Monday, December 14, 2020

Oh, Happy Day

Life feels pretty good now that I've finally been allowed back into mom's assisted living building! I had to go through a brief training, sign my life away (just kidding), and have to wear a face shield and mask, but other than that, I can go in a couple of times a week to see mom and help her out with things. She was SO HAPPY to have me visit, and we were able to start taking care of stuff like laundry again. The Covid vaccine should be available to the people living there in a couple of weeks, and mom thinks it's probably a good idea to get one. Of course, it's a little hard to believe that this opportunity to see her in person will last since there's been so many twists and turns in 2020, but right now I feel a bit high. It's wonderful.

Tuesday, December 8, 2020

Thankful




Katie, Avi, and little boy made it here from Maryland the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. I guess it was a pretty grueling drive as little boy didn't really want to do much sleeping along the way. It brought back memories of road trips we took when the kids were little, and there were definately some hours of fussing and unhappiness going on in the car, but since there were miles to go, we just pushed through. Katie and I cooked together this year. I made a smoked turkey in the oven, green bean casserole, and special mashed potatoes. Katie made a (vegan) Thanksgiving dinner she had delivered from the Purple Carrot! It was all really wonderful, and I loved that we could spend that time together in the kitchen. The day after Thanksgiving, Aaron turned one. Katie made him a cake, and we lit a candle. He didn't really get into smashing his piece of cake too much, but actually seemed more interested in watching the kids across the street jump on a couple of old mattresses layng in their front yard! The Saturday after Thanksgiving, the weather was close to 40 degrees and sunny, so we drove over to see Grandma Joyce through the screen porch of her building. I'm glad that we did, as who knows when that might happen again now that's it's winter. We had a lot of leftovers from our Thanksgiving dinner, too, so we brought some over to Jake and Brianna's, doing the drop off in the parking lot because of Covid. One day things will be normal again! Then today, Bruce turned 65 ... we celebrated in a low key sort of way, but had some yummy food to eat. We picked up hibachi lunch specials from Kai's Little Sushi, and had spaghetti and meatballs for supper. Plus apple cranberry crisp for dessert. And then, Katie's friend (Liz) surprised us by dropping off some presents for Aaron. Still so much to be grateful for ... our days are full with all the things that go on with little boy, and I can't believe how lucky we are to have them here with us for the holidays. We also have stayed healthy so far. It's a good thing to focus on the positive, and I continue to try to do that, especially in this challenging year!