2 Days of Soup, Our Last Days of Quarantine, The Isolated Five, Mixing a Sad and Happy Cocktail

This is the last day of our quarantine crew. We started on March 14th; we had no idea what we were in for. This is the story of the previous 50 days. I must be honest; I started this soup yesterday thinking it was Sunday when I finished, I was reminded it was Saturday, I will weave in our true final day into this narrative.  

We flew from Indianapolis to Denver; we were worried they were going to shut down travel. On March 14th, we had started wearing masks and gloves, a little ahead of the curve. We arrived late, stayed at the downtown condo, got up, and then headed to our mountain house.  We went to Brooks Tavern, had lunch, hugged our friends for what would be our last human contact.

Our daughter had a friend fly in; he plays for the Tampa Bay Ray’s organization. We’ve known Nick since he was a child, between you and me I think he has been sweet on Carly for years, but this allowed them to spend some time together. Fifty days ago, they were friends; today, they are more. It’s been beautiful watching their love blossom.

Nick’s sister Baily joined our firm in early March. We’ve known “Bay” for years as well; we had an opening, we thought she would fit our culture, we tested her, she’s a perfect match. She took her test on the 17th, passed and jumped on a plane, and joined our crew at the mountain house. We’ve been training her but have found Bay to have many talents. She can do graphic design, video editing, lead our daily workout, and is comedic relief.

To recap our quarantine, five consisted of my Queen, me, Carly, Nick, and Baily. That has been our family; we have been getting and going along for 49 days strong. At first, we had to figure out our music choices, John Mayer, Counting Crows, Lil Dicky, Aerosmith, Zeppelin, Luke Combs, Shaky Graves, and Nick’s Rap collection (they say naughty words) all made the cut. We sprinkled in some Sister Hazel, more John Mayer, and some Tash Sultana.

Next up was our television selection. The kids love American Idol, the Voice, Masked Singer. We found Dave on Hulu (a must watch), saw a few movies, a few series on Netflix, we kept entertained. As mentioned before, Baily would make up a daily work out; we hiked every day, usually our 2 miles neighborhood hike. Sometimes we would venture out to one of our local parks and practice social distancing.

Jenny, my Queen, is an executive chef, I don’t know what that means, but let me share she has not made a bad meal in the last 50 days. But slowly, each of us began showing our culinary skills; the kids would pick a recipe, I would cook, Jenny was the head, the rest of us became sous chefs. We have eaten like kings and queens. I made a shrimp boil last night in our Insta Pot, that was pretty amazing.    

Our works days consisted as follows. I would get up; first, 6:00 a.m. or so, make coffee for the crew, pen my thoughts, I think I wrote every day, I would then clean up email and wait as the others got up around 7:00.  We would have coffee together, ask how each of us slept, around 8:00 we would each make breakfast, virtual meetings started about 9:00. We would work until noon, change, work out, then hike, have lunch, then return to our virtual world of conferences.  At 5:00, we would tap out, and the Euchre tournament would start. I think, as of this moment, the vaginas are beating the penis’s 66 to 61. That is 127 games of Euchre in 50 days. Bay and I played hundreds of games of Gin; she is leading now. I beat her ass for most of the lockdown, but she is now a young Gin Jedi. Yoda is old and tired. 

For the first 30 days, the kids would go “down the hill” to get groceries, booze, and pick up our Amazon packages. They wore masks, gloves, and we sanitized the boxes before bringing them in the house. Carly and Bay did a video and explained that they would not let Jenny and Anson go out “due to their age.”  We were safe, but as time passed, we all became a little more comfortable getting out.

Last Friday became a turning point for us, Jenny and I headed to Denver, I got some testosterone, we ran some errands, gloved up, masked up, and we had to check on our condo. I got some much-needed alone time with my Queen, we did some work at the condo then headed back to the mountain house.  I think that was the day we decided to begin our re-entry into society.

A couple of weeks ago, we went on our daily walk. I was told that Jay and Angie, Bay, and Nick’s mother and father were coming out. They would stay the weekend, and then the kids would return to Indiana. I was a little sad, what do you mean this is going to end? This is our family? Honestly, Nick needs to head home to train; Bay needs to pack a car and head back to move into our condo with Carly. It makes sense for the girls to travel back together. 

Jay and Angie, long time friends, beautiful people, joined us on Thursday.  They are kind, they raised three amazing children, we are missing their oldest Arron and Kate, they are back in Indiana, looking forward to reconnecting with them when we return to Indiana.

As of the writing of these words, we are all in our kitchen/living room. We’re laughing about last night, listening to Shakey Graves, getting ready to sip on some mimosas and enjoy our last day together. The five, including Jay, Angie, Nick, Carly, and Bay, are leaving at 3:00 a.m. tomorrow to head back, and I will be sad. But I’ll also be elated that I get two weeks of alone time with my soul mate, my Queen, my lover, my partner.

The girls will return in a couple of weeks; I think they will stay a night at the condo before returning to the mountain house. Nick will be diligent with his training.  We will be back in Indiana in the first part of June; life is returning to normal. Hats of to our Indiana Governor Holcomb and our Colorado Governor Pollis for leaning in and allow our two home states to open early. It’s time to get back to work, to real life, and to implement the lessons we have learned these last 50 days.

If you have not, I would recommend you pen a few thoughts about your experience these past 50 days. This is our story; I think I might take the last 50 word soups and put together a book about our pandemic experience. It’s time to get back, mask up, glove up, and begin reconnecting with society. There is now a plan, rules to follow to help us get our economy back on track. Let us follow the rules, but careful, if you see me, I might just hug you.

I have been writing this soup a little handicapped. We are in the clouds; the internet is not connected; I cannot fix my grammar, I’ll have to post this later today. But a funny thing just happened, I thought it was Sunday. I was just informed; it is Saturday. We have another day with this beautiful group; I am going to enjoy and savor our time with these lovely people. They will not be leaving until 3:00 a.m. Monday, that is when I will be sad and happy. Sad to lose this fantastic community we have made, but glad to return to an economic boom, trust me, we are going to rocket back, people now value work more than every.

A quick update on our yesterday happenings, after I made soup, we made mimosas. Bay and I played copious games of Gin. Naps were taken, I cooked. I made bacon fettucini with a heavy white sauce. We hiked the neighborhood, returned, and played Euchre. The vaginae are in the lead.

We had filets, twice baked potatoes, buffalo cauliflower, and maple balsamic mushrooms with bacon. I’m not kidding when I say we are eating like kings and queens. Today we are planning on going on a 4-mile hike to see a waterfall. It will be an early night, we will awake to an empty home, a new beginning, a fresh start, but between you and me, I’m going to miss these kids. I have fond memories of this time, and I hope you share my sentiment and optimism. We will get through this together, apart.