I am planning to stick with the Pfizer booster for my youngest who is high risk when he is eligible in December. For DH who got J&J, I am hoping to find out what they recommend for a booster, because he is our highest risk.

I have my older DS sell things for me. He doesn't get so invested in things and is super laid back. He gets a share of the money, and it doesn't seem to bother him much if there are no shows or whatever. Once he moves out, I doubt I will try to sell things myself unless I need the money. It isn't worth the stress for me. In our new neighborhood it seems a lot of people just list stuff on FB for free and put it outside on the sidewalk for people to pick up and then we have the annual garage sale. Mostly though I just donate the stuff I can.

I am sorry you are going through this. I would take time to know what is going on before decided who, if anyone, you want to tell. I will say that when DH had cancer, I needed someone to talk to. He is a very private person and didn't want to tell very many people. We discussed it and decided together, with his lead, who to talk to about things. Our kids didn't know anything about it until the surgery was scheduled.

I'm sorry for your loss.

Not here that I have seen. Things have leveled off a bit the last couple months, which is a good thing. But houses in my neighborhood are selling within days for the most part, and prices are staying pretty high. I am shocked at what some houses are selling for. Our house value has gone up a lot since we bought it three years ago, and when I checked on it (zillow) this month it had gone down a touch, not surprising for the time of year, but when I checked it today it was up a bit again. I expect things will cool off a bit this winter, but not a huge drop.

I don't think most people realize that even with an exemption to a vaccine, like for school, that if there is an outbreak the exempted person can be excluded until the outbreak is over. This is something I had to think about with my youngest who can't have the pertussis vaccine when he was in pre-school at a private school. This was around the time that pertussis was having outbreaks in our area. He was never asked to stay home, but it was a possibility and I would not have been angry or fought it, but at the same time he wasn't our breadwinner either. I am not a huge fan of mandates, but I can see the necessity. But it is hard when it is contraindicated to get vaccinated due to a medical reason and that means you will lose your livelihood or take a risk getting the vaccine and hope for the best. I have seen severe reactions to a vaccine that were life threatening, and it was very nerve wracking even with approval from both the allergist and pcp getting the shot for DS.

I use grey. For some reason it just looks better to me.

The first realtor we tried to work with had been a friend of DH's. He was not very helpful, not sure he was all that motivated to be honest. We were young and looking for a starter home so he wouldn't have made a very big commission. We never did find a house with him. Our second was great. We did online research and went with one who specialized in first time home buyers. She was wonderful to work with and went above and beyond when the seller (a bank foreclosure) was trying to play games. We tried to use her again when we moved a few years ago but she had retired. Our last agent was an older guy that I found online. I emailed several agents from different agencies and he was the only one who got back to us. He wasn't the most personable, but he was great at communication and was a hard worker. For us the communication was a huge thing. I wanted someone to keep us informed and get back to us in a reasonable time frame with questions and concerns. We had to sell/buy at the same time because it was the only way to do the down payment. It was a very stressful time, and we plan to do things different next time. We used the same person to sell/buy and it was helpful because he could coordinate both sales. We closed on both houses the same day. If we were to sell first next time, which is likely, I don't know if we would use the same agent or not for buying. I don't think that there is an expectation on their part, but I could be wrong, and it could also vary by location. When we were in the process of getting our house ready to sell, which took months (years), we did go to some open houses to look around. We were clear up front that we were looking, but not quite in the market yet, and everyone was fine with that. I am not sure if that would be the same with the covid protocols and such now.

My mom had hers done two or three years ago and it went great. She was so happy she had it done.

My youngest just turned 16 last week. He has always been challenging, but lately even more so. Seeing my older two have turned out okay gives me a glimmer of hope.

My parents had theirs (Pfizer) about a week ago. They said they didn't really have any side effects. However, my mom said the shot hurt a lot and bled more than usual. I am getting my third Pfizer shot (booster?) at the end of the month and am a bit nervous about it. I was down for around a week last shot, plus I have had ongoing tinnitus since the first shot and I am hoping it doesn't get worse.

When I think of fried pies, I think of the ones McDonald's had years ago before they went "healthy" with baked pies. KFC did fried pies for a while too, but alas they are gone now too. I don't know of anywhere I can get them around here. I have always considered Arkansas southern, but I know some from the deep south would strongly disagree. Both of my maternal grandparents were originally from Arkansas. My grandfather moved west with his family as a boy during the depression, and my grandmother as a teenager during WWII.

And I though my neighborhood was busy. We get a lot of kids, but not nearly that many. Our neighborhood is the place to go on Halloween because is it a lot of houses in suburban setting. I think the main thoroughfares get around 500, but fortunately we live on a small cul-de-sac out of the way, so we only get between 100-150 each year. I am going to fill some small bags with candy, and a few with toys for allergy kids, and send them down a zipline that runs from the upstairs to the sidewalk. I am making up about 100 bags. When we run out, we close up shop.

I rarely see my primary care doctor for urgent sicknesses when I need a same day appointment. Last week when I was sick I called the advice nurse and was sent to urgent care, which is part of the clinic I go to. I was in and out in about 30 mins. If I have an urgent need that doesn't need a same day appointment, I can usually get in to see my primary care doctor within a few days, and if she can't fit me in I can see a different provider.

I would love to participate again this year.

He has one, but will only chew on it if there is a treat inside, and even then he mostly picks it up and tosses it on the floor to get the treat out. 🤣

Thanks for the input on the blood work everyone. DH is inclined to skip it, I am inclined to do it, but we have a little while to decide. It was one of his premolars that broke. We wouldn't have known except that DS found the piece that broke off on the floor next to him. So far he is not showing any signs of pain and is eating and playing like normal. A far as chew toys, I think we are going to have to change up what he is chewing on. The hard thing is that he is a chewer, and destroys most chew toys quickly. If we don't provide something for him to chew on, I fear he will start going after my furniture again like when he was a puppy. I would love some suggestions for heavy chewers that is okay for his dental health.

We didn't lose too much money, fortunately. DH and I are talking about trying to go next year instead. DH will still have the week off though, so we may be able to do a few inexpensive things near home.

I hate being a responsible adult sometimes. We had to cancel our trip because our dog broke his tooth and needs an extraction. It is really expensive, and with all the other unexpected expenses, mostly medical, we decided it would be best to stay home. I cancelled our reservations this evening. I am feeling really down about it. This is a dream trip for me; one I have been wanting to do for years. I love my dog, he is the sweetest boy, but this really is a major disappointment. I know this is a first world problem, but I just really wanted to get away for a while and relax. Technically we could have still done the trip, but it would have left us in a tight spot if any more unexpected stuff comes up. So, my question: the pre-surgery blood work is optional and I am wondering if it is worth the extra expense. We had it done when he got fixed at 6 months old, and everything was fine. He is now three years old and a very healthy dog. Should I get him the blood work? Would you if it were your pet? And of course adding a picture of the "troublemaker"

The doctor has given me an iron shot a few times when my iron levels were really low. Otherwise, I eat red meat, cook in cast iron, and eat things with molasses. I have also been told to take my iron pills with orange juice or a vitamin C supplement as it helps the iron absorb better, but I am not sure how true that is.

Halloween: DD will be home for the weekend from college. We will be setting up our candy zip-line, and having homemade treats while watching movies or just visiting. I wanted to go to talking tombstone event, but it is actually on Halloween this year and with everything else going on we are going to skip it. Thanksgiving: It is still a bit up in the air. We are tentatively planning to go to my parent's house, however, it will depend on how things are going around here. Everyone will be vaxed, and the most vulnerable family members will have had their boosters. DD will be home for the weekend, so we will at least have dinner at home with her if we can't go to see my family. Christmas: We haven't really discussed. DD will be home for her semester break for about a month. We will be doing stuff at home for sure, but I am not sure if we will get together with any extended family. I am hoping to at least have a small gathering with my parents, if not we will drop off gifts at doors, and wave from a distance. New Years: We always just do at home with the kids. We'll have lots of snack foods around, play games, and just enjoy each others company. DH's parents are out of town for a year, so we won't see them at all, except maybe some sort of online meetup.

DD and I had a rough time when she was high school age. Once she got into college things leveled out. Now we get along really well. She is coming home from college this weekend for her brother's birthday, and I am excited to get to see her.

Youngest takes Vitamin D, adult dose, because he is deficient. We haven't done any other vitamins since they were little and did gummy multi-vitamins.

I don't regret it for the most part. But I think a lot of that is because I had planned to be a stay at home mom when we had children. My vision had always been to be like my mom, where the kids were at public school and I would volunteer in the school, but then I decided to homeschool instead. I think it helps that none of my children so far regret homeschooling. My DD has told me numerous times how much she appreciates me homeschooling her. My DS's don't really have strong feelings about it that I can see, but none of them feel they have missed out on anything. I am now nearing the end of my homeschooling journey. My youngest turns 16 in a couple weeks, and he has about 3 years left before he graduates. I am having a bit of a mid-life questioning of what I want to do with my life. I don't have any great answers. The last 16 or so years I have dedicated to my children's education, and now what do I do when I am "retired" at the age of 50ish. I think a lot of it will be spent taking care of my elderly parents, and I am glad I have the ability to do that. Both my sister and brother work full-time, so I am the sibling with the most availability. It is not something I look forward to, and I hope they continue to be in good health and able to take care of themselves for many years to come, but I am glad I would have the ability to if needed. Meanwhile I will look for things to fill my time like volunteering, working on writing, and other things that catch my interest.

My BIL has Covid. He is vaccinated (J&J), but picked it up at work. He has been isolating at home and hasn't had too bad of a time with it, mostly a sore throat and low grade fever. Our county is just nuts. So many people think this is all a hoax for the government to gain control. They are blaming vaccinated people for the delta variant, saying it was caused by vaccines. They are saying that the hospital is lying about what people are dying from. Some even think that the refrigeration trucks being brought in are a scare tactic, and that the dead body overwhelm is made up. My mom, who lives in a little rural town with one store, said that the people refuse to mask in the store. The owners are frustrated, but really have no recourse unless they want to shut down. This is a store that has been owned by the same family since my grandparents were young. Getting grocery pick up is getting harder. It is like early pandemic when you have to book a day or two out. I tried to order groceries the last couple weeks and had to wait a day or two to pick them up. I think it is a lack of workers. Our case numbers are high, the county reported yesterday that our 14 day new case rate is 1,063.4/100k. Our county only has around 110,000 people total. The county health officials think we might be over the peak, but school just started two weeks ago, and there are small festivals for one thing or another every weekend. Good news is that some are getting cancelled for this upcoming weekend due to a forecast of a big downpour.