[What's on the Quarantine Menu this week :)]

We finally got meat at the grocery store.  Last week we only had pre-packaged deli meats or canned. 

BLTs

Chicken Souvlaki Salad with Tzatziki

Philly Cheesesteak Casserole

Chili Tacos (I forgot we had more fresh tomatoes than we need for BLTs, so we’ll use those up on tacos and have chili next week.)

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Homemade Pizza

Tuna Noodle Casserole

[Easter front porch Quarantine Quilt show]

What a great idea!  My dad is the quilter in my family.  He would yell at me if I hung his quilts on my dirty porch railings or fence or I would steal your idea. 

[IKEA availability these days]

IKEA is closed until further notice.  https://www.ikea.com/us/en/this-is-ikea/newsroom/an-update-on-our-response-to-the-novel-coronavirus-covid-19-pub50ffa2cf  

“Even though the majority of our stores have been closed since March 16, we have been able to provide income stability for all co-workers with 100% pay through April 18.  

Given that our store locations must remain closed until further notice, we have made the decision to furlough hourly U.S. co-workers in store locations and our Service Office effective April 19, 2020.”

[Just for fun: What do you see from your window?]

[Just for fun- your family's old fashioned and unusual names]

My g-g-grandmothers on opposite sides of my family tree were Armilda and Oralee.  

[What are you snacking on?]

Homemade caramel popcorn mostly.  My keto diet went right out the window when my anxiety levels crept up.  

[friends/family who may have COVID-19]

My dad had a liver transplant 10 years ago and will be 70 in 2 weeks, so high risk due to age and immunodeficiency.  He woke up with a fever and the inability to control his bladder.  (Let’s hope he never finds out I posted on the internet about that!  lol)  He eats so healthy, drinks 2 cups of coffee a day and then only water for the rest of the day, walks more than 10,000 steps every single day....he almost never gets sick, like maybe 1 cold per year, even when my mom is coughing all over the house and still making his meals.  I’m worried.  The doctor told my mom to take him to the ER.  If he doesn’t have CV he’s going to get it.  We’re in the Buffalo, NY area where we have 221 confirmed cases.  And I can’t help them like I normally would.  Any other time and I could go to the ER with him and let her stay with the kids.  This really sucks.

 

ETA~ My dad has cellulitis on his leg.  Not good, but at least his fever wasn’t related to Covid-19.  His test results for that won’t be back for a few days, but it’s unlikely that he has coronavirus.  Such relief!

[What are the first things you want to do once this pandemic is over?]

Throw my grandfather a 90th birthday party!  

[wuhan - coronavirus]

This image from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/health/coronavirus-distancing-transmission.html?smid=fb-share&fbclid=IwAR0A9m0TMdpUuUaWoB_F9xhTQju4-ZQKo8_3g7iwHVJhUPhW0gDQjYpy-6E is the simplest I’ve seen.  Hopefully people who just aren’t getting the point of social distancing will see this and understand.

[wuhan - coronavirus]

2 minutes ago, pitterpatter said:

I think this must be a common thing. I read last week about the UK doing the same. I hope some US factories will be able to switch over to producing PPE soon. I think the public should have access to some too. There are plenty of vulnerable people who need it. Maybe this whole ordeal will encourage some factories to come back to the United States. Or, new ones to open.

 

Oh, I hope so!  It is such a bad idea to have entire industries that supply necessary goods so far away.  

[wuhan - coronavirus]

In my county we currently have 27 known sick.  I believe there are still a hundred or more tests waiting for results, but there are no supplies to run any more.  We’re at community spread, though, so we’re to assume we have it and do everything we can not to spread it.  The 27 known are listed below by ago.  Only 4 of them are older than 60.  

• Women
• 1 woman in her late teens
• 3 women in their 20s
• 4 women in their 30s
• 3 women in their 40s
• 2 women in their 50s
• 1 woman in her 60s
• 1 woman in her 70s
  
• Men
• 2 men in their 20s
• 4 men in their 30s
• 3 men in their 40s
• 1 man in his 50s
• 2 men in their 60s

[Menu planning with grocery shortages]

10 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

When we stop over at IKEA for lunch on Sunday, we realized the marketplace was well stocked. We’ll head there for meatballs if Trader Joe’s run out. My kids like the IKEA crepes, jam and cookies too. 
I do have many supermarkets within a 30 min driving radius so we sometimes go to three or four at a time to get our favorite food at each supermarket. 

Can you shop for food online at IKEA?  Because they closed all stores for in-person shopping today.  https://www.ikea.com/us/en/this-is-ikea/newsroom/an-update-on-our-response-to-the-novel-coronavirus-covid-19-pub50ffa2cf

 

[Can we do a CV19 rumors, weird stories, conspiracies, true/false thread?]

3 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

that it can be cured by pot, alcohol or cow urine 

😂 Who is trying to cure this with cow urine?!  I burst out laughing at that one.

Of course, it’s not really funny at all because it’s such a serious situation....but where did they get that idea?!?!

[How about something upbeat: Musicians live streaming virtual concerts]

I just watched The Dropkick Murphys. 😁 It was live, but I assume it can be watched afterwards on YouTube.  It felt especially fitting to watch on St Patrick’s Day, though!  

[On the fence about kids socializing right now]

https://medium.com/@ariadnelabs/social-distancing-this-is-not-a-snow-day-ac21d7fa78b4
 

Social distancing measures only work if people actually follow them.  Keep him home and don’t feel bad about it for a minute!

Quote

No kid playdates, parties, sleepovers, or families/friends visiting each other’s houses and apartments.

This sounds extreme because it is. We are trying to create distance between family units and between individuals. It may be particularly uncomfortable for families with small children, kids with differential abilities or challenges, and for kids who simply love to play with their friends. But even if you choose only one friend to have over, you are creating new links and possibilities for the type of transmission that all of our school/work/public event closures are trying to prevent. The symptoms of coronavirus take four to five days to manifest themselves. Someone who comes over looking well can transmit the virus. Sharing food is particularly risky — I definitely do not recommend that people do so outside of their family.

We have already taken extreme social measures to address this serious disease — let’s not actively co-opt our efforts by having high levels of social interaction at people’s houses instead of at schools or workplaces. Again — the wisdom of early and aggressive social distancing is that it can flatten the curve above, give our health system a chance to not be overwhelmed, and eventually may reduce the length and need for longer periods of extreme social distancing later (see what has transpired in Italy and Wuhan). We need to all do our part during these times, even if it means some discomfort for a while.

 

[wuhan - coronavirus]

2 minutes ago, freesia said:

I am please with how much more seriously things are being taken here than some other states.  I didn't know the 180 day requirement was waved.  It will make me feel better about the days I will need to miss with my 10 year old to go get my ds (who is near Rochester--I haven't heard of any cases there.)  My town, in northern Westchester, just got its first case today.

Rochester does have 1 case.  https://www.whec.com/rochester-new-york-news/1-positive-covid-19-case-in-monroe-county-50-in-quarantine/5672884/  

[wuhan - coronavirus]

I feel like this could be a really fantastic opportunity for a middle to high school level unit study on COVID-19.  We’re just getting over a cold (no fever, so not coronavirus! lol) and it is Spring break for our co-op so we’ve done very little school this week.  Instead of diving back in and doing our usual routine, I’m thinking that spending the rest of the week learning about different things that this coronavirus has brought to attention might be interesting.  Maybe I’ll start a new thread on the HS board.  

[If you don't have a profile picture...]

 

[School accommodations for OCD?]

I have no experience, but would recording a video of a homework session possibly be helpful?  Do her math exams reflect the original grade, before corrections, so you could go back and make a spreadsheet that shows her true exam scores?  No idea if those suggestions are helpful, so ignore me if they aren’t!  

[The Februaries...what did you do?]

46 minutes ago, dmmetler said:

Subscribed to Disney+. I need some nostalgic twaddle in my life. 

I was thinking that for the first time I can remember I’ve not had the Februaries, but your post reminded me that we did subscribe to Disney+ impulsively!  😁 Usually I rearrange the furniture and over-buy homeschool stuff for the next school year. 

[I want an MP3 player that just plays music. Is there such a thing anymore?]

We have older versions of SanDisk’s MP3 players, similar to this.  They have been fantastic, and have lasted years.  I think we’ve had them since at least 2014, probably earlier.

[Anyone Planning for 9th Grade 2020-2021?]

I’m trying to decide what to do with my middle child next year.  He would be a 9th grader since we started him in K just after he turned 6.  I might skip him ahead to 10th, though.  

He did Algebra 1 and hs-level Physics, Literature and History last year.  This year he is doing Geometry, a hs-level Engineering class with an electric engineer, hs-level Biology class, and more hs-level Literature and History.  It seems like moving him up would be the right thing to do.  

Regardless of what we decide to do, next year’s plan follows...

English - Mom created 

History - The History of the Renaissance World

Algebra 2 - YayMath!

Chemistry - we own Timberlake Basic Chemistry, not sure what we’re doing otherwise (Edited to add: I just remembered that I have worksheets for CrashCourse Chemistry, so I will likely have him read a chapter in Timberlake, then watch the CC video and do the guided notes/worksheet.)

PE - American ninja warrior-style classes, working out at the gym

Spanish - second year 

Engineering - This year has been electrical engineering, who knows what they’ll work on next year!

Entrepreneurship - He and 2 friends won second place in a local renewable energy competition this year.  They plan to go forward and make their product a reality.  I’m thinking of turning this into a credit.  I will probably add Economics, which is a required 1/2 credit in NY, since they fit together so well and his 11th grade brother will be taking Econ next year anyway.

[Are there any good, downloadable memory songs for lower grades?]

Brain Beats and Brain Beats 2

[Chronic migraine sufferers, what do your migraines feel like?]

On 7/3/2019 at 1:31 PM, pitterpatter said:

Can anyone recommend a good migraine forum? I'm looking for a list of zero/low-calorie liquids I can drink besides water and herbal tea. I'm a big "drinker" and water just isn't going down as smoothly as all the stuff I used to drink (e.g. black tea, Sprite Zero, various zero-calorie flavored waters, flavored powder mixes/squirt bottles, G2). I fear my hydration level isn't going to be adequate.

Have you tried Zevia?  Some of their sodas have caffeine, but many don’t.  They are sweetened with stevia, so calorie-free, and have no artificial ingredients. 

[Chronic migraine sufferers, what do your migraines feel like?]

On 7/2/2019 at 2:31 PM, Katy said:

Yes, you're having a migraine, it just isn't super painful.  I didn't realize mine were either until my neurologist (for a different headache disorder) told me there was no such thing as sinus headaches and every time I thought I was having one it was a migraine.  The nerve involved also caused my nose to run.

People with disabling migraines typically also have lower pain tolerance.  Sounds like you have a normal to high pain tolerance.  Either that or your "typical" migraines aren't migraines but are something else.

Thanks to your post I started reading and discovered that the “sinus” headaches I have dealt with for years are almost certainly migraines.  Thank you!  Maybe now I can find some relief!  My mom had migraines and took injections for them, but my symptoms have always been different than hers so I assumed they weren’t migraines.