Home for Christmas!

My daughter came home, today!

She tested negative for the first time on Wednesday evening.  She tested herself twice, just to make sure, and she tested negative, both times. 

Even so, she tested herself again on Thursday, too, to confirm, before finalizing plans to drive down with her friend P.  She tested negative on Thursday, too.

She tested herself this morning, too, before she left on the long drive home, which took longer than usual due to several accidents and resulting road closures.  But, eight hours after they left Berkeley, they arrived home, at 3:30 p.m.  She tested herself once she got home, too, and tested negative.  I'm not quite sure what she would have done if she tested positive after she came home!  

But, the CDC Covid guidelines for ending isolation requires two subsequent negative antigen test results, taken at least 48 hours apart.  That's what my daughter was going by.  

She is home for the holidays and will be down here for at least a week.  Originally, she was planning to stay for two weeks and fly back.  But, P has offered to drive her back, except he will leave before New Year's Eve.  Daughter will decide closer to the date if she will return to Berkeley with P or stay another week.  We are going to plan our activities with the assumption that she will return to Berkeley before the New Year.  

This morning, I picked up an order of groceries I had placed last night.  I knew that my favorite store clerk, Jennifer, would be there, today.  With all that has been going on the past couple of days, I didn't make the time to bake her brownies, but, I took her a jar of my peach topping as a holiday gift.  The brownies will have to wait for another day.  

Later, I remade my daughter's bed with flannel sheets and cleaned her bathroom.  I made some fried rice for my brunch and cooked a fresh pot of rice for my daughter; she had it with chicken curry and broccoli when she came home.

M was here in the evening and he brought me a couple of native plants for the garden as his Christmas gift to me (as well as another plant I had asked him to get, which I paid for, that I wanted to give as a gift).  I forget the name of one of them, but, the other one is a Matilija poppy, which is also sometimes called the 'fried egg' poppy.  He also brought us two chocolate croissants which were delicious!  We planted out the snow peas, today.  I will be watering them in the coming days, as M is off next week.

We've spent a quiet evening at home.  Neighbor S sent us more gata and puri bread and I called the Temple and aunt C to tell them that my daughter has tested negative and is home for the holidays.  I didn't make any gifts today, but, some of the gifts I had ordered were delivered.

Today, I am grateful for:

- My daughter has tested negative
- Daughter and P had a safe drive home
- My daughter is home 
- M tending to the garden and gifting me two new plants
- Neighbor S sending me more goodies!

Today's joyful activity has been having my daughter home.

Plans for tomorrow include wrapping up the gifts and tagging them.

How was your Friday?  What are your plans for tomorrow?