Smidgen of Normalcy

I had a very lovely, quiet day for most of Saturday.

Timothy and Daniel helped Joshua and Amber and the kids move into a new home.

Rebekah played something called a switch.

And I finished the formatting for my werewolf novel Lycanthropic Summer, so Rebekah can send for the proof copy today.

About mid-afternoon, Sarah, who lives in Raleigh, called me. She was on her way to my parents' house. She'd called an ambulance for my father.

And that changed the tone of most of the weekend (He went home yesterday afternoon, and he's doing OK).

Sunday I worked, and I spent a good portion of Monday editing for a client. And that was in addition to helping to manage care for my Dad.

But on Monday morning, I experienced a slight return to normalcy.

Timothy had to paint a room at Joshua's house.

And I went, too, to celebrate the joy of the beautiful new home with family I really haven't seen (except for the surprise visit) since the pandemic began.

Now we all wore masks.

And we stayed six feet or more away from each other. That's why this photo at the end of this blog is slightly blurry.

Riley did sneak a hug around my legs. But she's four. And she did have her mask on.

No one was coughing or sneezing.  And I did spend a portion of those two hours outside in the driveway on the telephone to the hospital.

Still, it was the first testing of the masking and social distancing strategy with anyone outside of where I live.

Hopefully, the experts are right about this.

If they're wrong, well, I might be writing a different sort of post down the road.

Before we went home, we participated in a quick drive-by for Labor Day at the nursing home where Ron lives.

He was "not there" and didn't even respond to his name.

But we got to see him, and we are thankful to staff who arranged the event.

Historically, I have always worked on Labor Day. For me, it's important I honor the day by using the skills God has given me.

My main gift is the ability to communicate.

This weekend, I used it at work, for a client, with my family, and by providing many hours worth of information to Sarah and four different care providers.

No one grilled out. But Sunday night, Daniel surprised everyone by ordering pizza.

So it's all good.

The Greatest Gift

Three years ago today daughter-in-law Amber had her third Cesarean section. She had told me the previous Christmas Eve that her due date was near my birthday and, if possible, she would schedule the birth for that day.

In addition to sharing a birthday, Riley and I also share a middle name: Marie, the name of my maternal grandmother and her cousin, my godmother.

It's a gift that grows more precious with every passing year.

Three Good Reasons to Take a Three-Day Break: Ezekiel, Jessica, and Riley

The downside to working many hours as a newspaper features editor and writer, as well as having a solitary hobby I love (writing fiction), coupled with the current inability to afford a car poses a distinct challenge when it comes to spending time with family that doesn't live nearby.

So with some leftover vacation time that needs using up before the end of 2016, I decided to spend some of it with family.

I spent the last three days about an hour away from home at my son Joshua's and his wife Amber's home being mother and mother-in-law and as well as grandmother to Ezekiel (4), Jessica (2) and Riley (4 months and born this year on my birthday).

Timothy hung out with me on Friday and played uncle. Rebekah hung out with me on Saturday and Sunday and played aunt.

And what did we do?

I colored and played with stickers and sticker book with Jessica, browsed through Spiderman comic books with Ezekiel, danced to Colby's Missing Memory with Jessica and Riley, played Candyland (Joshua, Rebekah, Ezekiel, and Jessica, with Amber and Riley looking on), watched bad stand-up comedians with Timothy, introduced Joshua to Galavant, and watched Koran dramas with Rebekah.

I ate pizza from Aurelios twice, compliments of Joshua managing the local venue. I taught my monthly writer's workshop (and I have a new student) on Friday night, hardly missed a beat on exercise, read some, and slept full night's sleep on Friday and Saturday , luxury in and of itself. 

On Sunday, we all attended the church of Amber's choice. This brought the double blessing into running into an old friend (guitar player in the worship band) and a great message of dying to self.

I changed plenty of diapers and even mixed up two batches of formula, a first for this former nursing mom (Amber's breast pump broke).

In short, I had a fantastic weekend!

Today it's back to work for just three days, a marathon feat since five days will have to be crammed into these three.  But first, a few photos of some of the most important people in my life.