That is certainly wonderful news, LadyM! That was one of the saddest, if not THE saddest part of this whole thing -- thinking of people (with or without Covid) who had to be alone in the hospital. And I feel sure there are people who died at home because of this very reason -- I know for certain that my dh would have had to have been near death before he would have gone into the hospital without knowing I could be there with him. I'm pretty sure all our hospitals have loosened restrictions as well. I know my dfriend stayed with her husband during this recent stay of his.“No Patient Left Alone Act” law. Now you don't have to be alone in the hospital even during a pandemic. It allows one person unrestricted access to the patient.
I think gas around here is running about $2.69-$2.79 for regular.
Cathy, that is sad... and likely a big part of most large cities, and as you said, most tourist cities. And probably a situation that is not going to improve for sometime.
Party went well, although, with 13 people in the room, it kinda seemed... cliquish? NOT INTENTIONALLLY BY ANY MEANS!!! It's just hard to talk to everyone in a large group, you know?
We divided into two rooms to eat, open to each other, but with some dividing wall areas. Dmom, ddil, and I sat in the kitchen with dgrands. Everyone else in the dining room. Dnephew showed up late and by that time, ddil had finished eating, moved to the window seat in the dining room, and dnephew sat down with dmom and me.
Then when ddil opened her presents, we moved to the den. Moving around the room: Dmom and I sat on the love seat... dnephew in the recliner... ddil's brother and parents on the couch... dbil, his girlfriend, and ds on the raised hearth... and dh in the other recliner. Ddil sat on the floor in the center of the room. So -- sounds like a good mix of folks, right, with dh and I, the "hosts" on either side of the room.
But after everyone left, dh said, "I always feel like we don't 'include' dinlaws in conversation like we should, but they don't know the people we start talking about and they don't have much to say... and it just gets awkward..."
We DO TRY to include them -- at least I do -- I asked about gas availability in the areas where they work, and about her birthday (which was today), and we talked about the shadow box which he thinks he has that will work, so ddil can spend her $$$ on other things... but you know how it is in big groups. Dh and his brother got to talking about something from dh's college days and ddil was telling me and dmom about a tv show she and her brother are watching and sometimes it seemed her parents were kinda left talking to themselves.
But otherwise -- I think ddil felt well-appreciated and properly respected.
And dgs said the blessing before we ate and * without any prompting at all * he remembered to include "please bless mommy with a happy nurses day and grandma with a happy birthday."