Good for your dogs! Reprogram your garage door opener for a different code so that the opener they have won't work anymore.

Had my follow-up dr. appt. I haven't implemented Eat to Live (& similar whole foods/plant-based eating) 100%, but I have gone more that way in the past 3 months. I'd say I follow it about 75-85% of the time. I have lost 10 pounds. I'm still considered in the range of pre-diabetic, but the numbers are better than last time. I'm close to the "normal" range now. In addition, the eating changes & the cholesterol meds have resulted in my cholesterol dropping over 200 points in 3 months. (I'm still in shock over that one. Waiting to see the actual paper printout that comes in the mail to verify in case the voice mail from the dr. was wrong, but.. whoa! I'm in the "normal" cholesterol range now & I'm not even on the edge of being high.)

Sending hugs and wishes for continuing improvement each and every day.

This article pretty much explains my reasoning (after reading lots and lots about ways to reduce my cholesterol levels): https://www.karissasvegankitchen.com/oil-free-vegan-diet-beneficial-or-extreme/ I am not completely oil free but am getting closer and closer. I have eliminated much of the oil I used to use at home.

Also the How Not to Die cookbook has good recipes for this lifestyle.

Many hugs...

Some websites or books that follow (or mostly follow) the no oil rules (you can omit salt if they do add salt)... Hello Nutrarian Engine 2 Forks Over Knives Sustainable Diet McDougall Straight Up Food I can provide links later, if needed, but googling should get you to their sites. I haven't super-strictly followed ETL, but in the past couple of months I have significantly reduced the amount of fat in my diet (&, in general, have bettered my overall diet). I was a 'bad' vegetarian for years & years (too many processed & prepackaged foods, take-out, etc.) & my cholesterol levels are to the point it seems like I eat about 47 cheeseburgers a day. I'm seriously altering my diet to see if that has an impact (in addition to cholesterol meds). I have dropped weight & will be getting a blood draw soon to see what my current numbers are.

The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear by Walter Moers.

@happi duck, I found the perfect thing for you! https://society6.com/product/duckling802038_duvet-cover?sku=s6-7755361p38a46v382 (This is for a duvet cover, but I think you can get the print on various type items. I think you should treat yourself! ☺️)

Die Hard is totally a Christmas movie. Ds & I agree that it is the best Christmas movie. 😄 This year is the 30th anniversary of the movie release; ds & I went to a special showing of it about a month ago. It has aged just fine. Plus, Alan Rickman. Can't go wrong there. 😉 And, from a reliable source (Time Magazine): The Die Hard Writer Just Settled the Christmas Movie Debate Once and For All (I also like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and While You Were Sleeping.)

Glad you tagged me, Kareni, because I hadn't even been reading this thread. Looks like a very fun game, might be a good match with my friend's family that I game with semi-regularly. May have to get this one as a group gift. Thanks!

Last year, I gave ds a "hot sauce challenge" set I found at Target. It had 10 bottles of hot sauce ranked from 1 to 10 in heat levels. We had a lot of fun doing a wing night, trying and eating the hot sauces. This year: Some cool movie posters he likes (he has a few he likes and we get them in 11 x 17 in. sizes so he has room to hang them). Plus an art print he wanted from one of his gaming sites. Special tees he likes from his favorite websites. A few books. Custom keyboard keys. Probably some foodie type items if I find something. (Last year it was the hot sauce challenge. Another year I got him a sampler pack of different honeys. Etc.) In his stocking, some extra earbuds because he is terrible about losing his. And candy/treats that he doesn't get often, like Tim Tams, certain chocolates, etc. Probably a toy or two for his cats too.

Narconomics is really fun & fascinating. Seconding the rec for Terry Pratchett books.

Cool Neat Dude

A crocheted mermaid tail blanket

In cold weather: Chelsea-style boots from Timberland, either brown or black. (Similar to these. I'm not sure Timberland makes this style for women anymore. I have had these for at least 13 years, have had them each resoled once; they literally get worn every cool/cold day of the year. They are more comfortable to me than sneakers are & I can walk miles & miles in them. Plus they go with pants or skirts. Love, love, love them.) In warm weather: Usually Tidewater flip-flops. I have 3 designs. Love the strap width on them & where it hits on my foot. Perfect fit. Sometimes I will wear other sandals or ballet flats if I need something dressier. If I need sneakers, I wear Brooks. I have an extremely hard time finding shoes that fit properly around my heel/are low enough around my ankles. The Brooks brand trail runners (similar to these) are one of the few pairs I've found that fit without cutting my heel/ankle area. I really need to replace mine, but I don't want to have to go track down some to try on in case they've changed the measurements on the backs of their shoes.

Because maybe some people have more hope in humanity. Maybe some people aren't so cynical. Maybe some people wouldn't think to mock others so it may not occur to them that others would happily mock them. Change can be made. I can be made now. But, imo, it needs to start with the judgemental adults who feel that mocking & berating the parents is an ok behavior. It's not.

I think the child is 3yo or 4yo? (I'm not sure because I've seen only headlines about it & haven't read the articles.) I am guessing most of her peers at this point aren't mocking her name because they know it by sound/speaking & haven't learned the spelling yet. And, at this age, even if they knew the spelling, they might not be well-versed enough in standard English spelling rules to recognize that this one is different. So, in a few years, if the kids start mocking her for the name, where have they learned that? Where have they learned to mock the different? To be a spelling snob or a member of the name police who looks down on someone's name or how that name is spelled? Her peers will be learning this behavior from you. The people who are adults. And, yet, who are still childish enough to mock others. What if, instead, the adults tried learning tolerance? Having curiosity? Having acceptance? Being kind? Might that change the course of this child's life in respect to her peers? The arguments about how hard it is to spell her name are silly. If you know the English alphabet, it really is a very simple name to spell. Sure, it's hard to pronounce until you know how, but that's a minor blip. As others have said, even common names are routinely butchered in both spelling & pronunciation. I've lived over 50 years & have never actually met another person who has my name. I don't think that has made me less of a person. I sure as heck never got some trinket with my name pre-printed on it. Again, I don't think that made me less of a person or affected my psyche. (And guess what? The thrill of personalized stuff is that you can get it personalized. I even had pencils with my name on them at some point during my childhood... because you can order personalized stuff from plenty of places.) Growing up, I moved a lot being in a military family. So, I had not only first-day-of-school name confusion, I also routinely had middle-of-the-year name confusion. Neither my first nor my last name seemed to be understandable or pronounceable to many. A teacher going through roll at the beginning of the year would often stop completely & not attempt either my first or last name. If the roll was to the point of being about mid-way through the alphabet, I would just raise my hand & say, "here" because it was a pretty sure bet that it was my name that stumped the teacher to that level. If people see my name, they often don't know how to pronounce it. If they hear my name, they often don't know how to spell it. It's ok. I'm a functioning adult regardless. It's not an albatross or a crime or anything else. It just is. I'm assuming Abcde will have a similar time. If others could just refrain from mockery & judgement, there would never be an issue in the first place.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/le-a/

The name is not what is causing problems for the child. The fact that so many people are callous and shallow enough to ridicule and judge others is what is causing problems.

I guess I missed the parable where it's ok to ridicule strangers to a crowd (online), judge the parenting decisions of others based on a name, and assume my way of thinking/naming/approaching the world is, of course, correct, no matter what. I feel pretty sure no faith tradition would support the behaviors and mockery/fake concern I have seen here. And in the case of no faith tradition, ethics would also rule out behaving that way.

Yes, I did read the posts carefully. What I read is quite a bit of mockery (of the parents, of the name) under the guise of care and concern (for the girl).

I'm pretty appalled at this thread overall. Plenty of people are finding fault with the name or with the parents. So many judgements being thrown around. I guess you can feel pretty sure that this girl will be set up for a lifetime of ridicule... because that's exactly what you're doing now. I guess you have to assume that this is how others will behave/she & her family will be treated because you base it on your own less-than-kind actions & reactions. So petty. Hopefully the younger generation will rise above this type of pettiness, in spite of the poor examples of behavior currently shown by so many adults.

Yes.

Maybe ask for one of the mugs here to go along with your drinking chocolate?