On March 13 the country went into Coronavirus lockdown, and New Mexico has stayed pretty much shuttered ever since. We've interacted with the Jeb Brown's and the Sterling Brown's, but that's pretty much it. Seeing anyone else has been an exciting and novel experience over the past six months. This week, however, felt almost like life before Covid.
On Sunday the Danny Brown's had us over for dinner. We contributed a double batch of rolls and they provided stew and dutch oven cobbler. We ate, played a phone based party game, and sat around their firepit chatting into the night. It was delightful.
Monday was Labor day. Matthew needed to work it, both because he had work that needed to get done and because he wanted to bank the holiday hours to use for his upcoming hunt. Since he'd be working, I decided we'd do school and pretend it wasn't a holiday at all. Unfortunately, treating it like any other day befuddled my brain and I neglected to notice that I had double booked us for the evening. Cassie invited us over for a BBQ at their house, and I committed to bring dessert. Hannah's sister Cecilia also invited us for a BBQ and pool party at her house and I committed to bring chips and dessert. Somehow I got it into my head that Cecilia's was on Wednesday, so Matthew was confused when Jeb texted an hour after we were supposed to be there asking if we needed directions. I had just pulled the double batch of peach cobbler meant for the Barrios' party out of the oven, and a decision had to be made. I had the chips and ice cream bars ready for Cecilia's, and we could just drop them off and maybe stay for half an hour, but they live way on the other side of Albuquerque and not at all in the same direction as Cassie and Beto. We'd be super late to the Barrios' either way. I chatted with Cassie, and she should be commended for being so laid back and understanding. Thankfully, they had invited another family as well, so we weren't totally ruining their party, and Beto was actually just fine with the prospect of putting the meat meant for us in the freezer for him to eat another day. We made it to the Chavez' just in time for burgers and hot dogs, and the kids still got plenty of swimming in. Our kids fit in with the Anderson cousins like they belong there, and I think in the end we made the right choice.
We spent Tuesday moving Hyrum in to Abraham's room and getting a guest room ready for my mom to visit. At 7:00 pm Hyrum got to go to a real, live, in person Young Men's activity at the church. He was so happy to see his friends. We got home from the activity and half an hour later, Grandma J arrived. She brought her nearly one year old poodle along, and it turned into a late night for everyone due to making accommodations for the dog. A freak storm moved in from the North and dumped several inches of snow in Denver. New Mexico got a bit of snow in some of the higher mountains and the temperatures dropped into the low 40's here in Albuquerque, so we decided to set up kennels in the great room and let the doggies sleep inside.
Grandma J was with us all day Wednesday. In between school lessons, I worked on the last of the dehydrated meals for Matthew's hunt and even managed to spend a bit of time on the quilts. Matthew went to his last evening of archery at Jeb's while the rest of us stayed home with Grandma. We took the puppies on a walk after dinner, and then we watched Frozen before bed.
Ed was meant to be transferred to a rehab facility where visitors are not allowed, so Grandma J had planned to stay with us for several days. His insurance wouldn't pay for the rehab hospital however, so instead he was sent home and my mom was needed back several days earlier than she anticipated. She ended up only being here the one day, and left after breakfast on Thursday. Her departure meant that we could still have our playdate with the Brown's, so it all worked out alright in the end. We watched a lot of Avatar that evening, and Matthew spent close to five hours stuffing homemade sausages.
Sandia is nearing the end of the fiscal year and Matthew had several projects he needed to finish up before he takes the next two weeks off, so he worked on Friday. I wanted to give the kids something of a party day, so once they finished their piano practice and morning chores, we settled in for a movie and ice cream. Lunch was followed by a trip to the library (which turned out to be closed, perhaps because of 9/11?) The request was made to create a giant cookie, so a portion of the afternoon was dedicated to that, followed by a walk with Mabel, take out pizza and more Avatar once Dad got home.
Matthew still didn't have work quite wrapped up, so he went in to the lab for a couple hours this morning. I was able to spend a lovely three hours at an outdoor baby shower. It was so refreshing to see the faces of and talk in person to so many friends. Matthew and I spent the afternoon in search of a fuel canister for his backpacking stove. It was clear hunting season had started because Walmart, Cabela's, Sportsman's Warehouse, and REI were all out of camp stove fuel. He has two partially full canisters, so he'll still be able to heat his food, he was just hoping to only need to carry one. Tonight we finally finished Avatar, and can now stop watching so much TV each evening!
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