Day 39 - Governor Newsom imposes new restrictions

Xmas Eve!!! Gift exchange with B. and L….

12/24/20. Thursday. Xmas Eve.

9:30 – 10:00 - Tired this morning so it takes some doing to actually get out of bed.

10:00-10:30 – Downstairs and I take the dog out.  She goes No. 1 and No. 2 and then we go inside for her treat.  Uh oh.  I keep forgetting I’m out of treats so I put some shredded cheese in her dog bowl. I make coffee and unload the dishwasher while it’s brewing.

-L. comes downstairs to make cookies.  We’re going to see my parents today and L. promised my Mom a batch.

-L. finishes the dough and leaves for Starbucks.

10:30-11:30 – I’m having difficulty getting motivated today.  My coffee’s done, so I go upstairs and read Dancing with the Octopus.  If you’re thinking this is related to the hit documentary that came out two months ago, it’s not.  This book is a memoir about a teenage abduction.  She survives and lives to tell her story.

-L. returns from Starbucks. Bad news:  the dough somehow collapsed in the refrigerator and L. is unable to roll it out. She adds more powdered sugar but the dough has to be re-refrigerated and now there is not enough time to make the cookies.

11:30 – 12:15 – I take a quick shower.  Lotion.  Covid-19 winter uniform. I decide to put my make-up on in the car on the way to my parents’ house.

12:15 – 1:15 - I put on an Adulthood Made Simple podcast about job hunting.  The host is 23/24-years-old and just graduated college.  She moved from the Midwest to New York City to work for Real Simple magazine and is trying to navigate life as a young 20-something-year-old, with all the trials and tribulations that come from being a young adult.  L. listens to most of it, then pronounces the podcast “stupid.”

Driving

-We are on the 14 freeway and gravel is continuously hitting L.’s windshield although there is no gravel truck in sight.  I can’t figure it out.

OMG! – Hail is hitting the windshield!!

L. and I exit Avenue S because Pearblossom Hwy is closed and the line of cars is astronomical.  We’re in complete gridlock.  At the same time, the hail appears to be turning into ice sheets or snow flurries – I’m not quite sure how to describe it.  We are only a few miles from my parents’ house in a line of cars that is not moving in a hail storm that is becoming more intense by the minute.  L. makes the executive decision to abort and head home for fear of getting snowed in and forced to remain in the AV.  Sidebar:  Last year, my parents and brother’s family were snowed in and unable to attend Thanksgiving at my house. L. calls grandma and tells her the bad news, but we reschedule for Saturday, so it’s not that far off. We turn around.

1:30-2:30 – Driving

-I try another Adulthood Made Simple podcast, but L. is not feeling it so I give up.

2:30-2:45 – Home.  B. is scheduled to come over for the gift exchange at 6:00, but L. asks me if I can push it forward by one hour.  I call B. and ask if he can come over at 5:00 instead and he confirms.

2:45 – 4:00 – I color my hair.  Another shower so I can rinse the color out – I wish I had planned this better.  Blow dry and I have to reapply my make-up.

4:00-4:45 – I turn on all the Xmas lights and wrap B.’s presents.

5:15 – 7:00 - B. arrives with gifts, eggnog, and Xmas cookies!  We sit in the living room while L. plays Santa and brings the gifts to us [they’re under the tree in the kitchen] to unwrap.  I spike B.’s eggnog with whiskey and pour myself a glass of champagne.  L. feeds her Ipad through a Bluetooth light bulb in our living room lamp [yes, it’s cool, but weird] and we listen to Xmas music while we open our gifts. This is all so festive and fun! 

B. is super generous and gives me cash; a really nice long-sleeved dress that I had my eye on for several months and casually mentioned to L. (how did he know?);  pajamas; and the new Michael Connelly book, The Law of Innocence.  L. gets cash and a gift card to Reformation. I give B. $100 towards an outdoor gas heater that he is thinking of buying; an Auto Zone gift card; a Keurig; and a pkg. of novelty coffees so he can figure out which flavor he likes the best. I also bought a specialty globe for his desk but there was a problem with shipping and it will arrive on 12/28 (sigh). L. bought B. four pkgs. of Bamba socks.

R. arrives to pick up L. and they leave for a Xmas Eve gathering at his house (8 people).

7:00-9:30 - B. and I stay on the couch, talking.  More “eggnog” and champagne all the way around.  L. and R. return and we are right where L. left us, over two hours ago – we haven’t moved. R. leaves – he has to work tomorrow at 6:00 a.m.  On Xmas!!  Can you believe that?

10:30 – B. also leaves.

10:30-11:30 – L. assembles a cheese plate for Xmas dinner tomorrow. I take the dog out, shut everything down, and lock up. Night time ritual and bed. Long day but lots of fun.