The main reason I went up to Santa Barbara this past Saturday was for family stuff. And that’s usually the reason I go up there. Over the past year, I’ve gotten used to driving up to Santa Barbara for the day and heading back home the same day. It’s not too long of a drive, and it’s shorter than the times I drove to San Diego just for the day. It’s pretty easy for me to do and I usually have a lot of podcasts saved up for my drive. But this Saturday, I had something else to do before I drove home.
My friend Rayshell has had a lot of changes over the past year. She and her husband bought their first place and they had a baby! And because of the pandemic, I haven’t had the chance to see her for a long time. Her new place is on the way to or from Santa Barbara, so we made plans that I would see her either that morning or evening. But then, Rayshell realized that she would be at her parents’ house in Santa Barbara the same day and asked if I wanted to come to hang out in the backyard with her. Of course I said yes!
Her parents’ house was only about a mile away from the rental house my parents were staying at, so it was really easy to get there after I was done with family time. And even though I was pretty much considered fully vaccinated, we still took precautions while hanging out. We stayed outdoors the entire time and I was sitting a little further away (it was easily more than 6 feet away). Even though we’ve been doing all this for a year, it is still weird not being able to hug a friend and have to sit further from them than I’m used to. But at the same time, I’m so grateful I have the opportunity at all to see friends! And especially getting to see Rayshell and her baby (and her husband and parents who were hanging out with us too)!
And it was such a great time! Of course, we had a lot of our usual catchup chat like we always did at our happy hour hangouts. But we both had so much to update each other on. I loved hearing all about her baby, and he was so smiley and adorable the entire time I was there. He was not shy even though he had never met me before. He was a little social butterfly and one of the happiest babies I’ve ever met. I wasn’t able to hold him, but just getting to see him always smiling at me made me so happy. And it was amazing seeing Rayshell as a mom. I knew she’d be an awesome mom, and seeing her with her son proved me right. She looked like a natural!
And Rayshell also updated me about her new place. They haven’t really been able to have anyone over since they bought it right before the pandemic hit, but I hope that I’ll get a chance to see it soon. It sounds like an awesome place for them, even if they moved a little further from me and I wish that she lived closer.
And Rayshell asked me about what’s been happening in my life. I filled her in about what’s going on with work and what has been happening with my family. And she wanted to hear if I had any crazy dating stories, and I did! I have written on here how I haven’t dated that much over the past year, but I have a little bit and I had plenty of stories even about guys that I never ended up meeting. And at least, for the most part, the stories are so ridiculous so even I have to laugh while telling them.
I was able to hang out with Rayshell for almost 2 hours before she needed to start doing her evening routine with her son. And I knew I needed to start heading back home too. I wish we could have hung out longer, but considering that we hadn’t seen each other in over a year, any time I could get was amazing. I’ve said this a lot before, but this past year has made me so grateful for any time I get to spend with the people I care about. And it has shown me how strong some of my friendships are when we can just pick things back up even if it’s been a while since we’ve seen each other.
Hopefully, I will be able to see Rayshell and her baby again soon. I know that it seems like things are getting better, so I’m optimistic about it. I’m still being very careful with what things I take chances on, but being outdoors with social distancing seems pretty safe. And I’m glad that it is finally safe enough for these things to start happening again without anyone having to worry too much about getting sick. And as long as we all continue to be safe and not take too many chances, it won’t be long before we don’t have to worry about any of this.
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