Leslie and Bill came to visit us from May 6 to May 8! They were our very first houseguests in our new house. There were a lot of discussions ahead of time as we figured out what we were comfortable with regarding Covid. Both Leslie and Bill were fully vaccinated, I’d just had my second shot (but was not yet two weeks out), and Mike actually got his second shot during their visit. None of our kids were vaccinated yet. But we figured it was safe, as Leslie and Bill were both vaccinated and very, very careful. Our guest accommodations are not as good in the new house as in the old one. In the old house we had a queen bed in Owen’s room, and when we had guests he’d move into one of the girls’ rooms and then that girl would move in with her sister for the duration of the visit. That way the guest got their own room. In the new house, however, none of the kids’ bedrooms were big enough for a queen bed, so we would need to use the sofabed. We had our old sofabet – the dark brown couch – but it wasn’t great, as the bed sloped down toward the head for some reason. We’d ordered a new one the previous fall but it wasn’t here yet. It was supposed to arrive in May but it didn’t arrive in time for Leslie and Bill’s visit – it actually arrived just a few days after they left! I also got two folding screens to provide some privacy to guests at night, as they’d be in the middle of the great room. The screens would break up the space, block sightlines, and provide privacy from the patio window (which has no shades, though there’s nobody out there). So it was as nice as we could make it. And in two years, when Lela goes to college, we will get her bedroom back – another reason not to make big changes now – and we plan to turn that into a hybrid combining Lela’s room / office / guest room (probably with a Murphy bed that folds up against the wall). We were so excited to see them and have them stay with us! We hugged when they arrived, which felt great… we hadn’t hugged anyone beyond our family of five in over a year. It was kind of amazing, really, to see other people so close up, and to hang out, and talk, just like before the pandemic. What a relief! We took a hike one day, and ate on the patio, and enjoyed cocktails. They also saw Ellie’s piano recital on zoom, and Mike showed them the Virtual Reality goggles he was working on at Facebook. We had a lovely pancake breakfast on their last morning, and Borough Market grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. But mostly, we talked a mile a minute and got all caught up, which was fantastic!