I agree with Sandi and you trumpet. I'm not going to make things up as an excuse not to talk to her. Even the little interactions that are beyond kids are too much now and it's enough for her to gauge where I'm at.
If it was something like the toque again I can just leave it. If I would have left it for another 30 minutes she would have seen it when she picked them up.

I'm just finding it hard not to respond even though I know I need to limit talk. It's a learning process and I'm getting better. Still have a long way to go tho

The person that you will spend the most time with in your life is yourself, so make yourself as interesting as possible.