Days 75-77: Brutiful Weekend

One of my favorite writers, Glennon Doyle, talks about how life is brutiful--a combination of brutal and beautiful. I can't think of a better description of our weekend than that: brutiful.

Issa and I started our baking project for the week on Thursdays, but it was another dough that has to rise in the refrigerator over night. Friday, we baked the perfect gluten-free French bread:

 It is such an easy bread, and Brad was so excited to have something that really tastes and has the texture of French bread again. It was beautiful.

Friday afternoon, Issa and I participated in a surprise drive-by parade for the graduating seniors on Company. 21 cars lined up, each dancer or teacher in her own car. We made signs, played music, and drove past every seniors house to launch them to college. Issa thought she was big stuff hanging out of the sunroof:

 We also made little gift bags for each senior:

 Just look at the joy on her face seeing her friends in person--even from a distance--again:

Our seniors were so surprised, and to see the joy (and the tears) on their faces made driving all over creation totally worth it. I watched their mamas tear up as we celebrated their babies. It is absolutely not what we wish we could do for them, but it was so, so good to be able to do something. It was truly brutiful.

Saturday, Issa, Mom, Shannon, and I went back to our favorite nail salon for much needed mani/pedis. We were surprised to see all of the new safety measures, including plexiglass between the techs and us at both stations. Everyone dutifully wore their masks, and it was so good to do something novel after all this time.

Saturday night, Mom and Shannon actually perfected gluten-free potstickers. Brad hasn't had a potsticker in three years, and he was over the moon. In a spur of the moment decision, I actually spent the night at Mom's. Shannon has been in town since March, but we haven't had any just sister time, which is just bizarre. She and I stayed up talking until 2 in the morning, and it was so good to have that time to just talk.

Sunday, we did some online searching for a new apartment for her. Their lease is up, and I can't believe the number of options! We narrowed it down to 14, and now she'll start narrowing that list.

We ended the weekend with take-out from the Nickel and some family time just the four of us. Brad actually joined Issa and I in face masks, which was hysterical. We piled onto our bed to watch worst cooks, and we all sent to be early to get ready for the last full week of school.

I think we are starting to try to navigate a bit of this new normal and just tip-toe into these uncharted waters. One baby step at a time...