Humdrum

I used to like that word when I was little. It seemed like a word not many people knew and it made me feel special. Now it seems, well, humdrum.

But that's simply where we are in America as we sail past the one-year mark of this mind-boggling experiment in uncompassionate federalism during a global pandemic.

Some good news -- I am out of quarantine after exposure to a COVID+ individual at UAlbany on Feb. 20. I tested negative myself on Feb. 24 and have been mostly indoors other than daily dog walks since then. The kids and Carey did not need to quarantine, but Carey stayed home from work anyway. It's been enjoyable hearing her discuss things like the risks associated with the DEC using drones and the pros and cons of deer shoots to cull herds. A far cry from cyber-terrorism. But she seems happy. Or maybe that's mostly her now twice-daily yoga routine.

Greta has joined her in the evening ritual as they stretch and breathe on their mats in the family room. Won't be long before we build a yoga room, I'm sure. Linc's routines haven't varied much -- from homework to Xbox to streaming. He still enjoys beating most of us at chess, though we have bested him a couple times, and that's a thrill.

Our evening meal continues to be the daily highlight. We're spending about $200-250/week on groceries and it shows -- last night was baked falafel with an awesome salad of greens, cucumbers, red onion, feta and a homemade dressing that included 1 tbs of honey, a sweetener that almost made me pass out with joy.

The pets continue to live their best lives. Mittens gets more Greta time than ever before and is thriving, while Yeager gets all the photos because he leaves home with us at least twice daily.