Opening up

I just spent roughly 5 days visiting my parents (who live 3 hours away, same state). We have all been very careful about social distancing and felt comfortable with the visit, but I have to admit, it was harrowing to start. I had a slight anxiety attack starting driving there. But it turned out great. I worked from home for a few days, though the type of work I'm doing I could do things like bake cookies with mom or work on a puzzle with both mom and dad. Saturday Mom and I went hiking a little, with our masks ready to be pulled up whenever we passed somebody. We washed and waxed my car on Sunday, which had beautiful weather, and overall we played a lot of card games.

Most importantly, there were lots of hugs. Man, I had missed hugs. And it's not like I don't sometimes go months without physically seeing my parents (my parents travel. A lot). It's just in this stressful time I needed hugs and it was wonderful having them.

We vaguely made plans for me to visit in July (so we can watch Hamilton together when it comes on Disney+). They're hoping to be able to visit my brother and his kids sometime this month, but my brother is (understandably) paranoid, especially since my niece and nephew are going back to daycare and therapy (my nephew is autistic), and my brother doesn't want their exposure to hurt our parents. We'll see how that shakes out.

So I've had a weekend of hugs and petting kitties, and I brought back my late grandmother's supply of yarn to crochet. I feel a bit more energized, and hopefully everything will shake out well.