I think it's not the words that offend me, but the intention behind them. If they're being used to intimidate or insult, then yes they add to the offense. But if they're being used to add emphasis, I don't generally notice or care.

Thank you for commisserating with me on this! :) I don't even think about alcohol during the week - doesn't even enter my mind. But then the weekend comes around, and well, that little indulgence means more to me than it probably should. It's not that I drink very much - I really don't. It's that I really treasure what I do drink! I love a good dry wine. I don't drink cocktails very often, but I really like the non-sweet ones like a bloody mary or a dirty gin martini - heaven! :lol: But then there's that insane snacking afterward. You've had that too? It doesn't just seem to trigger hunger, but it also seems to make my willpower evaporate. So I'll eat things that I normally wouldn't and/or amounts that I normally wouldn't eat. :( So, yes, I will work on this. I'm so glad it's helping you! I tried accupuncture once for a different problem, and it didn't seem to do anything for me. I live in a very woo-woo place too (husband's friend calls it "the land of the crystal gazers") and I have to admit that after jumping into that stuff enthusiastically for many years, I've become quite the skeptic. But not so skeptical that I'm not open to being corrected. I'm very sorry to hear about your miscarriages. I know that had to be very trying. I am surprised that if your progesterone was low enough to cause that problem, they didn't think it would cause you other problems! I was taking magnesium for awhile, hoping that it would help with my muscle cramps. This was before I knew that salt was the real culprit. I stopped taking it after that - not consciously, just out of laziness, I guess. I'll try it again. I normally sleep pretty well, actually. Well, when I do low-carb and I exercise, I sleep very well. At the same time that these hormone issues started, I'm sure it won't surprise you to hear that I started having some sleep problems. I would feel really nervous and anxious in the late evening, before bed. Irrational fears would invade my thoughts, that sort of thing. So that made it a little harder to get to sleep. And then I'd suddenly be wide awake at 3am, usually burning up even though the house was cool. But the HRT seems to have really helped with that. My doc put me on both progesterone, and a low dose of estrogen. It hasn't been a magic cure, of course, but it seems to have helped with every symptom except the weight gain. And the worse symptom by far that I was having was a HUGE increase in migraine frequency. It has dropped that back down to manageable levels. It hasn't eliminiated them, but one or two per week is a whole heckuva lot better than 5 or 6 per week! So compared to that, I know that I really shouldn't worry so much about the weight gain. It's a nuisance, but really it's livable. Thank you for taking the time to give me such a nice reply! I appreciate your help.

I had planned to get it this week, but I came down with a particularly nasty cold, so I'm sure it's not a good time. ASAP, though, I will get it. I've had the flu three times in my life, and that was three times too many. A coworker and friend of my husband died from flu complications. She was in her late 40's, a marathon runner, very active healthy person. :( That same year, my husband didn't get the vax and was sick for a month. It made his atrial fibrillation permanently worse. And several of my friends who didn't get the vax ended up in the hospital. Luckily, my daughter and I had gotten the vax, so we were fine. That year convinced me - I will get the vax every year!

Just saw this: http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2015/09/02/watch_hulu_ad_free_for_an_extra_4_per_month.html

Yes! Just yesterday I was thinking the same thing about the five words, "Not to be sexist, but . . . " :lol:

:) You're right - no argument here!

Thanks!

Those are indeed experiences that count. Thank you for this perspective!

I don't normally, but I recently had a ten-hour drive to go visit family. Lots of uninterrupted concentration then! :) That's a very good point!

Further proof that this is not about "freedom" but plain old bigotry.

I don't know the details of this case. Are you saying that Kim Davis ordered everyone else in her office NOT to issue the marriage licenses? If so, then she wants the privilege of following HER conscience, but doesn't want her employees/coworkers to have the same privilege??? I must be misunderstanding you.

I am. The one I just finished was Jane Eyre (I've read it before, one of my all-time favorite books!) and the one I was thinking about next was Great Expectations (read it in high school, but I think I would appreciate it more now).

It's more about the latter. Love that phrasing, BTW! :lol: It's about spending more time with books and less time with Netflix. :) That's a good idea!

Somehow it feels a little like cheating, like it's less effort somehow. :lol: Or maybe it's just that it makes chores so much more bearable that I feel like I'm getting away with something. But if the hive says they count, then they count! Okay, another question. I don't really know how Audible works. Is it worth it? Can I use it with my iPod Nano? Their website says it works with iPod Touch, but doesn't mention the Nano.

Like a book a week or x books per year or whatever, do you count listening to an audiobook toward your goal? For years I've been keeping a record of the books that I read, always with the goal of reading 50 per year. I've recently discovered the joys of listening to audiobooks on long car rides, and while doing household chores. So I have to decide whether or not to "count" them. Just curious what others do.

Good heavens! I've never had a body fat percentage that low in my life, not even when people told me I was "too skinny". Never been below 21%, and most often been at 23%. That is a LOW body fat percentage for a woman. How can a doctor not know this??? I said above that no one but a doctor should tell someone what they should weigh. I'm not sure how many doctors are qualified to make that assessment either!

It is certainly within the purview of a PE teacher to give the students fitness targets: be able to run x miles or do y push-ups or whatever by the end of this course. But you might point out to the principal that the PE teacher, by advising students to lose or gain weight, is treading dangerously close here to giving medical advice, something which I'm sure the principal does not want to be liable for! Fitness goals, great. Basic nutrition, sure. But telling students what weight they have to be??? Um, no. That's something that no one besides their doctors should be doing. ETA: But I still advocate going to the PE teacher first.

Welcome, Roadrunner!

BMI is a pathetic, useless measurement, and I would expect any PE teacher or any health/fitness professional at all to, if not agree with me in that assessment, at least understand its limitations! And to not make it part of the grade. And to not use it to badger healthy female athletes. Ugggh! Yes, I absolutely think you should talk to the PE teacher about it, or the principal if that doesn't work. I HATE all of the emphasis on BMI. Hate it! edit: spelling

My grocery store stopped carrying liquid splenda. :( First-world LC problems.

Ah! :)

Wait, how do you get cable without commercials? Every cable service I ever had included lots of commercials and was ridiculously expensive.

It was exactly this reasoning that led me to give up cable years ago. I finally asked myself why I was paying so much money for the "privilege" of watching programming that was at least 1/3 commercials. They should be paying me!!! So I love Netflix, for all their faults and limitations. Still the best option that I've found.

Agreed, and I think that was very well said.

Yes, very different scenario with an elderly parent, than with a 30 year old. It's still tough, though. My parents are okay, but they're certainly not as strong and capable as they used to be. I really hate my homestate and have no desire to move back, yet I wish so much that I were closer to them and could help out more. I'm glad that both of my brothers still live there, that makes a world of difference. Doesn't stop me from wanting to be there too, though. I'm rambling.