Well, the gift cards definitely aren’t a surprise because T and amyth specifically asked for it!

Ugh, I need a mammogram. And several other doctor visits. Some day.

Javachik, I'm sorry to hear about your friend. I hope her treatment is successful and not too tough to bear, and that her husband will surprise everyone and rise to the challenge.

Sorry, Cindy. I should not read and post before I’m fully awake.

No sorries necessary, sj. When I saw the conversation about how to pronounced "smonster" I went looking for it. I think I even did a control + F, which means I must have hit on her post, and still didn't take it into my brain.

Cindy, I like the thought I have an "Ellenosity" that puts me above even the blue check mark.

Of course you do!

Someone reassure me that I'm not being stupid. Husband and I are driving to visit my parents for Thanksgiving. We have been consistently careful, only going to the grocery, doctor's visits, pharmacy, and to pick up food. When possible, we've done drive-through or curbside pickup. We always wear masks. And I'm clamping down on that even more for the next week or so before we leave.

We'll get rapid-tested before we go and limit our interaction on the drive to getting gas and maybe getting curbside pickup. This is a reasonable amount of risk, right? i.e. almost none?

I don't think you're being stupid, Dana, but I'm going through the same kind of second-guessing, before Thanksgiving. I just want to have my older son (who's been better than most people his age, but not nearly as careful as our household is) and my mother over with me, DH, my daughter, and younger son.

My daughter stopped seeing her (outdoor, distanced, masked) friends a couple of weeks ago, when our rates really resumed their rise. My older son started quarantining on Thursday, and will get a test ahead of Thanksgiving. My husband, who is the person our house who goes to the store, will get tested too, and I'm still nervous. We can get free drive-up, PCR testing, and I'm still doubting the plan.

Whew, caught up. What a delight for it to take more than a minute to catch up on my Natter. Love seeing beloved familiar fonts.

Me too, Laura.

Also, I am bummed that I never hugged my sister all summer and when this virus is history all my huggy friends are going to be hugged so much and so often.

My mother is going to be 84. She only goes to the store (and maybe only every few weeks) and to the doctor, and is careful about masking. That's all we do in our house, too. We've had some distanced, masked visits in the yard. During the summer, when the transition rate was low in MA, I wanted to hug her. She lives alone, so she's had no one touch her. I told her to not to talk (so we wouldn't share air). We were masked. She talked.

The next time we visited, I tried again, and explained why we shouldn't talk while hugging. These weren't long hugs, where you finally have to say something -- just a mere few seconds. She still talked.

No hugs for you, mom.

lisah, these posts were funny to read in succession:

Yes, please get your mammograms! Also, your colonoscopies!

Would an emailed gift card work?

I wish I could gift card everyone preventative screenings!!

I emailed amyth the other day just to say I love you, and I mentioned that I thought she should be our Amy Emeritus (since we have a little troop of Amys). She loved the idea but wanted all the Amys to agree, which sort of broke me, because how ridiculously sweet is that? I can't imagine anyone disagreeing but I thought I would mention it.

Aww, Amy. {{All my Amys}}

Well, Amy, there's you, amyth, amych, amyparker, and Aimee. Are there others I'm forgetting? If not, I think you, amych, and amyparker are a quorum (and I think we must call that the Amiable Alliance).

If Aimee was here, I'm pretty sure she'd just use her executive power as Empress to decree it.

Am Amiable Alliance! I love it. Not least because it sounds like the title to a British novel.

Oh, yeah. It's at least a chapter.

Just set Da Punk on her..."first date"? Maybe? If you don't count walks together six months ago?

Anyway, she is with her boyfriend and his family, all masked and whatnot. And all I could think, as I bumped elbows with the boyfriend's mom and set curfew times and whatnot was:

Fuckin' YA post-apocalypse books never addressed the awkwardness with parents, did they? There wasn't a scene in Hunger Games where Katniss' dad had to put on a shirt rather than a bathrobe to let his daughter have a coupla hours with the boy she likes. There was no:

"Back in my day we'd say 'ya got protection?' har har but today we say 'Seriously, though, you got your mask? Sanitizer? Don't touch anything and I'm not being metaphorical: don't. Touch. Anything!'"

Also: smonster, if you're coordinating something, please message me on FB. I want to help.