The ferries and sea planes are not going to run this year.

I believe Isle Royale is not opening at all this summer, FYI. I'd check the website.

It must be in the air. Today, dd got word that the very last thing she had planned for summer has been canceled. She knows she is lucky to be healthy and fed and housed and privileged. She knows many other people have it FAR worse. It is still ok to mourn.

Can people who currently live in open states/areas tell me what they know about any outdoor youth activity that might be meeting in your area? I am on the organizing committee chair for an athletic team that trains year-round. It is a non-contact sport and all spring/summer conditioning takes place outdoors. The participants are age 13-19. Our area just got "opened up." We are to maintain 6 feet SD and are not to gather in groups of more than 10. I am unclear if the group gatherings participants are also supposed to be 6 feet apart but am assuming so. My (and your) personal opinion(s) on whether we should allow group training (or anything about what we should or should not be doing during a pandemic) is irrelevant to the conversation. I will decide at what level, if any, that I will allow my own child to participate. I am interested in policies and precedents in places that came before us so that I can be informed when attempting to come to an agreement between parents, coaches, and athletes with vastly different ideas of what "opening up" means. So I am hoping to keep the conversation on things that are actually happening not on what should happen or what you would do with your own dc. If you are in an open location can you tell me: 1. Are any outdoor youth activities, aside from childcare for essential workers, "legally" meeting in person? 2. If so, do you know what parameters or rules are in place to prevent spread? 3. For sporting activities, I am going to assume ALL do not allow person to person contact but are additional measures put into place to address additional aerosol for heavy breathing that comes with exercise? It may be this is not happening anywhere so that would also be helpful for me to know....that you are in an "open" area but still have no outdoor youth activity that you are aware of.

That's why I think "not yet." I assume they will have to do something..... We already opted out of the AP exams this year given all of the turmoil. Strange times!

Add me to the grumpy list. We were hoping for a one and done in April. Dd's test center is a university. It is the only test center within 100 miles so they service everyone. But I also work for that university and already know they will not open for the June date and likely not the July date either. Now I am really kicking myself for not having dd take it sooner. She also did not take the SAT because the local schools do not allow homeschooled students. Dd is not sure what her college plans are and may not go or may take a gap year. But the one school she is most likely to apply to is not test-optional....at least not yet anyway.

My dh has it. He has had it for as long as he remembers but has gotten worse with age. Chewing or any other mouth noise is the biggest trigger. We always eat with music on, gum is banned in our house, and he travels with sound blocking headphones. He also gets wicked migraines and can usually tell when he is migraine-prone because sound bothers him even more in the hours/days leading up to a series of migraines (they always come in multiples). We did not know this was a thing until about 10 years ago. Once we learned about it, we have made adjustments that make it very manageable. Before that, it caused a lot of bickering. He would get enraged about someone, often me, chewing normally and politely with my mouth closed. This is not a person who gets enraged about anything, really, so it was odd. Once we found out it is a real thing and made some adjustments, it is usually fine. Although more than once, I have feared for the safety of a fellow plane passenger or restaurant patron that is chewing loudly within earshot of dh!

I don't know what the right answer is here, but I am also struggling with this. I have a small family. But I live in an area where no one is following any of the rules. Grocery workers and patrons are not distancing or wearing masks. During my last trip, but the bagger and the cashier BOTH wiped their noses with their hands multiple times while handling my groceries! Our stores do not have grocery delivery. This leaves me two choices, either do a curbside pick up order (only one store offers this) or shop inside. The latter is more "risky" but the former has a 20 item limit. I would have to go every three days with a 20 item limit. So shopping in person is my only reasonable option. Because of the risk, I am spacing my trips to once every three weeks. This becomes a problem when I am only allowed one dozen eggs or one box of butter or one carton of milk per visit. I understand the problem with not having limits but it does mean that people are having to enter stores more often to replenish supplies, increasing risk to shoppers and staff. I don't know what the answer is. We are very flexible eaters and I can make a balanced meal out of just about anything, so we are fine. But, if I had a large family and/or was less willing/able to just make do with whatever I can get, I would have to shop almost daily due to the egg and milk limits. I had an actual issue with this and hand sanitizer yesterday. We have not had any as we were almost entirely at home with access to running water and soap. So I left whatever I saw for people who might "really" need it. All of a sudden, both dd and dh are working out of the home in places where hand washing is difficult. I want both of them to have a bottle of hand sanitizer on them. The only place locally that has any in stock only has the tiny purse-size bottles and there is a limit of one per customer. So, I had to go to the store TWICE to "follow the rules." Or I could have had dh or dd come in the second time. But either way, the rule meant either a double exposure (both to me and to others) or double the amount of people going into the store. I get why they have the rule. I agree with it. But I also just want to be able to say....."look, here's the deal, if you let me buy two bottles I promise to not buy any more for at least a month." They have the same limits on TP and again, I'm thinking if I had 10 kids, I'd have to shop daily to adhere to the one 4-pack per customer limit.

I think most of the people that indicated they would be annoyed have circumstances that are different from yours. Like no can dumping protocol or having to store bins inside where smell is a factor. In my case, I would not be annoyed if we were allowed to use cans and they were fully dumped. I assume the OP's neighbors all have similar garbage situations so they should all know that tossing it into an empty bin means that the owner will have to clean it up.

I would not annoy to you have to fish a bag of someone else's dog poo out of the bottom of a can? Once or twice, I wouldn't think much of it. But as a general practice, yeah, it's annoying.

It would bother me. We are not allowed to use cans here.....just bags left out. They will just leave your garbage if it is in a can because we don't have the mechanical can lifters on our trucks and they, understandably, don't want workers having to lift heavy bags out of cans. And almost no one picks up after their dogs so there is that too..... BUT, if we did have cans out on garbage day, this would bug me. It takes us about 6 weeks to fill a garbage bag. That bag is in a can that is stored on our enclosed front porch until it is full, then we remove the bag, tie it up, and haul it to the curb. If there was poo in that can, it would be sitting at the bottom of it for 6 weeks unless I removed it.....which I would because I would not want my porch to stink like poo for 6 weeks.

Ours is pretty simple. Full-Year: Clover Creek Physics and home-based US History Fall Semester: DE Calc 1 and DE US Government Spring Semester: DE Calc 2 and DE Public Speaking All DE classes are at our local university. They don't know if they will be in person or online. But dd handled the switch to her DE classes online mid-semester this spring just fine so I think she will be good either way. We may add a class to each semester if dd's other activities continue to be reduced and/or canceled. We had planned a "light" year to accommodate some big extracurricular things and travel but that may no longer be necessary:( Might as well knock off a few more general education classes. Dd was supposed to take the ACT last month. Now, who knows? We cancelled her AP test. It isn't accepted by most colleges so not worth the hassle and unknowns. Dd has always had the fall-back of attending our local university. With the uncertainty and inability to do campus visits, this is even more likely. And a gap year has also always been on the table. So, I really have no idea what application time will look like.

My 16yo is still working. Her jobs do not involve contact with the public but do involve contact with co-workers. Most seem respectful and all are using masks, sanitizer, and distancing. I'm still not terribly comfortable but it is what it is.

I make pesto out of them. We are still alive.

I live in MI. My family is being significantly financially hurt by the SIP orders. I live in an area that has very few confirmed cases....and until a few days ago, almost no testing available. I am not necessarily a fan of our governor. But I do not believe she is making "bonehead decisions." She is doing the best she can. It is definitely NOT in her best interest to do what she has had to do. These are unchartered waters and I would not expect everyone to do every thing perfectly. What exactly do you think she needs to do to "get rational?" Despite the national outrage, our restrictions are not much different than other states. Our state has been hit hard, harder than most. Given that, I don't think she has done a poor job. And FTR, the protests appall most IRL people I personally know in MI. Even the most conservative people I know who would have liked to see our governor removed from office well before the pandemic hit thinks bringing guns to this protest is sickening.

I do have one frozen veggie tip. I usually freeze a bunch of pre-cooked spaghetti squash and blanched spinach every summer. We have a local farmer that sells all of this for bargain basement prices so I grab whatever I have room for in the chest freezer every summer for one sole purpose. Lasagna. I don't cook/boil the noodles and use the whole wheat variety. I put a layer each of thawed spinach and spaghetti squash in each batch. The extra liquid is the perfect amount for uncooked noodles and the extra veggies make it a one-pan meal.

We do this too! I pick and freeze about 100# of blueberries every summer and they are always completely gone by the following summer. In addition to adding to yogurt/pancakes/etc.... and baking with them, we do like them straight up frozen. Almost every day.

A bit of flour might be a good idea. I'm going to try that.

I too have found the supply of fresh veggies to be plentiful in the stores. The reason I am buying frozen is to try to stretch my trips to the store to three week intervals. We eat the most perishable veggies the first week but then have to stick to hearty options for weeks 2 and 3. We get sick of only cabbage and root veggies for those two weeks so I am using frozen (and sprouts) to give us some variety. Our stores and most of the local population are not complying with the safety recommendations so stretching out my shopping trips is the goal.

Ok, so it sounds like I should at least thaw and drain them and maybe even sauté them first to evaporate the liquid. But the worst that can happen if I don't is watery quiche....which I could correct by using less milk.

I have started to rely heavily on frozen vegetables to lengthen time between trips to our grocery stores. I don't have a whole lot of experience cooking with them. I make a lot of soups and stir fries and so far subbing in frozen is working fine enough for those. I would like to make quiche with frozen broccoli tomorrow. Normally, I would chop, wash, and cook the fresh broccoli before putting in the quiche. With frozen, can I just dump it in frozen? Or should I thaw it first (the bag does say not to thaw for whatever reason)? Or do I have to "cook" it? I'd like to avoid any extra steps if I can do so safely and with good results.

No idea since we have very little access to testing and we have only had a handful of confirmed positives....all of which were people who had traveled into the area. We are geographically isolated from the rest of our state. Our state has been hit hard but nowhere near my area. Due to this, I am pretty sure we will not peak for weeks yet, if not months. So, my guess is that those church leaders can confidently say that their congregations have been "safe" so far....which only further fans the flames of the "this is all a hoax" crowd....who happen to be the very same people attending these churches. To be fair, *most* churches in my area ceased in person services when requested by our governor. There is one specific religion that continues to meet. Or rather, the most strict sects of this particular religion are still meeting in person. They make up a significant percentage of our local population and have a long history of skepticism towards the government. They also typically do not travel and do not welcome people outside of their religion into their churches or lives. They very well could dodge all of this due to their lifestyle and views except for the fact that they do shop and work in the general population.

Everyone I know personally it taking the rules seriously. We are in a hard hit state. But there has been a blatant disregard for the rules by most of my local population from the start. We are a very conservative area and many people simply dismiss anything our democrat governor says. Kids are playing freely in the streets, most people have ignored the mask rules (including grocery store employees and shoppers), and some non-essential business stayed open with no consequences. Our next door neighbors have had several large parties and some churches have continued services as usual the entire time. The sheriff from a neighboring county stated on record to media that he would not enforce any of the governor's rules. We still have almost no testing available so there is no telling what our numbers are. We are in an area that is a complete afterthought in our state and I doubt there has been or will be any focus on tracking what is happening here until we hit crisis level.

Yes. She is also chipped.

We have a one year old kitten. My dd would like to leash train her so she can go outside. We have done this with other cats in the past and it has always created a big problem that I'd like to avoid with this one. Once they experience the outdoors, they become obsessed and we have to deal with cats that try to escape every time a door is opened. We have one door that is used most frequently and is easy for a cat to escape through. This kitty is quite skittish. If she escapes, I think she could scare easily and it would be really hard to catch/find her. We also live within blocks of a busy highway. We have been brainstorming ideas. The most obvious thing we can think of is to only take her in and out through the door that is the most difficult to escape through in hopes that she would not associate the joy of the outdoors with the door that is the biggest problem. I am pretty sure cats are too smart for this to actually work. Anyone know? The next degree of measures we thought of was to have her always go in a cat carrier that we carry outdoors. Again, the hope is that she would not associate ANY door with the joy of the outdoors. And again, I am guessing cats are too smart for this. Anyone BTDT or have other ideas?