Rainy season is mid-October to mid-May, usually, though this shifts a bit year to year. The PNW has cool rainy winters and dry moderate summers…with a peak in temperatures late July to mid-September. The humidity is NOTHING like hot and humid southern or Midwestern summers. Likewise, the rain is not heavy. It’s comfortable to go out most of the time when wearing a raincoat. It’s more like mists of Heaven rather than a true rain. It’s rarely pelting/soaking. If you want 60s, that’s now…this week’s weather is pushing i to the 70s, finally, later this week but it’s 60s now and will probably return to it after this warm streak. The evenings cool off—it’s easy to open a window to bring down temperatures. Overnights are in the 40s and 50s.

Victoria and Vancouver are easy trips for me. I recommend going in mid to late May, the temperatures are still generally cooler (usually 60s and 70s, though we had one day that had a peak at 82 last time we were there in late May--but it cooled off at night--and the rhododendrons are in full bloom at Butchart. We never exchange currency when we are there. We pay for everything with a credit card that has no foreign transaction fees. I don't find Vancouver impressive at all. (Sorry Vancouver fans!) I find Victoria much more charming, and I'd even consider basing your trip out of the US so that you can do stuff on the San Juan Islands (which are US based). https://www.visitsanjuans.com I usually catch a ferry out of the US and leave my car Stateside, but Black Ball has been full at various times, especially during peak times, so I would book your ferry in advance before you leave (and a month or two out) if you're traveling in peak summer. I *DO NOT* recommend going in August or September, during wildfire season. Much of Canada has been in drought recently, and the risk of being smoked out is non-zero. Rainy season is usually done by mid-May, I would recommend either going May-June *OR* remember that winters are very mild in Victoria. You can be out year round with just a heavier rain jacket. Highs will be in the upper 40s, and overnight temperatures rarely hit freezing. If you want to swing some US stuff into your trip, both Seattle and Olympic National Park are close. If you base yourself out of Port Angeles, you're at the eastern entrance to the National Park, and you're at the base city for a Black Ball Ferry.

@Lady Florida. I forgot to mention—it’s the EverPure we moved to from the Elvive line. It doesnt have as many lovely botanicals (the Costco Kirkland brand is a pureology knockoff with more of these) but we needed a bottle that fit well into the pool bag as dd swims several times a week.

I hear it’s a dupe for the Giovanni 50/50, but I havent tried that. We moved on to L’Oreal Elvive.

Your mailbox is full.

Imo, interest rates aren’t likely to budge much in the next year. There might be a slight softening, but we aren’t likely to go back to 2.5%. We can’t afford, as a nation, to go back to super cheap money/capital. Imo, the best way to reduce inflation is going to be to raise taxes—we both need the money for social spending and it takes supply off the market. But, no one wants to raise taxes in an election year so the Fed is likely to keep rates higher. Additionally, your local market supply numbers will give you more insight. I live somewhere with a strict urban growth boundary so almost all new housing going in is apartments. Single family homes are likely to continue to skyrocket in price as the only new SFH are built on infill. Your local market conditions will vary, but our home value has nearly doubled in the last five years. If we sell here we are not likely to be able to buy back in.

Re: trending—if he also gets more red and puffy, or if the blisters spread, go back in. If after a while things seem to be stable or resolving, no need to go back in.

Sounds like a topical allergy or the impetigo/staph blisters Is he also on an oral antibiotic? I’d see how it’s trending…but in our experience topical ointment alone has never cleared cellulitis or impetigo and it often looks worse for 48 hours until the antibiotics kick in.

Yes, but hard floors + treatment makes this doable.

Cockroaches are killable. We lived in Texas for a while with flying cockroaches and huge ones. The west coast ones are not scary by comparison. Likewise, we accept that a fair amount of property based crime (car breakins etc) are par for the course on the west coast, violent crime rates are much lower. Rents are very high for salary; child will not be an extravagant grocery purchaser by any means. Thrift stores, 20 year old car, etc. level of living until he gets past entry salary points….trying to see if this is even doable or if he needs to have his first few jobs in the Midwest where rents are more reasonable.

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How aspie are we talking? There's lots of the 'tism genetically in my extended family, and yet all sorts of personalities and ability to receive information/perspective take despite the struggle/etc. For some in the family, doing socratic thinking style discussions are helpful. "So, what kind of criteria do you think law offices use to sort through applications? What kinds of skills do you think they need to have? How did your office mail letters when you worked last summer?" In the offices I worked in in the age of the dinosaurs, people would hand drop off resumes (looking shiny in suits) and we regularly got dozens of unsolicited resumes every spring with people looking for intern or other work. Some offices circle filed them (straight into the trashcan), others kept them in a folder if they looked especially promising. Cold soliciting is not effective. Does she have a linked in profile? Does she have a good resume key worded to make it past AI sorting? Has she been applying online via LinkedIn or Indeed or wherever? She has better luck finding a job there. If you are in a small town, and it's only small town offices around, then you need to work your friends and family connections. It's much more likely for her to be hired based on a word of mouth referral to the local office. Can she reach out to who she worked for last summer and see if they have any ideas of who might be hiring? Is there a posting board near the clerk's office? (The tiny county courts often have them....still....because the older attorneys are single man shops who don't know how to use LinkedIn.) All of that said......if she doesn't receive criticism and learn from it, and doesn't have the skills she needs.....what are her longterm employment plans? That's honestly the bigger concern.

Any tips on 2 BR, non subsidized, eastside? Feel free to pm. We've been helping look and are not coming up with much.

PSA YSK while we are on topic: Every railroad crossing should have posted next to it a sign with the phone number for the emergency railway contact and the particular crossing number. If you see a vehicle stall on a crossing or be involved in an accident blocking the tracks, call the railway first; they are faster than contacting 911. I saw a RV stall on the railway last year and get torn in half by a lumber train. Trains often require more than a mile of stopping distance and they need the alert well before a train is in view.

Chocolate mint--- yum! We had made good progress in hardening our seedlings off, but we're now three days in to a cold snap where it's too cold and rainy to set them out. Frustrating. We had a freaky May snow last year, though, so I'm being cautious. The two dwarf apples and gooseberry I planted last year are doing well; the cherry I planted in January is starting to leaf out, but the peach I bought at the same time has not. It looks entirely dormant still and I'm worried about it. The neighbor's established peach is fully leafed out. I did end up losing my huge french lavender this past winter, and my rosemary is not looking great. It doesn't matter much; if we end up having to sell the house I'll redo the landscaping in that spot anyway for better listing photos, but I'm a bit sad for the bees right now. Speaking of which, I've seen almost no bees so far, even on warm and sunny days. Normally they love my rosemary flowers and the neighborhood tree blossoms and honeysuckle.

2 bedroom apartments on the eastside also start at about $3500/month. $20/hour gets you to $41,600 annually before taxes or anything, and a year of a 2br apartment is $42,000. $20/hour is nowhere near a living wage for the entire metro even if you’re splitting an apartment with a friend.

I would wear your backups and go to your normal doctor. You had cataract surgery and I’d want someone with my existing medical records taking a peek at my eyeballs every year. A month isnt a long wait.

About 15% of all people own more than one home. It’s NBD. If you got looks it’s probably one of a few things: 1. Hate for airbnb 2. Confusion about why you didnt buy someplace awesome with a beach/mountains 3. confusion about the multiple owner situation instead of personal ownership But ultimately, meh, who cares?

Is budget an issue? Cheese whisps are $4.49/package at StuffMart and Target, but essentially zero carb. Strawberry cream cheese bites: 1 c. diced strawberry, 1 t. vanilla, 1/4 c. coconut oil, 3/4 c. softened cream cheese; blend, pour into silicon cupcake wrappers, freeze (I would unwrap these before giving them to her as she may accidentally toss the wrapper.) I will also say that at a certain point with a particular elderly person...when dementia and habits really set in (even less flexibility with age--went to about 5-6 safe foods)....we began to focus more on quality of life and less on blood sugars. I don't know when that point is for you when you can let go for the person in your life, but if you're talking about sensory + other stuff... I truly understand how limiting that can be. Is better diet control something she is wanting or is it something you wish would happen for her? Also, if you want to toss in an age reference (are we talking a 70 yo or a 90 yo) I can think about childhood favorite spinoffs....like maybe keto lemon bars using coconut oil and almond flour and monk fruit. Have you tried monk fruit yet as a sweetener? Also, have you tried the whole Benefiber + probiotic thing to try to address the IBS? Often the IBS with picky eaters is tied to not having adequate fiber as the base issue....the good fiber feeds the healthy bacteria in the gut biome so stuff like artificial sweeteners (which decreases healthy gut bacteria) doesn't create cascading problems.

I'd pick up some hibiclens and some fresh antibiotic cream and bleach on the way home. Have him wash with the Hibiclens, trim his nails short and swab under his nails and in his nose for the next few weeks to make sure he doesn't keep a reserve colony of this crap, and bleach out the shower after he uses it. I'd have him cover the affected bit while he's sharing sheets with you and be careful during TeA time. But, otherwise, I wouldn't really worry about it. The odd round of cellulitis pops up every once in a while. You just don't want to start a family round of it, or have it pop back up for him later. (We did the family round of it a decade or so ago after a round of cellulitis from a shin scrape at the neighborhood pool. Since then, whenever anyone has it, we take precautions, and haven't had family spread since.)

Break the box a bit…for the elderly toddler in my life: lightly breaded chicken nuggets chips and guacamole chocolate protein shakes peanutbutter cookies (ratio is 1 c peanutbutter, 1 c splenda, 1 egg)

That is a good point. I forgot that there are some that have decent labs but bad presentation with AI.

I got two of mine off to the dentist and then dropped off at the train station and school respectively. ✅school ✅dishes ✅laundry bills + insurance reconciliation touch up trim paint in laundry room ✅planner I am slowly coming out of whatever waylaid me last week but I am only running at about 50%.

We have those white threshold ones. Make sure you get the performance line. They last four years fairly reliably, but we have had a few sets fail after that (usually worn spots from foot thrashing). To keep them white, wash on hot, only with other whites. Otherwise they will go softly off white with time.

Fwiw, as a “zebra” medically, when I hear hesitancy in a doctor’s voice with results, generally it’s them being stumped not them disbelieving me. I will usually recap with something like (in your case), “Ok, so we’ve got dysautonomia, joint pain, (list symptoms), but we don’t have inflammation, Lyme, or (other negative test results. I guess we’re on to cardiology to see what we can confirm or rule out and we’ll go from there.” Is her primary dr. connected to a teaching hospital? I have found they tend to cope better with uncertainty and weird stuff more than your average practitioner who mostly does run of the mill stuff day in and day out.