Heading back to Normal

 When the mayor of Minneapolis first lifted the mask mandate on June 1st (after 1 year and 3 months), it felt odd to go places without a mask, especially in my building. Here we are a week later and I have to remind myself that I ever wore one. As most of you know, I collected a bunch of masks during the pandemic. A neighbor has offered to turn them into a small quilted wall hanging. We'll see. There are stll places (like The Mayo Clinic) where they are required.

The weather here in Minnesota has been unseasonably, unreasonably hot. Last Saturday, we hit 100 degrees F and since then have been in the mid to high 90's, not particularly humid, but it's brain-baking weather. I dislike it immensely. This is another reason to be grateful we don't have to wear masks any longer unless we choose to.

My schedule has been very busy. Yesterday, I acted as an intermediary between a friend and the family of a now-deceased neighbor in the sale of that neighbor's car to my friend, then took a neighbor to get groceries. Today, I'm driving my neighbor Geri to the Mayo Clinic (about a 3 hour round trip drive). We'll be gone all day. Bella is being taken care of by my neighbor Mary.

Tomorrow, I take my neighbor David to the airport in the morning; plan to attend the viewing of the deceased neighbor in the early afternoon and we have a tenant meeting at 4pm. Representatives from the police department will be present. Security will be the main issue discussed. I may or may not attend. As a part time employee, I'm already privvy to what's being done, what's been done and what may be done to prevent further break-ins at our property. I expect the remainder of the meeting will be a bitching session. The bottom line is if someone is determined to commit a crime, they will find a way in.

I work Friday-Sunday this week and filled in at the front desk this past Monday, so have not had a lot of free time. What else is going on? I'm planning to travel! I've booked a trip on Southwest Airlines to Houston from July 4th-July 11th to help celebrate my BFF Casey's 72nd birthday. She's been housebound for months due to various illnesses and I simply decided it is a priority to spend her July 8th birthday with her. It will be the first time I've flown since March 4th, 2020. The other part-time concierge at my building turned in her resignation letter on Sunday; I have agreed to work every weekend for the remainder of the Summer. I hope to see my sister and niece briefly on the trip to Texas, too.

The biggest news I have to offer is I am actively planning an overseas trip in December. I've already told my manager that I would be gone from December 13th to January 5th. My plan is to drive with Bella to Austin Texas, then fly to Milan, Italy and take the train to Ghivizanno, Tuscany where I have friends who own a B&B. I plan to spend a week with them, then fly back to Austin via London or Munich (possible stopovers) on Christmas Day, then drive back to Minneapolis via Little Rock, Arkansas. There are a lot of moving pieces to this trip; it's several months away; I will make it happen.

In the Fall, live theater events will resume. Thanks to thespian15, I'll be attending "Bianca del Rio" and "Frozen" in October and possibly "Randy Rainbow". We really are heading back to normal and that makes me so happy!