Are you asking your college kids to test a few days before they come home? After they get home? Are you having them quarantine from the rest of the family? Everyone wear masks for two weeks? Extra cleaning only? No extra steps taken? I'm trying to figure some of this out...

And now we're quarantined. We started very mild cold symptoms yesterday, so dh got a CV19 test today. Results are expected in 3-5 days. We feel mostly well; normally we would go about life as usual...but this isn't normal, so we wait.

My friend's mom was able to go home from the hospital today, after being there a little over two weeks. She will have a home health nurse come once a day and is still on 2 liters of oxygen a day. She is glad to be home and is in good spirits. Today my insurance agent called and mentioned she is working from home since her two children were exposed and are waiting for testing results. Also today our college dd said one of her friends is positive and in quarantine. (She had not seen him in person recently, so she is not in quarantine.) And, finally, there are two positive cases at the library where my husband works (only one case previously about a month ago). The department he manages is greatly impacted—no positives yet, but several employees are quarantining, so they are low on staff. Like others, I am hearing of many more case of friends of friends, and positivity rates are increasing in my state.

Here you go! 🙂 https://www.pinterest.com/pin/230879918384376605/ We haven't tried them yet, but the batter and the crumb I stole, as well as the spoon of frosting sampled, were tantalizing!

I have two! 🥴 I purchased the small upright one, used, for $125. About eight years later, when my mom died, I inherited the antique table and chairs and buffet that belonged to my grandparents and that my grandpa refinished. We also have a grandfather clock in the same room, that we inherited at the same time, that my grandpa built from a kit. I am not a curio person, but we do have some very nice inherited dishes from my husband's grandma and some pieces from my mom. I also don't have great kitchen storage, so I store some pretty storage bowls in them also. I hope that a lot of the dishes, plus one of the cabinets, go to our daughters when they are established. I know they at least want to split the pink depression glass sets. (Oh, and the third picture is a bonus, because who isn't cheered by a platter of chocolate mocha birthday cupcakes? Dd20 turns 21 tomorrow!)

I have no idea. I'm learning more about hair from this thread than I ever knew. 😄

That is the cut I always get!! I always take in the same photo of what I want, and it seems my stylist (I have gone to her 3-4 times now) can only cut a stacked cut. I didn't even know what that was! I always go home and cut the sides even myself and add in some layers because my hair is wavy/somewhat curly and, as you said, that cut does not work! I guess it's time for me to look for a different stylist. Sigh. I really like the gal's personality where I have been going. (I wore my hair long until the last year or two, so I haven't been to many stylists. The one I tried for one cut before this stylist was truly awful.) This is the exact photo that I found on the Internet I always take in...and I get a cut that looks exactly like what I see when I Google "stacked cut"!

I agree! It's like a tornado—demolishing one house and leaving the next unscathed.

My friend's husband and her mom and dad are positive (mom and dad were exposed, spent the weekend camping with my friend and her husband and then started symptoms after they went back home). Husband has minor symptoms (cold, mild flu-like), the dad is asymptomatic, and the mom has been in the hospital for 10 days and is not out of the woods. My friend never tested positive. Edited to add: friend and dh are in their 50s, parents are in their late 70s or early 80s.

Huh, I am pretty surprised that I am the only one who voted "only know about it because someone I sleep tells me I behaved strangely in my sleep." I didn't realize that was unusual. Maybe what I have falls more under night terrors (screaming but no waking). I did have night terrors as a child and less and less frequently as I got older. There have been a few times I dreamed/screamed since I have been married (31 years), but I don't think I've dreamed/screamed in 10+ years, although, according to dh, I have startled and sat up in bed and he has had to talk me down. I have never remembered a nightmare and wouldn't have known I had them. (My poor family of origin and dh! They are the ones who get to be frightened by my nightmares!) Funny story, the only time I have woken abruptly was when a car backfired and, in my sleep, I thought it was a gunshot. I woke up on the floor with my husband on top of me. Apparently, I grabbed him and hauled both of us off the bed on my side to protect us! 😄

I really like it! So pretty!

Wonderful! My family lived in the Kansas City area, and I have a good friend in Columbia--as well as my husband's aunt and uncle. It's a nice city!

Dd20 is starting week 7 of in-person (small Midwestern uni). There are definitely students in quarantine and some positives isolating. Still hoping they can make it all the way through to Thanksgiving break! Dd is trying to be extra careful as the only choral concert of the semester is scheduled for Sunday afternoon, and she really wants to sing in it! She is in two college choirs, and it is the first time she has a solo at the college level. Her stress level has gone up a notch since her level of care doesn't really matter if someone in one of her classes or suite is positive: she would be required to quarantine for 14 days. The concert will be outside on the campus mall, ticketed audience only, masks required, BYO chairs, family groups all 6 feet apart, all attendees required to complete a wellness app before coming on campus.

Thank you for the clarification! We are half a country away in a state with low numbers, and—although I try to read CA news and ask our dd questions—your explanation helps my understanding. I'm so sorry for all that CA residents are dealing with currently.

Sorry to go on a tangent, but you are in San Diego and your daughter is dancing in the studio? Our oldest is a member of a professional ballet company near San Francisco, and the county is not allowing any in-studio dance. There is a possibility they will allow up to 8th grade in the associated school, but that still leaves the advanced dancers and the company in the lurch. I thought all of California was similar in this respect...

I think I would go—especially since you said you all could use a change of scenery. I think walking around and seeing the size of the school is a good idea. Sometimes it helps to see if a student can picture herself on a campus. It sounds like it could be a fun adventure.

Our dd20 is finishing up the first three weeks of all on-campus, in-person classes. So far, so good ... and praying they make it all the way through Thanksgiving break! (The last week of classes and finals week are scheduled to take place off campus.) Edited to add: She is finding it interesting that there is much less class discussion (fewer and shorter comments offered) with students wearing masks. For some reason they seem to talk less with something over their mouths. She has noticed this is her inclination as well. They are also spaced farther apart, so maybe that has something to do with it as well...

I'm glad you posted this. Our daughter lives in CA (smaller northern town) and, although she is now back teaching preschool, her ballet career is on hold. They have had multiple times when the company makes plans for in-person distanced training, but then the benchmarks change and the county nixes things. It's already hard enough since their city theater announced last spring that they will not take bookings until next spring. Your post helps me understand her circumstances better. I think what is hard for me in Kansas is that since our numbers are comparatively low, it makes it seem more of a hardship to shelter in place. I see most (all?) people we know well living normal lives for months (vacations, camps, church, etc.) without illness. (Again, I'm really glad. It's just that it causes me some mental dissonance because I had anticipated the virus would run through populations like wildfire. The stats in the article I linked above show it is mainly affecting factories, prisons, and senior care facilities here.) It makes me wonder if there is really much positivity in the general population. I can be glad others are doing so well, though, and still remain committed to distancing. I would rather be wrong than contribute to the spread of illness. It's just a rather lonely stance in my circle.

So far, there are 495 deaths in Kansas. It seems like the trends are easier to see in states with larger numbers (not that I'm complaining!).

Even when only those with symptoms or possible exposure are testing? Not arguing, just really wondering.

Covid is confusing. Kansas named names and numbers today to show where there are cases and how many: https://kansasreflector.com/2020/09/09/kansas-names-businesses-schools-churches-long-term-care-facilities-with-covid-19-outbreaks/ I have stayed home except for errands and going into the office twice a week, where I am the only one there. Most of our friends have been back to church in person since June. There have been many churches (some large) meeting in our city and state since June. Colleges have been open several weeks, some with in-person classes. I am thrilled we are not seeing more cases than we are, but it confuses me too. It is hard to understand how all these large groups can meet for weeks or months with few cases, and then I read about other people (like Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and family) who mostly sheltered in place and still became ill...or the super spreader events. I don't get it. Edited to add: I also don't really understand the national ratings. Kansas is "red" because of high percentage testing numbers, but mostly only those who think they might be positive are testing...and the majority of those tests are negative. Without testing a mixed sample of the population, how can we really know the percentage of spread in the population?