Our broker is a local office. They do need your financial information, if you think that you qualify for subsidies under the ACA. They found us several options, presented them to us, told us what they recommended, and they did the majority of the paperwork. It was actually really easy. We used them in fall 2021---we did not qualify for subsidies, and we opted to stay with our employer sponsored coverage. That year, I guess they worked up the quotes for free? And in fall 2022, the laws changed, we went back to them, they gave us three options, and we went with them. I assume they made a comission from the insurance company. But we did not pay them. Our broker is a local guy that is well known. It's a small town, so his son is the dentist and our kid's football kicking coach. He's also our state senator. And he owns the carwash. 😄 I don't know how people that live in other places find someone.

We used an insurance broker. Dh's company does provide coverage, but it was quite expensive, like $1400/month for family coverage with $7500+ deductible and a big out of pocket. We qualified for ACA this year under new rules. Still high deductible, but a better plan overall, and the subsidies make it much more affordable for us. The insurance broker gave us our options, though

For everyday, I have a set of Fiesta and a set of "everyday wear" that we got for our wedding. It is nicer than Walmart, but it's not delicate china, either. I like that they are sturdy and have weight to them. That works for me for everyday. I do like my good china, but I feel myself being artificially careful with it, and I wouldn't like to live my life like that everyday. That's why I don't like Corelle--i busted a piece as a teenager (disaster), and I've thought of it as super fragile ever since. People say it isn't, but that plate was traumatic. For special occasions, I use my wedding china, and I have a set of Christmas china that we use in December. I actually love my pretty dishes. They bring me joy. And they all go in the dishwasher. LOL

I pay for tutoring. I did it myself for a long time, then paid for it for a specific time frame and purpose. The time frame and purpose passed by, but I keep paying for it. I love having a tutor to come alongside me to teach.

Where I live the white sauce is just cheese dip, which around here (southeastern US) is made from the deli white American cheese, thinned with whole milk. Restaurants use Land o Lakes extra melt white American, which you can only get like in a restaurant supply place. But Boars Head from the deli is pretty close. The slices wrapped in plastic don't work. And if she isn't an over the top person, you can just buy white cheese dip in the refrigerator section near the regular cheese.

I enjoyed the Hillary Clinton/Louise Penny book that would fit the mystery genre for you. A book I enjoyed recently in the romance category was The Bride Test. It did have a few sex scenes, but I think they could be skipped without losing anything. Interesting because the main character is autistic, and it's a different perspective than the usual romance.

I like your idea. One of the ones I use is Kroger brand ginger beer. It was a surprising find for me, but it is my favorite ginger beer, and I will go out of my way to buy it. Sometimes going completely random like that works for a favorite thing party.

I love the shoulder season between summer and fall. Basically September where I live (mountains of NC). All the vegetables are still producing heavily, but it isn't so blasted hot all day every day. When we moved away from Atlanta, I started going outside in July and August. I still don't love it, but it's much better here. If I visit my Florida inlaws in June, July, or August, I do an awful lot of complaining. I struggle to understand that Florida is a popular summer vacation spot and that people willing choose to live there year round. I hate that feeling that takes your breath away when you go outside.

We read through a book by Dawn Huebner, What to do when you Grumble Too Much, that was helpful to our family. Alas, it's written to kids, so it's a hard sell to a young adult. But the concepts in there are solid, and I think they helped my husband and me as much as they did our kids. It also gave a common language to use with my grumbliest, glass half empty, kid, and over time, he has implemented a good bit. His anxiety is also better now, and that has helped a lot.

I was a "late" reader by my own internal standards, and I can remember the feeling of frustration of not being able to read. And then one day in October of 1st grade, I looked up at the signs outside the car window, and I could read everything. I grew up in a college town, and the first thing I read was a sign outside a frat house that said, "Clemson sucks." LOL Until I had my own kids, I thought that that was how reading worked....You didn't know, and then the magic happened, and one day, you read. For my first and fourth kids, it was exactly that. I taught phonics, and then, one day, they went from reading nothing to reading chapter books. My second and third are dyslexic, and they have required a lot more explicit, direct teaching. They have gone very, very slowly, baby step by baby step. It's been interesting to see their brains put it together.

Most teenagers and young adults I know are also working. However, there is still a noticeable amount of service jobs that are open. Because there are so many openings, people can choose where to work, and they choose the places that have the reputations for being the most fair places to work. We probably really do have a worker shortage where I live--it is a small, growing town that has focused on tourism and attracting retirees for the last 20 years. Those things have worked well....lots of both tourism and retirees. But those folks aren't working at McDonald's.

I like funerals. Where I live, we generally do visitation the hour or two before the funeral, then the funeral (usually 30-60 min), then there is a graveside service for family and close friends. Family eats a meal together afterwards. I think it gives a nice way to see everyone in person, and there is something about it that is closure to me. But I get that they aren't for everyone. My mother in law didn't have a funeral for my FIL because of Covid, and she was super relieved and isn't planning on one now. But when she passes away, I'd like to be able to have one for her.

Walmart cream cheese 2 pack was $1.30 last year, and this year, it is $3.18 1 pound mozzarella was $2.40, today $3.74 18 ct eggs $2.34, today $3.34 1 gal milk $2.57, today $3.44 lender's bagels $1.30, today $2.48 sour cream $0.92, today $1.98

We celebrated our 21st in NYC this summer, and it was amazing. I loved every single minute of it, and I can't wait to go back. We did not go to any shows, just walked the city, a museum, and lots and lots of great food. I also love DC, and I think Atlanta is a great city, too. No experience with the others.

Dh and I went on a couple vacation this year, and it was exactly like this. He just did whatever I wanted. So amazing. It filled my bucket in a big way.

Gainesville is one of our nearest towns to shop at big box stores (we live rurally in the mountains). My husband grew up there, a little outside of town. I think Gainesville is a great town.

Our school system allows homeschoolers if you are joint enrolled. For 6th grade, one of my friends had her child do band and PE this year as the two class requirements. She is angling for that again next year (here 7th grade is the middle school, so different principal and different requirements). We are in NC, and it is very county by county. The next county over does not allow homeschool participation. I am lucky that the main person that handles things like this (she is STEM and gifted and.... I don't know what else.... coordinator) is very homeschool friendly.

My second son was like this at 3 years old. When he was 3.5, i was pregnant, and I pushed him going to Sunday School. It was one hour. It took 6 months to work him up to being able to stay without me. When he was 5, I knew I was going to send him to public kindergarten, and we started easing him into more than one hour. It took a solid year of story time and sitting farther away from him, doing a morning of co-op where he initially was in the same room as me, but gradually went to another room, etc. Just solid, teeny, tiny little steps. He went to kindergarten at 6 and actually did fine. He is a social kid now that transitions pretty easily. But the under 6 years were super clingy.

Thanks for this thread! I spent the weekend down rabbit holes of all kinds of barbecue, and we decided to add an extra stop to our summer vacation to try out a new style for us (South Carolina style hash served with rice). It was a fun "research" project away from reality. Just what I needed.

White sauce comes from Big Bob Gibson's in northern Alabama. It's good on chicken. I make it very occasionally, but it's not something i crave.

We took two seasons off from soccer one year (fall and winter). I want to say that he was 11ish? Before that, we had been less intentional about varying, and he had done soccer three seasons (fall, winter, spring) and swim in the summer for a couple of years. We just took the season off and hiked instead. Without practices, he wasn't quite as active, and the hikes on the weekend were a good family time. But it allowed him to do something active and different. He is 15 now, and we've moved to a smaller town with a different sports culture. He is playing something different every season, and even he has noticed less overuse injuries.

It is super regional. I grew up in northeast GA, which is close to SC. We eat "Brunswick stew" but the style is very close to what they call hash in SC. Some places in GA do white bread and some do cornbread. The regional sauce is half sweet, half vinegary, closer to western NC style sauce. And bbq to me means butts. In North Carolina, it always means whole hogs. My grandparents lived in south GA, and their bbq was different--it had a thick, sweet sauce, more similar to what you buy at the grocery store. Their brunswick stew was also different. Similar flavors, but left chunky, not ground like hash. We now live in NC, and I have to admit, I love the addition of hushpuppies to bbq, something we never had until we moved here. We are close enough to home that the pork and sauce is familiar. But hash/stew isn't as common a side dish where I live now. I make it at home--it is a weird but beloved family favorite.

I also didn't expect to feel so much about this decision at this point in my life, but I do. Still debating about what direction to head in next.

My 3yo was only saying 10 words at age 3, and by a month later, he had thousands. Super odd development pattern. My pediatrician had told me not to worry, and though I did worry, I didn't have him evaluated after that conversation. I kind of wish I had, though. He was so frustrated by not being able to clearly say what he wanted to communicate.

I had mine out when I was 18ish. Last year, they recommended that ds12 have his out. They told me that they like to take them out as early as possible to make it easier. He had his out at 12.5, and it was a super easy process and recovery We were willing to go along with it because DH had his out at 31, after some problems. His recovery was pretty rough. He was in grad school then, and I remember that he got local to save money, so even the procedure was rough for him.