Brittany came over yesterday for dinner and to play Animal Crossing, a new Nintendo game that both she and Elisabeth are really excited about. We ordered take out from Yak and Yeti because we wanted to contribute in our own small way to a local restaurant. Many small businesses and their staff are suffering right now and people around the city and state are trying to get take out and delivery from these places as often as possible. I drove to the restaurant where I promptly parked in the very first spot. The “open” sign was off but the front door was unlocked and I walked into an empty restaurant. Most of the lights were off and the only sound came from the kitchen. Tables were covered in tablecloths and vases of fake flowers, ready for customers. The only greeting I received was a handwritten sign that said “No dine in service available” being held between a yeti statue’s hands with hand sanitizer sitting next to it.
A man walked over after a minute or two and we talked briefly about the weird state of things. He told me that over 25 parties scheduled in the space were now cancelled but he was hopeful that they would be able to cover their bills. It was so strange. I got my order, drove back home, and Elisabeth and I immediately dumped the food into our own bowls, trashed the restaurant’s containers, and washed our hands.
This experience is interesting, to say the least.
The evening was really great and I absolutely loved the vegan alu saag I got (potatoes in creamed spinach), I would definitely get it again. I was telling Elisabeth and Brittany that when this is all over, we should get together again and eat the same stuff we ate last night as a celebration.
This morning I organized my closet and was done at 8:30am. 😉 What can I say, I get up relatively early on weekends and my space is pretty organized to begin with. I also read, did laundry, and took care of my plants. I now have a snake plant family section on top of the bookshelf next to my desk. I went to Michael’s to pick up an order Elisabeth and I had placed last night as we wanted to have cross stitch supplies and I wanted paint supplies in case in the near future these stores are all closed. There were still loads of people there, which I get because I think they’re all doing the same thing as me, but it felt weird and made me a bit nervous. Some people were definitely not standing far enough apart from one another either. Come on people, 6 feet!
This afternoon Elisabeth and I went on a walk where again I felt paranoid because of how close people were fine with getting to me. Although, to be fair to them, there was snow on the grass so unless either of us wanted to get our shoes wet, there wasn’t that many places to create social distancing. Elisabeth and I decided we’ll try walking around in the nearby neighborhoods tomorrow as we think there will be less people there. After that we played online pictionary with Brittany and one of our Meetup friends. That was quite fun and it was nice to spend some time focusing on drawing and laughing versus finding new ways to clean the house and wash our hands. Brittany drew a really cute Frankenstein and Elisabeth drew a hilarious gargoyle (pictured here). We’ll be doing another chat tomorrow to discuss a comic book, so that’ll be good.
I also got to video chat with Kaitlin and her family! That was a highlight of my day because I haven’t seen their live faces in a couple of weeks and I miss them all terribly. Emmie asked me if I was wearing socks and slippers so I showed them the socks I was wearing. Kaitlin then explained that Emmie let them know earlier that if Aunt Lauren is wearing slippers, she’s probably wearing socks with them because she doesn’t wear slippers without socks. Wow, that girl knows me. During the wintertime she is 100% correct! I love her so much. I gave her a virtual hug and she hugged the phone back to give me one and it made me smile. She told me a silly story and then a melt down happened when she asked to hold the phone so she could look at my face. Kaitlin let her but she kept covering the camera so I couldn’t see her. Kaitlin tried showing her how to hold it but she couldn’t quite grasp it so Kaitlin took the phone to hold it and Emmie lost it. So we said goodbye and I hope to video chat with them again some other time. These are the moments that make me feel good and keep me going. I love my family!
For today’s happy moment, I share this video of toddler twins discussing the quarantine and having a really nice, fun, sibling moment. Reminded me of me and Kaitlin.
Just Lauren 