Dining Out

I went out for lunch with my closest friend today and it was glorious. I had not dined in a restaurant for 11 weeks and the last time had been with her in mid March. I know there are some very heavy things going on in the world right now, and actually in my personal life as well. But, sitting in the restaurant having lunch like we used to was a little piece of "normal". We even went for coffee to Starbucks afterwards and it was like we were back having a marathon lunch date like we used to. 
Yes, there are a lot of really awful things happening right now and life feels unfair and uncertain. But, I think that is all the more reason to enjoy the little things, to find joy in the everyday. 

The Best Laid Plans

My best friend recently had a birthday. I am generally a planner, so I had had ideas about what to do and how to celebrate. I hadn't actually gotten as far as organizing anything, but I had been thinking about it. Then COVID hit. All the restaurants were closed for dine in and so were a lot of the other places that I had considered. So, I had to come up with plan B. It involved ordering in and hanging out at my house. Not ideal, but when pretty well everything is closed, there aren't a lot of options. So, at least I had a plan and everything was set. Then the morning of her birthday, the restaurant I had planned to order lunch from wasn't even taking orders. At all. I hate change and unexpected problems, especially when said problems come up the same day. So, we had to go to plan C, which was ordering from somewhere else. Our second choice restaurant was closed. So, we had to order from a third place. As we waited for the food, I was also awaiting the gift that I had ordered two weeks before, which had not arrived. Or, half of it had come, but the other half was still stuck somewhere in the mail. Later, I went to make a latte and it turned out we were out of milk. Needless to say that the day was not going as planned...
But, as I spent time with my friend, it turned out it didn't matter. Yes, I would have preferred Thai food. I would have preferred having her gift all ready instead of wrapping it up while she was already here (the package came). But, I got to spend time with my best friend. Quality time; six hours of it. After not having seen her for weeks during the pandemic, just sitting near her and chatting was lovely. We went for a walk and it was a beautiful sunny day. We had coffee and cake outside on the deck and it was perfect. I hope she felt loved and appreciated because in the end, that's all that matters. 

Snail Mail

I got a card in the mail today and it totally made my week! I have sent out quite a few cards and letters over the past weeks. I never sent them out expecting, or even hoping, for mail back. My only motive was to make someone's day by sending them real mail. Quite a few of the people I mailed were delighted and I received some lovely, appreciative texts and phone calls. And that was enough. 
But, Anja sent me a card. In the mail. I have known her my whole life. She actually knew my family back in Finland already. But, back in the day, she immigrated to Toronto and my family moved to Vancouver. So, I haven't seen her all that often. But she is such a lovely woman of God. I've blogged before about the strength of Finnish women, and she is no exception. But, she is also sweet and loving. I was SO happy to get mail from her. 

Day fifty three

Today was the best day I've had in eight weeks. Things are finally loosening up in BC and I could not be happier.

Day fortyseven

One of my friend's had a great post today about what is your colour? If you had to choose one colour to represent who you are, what would it be? I have a few very cerebral friends who would find the question itself ridiculous and unanswerable. Pentti would probably say he doesn't even understand what the question means. But I do. My colour is grey. If you know me at all, this does not come as a surprise to you. If you've been in my living room, for example, it is all shades of grey. I like the rain and gloomy days and fog and songs in the minor keys. One of my favourite authors of all time is Dostoevsky. I was just telling a friend yesterday about how I miss the old UBC Sedgewick (underground) library and the old book stacks at the (old) main library. Studying in those dark, gloomy libraries on a rainy day brought me joy. And that's the irony in all this. I love the dark, gloomy places and things, but they actually make me happy. I'm not sure that anyone would actually call me a dark and gloomy person, I just happen to like the melancholy found in those kinds of places. I rarely get depressed and I am actually fairly joyful. But to recharge my introverted soul, I need quiet, heavy places, not sunshine and butterflies and definitely not people. 
What's interesting to me is how other people (who don't know me well) perceive me. One friend calls me her "sunshine angel". This would be hilarious if she were being sarcastic, but she's not. She says seeing me brings sunshine and makes her happy. I bet she would guess that my colour is yellow, lol. Another friend would probably say my colour is black because she thinks I hate everyone. This is not so far from the truth, lol, but still not quite accurate either. She doesn't understand my critical nature or my need to examine things a little deeper. She thinks I'm negative and that's why I think she'd choose black. A third friend would probably say my colour is pink because I am "sweet and thoughtful". She actually calls me a sweetheart and says that I am so outgoing and friendly. She could not be more wrong.
Just to be clear, I don't hate sunshine or flowers or sweet delicate things. But in my core, what speaks to me is the grey.