Navy fighter pilot's girlfriend probably has no idea what she's really signing up for. I'm sorry you're having a bad day. Can you treat yourself in some way? I always find it helps me when I'm in the slumps to get out of the house and do something.

My people are pretty tickled about the heart-shaped pasta I picked up for tomorrow. We're easily entertained. I'm also making peanut clusters but only because I have the fixins leftover from Christmas.

I have nothing really helpful to say, but now I'm curious about both those Japanese programs because that may be the direction one of my students goes. We've been to OSU once and that was to take the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. Everyone we encountered was helpful and friendly, but my kid still had a negative first impression and said too big, too urban.

You have my sympathies. BTDT just last week with the child who absolutely refused to even consider going outside the house for high school. She knew how I felt about further homeschooling. DONE. But because of other upheavals and her insistence, I agreed to continue through high school. Now, I'm looking at outsourcing as much as possible and having a heart attack over how much that will cost.

So glad you enjoyed your visit DawnM! Love, love, love our Episcopal church. Their motto is God Loves You. No Exceptions. It's such a kind and welcoming place. Our rector hugs everyone who greets him after the service if they're OK with that and he is so sweet. My youngest, who isn't baptized yet (for reasons) gets a blessing during the Eucharist. She was so pleased yesterday because the deacon didn't realize the associate priest had already given her a blessing, so she got two. They say the loveliest things to her.

A university we're looking at says homeschool applicants need an academic portfolio that includes evaluations of grades received for each subject. I don't know what they're asking for. Maybe this is something I'm just clueless about, so I thought I would ask here first before contacting the school.

Yes. I'm coming back as a red panda.

That's a bummer, but maybe this will make you feel better. Here's the "romantic" engagement story from my husband's side of the family. The couple got engaged on a hiking trip in which the guy declared he was so in love with her that if she said no he would push her off the cliff at the lookout point where he proposed so that no one else could have her. She said yes. So romantic-not. And yes, the guy went on to be the monster he sounds like.

I don't think London Eye is worth it personally. We loved Kew Garden. I also really like the Museum of London and the Wallace Collection. York gets my vote for a day trip. My youngster loved the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.

Another vote for Great Pyrenees. I'm so sorry. My dad lost three lambs one morning while we sat at the breakfast table. We could see the pasture from the house, but didn't notice anything until it was too late. His pyrenees had died a couple of weeks prior.

We're done at level 8, which we will have spent two years to complete. I may not do it with my next kid. I made the oldest continue the slog because she's a word person with an interest in getting back overseas, so I can see her teaching England as a second language. In that case, I think the more in depth grammar instruction would be useful.

What a cutie! My kids still stop work at some point everyday to play with/love on the dog, and she's 10! I hate to think what a complete breakdown of order we would have if we got a puppy.

The traditions we have for Epiphany are making King's Cake and doing a house blessing. It's also the last day of the Advent wreath; we keep lighting the Christ candle for the 12 days of Christmas. I also try to finish up all Christmas sweeties by today. The last of the fudge was eaten earlier, and I've been bugging people to finish off the peppermint bark or let me toss it.

My oldest loves these. We know of them from living in Japan. Saw them a lot at Halloween there.

I had to cook some green beans and mushrooms tonight before they went bad and with those it looks as if I'll have another day of no cooking tomorrow because there's still meat and pate from the charcuterie board and there's a bunch of nice cheese and some homemade bread left. Just remembered we also have hummus and veg left in the fridge from Christmas eve. Looks like we're still going to be eating on peanut clusters, peanut brittle, peppermint bark, molasses candy, and the popcorn tin at the new year. We haven't even started on the store bought candy we were given. I think I'll put it away for Valentines.

I've been trying to steel myself for the news, while still hoping it wasn't as bad as it first sounded. Very sad.

Spaghetti sauce is the primary reason I have red wine.

I had to unwrap a gift one time because I realized that the perfect gift I had for someone was the perfect gift I had already given them a couple of years prior. It wasn't so perfect that they needed it twice.

According to my 15 yo, Peter Pan shouldn't be missed; Treasure Island did not make enough of an impression for her to remember most of it; and being forced to read Black Beauty would be child abuse.

We have this method. My husband overbuys for me and I return things that were a no way. It's kind of fun to see the random things he thinks I might like. Several times he's hit on things I never would have picked myself, but really enjoyed. If there's something specific that I want, I get it myself because he never quite managed it right and that was frustrating to me and to him in our early years. I've also learned that I have to steer him away from repeat performances. Yes, I loved the pearls, but after the fourth year of more pearl jewelry, I had to redirect because showing up at the jewelers for a return of pearls every year was going to be ridiculous.

Prayers for your dd and you. I'm sorry. We lost a family member to opioids this past summer. The drugs aspect just adds an extra layer to the devastation, I think. Please tell your dd it's OK to be angry as long as one doesn't get stuck there. Anger is a natural part of the grieving process.

Like others, I greatly increase garlic and add more vanilla. I halve the salt or even leave it out depending on what it is. I always reduce the sugar. Cinnamon gets halved because it can give me indigestion. My sister leaves it out entirely. And I always, always reduce bell peppers to zero; they shall never touch my food.

I like to be able to control the salt in recipes and always wondered who was buying salted butter. Maybe this explains why I generally find other people's baked goods to be too salty.

We do fondue for Christmas. I make bread bowls for the cheese, steam some veg, and cut up some ham and steak for dipping. Some years we do chocolate fondue for dessert, but other years we already have a bunch of candy, chocolates and cookies that I made in the house, so we just eat on those.

After several disappointments from canceling trips to cool places, I learned to leave hubs behind if need be. I've done it enough now that I actually no longer prefer his presence. Turns out he's not a good traveler and gets stressed out over things the rest of us take in stride. Now it feels kind of mean to take him along knowing he's going to be unsettled.