Springtime in Chicagoland . . .

I have a lot to share with you today - both happy and sad.  

Under the "happy" category:  As of a few days ago, I am now fully vaccinated.  So, yesterday, after feeling like I've been stuck in Groundhog Day and living the same day over and over for more than a year, I went to my cousin's house for the afternoon.  She and her husband are also recently fully vaccinated.  We hugged - which made me cry - and then we went inside the house and proceeded to hang out all afternoon together.  Inside!  Without masks!  There was alcohol!  There was dancing!  We clinked glasses and disco-danced around the kitchen to our favorite Tavares song from back in the day!  It was a wonderful and happy day and we talked pretty much nonstop.  

Peppermint vodka!  Wheee!

Cheers to making it through!

It's been more than a year since we've been able to be close enough to take a selfie!

I think you can tell how happy we were to be back together :-)  

My cousin and I both feel like it's been our job for the past year to avoid catching this fricking virus.  We have been successful in that, and now that we're fully vaccinated we feel like its our job to do our part to help others be safe.  That, and the fact that we are in a race against the variants that are out there means that we are still vigorously practicing the 3 W's:

• Wear a Mask (double mask if you're going to be anywhere around people)
  
• Wash your Hands
• Watch your Distance
  

Get your shot(s) as soon as you can.  The more people who are vaccinated, the less chance the variants will have to take hold.  Unfortunately, Illinois is trending upward again even as we are among the top states in the country in getting vaccines in arms.

I learned some sad news this past week.  My friend, Paula Emons-Fuessle, known by many as the Prairie Piper on Ravelry and host of the Knitting Pipeline podcast, entered hospice care and passed away a few days later.  She had been fighting ovarian cancer for some time.  I was a listener of her podcast, but we met in person and became friends through piping.  This photo was in happier times - May 2014, to be exact - at the Springfield Highland Games.  We are pictured with another member of Paula's band, Kevin, who was the intro voice of Paula's podcast. 

Even though we hadn't seen each other recently, we had kept in touch over the course of her illness.  I will miss her.

When I got home yesterday, the robins had started their (almost) annual nest-building above my garage light.  They like to nest there because it's a little warmer - that light used to be a CFL, and now it's an LED, and it is on 24/7.

 

Unfortunately, however, we had a lot of wind last night and this morning, and when I went out for my walk the nest was gone  :-(   

 

I'm reasonably sure that the wind blew it away.  I didn't see it anywhere on the ground, and I don't know if they will rebuild it. Last year was the first year that they did not build here. 

And although it was a dreary, blustery morning (37 degrees with windchill making it feel like 27), my first daffodil made its appearance today!

Despite the loss of my friend this week, yesterday was really a banner day for me - and today . . . well, today is J's last day of work.  He retires at the end of this shift  :-)  There are some things for him to take care of, and he needs a little time to decompress, but he will be up here sometime soon and will likely stay for most of the summer.  I can hardly believe that we will see each other again relatively soon.  :-) 

So - Spring in Chicagoland.  It's always interesting, that's for sure . . . 

Thought you might like to dance along to my and my cousin's happiness  :-)