Things got better

A little food, a little wine and a lot of DD have lifted my spirits.

It’s easy to stop making an effort during home isolation. I’m only wearing make-up for video calls, my grey roots are getting more prominent every week and pyjama pants have become acceptable all-day wear.

So I told DD I wanted to get dressed up for a romantic dinner. We haven’t had much time alone together lately, with all the dramas of COVID-19, so we made it a double feature.

On Sunday he cooked – I requested a reprise of his birthday creation of surf and turf in peppercorn sauce. He also baked his own bread, which was delicious. And we popped a bottle of Taltarni pink sparkling.

I was a little edgy and emotional at the beginning of the night, but relaxed and smiling by the end.

Last night was my turn. I took the menu downmarket from his prawns and porterhouse steak – I made a sausage bake with cherry tomatoes, capsicum, basil and crumbled feta. Oh, and we cracked another bottle of pink bubbles, this time a 2015 Jansz sparkling, mmmmmmm.

I know it’s not ideal to be sipping fizz on a Monday night –  there’s a lot of consternation around comfort drinking during home isolation – but I figured that since I’d gone to the trouble of shaving my legs, putting on lippie and wearing heels … Not to mention DD arriving on my doorstep in a suit!

We sipped and talked and laughed and our locked down life felt a little less oppressive.

I’ve been mourning the loss of our New Zealand getaway quite keenly. We were meant to fly there the week before Easter for an extra long weekend. Who knows when we’ll be allowed to travel again?

Our busy schedules mean we only spend a few hours alone with each other every week. It’s not quite enough for me, which is where trips away help. They give us a chance to have a few whole days together and feel more connected.

It can be difficult to stay on the same wavelength when our shared time is so brief. Living together isn’t on the agenda, not for a very long time, maybe never. While some people embrace the blended family thing, we’ve decided it’s not for us. We prefer to keep our relationship separate from our parenting. Although the two worlds do meet – the youngest, for example, is addicted to the beach and loves trekking to DD’s place.

Ah, who knows what our future holds? But two romantic dinners helped the now feel a whole lot better.

Song of the day: Paula Abdul “Rush Rush”