My knee is almost back to normal. I can walk up and down stairs just fine. I still feel pain in my knee when I kick something with side of my foot.

It's been a social weekend. Thursday we had dinner with my old boss and his wife. After he left our old company, he opened up a cruise ship center. And then COVID hit. Business is slow. He has used COVID as an opportunity to buy up other cruise ship centers in that franchise. Good for him, though he is much more of a risk taker than I.

Saturday we brought the mother-in-law out to a nice dinner on the waterfront. She hasn't been away from her retirement home in a while. She appreciated the change.

Sunday we had dinner with Yo and the Angel. They are moving the Angel's mother to Seattle, so we discussed all the logistics that we had to go through. Shutting down the mother's house-- finding a place in Seattle-- correcting all the paper work, the insurance. Overall, moving the Angel's mother to Seattle is a good idea for them.

 > I regret not learning to ski when I was younger. I've only gone once in my life. Now, I have decided the experience would not be worth the pain of learning. But a hot tub and a cabin would be fun.

There is wisdom in that. I enjoy snowboarding. It's an expensive hobby and you spend the first year falling alot. 

This past weekend was the husband's birthday.  The two of us, plus three friends rented a cabin in the mounts and went skiing for a couple of days.

And yes, it wasn't good for my struggling knee.

Also, my binding broke and I spent too much time finding alternate gear.

But, we ate well at night. And the birthday was much fun.

The husband and I have started working on our wills. Most of our will is straight forward-- if I die my possessions go to him. He makes my health care decisions if I am unable to respond.

And he me should the situation is reversed.

What if we are both not dead, but can't respond? What if we are both in comas? The lawyer asked us to think that through. 

After a few days of contemplating, I asked C2 if he would handle my health care directive if the husband was not able. 

I asked "Could you pull the plug on me?"

He responded "Oh yeah. I'd want the same."

That's what friends are for.

We went snowboarding Thursday night. And I hurt my knee. For now I'm just icing it, and keeping weight off of it.

The husband and I both bought new skis and snowboards. So we have been trying to hit the hills. Last Sunday we drove to a local ski hill with C6. That ski hill had a large power outage just before we arrived. Power wasn't returned till the next morning.

Later today we are going to try night skiing. The weather looks bad. We shall see.

We had dinner with C2 last night. C2 has spent the last week moving into his new apartment and visiting his father in hospice. C2 is frustrated with his father's inability to die. C2's father just lays there like a vegetable. He eats every 2nd day or so. He defecates. That's it. No communication. He's not on life support. He's not on life sustaining medications. He just lays there.

When I think about my future, my end-of-life, I always assume I'm going to be able to talk until I die-- to communicate my wishes. If I turned into a vegetable, at some point I'd hope someone would give me end-of-life medications. Will doctors allow that? Our state allows assisted suicide. However, you must be awake and able to communicate. You must take the drugs yourself while an independent doctor watches. This is a complication for vegetables.

I need diet and exercise discipline that I don't abandon when we travel. At home I have no problems eating healthy, running and lifting weights regularly. 

When I travel... Exercise? Why? I'll catch up when I'm home. Dessert! Yes! Sure I'll take seconds. Oh, you want to get rid of the box of chocolates? Let me help!

It's good to be home. I love our bed. The dog was happy to see us. 

On the trip back we had about three hours of delays.

Now back to reality. I have gained about seven lbs. For the past two weeks I've indulged on sweets and fine food. The husband feels no sympathy for me. I don't have to eat every chocolate placed in front of me. That was my choice.

While we were away Seattle had a big dump of snow followed by floods. We seem to have avoided that. It's beautiful today. 

We have passed our COVID tests and made our way through Customs. The only things that can stop us now are the bad weather in Seattle or a screw up with the airlines.

I remain optimistic.

There were a few COVID travel learning lessons this time… maybe I don't need to spend two weeks in Ontario in the winter… That one sounds "well duh!"

The husband needs to get out for walks regularly. Pick places where we don't need long elevator rides.

We are still in Toronto. The week is a little frustrating. Omicron has caused the province to institute a lockdown-- indoor restaurant service is closed, so it's become difficult to meet up with old friends.

The husband is a real trooper here. He doesn't like being cooped up in our condo. The condo is OK, it's clean and quiet, but it's not set up for people to live and work for an extended period of time. He has been going for long walks in the afternoon to try and blow off some steam.

The night before the restaurant lockdown, the husband and went out for dinner with as many of my friends as were comfortable. We had an interesting discussion about COVID. These friends are all pro-science. Most of them are triple vaxed. They are all very tired of the lockdowns. This affects them more direct than I as many of them have kids and the lockdown means their children will now school from home.

There are no great answers here. I understand why someone would lash out against the restrictions. As Tommy says "it is what is is... Life Goes on... Life is OK."

 > Have a good 2022, if that is possible, Roderick. P.S

Hi Roderick! Welcome.

Bathwater, I see that people can reply to comments on your blog. How did you turn that on?

We are in Toronto now, visiting my old college buddies. We'e rented a condo workationing there for the week. 

I may have put my husband in a situation where he feels cooped up as the weather is cold so we can't get out of the condo that often.

Toronto is a bit more locked down than Seattle is. Even so, we have no problems going to restaurants. 

New Years Eve we went out for an outdoor light show at the Toronto Zoo. It was gorgeous.

Saturday was long walk along the waterfront with maybe a dozen other friends, their children and their spouses. Usually these friends have a large indoor New Years Day party. COVID canceled that (too many people indoors in one location) Hence the walk.

The walk felt good. For the past week I've been visiting, drinking coffee and eating sweets. Some activity is just what the doctor ordered.

Our home, Seattle has had a huge dump of snow. Toronto is above freezing and clear of snow. Our Toronto friends are bugging us about this.

Our aging parents is a large topic of conversation amongst my generation. We must love them and care for them while we can. 

For my future reference... all the people we visited last week...

Flew in Saturday the 25th. Flights were delayed and rescheduled owing to COVID, but we made it late in the day.

26th we drove to my brothers for a wonderful dinner. 

Monday... We had a social distant visit with my aunt R. She ended up being hospitalized later that day. Long story, but she is in her eighties and has been in and hospital for a while. 

Tuesday we visited my cousin B for coffee and then had dinner with my cousins A,A,H,M. 

H is a fine wood carver. He can make decoy ducks that almost look real. My parent's farm has a large bush around it. H and my Dad work together to fell the right trees and turn them into wood that H will later carve. He likes having access to the wood on their farm because he doesn't feel bad if he makes a mistake. Dad likes working with H to produce the wood.

Wednesday we cooked a nice lunch for my parents and my uncle J. In the afternoon we had coffee with a friend and old neighbor, N

Wednesday evening, the husband I took time off from visiting and had a great dinner at a local restaurant.

Thursday the husband and I had an outdoor visit with an old high school friend. In the afternoon we took care of mom while dad ran errands and visited my hospitalized aunt.

While we watched mom,, about every ten to fifteen minutes, mom would ask where dad was. We would patiently explain that he was visiting Aunt R. Mom would respond by telling us the same story about my aunt.

We have spent the past week in the Ottawa Valley, visiting my parents, family and friends.

The Valley has changed as lot since I was a young. Also-- I've grown up. I've gone from being a gay kid who wanted to get away, who spent years in Seattle ignoring his family as much as possible, to so someone who can appreciate the peace of the valley and is trying to build relationships with those I left behind.

The valley is less homophobic now. Also, I care less about that. I'm not mature enough to pick and choose my friends from those who accept us. I no longer worry about the harsh judgement from some of the family.

I come from a large extended family. Not counting the spouses, I have 14 uncles and aunts and well over 50 cousins. A good chunk of them are very nice people and we enjoy spending time with them-- they get along well with the husband.

My parents are getting old. Moms dementia is more pronounced every time I visit. Practically she can no longer be alone for more than a a few minutes. She easily gets lost. She can't remember what she did 10 minutes ago. Dad patiently stays with her every day. My brothers and I need to arrange some relief for him. 

Tomorrow we drive up to Toronto to visit other friends. I'm looking forward to this next leg of our trip. It will be a little more relaxed. Less obligation to see as many people as possible.

Bathwater comments…

>Wonder what it will be like when he faces his own death?

I am unsure what he will actually be like, but we have discussed this. It was similarly cavalier… if he can't wipe his ass or feed himself then he wants to blow his brains out

It was a bit of a roller coaster of a day. 

We got news that the husband's uncle passed away. He was in hospice and had been struggling for a while, so this was for the best.

Dinner was wonderful. 

C3's father isn't doing well and has been in hospice for two months. Today, C3 said his father has stopped eating.

C3 has always had a cavalier attitude about his father's decline. We discussed. He said people die. You have to get over it or it will drag you down for years. He brought up that his mother died, his stepmother died and one of his sisters died.

"I didn't know you has a second sister." 

"I don't talk about her" 

That said a lot.

Merry Christmas everyone! Happy Boxing Day & New Years.

This evening we will have our holiday dinner. It will be a small crowd-- our regular bubble. The husband has outdone himself and setup something special.

We have an excess of cookies, cakes and fudge. I've already started snacking. 

Tomorrow, we fly out to Ottawa & Toronto to visit my family. We shall see what happens with omicron. I've passed two COVID tests in the last week, so traveling is the big risk. Still, most everyone I know in Ontario is vaccinated. Most are boosted. 

Fingers crossed.

Work is quieting down for the holidays. Or rather, there are as many emergencies as ever, but there are fewer people to act on them, or to complain about the lack of action...

We had a minor COVID scare. COVID inconvenience really. On December 8th, I was in our office for a small holiday get-together. A week and a half later, December 15, I received a notification that someone at the get-together had tested positive for COVID. I felt fine. None the less we went out and got a rapid test. And yes, they came back negative.

The testing site was chaotic and slow. We will be traveling to Ontario next week to visit family, so we will need to be retested 72 hours before we depart. Will leave my self much buffer time.

Last night we had had dinner with Clem and Bates. This was the first time I've seen Bates since he retired back in June. They have been traveling *alot* Europe. Multiple Trips to Oregon. California. Mexico. Hawaii. 

Bates has gained much weight. Easily 50 lbs. I'm worried about him. 

But, he is enjoying himself.

Once a week we visit the mother-in-law. We assemble new furniture. Play games with her. Have dinner together. Just chat.

She can be very grumbly. This really bugs the husband. I can listen to her complaints and not respond. The husband needs to pushback-- to give her feedback. This frequently escalates to verbal arguments. 

I'm not going to fault the husband for this. He has probably had to push back against his mother since childhood least she steam role him. His emotions don't quit understand that she is now powerless over him, unless he gives her power.

I've started to go into work a couple times a week. I'm aiming for Wednesdays and Fridays. The introverts on my team could work from home forever. The extraverts are frustrated that no-one ever goes into the office.

So I'll straddle the line and do a little of both.

We have a nice office that could easily hold one hundred people. On any given day half a dozen will show up. They company has started bringing in lunch. There is free beer. And yet...

Last night, on my way home, I walked by a large condo. Someone high up, about the twentieth floor, was throwing stuff out the window. TVs. Speakers. Clothing. Dishes. Heavy things. They hit road and shattered. A few things hit the roofs of passing cars. I don't know what the end story was. The police were arriving as I walked away.