Pandemic Weeks 122-123: Swimming, Driving, A Goodbye & COVID Strikes Again


 It has been an eventful couple of weeks with lots of milestones.  The swim season came to an end with a championship.  Anna got her driver permit.  Theresa took her first work trip since the pandemic began .....and came back with COVID.  Sadly, we lost Joe's cousin, Yolanda, at the age of 101.  More on that in a moment.

The big news for the neighborhood was winning the Northern Virginia Swimming League Division 7 title on July 16.  It was an exciting final meet and the toughest one of the season, but the team pulled it out with some strong performances.  Anna has been swimming breaststroke and fly all season and has consistently put points on the board each week in breaststroke.  This is her first year in the 15-18 age group and she had a great season.  The team celebrated with an awards ceremony on Saturday night.  One of the other big milestones of the season was the final Dyson on the Lakevale Swim Team.  The Dyson Dad grew up in the neighborhood and held most of the boys' records for the swim team....until his sons came along.  All three of the kids were the second generation to swim on the neighborhood team and Owen just graduated.  He broke all of his Dad's and brother's records and will be swimming Division 1 in college.  We will see when the next generation of Dysons moves back to the neighborhood.  It has been a lot of fun to watch him each week.

In other news, Anna at last got her driver's permit.  In the process, she also got a real DMV experience.  She made an appointment to take the test on July 11 at the end of the day.  It should be noted that the end of the day and a Monday are not great days to go to the DMV.  Suffice it to say there were computer issues along with operator error.  She brought all of her documents for Real ID and the clerk at DMV promptly mis keyed her passport and spelled her name wrong.  Apparently, it was not as simple as deleting and starting over and required phone calls to an anonymous place to do the deletion, which they could not do because of the computer system.  Let's just say there was a log of frustration and Joe may have gone into New York mode.  She left without her permit and was told to comeback in a couple of days when the computers were working.  Theresa opted to take Anna back on Friday and they managed to get right in.  All of the issues were not resolved, but on the plus side there was a helpful clerk who was determined to make it right for Anna.  After 90 minutes, she walked out with her permit.  It should be noted there were other teenagers in line who had the same issue earlier in the week and were trying to get their paperwork.  Anna did do some practice driving on the way home and has lots of hours to log to get her license.

Theresa headed to sunny southern California on July 17 for the Association of Government Accountants conference in Anaheim (it should be noted Theresa is not an accountant and has never gone before, but she was speaking on some panels).  Theresa noted to Joe before leaving that the trip would be a success if she came home without COVID.  The trip was not a success.  Despite masking and plenty of hand sanitizer, she still got it.  There is never a good time to get COVID, but this is a particularly bad time as there was a trip planned to Ohio in the coming week and an unplanned trip to New York.  So far, she has mild symptoms and is more irritated about the timing.  Joe and Anna are testing themselves and Theresa is masking and trying to stay away (dinners are funny with Joe and Anna at the kitchen table and Theresa at the counter across the room).  Hopefully they do not get it.  In the meantime, we are reworking travel plans.

In sad news, we lost Joe's cousin, Yolanda Tomasulo, this week.  Yolanda was 101 years old and the matriarch of the family.   She was definitely someone who loved life and believed in speaking her mind.  She always had words of wisdom and just great commentary on life.  She led a long, full life and will be missed.  Sadly, we are unable to attend her funeral service on July 25 due to COVID.  Our thoughts will be with her family as they mourn her loss and remember her.  Here's to you Yolanda!

Yolanda in 2004

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