the question is, with teenage boys, would Axe help or make it worse?

So Much Worse! I say this from experience in basketball gyms.

Yay bonus!

Yay for bonus, yes!

I have three days at home this week, then we head up to Yardley. I actually might do a test before I go just for super duper extra caution. We'll see his family and mine, all vaxxed and boosted (except the kids aren't boosted yet, though they are vaxxed), but there's no harm in checking myself before I go. None of us going out anywhere. All indoor gatherings, 7 people max anywhere. I am pinning all my feelings of security on the fact that I'm as protected as I can be, mask observant, not going out as much, and even if I get it, my chances of a mild case are good, relatively speaking, it seems. So. Cautious but optimistic, I guess.

Yeah, actually, I will test before I go up. I have to be in a couple of stores today and tomorrow to finish up shopping, so... least I can do, eh?

And: I need to finish my holiday cards today! Buffistas are all done but also the only ones done. I'm writing it here so I can have some accountability. I like doing them, even... just haven't picked up the gauntlet.

Let's have a proper Meara:

But the KN95s are more beak-like (without, alas, being a true Plague Doctor mask) and stay all pointy and therefore away from my mouth, and it's all good.

I feel like there is a serious untapped market among goths for that.

Did anyone else always have bread and butter at every meal?

I feel like one set of grandparents did that and I loved it.

Ken's status as "magnet for all injured/lost animals" continues even at work:

That's got so be some sort of shamanic phenomenon or human-embodiement-of-Dickon-Sowerby thing there. I mean c'mon... I read an essay (that I cannot now find) about how animals see people as fae folk and in a dire emergency they'll go to the tricksy powerful beings for help and take their chances. Every time I see it I think of Ken. Word is out on that kid (who is, in actuality, no longer a kid).

Now I have to tell my family that I’m not coming home for Christmas. That’s going to be fun.

I'll do it. ::ahehm:: TOM IS NOT COMING OVER FOR CHRISTMAS BECAUSE THERE'S A GD PLAGUE AND NONE OF YOU ARE NICE ENOUGH TO HIM.

Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker both have Covid. Covid is working off the wrong end of the Senate rolls.

Oh, I'm sure they just lie or never test and come to work anyway unless they're at death's freakin' door.

Showing this house will be the death of me, but worth it in the end. Monday is my crazed day at work, and showings at 1:30 and 3:30 today, meaning prep and taking a drive with Skinner while the realtor does his thing. Have I mentioned how much I hate sweeping/mopping/vacuuming floors? Also, DH's huge shoes grab all manner of debris. So tired. If it were an option I would move out and rent somewhere during the process.

Good luck, Laura. It must be so stressful! I've never owned a house, so I've never had to deal with all that. On the other hand, moving even when you're just renting is a pain in the ass... lately I've been thinking that there would be major benefits to having our own place. And I finally feel like I've landed back in the general area where I'll stay until the end. Previously, I've moved around enough to be really, super commitment averse (and also, "I'll never qualify!" shy) about trying to buy. Of course, this is not the time for it. Anyway. I ramble.

Bottom line -- good luck today!

And, for the masks - have you tried mask frames? they're little plastic things that clip onto your mask on the inside and make a little air pocket between your mouth and the mask. I have some and they've made it possible for me to wear a mask without half suffocating myself.

Those look helpful! I'm good with the KN95 masks, since they're pointy rather than flat and they stay off my mouth. I should probably order some more, now that I think of it.

Good luck, Laura!

Thanks, Jen. It is definitely a time to sell and not to buy. I'm very fortunate to live where so many people are looking and so little is available.

Just hope that no one looking at the house opens a closet or something and an absolute avalanche of stuff you were hiding falls out.