Here’s my story. Ever since Covid hit, my stomach has been a rumbly cesspool of yuck. I would eat something and I would get a food baby—I looked 4 months pregnant with gas. I was having bad intolerances to a ton of food. I eat well. I stay away from dairy, sugar, and gluten and would eat probiotic foods like kombucha. I stated seeing a naturopath and she tried a bunch of stuff first before ordering a stool test because a really restrictive diet wasn’t clearing up the issues I came to her about. Here’s what I have learned about probiotics and leaky gut. Basically, I found out that you can have so much bad bacteria that taking probiotics will do absolutely nothing. They tested my sample and found that not only do I not have ANY good bacteria, but no good guys will grow with the yuck I have going on inside my gut. So, I will be going on a protocol to kill all the bacteria in my gut and then rebuild. My naturopath told me that I could swallow a whole bottle of probiotics every day and it would do absolutely nothing to improve my situation. I never knew things could get that bad. I was always told that if you consumed enough of the good guys, they would multiply and crowd out the bad guys. I didn’t know that in some people, the bad guys can run the town and kick out good guys from even building homes.

I just learned about “shark week” pretty recently when my dd used it. I thought it was hilarious.

I got a $350 bike off of Amazon and just got the app. It worked just fine. No, you can’t compete against other people online for intensity, but it works if you’re self motivated.

When my ds was around 12, there were times when I wouldn’t even talk to him unless he had eaten. I remember one time in particular. He got into the car after some activity and was complaining and arguing with me. I told him I would not talk to him until he had eaten a banana (I kept snacks I the car for this very reason). He ate his banana and within minutes was back to his normal happier self. My ds is getting to be like that also. The blood sugar crabbiness is a thing for sure!

I watched “Father of the Bride 3” online. It was a 20 minute mini-movie. It was all about Covid and they were all on zoom calls. The son and his fiancé got married on zoom. I HATED it. I don’t want to watch people going through the same struggles I am. That is not fun. The great British baking show had all the contestants agree to live together for the duration of the show (and not go back and forth to home)so they could participate. I like watching something where life is “normal” and I’m not constantly bombarded with fear and distress.

I have a 2010 odyssey with 66k miles on it. I wish sometimes I could have a different car, but with the amount I drive and with the low miles I have on it, I will probably own it for another 10 years or more at least. As I tell my kids, “ A car is to get you from point A to point B. If it’s fun to drive, that’s just extra.” I have a point A to B car. I’m glad to have a car that I know can last for a low grade long time though.

We have most of the above and more. I think part of it is also having ds homeschooling again. She was adopted and has major safety issues that I think are beyond the scope of most public schools. She is part of a one day co-op that has her writing a narrative. She’s doing a 2-5 page paper on all of the issues she had last year in school just trying to feel safe and all the ways she wasn’t. She was a mean mean emotional mess when she came home from school last year. I’ve asked about discipline issues on how the school is doing this year. Everyone that replied has no concerned and think it’s an amazing school. I hear otherwise —my inside track. I’m assuming that the stuff that scared my daughter doesn’t phase most kids. She feels very safe with her homeschool class of 7 and has come to realize boys her age can be nice. So, I don’t know what to do with her either. I was considering things last night. I could technically get someone here to take care of my son. The problem is if they got sick. I would have to train another person before I left how to care for my son. I have lists, but they still need to be shown. Honestly, just thinking about working full time stresses me out because there’s too much that I’m responsible for. And as much as dh says he can handle stuff (like cooking or grocery shopping for example), he really doesn’t. His job is a major stressor in his life. He’s maxed out too. I think that even if it is possible if I re-arranged everything, it is just not the time. There are just way too many factors that would need to change in order for me to have something for “just me”. This is why women made quilts in all those beautiful designs instead of just something functional. They needed something beyond the day to day drudgery. I have also realized why my own mother (she had 6 kids) poured so much time into her side job of being a music director at our church. It was something for her that got her praise and accolades for something she did-not something we as her kids were. She became a person.

This could be a possibility in the future. I would have to be working though. I can’t handle having another outside person in my space. Maybe the opportunity will come again.

I still have a 13 year old, so I’m not quite an empty nested but I have friends who are. Their kids are going to college, getting married, or if still living at home, are fully independent. They have been free to go somewhere for a weekend “just because” or pursue new avenues of career or just things that they have wanted to do for years but haven’t been able to do so because of raising children. My oldest turning 21 in age only has actually been the hardest part of what I’m missing out on. I was never phased by him missing other milestones such as driving or truly graduating from junior high/high school. Now, just seeing my friends move on with their lives without having constant responsibility for another person is getting to me. My dh is getting discouraged because he is still working from home. He is tired of not having the group comradery he does at work or the occasional pat on the back so to say. I try to explain that I get very little accolades beyond a doctor telling me what great care I am giving to my son. I have no co-workers who see me as just me. My dh is great. He just doesn’t understand how stuck I feel. This Covid thing has really twisted up my emotions. It’s getting harder to stay positive. My life really hasn’t changed that much in the day to day. It has just emphasized my restlessness. I realized this past summer that gardening and growing food brought me real joy so I started that up again despite weather that makes gardening really difficult in my state ( and my pretty minuscule yard). I am just admitting to myself that I want more than what I’ve done for over 20 years and maybe also mourning that I may not get it while trying to figure out how to thrive in the situation I still find myself in.

That’s part of it. I have done nothing beside raising these children. And one of them is never going to grow up. It’s like having a baby for life only that baby doesn’t have as many options for daycare if I chose to have a career. Realistically, I could do it (in theory), but I’ve got to get my last child to the point of not needing me as much (probably 5-6 years still). I feel like I have so much knowledge and experience that is just sitting there getting stale. I had a friend who was a college professor with whom I felt like I could have intelligent conversations. She moved and is beyond busy right now because she and her husband got disgusted with the public school system and are working to homeschool their two girls in their free time. I do have friends who have similar interests, but no one with whom I can go into full geek mode. I’m also a listener and tend to have friends who are talkers more. Maybe that’s also part of the problem.

My husband has all these ideas of what I could do. All of them are a start my own business kind of thing. It involves a lot of trying to fit a business into my already full life and lack of true free time. I don’t have the energy for that. And, I’m really not that kind of peppy “look at me!” “follow me!” kind of person. I just need to plug into a path that is already laid out that doesn’t involve me becoming an extrovert to be noticed for what I’m good at. My husband doesn’t seem to understand that I don’t want to be at home being functional mom. That I don’t want to just add something more to my life—I just want a different life.

There is a job that has been posted at a charter school homeschool branch. I want it. It’s everything that I’m skilled at and encompasses things that I’m pretty good at. If there was ever a job that is perfect for me, this is it. There’s no way I can even apply. I have way too much responsibility at home. I’m homeschooling and my disabled son has no where else to go. Even if my daughter was able to do school on her own (which is totally not doable right now), there is no programs available for my son with adult daycare. I’m 50 and just want something different in my life. I want to be seen as a person who has thoughts- who is smart in some respects. No advice needed.

We have a 2004 CR-V. That car has been great! We have had very few problems with it. We’ve had a bit more lately, but the thing has 207,000 miles on it. It’s expected. And all of the problems we have had is because the thing is 14 years old and stuff just wears out eventually. I would replace it with the same model in a heartbeat.

I have this one also. It replaced a plastic one that broke followed by a glass one that broke.

I had a set of pots where the handles eventually came off. I started slowly replacing pots and large pans with All Clad. I'm not sure I would have if my old pots and pans were still intact. BUT, I will say that I do love their versatility. They work like Dutch ovens. I make sourdough in one of my medium pots and can fry up a one dish meal and put it into the oven to finish it off. I could not do that with my former pots. I wound up waiting for sales at William and Sonoma and tried to squeak out money from my grocery budget to pay for them. All Clad are heavy. I have a large 12 inch (more?) diameter pan and it is a beast! Really heavy - I can't lift it with one hand. Now, I'm upgrading my knives.

Large retaining wall? You have to dig down and fill with sand so it doesn't move. Brick patio in back? Same thing.

The stupid simple answer—-we had to get a new dishwasher and it doesn’t fit in the slots! They’re too close together. We still use the bowls because they are a good size for soups. So, moral of the story? Fiestaware is nice, but make sure it fits into your dishwasher.

I did the meal plan thing too. I have 21 meals that I have in a ring binder with page protectors. On the list, I have what meals I can easily double so that I don’t have to cook for the next food cycle at least some of the meals. I also have the shopping list for those meals. I can just copy the shopping list and cross off what I already have. It’s just one less thing to think about.

I have a very disabled child (low mental age/wheelchair), a child with mild autism, a very typical child, and an adopted child with adoption related mental issues. It’s hard hard hard. Dh and I are exhausted. We do just look at the day in front of us. People used to ask me what we would do with ds when he turned 18. We didn’t know then and couldn’t figure something like that out so far in advance. He’s 21 now. God hasn’t shown us yet what his life will be or who will care for him when we can’t. We only have today. One thing that has helped us is getting away for weekends. We just need time where we can jut be people—not just parents.

I too got a bunch of fiesta ware 3-4 years ago and have switched it out again with my white Corelle.

There were us 6 kids growing up. We had a large bathroom with three doors in the bathroom. When you walk in, there was the sink. One door led to a shower/tub, one door led to the toilet, one door led to a shower. So, realistically, two people could be taking a shower and one kid could be on the potty while other kids are brushing their teeth.

My daughter had a cleft lip/palate so she had a severe underbite. When she was 8/9? she had an appliance that had forehead and chin plates with a bar connecting them. Attached to the bar were rubber bands anchored to her top jaw. It did work. I am watching her as she grows and so far, the underbite hasn’t returned. She may need braces again though. We were looking at jaw surgery if it didn’t work so it was worth a try for us. This was the appliance she used. I was super thankful we were homeschooling at the time! https://www.polarisorthodonticcenter.com/orthodontic-appliances.html

My son had a group project in a communications class where they were supposed to use three references in the paper. My son was the only one who used references (he used three so everyone else felt like they had a pass). He told me the writing was horrible by some members and unedited. The group got a “C”. I told him that if he had wanted an “A”,he should have edited everyone’s work. He was a junior in high school at the time and was working with high school graduates. He was disgusted that in order to get the grade he wanted, he had to do a ton more work than everyone else. Thankfully, the professor graded the group project by considering the individual contribution and looking at a previous grade on a previous individual project. He did get his “A”.

I have a Lands End down coat also. It worked well for MN winters. If I had stayed living up there, I would have invested in one that covered down to mid thigh, but we moved to a place where I can use what I called my MN fall coat. When we moved , I got rid of what I called “my huge honkin’ Minnesota coat”.

We have twice for two nights each. Once in August and once in October. We brought our own pillows and used our own blankets because we felt like they cleaned sheets in between guests but not pillows and possibly not blankets. No air circulating since each room was on its own air system.