Celebrate This Year'S Barnes Fair With A Garden! - Barnes Community: Fill & Download for Free

Yes.We usually host 10–15 people. We’re only hosting two this year: my oldest daughter and her boyfriend, both of whom had COVID-19 last week and are already over it. They won’t be contagious by the time Thanksgiving comes around. According to them, they were tired for three days, and one of them had back pain for two days, and they both lost their sense of smell and taste, but, within five days of the symptoms starting, they were feeling better.Anyway, instead of hosting people in person this year, we’re mailing everyone bingo cards and Zooming a bingo match, then mailing gift card prizes to the winners.Before I agreed to this, I got written confirmation that:this means that I don’t have to spend all day Wednesday before Thanksgiving cleaning the house.there will still be the usual amount of deviled eggs.there will still be stuffing.Once I had confirmation for all three of those, I felt much better.

Actually, I have celebrated. :-{This year it was without birthday cake coz we are in lockdown and that too in Red Zone.Whenever I have tried baking a cake, it didn’t turn out eatable. So, I dropped the experimenting idea this year.As I am growing up, I found myself less attracted towards getting gifts.So, this time when I was asked for the gift.. I told my family to provide me the money they will use for the gift .. but by chance or luck I got some extra.. I called exactly those extras as surprise gift for my birthday.That story if interested , you can read it in : Tannu Singh's answer to What is special about today?But I have last year pictures… of the cake and a gift. Its a bday question so wanna attach cake to it… for me it’s incomplete without that ;-p I’m the greedy one.Birthdays are not always happy… for me. I had few so stored them well :)I have some secret plans for celebrating them in future differently … but for now I can only work for being self capable enough to achieve them.Peace :)

This diwali was different for me and my family.Lost Nana and bade Mama to covid months back.Lost Dadaji’s brother, few days back due to which we couldn't workship or celebrate Diwali the usual way-making rangoli, lighting diyas, praying, lighting Sparkler (फुलझड़ी).But since this is festival of lights, I thought of modifying this according to current situation.We weren't able to light diyas, so I made kandils and paper diyas to serve the purpose.Let's have a look:Apart from it, I made few paper diyas, remembering the good old times.And a drawing of diyaI would like to share a WhatsApp forwarded message which I found to be accurate description for this Diwali:This Diwali is different. This Diwali is not about whether my house is sparkling clean, it is not about whether I have prepared a variety of mithais and namkeens, it is not about whether I have that perfect ethnic attire and jewelry for the occasion, it is not about a bucketful of bucks I would be spending on shopping and firecrackers, it is not about having a grand vacation at an exotic location, it is not even about whether I got a promotion or a raise...This Diwali is more about Survival. It is about being grateful that we are still able to breathe and alive for this day. It is about being thankful for the love and care from our loved ones, It about being with the family under one roof and spending time together, It is about lighting a Diya for all those dear and near souls who left us, It is about extending support and spreading cheer to family and friends who have lost their people...It is about spreading happiness to those who have suffered losses in jobs and businesses...*This Diwali is more about being hopeful, for a healthy & happy tomorrow*.With this I end my answer.Thanks.