This week has been a bit tough. It’s usually the best week of our summer holidays, as we celebrate both my husband and my step-daughter’s birthdays. We are normally traveling somewhere fun and doing extra special things to mark the birthdays. Last year, we were in Hawaii, and this year, we were supposed to be in Orlando. Also, my stepdaughter is turning thirteen, so it’s a big birthday.

I feel grateful that we are all healthy and that the adults are employed. We are much luckier than many. This acknowledged, it is difficult that we had to cancel our vacation, especially since we have not seen the kids since last summer. We feel that our London trip in the fall has about a 50/50 chance of happening, so that’s also tough. We miss the kids.

In honor of past vacations, I want to share one of my favorite family vacation photos from our Walt Disney World trip in 2016.

We have been celebrating Dan’s birthday, which was on Tuesday. Last Saturday, I took him to dinner at The Melting Pot. We felt very safe there, as the restaurant is huge, and they very much spaced out the guests. We had a alcove to ourselves, which was not only private, but very romantic!

Here is a picture that we took as we were heading to dinner.

And a few at dinner. We did have masks on at all times, except while eating.

I planned The Melting Pot for Saturday night, because I thought that it would be too much to enjoy on a work night, but on Dan’s actual birthday, it seemed sad not to go out, so we went to Carboy Winery. Carboy Winery is very strict with their mask/social distancing poiicy, plus they have awesome wine-slushies, so we like to support them. They are one of my favorite local discoveries.

The birthday fun continued as we received a surprise dual-birthday ( mine is in early August) surprise from my mom’s best friend, Nancy. I had told her about holding the chicken at the farm last week and how I wished our local community allowed pet chickens, so she sent us a pair. In her card, she told us their names are Bertha and Ernesta. Yes, one is missing a beak.

I love them so much. They’ve been given a place of honor on the curio cabinet, right behind our Ukulele from Hawaii!

Besides feeling down about the vacations, I’ve been feeling confused and frustrated. I have a close friend, someone whom I care very much about, who is deep into conspiracy theories regarding covid. She shares news stories that often get labeled as false or misleading by Facebook. Breitbart stuff. I disagree with her, but I also care about her.

I’m conflicted. I feel like I should say something, because I think what she posts are harmful ,and it makes me even more worried to see others agreeing with her. However, I’m not sure how to approach her, as I know she is sincere in her beliefs and they are her truth. I see conspiracy theory and she sees rock-solid evidence. What to do? If I lived closer and could see her, I’d have a conversation. A phone call would have the same tone, where you can really feel the vibe of the situation. I’ve felt compelled to respond to her Facebook threads, but I think it would come off as antagonistic or unkind. I feel angry about it though. My tolerance for anti-mask, “covid isn’t a big deal” talk is gone, but I’m left not knowing what to do with people I love who persist with this.

In writing news, I didn’t advance to the final round of the NYC Midnight Microfiction contest. I was disappointed, but I understood. My round-two piece wasn’t great.

Instead of writing, I began my new ELS Tutoring Youtube Channel: A to Z with Zora G. It’s still very rough, but I’m going to keep working on it. Dan has been a huge help!

In health news, I found out that my health scare from a few weeks ago, was nothing to worry about. This is a huge relief! HUGE!!!

We finished watching The imagineering Story documentary on Disney Plus. It’s great and helped fill the void of missing the theme parks. We also watched the latest Charlize Theron Film, The Old Guard. The Old Guard is fantasy movie about immortals. I wasn’t sure about it for the first fifteen minutes, the premise seemed silly, but then it had me hooked. Plus, I really like Theron.

We had a few amazing sunsets.

Dan took this picture of me in our nearby field.

And finally, cute cat pictures from this week. Slinky was trying to sit on my lap while I was trying to write.

Life is feeling more and more normal here in Littleton. Several times this week, we dined out, including a great discovery of the nearby Carboy Winery, and the connected Italian restaurant, Angelo’s Taverna. We loved them so much, that we went twice! I felt very safe, as they were actively refusing anyone without a mask.

On our first visit, Friday evening, the place was packed. We spent a pre-dinner hour in the winery, including enjoying a white wine flight and a slushy peach cocktail. Delicious! Service was great at both Carboys and Angelo’s. I think we’ve discovered a local favorite.

On Saturday, we drove to Georgetown for lunch. We wanted to do the historic train loop, but the times weren’t optimal, so it looks like we are going to try again this coming Friday. Georgetown is a very cute, western style town with loads of character. We felt very safe there, as masks and social distancing were strictly enforced. Lunch was BLT wraps at the Whistle Stop Cafe.

On the subject of masks and public safety…I had a wonderful phone catch-up with one of my best friends and truly one of the people that I treasure most in the world, but I was upset by news that she shared with me. She still lives in California, and while she is not in favor of masks, she does compile with the regulations. However, she has a friend, who lives very near us in Colorado (someone I think I may have met, but I don’t know) who does not believe in masks. This person will not cause a fuss when it is mandatory, she simply won’t enter the business. However, she will call up places to ask the stores if they will enforce wearing them.

One store she called was Old Navy, who told her that they would not enforce their mask policy, so she went with her kids. This made me really angry. At first, on my phone call with my friend, I sort of agreed with the stance that businesses should be allowed to make their own rules and people should decide for themselves, but the more I considered this, after getting off the phone, I totally disagree. This health situation is a mess, and the lack of a strong plan is making it messier. I want a mask mandate and fines for those who don’t comply. It’s not enough to have a “live and let live” attitude. It’s not working.

I agree with Colorado Governor Polis’ statement that people who don’t wear masks are “Selfish Bastards.” If you’re able and you chose not to, this is exactly what you are. I was angry at Old Navy for a wishy-washy policy, but I’m even more angry at the anti-mask customers who force the employees into uncomfortable situations regarding enforcement. I went to Target this week for the first time since the pandemic, and I saw the same thing. Maybe a quarter of the customers were not wearing masks or following directions regarding not trying on clothing or staying distant. These people are jerks. These people are creating not only a dangerous situation, but also injuring the economy. My tolerance for different perspectives on this issue is gone.

It makes my blood boil that our county, Douglas County, voted to opt out of the trip-county heath department, and was against a mask mandate for our county. We’ve signed petitions and hope this will be overturned.

My friend and long-time hair stylist in California had to close her salon after being open for about a month, due to rising cases. I feel so angry and sad for her, and for other business owners/employees in this difficult situation. She went out of her way to follow safety guidelines and disinfect like crazy, to protect her business, her clients, and herself. It’s heartbreaking and avoidable. Wear the damn masks.

Moving on…

I had a doctor’s appointment this week for a physical and well-woman’s check. I don’t want to get too freaked out yet, but the doctor saw something potentially suspicious, so I’m on pins and needles waiting for my pap-smear results. I had a blood test today and through six months of diet and exercise, I lowered all of my bad levels from late 2019. I’m no longer pre-diabetic. Now I need to keep working on it and keep everything in check.

On a lighter note, I joined the NYC Midnight Flash Fiction Competition. I had to create a 1000 word story in 48 hours with the following stipulations: It had to be in the genre of romantic comedy, the location had to be a diving board, and I had to include a jewelry box. Romantic comedies are not in my wheelhouse, but I gave it a shot.

We watched the new Tom Hank’s movie Greyhound. It’s a thrilling WW2 era drama about a dangerous Atlantic crossing of a supply ship convoy. It’s intense! Hanks also gave a great interview last night on Stephen Colbert, in which he spoke about Greyhound and also his experience with Covid-19. It’s worth a watch, if you didn’t catch it when it aired.

I started creating videos for my ELS tutoring channel on Youtube. I’ve been thinking of doing this project for over a year and finally went for it. Dan has been incredibly helpful. He bought me all of the tools and lighting, figured out a cool logo, and edited my videos. It helps to have not only a loving and encouraging husband, but someone who is a professional editor!

I’m hoping to get the initial batch of 8-10 videos up on Youtube by mid-August (my birthday,) and two a week after that.

Ignore the messy kitchen, but check out the lights!

The cows at the end of our street, were replaced by horses. I can see them from Dan’s office window!

Dan spoiled the cats with a ton of new toys. They have been very cuddly and cute this week.