Such a cold and overcast day. I think the high was 39 but it felt colder. Steve went out for a ride with some friends and took hours later to get his feet thawed out. Got some Christmas shopping and also ordered a couple of shirts that were on sale at Athleta.

Supposed to rain most of the day, so I'm thinking a Zwift session is on tap. It's also time to start wrapping Christmas presents, which should be a much simpler task this year since we've cut waaaaaayyy back.

Working from home today since we were traveling and exposed to who-knows-what. Our company is following CDC guidelines and it appears at least for the time being, that it's prudent to quarantine for 7 days after travel out of state. I think that's reduced from 10 days, so it's not a huge problem.

My mom called this morning, probably to be sure I got home in one piece but also to share her news that she has decided to get a total knee replacement. This will probably be in April or May. I have such mixed feelings about this, having seen Steve go through this surgery twice. He was in so much pain and had many side effects from the pain killers, so basically had to tough it out using just Advil. Mom is in great health but she is 86, but then again, she can't really walk any more and the shots aren't giving her much relief. It's a bit of a no-win situation.

Yesterday while riding on the bike path to get to the mtb trails, we ran into a couple we know who are 2 years older than us -- they are in great shape and the wife is a retired nurse. Turns out she picked up COVID somewhere but breezed through it with minor cold-like symptoms. Her husband was not so fortunate and ended up in the ICU for 12 days. He said he is still exhausted but is taking short bike rides to get some fresh air and is slowly recovering. It's so crazy how two people living under the same roof can be affected so differently by this virus.

our flight home was uneventful and we were back home by 10 am. The cats were glad to see us but didn't seem as freaked out as usual. We let Terry the cleaning lady take care of them this time (first time) and she did a great job.

After a couple of days of inactivity, I really needed some exercise and we did a short mtb ride. I had heard there was a dead deer on one of the trails and sure enough, a good size doe lay literally ON a trail. The coyotes have been working on it, so there's that, but it bothered me to have to ride around her and I tried not to look. It's unclear who is responsible for removing the carcass, so it will probably just stay there. Might have to avoid that area for a while.