Post-birthday odds & ends

• Thank you for your birthday wishes (here and elsewhere). :)  Despite the fact that I was turning 60 (!) -- and wasn't on a beach somewhere, as I had hoped/planned (or doing much of anything else, because of COVID-19...!) -- it was a nice day. We went to the bank in the morning and stopped at the supermarket on the way home to pick up some of our favourite soup & pizza slices for lunch (the first time we'd had some since March!), as well as cupcakes for later, in lieu of a whole birthday cake (my request -- red velvet with cream cheese icing). 
• Turns out I could have skipped the cupcakes -- a group of online friends that I've known for 15-20 years arranged to have a box of half a dozen pastries from a local bakery delivered to my door that afternoon. They also organized a Zoom call to wish me a happy birthday later that evening. We got to know each other on several different scrapbooking forums, following each other from one site to another, and I've met most of them "in real life" too. Not all of us scrapbook these days, but the friendships remain. :)  
• Out of the 8 of us currently together on a Facebook group, there's just me and one other woman (who turned 60 last year) who are childless. At one point during our Zoom call, all the moms started talking about what their kids were doing for school (remote or in person or a combination thereof? how many classes per term? etc. etc.) -- and between that and all the wine I was drinking, I just about went to sleep (lol).  Then one of them said, "Hey, it's Lori's birthday and we're all talking about ourselves!"  Ummm, yeah!  (lol) It was the first time we'd tried a Zoom call, so everyone had a lot to catch up on -- I realize it was NOT all about me, even if it WAS my birthday -- but...! 
• Our favourite Italian restaurant was closed for kitchen renovations (!), but we got takeout from another favourite local restaurant. (This is the same Italian restaurant that was closed on our wedding anniversary last summer, and the same restaurant we wound up ordering dinner from that day too.)   
• My parents & sister called me, and my childhood best friend -- who doesn't do social media & is not that great about keeping in touch otherwise -- actually emailed me, which totally made my day. We don't see or hear from each other often these days, but whenever we are in touch, it's like we just saw each other yesterday, and we pick up where we left off. :) 
• The same day as my birthday, the premier announced a new state of emergency and mandatory stay-at-home order for the next 28 days, adding further restrictions to the current lockdown that began at Christmastime. A friend noted this "present" when she emailed to wish me a happy birthday. I told her a stay-at-home order is better than insurrection at the Capitol, which is what my (American) mom got last week for her 80th birthday...! (or a multi-pronged terrorist attack, which is what my sister got for her 39th birthday on 9-11-01...!). 
• The day before my birthday, we made the long drive down Yonge Street (Toronto's "main street," which divides the city into east and west sides) to our midtown dentist's office for cleanings and checkups. We hadn't been there since this time last year: our next scheduled appointments in July were cancelled because of COVID-19;  we later rescheduled for mid-November, but I rescheduled (again) so as not to jeopardize my scheduled diagnostic d&c. 
• Both of us were slightly nervous to be at the dentist's during a pandemic -- but I didn't want to wait too long for a checkup... plus, the tea stains on my teeth were embarrassing. (Not that I've been many places for people to see them... and I'm generally wearing a mask when I'm out anyway...!)
• The extra precautions they've taken were pretty impressive:  masks all round (of course), a virtual waiting room outside and a socially distanced one inside, plexiglass barriers and plenty of hand sanitizer in the reception area, treatment cubicles sealed off from each other with plastic sheeting and special air purifier/filter units in each one. The hygienists were not allowed to polish our teeth -- creates too many aerosols, apparently -- but mine promised she'd do her best to scrape off as much of the stains as she could, and she did a fabulous job. 
• It ultimately turned out to be a good thing we went when we did:  my X-rays showed a small cavity developing below one of my oldest crowns. (I must admit I was flabbergasted -- I had no idea such a thing could happen.)  So I'm going back in a few weeks' time to have the crown removed, the cavity filled, a new temporary crown made and fitted, and then again a few weeks after that to have the permanent crown installed. (Again. UGH.)  I guess it's better than waiting too long and winding up with a root canal...?!  
• I was sad to see how many more empty storefronts there were on Yonge Street along the way since the last time we drove down there last summer. :(   A sign of how the pandemic is negatively affecting businesses (both big & small) and restaurants. :(