This message was sent to my co-workers outside of my office who I interact with every day. I need their help to be successful.

All:

This year we have seen such a challenge within the IT field. Each one of you, all of us, worked very hard to keep the entire agency going, this was no easy task. We relied on each other tremendously. We needed each other for more than just the systems we support but to help work through the entire workforce coming at us from every side as we transitioned to remote working. Not only did we do that, and very successful I might add, but we did it while being fearful of the unknown. We had to come in to facilities that were recently shut down due to COVID. Some of you on this list are probably in the facility right now, I commend you. I commend each one of you for the hard work you did and continue to do.

Yes we continue to have challenges; but I have no doubt that we will see each other through all of them as we have these last several months. Thank you for being there for me, I know I ask a lot, and you have always delivered.

All I am asking as a favor, think of it as a Christmas gift to me, is that you take time for yourself. A day, a week, or just a weekend, and reflect on the successes. Drown out the fear of failure, the concern of the dropped balls or missed meetings, by focusing on what you accomplished this year. While you are home, step away from the work often and look outside; no, go outside and separate yourself from the demand to always be there and to always be available. Learn to turn off the work day and transition to non-work just like you used to do before March. Put down the work, it will be there later.

Fight the loneliness of being alone this season by reaching out to check on your neighbors, family and friends. Use the free Zoom and many of the other products on your personal phone, tablet, or computer to stay connected to others.

My wife and family, The Todd Squad, wish you and yours a safe and happy holiday and new year season. May you find more laughter, more successes, and more strength in the coming year.

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” – Harriet Tubman

Matthew Todd

Happily married, father of four, and lover of the adventures in life. I love Jesus, vacationing with my family, camping, fishing, bike riding, swimming, walking, and sleeping. Sometimes I am even able to watch movies that I want to watch.

You can reach me on Facebook  or Instagram

I finally ate at a buffet for the first time since the start of the lockdowns in March. Jonah and I spent the earlier part of the day working on an Eagle Scout project. When we left the project, we decided we needed to eat something before we drove the hour back home. He and I are the most adventurous and enjoy pushing the envelope, so to speak. We started by looking for the closest Golden Corral, which is our favorite buffet place, but found out that would take us too far out of the way. The closest buffet was in Fredericksburg, the Great American Buffet, and is a chain that we have visited in the past so we felt safe committing to that location.

While driving, we talked to each other about the rules we wanted to use to keep ourselves safe, such as cleaning off the table, using sanitizer often at the table, not touching the community utensils, and wearing our masks unless we were eating.

The outside of the restaurant looks fine, the parking lot was clean, as was the door and signage outside. Inside, we were greeted by several friendly employees. I explained it was our first time back into a buffet. They were very reassuring and explained the safety procedures and the process to get food. The seating is adjusted with several tables marked for no use to maintain safe distance between diners. You need to wear gloves and a face mask while getting food from the buffet. There was a wide variety of food choices and I enjoyed having all of the choices available to me, it has been a while since I’ve been able to enjoy so many different flavors. The seasoning was balanced, spicy things were medium to hot and the overall experience was the same except for the gloves and mask.

The servers here are really friendly and respond well to their customers. The customers who are chatty, like myself, had good conversations and the customers who wanted more privacy, were respected as well. I like that, there was no pressure to engage in banter if you did not want to. The manager was active in the dining area greeting guests and working the buffet as well. I asked him about gluten free options and he was very informative. He walked me through each item on the buffet and explained which ones could potentially be cross-contaminated and which ones were safe for me to enjoy. That is always helpful for people, like me, who have dietary restrictions. The wait staff also kept the buffet stocked and clean, wiping it down frequently and removing food that spilled off a customer’s plate rather than putting it back on the buffet. On a side note, I cannot stand when I see food that has fallen off of a plate on to the bar get placed back into the serving tray by wait staff. I am thankful I saw the opposite here.

I do recommend this place if you are a buffet person or in the mood for some good food, many choices, and friendly staff. Thank you Great American Buffet.

Matthew Todd

Happily married, father of four, and lover of the adventures in life. I love Jesus, vacationing with my family, camping, fishing, bike riding, swimming, walking, and sleeping. Sometimes I am even able to watch movies that I want to watch.

You can reach me on Facebook  or Instagram

We sat down individually and listened to many of the reports and statements put out by a wide range of people and expertise, including some family friends who are in the healthcare industry. We knew that we needed to keep our house clean and free from contact infection. We also knew that if we went outside, the more people we were around, the more likely we were to have been exposed to any communicable disease. We also knew that we wanted to still walk around outside and not be overly concerned while doing so, meaning we took precautions for our own health and the health of the rest of us in the house (and those around us).

We came up with these basic rules:

1. If you go outside and are outside only, without any close contact with people, you were able to come home with a wash of hands, arms, and face and remove your shoes at the door.
2. If you go outside and are around people, for necessity or on accident, you must come home, strip, and take a hot shower.
3. If you go inside any place at all while you are out, even if there were no people around you, you must come home, strip, and take a hot shower.
4. Anything that has gone outside with you, wallet, purse, keys or anything used, credit card, phone, watch, must also be washed when you return.
5. Any groceries or mail that arrives, must be wiped off with bleach or other sanitizer before it is used, opened, or put away in the house.
6. Getting in and out of the car also triggers the need to sanitize hands, face, and mask before leaving that location. So each location, you are cleaning yourself and anything you touched on the car, with sanitizer.

After we started going out for non-essential trips, for example my son and I went to Busch Gardens and I had to stay at a Marriott Hotel. Both of these events caused us to increase the caution and protection for when we returned. So there is a number four.

6. If you have gone around people for an extended period of time, even if they are known friends or family, you must quarantine yourself for 14 days when you come home after you strip and take a hot shower, of course. This quarantine requires you to wear a mask in the house and clean up after yourself much more than normal after you eat or use the bathroom.

I think I will write more about the self-quarantine experiences in a later article. You can also read this article from Tatana about her experience while on vacation, we carried these rules with us as we traveled. Once we thoroughly cleaned the accommodations, we treated it like we were at home.

Through these rules, we feel we have done our best effort to stay safe. We feel our house is relatively free of fear of getting the virus, but we have also stressed to each other, the importance of improving our hygiene and keeping the house clean. What we have found is we started making decisions on “do I really want to wash again today”. It was funny to watch, and now even the kids are saying it. We would talk about going somewhere and the question would be, “do we have to go inside?” If yes, then there would often be a resounding, “no, I’m good.”

For most of the pandemic, I was the only one who went out to the store, picked up food, medicine, or other essentials necessary to keep our house in order and safe. Now, as time has moved on, Tatana is also venturing out but much less than I am. You have to remember that we are all asthmatic, but I am the least reactant to allergens and other factors, whereas Tatana is very susceptible or what I would consider “at risk”. We are getting outside more and taking longer walks around the neighborhood; sometimes even riding bikes again.

I know we are not coming out of this pandemic any time soon, but I can only hope that our family uses these and any other additional practices to keep ourselves safe and healthy. I hope you can incorporate some of them for your use as well. If you have any additional thoughts or tips, please comment and let us know. We are only doing what we think works best for us.

Matthew Todd

Happily married, father of four, and lover of the adventures in life. I love Jesus, vacationing with my family, camping, fishing, bike riding, swimming, walking, and sleeping. Sometimes I am even able to watch movies that I want to watch.

You can reach me on Facebook  or Instagram

I needed to be down in Fayetteville and Lumberton, North Carolina this past weekend to see family. This is a tough time for everyone right now, traveling is down, and everyone is trying to go back to normal or at least a new normal. Because of this, I am very aware of the environment around me when I travel, especially where I sleep at night. It is important for me to feel safe and comfortable and that my family feels the same. I am certain you are saying the same thing about your family and your decision when you leave your house and go to a store or someone else’s home. Our family has always been what I would call careful, when we were checking in to a hotel or resort. However, during this pandemic, we just bring our own cleaners to clean and sanitize the room. We want to feel comfortable enough to take our masks off and just relax with very little concern.

From the outside and going in, this hotel was clean and friendly. The staff was responsive to my needs, welcomed me in at midnight as if it were an earlier time, and made me aware of the safety procedures and policies in place. I took a few pictures of the room as I went in and walked around; from all observations, the room was clean. It smelled wonderful, since the cleaning crew placed a strawberry scented car tree in the front closet closest to the door. However, once I started to clean the room I noticed the dirt.

First, I sprayed the bed cover and pillows with disinfectant spray, along with the couch and the door handles and knobs. I sprayed the tables, dresser, counters, bathroom sink and toilet, just every hard surface, with a non-bleach cleaning spray. That’s when I took the small white washcloth and wiped down the surfaces. I did it in groupings so I can monitor the cleanliness and see if I need to go back over the area again. I was shocked at how dirty this clean room, in fact, was. You can see the first cloth was from the table and chairs, the second was from the tv and dresser, and the larger towel from the bathroom. I really enjoyed the fact that the bathroom was very clean except a little red color that came from under the faucet in the sink.

The worst place was the kitchen. The top of the fridge was coated with dirt/dust which led me to understand what probably happened. These rooms probably sat for months, maybe, where the carpet and air conditioner spread dust and dirt into the air that settled everywhere. That can explain why the bathroom was so clean as compared to the other areas where there was carpet. After cleaning and wiping every handle, outlet, switch, and furniture, I still went back around and sprayed again with the disinfectant spray. I decided not to go under the cover or sheets and just laid on top of the bed to sleep. I lost confidence in the cleanliness of the bed dressings after what I saw elsewhere in the room.

In the morning, the hotel did a great job at accommodating my gluten free health need in their “grab and go” breakfast. I got fruit, yogurt, a granola bar, and coffee and I could eat everything but the granola bar. She was able to take it back to give to someone else who can eat it. I also gave the dirty cloths to the manager and explained what I found in the room. She took down my room number and apologized for the condition of the room.

I am hoping hotels and those who rent accommodations to travelers, would use this information to make sure they monitor their cleaning practices and also perform a good touch-up cleaning if a room has been sitting for a few days. Safe travels out there everyone.

Matthew Todd

Happily married, father of four, and lover of the adventures in life. I love Jesus, vacationing with my family, camping, fishing, bike riding, swimming, walking, and sleeping. Sometimes I am even able to watch movies that I want to watch.

You can reach me on Facebook  or Instagram

Two days ago, my husband Matthew says, “they have a slot in Zone 5 at Canterbury Woods from 2-3.” Are you confused? So was I! A slot for what? He reminds me that we wanted to see how swimming works in our community during the pandemic. Our county closed all of the public pools for the season; since our community pools were open we wanted to try it out.

Our Home Owners Association set a limit of 100 people per 1-hour time period. The pool is divided into 10 zones. Each zone is limited to the 10 people from one group/family. You must fill out a waiver that states that you may be exposed with communicable diseases and you fully accept the risks. You hold harmless the Association. You also have to declare you are healthy and, to ensure the safety of yourself and others, you haven’t been to or around any risky people/places in the last 14 days.

I was anxious about the waiver. What if someone lies, is asymptomatic, thinks it’s just allergies…

But we went. And it was glorious! Why? For the following reasons:

1. Reservations – you get to choose what time and what zone you wanted. This needs to be permanent in our Association.  Most people want the places where you would be able to sit against the wall. I was pleased that no one wanted the middle of the pool where our little could still touch the bottom and feel comfortable swimming. 
2. Limited to 100 people in the pool. Most families do not have 10 people in their family. So, 10 families with 4-6 people in the pool. At most it’s 60 people.  No random kid squirting water from their noodles, jumping in while you’re diving in or swimming next to you. Just your own weirdos that you brought with you.
3. Face Coverings Required in the pool house. You have to have a face covering when going through the restrooms to get to the pool. Use your towel if you forget. The goal is to slow the spread and help to keep people healthy as possible.
4. Constant cleaning and sanitizing. Every time there was a lifeguard rotation, there was another person in a mask sanitizing the lifeguard chair and area.
5. Limited to 1 hour. No need to argue with your 8-year-old who is part mermaid that we need to go home. No lingering around the deck. No lounging in the chairs. No break times every 45 mins.
6. Focusing on the family – We got to focus on the family group and not divided into friend groups. Our pool outings are usually connection with our friends that we catch up with at the pool.  Instead we were ‘forced’ to swim together. This was fun. There are no chairs, so I got in. We ALL played and swam with one another.
7. One way – you only go through the pool house to get to the pool – you leave through the gate. It’s less opportunity to be exposed to someone coming in or exposed by you coming out.
8. I enjoyed getting the exercise and playing with my kids. I didn’t realize how much I missed the pool. Our family is at the pool daily during the summer, it is so weird to not be swimming every day. A little bit of summer normalcy in an upside-down crazy time.

So, if you live in a community that has opened the pool with restrictions you should try it! You can get some exercise, go into the out, continue to bond with your family (or friends if you want to coordinate times), and still have time to relax at home where you’re comfy.

Thanks for reading!

<3 Tatana

Tatana Todd

Chief Education Officer of Todd Homeschool Academy, teacher, history lover, recovering news junkie and lover of politics and truth – which does not have to be an oxymoron. I love Jesus,  vacationing with my family, baking, reading cool children’s books, playing violin, and watching crime shows.

You can reach me on Facebook 

Since we have been in isolation during the pandemic, having limited contact with friends and family, it has been very hard on my littlest. She has tried to adjust. She had tap and ballet via Zoom. She had co-op via Zoom. She has had church via YouTube streaming. It has been such a dramatic shift for her, for someone who loves and craves in-person interaction. We have had to keep distance between our neighbor, Anna, and their two children. Isley used to play with them often, seeing them outside, running to play with them only now, they have to yell across the yard and stand away from each other; but at least there is some interaction. This really has been tough for our munchkin.

Fast forward to her birthday (there will be another post about that day) and the gift she receives was both in a box and on the phone. Keira asked to be on the phone when she opened the gift. During the call, Isley received both an apron and a cook book, Isley was excited to just have Keira on the phone. Keira then announced on Monday, August 3rd, she wanted to have a cooking session with just her and her little sister! Isley was so happy. This was such a touching moment for me as I know how much Isley longs to spend time with her sister and how much she loves cooking too. Isley was given the choice of any recipe in the book and she chose cupcakes, who doesn’t want cupcakes?

Today was the day. Tatana and I set up the kitchen as best we could, Tatana did the cleaning and I set up the technology (I got the easier part of that bargain). The call came in while I was in a meeting for work and Tatana has to take Jonah to an allergy appointment. This plays into the self expression and self confidence that Isley gained because she had no help from her parents and really had to rely on her big sister over the interwebs (yes I said interwebs). Isley, for the first time had to preheat the oven, I did not know she did not know how to do that, sorry Isley. She had to learn how to make buttermilk with lemon juice. She even let me help her put the pans in the oven, since she has not learned how to do that yet and “did not want to burn off my face,” according to her.

Every step was guided by her big sister, advice was shared, not just cooking advice either. This was such an awesome time and precious gift from Keira. I came upstairs once the call was over to assist in the scooping of the mix into the muffin liners. Although that was short lived because, “Daddy, I can do this,” was announced. Isley took a yearlong cooking classes in her co-op, thank you Mrs. Kim, so I knew she could do it, but I just like helping. I was allowed to put the liners into the muffin pan and put the pans in the oven, I was also allowed to wash the dishes, measuring spoons, and mixing bowl so they can get ready for making the buttercream frosting.

While the cakes were cooking, the two sisters sat and talked about life, kittens, fun, school, and anything else that came up. My heart as so full as I overheard some of the conversation while not trying to interfere at all. Tatana came home while the cupcakes were cooling just in time to assist with the frosting. Seeing my three ladies spending this precious time together was so fulfilling as a father and husband. Cooking together really helps us emotionally and mentally, and physically, once we eat the food we cooked. The passing on of ideas and tricks, the experiences of falling cupcakes, adding salt instead of sugar, realizing the mixer did not get all of the flour; all of these things are challenges that you must adapt to and things you will need to overcome and work through together. (Those did not happen today, I’m just reflecting on the learning side of cooking.)

In the end, there were some beautiful and tasty cupcakes. But even more, there were two sisters and a mom who were able to share some precious moments together. Oh the name, Kisley? Isley decided that was the name she wanted to put on her Zoom screen to signify the two of them spending time together.

Take some time to reflect on how you give time to your family, and to your friends. Take some of that time and spend it with others, even over long distances. It means so much that you spend that time with them.

Matthew Todd

Happily married, father of four, and lover of the adventures in life. I love Jesus, vacationing with my family, camping, fishing, bike riding, swimming, walking, and sleeping. Sometimes I am even able to watch movies that I want to watch.

You can reach me on Facebook  or Instagram