Sorry I've been absent for so long. I missed the daily interactions with everyone, then over time I unfortunately got used to not checking in daily. It was so convenient as well as cathartic to log on daily while at work. I sat at a work station all day, if I had to sit there, at least I could come here.
Well, now I'm never on a computer. I check email when someone texts me to yell at me that I haven't checked my email. I order from Amazon quickly each week and that's about it. Oh I hit up youtube for instructional videos on about a car, or a vacuum cleaner.
I can't hope to catch up with everything that's going on in everyone's lives this morning, but I will try to give a brief recap of the last year. The Kid is in her 4th year at OSU, she's got a couple internships lined up this summer, which she's excited about. She had one lined up last year that evaporated with the shutdown. She'll probably graduate next spring. Last July she took me on a back country backpacking trip to the Sierras, culminating in a summit of Mt. Whitney. About the hardest thing I've ever done. And probably the greatest experience of my life. She's a beast.
I've been working with my buddy regularly, usually about 20-25 hours a week. I need routines and it gets me up every morning to get to his truck and see what we're going to do today. It usually hurts, it makes me sore and I'm tired. But I look forward to getting up which didn't happen much in the last 30 years.
Mrs. T was working from home until a month or so ago when she got shit canned. Her new boss was a dick. I understand the company is going down the shitters financially and she's trying to save it. But to be let go in a Zoom meeting on a Friday and that's it. Unacceptable. Mrs. T has worked with Every single executive director in the company's history over 34 years. This last one didn't appreciate anything she did. But Mrs. T is glad to be away from her and is slowly and calmly looking for something she'd enjoy doing. Oh and that led us all three to scramble to find health care for ourselves. At about 4 times the cost of last year. Luckily, we paid our house off in November. Wow, no mortgage for the first time since we've been married...
We currently have a dog and two cats, I'd like another dog but we'll see. The latest cat we found on a walk last fall. I had to crawl into a field tile drain to get him, dragged him out by his face but he's forgiven me. He and Mrs. T are best buds.
Nobody in the family has gotten Covid. The Kid gets tested routinely at school even though they're all remote this semester. Our three parents have all gotten both their shots. Mrs. T and I are scheduled for our first shots next week. I've had many friends that have gotten it, most mild cases. But a former work buddy nearly died and is in for a long slow recovery. My neighbor's step parents got it, she recovered fine, he did not make it. I should be a little more responsible than I am. I'm not worried for myself, but if I got it and gave it to someone who died, I could not live with that. There are so many people who don't take it seriously enough.
I think what I miss the most is live music. I will greatly appreciate getting out to a concert, any concert when able. My sister's favorite boss is an avid birder. He reached out to me and invited me to a birding trip in Ecuador next January. I think I'm going to do it. Well, the laptop battery is about to die, I have no idea where the cord is. I you've managed to make it this far, I miss you all and wish you all the best. I promise to check in an catch up. Now to load a bunch of softener salt into the basement then service the mower. As soon as all the snow melted last month, it got up to 60 and the grass is starting to grow. Take care all.
Good luck, and have fun. It's only money and hard work. 
