IS IT OVER YET? Quarantine Do-Overs. There's no place like home.

Last night was the first time since before St. Patty's Day that I had the opportunity to go out to eat with a friend.  She and I were at an outdoor patio where we were seated at an enormous table for just the two of us.  It was fun to also see some familiar faces, other friends and acquaintances we hadn't seen in ages (albeit from a distance).  With the restaurant only seating every other table it seemed as though we were miles away from the other patrons who were also dining there.  My natural instinct to go in for a hug was squelched by a reminder that we were still social-distancing, only with less distance.  Regardless, it felt great to reconnect face-to-face with my friend and share some much-needed girl time.  

I realize a large portion of the country is still in quarantine.  And not to rub salt in an open wound, but our state never really went into full lock-down mode to begin with.  So I do feel a bit guilty even thinking this, let alone verbalizing it here.  But I honestly felt like quarantine had its benefits from a very personal point-of-view.  Dare I say I actually enjoyed our family lock-down?  When I first heard that restaurants would be opening up again this week I felt a tinge of sadness.  Even as I did I realized how incredibly absurd that was, but hear me out.

Our 18-year-old daughter will be leaving for her first year of college in the fall (God and the CDC willing) and I'm already experiencing pre-separation-anxiety over that; so that may have something to do with my nostalgic outlook on our somewhat forced time together.  But I truly feel that our period of isolation was a beautiful thing. During quarantine, my family created some really wonderful memories.  We started Quarantine Olympics (where we kept a running total of winners at various games we played during our time of lock-down), and Quarantine Boredom Busters (where we photographed reenactments of famous paintings).  We spent more time doing Movie Club (Zoom meetings where we discuss select movies together.  -Something we had already been doing with our older kids who live far away, but during quarantine we made Movie Club a priority and met more frequently).  And with all that self-isolation, we were truly bonding.  I'm not going to lie... I'm going to miss that.

Knowing things would be slowly going back to normal, I was struck with the realization that some of those family experiences would also be going away.  With a return to normalcy, the inevitable will occur.  We will be getting back to business, and subsequently getting back to being buried under heaps of busy-ness.  So this morning when my husband asked what I want to do tomorrow for Mother's Day I think he was pretty shocked by my response, "Quarantine Do-Overs."  

Tomorrow while many moms (at least in our city) will be celebrating by going out to eat for the first time in several weeks, my family and I will be in lock-down mode.  I'm looking forward to trying to best my daughter and regain my spot in 1st place for Quarantine Olympics (because we never really did establish an end-date, so there may be hope for me yet!).  I hope to knock out a few more Boredom Buster reenactment photos.  And most importantly, I plan to just enjoy relaxing with my family... at home.  Because there's no place like home when you're there with the ones you love.