The Birthday That Was

So, how did the isolation birthday go, yesterday? Pretty well overall. Mind you, Sue is programmed to see the best in just about any situation.

Warning: this is to be a rather banal, straightforward chronicle of the day.

When Shauna dropped off her gifts to Sue on the previous day, she left a Happy Birthday sign. Where should I put it for morning? At first, I decided just to hold it and wake her with the Happy Birthday song, but come morning, I hung it on the shower curtain where she would see it almost first thing. I knew she could and would move it to her preferred location later.

Having given one gift early — the mini tripod — I had decided to space out gifts in dribs and drabs. After coffee, I gave her the card which I showed on yesterday's post. Later in the morning came her Elizabeth Taylor White Diamonds body lotion. I posed her holding the box by the window where the sign had now been hung.

Next, for me, came shopping time, which I also posted about yesterday. By the time I got home,  Sue had set up a table in the garage where she could wipe down items before bringing them into the house.

The fruits and veggies get additional treatment in a vinegar bath in the sink. This isn't new. She has been doing this since the previous outbreak.

After lunch I gave her my final gift: a new glitzy sort of iWatch band.

That was followed by my visit to pick up the stir fry and carrot cake slices that I had pre-ordered. Upon entering the store, I put on the gloves they had by the door, but it wasn't really necessary as I didn't touch anything at all. They had it packaged, and I just waved my card at the machine to pay for the purchase.

There followed the biggest and most heartwarming surprise of the day. Danica texted for Sue to come to the door. From a distance, she, JJ, and their step sisters sang Happy Birthday while holding signs. It was very touching. Apparently the kids were sad at not being with grandma on her birthday, so this was good for all concerned.

Danica even made a cake, all by herself with her step mother offering hands-free instruction. It was very tasty. (I only found out about this on the previous day and hadn't needed to have pre-ordered the carrot cake.)

Sue was still a bit teary after the unexpected visit

Then Shauna facetimed in to witness Sue opening her (and the kids') gifts, which included a gift certificate for a manicure and a new jacket. Since we were facetiming this part, I don't have photos.

There was also a facetime chat with Danica and the others a little later. Sue lit candles and cut the cake, and they sang happy birthday again. I videod the 4-minute chat with my phone. I would love to edit this and post a few clips, but downloading such a long video from the Apple Cloud takes too long. So here is a link for family, should they wish to view it. It is good for a month when Apple shall delete it. (I may try again to download it later tonight.)

Time for dinner: heat up the teriyaki, and butter the cheesy buns.

And the cake, Danica's cake.

Oh, there was the usual walk and the standard selfies during the day, which I may post tomorrow, but I think we've covered the birthday well enough. We made the best of an isolation birthday, and I think it turned out to be a pretty good one.