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Post by curmudgeon on Mar 9, 2021 20:13:05 GMT -6
I was able to schedule my H's first vaccine (Pfizer) for this Friday. In our state teachers have just been added to the eligibility so I'm relieved about that. a lot of local teacher friends have been posting pics getting the vaccine and I’m so happy it has opened up for them.
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Taitai
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Post by Taitai on Mar 9, 2021 23:46:27 GMT -6
My mom just signed up for her first vaccine shot next week too. Wohoo! It’s really happening!
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Post by curmudgeon on Mar 10, 2021 19:35:59 GMT -6
Next week is Spring Break and we are all off. Now to decide what to do that is relatively low risk. I think there is an outdoor dinosaur park/museum that looks fun. So maybe that?
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Post by duskymonkey on Mar 11, 2021 0:09:47 GMT -6
August Blooms , Taitai , CoachTsWife YASSSSS!!! to O17 G2G on an island in SEA. It's a lot to get there but your dollar stretches far and you'd be treated like royalty. Serious! If y'll came to my village you'd be like celebrity and definitely well fed lol! Taitai I think the next time I see my folks will be us returning and I am so hoping in 2023. It will take another year to have data on vaccine effectiveness and also many parts of the world will still be receiving vaccines ( hopefully ) I would be totally down for a G2G with you! and I am definitely going to take a big vacay in Langkawi. I've only been to Samui and hubs and I loved it there. The hospitality and Thai people are really out of this world. You're also welcome to Melaka ( my ancestral home and Unesco Heritage site ) we live about 30 minutes outside of there and welcome to our sleepy village lol! CoachTsWife I am happy that your H and fellow teachers are able to get the vaccine. What about you, did you already volunteer at the site? if not yet, do you think they'd be able to give the leftover doses to people working there? volunteers or not?
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Post by duskymonkey on Mar 11, 2021 0:27:26 GMT -6
I am itching to go to Disney. Just curious when everyone would be comfortable with big vacations again. Once you’re vaccinated? In good news (since Texas has decided to stop mandatory masks and open ever hint at 100% no restrictions), my county has increased their vaccines from almost 6000/wk to over 13,000/week. So that seems to be something! We would love to take the girls to Disney but Florida seems like it’s been such a shitshow with this whole Covid thing from the get go. I haven’t read a ton on precautions Disney is taking and how well they are at enforcing things currently. Early on I thought I read they were really good about masks and cleaning and distancing/crowd management. I also wonder if Florida will follow Texas lead and stop the mask mandate and other rules which would complicate things further... -Would you be able to go at an “off” time? -Are the boys pretty good about mask wearing - even in a high, humid heat (I assume with Texas yes? My midwest self did not do well this past summer.) -Maybe staying on Disney property would make some social distanced type rules more enforceable than an off park property? H and I are talking about a Disney trip in Fall 2023. It was going to be 2022 but my brother is getting married in Austin next year so that will be our big trip. I think if you could swing it at an “off season” time it might not be too crazy maybe? It would totally depend I think on where and what your comfort level is and probably what the moment is looking like...at least for us. We may choose places and activities that wouldn't be crowded. At least for us, we will look into venturing out locally this summer on hiking and camping trips. If all data is trending good, we'll see about skiing this coming winter. We'll have data by next summer on how effective the vaccine is going to be and if booster shots will be needed. TBH I am terrified of the kids contracting it and really just want to focus on getting them into school. So baby steps for us but like August Blooms when we're ready to take a real vacay and it's safe to do so....we're going BIG
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Post by duskymonkey on Mar 11, 2021 0:40:14 GMT -6
Next week is Spring Break and we are all off. Now to decide what to do that is relatively low risk. I think there is an outdoor dinosaur park/museum that looks fun. So maybe that? That sounds like fun if everyone can space out plus I think everyone will likely be heading to the beach. We may head to Dinosaur National Monument this summer...it really is out of there and my sister went there last time they were here and she said, summer vacation peak, there weren't many people. We're also thinking of Capitol Reef NP which again is out in the middle of no where and most people won't venture out that far and will just go to Arches so maybe this could be an adventure for the family to go explore of the beaten path! haha! It was like last summer, everybody and their uncles and aunts were swarming RMNP so we went to the other side of the mountains and it was so much better.
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Taitai
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Post by Taitai on Mar 11, 2021 3:55:40 GMT -6
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danvers
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Post by danvers on Mar 11, 2021 9:04:43 GMT -6
I got my vaccine yesterday! My arm is sore but otherwise I feel fine for round 1. I’m actually playing secretary for the school today ( I have a student teacher currently) because our secretary got round 2 for her vaccine and was not feeling good at all today.
The principal is out too this AM too so I’m “in charge”. My mother always said I’m bossy anyway 😂
I actually do want to pursue my administrator license eventually, just not when I have a 3yr old and 6 year old. We are about to start spring soccer soon and both of them will be playing this year and I am not looking forward to juggling two schedules.
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danvers
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Post by danvers on Mar 11, 2021 9:19:18 GMT -6
Taitai I would be so nervous with those restrictions and expectations about visiting the US but I know how hard it must be to be away for so long too. August Blooms how’s the adjustment for Monday - Friday going - still well I hope? CoachTsWife 100 yes old is such a milestone. I’m glad you get to celebrate even if it’s through plexiglass. duskymonkey we became hikers due to the pandemic and have big plans this summer to explore some state parks out here by us. Those sound like such cool things to see out by you all - nothing like our take midwest forests here!
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Post by CoachTsWife on Mar 11, 2021 9:50:16 GMT -6
Oh Taitai that would be amazing! My mom is getting different information every time she talks to them, so it is turning into a cluster, but I'm just glad we get to go see her. I'm going to save that link to present to the nursing home administrator on Saturday, lol. duskymonkey, I volunteered at the mass vaccination event 2 weeks ago and last week they had a couple days they were giving out extra doses at the end of the day on a FCFS basis, but I didn't find out in time. HOWEVER, yesterday I saw that due to how many doses my county received this week (different county than the mass vaccine event), they were opening it up to the next tier for the current phase, which includes "infrastructure". I went through the form and was able to advance through it as I work in Healthcare IT and that was included, so we are BOTH getting our first dose tomorrow. I can hardly believe it. danvers, my H has his Masters in Administration and is talking about going back to get his Specialist degree. *sigh* People tell him it is actually easier to do it with younger kids than older kids because the older they get, the more activities they are involved in and the schedules get crazier the older kids get. IDK. I dread him adding anything to his plate, but it would really bump his pay if he does it.
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Taitai
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Post by Taitai on Mar 11, 2021 19:28:00 GMT -6
danvers and CoachTsWife Wohoo that we have O17ers getting the vaccine! I love hearing about this! My sister told me that the vaccine should be available for everyone by May, which is just awesome, awesome news. Wish it would be that way here where I live, but this country has also not really managed the vaccine program well. They had lots of time to plan and just haven’t done much to organize a mass effort. Pretty disappointing, considering that they and the public here have actually done a very good job of controlling the virus itself. CoachTsWife - Definitely print out that article and show them that the Federal guidelines now say you can give hugs, provided the nursing home resident is vaccinated! I don’t see why they would push back against that - I would be firm on that. This is a matter of mental health and morale, and the health risk is minimized if she is vaccinated, everyone wears masks, and hand washing takes place immediately before and after the contact. Enjoy the celebration!
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Post by CoachTsWife on Mar 11, 2021 20:44:08 GMT -6
So..... Taitai guess what?? Mom called me this afternoon and said when she called the nursing home to give them the list of names for each appt on Saturday, they mentioned that they're just now able to be a little more relaxed and hugs are allowed!! I think we still visit through plexiglass but I get to give her a hug!
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Taitai
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Post by Taitai on Mar 11, 2021 20:57:43 GMT -6
So..... Taitai guess what?? Mom called me this afternoon and said when she called the nursing home to give them the list of names for each appt on Saturday, they mentioned that they're just now able to be a little more relaxed and hugs are allowed!! I think we still visit through plexiglass but I get to give her a hug! Yayyyyy! This warms my heart so much. Wonderful news! 💕💕😊😊
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Post by curmudgeon on Mar 12, 2021 18:42:49 GMT -6
I hate crowded places even without a pandemic. I usually run all my errands at 9am and home before 11am. So Texas opening 100% right before spring break is really annoying to me. Everything is so sandblasted.
DS2 has strep. But absolutely no symptoms. We took him in for a lump on his neck that turned out to be a lymph node and she did a throat swab just to see. And whaddya know. Now that he’s on antibiotics, he’s acting miserable. So whiny.
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Post by duskymonkey on Mar 12, 2021 23:56:32 GMT -6
CoachTsWife I cannot wait for your grandma to have all the hugs tomorrow!! This made my day. I am also happy that you will be getting your vax sooner too. I cannot imagine having the worry given your H's risk in school and that reinfection is probable. There's like over 800 people in my state that reported to have been reinfected. Ugh! danvers I am so happy you got your vax!Did you get the one shot J& J? My friend in CT said that about 90% of teachers in state have now been vaxed. DS teacher also told me that all district teachers will get vaxed this month and she's waiting for hers to be scheduled since she's a virtual teacher, she's back in the line. It's happening! and I feel much more optimistic about getting the boys out more this summer and the possibility of DS actually starting 2nd grade in school is looking up and I've already contacted a center to begin the process of starting lil fella in PreK *Whelp* How are our O17 babies going into pre-K and going to K next year. I am like mind blown and am I doing math right??? Taitai summer back here is looking up for you! The J&J vax is a total game changer and the fact that we have an actual competent and functioning real government now definitely helps. FUCK Trump and his continual use of calling Covid "China Virus" perpetuating racism against the Asian Pacific Island community. He disgust me to no end. Sorry it just makes me really angry that there was so so much that could've been done in a whole year to control the pandemic and not allow over 500K people to die. I wonder if corruption is having a hand in vax procurement and rollout for your country? There's so much corruption in that part of the world too. Also I am deeply saddened at what is happening in Myanmar. How is this impacting your country too. curmudgeon oh no! glad that you've found out it's strep and treating it but poor little guy.
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Post by duskymonkey on Mar 13, 2021 0:25:32 GMT -6
So I did my usual grocery order pick up on Thursday and they were out of milk. Meh! so I ran into the store thinking they were only out of Organic milk and it was like the apocalypse descending again and I didn't get the memo. Oh yeah! we are getting a big snow storm this weekend but it's not like it's for a whole week but people are acting like they'd be starved out for a week. Anyways I usually run to a different smaller store to get produce and luckily they had milk so I was able to grab a couple of jug which will just get us by because today I received an email from our milk delivery letting us know that due to the storm, our delivery would be delayed for a day. We only get 2 gallons from them because we can't fit a weeks worth of milk in the fridge. Apparently the following items are extremely popular during a 2 day snow storm; milk, bacon, all the bread, all the eggs, bagged salad, all the frozen peas, meats, sausage, all the bananas and all the peanut butter Luckily plenty of other perishable produce. Hopefully we don't lose power otherwise I am sure the kids would be happy with either pancakes, waffles, muffins or crepes, cheese, crackers, PBJ for meals. Hoping to make a batch of crepes tomorrow morning. Snow isn't goin get heavy starting mid morning so I should have time if the power goes. Oh I should boil a few eggs too. Lil fella can eat HB eggs in his weight. Taitai what did you read that was so engrossing! I miss reading for pleasure too. DS is really getting into chapter books now so I've been pre-reading some before allowing him to read it. It's kinda tough to find chapter books suitable for his age in his reading level. Anyways he likes The Boxcar Children series and I highly recommend when your kids are ready, House of Robots by James Patterson. Yes...it's That JP and I didn't know he wrote kids books. There are 3 in the series, He's just about to finish the first book. I didn't think he would even pick it up to read. It came in a random book bag from the library where the staff will fill a bag according to your interest. Robots wasn't even on the list for him but boy does he love it and I'd have to pry it out of his hands everyday at bedtime and throughout the day. danvers you got any recos? what do your students like to read?
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Taitai
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Post by Taitai on Mar 13, 2021 7:13:37 GMT -6
curmudgeon Oh bummer about your kid having strep! I hope the antibiotics do the trick. What a shame that everything is crowded again in TX. I really hope that doesn’t result in vaccine-resistant strains spreading like crazy and kind of negating how far we’ve come. Patience people - I know it’s hard, but seriously, why risk that behavior when only like 20% of the population is vaccinated? Just seems crazy from where I sit on this side of the world. duskymonkey Thank you for the recommendation for the House of Robots by JP! DS1 is really into chapter books too! We’ve been doing lots of Beverly Cleary, Roland Dahl, E.B. White, and other books. I forgot about the Boxcar Children! Will have to get some of those for DS1 for his upcoming birthday - along with the House of Robots 👍 The books I got caught up in were The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larsen (author of Devil in the White City) and Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. S&V was excellent - it chronicled Churchill’s leadership during the WWII bombing blitz on England by the Nazis. Fascinating read. Pillars is my first Follett book, and it’s really good...but also super long. I finished S&V, but could only get 1/2 of the way through Pillars. Going back to that once we have another trip. I hope the winter storm doesn’t cause you to lose power! Here in the land of eternal summer, it’s hard to fathom blizzards in March. So friggin hot here. And yes - I am positive corruption and general disorganization are why the vaccine effort here is so messed up. So much corruption in this part of the world - except for Singapore really. It’s sad. The Burma situation also is extremely concerning. There are a lot of Burmese who work in this country, and hearing stories from them about what is happening across the border makes me so sad. The only one who will win from this is China - of course they are going to be fine with democracy falling in that country. Sad to see SEA sliding back to a dictator’s club. Crazy Duerte in the Philippines needs to go as well.
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danvers
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Post by danvers on Mar 13, 2021 7:55:02 GMT -6
CoachTsWife I hope you enjoy every second (or even minutes!) of that hug with Grandma today! duskymonkey Judy Blumes “Fudge” books are always favorites with my students. Peter and his little brother “Fudge” just have regular kid situations where funny things happen. Beverly Cleary’s “mouse on the motorcycle” series or “Henry Huggins” books are always good classics too. The early Ramona Quimby books are so good but I think they get a little “advanced” in theme as they progress (there’s nothing bad and DD1 and I just finished the entire series but I want to revisit it when she’s older too because I think concepts like tough friendship situations, unemployment, etc are just harder to appreciate at 5/6/7)
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danvers
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Post by danvers on Mar 13, 2021 8:03:20 GMT -6
So I got the Moderna shot on Wednesday afternoon and felt completely fine till Thursday noon and then the chills and fever hit. Since I was covering for our principal and secretary both I tried to convince myself it was because the front office was just chilly and sucked it up but I crashed hard when I got home. By Friday noon I was 100% fine again so 🤷♀️
I will be writing emergency substitute plans just in case for the day after shot #2 because I’ve heard stories it can be a doozy for some....
Also all the 3-6th grade teachers at our school have now gotten shot #1 of the vaccine. All our K-2 teachers have publicly expressed they will not be getting it. We’re a small school so this splits us 50/50 with 8 teachers who will have it and 8 who won’t. It’s just weird how it seemed divided down the “intermediate teachers” and “primary teachers” lines. I’m hoping some of those others secretly get it and just don’t tell their friends in the primary hallway....
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Post by August Blooms on Mar 13, 2021 12:03:59 GMT -6
duskymonkey I hope you guys don’t get too much crazy snow. You live in such a beautiful place, I would never get bored of looking at those mountains. CoachTsWife I’m so glad you get to give your grandma a big hug and celebrate. My step grandma is turning 101 this month and had her celebration shut down last year, this year she is celebrating by getting the vaccine tomorrow. Taitai I feel you on the reading, I wish there were more hours in the day. With my new schedule I’ve been trying to get 20 -30 minutes a night, just enough to get into the book. I would like to be more active in the GD reading thread but I pop in lurk to get recommendations. I did put The Splendid and the Vile on hold maybe because of that thread I’m looking forward to reading it. danvers It’s going better than expected, thanks for asking! However the job itself I don’t think is for me. curmudgeon I hate crowded places even before the pandemic, I hope your little guy feels better soon!
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Post by August Blooms on Mar 13, 2021 12:16:19 GMT -6
Vaccine rollout is slow here but my mom and step grandma are going separately tomorrow for their first shots! Our school board is doing asymptomatic testing so we spend Wednesday evening in line to get a test, I’m still waiting for my results (I’m assuming they are negative) the kids were negative. Which is nice to know since my sister and her husband are dropping by for a visit we can slightly relax our rules for this week.
My IT issues are being passed around in the different groups and no one knows what to do to solve it so I can work from home. But on the other hand I’ve got to touch base with a lot of people and they are now aware that I’m interested in other opportunities. I had the interview for the job I really want, which was more like a presentation on Thursday. It was 2 questions, 10 minutes prep and 20 minutes to present my answers. I reverted back to my younger self and was an awkward weirdo with no confidence and my shoe separated from the sole so I was walking weird too. What a mess. I rocked one question and was 🤷🏼♀️ and guessing the second. I work with a lot of A type alpha males and wish I had half the confidence of them, most who have very few years of work and a fraction of the experience I have, they walk and talk a big game. It’s out of my hands now, hopefully I find out soon.
The weather has been really windy but has warmed up, I’m so looking forward to spring and being able to escape the house!
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danvers
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Post by danvers on Mar 13, 2021 15:25:27 GMT -6
August Blooms Job interviewing always gives me such anxiety. I’ll keep all the things crossed you hear good things from the interview.
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Taitai
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Post by Taitai on Mar 14, 2021 8:29:47 GMT -6
August Blooms I really hope you get the job you want, and so sorry about the sole separating from your shoe!! I know that walk exactly - same thing happened to me in an airport once, and I had to step waaaay out in front of me and lift my leg high, and then there was like this flapping sound each time my shoe hit the ground. Omg - it attracted so much attention, and I looked like I was on a deranged military march. I think I was baby wearing too 😂🤣. If the hiring people have any sense, they will see through the veneer of those alpha young males and hire the best candidate - which is obviously you! Please keep us posted. I have my fingers crossed for you! Oh, and I hope you get S&V! It’s pretty long, and I had actually read most of it before our vacation...thinking I had finished it, but then I realized I was only 70% of the way through, and I really am glad I got engrossed in the book again to finish it up. Hope you like it. Churchill was a very weird and interesting character. danvers Ugh, as a parent, I’d be so disappointed to hear if half of the teachers at the school where I sent my kids elected not to get the vaccine. That really sucks. I hope they come around. Thanks for those book recommendations also! I forgot about Judy Blume - will check her out. DS1 loves the mouse on the motorcycle book and the Henry Huggins books from Beverly Clearly. We just read Henry and Ribsy, as well as the first mouse on the motorcycle book - I didn’t realize it was a series! Will look for mores. We are reading Ramona at age 8 now. duskymonkey I picked up the House of Robot books! Got all 3 at the bookstore today, and we’re going to give them to DS1 for his birthday. Thanks for the recommendation - I paged through and think DS1 will absolutely love them!
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Post by August Blooms on Mar 15, 2021 12:47:45 GMT -6
Taitai OMG that visual 😂 I hope you were able to get to your bag to get some new shoes quickly. I attempted a slight side shuffle technique which resulted in stumbling. I attempted the high step but determined it was even weirder. My sister and mom had a good chuckle since stuff like that always seems to happen to me.
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Post by CoachTsWife on Mar 15, 2021 12:54:02 GMT -6
The visit with Grandma was so great. The plexiglass was even removed. We had to use hand sanitizer, wear masks, and sit a few feet away from her but was told by the nursing home administrator when we checked in that hugs were ok. I wish we could have taken her out and had a proper party - but maybe next year. It was really great to see her and she looked SO GOOD. I had prepared myself for how the past year could have impacted her, but she is doing well. She can't hear well and I think it was hard for her to hear us through our masks. It really did my heart good to spend a little time with her. PDQ
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Taitai
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Post by Taitai on Mar 15, 2021 18:46:20 GMT -6
CoachTsWife I love that pic! Your grandmother does look so good! Wow - she doesn’t look 100 to me, more like she is in her 80s. You must have some of her youthful genes too, because you look great as well - no wrinkles! am so glad that you and your family members were able to have a nice visit without any glass barriers and that you could give hugs. Here’s to hoping you can take her someplace outside to celebrate next year. August Blooms When my shoe busted, it was right after I exited security to walk towards my flight, so I had to deal with a busted shoe basically the entire rest of my trip! It was such a pain. I think DH managed to get duct tape from someone to sort of fix it, but the duct tape gave out at some point. Sigh. When do you find out whether you got that job? Will be rooting for you over here!
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Post by duskymonkey on Mar 15, 2021 22:25:03 GMT -6
CoachTsWife can't believe your Gma is 100! Incredible and you look gorgeous even with your mask on. Agree with TaitaiSo happy she was able to get all the hugs and see family again. This has been so hard for everyone.
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Post by duskymonkey on Mar 15, 2021 22:27:35 GMT -6
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Post by duskymonkey on Mar 15, 2021 22:56:34 GMT -6
August Blooms keeping all my digits crossed for you to get that job! and I would've died in your situation. I've had to deal with many busted shoes but never for anything important. I also kept a collection of work shoes under my desk in NYC which apparently everyone knew about lol! Once the Chief accounts director came up to me and asked if she could borrow a pair cos her heel broke just as they were about to head out to a client meeting. Luckily she had tiny feet like me haha! danvers I have not much experience with job interviews and just hope for the best when I do them.
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Post by duskymonkey on Mar 15, 2021 23:04:02 GMT -6
danvers oh noooo! I hope you're feeling better now. Just be prepared and hopefully you and your H aren't getting shots the same day or week. My sister got her 2nd shot ( Pfizer ) last week and she had all the reactions and they lasted for a little over 48 hours. It hit her hard about 12 hours after her shot. My BIL also got Pfizer and only had a small headache. I have the chills thinking how bad it would've been if she actually became infected. I am going to prepare myself when I get my shot since we are of the same gene pool. Thanks for the book recos. I'll have to check out the Judy Blume books. They should like DS would like them and can make a connection with his lil brother. In so many ways, this pandemic has been so hard but at the same time, the boys have been able to spend so much time together and I hope they will grow up to be close to one another. Will also look out for HH. I think we're covered for a while.
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