We've got browntail moths here. The caterpillars have toxic hairs on them which give a horribly itchy rash if they land on you. They can blow through the breeze so you never even see the caterpillar that got you. Oh, and you can breath them in, too... Luckily they "only" last through spring and most of summer.... I'm so over EVERYTHING!

How is he going to wash everything?

A Night Divided is awesome. Very suspenseful but not too scary. I heard a teacher read it out loud when I was an ed tech, and the kids were sucked in. I still think about it here and there, years later. Great for anchoring a period of time in the mental timeline.

Maybe I'll just say "folks"! 🙂

I find myself defaulting to "he" things, like saying, "Hey guys!" when it's a mixed group. I never say "Hey ladies!" because it annoys me when other people say it. There are other examples that I can't bring to mind right now. I dislike defaulting to "he" but I catch myself doing it 😞

Schools without a mandate are going to be a disaster, right? I wonder what they'll say when it is...

Awesome, thanks!

It's beautiful! The light with greenery outside is wonderful. So relaxing. I hope your MIL can visit soon!

True, but I guess it takes effort to get a fake ID, or a fake vaccine card, so hopefully a bunch of people will just be too lazy to do it.

Yeah, I'm increasingly nervous too. Yikes.

Me too! I was 12 days late which has never ever happened.

Right, but teens with fake IDs can drive drunk. I agree with you that vaccine cards are not the best method, but it's something at least.

Yay Scarlett! Some of DH's family members are unvaccinated. I don't really know why because we're afraid to talk about it lest they go off the deep end as they have too many times before. It's too bad because maybe if we talked to them, we could convince them....or at least give them examples of people who took the vaccine and are fine... but DH isn't willing to open that can of worms. I probably would but I don't mind a little conflict 😄

I'd be happy if I never heard that phrase again. It used to mean being accepting, now it's turned into community responsibility vs. "screw others" individualism.

I haven't heard of any in Maine. I would guess that a lot of places are waiting for FDA approval, then perhaps the COVID vaccine will get added to the list of already required vaccines for kids. I'm not sure of required vaccinations for teachers, though.

I was talking to a family member in this field recently, and she said that BCBAs can make quite a lot of money if you're in the right area. If you wanted to volunteer only, so many schools and other organizations would welcome you with open arms. I'm in special education, and I found that many of the people in the field are my kind of people... Pretty nerdy sometimes, in a good way! And enjoy problem solving and working hard on figuring out difficult challenges. The appreciation from parents and caregivers feels really good. Of course the kids are awesome too.

A different volunteer opportunity would be to provide respite for a family with a child with special needs. I'm sure you can do it without any certifications, but if it became something of interest, there are different certifications which are really interesting. BCBAs are behavior analysts, and I think the next level down is RBT(?) and it would be a really good fit for an intelligent, research-passionate person.

Hopefully the volunteering comes back soon then!

I wonder if shelters are letting people foster animals, even if you can't go in the building. Or maybe a different organization would set that up.

Yes! I say this every time I mow the lawn. Why do I spend time + money to maintain something I don't even use??? I like how the lawn looks, but it's not a masterpiece or anything. We're looking into adding more perennial garden areas (hydrangeas, Lillies, big things that don't require a ton of maintenance) to take up some of the lawn. Don't even get me started on the pinecones that fall everywhere. How can the trees make so many pinecones?!

He sounds like a character 😍 Maybe just give him half as much food and see if he eats it? I had to scale back my cat's food, too. Now she is generally eager at food time. Still, I could give less food bc she leaves some.

Do you leave food out all day, or feed on a schedule?

I see what you mean, but even if that were possible, you could still contract a stealth case later on...

Did you really get vaxxed solely to protect others? You're not at all comforted by perhaps getting milder symptoms if you do get infected?

I'll be cynical and say that professors are really busy. They probably don't have time to write on your paper. Grading is subjective, so what is a 92 for one professor is a 100 for another, and an 80 for another.... When you get the degree, nobody cares about grades unless you want to pursue grad school. (And even then, I got into grad school with mediocre grades!)