International Nights

Friday and Saturday are the International Nights performances. This year, on Saturday they scheduled two shows and we are going to the early show. Originally this was designed to allow a bigger audience assuming the need for spacing due to COVID. They didn't end up needing to do that as the local authorities allowed for full capacity and no masks. In fact, despite all the talk of the delta variant in the news, there was not much evidence of people taking precautions at all. We saw handfuls of people in mask, sometimes families with kids masked but the adults not. Public transport was fully masked but that was due to federal orders. Luckily Vail is a very outdoors oriented town, but it's confusing trying to figure out what is the right thing to do for yourself.

On Friday morning, I joined Suzanne and Ben for a hike up the mountain and over to Lionshead. I got off to a bad start by forgetting my water. They had mapped out a hike with the help of the local maps and guides starting at the gondola in Vail Village. Luckily the trail was dry after all the rain we had. I went about 20 minutes with them and decided I wouldn't do well the whole way so turned back while they kept going. Once I got back to the village, I joined Joel and Joyce at the pool. For lunch we checked out Joe's Deli for sandwiches and ice cream. Their sandwiches were huge and delicious and they had some great ice cream flavours.

Dinner tonight is at El Segundo. They have a variety of tacos, bowls and burritos. My boss hog taco was delicious along with a side of black beans. Dessert was strawberries with a cream/yogurt mix and their churro donuts were perfect.

This year's International Nights are a little less star-filled, a little less action packed than before. I'm sure the planning and programming must have been a challenge, trying to book dancers and repertoire in ever changing circumstances. The highlight of the first night was the performance of Who Cares, dedicated to Jacque d'Amboise. Many dancers from both ABT and NYCB performed in the roles and many of them were debuts. This was a fun way to end the evening.

On Saturday, we started with breakfast at Ludwig's in the Sonnenalp. Joyce, Joel and I had gone their our first year and we loved the glass dining room. This time, there is no buffet and our bigger table was inside but the food was just as good as we remembered. After breakfast, Suzanne and I walked to the amphitheatre to watch rehearsal. This was definitely a highlight of the trip-the dancers did a combination of marking and dancing full out for their pieces, some in parts of their costumes, so in their regular dance clothes. 

The Int'l Night performance was at 5p so we went early to grab a bite at the amphitheatre. We saw several pieces that were created for the dance festival in previous years, some previews of pieces that will be performed on Monday and Calvin & Unity performed the pas de deux from After The Rain, one of my all time favourites. 

While the festival may not have been able to be as full programmed as in past years, we were all very grateful for the fact that we had live dance, new partnerships and new pieces. The audience was super appreciative, as almost every piece got standing ovations from a good chunk of the crowd.

First trip in 1.5 yrs!

I took my first plane trip since Dec 2019, first overnight away from home since Feb 2020, visiting Mei and family over Memorial weekend.

The TSA line in Southwest's terminal was deserted when I was there. I got in the wrong line and had to be redirected to pre-check. They have new ID scanners and don't even care about your boarding pass now. I had to remind myself about what to do going through the scanner. 🙄

It was so great to see Mei, Neve and Mason after so much time. Mason has grown so much, he's almost as tall as me! We had planned a potluck lunch on Saturday with Gugu, Al and Da Bo Mu. Bing was added at the last minute, since he's not around/caring for unvaccinated children. It was so great to see everyone and the weather was perfect. 

Aside from that one event, we didn't have much planned. We had a couple of nice meals out in Mei's new backyard seating area, did some shopping, talked a bit about our Hawaii trip, watched a bunch of movies together at home (The Hunt for the Wilderpeople, The Impossible, The Witches) which we all enjoyed, ate a little too much, played with Indy. 

Stephen came home on Sunday after a short visit with his dad and we had smoked tri tip, homemade french fries and ice cream.

Before you know it, it was Monday and time to go home. Both times, the TSA was fast but airplanes were full. There are still people who don't understand how to wear a mask after a year, and more things are touchless than before. 

It was a really good weekend. 

Joan's 101st birthday

We managed a year of this crazy pandemic. Several of my fellow ballet peeps are vaccinated now and it's time again to celebrate Joan's birthday. She looked amazing, her hair done up, beautiful outfit, jewelry. 

Margie made her a crane lei which ended up going beautifully with her outfit.

I've seen Reenie, Peggy and Margie around the studio. Kay, Sandy and Ye Rin I haven't seen in over a year.

I found a place where we could order a to-go tea service, Sugarbird Sweets. The food ended up being really good and plentiful! It was such a delight to be with everyone around a table, safely outside unmasked and to be able to celebrate Joan and all of us getting through this past year. 

Last weekend's Joan celebration was limited to those of us helped chauffeur her to the studio and back in the last few years of her teaching. 

This weekend a larger crowd, including her family (daughter, two grandsons and their wives and children) gathered again in her backyard for appetizers and a toast to Joan. We were able to be unmasked with permission from her family. There were many people I hadn't seen since last March and we have more time to catch up. Again, Joan looked terrific.

Second shot!

Yesterday, I headed back to the parking structure at USC for my second dose of the Pfizer COVID vaccine. Again, I'm nervous! This time aside from logistics worries, I also have concerns about how my body will react in the day or so following the shot. 

As I got closer to the freeway exit, traffic slowed down considerably. I sat in the lane for awhile but it wasn't moving so I went to the next exit and drove around. Apparently the traffic was all people going to the COVID site. They had opened it up for walk-ins. I asked a couple of traffic cops how I should drive to get to the right line and they were super nice and helpful. 

It probably added about 30 minutes to park my car but once I was there, the actual line was really not bad. I had been drinking a lot of water all day yesterday and ate alot as I'd heard those were ways to avoid side effects. That meant that by the time I'd parked I needed to pee again. 🤦‍♀️ The line looked speedy enough that I decided to do the shot first and then find the porta-potties. 

Check in was super fast. I presented the QR code from Carbon Health and was directed to the next line. A few minutes later, I was lining up for table 14. Two more people later and I'm sitting in the chair, showing the worker my vaccine card. I took out my phone to take a picture and the lady doing the jabs told me to prop my phone on the sharps bin and take a video so I wouldn't miss it. 

She then asked me if I had kids, grandkids, nieces/nephews. I told her nieces/nephews and she said well you can tell them, "Aunty is a superhero. She got the serum that stopped the virus that went around the world." I got all teary-eyed. It was so meaningful to hear her say that after a challenging year in which I suffered so much less than so many other people. We are all superheros.

After my jab, I popped down to the porta-potties and then back for my 15 minute waiting period. Then back in my car and home. The whole process took about 2 hours even with the traffic.

I continued to eat substantial meals and drink a lot of water. I hung out with a few neighbours last night and felt good. Went to bed a little earlier than usual. Woke up with a sore arm today (similar to shot #1) but no other I'll effects. I'm continuing to drink water but I'm going to cut down on eating to my normal routine. 😁

Two weeks from now, May 7th, I will be fully immunized. I'm already planning some travel for this summer. 

First shot!

I received the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine on Friday and the sense of relief is amazing.

In the weeks leading up to the state opening up vaccinations to people over 50 on April 1st, I had been getting more and more anxious to get the vaccine. I'd been seeing more people under 65 getting the vaccine and I had no issues with that. I have no idea what their criteria are and if they are finding ways around the rules, more power to them. Meanwhile, there are ads all over social media about how safe the vaccines are. I was getting infuriated at being advertised to for something I WANT and wasn't able to get. 

When the new eligibility was announced, those of us who fell into the new group weren't able to book on most sites until the day of eligibility, which just irritated my long term planning brain. 

Luckily, my friend Joyce let me know that Carbon Health, the company coordinating the city mass vaccine sites, opened bookings for the 50+ group a few days prior to April 1. I was able to snag an appointment on Friday at the USC site.

That morning, I had butterflies in my stomach, almost like I was going for a job interview! I wasn't concerned about the vaccine, I was stressed about making a mistake with my appointment, getting caught in traffic, missing something to prove I was eligible. None of that made any sense, it just shows how much importance I had invested in this vaccine.

The site was in a parking structure at USC. When I reached the site, there was traffic control and a sign that said 'vaccine site appointments only' and I got teary eyed. The site was very organized with many people directing car traffic, telling us where to park and then directing us to the line. I didn't have a long wait. The check in volunteer had an iPad to scan my QR code, ask some questions and then directed me to the line where the shots were being given. 

Once I sat in the chair, the process was so quick, I didn't have time to get a picture of the shot going in, so I got one of the bandage applied after.

 In two weeks, I will be 80% protected against COVID (go look up somewhere else what that actually means, I'm not an epidemiologist). In 3 weeks I will get the second dose. And then after May 7th I will be fully vaccinated. 

This morning I drove over to the nearest Krispy Kreme to get my free vaccine donut.

The next step is for all of my family and friends to become fully vaccinated so we can once again meet in person and give each other hugs.

One year

During the week of March 2nd, 2020, I had book group at Tania's in the Palisades, happy hour with some work friends, dinner with vendor friends at a hip DTLA restaurant, brunch with Mary Anne, Foster and Jess, dinner with Pam and Chris at The Mar Vista while doing the MV Art Walk. 

On Sunday the 8th, my ballet friends and I went to see ABT perform Of Love and Rage, a new Ratmansky piece based on an ancient Greek story. The following Monday was knitting group.

That week, we were told at work that we would be starting to work from home for the time being starting Monday. I had been working from home on Mondays for a few months, going in the rest of the week. I also had a dentist appointment that Monday morning and I wondered if it would be cancelled. 

I ended up going to the dentist on Monday the 16th and started working from home every day and I've been doing so since then. We won't officially go back to the office until September, although some offices may open as early as June depending on local conditions. 

I also filled up my gas tank on that Monday, which was my regular routine at the time. The lines are shorter at Costco gas in the morning and working from home gave me back an hour in the morning by not commuting. At the time, a tank of gas would last a week to 10 days.

The next time I had to get gas after that was in June. Since then, a tank of gas typically lasts a couple of months. 

Next week, LA County will finally allow some indoor dining, indoor gym attendance, movie theatres, museums. This season, baseball games will allow fans at reduced attendance. 

Congress passed a massive government support program that will get real help to people, cities and organizations. 

While I have yet to become eligible for a vaccine and we will all be wearing masks for the foreseeable future, it feels like we can breathe again. 

Small accomplishments

About 3 weeks ago, our communal mailbox was vandalized. The postal lock was damaged, parts were bent and my box's lock was broken. It didn't appear that any theft happened but how someone could've gotten in and why they did the damage were confusing to all of us. Our front lobby door closer was fixed months ago. The door into the lobby from the garage has a lock and it was not damaged. 

While this was a frustrating situation, the worst of it was yet to come. It took several calls, a few visits and a lot of conflicting information for us to figure out what we had to do with our mail service until we could get our box replaced. 

Finally, this weekend, I found a handyman to remove the old box and install the new one that I found. 

The saga is not over, as we still need to wait on the Post Office to install the new postal lock and there is no ETA on when they will receive one. Sigh. I really want to be supportive of the USPS but they just make it so hard. 

Glimmer of normal?

This weekend, the weather started to warm up. While it doesn't get very cold here and we're certainly not dealing with the terrible storms hitting Texas and parts of the midwest and east coast, temps still drop and our homes are not well insulated.

After Sunday morning ballet class, Gigi and Yuki asked me to go with them to a local coffee shop that was around the corner. We got our coffees and sat at a curb just to chat. 

Afterwards, I felt a lightness that I hadn't felt in almost a year. And I realized that it wasn't just meeting and catching up with friends. It's also the spontaneous nature of our coffee meeting. Those kinds of get togethers are the small but vital activities that we lost in the pandemic. 

As we start to see the light at the end of this long dark tunnel, and as we mark 500,000 deaths in the US, I hope we can get back those small things as much as the big ones.

Pandemic birthday

Last spring, I felt bad for people having pandemic birthdays. I thought I had just gotten mine in last February and assumed things would be back to some semblance of normal by now. It became clear shortly thereafter that COVID would be with us awhile so here we are, my turn at a pandemic birthday. 

So, it was a day like any other pandemic day, except for taking the day off work. I hung with the cats and watched them nap.

Did my grocery errand today instead of Saturday and hung out with my neighbours with a mini cheesecake they got me. Not a bad way to spend a birthday under any circumstances.

The best news happened for the cats: they have a new cat momma! I met with Azar via video a couple of days ago and she seems like a real cat person. I'm so excited for Grubs and Roly to find their forever home.

And it turns out Azar is a neighbour! She lives about 10 min from me. I love knowing the boys will be close.

End of an era in the White House and at work

Well it's was a traumatic, stressful, rage inducing 4 years. 

I'm completely obsessed with the wonderful young poet Amanda Gorman. Her poem was amazing and her performance of it, from her choice of outfit & jewelry to her hand gestures to her voice, transfixed all of us.

On a sad note at work, we were informed that Mike Mason is being let go from the company as of the end of February. No one (aside from the decision makers) understands this decision and those of us on the project are devastated.

The kitties are finally getting comfortable around me. 

Even Roly will hang on the bed with me. Such beautiful boys!

New cat visitors & a traumatic week

What happened this week at the Capitol is a wholely predictable travesty and tragedy. Also potentially terrifying. No more from me on that.

The kittens from December had to go back to the shelter during the last week of December due to needing medications for parasites. Candy corn was not going to be having any of that and let me know it. 

I found out a week later that they were being adopted. I was so thrilled for them but so missed them. They were so cute.

I picked up two new cats, this time 1 yr old orange tabby brothers. They are gorgeous cats but extremely skittish. Grubs, the short hair has been out playing with their toys and has even gone so far as to sniff my hand but won't let me near. I barely catch a glimpse of Roly Poly as he's dashing away between hiding places. 

They are amazing jumpers though! Grubs got himself into the tiny window ledge.

Roly stayed in the crate for quite awhile, although now he's mostly under the bed. I did catch him jump onto the top of my 5' cabinet in the bathroom! 

I hope they warm up soon, otherwise this won't be fun like the *corn sibs.

Ends and beginnings

The whole idea of the new year as we celebrate it in the west is fairly arbitrary. I mean, why not on the solstice? What meaning does this particular day have tied to anything going on in the real or natural world?

As has been the case for the last several years, our company was mostly shutdown between Xmas and New Years. Because we are being switched to new email addresses, we received new laptops and new phones just before the break. Not surprisingly, the instructions we received for switching over were pathetically inadequate so I did spend some time on the phone with tech support staff. Still lots of problems so that's going to be fun to deal with on Monday.

Xmas was spent alone. I ordered a meal from Casa del Mar/Shutters which was delicious and the family Zoomed in the morning but it was even more depressing than other years when I have chosen to stay home for whatever reason. 

I did plan an excursion with Ferreby to Huntington Garden which was supposed to be Monday, then was rained out by torrential thunderstorms! She worked a miracle to get us in on New Year's Eve. Ferreby has been a godsend over these past months. When people I thought were close friends have never bothered to reach out (despite my doing so), she's someone who has consistently found ways for both of us to get out safely and spend time together. The Garden was beautiful and the weather was perfect. We mostly stayed in the Chinese Garden, which had recently been expanded and reopened. While the plants in Winter are muted or dormant, they still add a beauty to the paths, water, and the backdrop of the San Gabriel mountains.

During the week, I saw an article about things to do on New Year's Day and it mentioned a horse ride through the Hollywood Hills. This was something I always thought would be fun but didn't really ever get around to. Perfect time and perfect excuse to get myself out of the house. Our group was just me and another couple. Again, the weather was perfect. The skies were really clear all the way to the ocean. Lots of people were on the trail, but most everyone wore masks plus being on horses, we were well above people's breathing zone and they also kept us safely 6' from each other. 

We rode up to My Hollywood (with a view of Griffith Observatory) and also right under the Hollywood sign. Although my butt is still sore, it felt really good to get outside this way.

The bonus of heading to this part of town is being a few minutes from Steven and Rob's house. I stopped by after and because they have a beautiful wide sliding door, we could be inside and still have an amazing cross breeze to keep us all safe. We still kept our masks on. I so thoroughly enjoyed just hanging out, no agenda, catching up with old friends. It really made for a nice start to 2021.

While I have no illusions that much will change by the turning of an artificial calendar, I do hope that with a new administration in DC we will at least start to have sane, scientific responses to this pandemic and that we will eventually, slowly (and maybe with some backsliding) start to find our way to our new future, whatever that may look like.

Fostering kitties

Last weekend, I took in two sibling kitties for fostering until they can find their forever homes. 

They are the cutest!! I kept them in the guest room their first day but they seemed pretty curious by day 2, so I let them check out the digs. The neighbours met them in the hallway that afternoon.

They have very different personalities. Popcorn is the male white and orange. He is more bold and took to me right away but he's also kind of feisty and prefers to play with his teeth. I'm trying to train him out of that but it's challenging.

Candy Corn is the female calico and she was more cautious but is super affectionate when she wants to be. She tends to enjoy pets and likes to sleep right on me or next to me. 

While I'm working, she will tend to sleep in the guest room with me, he will be on the sofa. They're pretty good eaters. They like playing with the felt dangly toy they came with. He's better and using the scratching box, she doesn't seem to have figurdt it out yet. 

He figured out how to climb the Xmas tree but hasn't done it again. Litter box duty is a pain. I'm still keeping them in the room when I'm out. Luckily, I don't get out much due to the pandemic. 

They can sometimes sleep in the most uncomfortable positions. I'm enjoying them while they are here, but it will be a lot less work when they are adopted. 

Pandemic Thanksgiving

In a weird year, Thanksgiving is going to be different. I didn't travel, which I haven't done in a few years but I had always had friends to share the meal with. I had to figure out what to do on my own and I wanted a proper meal. It turned out to be challenging to find places selling single meals instead of for 4 to 6. 

As I was feeling fairly sorry for myself, I saw a note from my friend Tricia about volunteering as a Thanksgiving meal driver for Project Angel Food. I decided that I needed to help others to remind myself of what I have to be grateful for. 

Shortly after signing up for PAF, I found a menu from a highly rated and fairly new restaurant that I hadn't tried before. Pasjoli was selling individual meals and their dessert was a pumpkin Basque cheesecake. Perfect! I don't much like pumpkin pie. 

As Thanksgiving approached I was pleasantly surprised by the organized and informative emails I was receiving from PAF. Many non-profits fall down on this front. In the morning, I headed to the meal pick up location. After some initial confusion approaching the location, I got my car into the line. First stop, make sure they have the paperwork they need (waivers, DL, insurance). Second stop, get the address list and a paper with the number of meals on my windshield. Third stop, get the meals loaded in my trunk. 

Before heading to the first stop, I pulled over to check the locations on the list. They are all clustered together in Koreatown and mid Wilshire. Aside from some parking issues, three of the deliveries went smoothly. One person was not at home. I left their meals with a neighbour who didn't speak English but looked like had at least one child. It took a couple of hours and I walked more than I anticipated. 

In the afternoon, I hopped on a Zoom call with Wilson and Ming and Mei's family. It was nice to see them all, Penny and Oliver have grown so much.

I had made arrangements with my neighbours Jasmin and Michael to eat together down by our fire pit. They canceled their travel plans last minute. About a half hour prior, I heated up the oven to warm up the turkey, stuffing, potatoes gratin, and green beans. Truffle gravy and cranberries warm up briefly in the microwave. Rolls get heated through in the oven, everything gets tossed on a plate. 

I brought down a bottle of 'FU Twenty Twenty' rose to share, which turned out really delicious! And the meal, so good! I definitely need to add Pasjoli to my takeaway list. They have a Xmas and a NYE menu as well. Need to think about that.😁

I finished with the pumpkin cheesecake with creme fraiche and caramel sauce. 

Seriously, why does anyone eat pumpkin pie? This was creamy with balanced flavours, absolutely perfect. Worth every calorie.🤤

Turns out, it was a pretty great Thanksgiving and I do have a lot to be grateful for. 

Lockdown again

CA and LA County are going back into lockdown. The COVID positive test rate is sky rocketing again. Curfew is in effect from 10p to 6a. Restaurants will need to close outdoor dining starting Wednesday. 

Meanwhile millions of people are traveling for Thanksgiving despite the fact many of them probably are carrying the virus but are asymptomatic. 

The amount of anger I have towards people who are not behaving for the good of the community is unspeakable. 

I'm taking the week off because work is exhausting and I won't be able to have a proper vacation this year. 

On Thanksgiving morning, I will drive to Project Angel Food and pick up meals to be delivered to people who are too ill to feed themselves. In the afternoon, I will heat up my to-go meal from Pasjoli, a fancy restaurant that's fairly new, was getting a great rep but I didn't have a chance to try before the pandemic started in March. My neighbours M and J had to cancel their trip to see family. So we three will meet down in our back area with our individual meals and share thanks for having good people for neighbours. 

Hallelujah!

The election result was announced on Saturday morning. 

Some of us celebrated last night with some bubbly. 

New Fridge!

Two weeks later, I have a fridge again! 

It took two stores (Best Buy, Home Depot), some soul searching to focus on what is most important for me in a fridge (side-by-side, white, ice/water in door, adjustable shelves), dealing with some friendly but not so knowledgeable staff, a long wait on hold with the delivery company, two additional trips to the store and finding the one guy who knows everything, and a pre-emptive call again to the delivery company because their automated call wasn't early enough for me. 

When the guys did arrive, they did quick work of pulling out the old fridge, installing the new one, removing all of the annoying protective plastic and disposing of the trash. Bonus: the fridge space floor has never been so clean.

I'm thoroughly enjoying the ice cubes and water, I've added some freezer organizers (at suggestion of my neighbour) and shelf liners and slowly building back my food stash. 

Pandemic silver linings

Here's my latest Bucket of Blooms project. 

First the bucket:

You can see the colours and different shapes and textures. The florist's skill is in putting the flowers together.

The florist used a wider shorter ceramic vessel whereas I used a taller skinnier one so I adapted the lesson to my vase's different shape.

I love the contrast with the silver of the vase and the asymmetry of the arrangement. I love this new thing I'm learning.

My neighbours stumbled on a fire pit for our back area and it's perfect! Several of us hung out on Friday enjoying the warmth of the fire in the slight evening chill of an LA autumn. 

Your most precious appliance is your refrigerator

So apparently, refrigerators are a hot (😂 see what I did there?) and rare commodity right now. Sadly for me.

My fridge (which was here when I moved in) bit the dust. It died overnight with all of my freezer items pretty much melted in the morning. I had a repair guy come and look at it but there was no hope. 

When I tried to find fridges available to be delivered in the next few days-nothing. I thought I had some options but even those disappeared the next day. 

I was able to borrow space from a neighbour for a couple of days. I found a mini-fridge at Best Buy late on Thursday. Crossed my fingers that they actually had it and I could pick it up the next day. And they came thru! Thank you Best Buy!!

So now I've got the few things I could salvage from my fridge stored safely. A few things remain in my neighbours freezer for the duration. I took the weekend off from fridge hunting, I'll pick it up again this week.

One thing I found online that has been a wonderful salve for the soul is the LA Phil's Sound/Stage series. They are a series of 1/2 hr online concerts, filmed at the Hollywood Bowl in August. The musicians are spread apart on the giant stage, wind players behind a plexi screen. No audience. There have been 2 so far and they have been incredibly beautiful and poignant. 

Almost normal

There was a lot going on this weekend, after a rather exhausting week of work. It started with learning of the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She made my life as a single woman possible. This is a huge loss and many of my friends and acquaintances are feeling it. 

And yet, so many almost normal things happened this weekend. My friend Amy had returned from summering in Minnesota and we planned a 'spontaneous' safely distanced afternoon meet up at Superba. I haven't seen her in real life since March and it felt so good to catch up and not have a screen between us.

I also figured out how to change out my air filters. Just one of those home maintenance chores that I had no understanding of and took forever to Google what to do. But with the poor air quality from fire smoke and the amount of time I have on the weekend to figure stuff like this out, no better time.

I almost messed up my Sunday morning ballet class booking but learned last minute that I got in, but even more special was that Gigi was coming to class for the first time and Yuki would be there as well! We haven't all been in class together in ages. Prior to the pandemic, our class schedules were just not the same. All three of us promised to have Chiyako in our thoughts during class. Ballet is the one thing that gives us a sense of our full selves. Aside from the masks, we have to work just as hard in class and focus just as much. It's such a gift. I think we all appreciate it more now than ever before.

After class, I hopped on an IG Live sale of crystals for a designer who I was introduced to via a work friend. I started out just wanting to lurk but it turned out to be super fun. By the end, some of us were chatting over the live comments and joking about doing a WLA meet up. 

Finally, the pandemic Emmys was Sunday night. It was a strange broadcast with everyone at home and some random bits happening in the studios. (Alpacas are cute with their moptop hair, but that was a lot of work for an Al Pacino joke.) I'm thrilled for Schitt's Creek winning so many and landing all 4 acting Emmys, and for the Watchmen wins. Schitt's Creek helped get me through pandemic spring and I'm so thrilled for this talented group of Canadians.