Rao’s is good stuff! There are some pretty great products out there to make meals with, rather than starting from scratch. That is a game changer vs what was available when I got married in 1980.

I have a book that has recipes that are important to me…if they make ‘the book’ it’s a big deal. As each of my kids has moved out, they’ve asked for their own copy of ‘The book’. Some are from my grandmothers, who were born 120+ years ago. Some I only make a few times a year but I need to have them written down because I know too many people who have lost family treasured recipes because nobody wrote them down. I’m not going to let that happen on my watch. I do want to write down some recipes and jettison the cookbooks, but they probably aren’t ‘the book’ level recipes. At least not yet.

Do you find you tube instructions as easy to follow as a cookbook? My grands watch YouTube to learn things but not recipes. Technique for sure, but not actual recipes. Cookbooks are probably pretty wasteful- I have some that I only regularly make a couple of recipes from. Probably should just write those down and donate the book.

Our kids are grown but our grandkids range from ages 8 to 15 and they’re all familiar with cookbooks. I wonder if kids who don’t know about cookbooks are mostly raised in families that don’t cook much from scratch. Where ‘recipes’ are brown ground beef, add a jar of canned spaghetti sauce, and put over cooked spaghetti.

This is a concerning precedent. I understand that the victim’s brother was not able to be at the hearing, but did not feel that had any bearing on the facts of the hearing. Had he been there, would the decision have been different? if so, how? They gave him the option to be there via zoom. I wish they hadn’t rushed the hearing, but reversing the decision doesn’t seem fair to Adnan.

I wouldn’t like it covering the drain. Mine has a cutout there so I can easily reach them, which I do ALL the time….to plug or unplug the drain when I hand wash, or to empty the little basket on the other side that catches debris. I thought I would hate the grates but I love them.

Mortgage company might call the loan due if they find out you’re using it as a rental, but every company and every mortgage is different, so yours might not. We had to change our insurance to reflect we had a tenant vs it being our residence. It was about double the price as it was as homeowners, but that was a long time ago and it might not be that expensive now.

I’d talk to someone about whether it’s better tax wise to do the repairs/improvements before you turn it into a rental (like in the next two years)vs doing them when you turn it into a rental/after. It’s been a couple of decades since we had rental property but expenses can offset rent received, but probably not if you do them two years prior to turning it into a rental. Then again, keep receipts for everything so when you do sell the tax prep person can be sure to account for as much as possible to limit capital gains.

I think there are plenty of teenage boys who have never even eaten a scone! Glad they had a good time.

I probably would have paused at my kid going 20 minutes away with people I don’t know. Like, my kid getting into a car w someone I don’t know? Probably not in my comfort zone. I would encourage kid to accept invites to friends’ homes (delay baking to hang w friend) because every time he’s at a friend’s house and the parents can see your son is delightful and nothing bad happens is another step closer to being comfortable with their kid at your house.

If there isn’t a restaurant or room service, there’s no reason for staff to be out overnight to even see the things. So it’ll sit there all night. Nope, not appropriate.

If the friend is usually a good one it might just be she didn’t know what to do/she felt not knowing him made it not her place to jump in/ or she herself wouldn’t have needed or wanted support. Or any of a gazillion other things. For me the key would be whether she has been otherwise a good friend. I’ve been the friend who truly had no idea what to do, and the friend who wants to be left alone to grieve. I don’t know whether I’d say anything or not, but if you need to talk to her about it, that’s better than just ending the friendship without explanation.

I use 2 bottles a year of my favorite shampoo, and last bought it in January 2022. I know how much it was since I buy it on Amazon. It is now exactly twice as much as before….$38 a bottle. Checked Ulta and it’s even more there. so no more of my favorite shampoo. Ditto with my favorite orange juice, Natalie’s. It’s almost double what it was last year. Neither are essential, but I did love them.

Can’t speak to attire as I’m fashion challenged. But I’m strongly pro ‘show up halfway through the cocktail hour’. That’s always worked for us with dh’s work functions. A soft drink or water w a slice of lemon gives you something to hold while doing the meet and greet portion, and an empty glass is a good excuse if you want to move on from a conversation. Hope you have a nice time.

Thanks for clarifying. I didn’t realize that.

Does dh have contact info for the parents? If so, then parents probably do need to know about OP at this point so he doesn’t just ask another parent. How would I react if I was a parent of a kid on the team? Feel bad for the kid going through it but also glad to know in case dad shows up and I need to be prepared to call police or to stand near the kid in case he needs an adult to count on. Our kids have had some friends in situations as difficult as what your kids are going through, and we made the choice to let the kids continue their friendships. One of those friendships is still strong and the ‘kids’ are 30 now. Others faded away. Is the parent providing the video potentially in trouble if he continues? That part wasn’t quite clear to me.

I have used a couple of personal trainers. The right one would have been very beneficial, but the first one I used had no idea how to work with an older woman. He just didn’t. No experience. A 55 year old with specific issues isn’t the same as a 20 something who is just new to a gym. The second one was a better fit but personality wise was a jerk. If I’m paying for 45 minutes of private time, do not walk away and flirt with girls on my dime. He was more knowledgeable and had better ideas then the first guy but I just couldn’t continue w him. So…don’t be afraid to speak up to let the trainer know what is working for you and what’s not.

I’m old enough to have had jobs where the register did not tell you how much change to return, so we counted back. I taught the kids to count back when we did ‘money’ in school. And then none of them ever had a job that required it. Times have changed for sure.

We fly mostly from Atlanta and O’Hare and text when through security to let whoever drove us know that we are not in danger of missing the flight. Security there can take ten minutes or 90…ya never know.

I almost always need a butterfly needle and most places are fine when I mention it but the last time I had blood drawn the phlebotomist seemed very offended by my suggestion and insisted it wasn’t needed. After 2 tries I insisted, and instead she said she’d just have to get another person to do it. Second girl came, and said she was going to try a butterfly needle. Worked fine. I don’t know why there is sometimes a lot of pushback, but it is really hard for needle phobic people.

Hope it’s a mild case and you bounce back quickly.

You handled it very well, and once the lady starting being grumpy about it, you definitely handled it better than I would have. Kudos to you for keeping your cool,when all you were trying to do was be helpful. See something, say something has been a mantra for years! In addition, for all you knew someone had forgotten it and if you hadn’t mentioned it, someone might have stolen it.

I’m not a dog person so unless the animal was injured or distressed I likely wouldn’t do anything. Dh *might*. Neither would be angry if the other tried to find the owner. I would be angry if dh decided he wanted to keep said stray dog, so if op’s dh thinks that might be where this is leading it could explain the reaction.

It was interesting to listen to the judge during sentencing. The whole sentencing was so quick, but the judge took his time basically telling Alex what a monster he is. Also heard the judge’s 40 year old son passed away in January after a cardiac event. Hasn’t had much time to grieve, and I’m sure it was extra difficult to sit there day after day listening to testimony about a man murdering his son.

I’m shocked that they returned a verdict so quickly, it glad it’s over.