I know this one! The John Wells series by Alex Berenson is good, but his non-John Wells book, The Power Couple, is better. If he could be persuaded to read non-fiction, Red Notice by Bill Browder is phenomenal. It reads like a spy novel but is true. ETA: My relevant credentials: I loved Lee Child until he kinda jumped the shark. I used to go to the bookstore the day they were released and buy them in hardback. I also like the Joe Pickett series. Also adding that there's a whole genre called Nordic Noir that is similar, but set in Nordic countries. I've read several that I've liked, and several I didn't. I can't stand the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series, for instance, although it is probably one of the best-known of the genre. Anyway, if he runs out of American authors (not that Lee Child is American, but his books are all set here), this might be a fun alternative.

I just read an obituary with this exact situation, and it was very straightforward: She was preceded in death by her first husband, John Smith, and her second husband, Rob Jones.

N Acetyl Cysteine. Google it, but we've found it helpful for what you're describing. It thins the gunk, or something like that. Good for anything bronchial.

If you need small quantities, let's say to top a pie that you will eat over the course of a week, Pampered Chef has a gadget that uses a plunger to whip cream right in the attached container,. You put a lid on that container and store it in the fridge as you use it. I thought it was the stupidest thing ever until I tried it. It keeps a day or two, and then I plunge/whip some more for that last slide of pie. ETA: It takes under a minute to plunge whipped cream using the PC gadget.

I can speak to this: Nike Dunks are hot right now. Certain colors are in short supply, but not all are.

I agree with the other votes for Les Mis. It is so beautiful. Since you mentioned Frankenstein, my oldest daughter, who was into all the big novels, liked Dracula. (I did not. My tolerance for anything that could not possibly be real is almost nil, even in classic literature.) If there are classic children's books she might have missed, The Wind in the Willows is lovely. (Children's books are an exception to my rule about suspending belief.)

Long shot, but when my oldest was born after many hours of hard labor, 2 hours of pushing and 45 minutes of vacuuming and forceps, the nurses in the nursery told our pediatrician she had white fingers. She did, so he ordered all sorts of tests. Cultures, brain scan, etc. He canceled the brain scan when her fingers pinked up and diagnosed her, instead, with a migraine which, he said, can present with pale fingers. I've never heard that before or since.

My daughter was in the Atlanta Ballet's Nutcracker for 3 years, and for the first 2 of those 3, I was a backstage parent for her group for a bunch of performances. The first year, she did 10 or 11 performances, and I probably saw 6 of those from the audience and 3 or 4 from backstage. At the time, the backstage mom stood in the wings while they were performing. Christmas was insane those years (she performed in the Christmas Eve show one of them), but I loved it.

My favorite thing from them, besides ham, of course, is ham bones. They have them in the freezer and sell them by the pound, but there is a ton of ham left on them. I actually have to cut some ham off before I use it for soup.

Oh, the Fox is pretty accessible. The main entrance is set back from the street, but it is flat, and once you get in, if your seats are on the main floor, you can roll right to your row. I highly recommend taking an elevator or walking down the stairs to the main ladies' room. It is beautiful and worth the trip.

Yes, you can be dropped off at the Fox. Parking is not close, but he can stop on the street and let you off. That is what drop-off entails, though--he would have to stop on the street, drop you off and then park. There are only pay lots (no free parking), and they are probably $20-30. There is one very close, though, just north of the Fox on Peachtree Street. There is another just south of the Fox at the corner of Peachtree and Ponce, I think. You should be able to get parking at one or the other if you get there early enough. They are both a straight shot down Peachtree to the entrance. If you are staying overnight, the Georgian Terrace Hotel is close and has parking. It is also rumored to be haunted, so if that appeals. . . No idea on resellers.

OMG, if this isn't the perfect expression of love languages. "My love language is wood; yours is books," not that those are actual love languages, but close enough. So amazing!

That is a good price. Sign the contract before they change their minds.

I don't know what the answer is, but I would struggle with this as well. I love giving gifts, and I love receiving gifts. Gifts is not my love language. My love language is probably quality time, and a well-considered gift is quality time because of the time that someone put into selecting it, researching it, earning money to pay for it, wrapping it, delivering it, thinking about me when she selected it, just completing the task. I think your position is every bit as valid as your MIL's, and as long as you don't expect reciprocation (which you don't seem to), I would just try to find a gift genre that looks like a gift to you but maybe does not to them. Food? Wine? Gifts for the kids but not the adults? Maybe your MIL would be amenable to going to family gifts. That is what we've done with my brother and his family. Last year, for instance, I gave them a fire pit and accessories for it, and it brought me so much joy to research it, hike to the middle of nowhere to pick it up, select accessories, and struggle to wrap it. I hope they liked it; they seemed to!

I have given so many Cutco (and similar) knives over the years, and one of my daughters is getting one this year. I love my good knives so much and feel like everyone else should also. I'm not sure they always do, but they should, and then they should think fondly of me every time they use it.

If you ever want to go down a rabbit trail on social media, people who buy pallets of Amazon returns to resell will video the unboxing, probably on TikTok. They buy without any real idea of what is in the pallet, so the unveiling is supposedly a surprise.

Most of my immediate family had it; we all had milder symptoms than a cold. In fact, I would take COVID over a cold. No COVID vaccinations other than that one of my international kids was vaccinated after he had nearly-symptomless COVID because it is required to enter his home country.

After Speed Queen changed their design (I think maybe they have changed back now, but I have not really kept up), a lot of people who used to recommend SQ started recommending the Maytag commercial washer. It's not really a commercial washer-there's no slot for quarters, for instance; I think it is just their model name. But I bought the then-current version and wash almost everything on a deep-water cycle. It was one of the few machines, at the time at least, that would let you select the water level rather than have the machine select it for you. My previous machine simply did not use enough water, and my clothes were not getting clean, so it was important to me that I be able to override the sensor. I see now that it runs close to $1,000--I am positive I did not pay anything near that for it, but I am sure inflation has hit appliances pretty hard.

That would be a great Christmas gift for my mom. Thanks for mentioning it!

We have a family friend at University of the Ozarks (not to be confused with College of the Ozarks, which is a different school in a different state), and she describes it as having an artsy vibe, very creative, but small and nurturing. She LOVES it. She is a good student, but English is not her native language, and her grades there are excellent, which makes me think it is not crazy-difficult. In Atlanta, have you considered Oglethorpe? Covenant? Covenant is probably on your way to Atlanta.

Would it be easier to convert the bed to fit a queen-sized mattress? We used to have an antique bed that had been converted, and I know I've seen others advertised as having been modified.

Yes! The Shakti mat is why I no longer wake up with back pain every single morning. I lie on it every night for about 5 minutes before I go to sleep.

Age 26 coverage goes through the end of the month in which he turns 26. You are correct that COBRA is n/a because you are not under a group health plan, but Texas may have what is known as mini-COBRA that could give him an extra few months of coverage on your plan. This would be through the insurer, so ask there. You can start shopping on the exchange and buy a policy 60 days before a qualifying event. His income is irrelevant unless he wants a subsidy. If he does, yes--he has to have some income to get a subsidy. An unsubsidized exchange policy might not be too bad for a couple of months, to bridge him until he has a job, but it will not be free. He may have student insurance available, but probably not if he is only taking 3 hours. It is worth asking, though.

I was perusing Craigslist this week looking for chairs for my husband's office and came across a set of 4 teak folding director's chairs for $125. My daughter has a cute little patio with a fake-teak (acacia wood) table that neighbors gave her when they moved, but no chairs. The listed chairs are still being sold new at Ballard, for over $350 EACH. So I picked them up, oiled the frames with tung oil that was leftover from some long-ago project, and bleached the Sunbrella-fabric seats and backs. They look fabulous! I am so excited about them. It has been a long while since I've found any bargains on CL or FB Marketplace, but this was worth the effort. Now I need to figure out what else I need and can buy on CL. . .

So new, it is $1870; for $150 + $700, so $850, assuming you picked fabric on the lower end, you get it reupholstered? I'd reupholster if you'd be willing to spend $850 on it new. The upholsterer will fix stuffing issues; it may even be all new stuffing; they will replace the liner underneath. I've gotten some nasty, nasty things reupholstered that came out beautifully. I bought the coolest antique chair for my daughter once, off of Craigslist, but it looked like it had been upholstered in towels. It was disgusting, but the frame was yummy. I drove it straight to the upholstery shop and let them work their magic. Ask if there is a difference if you bring in your own fabric, and you may be able to get nicer fabric for slightly less than the shop would charge. They will tell you how many yards to buy although, in my experience, they always estimate too much, and I end up with yards and yards of expensive fabric left over.