Lexapro was horrible for me. Just FYI. A different med helped in the short term. Therapy. Not helpful at all. They just listened to me talk for an hour.

Ridiculous amounts of sugar-free lemonade because I can't stand plain water (I know, I know...) No luck yet! It may be a long night. Thanks so much for your prayers and good thoughts. Love you all.

The other piece to this puzzle is aside from aging, what percentage of the population is healthy and well enough to keep things running. I know percentage of long term sick has increased a lot in UK since Covid, I think we’ve been somewhat shielded from those effects in Australia. But we still have an increase in disability etc over the last few years from various factors

Our school district is trying to close 6 schools but it doesn't matter which schools they close; those parents will freak. It happens every time but we have lost 6000 students since 2010. How can they not close schools? I suppose everyone will just say it should be the other guy's school. 🤷‍♀️

I do not sleep with a stuffie but I have several emotional support pillows, including a giant one, and I have a blanket that is very special to me, both because my MIL made it out of my childhood tshirts and also it's got the most lovely backing fabric ever. Also a weighted blanket. My sleep is pretty carefully curated.

I slept with my Chihuahua(s) from about 8yo until 56yo when my last one died. They would snuggle under the covers against my body. I really miss that. I only remember ever having one stuffed animal. It was a small bear whose arms and legs could rotate. But when I got home from school one day, it was gone. My mother had gotten rid of it. All my kids had as many stuffed animals as they wanted, and kept them as long as they wanted, too.

Burt’s bees or anything bees wax based is best for me, although I doubt it would last for hours. If you’re having significant cracking it could be worth check your vitamin b levels.

DH and I have a conversation sometimes around this. He is fairly anti-immigration, but also only wanted two kids. So my comment is pretty much always - well you either have babies or you need immigration. We have less than two babies per woman so we need immigrants. In Australia, I do think that has the potential to lead to significant culture change. Probably not an issue in the US where the population is much larger but definitely an issue here. What that culture change is matters to me, because I want my DD to grow up in a culture where women are respected. (Which may be better or worse than the status quo depending on what direction we go). I also think there’s likely to be a decline in “fuzzy” jobs. If the population is smaller we need people doing the tangible stuff. At the moment in Australia, we seem to use immigration to fill many of those jobs seen as undesirable - aged care, truck driving etc. The other aspect of immigration that gets overlooked a lot is what it does to the countries we get people from. I remember an interview with an occupational therapist from an African country - I think possibly Tanzania. He was quite upset because he’d worked hard to get some local training happening, to finally get trained occupational therapists in the country and then they all moved to the UK for better opportunities. Countries like Australia often target more highly qualified or trained immigrants and get them from other countries rather than training enough of our own. Then once here, we sometimes under employ them in our own country where they aren’t even working in the capacity they’re trained for.

For real though. Much shorter for one thing.

I binge watched a couple on YouTube walking the Camino de Santiago about six weeks ago. It looked so pleasant and frankly, easy compared to the AT.

A woman I know (the mother of teens that my kids are friends with) walked it last year. I’d never heard of it before she posted on Facebook.

QFT ❤️

My sister in law was paralyzed from the mid chest down in a snow tubing accident a few years ago, and she plans to wheelchair that trail next year, supported by her husband and a friend. Having said that, I think that a lot of times the stuff is out there and you just don’t notice it until you are tuned into it. Like when I was picking out my first car and decided on a Honda Accord. I had never noticed them before, and suddenly they were everywhere. But really they were always there. I just was not tuned in to them.

Oh, hugs @prairiewindmomma; those migraines are awful! I hope you are feeling better tomorrow. I got dinner done, finished the cutting/stapling/etc, put away the stuff I bought for the various parties, and just waiting on DH to finish his shower (he mowed the front) and we'll eat, and then....??? I am hoping a guys night/me night, but we'll see.

Thank you so much! I passed this along to her mom.

Oh no! I hope you get needed relief soon.