We're a relatively appropriate household who are "religious" and don't curse much and we still love these books! LOL! I'm English, though, so probably has something to do with that sense of humor. 😄

I've seen a number of posts like this. Most recently from HGTV! So many people wanting to cash in on crisis schoolers, it's making me angry!

I second The Jesus Storybook Bible. It shows all of the Bible stories and points to Jesus in each story (OT and New). Very easy to read.

This in some ways is comforting, and in other ways is not. I'm sad that others are feeling the same way, but it's nice to not feel alone in a greater sense. I will say in my friend group, like you said, this "you're not alone" thing is being used to downplay and gloss over my fears/feelings about everything. Very real fears about job insecurity and financials. My friends will reply with "it's affecting everyone" , without acknowledgement of the fact that there are different levels of how it affects people. Yep, sure, it affects everyone, but please just acknowledge my feelings and don't be blind to the fact that it affects some more than others! Compassion goes a long way. Of course, this is what I'd like to say to my friends but they're so blind to everything it doesn't do any good (I've gently tried but they just don't get it). In the same vein, I try to remember that there are SO many people in a worse off position than we are. That's actually what makes me feel even more sad (then I feel guilty for being sad about our own situation! Sick cycle).

This IS something I'm looking forward to. I just recently became a citizen and get to vote for the first time in these elections. 🙂 This will be my first time ever voting! Maybe I'll make myself a list. I'll add the extra sleep, veggies and protein (and healthy fats), and limiting media to exercising.

I'm also plus sized and got a couple of Avia leggings and althletic shorts (skintight) from Walmart at the beginning of quarantine and they are much better quality than anything I've gotten from Old Navy or other stores. A couple of them have pockets in and I really like the feel of them. Next time you're in Walmart, take a look! You may be surprised!

I feel tired also. DH works for an airline and we've been waiting to hear the furlough news since the company took the CARES act money. We just found out that DH is senior enough to not be furloughed, but he will probably have to take a 40% pay cut. I'm vacillating back and forth with thankfulness that he has a job for right now and terror about how we're going to make financials work. Then I feel guilty because as of right now DH still has a job and that's a privilege not many have right now. Unfortunately, we're the only people in our group of friends who are affected by this financially (most are either active/retired military or have very secure jobs) and so I'm feeling pretty alone. DH had just started making enough money where we could take a breather and cover our budget. The uncertainty is really hard. I'm usually pretty optimistic but I can't see a recovery for the airlines in the next 5 years and I'm convinced that DH's will be forced into bankrupcy and close up shop and we'll be out of a job anyway. Really hard to be going through when all of my friends just want to rant on FB about how having to wear masks is taking away our freedoms 🙄. I get on there mainly for DH's work groups to keep up with what's happening but I may have to get off altogether. I'm just so tired. I didn't realize how much I've been stressed and how much it's affected me. I don't usually exercise but I'm considering taking it up to give myself an outlet. Maybe replace fb/news/everything going on with a physical outlet...

Unfortunately, I've seen similar during this time so I know she's not making it up. I know you said you don't really believe she was, just reiterating that this sort of thing is out there in multiple places. I'm definitely scared of greater regulations coming down the pike.

Well, it's worse than that here because I posted a link straight to our page and wrote up a post saying if you need *this* (basically spelled it out) then this is the link you go to and we still have people asking. I have decided they don't want to actually read anything but post so that others can do the work for them (which jibes with all of the free/online/no teacher involvement requests we've gotten as well). I'm usually pretty grace filled but even I'm starting to roll my eyes and assume the worst of people!

...and they don't want to search the group to see that the link to the county website has been posted MANY times for the answers to most questions on homeschooling in our county (for all sorts of questions, there's about 3 questions that are asked over and over again). In my darker moments I roll my eyes assuming they just want someone to spoon feed them how to do it. I then judge them (this is wrong and I shouldn't) for the fact that if they need their hands held with something that's easily found by google then homeschooling is going to be ROUGH.

I let me membership lapse and I've been thinking it might be a good idea to start it up again due to what I forsee happening, which is a call for tighter restrictions on homeschoolers since so many are "homeschooling" now. Sigh. In my area 99% of the new homeschoolers to our local page (of which there are at least 10 a day) want a free, online, hands off option to "homeschool" with. The sweet ladies on it are gently trying to provide some advice about traditional homeschooling but I don't think they're getting through.

I live close by. Pensacola requires masks in businesses but I haven't seen anything about Pensacola Beach (I'd assume they are probably part of P'cola proper but not sure). I would say that this is a very recent mandate and I agree with the person above who talked about the culture here. Trying not to make generalizations, but most everyone I've come into contact with (remember, I live in the area) doesn't believe that Covid-19 is a big deal and that forced masking is taking away "our freedoms". I have seen a LOT more people comply with masking now that the cities of Pensacola and Gulf Breeze have required it (before that I saw very few masks). I'd, at the very least, ask your friends to wait 2 weeks before seeing your Mom.

Not sure if you were looking for screen games, but my kiddos (and DH) really like computer games like King's Quest, Space Quest, and Quest for Glory. They're all games with a long story-line that you have to figure out for yourself which direction to go and how to solve the puzzle. Another computer game that he might like is Kerbal Space.

You mean, irregardless of how I feel about it becoming one?

Yes, I've heard this from people in person here as well. This whole time I've been questioning whether I need to back off friendships because of how crazy everyone has become. Sigh is definitely right. 😞

This doesn't surprise me. I live in a FL beach town and people here STILL think Covid19 isn't a big deal and it's "all going to go away after the election" - a quote that I heard in person the other day and the people in the group I was with agreed. Sigh. I'm REALLY glad we homeschool.

Sounds like a plan! Just wanted to clarify that I haven't flown since January only because I haven't been able to get seats (flying standby). If I knew I was able to get on and get back home without issue I'd probably have been doing more traveling. DH's base isn't where we live so he's done LOTS of traveling and so far hasn't had any issues. Surprisingly, very few people from his company have been dx'ed with Covid19. I'd have thought it would have been MUCH more all things considered! I think waiting to buy is a wise choice because it's such uncertain times! Your trip is so far away who's to say there won't be another round by then. 😕 Also, flight schedules are changing monthly so buying a ticket for October doesn't give a guarantee that your flight wouldn't be canceled or changed, unfortunately.

I'm ready to get on a plane again, also! We usually fly a lot and I haven't been on a plane since the end of January. This is the longest I've gone without flying since DH started with the airlines! I think waiting is a wise choice.

DH is a pilot and has flown and sat on lots of commercial flights during this time, so we have some experience. Masks are required on the aircraft and they aren't serving beverages (at least on DH's airline) or snacks so interaction is kept to a minimum. The cleanliness of the aircraft air is not much of an issue because of hepa filters and recirculation (meaning you get completely fresh air ever few minutes (can't remember the exact number that DH said but it's less than 15 minutes per cycle). Airports are probably going to be where you'll have to watch SD and I'd recommend wearing your mask as there will be a number of people un-masked milling about. What's your departure city? If it's Charlotte (did you say you were in NC?) then you have two options for non-stop to DTW (Detroit): American and Delta. Southwest wouldn't be non-stop. Delta has 5 flights a day and American has 6. If you want to be around fewer people I'd recommend taking the first flight of the day. If you can take a non-stop then that'd greatly reduce your exposure to people.

I just priced books for our homeschool end of the year sale and I've got a stash full of books to sell. EVERY time I picked up a new book I was tempted to put it back and not sell it because what if I need it because of covid and amazon stops selling and it books like gold because of the world shutting down...THIS book could get me a loaf of bread! Then I think badly of myself and this hmmm...but what if schools stop and I have a friend who may need it (because I feel bad about thinking only for myself apparently)....🙄😂 I normally don't justify with myself much about giving away or selling books but this has made it harder. Maybe I should talk to someone? Half laughing/making fun of myself and half wondering. Is that anxiety? I still put the books in the sale (even though I didn't want to....)

I saw the first one with the bone and didn't know that there were more! Squee!!!! Off to watch!

This whole post was very helpful to me. I'm the higher emotional need person and that is a good thing to know vs. friends who are just different. Thank you so much for writing it.

Inspector Lewis was on Masterpiece on PBS so if you can't find it on netflix maybe you could on PBS? I'm sorry, I'm not super up with what's on the streaming channels!

I don't know if Inspector Lewis is on Netflix or not but it fits the bill. It's a spin off from Inspector Morse.

It's so hard with this virus because different people are taking different approaches and it feels like if you're not taking the same one as the person you're speaking to then you're wrong. I say "feels like" because I think that's mostly a mental thing. It reads to me that you're concerned you're over-reacting and are worried that they're judging you for doing so. Like others have said there's no right or wrong way to deal with being personally comfortable. Try not to read into her lack of response. She may just be busy and hasn't gotten to her text messages. If she's judging you then she's judging you and there's nothing you can do about it. I, personally, think that you're not over-reacting. It seems like you have a lot going on and taking care of yourself and your family is the best way to use up your limited energy at this time. That is not something to feel guilty over. My recommendation would be to stop texting and subtly asking her permission to not come back (she's probably not going to give it). I'd probably call her because text is hard and you can convey emotion better on the phone or voicemail. If she's your friend she'll want what's best for you. If you don't want the confrontation (though it really is best to just get it out there), I'd text her and say something like: It's been hard for me to know whether to come back or not but after DH and I talked we've decided that it's best if I don't. I'm so sorry that I've been wishy-washy (If I'm reading correctly you've told her that you are coming back originally?), it's been a very hard decision for me. Call or send the text before you drop the keys off then just go to the drop and try not to let it bother you. If they're rude or sarcastic try to ignore them and don't rise to the bait. Repeat in your head over and over again that you're doing what's best for you. Hugs to you!