A very different kind of Seder

During the Jewish holiday of Passover, which began tonight at sunset, we traditionally ask ‘How is this night different from every other night?’ This year, the question made everyone laugh. Nearly everything felt different. Because of the Shelter-in-Place order, we could not gather together physically. Instead, we all gathered around laptops to join together in…

The #OneGoodThing struggle

Perhaps these last four years of finding #OneGoodThing in the day have helped prepare me for the isolation of quarantine. Isolation itself isn’t new for us—that’s been a side effect of living with chronic illness and being a caregiver. That feeling of isolation is actually (in part) what prompted me to start the #OneGoodThing project.…

Planning our victory garden

Plans for our 2020 garden have changed and expanded greatly as the quarantine continues and we worry about obtaining fresh produce. We’ve been growing more food from kitchen scraps, and recently planted zucchini, cucumber, basil, and marigold seeds. Mama and I found an excellent article in the Sunday edition of The San Francisco Chronicle with…

Freezer findings, paint delivery, and more!

It’s been a strange Saturday filled with random good things. Today’s edition of freezer-diving yielded some delicious Trader Joe’s mandarin chicken and steamed rice, which I garnished with what I thought was our last orange. Then I discovered our tiny orange tree has given us our very first citrus fruit ever—truly excellent timing as we…

Torching a pie

I made a key lime pie with a toasted marshmallow topping tonight—and I had a great time torching my homemade whipped frosting. Quarantine meals are starting to get creative as we eat up our supplies. Thankfully, we have a small lime tree in our backyard. I was thrilled to find everything else I needed in…

My grandmother’s seagull

This weathered seagull statue belonged to my grandmother—an integral part of her nautical-themed den. He’s part of a pair and probably one of my most treasured reminders of spending time with my beloved Mema.  My grandmother’s two seagulls now live in our backyard as a beautiful ode to her quirky style. After watering our garden…