May 2021 | Recap

May was good to me. I hope it was good to you too! I’ve been doing my monthly recaps by grouping two months at a time for the majority of the pandemic, but so many happy things happened in May that I wanted to write a post all about this one month. That is just one more sign that things are getting better, I think!

As of May 30 in Michigan, 42% of the population is fully vaccinated and 48% has had at least one dose. This is a great map to search those stats in your own region. I’ve been fully vaccinated since early January, but only in May did I FINALLY feel like I got to take advantage of this, thanks to so many other people now being vaccinated.

If you are on the fence about getting vaccinated, then I encourage you to watch this video from my friend Andrea, whose baby Fiona was in the PICU fighting for her life with COVID throughout May. Just hear her out and keep your mind open, please?

Where was I in May?

• Countries: USA
• Cities: Lansing, Michigan; Cleveland, Ohio
• Flights: 0
• Days on the road: 3

May on the blog…

• 13 Stunning Keswick Walks in the Lake District
• My Journey with Endometriosis (a huge update since my last post on that topic!)
• March and April 2021 Recap

May adventured like…

• Work has picked way up: After a dip in work in March, things picked back up for May. Currently I’m working in some capacity 7 days a week. To be honest I’m getting a little burned out. I know I will have some time off at the end of summer for a surgery, and part of the reason I’m working so much is to help pay for that. But I’m tired.
• A mother’s day trip: For mother’s day I drove to a garden in Michigan with my parents, and we stopped at a winery for a tasting on the way home. Then we got dinner from the luxury farm-to-table restaurant I worked at for a summer after college. It was such a perfect day!
• Reuniting with a friend in Cleveland: Probably the best thing I did in May was drive 4 hours to Cleveland to visit my college friend Julia for a few days! It was my first time outside of Michigan since September… woah. That’s the longest I’ve stayed in Michigan in YEARS. It was SO nice to see somewhere new and have those “travel feels” again… but it was even better to see one of my best friends. Honestly the whole weekend was what my soul needed. Also we watched an entire season of The Circle on Netflix and all I can say is #teamShubham.
• Reuniting with another friend: Just a few days ago I met up with my friend Liz at a winery that’s halfway between both our cities. We stayed until closing with a wine flight (me) and sangria (her) and of course a charcuterie board… It felt amazing to be reunited and not have that worry about COVID in the back of my head as we are both vaccinated!
• Learning to self inject my B12: In my March and April recap I shared that I’m now on B12 injections to treat pernicious anemia. I made a big step forward in May and learned to self inject. I now inject myself twice a week at home (it is still super scary to me!). I honestly feel better than I have in years and I’m so grateful that this got discovered and now I’m getting treatment.
• Planning future travels: Just this weekend I booked a short trip down to Florida to see my grandma, who I haven’t seen since January 2020. My parents are doing a long road trip this summer, and I’ll be flying down to Vero Beach to overlap with the dates they will be there. My uncle, second cousin, and her husband will also be there so it will be a mini family reunion. We also booked a fishing trip and a nighttime turtle walk! I am so, so, so excited and I actually feel confident and safe about this due to vaccinations which is SUCH a nice change.
• Still waiting on a surgery date: The main negative thing that’s continuing to loom over my head is that my surgery at the CEC hasn’t been scheduled yet. If you want to know more about this, I wrote a whole blog post on my endometriosis journey that you should grab a cup of coffee or tea and sit down and read. I was told that my surgery likely won’t be until late July or August now, which is a delay but does give me some security to plan things like that trip to Florida. I also got the quote for the surgery cost and… oh MAN. They gave me a big range, and the lower end of the range is achievable for me but the upper end is basically a whole house deposit. I am planning to go through the process of insurance appeal but yeah… it’s stressful.

Upcoming in June…

I’m writing this post with a cup of coffee, sitting by the window overlooking the lake at my family’s little cottage. It’s my first time visiting this year, and I have a feeling I will be here most weekends in June! Yes, it’s finally warming up in Michigan and I’m ready to get out on the lake with my paddleboard. June is also my dad’s birthday and father’s day so we will be doing some low key family celebrations.

Other than that, I’ve got some medical appointments as per usual, and will be trying to stay afloat with work. I also have a few blog posts planned – one about Michigan lavender farms! – so stay tuned for those. Later today I’m going to make a “fun list” of all the things I’d like to do in Michigan this summer.

How was your May? Are things feeling a bit safer where you are? Are you like me, and finally feeling more confident to get out and do things? What are your plans for June? Yes, I just bombarded you with questions. Let me know in the comments below!