Tonight: Dairy free chicken enchiladas with refried beans and Spanish rice Sunday: Mini pizzas with ground beef and bell pepper. Also kale and spinach salad. This week: Tamales, Van De Kamp's Fish Fillets, Lemon pepper chicken, ... I'm not sure what else.

Wash the dog thoroughly? Maybe his shampoo had something in it that really doesn't agree with dd? Plus wash any fabric thing he's been on. Make her wear socks on the carpet if dog was on it? I also hate mysterious reactions, but if the hives are still hands and feet, that still suggests contact.

I have been down this road myself. I highly recommend getting them into Assisted Living, if you can. If it can be afforded. We lost my mom, who refused Assisted Living, but my dad is there now and doing so much better. And I got my life back. I think old people want to stay in their own homes at great cost. It's not always a good idea. And we truly do not have to martyr ourselves for our ailing parents, even thought they would happily have us do that. Keep the caregivers and explore Assisted Living. (big hugs)

Okay, can we stop with the judgy-ness? Do we rant at you all about how ridiculous you are when you guys freak out at 90 degree weather and oh no people are going to die? C'mon. Different climates cause people's bodies to react differently. Plus houses are built according to local climates. Knock it off.

Texas is complicated. Here's an article about it: https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshuarhodes/2021/02/14/valentines-day-giving-the-texas-electric-grid-the-cold-shoulder/?__twitter_impression=true&fbclid=IwAR2mZf1NyTGjV7nDx8_j0eUy4vH3oRZdIdJKLlLvMms1THRgeNXdQguW_fg&sh=6b91db18740c

I do not have that coat. They do occasionally have very small sales. 10 percent-ish. If you get the LL Bean credit card, you do get free return shipping, plus Bean Bucks to redeem later. And free monogramming, if that's still a thing. I got the card a long time ago for the free shipping and return shipping. I love free shipping and free returns.

Deepest condelences, Scarlett. Virtual hugs.

Kitty might be anticipating the storm. Our cats got really weird when a hurricane was bearing down on us. (then we evacuated and they hated that too. Apparently hotel rooms are scary.)

I'm in tier 1B and no I have not been able to get a vaccine yet. There are a lot of us here in tiers 1A and 1B, which opened at the same time. I don't have an appointment and don't anticipate being able to get one anytime soon. South Texas.

Kohls takes Lands End returns now, too.

For Lands End, I go by measuring chest, waist, and hips. I do not particularly look at weight. I have found the size charts to be pretty accurate.

Nike has some capris that are cute. https://www.nike.com/t/sportswear-big-kids-girls-capris-vvsNwX/CT8537-664?nikemt=true&cp=96413943330_search_|PRODUCT_GROUP|GOOGLE|71700000041489782|All_X_X_X_X-Device_X_Nike-Clearance_X||c&gclid=Cj0KCQiAyJOBBhDCARIsAJG2h5ejQu0wmN0uBo4LjDWsuS0_tZ51sLVa168olqNvdo5g_2yVuO6SL0MaAq7REALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Girls basketball shorts tend to be long. Although it sounds like you are looking for more twill, and they are definitely not twill.

You are not a failure. You are a wonderful person. My goodness, is everyone who enrolls their child in school a failure? Of course not! Be kind to yourself. You are doing what needs to be done.

In Texas, state law considers home schools private schools. I don't need to sign anything certifying anything. I set my own graduation requirements and issue my own diploma.

I would do first letter of last name.

We have a wood one, and would never have a fabric one because fabric collects dust and dust mites, and I am quite allergic to dust/dust mites.

This is not new to me. And it's from the other side of the political spectrum. My mother is a narcissist and if you disagree with her politically (or really on anything at all), she will attack. If she got riled up watching politics, she will take it out on you. Her favorite mood is outraged. Our boundary that I drew several years ago was that we will not discuss politics. She sometimes pushes it, but I stand firm mostly. Do not engage. Change the subject. However, be willing to enforce the boundary. Leave or end the discussion. If you want to maintain the relationship. And my dad has always been a bit racist. My dd says that most of her friends say their grandparents are all a little racist. We think/hope/pray this will die out with that generation. (I mean, we know it won't completely, but dd and her friends are not racist, so at least in our little families, it's dying out.) If you want to maintain the relationship. Boundaries can be drawn and enforced. That part is particularly painful in its own way because there will be pushback, but ultimately, the grandparents did want a relationship with us and so behave, mostly. YMMV

Thank you for this. My dd has a peanut allergy and an egg allergy, and I have been somewhat concerned about anaphylaxis to this vaccine. Our allergist retired, so we don't have him to turn to, so I appreciate you sharing this info. It makes me feel a lot better about dd getting the vaccine and not reacting to it.

Scarlett, I'm so relieved. (hugs)

Since this is for the fall and not in the middle of a semester, I see no reason why not to go to the new school. It's natural to sometimes change schools after summer. Elementary to Middle to High. PreK to K to Elementary. The pros seem like really great pros. I especially like that it will be more structured routine where Mom can always drop him off each day and he always gets picked up at the same time every day. Plus less screen time. Plus closer to home. I am in favor.

I am seconding the literature books from Mosdos. You don't even need the workbook. The textbook has plenty.

(hugs) Scarlett. Praying.

I love all of these! I agree about the cape, although it might be nice to have if the evening gets chilly. The first one is my favorite.

My dh tried that when I stupidly bought a table with grooves. Make sure you specify slightly smaller than the actual table top size and request that the corners be somewhat curved. Otherwise, it just hurts to put your arms anywhere near the tables. Plus pokey corners. Guess how I know. We got rid of that table. No grooves ever again.