Celebrating Leo's birthday

Friday, May 15, Leo turned 5 years old.  Guillermo and I went over to their house to celebrate with them.  We had a lot of fun and were so happy to see them and be with them for a little while.

We pretty much have settled into a routine with these strange days.  Mondays it's pick up a curbside order through Target Drive-up for things that HEB doesn't offer.  Tuesday or Wednesday is grocery day through HEB curbside.  Also Tuesday or Wednesday (but usually Tuesday) is the day I fix a dinner to take to Mom's house for her and Linda to share.  Then approximately every 10 days is an instacart delivery from Costco.  We actually tried a new curbside on Saturday with Lowe's.  We were just amazed at how packed the parking lot was at Lowes - we've never even seen it that full around Christmas!!!  We park in a curbside slot and wait for our stuff - stuff like a tank sprayer for the garden, a bug zapper for the mosquitoes, uncommon-sized air conditioning filters and little night light bulbs.  As we waited, we were very impressed with the number of people walking around wearing masks.  Practically everyone was.  We only saw one guy without one.  And there were a LOT of people shopping that day.  It was unbelievable.
All of these novel ways to get things we need have been working out very well.  Like with anything else there have been glitches, but those have been few and far between.  Here's how they all break down.
Target Drive-up.  My first Drive-up, Guillermo came with me to see what it was all about.  Well, they insisted on scanning a bar code on my phone and of course the shopper was trying to talk with me through the slightly open window on the side that Guillermo was sitting.  Fortunately, both had masks on, but still it was a little unnerving.   The second Drive-up, the guy just wanted to know my name to make sure he was delivering to the right car so I held up a sign with my name and he gave me a thumbs up and put the stuff in the car.  The third time, a different guy insisted again on the  bar code but I told him all he needs is my name, so he said ok.  But again, it involved a little talking with a slightly open window.  The way the last few times have gone has me holding up a sign with my name on it and they give me a thumbs up and put my stuff in the trunk.  And that's it!  They seem relieved and of course I'm relieved.  Then I always hold up another sign that says 'Thank you!" and they give me a thumbs up.  I like driveup because you can keep an online cart going for days, adding and deleting at will.  Then when you're ready to submit your order, you can usually pick it up within two hours.
HEB Curbside.  That has evolved tremendously.  My first curbside with them, I actually got out of the car and signed a little machine they had.  This was March 18th.  That was the only time I had to do something like that, thank goodness.  I learned quickly though that if I don't settle my grocery list (and any substitutions they might have made) BEFORE they get to my car, then they WILL try to talk to me at the car. Probably up until about mid April, putting in an order on HEB's curbside app was a nerve-wracking endeavor because they didn't have enough pick up slots and when it was time to pick a slot for pick up, you could practically see the slots disappearing right before your eyes!!! Which forced you to pick a date 2 weeks out.  It was very hard back then to try to figure out what you were going to need in two weeks!!  But they finally changed things mid April and it has been so much easier ever since.  I've had two hard pick ups.  One was a 1:30pm pick up on an extremely hot day.  I sat in the car for 20 minutes with the air on waiting for my groceries.  Then I see all these employees going from car to car with a clipboard.  When they get to my car, they tell me the system is down but it should be back up soon.  I had already turned the air off because 20 minutes was long enough to just let it idle.  But it was getting too hot, so I moved my car to the ONE shaded slot and waited there.  I finally got my groceries one hour after my pickup time.
The second time I was sitting in that nice shaded slot and I saw employees going around from car to car again with clipboards.  I knew right away what that meant so I called curbside on my phone and they said yes, the system is down again and it might be best for me to go back home and they would call when my order was ready.  They called 5 and a half hours later!!  But that's ok, I got my food and that's what's important.  HEB is the lifesaver because that's where we get most of our groceries, but I wish they made it easier to order.  They don't let you delete anything from your order, and once you've submitted your order, you can only add 10 more items if you forgot things.  At pick up time, I have gotten into the routine of showing my name and driver's license at my window (for the wine I usually get), they give me a thumbs up, load the groceries and then give me a thumbs up at the "Thank you!' sign.
Costco through instacart.  I'm glad I discovered this because we had been missing so many things from Costco.  I like instacart because you can add or delete from your cart as much as you want and then order and receive your stuff all in the same day, or you can schedule for the next day or whatever.  So much more flexible.  The shopper stays in contact with you while they shop and then let you know they are at your house and putting the stuff on the porch.  Admittedly, each item costs a little more than getting it yourself at the warehouse, and there is a tip involved, but during this time, it's a small price to pay.
Lowes.  That went better than we were expecting.  We had been told we'd have to sign a paper when they brought our stuff out.  But no, the guy comes out, verified our name with a sign, did the thumbs up and packed the stuff in our trunk.  So easy and contact less!

So, we have also been getting things delivered through Walmart and a few things through Amazon.  I'm not a fan of either of those two places simply because if, for example, you order 10 items from either one, you will get all 10 items separately.  To me that is such a waste. Unfortunately, there are just some things we HAVE to get through those two places.  Guillermo also gets his meds delivered from CVS.  So pretty much lately, it seems a truck stops at our house almost every day.

In a way, I miss going to the store but not that much.  It IS nice to pick out your own stuff, but I'm content during these times with the groceries that HEB has chosen for us, pretty impressed actually.  I like something I read online where it said, "I'm going to be pretty busy today.  I have to bake the mail and wash the groceries".  We usually let our mail sit out in the garage for a day, and any non-perishable grocery item stays in the garage as well for a while.  The other stuff, we do wipe down.

Rough time

Guillermo was feeling pretty bad at the end of April.  He had all the symptoms of that Corona Virus - except for the major one - shortness of breath.  But every other symptom was there, including all the new symptoms that they just added at the end of April.  Guillermo had felt like this several times before in years past - we figure it is somehow related to his Pulmonary Fibrosis.  So, when this Corona Virus came and started spreading around the city, I wondered how in the world would we know if it's the Corona Virus or just another one of those episodes that he's having.

Like before, his cough was rough, he had aches and chills, an upset stomach and his fevers usually came in the evenings.  Two times his fever got as high as 102 and 103.  He finally called the doctor around Apr. 27 and they set up a video conference for April 30th.  It was tough having to wait those three days.  As luck would have it though, Guillermo started feeling better on the 30th!  But the video conference was still on and after discussing everything with the doctor, the doctor determined that Guillermo should get some lab tests done - and also get the Covid-19 test.  And that he should go that very day.  So, not being able to go to the doctor's office for those tests, I dropped Guillermo off at the emergency room of the Methodist Hospital which is where the doctor had set up an appointment for the lab tests.  The hospital ran all the necessary labs - except for the Covid test.  They said they just didn't have enough tests to give to someone who wasn't exhibiting any symptoms of the virus and especially the major symptom of shortness of breath.  I picked Guillermo up two hours after dropping him off and he said the whole thing was a grand waste of time.  He felt very safe there in the emergency room though.  He said no other patient was there, and that he only dealt with two nurses who were taking every precaution - and then some!!

The next day, May 1, his doctor calls and says that he has a Covid-19 test for him and to come by his office and they'll administer it outside the office.  So he drove over there, parked at a certain numbered door, called the office and waited.  Finally someone came out dressed from head to toe in full hazmat gear.  Guillermo said getting that Covid test was very uncomfortable because they stick that long swab way way up your nose until it can't go anymore.  On May 2nd they called and said his Covid test came out negative.  So that was a relief.  We still feel like we should be careful for the next two weeks because he was, after all, in an emergency room and even though everything seemed to be well taken care of there, you just never know.