The (NOT SO) Skinny Girl

 Today my daughter turns 2. Today we have been on lockdown for 5 months.  2020 has been characterized by a pandemic- a new, deadly virus was identified in China in January and by March in the USA we were issued mask mandates and stay-at-home orders.  In March I found out I was pregnant. I went to my "confirmation" appointment alone, wearing a mask, and very anxious. I had to call when I arrived and wait to enter the building until the office was ready for me. Mask on, temperature scan and screening questions at the door- had I felt feverish, sore throat, shortness of breath? Had I traveled outside the US? Had I been around anyone who had the virus? Hand sanitizer available at every turn, and only one person in the elevator at a time. Chairs stacked up in the waiting room so no one would sit, and containers of "clean" and "used" pens at the window. Masks and face shields and gloves on the staff.  2 years ago when I went, I took my husband to the first appoi...

SO now that I have had my first doctor visit- which was an experience in itself- I now know when we'll be graced by our Coron-ial : Dec 10th! My birthday is Dec 9th. Yippee, birthday buddies with my baby. Side note, it popped into my head that now I know when my parents were doing the dirty to make me. That's how bored I am in quarantine, that thoughts like that surface. GROSS. In other news, the U.S. death toll from the Coronavirus outbreak has topped 75,000 and is projected to keep rising at a rate as high as 3,000 deaths a day in the coming weeks. My Garden State continues to be one of the nation’s biggest hot spots with 133,635 confirmed cases and 8,801 known deaths as of May 7. Also, there's a freeze warning for tonight in my county- Mother Nature is losing her mind, it's probably going to snow a little bit IN MAY. Maybe this is in retaliation to the state and county parks being ordered to close...maybe. Let me tell you about the doctor visit. Last time I was ...

In light of recent events, almost the whole Nation (USA) has been on some sort of forced lock down. NOT going to work, NOT going to non essential shopping destinations, and not allowed to go to any 'tourist attractions' where people can congregate in large numbers in enclosed places- I'm looking at you, movie theaters! What we ARE allowed to do, is enjoy the great outdoors. Town parks, county parks, state parks, and rail trails and trails in general. Sadly, due to POOR TRAIL ETIQUETTE, sections of the historic Appalachian Trail were quickly closed down. "But what is this trail etiquette you speak of, as this is my first time attempting to walk a trail since I have NOTHING BETTER TO DO..." Sit down, shut up, and pay attention. Here is some common sense basic trail etiquette that respectful and responsible trail users should allows keep in mind. 1- CARRY IN, CARRY OUT This sums it up nicely "Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints, kill no...

So we all joked about it when the 'stay at home orders' were put in place- That there would be a baby boom in 9-12 months. We'd have a vaccine and a new generation at the same time. A generation born into a fearful, cautious world with masks and gloves and very small social circles. As someone who suffered through infertility for 3 YEARS the first time around, as someone who had extremely high anxiety, as someone who had a major panic attack within the first 3 days of 'lock-down'.... I never thought that we would NAIL IT in the first few weeks of quarantine. But here we are. We did it. We are having a Corona-baby, and Quarantine kiddo, generation Coron-ial. A little back story, we have been 'not trying' but open to another child for at least the last 9 months. We are not practicing any form of birth control and not strictly sticking to a 'trying to conceive' schedule (people who have dealt with infertility do this. it sucks but it works). As a ...