mielelf

My parents have been voluntarily locked down as much as their doctor appointments will let them be since spring, and I've been so relieved by that. They do grocery pickup and even lysol the mail. Their close friends decided a few weeks ago that it would be safe to eat at the outdoor cafes and I worried it was a slippery slope, but I also know my mother hates to cook and is very tired of that too. Compared to my inlaws, my parents are being very careful, but they're all in high risk groups and "should" be careful.

However, my parents just informed me they have tickets for a musical theater dinner show tonight and I was pretty shocked. I've done some aerosol studies back in the 90s, so every

• Budget - $50-150

• Country? - USA

• Platform? - Mac (occasionally swap to PC)

• Sound Signature: Music Gaming

• Open back or closed back? - Closed

• Any other gear you own - older (+10 years) Klipsch headphones w/inline mic, and klipsch surround 5.1 for my old gaming PC that died.

On mobile, I apologize for weird formatting. I would prefer a wired headset that I could use for a little bit of everything. I prefer noise isolation and I have permanent small earrings.

I used to be really picky about my sound and loved klipsch, but everything I read says stay far away now. I loved the klipsch bass response being crisp. My spouse swears by his Sennheiser 599s but I think they

You may remember me from my comments about Christmas with my chemotherapy FIL, where the, highly paid, both in the (Drs) medical field BIL & wife brought their 3 goblins. Who, we found at after dinner, were all being treated for strep. Strep likes to travel with other germs though, antibiotics or not. My husband and I have been sick since December 22. I developed pneumonia, he developed a terrible sinus infection. We've both been through antibiotics and we have about $800 in medical bills from just that one day of exposure. MIL and FIL both fell ill as well, and FIL had a few days of ICU. But, of course, "nobody knows where the germs came from!" So, I'm still a little run down and have s

I just canceled our "fancy dress" Xmas Eve dinner reservations and ran to the grocery store for soup ingredients. I am beside myself. We go to the inlaws over the weekend, and there's three niblings - nieces 7 & 5, nephew 2. Now my father in law had a bone marrow transplant 3 months ago, but was doing well enough he could go home for Christmas. He still needs to wear a mask in public and can't do too much. My MIL is firmly in the r/JUSTNOMIL awards, but FIL is a sweet guy who tries. BIL and his wife are both medical doctors of one kind or another, so we figured they'd take the whole "FIL doesn't quite have a full immune system yet," seriously. Nope.

Turns out all three of the kids had

As sometimes happens in life, I struggled with what to write this week. I put several ideas to paper, didn’t like what I had written, abandoned it, and tried to write about something new. As the midnight hour approaches, I turned to looking up Mr Rogers’ quotes, hoping some inspiration might strike. I found my favorite quote of all time from him:

Love isn’t a state of perfect caring. It is an active noun like “struggle.” To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now.” (From “The World According to Mister Rogers.”)

I have always loved this quote because not only does it admit that love is not some easy feeling, but by using “struggle”

It is the time of year that many cultures have rituals surrounding death and the harvest of the year. Let’s look into what Mr Rogers has to say:

Mr Rogers spoke about the graphic news coverage of the assignation of then President Kennedy in 1968 and how parents could help children understand and deal with the national tragedy. It was interesting that he first had Daniel Tiger misunderstand that a human is not a balloon and we don’t go away if “all our air is let out,” but then this is used as a segway to the idea that some of Make Believe were having a picnic to grieve, but Daniel Tiger wanted to just be by himself.

We then have Mr Rogers him

I have been challenged to write a column about applying Mr Rogers' principles to everyday life and this week I am tasked with talking humility.

This is an interesting subject to me as I started life in a religion that asked its members to be very humble. Mr Rogers, as we well know, was an ordained minister. It is reported on his deathbed, he asked if he was a sheep - referencing the parable where Jesus separated the useful sheep from the useless goats. Certainly we see Mr Rogers as trying to be as true as possible to his christian ideal of loving your neighbor. He endeavored to be inclusive to all people and puppets, and showed respect to everyone’s feelings. He was soft spoken, and often

A group I am a part of has a theme to talk about each month, and this month was Urban Myths and Legends. Anytime there was a post about Mr Rogers, the group would catch many people off guard - all of them forgetting that the theme of the discussion was myths! The most popular one was that Mr Rogers was a Navy Seal and wore his trademark long sleeves and sweaters to cover his arms full of tattoos. He wasn’t, as we know, but so many people posted that they learned something new whenever it was posted- and we’d have to correct them, again. As the group discussed his trademark sweaters, I realized I had internalized one of his habits: I change clothes as soon as I come home. More than just separ

I'm not sure how this guest post thing is supposed to work, but I'm going to give it a shot. Let me start a discussion with a quote from Mr Rogers.

"... A gift of a silent minute to think about those who have helped you become who you are today. Some of them may be here right now. Some may be far away. Some, like my astronomy professor, may even be in Heaven. But wherever they are, if they’ve loved you, and encouraged you, and wanted what was best in life for you, they’re right inside your self. And I feel that you deserve quiet time, on this special occasion, to devote some thought to them. So, let’s just take a minute, in honor of those that have cared about us all along the way. One sil

I'm not sure if this is allowed from reading the rules, but so many good old dessert recipes use cool whip and something in that does not agree with me anymore. I know it's used instead of whipped cream because it's so stable, but I'm wondering if there's something, anything that could be used instead? Or a way to stabilize whipped cream for the home cook? I thought gelatin or something, but my Google-fu is lacking.

Help us find a new board game home! My group usually meets on Wednesdays and plays until 930 or so. We've been meeting at a game store in Mpls, but a few members are complaining about the noise level and drive. I'm happy to move our event, but I'm scratching my head as to where. There are a couple of LGS in StP to visit, but I'm worried they'll have the same noise level. I couldn't find a coffee shop open late and I looked at a couple of brewery-type places, but they had trivia that night. I'd love a place with food, but I think a sit-down place would get annoyed with us hogging a table. Maybe a counter serve location? I'm at a loss. Anybody have any ideas I can explore? Thanks in advance!

I've poured through the usual suspects' website and came away more confused by conflicting reviews. What's a good brunch (menu or buffet) that's at least one step up from a greasy spoon? Thanks for the suggestions!