Because we can't lose our sense of humour, right?
Fun fact: I've been in quarantine three times so far and let me tell ya...it ain't a charm! Had I known about this drink, it may have gone by easier and quicker, wink wink.
Today, I am thinking about and praying for all the mothers who are hard core socially distanced from their families today, mothers who are in nursing homes, hospitals, and Covid wards where hugs and kisses and "I love you" can't reach them.
Today, I am praying for all their families who feel helpless, hopeless and frustrated because of the lockdown restrictions and the pandemic, in general.
Today, I am remembering all the mothers who are not with us physically but whose spirits still watch over us.
For those of us fortunate enough to be with our mothers and our children because they are in our primary social bubbles, let us give a huge thanks to Our Creator from a deeply grateful heart.
I would love to know how you are all spending this Mother's Day and what is in your hearts and thoughts. Have you found creative ways to connect? Last Mother's Day was difficult for me because I caught Covid while I was overseas and I was cut off from my family and friends for many moons.
Having Zoom (and being able to see my mother's face on screen) saved my sanity (or what was left of it) during quarantine and long, moody, fearful periods isolation.
Was it better than normal? Of course not. Did it help? Yeppers.
I really care about all of you and hope that this day will find you some peace and joy.
--Gee Gee 💗
So, obviously, we are living in a surreal time of lockdown, quarantine, curfews, vaccine shortages, closures, restrictions, uncertainty, fear, anxiety, loneliness, burn-out, boredom, increased drinking (just me, then?), Netflix dependency and smaller social bubbles.
How in tarnation does a hostess survive with her hosting skills intact, then?
How does one hostess when there is no one to host?
What does one do with all that pent-up energy (and here I speak for you because I don't have much lately) and occasional bursts of manic creativity?
How does one keep the dust from thickening on one's recipe card box?
If you have the answer, please share with me!
Ha ha...
Like all of you, what I've been doing to stay sane during this pandemic is, well...to eat.
A lot.
A lot lot, as my weight scale will cheerfully confirm (because it hates me).
And in order to eat, you have to have some recipes and if you can find or create new ones just to keep your GOOGLE search skills sharp, all the better.
But recipes aren't enough. What about ambience? So, you've cooked yourself and your SO (significant other) a delish dinner oozing with flavour and heady with tantalizing aromas and now what? Are you going to plunk you in from of the TV in your tattered sweat pants or pyjamas to polish it off?
NOOOOOOO!
Once in a while, you have to change out of your depression costume and make an effort.
That means slipping into something half decent (sweat pants will do in a pinch as long as they are clean and make you feel pretty), pulling out your best plates, lighting a few candles and cranking up some Jazz tunes. Remember that we're not aiming for high romance here (although if it leads there, go for it); we are simply remembering how to live.
Which is why I continue to experiment in the kitchen like a mad fiend on fiend tablets even when there is only myself or my hubby to cook for and why I continue to search for the best and coolest hostessing gadgets and do-hickeys and whatchamacallits that are available on the planet. And why I may have to admit to an addiction to ordering on Amazon (Gulp!).
We're all tired and sick and sick of being tired but it's vital to continue to have a semblance of a normal life inside our own abodes. We can't control what's out there, but we can control what goes on in our own home. We need to make an effort to entertain even if we are entertaining our dang spouse or dang dog. And if you have the good fortune of having a small family bubble to entertain, how lucky are you?
Spoil them with your gift or flair and flavours even if you're making a grilled cheese sandwich because you're broke. Make their taste buds sing with some extra never-before-imagined ingredients. Fill their bellies with gullet-tickling foods that make them lick their fingers and sigh with bliss. Dazzle them with your creative genius at table setting.
Celebrate holidays from around the world. Celebrate being healthy and alive. Celebrate having recovered from Covid. Celebrate any good news in your life with a small and simple dinner party for two. I celebrated my cat's birthday and I do not apologize.
Here's how it is for me: I can't bring a quick end to the bloody pandemic, I can't shed all my stress and alleviate all my anxiety, and I won't always be perfect (in fact, I'm rarely perfect), but I can't allow lockdowns and the unknown stop me from being who I am: a stressy, messy but awesome hostess.
The Rona will never take that away.
OMG.
For all of you cheese lovers out there, I just found the latest happy-belly snack.
Battered deep-fried cheese curds!
When you eat this, your belly will thank you by producing big happy cheese burps of joy and isn't that what eating is all about? No? Why not?
Never mind. I don't want to know.
 |
