Date Time, Sniffles & Coffee Edition
I’ll just preface this by saying that inside/outside kitchen counter coffee dates count! Or at least I will lead the petition to validate them as such.
Well, we had a wonderful winter season with lots of skiing, snowshoeing, classic nordic skiing and even a little bit of backcountry skiing and skate skiing (you can look at some of our adventures on my instagram page @cindisedd, and or keep up to date by tuning in to The Sizzle Not Fizzle Podcast!).
In our winter wonderland at Manning Park, we were entertained and did some entertaining, we taught many newbies how to ski, rescued a few beginners from the clutches of their well meaning skiing friends who were sure they had what it took to teach their friends how to ski, we shoveled a lot of snow around the campsite, we visited, we ate well, drank well, taste tested some great gins and even greater wines. But like all grand adventures, skiing 2022-23 ended, and home we came with the two trailers, Fancy and the Tootsie Roll, Ruby the Red (our 1986 Chevy Get-away van) towing one and our faithful dependable Jeep towing the other, ready to begin the shift into our next great adventure, slated to in a few weeks.
Don’t you love it when you plan something out quite meticulously (which we did), from the first grass cutting of the season (which in our case IMMEDIATELY leads to a weekly commitment of grass cutting until the heat hits - which is some time in July for us) to doing winter cleanup at the cabin, all on a tight timeline of course as we plan to leave soon for our 2 month road trip with us and Lovely the Dog. But before we will be able to leave, all chores must be done, kids and commitments to maintain properties in place, medical coverage in place, American sim cards purchased, SIZZLEnotFizzle.com looked after, mail checks, and so on and so on. And it's kind of fun watching everything fall into place….
But sometimes the Universe has other plans, coupled with a bit of a sense of humour?
We got COVID.
Yup. COVID. In 2023.
Fully vaxxed, never had it, healthy as a couple of old horses put out to pasture to roam and play to our heart’s content to the end of our days, but when we got the trailers home, parked, emptied, laundry started my head was pounding and my throat was sore and my body was aching. The next day, with no relief in sight, I took a home test and dammit - 2 lines showed up - I tested positive for COVID. Two days later, Kevin also tested positive.
Everything changed. Timeline out the window.
So for the last few days, I have slept in my electric lounge chair day and night. This is the very same chair that brought me through the healing processes from cancer surgeries, pulmonary emboli and pneumonia recovery, now COVID. Nothing had any taste or appeal, and being a foodie, this may have been the biggest crisis of all!
But this morning, I felt different - more like myself. The sun was shining. No more sore muscles, the chair was feeling more uncomfortable than comfortable (a sure sign of healing!). A negative Covid test proved that I was well on the road to recovery. Kevin was feeling better too, so we tried to slip in a little “us” time.
Sometimes a date is as simple as a cup of coffee at the kitchen counter
We are still isolated at home, and our energies are low, but on this beautiful morning our home might be the best place to be! I got to work. Soon the smell of fresh coffee filled the kitchen, which was still clean and tidy because we were too sick to cook! I just couldn’t resist asking Kevin to just slip outside into the sunny but chilly morning air. So, out onto the deck we went with our cups of coffee, ready to exhale from the past few days of hell, and remember that we really are healthy as old horses that have been released into a beautiful pasture - the world!
We called it a date!
And while our date lacked the passion of a regular date night (or day date), it did not lack the intimacy that we shared, and as silly as it sounds, just being so grateful to be alive and well, coming back up the ladder to good health, and being together. So our calling this a date made sure it included elements of loving each other and cherishing each other, as we travel the road to recovery.
And again I learn, so please, if you are reading this, take note!
Just by calling our coffee time together this morning a date ENSURED we were kind and tender with each other, because “dating” behavior has a different set of rules that regular living behavior. It is more kind and tender. It means you focus on each other, and put all the other stuff away for another time.