Enumerated Update

1) Quarantine Pets: All of the stories about pets make me so happy. I know Pixie is thriving by having us all at home. She's never been happier, and she makes being home more fun for us, too.

2) What it might look like to safely reopen schools. Without widespread testing, contact tracing and an effective treatment, I cannot imagine school resuming.

3) Formerly recession-proof, COVID19 has dismantled the hair industry. To paraphrase the article, American women spent $3M on their hair in 1936 during the depression, and salons actually saw growth (no pun intended) during the 2008 recession. COVID and its accompanying distancing orders completely closed the industry. I was lucky because I had been to the salon two days before our stay at home order. However, that was weeks ago! We have done the home hair cuts, and I am contemplating applying root color (yikes). I watched videos to learn how to cut my mom's hair. How is your hair doing? Are you toughing it out, or have you resorted to DIY? Our salons have now reopened... have you been?

4) Related: I have also watched videos on how to groom our Bichon Frise. Y'all. She has the most complicated cut in the family. I actually didn't realize grooming services were still available, but the modifications are made it impossible to get her an appointment. She looks so pitiful.

Update: I scheduled an appointment for Pixie with a new groomer, had to wait three weeks, but she finally got groomed this week! The only downside? They gave her a Maltese haircut by mistake, although to be fair, her hair was really long, making it impossible to see what her cut should have been. I shared a pic of her when freshly groomed, but oh well.

5) Reopening: Not to open the whole debate can of worms... but our state has reopened. While I am happy for businesses that were suffering, our state has incurred 4,000 new cases of COVID within the last two weeks (out of a grand total of 12,000 cases since March). This doesn't seem like good news.

6) School: Virtual classes have ended, and George has had his official last day. His teacher even delivered his classroom supplies and said goodbye (she is sooooo awesome; we've been so blessed to have her during this odd time). The girls are awaiting virtual award day and their final day of school on May 28th.

Have a wonderful (and safe) weekend!