Hello there!  How are you?  I hope this Monday finds you well.  If you are in Madrid, then happy Fase 2 Day!  Yes, we are officially in phase 2 of this quarantine bs (I mean that in an “I am over this” sort of way, but I also know that it is (somewhat) necessary).  Anyway, we can now: exercise anytime of day (before you could “walk to a terrace to have a beer in the middle of the day, but no walking without a destination! people could DIE!”.  We can: be inside a restaurant up to 40% capacaity, hang out with 14 people (plus you, making it 15)…this doesn’t apply to me because I have like…3 friends ;), we can…..I can’t remember what else.  I don’t currently feel very restricted anyway, besides the whole not being able to eat in a restaurant, open my own cafe at all, and wearing winter gloves while riding the city bikes.  I have seen friends, had beers on terraces, and have gone for walks in the middle of the day (the horror!).

So, let’s see.  It is 8:46 am on Monday, June 8th and I have already gone for a run (just 25 minutes) and decided to jump right on here or there would be no blog post yet again.  I am feeling quite sleepy right now and I actually think this post will be riddled with typos and errors so Dad, buckle up, you’re in for a fun time!  I think I’m feeling pretty tired because Luis and I got together with some of his friends on Friday night and didn’t get home til 1am (and still had to come home and work a bit to organize deliveries), and then I was up at 7 the next morning.  We knew going into it that we would be setting ourselves up for a sleepy day at work, but I am so glad we decided to go (we were on the verge of cancelling, but then I thought “it’s better to do than not to do”), and we went.  And it was fun.  And we ordered 3 “medium” pizzas to share between 5 people and I laughed when I saw the pizzas because I told them these medium pizzas are personal pizzas in the States.  I also laughed because of the 10 pizzas on their menu, all but ONE had pork on it.  I think even the vegetarian pizza had pork on it.  Ohhhhh, Spain.

Back to why I’m tired.  So Friday was a doozy, and then Saturday at work was crazy (in a good way!  yay!) and then Saturday evening, I had plans to have beers with a couple galpals and i had one beer and one tinto de verano (red wine with Fanta or Casera), which I don’t usually have because I don’t like sweet drinks, but we had this at my friend’s house and upon request, she made it extra wine heavy, so let’s just say I was feeling…happy.  I got home very early (for Spain) around 10 pm and went right to bed, but was feeling totally wiped on Sunday and while it was pretty quiet at work, we ended up being there for over 10 hours because we finally, FINALLY, FINALLY did a bunch of the stupid-tasks-that-actually-take-five-minutes-but-you-put-them-off-and-off-and-off-for-months-or-years-on-end tasks.  You know what I’m talking about….like hanging a picture that sits on the floor for months.  I declared yesterday the Day We Would Do Some of Those Tasks before we opened back up at 40% this week and so we were there for awhile, but we did it!  WOOHOO!  We: hung my beautiful paintings and other artwork, hung a sign that says people can fill out an official complaint form (before it was taped to the wall), and hung the mezuzah on the kitchen door frame.  Did you know the Ashkenazi Jews hang the mezuzah with a slight tilt into the room and Sephardic Jews hang it straight?  We hung it straight.

It was raining when we left, which on a Sunday, I am usually pretty happy about because if it’s nice out, I feel all this pressure to go out! and do things! and be productive! and drive Luis insane!  But it was raining, so I grabbed myself a box of instant mac&cheese from our shop, which I had been eyeing for WEEKS and told Luis I was making dinner.  When he saw the pot on the stove, he asked if I was making rice and then saw the box of mac&cheese and I told him I was making a classic American delicacy, to which he said “no me jodas Bruji!”.  I haven’t had boxed mac and cheese for years, but boy, did it hit the spot.  It’s not even good by any means, but I guess I enjoyed the nostalgia of it.  I did, however, make it a little bit Spanish.  The box said to add milk and butter.  I added milk and olive oil and thought it was great.  I would be lying if I said I wasn’t greatly looking forward to the leftovers for lunch.  And if you’re wondering about Luis’ thoughts on the fine meal I prepared for him….. He had one bite and then told me que es una bomba.

Time to shower and try to get some things done before going to get my hair done!  FINALLY!