I am at a housewarming party for [?????]’s cousin’s family. Feeling tired and lazy, I phoned it in for the potluck and made a quick random chocolate chip cookie recipe I found on my recipe app with the dairy free chocolate chips I accidentally bought at Grocery Outlet. A woman I chatted with briefly runs up to me, mouth full, pointing at the melty, half eaten chocolate chip cookie in her hands. “These cookies are insane, I just had to tell you.” Several other people, all strangers, make a point to compliment the cookies. I rethink the idea that cooking from scratch could ever be considered lazy.

I am at a gathering at my neighbor E’s house. [???]’s camera equipment is set up and two people are taking professional-looking photos of my neighbor’s three homemade cakes. I am ardently filming her cats. My neighbor insists on making more rolls.

I am at my friend A’s house. Instead of a tv, she has a large projector and a screen. She has just finished making her own earl grey syrup to put in drinks. Everyone is drunk and someone decided to put Balatro up on the screen. We are all screaming about what moves to make and cards to play. Someone almost discards the wrong cards and everyone yells.

I am walking into the house hosting the weekly board game night, everyone knows my name and says hello.

I am watching a Discord feed discussing some drama at the board game night, and our friend D is in the trenches in good faith. After it calms, [????] and I invite him to our place to debrief and have a beer.

I am getting sandwiches with two middle aged ladies I befriended at jury duty during the lunch break. Woman A gives me secret behind-the-scenes information about the grocery chain she works at. I gently try to explain to Woman B that no, a union isn’t something the company makes, and Woman A backs me up. Later, Woman B tries to convince me to be the jury foreman. I graciously decline. We all wave each other goodbye after court releases.

I am speedily finishing a pasta recipe while chatting with my friend L. My friend D is able to visit for barely 5 minutes before he has to run to his shift, but we promised him dinner so the least I can do is throw it in a to-go container.

I am at the bar with D and L and others. A member of our board game group is clearly at-risk and we are discussing if there is anything we can do to help.

I am buying wine at my local grocery store. I nearly bump into an old man, and I quickly say “Oh, sorry!” With a twinkle in his eye, he says “nobody ever got anywhere by being sorry.” I have never forgotten him.

I am making mini muffins, banana bread topped with cream cheese frosting. My neighbor friend E likes horror too, and she is coming over on Friday to check out a new movie. She is separately bringing over her own dessert. E offers to help fold anything that might be needed for the wedding.

I am wide awake at 1AM. My other neighbor is hammering something and it is so ungodly loud. [????] and I get up to say something. She is working with her door wide open. [?????] asks her to stop and that it’s so late. She promptly apologizes with an air that implies she had not been aware that the sun went down.

[?????] and I are outside sitting at our little table. Our other neighbor walks by and says hello. She apologizes for all the noise and that she is done with her renovation. She invites us in to see. Her design sensibility is truly something else, but considering the noise it is pretty impressive.

Neighbor E moves just down the road a bit. She offers to make dumplings for a housewarming party in exchange for helping her get her dining room table up the stairs. While she works on the filling in her kitchen, five guests, unprompted, decide to enter her bedroom and build her bed.

We text a group of friends if they are able to come over on Saturday. None of them can but A suggests today and proceeds as though confirmed. E chides A for basically inviting herself over, but we are free, and everyone comes over in a few hours.

[?????] and I are at our friend’s Halloween house party wearing hard hats. His bathroom door has been busted for years, and we are fixing it behind his back.

I am at a networking event for Day Job finding a seat for a panel. Despite my constant terror I choose to take a risk and sit directly next to someone and introduce myself in a horrifically awkward way, fumbling through it like an elderly person in an infomercial. Despite this, she asks for my professional contact info after the panel finishes.

I am hosting a dinner/movie night for six friends. We’re screening a weird movie that none of them are familiar with, but all six of them showed up anyways. There is soft music playing and constant laughter. I privately remark to myself how lucky I am to have these friends.

I am walking down the aisle at my wedding. I turn the corner and my heart stops for a moment as I marvel at the smiling crowd of friends and family who traveled out here for me. I moaned and groaned my whole way through the planning process, complaining about getting married being an imposition on people I care about, dragging them to the other coast and forcing them to spend money for a dumb ceremony. I didn’t believe [?????]’s coworker when they said their wedding let them share in all the love people had for them.

But I feel it. Oh my god, I feel it.

-k.