Is 130 the typical upper limit of ok for LDL? LabCorp processes my blood work and their scale shows over 99 is elevated. (which annoyed me because mine was 100. Grrr) Yay for his triglycerides! If I even LOOK at a banana split on the menu my levels get high.

I’m so sorry about that, Dawn. I actually didn’t know your bank would reimburse you- when my elderly dad fell for a gift card scam his credit card didn’t reimburse him. The scammer had an image of your friend’s driver’s license? that is scary!

We raised our kids geographically far away from grandparents and both us and our folks did a crummy job of developing relationships. Dh and I had been raised the same way and we just didn’t know better. Dd and I have changed that with the grandkids. Many of the things we did/do have already been mentioned but right now the best things are frequent FaceTime calls, lots of texts w the teen kids who have phones, and showing real interest in their lives. It’s working beautifully. Oldest granddaughter recently made her school’s flag football team and we were the first ones she called. She knew we’d be happy for her and she wanted to share her joy in the moment. We make an effort to know what each one is interested in, what’s going on with them, and talk to them frequently. Grand parenting is so much more fun than parenting. Especially the teen years!!!

Oldest grand went with 2 of her friends to an 8 pm showing last night, and they were the only ones there. She had a good time but was pretty disappointed there was nobody else to trade bracelets with and nobody to share the experience.

Oh yeah, WHOLE other level of weird. I’ve been a renter, as have our kids. We’ve had some great tenants. And also some really bad experiences.

Thinking about how difficult it will be is worse than the actual hanging project. Dh was the same. I needed the new tv on the wall because I wanted to eliminate the chance that a grandkid could get hurt. We bought the mount, I listened to him agonize over it for a YEAR and finally I’d had enough and said it was time to mount it. Took about 30-45minutes. Another 10 to cover the cords. I was shocked at how easy it actually was.

That’s a lot of stressful things all at once. Sorry about that. Your mental load is just…a lot. I do want to encourage you to help your 24 year old be seen as an adult by his grandparents. If your dad had said he needed to take a break and eat nobody would have said a thing. And if your mom had offered your dad something he didn’t want to eat and he’d said nah, I’ll just make a sandwich, it would have been fine. Your son has to speak up when he gets hungry, and they should respect it when he does. If he is lying on furniture, maybe they could talk to him about it instead of you. The early-mid 20’s was the hardest part for my guy on the spectrum to navigate. Guiding him to speak up for himself and getting grandparents to see him as an adult was rough.

When we bought our 1880 house the folks left a potted plant, saying they had no way to take it because they were moving into an apartment. this was in February in Northern Illinois. Fast forward many months and the husband showed up asking for the plant back and got really mad that I’d tossed it on the deck and neglected it. When we sold the house we left the original curved stairway bannister and rails that had been replaced in the 1940’s. Always wanted to restore that feature!

I really struggle with the cards. It’s stupid for me to send Christmas cards to my family that I’ll see on Christmas, but I send a fair amount to people who I think could use some cheer. Dh and I spend several hours writing notes in our cards- from old friends who we want to maintain a bit of connection to old teachers (I graduated high school in 1979) who really made a difference in my life. I don’t think a phone call is exactly the same, and I am more likely to say how I feel in writing rather than with actual words. We also drop cards at businesses where employees have gone the extra mile and mention the employees by name. (Publix and our favorite CFA for example) Open to suggestions for how to cut waste, but so far using recycled cards is about as far as we’ve gotten. Ending gift giving and wrapping paper would be AWESOME.

Same here. Look, we live in the south and there are at least 9 HOT seasons a year here. I live for the 2 weeks of fall.

Another vote to just wait and see if they mention it. You’re selling a used house…they aren’t going to walk away over dart holes. And if you proactively offer money to fix that, they are likely to ask for $$ to fix every little thing they notice now that your stuff is out. Hope closing goes smoothly and you find a nice house soon.

Mine was almost 7 years ago and they did imaging but not an MRI. But my PA at the time was a friend and she knew me well enough to try sImple things first. Mine ended up being muscle imbalance after overuse of my shoulder (renovating our old house to get it ready to sell). I think today it’s more likely I’d need an MRI- I feel like they’re used a whole lot more now than they were then…at least in the small town we lived in. I don’t recall whether my dad or sister had an MRI.

I had a very similar issue when I moved my arm and finally saw a doctor. After imaging I did about six weeks of physical therapy and it completely cleared up. My older sister and my dad have both had similar experiences with shoulder pain and physical therapy within the last five years. Lots of issues can be resolved without surgery, and the sooner you take action, the better. Hope you feel better soon.

Lots of good food at Ponce City Market. Nice variety, and spectacular view from the rooftop area. Dekalb Farmer’s Market has some good stuff, especially if you’re looking for things to eat in your hotel room or looking for goodies to take home with you. (assuming you’re driving)

@Indigo Blue I totally get it. While raising kids the dining table was a nightmare and when we were done homeschooling I declared the table to be a clutter free zone. Fortunately for me, dh has a desk so I dump everything into his desk for him to deal with. Sometimes it makes me twitchy to see how much crap piles up there but it’s his zone and if I want the table to be clear I also have to let him have control over his space. Could you buy a small serving tray to contain the drops and log? That way you can pick it up and move it but you’re not really disturbing it. We did this with MIL’s meds because the table was just overrun with it all. As for fall decor, mine just isn’t out yet because it’s just barely starting to get cooler here. I made some cute fall placemats and have some fall decor in a vintage cheese box that I refinished. (Small rectangular box). It’s meaningful to me because we raised our kids on the IL/WI border in cheese country and the box was from a local cheese place.

That’s too bad, though the more I think about it, I believe he intentionally cut corners and his E&O wouldn’t cover it if that was the case. Ugh.

With the news that there are electrical issues, are you planning to sue the contractor and hopefully have his errors and omissions insurance cover it? I’d be all over that but I know not everyone feels that way. Having a judgement against him will hit him where it hurts. I’m so glad you’re going to be able to close.

When my brother and his ex wife divorced, their son was 3. My nephew stayed in the family home and the parents switched off every week. Brother took the guest room as his, and she took the master. They did that for a little more than a year. A few weeks into the arrangement they put locks on their bedroom doors to keep each other from going thru their stuff. Then they started fighting over who left dishes unwashed or ate whose groceries. It was probably about as good for my nephew as a traditional arrangement, given his parents are not nice people and didn’t put him first.

Hugs. You kind of have to depend on sibling and spouse to handle it right now. I mean, you’re already dealing with a health crisis in your family and can’t be expected to take on another. Maybe one out of the 3 appointments, but even that is a stretch. MIL’s issues are recurring and maybe when the next episode rolls around you’ll be in a position to help more. Can any of the appointments be done by zoom? Are they all actually needed? I ask because I’m my sister’s caregiver and on her recent hospital discharge there were multiple appointments that were actually not needed. Like her PCP appointment a few days after release-the PCP had no idea why she was there and had nothing to actually do for her. And a urologist who spent 3 minutes with her and said see ya in 4 months, we’ll see if the issue resolves. But mostly, hugs. My dh has had 2 heart attacks and there’s a lot to wrap your brain around. You need time to adjust to that.

I hate it when I trust a news story without verifying. Honestly you shouldn’t have to double check everything. Sheesh. My bad.

I have a ceramic nativity set I made 41 years ago when I was expecting my first child. It’s butt ugly but it means a lot to me. Middle grand is quite the artist even though she’s only 14, and I have heard a rumor that she is gifting me a piece of her pottery for Christmas this year, and I can’t wait. I have other pieces of her work but no pottery. The face jug in the photo is folk pottery that was (and is) made in our area. Pieces from well known potters are quite costly, especially jugs from tbe 1970’s.

I don’t find it admirable either. It was just a statement.

We went to one about 5 years before dh retired, and it was actually helpful because it reassured us that we (mostly) had our ducks in a row, and gave us some topics to think about and research further. We did get emails from the guy for a while, and when we moved we unsubscribed. No pressure at all.

I read that she voted on a bill in person yesterday at 11:30 AM. Worked right up til she passed away!

I had a similar experience a few months ago when my sister was in the hospital. The app asked what room to deliver to, etc. but when they delivered they left it in the lobby on a table that is evidently set up for deliveries. They also no longer allow flower delivery folks to go to rooms! (OK, they do if you order from the hospital gift shop) I think drivers LOVE not having to run up to rooms but dang it’s inconvenient for the ones ordering delivery.