Intrigued! I hadn’t heard of it.

Over the weekend I cooked a boneless pork roast in the crockpot using this recipe. (It’s my go-to.) I also cooked some pintos and cornbread, as well as some Instant Pot brown basmati rice to go with the Korean keema someone shared here a few weeks ago. I ended up taking a little more than half of all this to my dad (plus a little bit of ham) for his suppers through the week because my mother got stuck staying with her elderly sister in law when her sitters couldn’t come over the weekend. Daddy generally doesn’t cook, though he can keep himself alive. 🤣 Monday night we had whatever combination of the above was appealing. Tonight I’m making a pork loin roast in the oven using this (untried) recipe. With it we’ll have pre-made mashed potatoes (Sam’s), ranch green beans, and maybe mayonnaise rolls. I also need to make some eggroll in a bowl with some ground chicken and a bag of Prechopped coleslaw mix. update: The pork loin was okay. I prefer very flavorful food, but apparently my family doesn’t. While I thought it was a little bland, everyone ate the roast, including my super picky 7 yo. Tomorrow night MIGHT be breakfast. Thursday might be turkey burgers and fries or onion rings in the air fryer. I don’t know what Friday will be. I lose my cooking enthusiasm and resolve as the week goes on. I just got notification of a free Chick Fil A sandwich reward while I was typing up this post, so maybe it’s a sign for Friday’s supper. 🤣

It really is!

Big Life Journal is a great resource for some of these things.

Oh, I wore Tretorns! I remember having a pair that had a pink plaid Tretorn symbol. I loved them. Too bad I have super picky feet now. ETA: how’s the heel padding on those platform style Tretorns? I might be able to get by with a pair if it’s substantial. I have plantar fasciitis and have to be very careful about my shoes.

Yes, I think so. A pretty significant plot point turns on something s3*ual, but again, it’s not terribly graphic. I have no difficulty abandoning books if I find them too ______ (anything—fill in the blank), but I was quite interested to see how this one works out.

Yes, I actually taught at a private school last year and was hired as the STEM teacher in a public system this year. It hasn’t been too bad this year because we’ve been hybrid the first three weeks of school. I have not been able to use my classroom and have instead been going into the grade level classrooms. However, that will begin to change next week. Regarding the book, it isn’t terribly graphic, but there is fair amount of adult content.

I hope there’s room for one more participant on this thread! I’m an old boardie whose children went to school after a decade of homeschooling. I am also working full time as a teacher again, so I don’t have a lot of time to read during the school year, but it is vital for my mental health, as is having someone to share my reading with. This week I finished The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett. Though this story is a bit out of my comfort zone with regards to s3*ual situations, I found the plot very compelling. It’s the story of identical twin sisters who leave their all-Black community in Louisiana as teens to expand their horizons. One of the sisters makes an entirely new life for herself by “passing” as white. The story is about all the familial repercussions of this. I gave it four out of five stars on Goodreads because I was disappointed in the ending. I also finished reading Mr. Popper’s Penguins to my boys early this week. Happy reading!

Just purchased seven—four for my boys’ teachers and three for me and my girls. Thanks for the recommendation!

I have the Ektorp sofa and loveseat from Ikea. What I love about it is the set is that it has removable slip covers that can be washed! For a very inexpensive set, it has held up surprisingly well for a family of six. Because what I REALLY want my next purchase to be is a nice leather set, I might end up purchasing another Ektorp set because of how durable my first set has been. I’m not sure this answers your question at all, but I thought I’d share.

I have a ten year old boy and a seven year old boy. I’ll be 64 when the seven year old reaches the magical age of twenty five (when I’ve read that the frontal lobe finally is operational). I’m scared. 😬

My family was traveling and tried to eat breakfast there. That location didn’t open until 10:30 (and will close at 6), so we went back for lunch.

My husband shared this article with me last night, and I found it particularly comforting. In addition to all the Covid “mess,” our family had gone through a period of about two years of transition, including all of our children going to school (and half of our children changing schools after one year) , me going back to work teaching (and changing from private to public school after one year), and our family moving. When I wonder why I’m so tired, my husband has to remind me that in addition to Covid, we’ve had a lot of change, which is exhausting.

Thanks! I think so, too. I customized it with only a crossbody strap (no short handles), interior and exterior pockets, and an internal key clip. It should be at my house on Wednesday. 🥳

I’ve enjoyed this thread! I have made several frivolous purchases this week. One is also much, much more spendy than I am wont to make, but I am justifying it by the fact that 1.) I sold a bunch of furniture and odds’n’ends after our recent move, so I had the cash in hand and 2.) I don’t buy new purses/bags often, and this is something I’ve wanted for a while. The purchase? A Growley leather bag. I’m doubly tickled because this is a shop owned by a homeschooling family in south Alabama. This is the bag I ordered. It’s on its way to me! https://www.growleyleather.com/collections/totes-handbags/products/magnolia-bag The other two frivolous purchases are for new cross-stitch/blackwork projects. I purchased the floss and Aida for the Peppermint Purple Stitch Along (on FB). Then tonight I purchased the Turkish Tiles Stitch Along pattern. https://peppermintpurple.com/products/turkish-tiles-stitch-a-long I also took my boys to the library today (our library is open by appointmeont only for the purpose of social distancing). I checked out several books for myself and even got to read about 50 pages in one of them this evening. That felt luxurious!

That’s sort of hard for me to answer. One of the young men who makes the videos is quite scholarly, but the objective is to shed light on things about the Bible (I.e. reading the books of the Bible through the lens of the literary genre they are) that are often misunderstood. For that reason I think they might be helpful to a beginner/new Christian, but it would probably depend on the person. I’ve gone to church faithfully my entire life and I learn stuff from them all the time.

Hi! I haven’t been around The forums in ages and recently came back just to catch up a bit , but when I read this I was prompted to log in. I have been enjoying The Bible Project videos a lot. There is also a podcast, but it can be quite complex. The videos are short, deep, and meaty. Highly recommended!

Morning, everyone! Today’s a date day for me and dh. The kids spend Good Friday with nana every year, doing all kinds of Easter-y activities. I’m not sure what dh and I will do, but it will be a much-needed break. 💖

Our girl is a handful. We got her to be a companion/emotional support dog for my dd with OCD. Perhaps something a little calmer would’ve been better. 😝. However, she has definitely become a part of our family. She’s still quite “nippy” with the boys especially, but she’s only 2 1/2. Even though she can drive me nuts and make life more difficult, I love her. She’s so smart!

Hope everything is okay! We have a blue heeler. ❣️ The only thing she gets to herd is the little boys. 😝

This, too! It seems like with 4 libraries to choose from, we wouldn’t run out of things to read, but with some libraries’ emphasis on tech gadgets (& others’ on lots of programming, which is great, but not to the detriment of the collection!), it’s not unusual for my girls to feel like the libraries have little to offer them.

I love Acure.

One thing about one of mine (small towns each with a library) is the over-emphasis on electronics/video games, to the detriment of emphasis on reading. 😣

The library found the books that were charged on my account on the shelves! 🎉🎉 Vindication! 😝

Enjoy! I love getting a pedicure.