Ten years ago today was easily one of the best days of our lives, as that was the day Jessica and I were married. In fact, the only individual days that would even compare to that would be the birth of our three children. Although I’m certainly not surprised that we’ve made it this far, it still feels like a great achievement and something to be proud of. We’ve accomplished so much together and have three new lives to show for it.
Our ceremony took place on a boat, which immediately made it a pretty unique wedding. We started off in Lake Union, then crossed through into Lake Washington where we cruised around for a couple hours. It’s a bit of a blur to me but mostly what I think about was all the friends and family who were there with us. Obviously that’s what weddings are all about and I’m still thankful that we got to celebrate with so many people we care about.
Later that evening our reception was held at the Pampas Room at El Gaucho. I was still working at El Gaucho at that time and already had so much history there, so it was a fitting location for us. Strangely, this is now the last year of the Pampas Room, as El Gaucho will be moving to a new location in Seattle this Summer. I know I’ve said it many times before, but I love the fact that even though my time has ended there, Jessica continues to carry the torch at El Gaucho, meaning we are still very much a part of the family.
A month after getting married we moved to San Diego and our adventure really kicked into high gear. I’ll never forget getting the news 9 years ago today, on our first anniversary, that Jessica was pregnant with our first child, which was obviously Ava. We lived in this tiny alleyway house in Pacific Beach. It was far from special but was located only 9 blocks from the ocean and ended up being the perfect place for us to start our family. It was getting this news that caused the wheels to start turning for me, and a few months later I was officially on the path of becoming a web developer. There’s been so many other great things that have happened to us since then, and I love being able to look back through this blog as a reminder of how lucky we are.
As far as where we are today, I feel like I must address the elephant in everyone’s room. Covid-19, which is the disease caused by Coronavirus, has created a global pandemic that will most certainly define this new decade in which it was born. Technically it was discovered in Wuhan, China on New Year’s Eve, but it wasn’t until we had crossed into 2020 that it’s effects started being felt around the world.
I’ve had a unique perspective into all of this because I have a friend named Simon in Central China that I email regularly with at work. He has been telling me about his experience since January, so in some ways I was prepared for what was coming, but truthfully there’s no way to fully prepare for when the hysteria hits. First it was China, then it was Italy, then strangely enough it was right here in Snohomish County, Washington that we started seeing U.S. citizens getting infected. It continued spreading at a rapid pace and soon enough Seattle had become the U.S. epicenter for the pandemic, as well as a ghost town.
Based on all of this, March 2020 was without question the craziest month of my life. The only other time I can think of that even comes close to all of this would be 9/11 and its aftermath. The difference to me, however, between then and now, was that 911 was a unifying experience. We all came together as a country to fight a common, and very visible enemy. Today it’s different because the killer is invisible and anyone can be a carrier. Rather than come together, we have to practice ‘social distancing’ by keeping at least 6 feet away from anyone not from your own household.
While the rest of the country soon followed, we Washingtonians were the first Americans to experience ‘the new normal’. It started in early March when Microsoft directed us to all start working from home until at least March 25 (a date which continues to get extended). Soon after that our school district closed until at least April 24. This wasn’t a surprise to us, or a big deal, because we had already notified the school that we would be homeschooling our kids full-time until things had cleared up. After that El Gaucho (and many other local restaurants) temporarily closed. In their case it was at least a two month closure, and while most employees qualified for unemployment during this closure, Jessica did not due to not enough hours worked so far this year. Soon enough all restaurants were forced to either close, or serve take-out only, in an effort to keep people distanced. At the same time hockey was abruptly cancelled for Ava and Enzo, meaning our end-of-year tournament in Canada would be no more.
We were hopeful that these measures would be enough for people to get the point and stay home unless absolutely necessary, but too many people are dumb and choose their freedom, or just want to go to the beach on a rare sunny day, so the governer had no choice but to take more extreme measures by instituting a state-wide shelter in place order. This meant only ‘essential’ businesses were allowed to operate, and technically you could be charged with a misdemeanor for being out and about with no purpose. While the police have made it clear that they do not want to enforce this on anyone, they will if they have to. The speed at which this new dystopian reality has set in almost makes your head spin. As I write this, numbers of infections continue to rise domestically (and globally) by the tens of thousands, and people are dying. We have two close friends who tested positive for Covid-19, but thank goodness they both recovered. From what I understand it’s brutal – intense fever and coughing, hallucinations from the fever. “The room was changing colors” was how one friend described it. The crazy thing is, they’re the lucky ones because they at least lived through it. Draconian times indeed.
While this is certainly an unprecedented level of madness that we’re all experiencing, I’ve decided that what works best for me is to stay optimistic and keep a positive outlook. My Mom has been telling me my entire life, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade”, so that’s what I’m trying to do. Not being able to go to the gym, Jiu Jitsu, or play hockey definitely sucks, but we’re doing our best to stay active at home via daily exercise routines, neighborhood walks, and beautiful hikes in the woods. Jessica getting temporarily laid off from work also sucks, and does have a financial impact on our family, but the reality is that our expenses have never been lower because there’s nothing to do. Losing a significant amount of our retirement savings in the stock market is difficult to swallow, but I take solace in the fact that I’m a long-term investor who won’t be cashing out for at least 20 more years. Historically every market recession has eventually bounced back stronger than before, so I’m not changing a thing. If this really is the big one and the ship sinks permanently, then I guess we’re all going down together, but there’s obviously nothing I can do about that. I choose to focus on what’s actually in my control, and most importantly, not panic.
We were supposed to be leaving for Disney World tomorrow, but unfortunately that had to be postponed. For now we have rebooked our trip to May 18 – I just hope we’re able to go then. One thing that worked out to our advantage is that it’s so much cheaper to go then than now (because it’s supposed to be Spring Break now), that we got an entire extra day added to our trip (hotel plus meals) for free. This means we will now have a rest day in the middle of the trip. Instead of doing 4 parks in 4 days, we will do 2 park days, have a rest day, then do 2 more park days before coming home. The kids had a hard time hearing that the trip was postponed, but we promised them it would still happen.
In the spirit of staying positive, there have been some nice changes to our daily routine that I’m really enjoying. First of all, we’re getting so much more time together as a family. Certainly there are times when we all need a break, but overall it’s great to be getting so much more family quality time. Since we’re eating all meals at home, I’ve been cooking a ton, and enjoying eating so many meals together as a family. We bought an InstaPot a few weeks ago and have already gotten our money’s worth out of it – I love that thing. I also haven’t had to set an alarm in weeks. I sleep as late as I want every morning, which is usually no later than 7:30, then just head downstairs to get started with work.
It’s been important to me that I not get lazy and allow myself to atrophy, either mentally or physically, just because my favorite activities are all cancelled, so I’ve created a daily workout routine at home that I enjoy very much. Jessica has been doing yoga at home and going for a run in the neighborhood as well. In the spirit of continual learning, Jessica has been taking a free course with Yale University and watching TED talks, while I’ve been taking daily courses on LinkedIn Learning. Most of my courses have been technical, but I recently found out at work that I will be managing our college interns this summer, so I have transitioned to taking some management courses. Just yesterday I finished a course on critical thinking.
As far as creative hobbies go, Jessica has been doing a bunch of jigsaw puzzles, and I’ve been playing even more guitar than normal. I recently finished recording a new song called ‘Seaside Glide’, which is now available on SoundCloud. Additionally, our garage, pantry, office, and closets have never been cleaner or more organized. I guess what I’m getting at is that even though there are all these new restrictions in place, there is still so much to invest yourself in. Above all else, we certainly don’t take our health for granted. Strangely enough this has been the healthiest cold and flu season ever for us. Last year I started getting serious about taking daily vitamins and supplements, then Jessica and the kids soon followed. Other than a little cold in January for Elise and Enzo, we’ve all been in perfect shape throughout all of this. I’d like to think that regular exercise, combined with all the vitamins and supplements, play a major part in this, but regardless I don’t take it for granted. Times like this really help you keep your priorities in check.
Although our original celebration plans for our anniversary had to be postponed, it’s still important to me that we have a nice day together. I took today off work and look forward to making a special meal this evening. We’re even going to dress up for dinner, even though it will be at home. The menu (for Jessica and I) includes sashimi Ahi tuna with cherry tomatoes, avocado, orange slices, and a rice wine soy vinaigrette, El Gaucho Caesar salad (something I haven’t made in years), then seafood fried rice featuring shrimp, crab, and seared scallops for our entree. I’m taking the easy road for dessert and just getting Ben & Jerry’s for everyone.
Not only am I looking forward to cooking, but I’m also looking forward to simply going to Central Market. We don’t get outings like this very often these days, and that’s not going to change until at least sometime in May, but that’s okay. For now my entire focus is taking care of my family, staying positive, and enjoying each day together. It’s crazy to think that decade number two for us begins today, but considering how amazing the first one was, I’m beyond excited to see what this next one will bring. We have so much to be thankful for, and no external force will ever get in the way of that.
