our first celebration since the quarantine

The quarantine is slowly being lifted here in Hawaii. Groups of up to ten can get together, restaurants are open for dining in, and most stores are allowed to open. This weekend we had such a nice family get together. My son Bronson is visiting and finished his two-week quarantine for all people are arriving in town, and my mom had her 81st birthday. Tons of delicious food, laughter, and lots of yakking. There is a lot to talk about in this world today and it was nice to have something positive to celebrate.

The quarantine has made me appreciate my home life and relationships more. The rhythm of cooking and eating together, reaching out more often to check in on one another, and with so many intense things going on in the world, taking more time to really hear what others are saying. It’s been profound and something that I will try and continue.

Just listened to two good audio books. The first is The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell. It starts with a twenty-five-year-old murder/suicide of three people and charts three generations of their family and the entanglements that tie them together. It cuts back and forth with narration from the different characters, and since the audio book has several narrators, it makes it very interesting to listen to. The other is The Tenant by Katrine Engberg. Also a murder mystery set in Copenhagen and is the first in a four book series. I noticed how much I was enjoying the narrators voice and how much it adds to the book, so I did a search for other books they’ve narrated and put a few on my TBR.

I have a new brownie recipe that I’m adding to my list which already includes cocoa brownies, tahini swirl brownies, & supernatural brownies. The new one is peanut butter swirl brownies. Made a double batch in a 9x13 pan for this weekends get together and it was fabulous.

Watched a few interesting shows on TV. As usual they couldn’t be more different from each other. The movie Bombshell is about the lawsuit and firing of Roger Ailes at the Fox Network. Charlize Theron and Margot Robbie are such good actors that I’ll watch anything they are in. The other is the ESPN series 30 for 30 which is a series of sports documentaries. The last two were about the life of Bruce Lee and Lance Armstrong. Even if you are not a sports fan, they’re well done and interesting.

I hope you have a wonderful week and thank you to those who have emailed me to say hello. The best part of this blog are the connections that I’ve made with you. xo