Pandemic Weeks 119-120: July 4th Worker Shortages & the return of Father Tran

July 2 Swim Meet
 July is here!  The last couple of weeks have been filled with work for Anna between babysitting and lifeguarding.  The combination of jobs has her working 30-35 hours a week, which is good for saving up for her school trip next summer to Japan (assuming all pandemic restrictions are lifted).  In between, she is busy with swim team with morning practices and weekend meets.  So far, the team is undefeated.  Each week you never know who is going to be out with COVID - swimmers or parent volunteers.  The pandemic is not over.

This weekend is the July 4th holiday which means lots of festivities around Northern Virginia.  This year the festivities will go all week thanks to a shortage of workers that are licensed in pyrotechnics.  That's right - there are not enough professionals to shoot off fireworks.  As a result, you can see fireworks every night for a week at some place in the Greater DC area.  Vienna held their fireworks show and festivities on July 1.  Fairfax City will hold their celebration on July 5.  The only place to see fireworks on July 4 is the National Mall (Note we will not be going to that as metro service downtown is only operating at 1/3 of its normal level).  The supply chain and economic issues continue to affect life in unexpected ways.

Speaking of unexpected, this Sunday there was a substitute priest presiding over mass.  When he introduced himself as Father Tran and talked about how old he was, Theresa immediately realized it was the same Father Tran who presided over she and Joe's wedding.  What was more surprising was when she went to introduce herself after mass, Father Tran immediately knew who she was by name.  For those that attended Joe & Theresa's wedding almost 18 years ago, they may recall that this was his first wedding since being ordained.  Suffice it to say he was more nervous than Joe and Theresa.  Since it was not one of Joe's two masses per year, he missed today's Father Tran reunion. Fortunately, Theresa captured a picture to commemorate the event.

In other news of the past few weeks:

  • We harvested the first vegetables from the garden - lettuce, two cherry tomatoes, and one giant zucchini.
  • Theresa attended her first Washington Nationals Game in a number of years with some co-workers.  
  • Theresa set-up Joe's Fitbit (a Father's Day gift) for herself (since Joe was not using it).  More to come on her data tracking.  She is convinced Joe will want it back when he sees the information it yields.
  • Anna was accepted for an Outward Bound trip in August where she will spend a week hiking and rock climbing on the Appalachian Trail in Maryland.  Stay tuned for more on that.
Happy July 4th!

Father Tran in 2004 and 2022







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