Covid 19

Just so I NEVER forget..... April 4, 2020

The UK and much of the world is on lockdown.
All flights from UK to USA and beyond are suspended.
Diesel price at Morrison’s was £1.10 (£1.04 at Asda).
School cancelled 2 weeks ago.
Maria’ SATS cancelled. Maria's badminton tournaments and training cancelled, although she will maintain her first place in the rankings in England in Girl's singles and Girl's Mixed doubles U13.

GCSEs cancelled.
A-Levels cancelled.
EastEnders, Emmerdale and Coronation Street have suspended filming and number of episodes per week cut down so they last until early Summer.
Self-distancing measures on the rise. Mum self-isolating at home in Brasov, my aunt Mio self isolating in Bucharest.
Tape on the floors at food shops to help distance shoppers (2m) from each other.
Limited number of people inside food shops, therefore, lineups outside the doors.
Non-essential shops and businesses forced to close.
Pubs, theatres, restaurants, gyms and cinemas are closed.
Entire sports seasons are cancelled.
Concerts, tours, festivals, entertainment events - cancelled.
Weddings, family celebrations, holiday gatherings - cancelled.
Churches are closed. Graveyards are shut.
You're not allowed to socialise with anyone outside of your home.
Children's outdoor play parks are closed.
Shortage of masks, gowns and gloves for our front-line workers.
Shortage of ventilators for the critically ill.
Panic buying sets in and we have no toilet paper, no disinfecting supplies and no hand sanitiser.
Bread, pasta, flour, eggs, chicken and chopped tomatoes are sold out everywhere
Shelves are bare (but recently getting better, still no bread flour)
Many supermarkets are only allowing you to purchase a certain number of each product e.g. With Aldi it's 4 of each item, Sainsbury's it's 3 of each and Co-op it's 2 of some items.
Manufacturers, distilleries and other businesses switch their lines to help make visors, masks, hand sanitiser and PPE.
Will and I are working from home, no travel for work. Girls are doing home learning, but on Easter holiday now.
All non-essential travel banned.
Rainbows in lots of house windows 🌈
Fines are handed out for breaking the rules. Police are patrolling the streets.
Arenas open up for the overflow of Covid-19 patients.
Press conferences daily from the government (not including Boris Johnson though who has tested positive).
The government throws money at businesses to try to keep the economy from imploding. Grants and loans. The government to pay 80% of employees wages where businesses cannot continue to do so.
The whole of the UK are clapping outside their front doors (wooden spoons and saucepans here), out their windows and from their balconies at 8pm every Thursday to show their appreciation for the NHS and all frontline staff.
Daily updates on new cases and deaths.
So far, over 1 million confirmed cases and over 50,000 deaths 😢
The dead are denied wakes or funerals and barely anyone is allowed at the graveside.
Barely anyone on the roads (apart from boy racers who think a quiet road is an opportunity)
People wearing masks and gloves outside.
Essential key workers are terrified to go to work.
Medical field workers are afraid to go home to their families.

We're only allowed out for work, if it's not possible to work from home, essential food shopping, as infrequently as possible, medical supplies and exercise such as a jog or walk once per day, locally. We have to keep a distance of 2 metres from people outside our own households. We are not to meet up with anyone outside our own household. We are not to be in gatherings of more than 2 people, unless it's with our own households.

This is the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic, declared March 11th, 2020.

One day when I go back to this, I will remember that life is precious and not to take the things we dearly love for granted.

We have so much!
Be thankful. Be grateful.
Be kind to each other - love one another - support everyone.
We're all in this together.

Sad News

This year started very well, after spending Christmas in Romania with my family. We celebrated 9 years of marriage on 1st of March. Girls are growing and enjoying their lives.

The sad news arrived on 21st March, when, suddenly my dad passed away from a heart attack. We were all very saddened and we'll miss him very much. He passed away chatting with my mum. Will and I attended his funeral and got to say "Good Bye" to him. We made a geo-cache in his memory, which we placed in Brasov, just outside the cemetery where he is buried.

We will all miss him very much and will remember his gentle soul and hear, his funny jokes, his love for sport and kindness. Rest in Peace, my wonderful dad!

This picture is when you gave me a way, daddy. You were so proud of me and I was so happy. I will always love you.

2015 Overview

Huge apologies to all my friends who are following us for not posting recently.

2015 was a good year for us, with the girls growing and enjoying their lives. Maria is now 7 and a bright and kind girl, loving her school and all the activities. She is very open minded and likes to try new things. This year she has been very busy with school and all her extra curricular activities: swimming, tennis, gymnastics, badminton and drama. Maria also loves arts and was awarded the BBC Blue Peter badge for her achievements in arts and crafts, as well as the “Get Inspired” badge for sports and involving friends in sports. We are all very proud of her.

Elsa has been a very sweet little sister, trying to copy everything that her older sister does and managing the most of it. She is super cute, loving her role play and her pretend friends. Elsa also does quite a lot, too: swimming, gymnastics (twice a week), tennis, drama and ballet. She loves all of them. It seems like I re-live my childhood, with Maria in my role and Elsa in my sister’s. So many similarities and so different characters, even being sisters.

2015 was a good year for us and very busy. Highlights of the year:

8 years anniversary and I turned 40 in March. My mom and aunt came to visit me for my birthday and Will baked and decorated the most amazing birthday cake I ever had.















With my mom, Lauren and Mio in New Forest

In April, we went to Polzeath, a very nice part of Cornwall, with wide beaches and lots of surfers. The views of the sea and coast were amazimg and our house was probably the nicest we have ever stayed in. We got together with Will’s parents, sister, brother and their families to celebrate Will’s mom 70^th birthday. We all had a very special time and memories to treasure.

 

In early June, we spent two nights camping with two of our badminton friends, who walked the whole length of UK from Lands End to John O'Groats.

 

 

In June Will turned 37 and tried his strength again. J

In late June, we had special visitors. My sister and her family came to the UK. They spent only a few days with us, but enough to show them a bit around and spend some quality time together. The highlight of the visit was playing badminton with my sister after about 25 years. We played 4 matches of mixed double against each other and it was a draw. It was such a pleasure to see her back onto the badminton court.

Maria finished Y1 in July. Here is a picture of her and her teachers in Year 1.

In summer, Maria attended the SKY bike ride.

We went for the first time to a Butlins holiday, in Bognor Regis, which was great fun.

We also went to London, the Olympic Stadium for the Anniversary Games. It was very nice to be back to the Olympic Stadium and Olympic Park, where we had great memories from London 2012.

 

Summer went really quick, even if we didn’t travel much. The girls enjoyed spending time with their friends and doing different fun activities.

School started at the beginning of September for Maria, who is in Year 2. Elsa started her last year in pre-school. Here is the annual pictures in the first day of school:

Elsa is now 4 years old. She had a nice birthday and my mom came over to celebrate with us.

 

 

In October half term, we went for a trip to Paris and Disneyland.

 

In October we went to the Rugby World Cup to see Romania playing vs France. It was a great pleasure to meet up with our friends, Matt & Sally.




Maria turned 7 this year.

We spent Christmas and New Year's in Romania, with family and friends. We had a lot of fun and great to see everyone there.

Some other pictures from 2015: