Winter.

I liked knitting the hat to match and enjoyed knitting same pattern again. I love how the squares turned out in the pattern on the blanket and hat.  In this photo you can really see the squares and the pattern pop.

Pattern notes:

Pattern: Simple Lines Baby Hats. I knitted the pattern for squares

Needles: US 6, 4.0 mm circular needles

Yarn: Snuggly Wuggly yarn by Loops & Threads in the colorway "soft gray"

A short update on reading, I have still been reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin and The Trainable Cat by Sarah Ellis and John Bradshaw.  I hope to finish these in the next week or so to start some other books on my list.

Joining along with As Kat Knits for Unraveled Wednesday.

Thank you for stopping by! I am happy to be done knitting both baby items now for my nephew and I am so excited to gift it to them soon. It was so fun knitting them and thinking of him wearing the hat and snuggling with the blanket. I will be washing and blocking them tonight to get them ready to give as a gift soon. The ends of the baby blanket curl a lot, so I am hoping blocking helps to smooth down the edges. 

Stay safe and have a great day!

Got First Covid-19 Vaccine and Knitting Baby Hat

 Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. I have been well. I got my first vaccine for Covid on Sunday! I was so excited to get it, and feel great being more protected against this disease that has been controlling our lives for the past year. It felt like such a special moment to get it and I was so happy to make it to this stage.  I had some soreness in my arm and some headaches and felt tired the day I got it and after but it went away after a day or so. Now I am feeling better.

I have also been knitting the baby hat for my nephew. I still haven't met him because of Covid and feeling a little under the weather last weekend. I hope to visit soon with the knitted gifts and some other things I picked up for him and for my sister. I am using the Simple Lines baby hat pattern by Heather Tucker on Ravelry. I am knitting the 6 months size just because I want him to be able to wear it longer, but hope its not too big on him.

I am reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin and The Trainable Cat by Sarah Ellis and John Bradshaw. I am learning a lot about training cats and encouraging them to do things by giving rewards of treats. I can't wait to practice soon with our new kitten coming in June. I have been buying some items for her that I will share soon in a post once it is set up with more information on our journey to getting our kitten.

Joining along with As Kat Knits for Unraveled Wednesday.

Thank you for visiting my blog today! Have you received the first Vaccine yet or both? We are a bit slower here in Canada for receiving the vaccines, and it has been much faster in the states. I am excited to have the second one now in September  and be fully Vaccinated. 

Have a great day!

Knitting Baby Hat, Cross Stitch, and Reading On

 Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. This week has been busy at work, and I have been staying at home all week and working from home. I have been going on walks and doing yoga in the morning or on my lunch breaks. I am really enjoying it and it is a good way to get a workout in each day. 

I started knitting a baby hat this week for my nephew. I am using the Simple Lines Baby hats pattern by Heather Tucker on Ravelry. I enjoyed knitting the baby blanket so much using their pattern, and really wanted to knit another gift before I visit from a distance soon. I am using the same yarn as I used for the blanket because I have a lot left over. I bought an extra skein of yarn in order to knit a few extra things for him once I was done the blanket. 

 I am slowly working on the "I Can't Adult Today" cross stitch from Michaels. I am working on the leaves around the edges now. I am enjoying cross stitching, and it was fun picking up this hobby early this year. 

This week I am reading The Trainable Cat by John Bradshaw and Sarah Ellis. I am really interested in this book so far. I don't own a cat right now, but I will be getting one soon. Planning on getting one from a breeder by end of May or early June! I want to learn more about cats and what the training process would be like. It isn't so she can do tricks, more for training not to bite on wires, or scratch our couch haha

photo source

I am also reading Dearly by Margaret Atwood. This one interested me because I really enjoy reading poetry and whenever I read Rupi Kaur's books, I realize I love poetry and find it so relatable and calming. This one is good so far and I love her Handmaid's Tale books and think she is a great writer, so I also wanted to read more of her work. I am also reading Presence by Amy Cuddy. I am liking it so far, but taking a bit more time to get into it.

Photo source

Photo source

Joining along with As Kat Knits for her link up every week: Unraveled Wednesday.

Thank you for visiting my blog today! I hope that you are doing well and keeping safe. I can't believe how long this pandemic is dragging on. I definitely have the pandemic fatigue they are talking about. We can only hope that things get better now with having the vaccines coming. We still haven't gotten ours yet, but we put our names down on the list to be contacted once there are vaccines available according to our age and where we live. Hopefully we can make an appointment soon! 

Have a great day!

Finished Knitting Simple Lines Baby Blanket

 Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. My week has been going well. I can't believe it is already Thursday tomorrow, the weeks are just flying by! My nephew was born last Friday, April 30th. He is a healthy baby and mom, dad, and baby are doing well. I am still unfortunately not able to visit because of the stay at home order until the end of May. When I do go visit my family and see the baby, it will be even more special. 

The morning my nephew was born, I was knitting quickly, racing to get it finished, and I did! I finished knitting the Simple Lines Baby Blanket by Heather Tucker on Ravelry. It was a fun blanket to knit, and I liked that I quickly got used to the pattern, and could knit it and watch shows and vlogs. I love how it turned out and how soft and comfy it is and I hope my nephew enjoys snuggling with it.

Pattern: Simple Lines baby blankets by Heather Tucker on Ravelry

Yarn: Snuggly Wuggly yarn by Loops & Threads in the colorway "soft Gray"

Needles: US 6 - 4.0 mm circular needles

I haven't made progress on the cross stitch since the last post. I was focused on finishing the blanket on Friday, and then weaving in the ends this morning. I am still working on the leaves going all around the piece. I will be cross stitching more next week and hope to finish it soon.

I have been reading The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle, The Trainable Cat By John Bradshaw and Sarah Ellis, and Presence by Amy Cuddy. I have been enjoying learning more about cats reading The Trainable Cat. I have always had cats in my life, and it is interesting to learn more about them. Presence was another one I started this weekend, it is about being your best self and showing up at work and life. I am really working on "leaning in" at work as Sheryl Sandberg suggests to do in her book I recently finished called Lean In. So I am working on some assignments at work and trying to learn more skills and gain more knowledge. I am also enjoying reading as much as I can to learn more on bringing my best self to work.

Joining along with As Kat Knits for Unraveled Wednesday

Thank you for stopping by my blog today! I hope you are all doing well and staying safe! There is a lot of talk about vaccines here in Toronto, but I haven't gotten mine yet. They are being given out to people living in "hot spots" which are the most badly hit with the virus. I am waiting my turn, but we are looking forward to finally getting it. I look forward to being able to visit with my family and friends again like normal. I will be giving my nephew lots of snuggles. 

Have a great day!

Knitting Baby Blanket, Cross stitching, and Reading on

 Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well.  Happy Friday! I have been busy with work and trying to get other things done too. I am still awaiting the arrival of my baby nephew and my sister's due date is April 29th. I can't wait to see him, and I know it won't be for awhile after he is born because of Covid-19 still being a concern here and we are currently in lockdown.  My parents and I will just be able to see him virtually for awhile. 

I am still knitting the baby blanket for my sister for her baby. I am really enjoying knitting it and I am following the Simple Lines baby blankets by Heather Tucker on Ravelry. I will also wash and block it before I gift it to my sister when I see her sometime in May after he is born, and when it is safe.

I finished reading The Midnight Library by Matt Haig and gave it four stars on goodreads. I liked the story and towards the end, I really picked up the pace of reading the book and finished it this passed Sunday morning. I am reading The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle and enjoying it so far. 

My cross stitching is coming along too, and I have knitted more of the leaves.

Joining along with As Kat Knits for Unraveled Wednesday.

Thank you for visiting my blog today, and I hope you had a good week!

Have a great day!

Knitting, Cross Stitch, and Reading On

 Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. I have been good, I have been busy with work lately. Here in Toronto, it is another lock down and our premier Doug Ford just announced more restrictions today. It is so bad and it is hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I can't believe last year in March, I thought it would only last a couple of weeks while we were in lockdown. I am glad my parents could get their first Pfizer vaccine this week. It feels like we are making some progress, but we are still a long way to get back to normal. I am still working from home, and just going out once and awhile for groceries and things we need. I bought some clothes online last weekend and they arrived today. It was fun getting some new things to wear for the Spring and Summer, I barely shop anymore so I enjoyed it.

I have been knitting more of the baby blanket for my sister. Her due date is quickly approaching now and I am excited for my nephew to arrive. I will probably be gifting her the blanket when I go to visit them when I go to see the baby at some point when it isn't lockdown. I am almost done the blanket, and will be working on it more this weekend to hopefully finish it so I can work on some other projects. 

I cross stitched more of the leaves this morning of my I can't adult today cross stitch. I am really enjoying cross stitching. Like knitting, it is a relaxing hobby and I like to see how it progresses.

I finished reading Lean in by Sheryl Sandberg, It is such a good book, and it inspires me so much to work on my career and lean in now in my work. I am reading the Midnight Library by Matt Haig and really enjoying the book. I started the Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle and I am liking it so far and feeling a similar inspiration as to when I read his book A New Earth.

Joining along with As Kat Knits for Unraveled Wednesday. 

Thank you for stopping by today! Sorry for my posts being off my usual schedule lately if you notice, I will be working on getting back to my regular Wednesday posts and also will be posting on the weekends again. I hope you are all staying safe during these times and hope for brighter days ahead.

Have a good day!

Easter Weekend, Knitting, and Reading

 Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. It was so nice having a long weekend this weekend for Good Friday. It has felt like such a long time off work and it was much needed.  We were gifted these pretty white tulips from Liam's mom and they have been so cheerful and pretty to look at this weekend after they bloomed. I wasn't able to see my family this weekend because of the Covid-19 lockdown, so the flowers lifted my spirits.

I am also happy with how my African violet is blooming. There is now a flower, and as you can see there is a second one waiting to bloom. It is so nice to see it thriving with the light from the arrival of Spring.

 I knitted a lot of the baby blanket this weekend too.  I am now aiming to have it complete to gift to my sister next weekend. She is expecting her baby later in April, so it will be done just in time. The pattern that I used is Simple Lines Baby Blanket by Heather Tucker on Ravelry. 

The weather today was perfect for Easter Sunday and perfect to sit out on our terrace and enjoy the sunshine. I read more of The Midnight Library by Matt Haig while I was soaking up the sun.

I went out for a walk this afternoon and really enjoyed the warm weather. It was 13 degrees Celsius at the time and the sun made it feel even warmer.  I love this blue sky and seeing the buds on the trees and brings me hope for the Summer to come and make things better for us. There were a lot of other people walking today and they were all probably feeling the same way as me.

Thank you for stopping by and Happy Easter if you celebrate. I hope you had a long weekend if you also had Good Friday off. It is nice when these weekends come along for some much needed rest. I am back to work tomorrow and now I am feeling refreshed and ready to start the week.

Have a great day!