Belated Parents' Birthdays/Mother's Day!

Before this past weekend, I hadn't seen my parents since February — before the pandemic began in the U.S. That means I missed both of their birthdays (April 3 for my dad; May 4 for my mom) and Mother's Day. Because they're in that high-risk age group, I didn't want to risk spreading any potential virus to them. I haven't been sick that I know of! But you never know with COVID-19!

So I self-isolated for two weeks to be sure it was safe to go visit them. I'm working from home, so that was not too hard for me. But that meant my partner Paul, who is still working with the public daily, had to stay in Nashville (where he works) for two weeks. But last Friday, my self-isolation ended, and I made the trip to Arkansas to see my folks!

My parents are doing keto right now, so they're all about the low-carb life. I'm typically on a high-carb diet, but we met in the middle with Vegan Beef Tacos (made with Beyond Meat) and a Mexican Salad, plus chips, salsa, and guac. My dad made the guac and salsa from scratch, and both were amazing.

For dessert, my mom made a Vegan Keto Lemon Pie! This has a pecan crust and is filled with lemon-y, whipped topping made with coconut whip and vegan cream cheese. She crumbed a lemon Larabar on top for some texture. It was REALLY good. Who knew you could do vegan and keto at the same time?

I brought their birthday and Mother's Day gifts with me. Mama asked for a bunch of Pioneer Woman stuff for her kitchen.

And Daddy wanted new sunglasses and work gloves. I also added a bottle of one of his favorite whiskeys, Weller.

We had a nice visit! I can't wait til this is all over, and we can just visit whenever we want!