This is an excellent book about it. https://www.amazon.com/Immortal-Life-Henrietta-Lacks/dp/1400052173/ref=asc_df_1400052173/?

Please send her our (quiet) warmth and uplift.

I'm sorry, I'm not intending to hijack this thread! This is about limiting one's use around family. So no, I don't.

nm

I don't have a smart phone. My ancient flip phone that I used for traveling has died and I won't be getting anther one. My kids don't use theirs when we're in family time. We didn't let them get smart phones until each was 16, same as dating.

Ugh. My county has just flipped over to masks recommended indoors. We had a parley as a family last night and agreed to tighten up our contacts, n95s inside, etc, and now this. I'm glad, but tourists will be very cranky. Welcome August. We've been watching this brick wall coming towards us in slow motion for a few weeks. And now it's here.

Looks interesting, thanks @SeaConquestfor the tip. I don't have facebook so can't look at the reviews there. Can you expand on this?

Pinking shears. Dh is a quilter and he hides them from the rest of us. I used to lose my reading glasses but now they are stashed all over the house, just waiting for me.

Yes. I join you in this phase of grief.

And a later para: It cites a combination of recently obtained, still-unpublished data from outbreak investigations and outside studies showing that vaccinated individuals infected with delta may be able to transmit the virus as easily as those who are unvaccinated. Vaccinated people infected with delta have measurable viral loads similar to those who are unvaccinated and infected with the variant.

I read this and felt like crying. From today: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/07/29/cdc-mask-guidance/

No. No romance, no tea, and perfectly happy with that.

DD came home in late June from Switzerland, and is going back for another degree in the fall. She flew Luftansa and had to have a negative test from within 3 days - luckily the clinic was open on Sunday since she flew on a Monday. She said a person waiting in the first class line was taken out of line and sent to an in-airport testing clinic when she didn't have her test results - dd thinks she missed the plane. She said the attendants were truly all over the people not wearing them correctly or lowering them to speak. Her flight protocol is a KN95 covered with a cloth mask that has a paper mask liner - she had to show the underneath KN95 to pass the checkpoint. She wears disposable gloves and goggles. She knows the studies that say airplane air is better, but she buys smoothies after security and a straw and snakes the straw up under her masks and will not unmask during the flight. She throws away the gloves and uses hand sans once off the plane. She carries a garbage bag and a whole new outfit in her outermost backpack pocket, then when she gets to her destination she puts all of her clothes into the garbage bag for laundry, takes a shower, washes her hair, then puts on the new outfit. She's high risk, vaccinated, and this is what makes her feel ok with international traveling. I did the same when I went to help my mother, and would do it again if I were going to help my child move to college in Ireland! I hope it all goes smoothly!

Late to the thread but we use toothpaste on red ant stings - they're probably not as bad as your ants but they're pretty awful. It's been "explained" to me that the calcium in the toothpaste neutralizes the acid of the sting - not especially scientific but worth a shot if you have nothing else. We used to carry toothpaste with us when we knew we'd find some on our hikes.

Do Zombies eat brain-flavored cookies?

There was a moment last year when we were "homeschooling" high school, college, and grad school due to Covid, though the latter two were really distance learning. My older two had friends who homeschooled through high school but for some reason the younger two have not. Watching their homeschool friends head off to the high school and get caught up in the brutal world of high school social life was rough.

Weight loss, excessive thirst, up to drink water or urinate at night or wetting the bed? Type 1 diabetes has all of these. My type 1 dd never had any breath smell - it's a late sign. If he's up at night, please please take him to the doc to rule it out. I'm sorry to sound naggy.

Maybe a stupid question and maybe already buried in a thread: can you test for antibodies that would show you once had it, if you've been vaccinated after the possible infection? Or will the test just show up with your vaccination-induced antibodies?

Once upon a time, Oldest Child was young and foolish. He and a friend were somewhere out in the woods, or so I thought, when I heard a knock, knock, knock at the door. Hello, dear friend and neighbor, said I and she told me YOUR BELOVED AND TERRIBLY WELL BEHAVED SON is out there throwing apples at cars. Oh my, said I, and thanked her most deeply for this troubling and actionable information. She departed into the dusk and I began to yell. "OLDEST CHILD, OLDEST CHILD!" No answer. "OLDEST CHILD, OLDEST CHILD!" No answer. "OLDEST CHILD, OLDEST CHILD, WHERE ARE YOU?" And finally, faintly, carried on the wind: "WE'RE RUNNING AWAY! YOU'RE GOING TO KILL US..."

Blueberry chutney for cheese and pork is yummy. I also prefer savory to sweet. Blueberry BBQ sauce for chicken is delish. I'm sorry to not link recipes, I've made both just by making them, but there are probably great recipes to be had for both.

I'm starting to plan a new approach for rising junior dd's US History. I taught this class for her cohort in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades and she does not want me teaching her again! But I also want one last out-of-the box class for her and so have started to arrange "field trips" corresponding to the info she'll be learning with an on-line class. She was the baby when my older kids were doing interesting projects and trips so didn't actually experience any of it, just got hauled along. One of the long-term volunteer positions she's had was eliminated so that frees up some time. It's the high school-based extras that are currently the planning crunch. I would looooove to have a semester free of high school drama (literally, the theater kids are so dang dramatic) but it's her social life-line so we'll see. I love planning but this upcoming fall is kind of kicking me with unknowns. Way will open.

Oh my word, this is beyond. Great photo, thank you.

I didn't want to hijack Jenny's thread. In my district (can't speak for the whole state) the high school required ds3 to take the PSAT with his 11th grade fall cohort because he was on the soccer team and therefore in their system. My first two kids didn't take the PSAT since they weren't doing anything at the high school. Dd4 is in show choir and theater, so I imagine they'll want to sign her up for the PSAT. Is there any good reason other than the National Merit stuff to do the PSAT? It would seem more helpful to me to just take the harder one in fall of 11th grade to have a first crack at it. We're not a family that starts testing any earlier, though I know many on this board do that. I also don't want my kids ticking the box that says "send my scores to wherever" because I really dislike the barrage of recruiting information that my friends' kids are subjected to - I've seen so many kids get the "we're interested in you" letters and emails that are so obviously efforts to keep their admissions statistics low and therefore ratings high. So many parents I know have fallen for this, it must be very hard to resist. So, another question: is there any worth to ticking that box in 11th grade? Thank you for all responses.

Longest game of Uno ever! January 4, 2009 A lot has happened in the last twelve years. You may need to sit down.

I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law. Rev. Dr. MLK Jr.