Starting 2022

Yes. Somehow it's already January 10. Stuff's been happening. :) I have additional blog posts to create and share so will just do a simple list here to catch up...

1. New Year's Eve. We celebrated the end of 2021 and the start of 2022 with what's become our traditional charcuterie and fondue. Thanks to The Fox and the Crow for the meats and cheeses...yum! (Yes, our fondue spread has become less fancy and extensive as we've added the charcuterie board. Four-fifths of us would prioritize the charcuterie over the fondue, though we still all enjoy both.)

2. Escape room. The next day, we tried our first escape room. (It was actually Asher's second experience since he'd done one in Omaha, but it was a first for the rest of us.) We tried out Somewhere Secret in Old Town, completed the challenge with time left to spare, and had a great time. 

For what it's worth, Asher says he enjoyed this experience more than his escape room time in Omaha because there were more physical sorts of challenges. We'd recommend this escape room!

3. Spider-Man. Over the course of winter break, we've worked our way through all the past Spider-Man movies...the three with Tobey Maguire, the two with Andrew Garfield (which we'd actually never seen), the animated Into the Spiderverse movie, and any recent MCU movie where Tom Holland appeared as Spider-Man. And then, finally, we went to see the latest Spider-Man: No Way Home movie...having waited until it wasn't brand new and until the local schools started back for the semester so that the matinee showing was mostly empty. There has been much discussion and debate...plenty of conversations throughout break. Hooray for Spider-Man! (For what it's worth, we're in favor of having a whole new MCU of just Spider-Man movies and stories from all over the multiverse.)

4. CEC started. CEC started classes again on January 5. Two of Micah's four classes this semester are on the CEC campus. (So, he's actually only scheduled to be there three mornings each week.) His other two classes are through FRCC online so won't start until January 18.

5. Covid. Micah didn't go to his classes last week, though, on account of having tested positive for Covid. Yup, Micah started 2022 in quarantine. Fortunately (thankful for sure!), he had only mild symptoms...sore throat and loss of appetite...only had a slight fever one day. Micah and I waited more than 2.5 hours to get him tested last week at a drive thru testing site (which wasn't the most fun but turned out to be some quality conversation time so I'm not complaining) and were honestly surprised when his results came back positive. Following his results, the rest of us (who hadn't distanced from him at all and weren't experiencing any symptoms) went to get tested as recommended. (The line was sooooo much shorter.) All of our results came back negative. So. Thankful that our vaccines and boosters seem to have worked and incredibly thankful that Micah's vaccines last summer seem to have worked. 

(That's been our primary concern...not knowing whether Micah's vaccines had elicited any sort of effective immune response given his auto immune disease and being on immuno-suppressants. We'd been treating him as unvaccinated since his rheumatologist was worried about that and the unknowns for people like him. So, big sigh of relief. It's a weight lifted to know that, at least with this current variant, Micah seems to be okay. He's hopefully in that small portion of immune-compromised people whose vaccine seems to have worked. Whew.

And, for what it's worth, if you haven't gotten your booster yet, please do. Our best guess is that Micah tested positive while the rest of us didn't because he's the only one of us who hasn't had a booster. (He isn't eligible yet given the date of his last shot...which was actually a third dose last August when they approved third doses for immune-compromised people in hopes of increasing the immune response.))

6. Today. So, that brings us mostly current. Micah was approved to go to classes today so collected his textbooks and officially started the semester this morning. (He'd been in contact with his professors last week and apparently didn't miss anything important.) Noah will head back to his apartment later this week and start classes on the 18th. (He'd been set to go back last week but had to stay until we got the test results back. CSU will require him to get tested again before classes and is also now requiring booster shots.) Asher's classes don't start until January 24, so we'll drive back next week.

It's been a good break...lots of games together and watching shows together and just being together. It'll be nice, too, to get back to a bit more routine...with people not sleeping past noon, fewer groceries needed, people not staying awake until early morning, etc. LOL. :) 

Okay, more to come...