[Health]

As far as I know, Abeka and TGTB both make health programs.

[What to look for at Trader Joe's]

Cheeses and oils. Organic olive oil popcorn bags. Flowers. 

[Jokes & memes]

Under 60 in Florida is COLD WEATHER. Especially when the majority of the year is in the 90s or higher. I am visiting family in central Florida and it is still over 80* at 6:15 pm. 

[Apples and Bananas]

I learned it in FL schools in the early 90s. Long vowel sounds. Must have been part of LA. 

[S/O-What fictional characters do your kids relate to the best?]

My youngest at 5 really identified with Buddy from Elf. 😆

[S/O: How old were you when you purchased your first house?]

22. He is a few years older. We had been married under 2 years, had no other debt, no kids, no help from family. This was during the last recession. 

[Living paycheck to paycheck (article)]

1 hour ago, mum said:

I am ALL for college. But it isn't for everyone. I think the takeaway from the sample of 11 is that one needs SOME qualifications. Welding is not 'college' but a welder makes good money. One could enlist in the military and get paid enough to live, and learn a skill at the same time.  There are federal jobs like the post office that offer stability, advancement and a pension. Those jobs can support a family (I have immediate family in all 3).

If one has NO qualifications then life will probably be hard and finances will be tight-to-terrible.  But college isn't the only answer, in my opinion and experience. 

A family member who travel welds makes more money than any of his siblings, including the sibling with a Master's working at a high position in their healthcare field. 

[American history books]

I pulled up my kid's list from last year to see what he liked then (at age 11). He loved all the History Smashers graphic novel style books. A Lion to Guard Us, Guns for General Washington, Noah Webster: Master of Words, and I think I recall him liking Hattie Big Sky. 

[Affordable housing models that could work?]

So the first person in the article is spending 42.5% of her gross annual income on affordable housing. 😕

[It’s not me, it’s PERRY…]

Late 30s, perimenopausal. It varies by day but my vision, knees, and body odor are the main issues right now. 

[Living paycheck to paycheck (article)]

49 minutes ago, goldberry said:

  It's starting to change now, we have some new build communities with townhomes and smaller (1500sf-ish) houses... but THOSE are still priced at over $350,000.  So not sure they qualify as affordable.

New build in my neighborhood went for that little over a year ago. 1400sf 3/2 on under 1/2 acre. Couple drives almost 30 min to work. 

[Can Duncan Hines cake mix be used past use by date]

1 hour ago, Katy said:

It won’t hurt you, but you might want to add a few pinches of baking powder because the leavening can be less effective over time. 

This. I have used baking mixes late that needed more baking powder. 

[Valentine’s Day Stanley cup madness]

32 minutes ago, KSera said:

You sent me down a rabbit trail because I didn’t recall Yeti tumblers being popular that long ago. So I had to find the history of Yeti 😂. The company was founded in 2006 and the cups were released in 2014. Stanley thermos on the other hand, I remember from childhood (I don’t have one of their current ones). 

I read an article about that today! Not only the expensive skin care, but also a mini fridge to store it all in!

The shoe crease thing is nuts. I hadn’t heard of that one yet.

So this had me scratching my head and asking my husband for help. I was mixing up two cup trends. I had a false memory of my manager desperately trying to stock Yeti in a store that I worked in that has not been open since 2009. I was sure that was it. Nope, he says that was Tervis. Tervis was the cup to have before I had my first kid. Yeti came after my first kid, and with it, every Etsy shop selling decals and eventually etching and wraps.

 

EtA He only remembers bc it was his brother and SIL who camped out to buy Ramblers. A friend of mine did, as well. 

[Valentine’s Day Stanley cup madness]

18 years ago, it was Yeti. People stalked the stores and collected multiple colors. I knew a few who waited outside for new colors. Insta and TT just weren't there to drive it to the same frenzy. 

[Living paycheck to paycheck (article)]

Quick google told me about about a quarter of working Americans have no retirement savings, and about half of adults 55-65 have none. Couple that with 40% or more not having $400 to cover an emergency, and the situation becomes a little more clear. People who are eating Ramen and ketchup sandwiches for the last 3 days of the month, or are putting a new tire on a credit card that has been carrying a balance are not putting hundreds of dollars into a 401k monthly. 

[Living paycheck to paycheck (article)]

26 minutes ago, Condessa said:

I thought that living paycheck to paycheck by definition didn't include things like putting money into retirement and giving and having hundreds of dollars monthly to spend on personal expenses?  I thought it meant it basically taking everything you earn each month to pay necessities, without anything left over or room in the budget for unexpected/intermittent expenses.  Is that not the accepted meaning?  

I agree. When they say most Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, they don't mean they struggle to pay the rent or eat while also fully funding retirement. 

[Living paycheck to paycheck (article)]

Millennial whose first house was purchased in last recession at 6.25%. Refinanced down to 3. I would tell my children not to buy at 6 or 8%, even though we were at the time DINKs and it didn't really pain us to pay it. They go up, they come down, repeat. Our money could have been better spent elsewhere, but I say that witu hindsight.  

[s/o how / how much did you move at age 11?]

I was at a performing arts charter/magnet school and danced 90 minutes a day M-F, then had an hour of dance classes after school twice a week. We rode bikes around the property most days, and swam all summer. I was underweight and my thyroid issue was almost dismissed because of my size. I started my period that year. 

Editing here: I think I was 11 when I got rollerblades. I may have been 12. But I was in those til the sun set the year I got the.

We moved 2 years later to a small town with no dance schools. I gained 20 pounds in about 5 months. 

[S/o what did you eat when you were a child?]

6 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

I feel dumb.  I have no idea what I ate as a kid, I have no memory of that.

I know my grandmothers both cooked a ton of different dishes and my mom had 7-10 stand-bys but I could only muster a few when typing. 😉

[S/o what did you eat when you were a child?]

Age 11, part of the household was eligible for WIC. 

Breakfast was a WIC cereal with milk. 

Lunch was whatever the public school served.

Snack was rare. Maybe a piece of fruit. Occasionally a Little Debbie. 

Dinner varied. The household staples were spaghetti with meat sauce and cheese, pork roast with carrots and potatoes, or baked chicken with green beans and fries or mac. 

If we were at my grandmother's for dinner, it was pinto beans with ham/bacon and onions, cornbread, corn on the cob, sliced tomato, apple pie. Editing here: she also made a lot of cabbage rolls and chicken and dumplings. I have no clue what we ate at other grandmother's house. I only remember shelling pecans with her.

If we went out, McDonald's burgers and shared fries and drinks.  

Until I was a teen, the only veggies served in my home were potatoes in every form, canned corn, canned green beans. They tried peas but we refused. I ordered broccoli any time we went somewhere that served it. Later, late 90s, we got into salads, sliced raw carrots, cucumbers, and celery, always with Hidden Valley Ranch. I never saw asparagus, Brussels sprouts, artichoke, hummus, sushi until I was in college. 

I don't fault anyone for being raised how I was. My parents were very young, we were poor, and we lived rurally. There were a lot of kids and my dad worked long hours. We didn't even know what we didn't know. 

[K-2nd New Year Chat]

Finishing RS Patterns of Nature this week and then moving on to a human body unit including TGTB and other resources. He liked PoN but will like anatomy more. 

Finished LOF Dogs and another CLE math unit. 

He's big on Usborne Hey Jack books right now. 

No complaints, no plans for change. Spelling is coming quite naturally, reading is fun, cursive is neat... wish this stage lasted forever. 

[What are you reading? - 2023 Year-End Wrap-Up]

17 hours ago, Ottakee said:

I have no idea how many books I read.   I did the audio version of the complete Bible with The Bible Recap.  Then I averaged about 8 books a month from the library, most audio books and most I finished but I abandoned quite a few.

Then I get free kindle books from daily emails I get so there were quite a few there.

I have different reading tastes than many here….no mysteries, murders, fantasy or sci fi for me.  Still, I love heard about all of the different books out there and often add new titles to my hold and wish lists.   It has really broadened my reading.  I remember years ago when most of my fiction was Christian romance books. Now I rarely read a romance book unless there is a good plot/story with a bit of romance.

I also finished the Bible in a Year again this year, but not over the entire year. I am now almost 1/3 of the way through Bible in 90 days. It will take me more like 120. 😉 I should look for a 6 month plan instead of 3 or 12.

I primarily read nonfiction, apologetics, a smattering of classics but not every year, and I preread some of my tween's lit so we can discuss. 

[The Candy Bomber]

We read the Young Reader version this year. Very sweet stories came out of that one decision.

[What are you reading? - 2023 Year-End Wrap-Up]

My GR goal was 40. I am finishing #44 tonight, and 45 and 46 will roll into 2024. 

I also have started abandoning books. I quit 3 this year. That is very hard for me to do, but preferable to the drudgery of reading a book I don't want to finish when I am an adult and I choose my own books. 

[Let's make a list of non-degree career options for struggling youth]

53 minutes ago, historically accurate said:

This caught my attention - why do you assume so? Lots of kids move away "to the city" or just leave the area to get away from Mom and/or Dad. 

I don't mean that I assume they don't want to move for the sake of moving or to get away from Mom and Dad. I mean that I assume they aren't looking to travel far to complete a program. If they are searching for a job/career that covers living expenses, what are the odds they can or will move away from where they are for 6 weeks or 6 months to complete a program?