Did anyone here who was sick have the gastro symptoms and the respiratory symptoms? My grandparents had diarrhea yesterday and what Grammy called cold symptoms. She woke up today with a sore throat and Poppy is coughing. My mother is taking them for a COVID test at 1, but they are 86 and 90 years old so I’m worrying. Ugh, I HATE not being able to go take care of them!

Makda - Ethiopian/Abyssinian female name meaning ‘high tower’, which according to Bill is where these cats like to be or Amadi - Ethiopian/Abyssinian male name meaning ‘tree man’ or Negasi meaning ‘he will wear a crown’ because you know this cat will be the king of the house!

I’m sorry you’re dealing with dementia with your dh. It was very hard to watch my grandmother slip away, and now another grandparent is starting down the path; but I don’t have to live with them! Here’s hoping your dh is all sweetness and light today so you can enjoy your day with the kids gathered!

I’m with the 57% of Americans that pronounce Mary, merry, and marry the same. I’ve lived in NY, near Lake Erie, all of my life.

Oh how I miss flying in my dreams! In my teens I frequently had vivid dreams where I could fly. They were so real it was always hard to convince myself that I couldn’t do it IRL. I don’t think I’ve had a flying dream since I had kids. I also had a recurring dream about being near a train trestle over a creek. Someone I knew would be walking on the trestle and not notice a train coming. I would be yelling and waving and running to get their attention, but they always got hit by the train and shattered like glass. The days after those dreams were always hard to get through, because I would feel like grieving even though there was nothing to grieve! I am happy to say I also haven’t had that one in years. And I have a recurring sick dream whenever I’m feverish. Always the same realistic dream of me being small enough to walk a guitar string like a tightrope. If I fall off, I always wake up puking. I try reaaaaally hard not to fall, because I hate throwing up. I dream of peeing frequently, too, and thankfully have awoken to use the actual bathroom instead of, for an example from last week, peeing the bed because I think I’m peeing in a 5-gallon bucket in my aunt’s dining room?! 🤣 The ones my husband hates the most are ones where in my dream I’m mad at him for some reason. My annoyance with him carries over into real life when the dream is that real, and it’s not fair because he didn’t actually do anything! This morning I was on a water slide. That was a weird feeling!

I can’t tolerate noisy blankets, either. I use flannel sheets, a fleece blanket, and a cotton quilt. If I’m really cold I add a second quilt. Almost all of our quilts were made by my dad, but we also have a quilted bedspread I bought at TJMaxx years ago that I like. Except for the fleece I always stick with natural fibers; things with microfiber and polyester are so annoyingly noisy.

We call that Notsagna, and it is so much easier!

Usually my mom and MIL make so many cookies that us making many doesn’t make sense. I try to help my mom make some, because while cookie baking is my least favorite cooking activity it is kind of fun to do it with my mom at Christmas. (I feel the same way about coloring Easter eggs.) COVID means none of that fun this year. My mom is also pretty sad about missing the usual holiday fun and planning to bake a lot less, and MIL isn’t going to mail cookies that she would usually be able to give us in person, so I feel like we can make a few more than normal to make up for missing out. Dh and his mom are going to each make sugar cookie dough and FaceTime while cutting out, cooking, and decorating so dd9 can do the usual cookie day with grandma. I planned to make fudge and lemon bars, but it looks like dd9 has talked me into making peanut blossoms today. So our list will be: peanut blossoms lemon bars fudge sugar cookie cutouts My mom will almost certainly make Yule log cookies and Cucidati (Italian fig cookies).

Dh and I usually do it together over a couple of sessions right before Christmas, finishing up on Christmas Eve. Growing up my dad and I wrapped most of the gifts. One year my mom gave us taped shut boxes to wrap and a while later stuck her head in to ask, “Have you wrapped your sweater yet?” I didn’t know what was in the box, or that she bought me a sweater. 😆

My mom’s test was negative, too!

My oldest had been doing in-person counseling pre-pandemic and continued doing it online after the pandemic started. It’s every bit as good for her as going in-person. She also started with a second counselor who specializes in transgender counseling, and while that counselor is also local we have never met her in person because of the pandemic. I don’t have any experience with the big chain services, though, as ours have been local people who adapted to online. We were paying a reduced fee of $100 for a session out-of-pocket but, due to the pandemic, insurance companies started covering more services than usual and she started submitting to insurance and we haven’t paid anything since May or June? So see if insurance will cover it, even if they normally don’t.

Quoting myself to say that all of the in-laws tested negative! What a huge relief! Still quarantining, of course, in case of false negatives. My mom is feeling better except for the headache, no results on her test yet. Her neighbor is positive now; she’s a nurse who works on a COVID floor. Mom didn’t know what her symptoms were or how sick she is.

I use baskets and a glass-front curio turned into a bookshelf. Excuse the terrible quality iPad photo. We used to use one basket for each of the 3 kids and one for me, but as the teens move their stuff mostly to their room the 9yo books have overtaken.

Like this kind of thing? https://ugears.us

My mom had a doctor-recommended test this morning because she’s had nausea and vomited a few times, plus she has a really bad headache. She lives with my dad, who has had a liver transplant and is immunocompromised. And she has been taking my 90yo grandfather to physical therapy. I can’t help but worry about all of them now, as well as 86yo grandma that grandpa lives with. And grandparents’ senior apartment building now has 3 COVID+ residents, adding to my worry. This is on top of worrying about my ILs, one with cancer and the other with poor health, who were exposed to my COVID+ nephew late last week. It’s going to be a long week hoping none of these vulnerable people have it. I’m kind of having a hard time focusing on getting things done right now.

I’m so sorry.

Yes! After 17 years (as *Jessica*, I don’t know how I managed to not be able to change my password and properly sign in on Dec 1st) I can’t imagine being without you all!

My 17yo nephew tested positive today after being notified of exposure at school. Someone he works with also tested positive. He saw my MIL and FIL 4 days ago and my SIL, his mom, was at their house unmasked yesterday. MIL has cancer and FIL is not in good health. They are 74yo. BIL is a chiropractor, so hopefully if he has it masking at the office has kept him from passing it to any patients. Ugh. Now we play the worry and wait game over MIL and FIL.

An air popper doesn’t need cleaned every time you use it. I just dump out the unpopped kernels; I actually don’t think I’ve ever had to clean it. I don’t use the measuring cup to melt butter like some people do, though. I find it easier to use a glass measuring cup in the microwave.

All of them! I would buy 2 of each for me and the mushrooms and gems and geology for my brother the mushroom-growing rock-hound, the birds and fish for my grandparents the bird-lovers and former-fisherman, and I would probably have to buy a full set for my mom because I can’t choose which she would like the most! I almost bought some notebooks for my brother for Christmas, and the card that says You’re a Gem, but I have already exceeded my budget for gifts. I think I’ll watch for a sale and buy early for next Christmas.

With fever I would definitely test.

If I ever win the lottery or inherit loads of money I’m buying the $25 tea towels from Cognitive Surplus. I could never spend that much on one unless I had loads of money to spare, but I love the way they look!

Thunder Road is about a Korean War vet. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunder_Road_(1958_film)

Maybe it’s one of these? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Films_set_in_Appalachia

Christy was my first thought, too.