Good morning CoSo!
I just snuck away from bed + a sleeping pack (partner plus dogs) to use my infrared lamp to fight my monster cold. Going out to dinner last night proved to be a classic case of overdoing it. But it was an Austrian restaurant where the lemons wore cheese cloth skirts to make sure you could squeeze them without risking seeds dropping on your food. Fancier than our usual, let's say.

@publickovacs I really miss being taken out for dinner. I think that’s probably one of the saddest things for me. Not feeling sorry for the myself. Just realizing how much I miss something so simple.

@Museek
I hope you can have the experience again - I trust there is enough caring creativity to make that happen

@publickovacs thank you. I will. I just prioritize my kids needs at the moment. I know I’m in a temporary holding pattern. I just lose patience with it sometimes. have to keep my mind occupied with other things. I’m living where I want to be & know I’m lucky in many other ways but one of the main reasons I don’t see my IRL peeps much is because I don’t want to be reminded of how people ordinarily think things *should have been* . I have had many great adventures and I will have more, in time

@Museek
You are a phenomenal Mom. I understand getting impatient with a holding pattern, and good Goddess do I ever understand how weird it is to face the unspoken / implicit pressures of what our lives should be according to other ppl. Convention has a hell of a way of bleaching beautiful authenticity right out of a path. But I know you are on a path that is good and beautiful.