Day 51- May 2, 2020

Day 51- May 2, 2020

Today was a simply beautiful day.  The governor opened state and county parks, which sounds amazing, but we decided against heading to one because, well, I think everyone else in Jersey had that idea (or at least according to FB and Instagram they did). 

There was a super-nice Saturday back in February, the first time we could really walk outside comfortably since the fall, and we made the error of attempting to walk the Saddle River park system with the girls.  R. got run over by a bicyclist speeding around a blind curve (to her credit, the woman did stop after rolling over my daughter's leg), and we realized that the first day people are allowed out of the captivity of their houses, you get a lot of people wound up, doing stupid things like wheeling over a nine-year-old.  R. was okay, but it was definitely a wake up call that maybe Saturday morning walks on a public path after being stuck inside for months isn't the best idea.

So instead, I spent a significant portion of the day inside, painting.

A close friend from childhood lost her dad, and while she lives in Dallas, the house he lived in is in New Jersey.  So Jeff and I are helping her out by painting it to ready it for sale.  We did an experiment where we dropped off the girls at my mom's, since we didn't want them stuck in a random yard for the afternoon.  Mom's two acres mean plenty of space for the kids to run around, and since we lived there for two years, my girls' swingset is still in the yard.

Mom and Bryan worked on the fishpond while they spent a few hours running around like crazy people.  I, meanwhile, smoothed on light blue-grey paint in a living room, worked on the trim around the giant windows, and enjoying the cross-breezes from the open windows. It was the longest I've been off a computer in weeks, since I spend most days doing my own work, and helping my kids do theirs on their Chromebooks.  It was delightful- love to use my hands, and being able to see the transformation of the rooms is extremely rewarding.    That said- I started to notice my eyes itching and my nose running, and realized that The Pollening has begun in New Jersey.  This is the time of year when the Singulair I take needs the aid of Benadryl and possibly Zyrtec (which I ordered from Amazon and am hoping will be delivered soon). 

Lounging on the swingset

After a few hours, I drove around the corner to get the girls, where I found them rearranging the swings to create hammocks. E. was already lounging, and R. was carefully crawling along the monkey bars on top of the swingset, carefully reaching down and re-positioning her swing.  They have been playing Miraculous (based on the tv show Miraculous Ladybug) where they pretend one o their beanie boos is a miraculous that transforms them into a superhero based on the miraculous.  Today, it was a purple leopard and a panda bear (if you look in the photo, their outfits match the beanie boos.  They were happy, and didn't want to leave yet, so I spent some time talking to mom, and watching the fishpond, where Harold the frog sat contentedly in the shade of a rock.

The girls and I heading home, I checked Amazon, put some necessities in the Whole Foods cart like juice and vegetarian imitation meat and such, and found (remarkably!) a Whole Foods delivery slot for tomorrow afternoon.   I jumped on it, and just like that, we have orange juice for the next few weeks.  I then let the girls run down to visit with their friend L. a house away, and commenced making dinner.


After the girls and I ate, we decided to drive to where Jeff was still working, and surprise him with veggie Italian sausage, crispy sautéed brussels sprouts, and salad.   On the way, we pulled over when we saw E.'s best friend A. and her three sisters outside with their dad.  The littlest sister just turned five months old, and was a roly poly adorableness as A. made her giggle.  Seeing their friends in person, even from the safe distance of the car, causes an immediate mood lift in the girls.  It's nice to see people on an app, but there's something about the in-person interaction that just can't be replicated, no matter how good the technology is.

Jeff was thrilled to see us, and we sat outside at a back patio table while the girls ran around the yard.  The grass is overgrown (something our friend will have a landscaper take care of before the home goes on the market), and it wraps itself around the girls' ankles.  They played hide and seek with the giant bushes lining the property, and shrieked gleefully as they chased each other about. R. remarked on the sky, saying "it's so pink!" as the sun began to set, and I gathered up the kids and loaded them into the car.

One more day done in quarantine, one more day of memories.  On to day 52.