Not for the faint of heart. Seriously. Yesterday morning, I discovered that my sons' toilet was clogged (poop and lots of TP). I tried plunging and it just got worse. Ended up using Draino and plunging again and that did it. Cleaned the entire toilet very thoroughly after the clog was cleared. But now, when flushed, the toilet leaks brown stuff from one side of the bowl. The tank water seems okay (but it's an old tank so there's some discoloration); it's almost like there is poop jammed up inside the rim where the water comes out into the bowl. I have used bowl cleaner countless times and scrubbed the life out of it with a bowl brush and an old toothbrush. I have filled the tank with bleach and flushed and flushed. Rinse, repeat. NOTHING IS HELPING. It's like this toilet now wants to ooze poop forever. WHAT THE HECK is going on and how do I fix this? ?

What made you decide to get an original and not the new one? I've been looking at these (both versions)...

Has anyone ever ordered from them? I like the look of their clothing but have no idea of quality or customer service. Thanks!

YES. THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I'M THINKING.

"Wow" is right. What a vast difference in 6 decades in terms of baseline. It's interesting that the weights go up more over the course of a life in the 60's though. I agree with you on both points (unrealistic to expect to weigh the same, but not good to give up and keep gaining). But I think where I need to fix my thinking is in terms of the "it's okay to not weigh what I once did." (I'm going to use real weights for the sake of ease not to impress anyone... I'm 5'4" and small-boned with a very squishy middle)... "GAH, 129! I need to be back at 120 like I was before (in my late 20s-late 30s)!!! I'm overweight. I am ugly and fat." versus... "129. Okay. That's about healthy for me at this age. I'll keep an eye on it because I don't want to go over 130 but in the 120s is just fine. I am going to keep up my running three times a week. I wonder if I can do some more weight training to get stronger." I don't know, I just feel like I have been really tied to those numbers and I'm realizing I need to shift my thinking. Am I exercising? Am I eating healthily (for me this means not eating many carbs, limiting sweets, basic self-control, etc)? Am I getting enough sleep? I just feel like I'm too old to let a number on the scale tell me that I'm not good enough. I'm sick of the 120 mirage beckoning to me when maybe I'm not even supposed to be going there.

I just listened to an episode of Dear Sugars podcast about body acceptance. It put me in this mindset that maybe we need to chill out about bodies more than we do. One of the guests (a nutritionist) was talking about the 10-15 pounds we put on when we enter and exit child-bearing years (that is, puberty and menopause). I knew that most young women have to reach 100 pounds before menstruation but I have never heard about the "normal" weight gain of exiting the child-bearing years. Every middle aged woman I know is fighting those pounds tooth and nail. I gained and lost 30 pounds with each child (I had 5). With the last one, at age 35, I probably hung onto 2-3 more pounds than I had previously shed after weaning. Now, at age 42, I weigh 10 pounds more than my original "pre-baby" weight. In my brain, that "pre-baby" weight is my ideal weight, the weight my body "wants to be" because it went back down there each time I weaned without much effort. I did recently lose 6 pounds on Whole 30, so I got close, but that's not sustainable for me. When I went off W30, I gained it back. I like cheese. I like the occasional glass of wine, square of chocolate, hunk of bread. I am not going to live restricted from those things for the rest of my life. I exercise 3 times a week. So I guess I am just wondering, when do you make peace with "THIS IS AS GOOD AS IT GETS" at 42, eating the way I eat and exercising moderately? When do I stop scheming about losing my stomach pooch and just think "okay, 42-year-old short-waisted women who birthed 5 babies have stomach pooches and I will love and accept my stomach pooch?" I don't know if I am in the process of exiting the childbearing years though. I had a partial hysterectomy and even those (keeping ovaries) can cue early menopause. I have some of the signs (night sweats). But my "exit" could be two decades away if I am like my mom. So maybe I DO need to get my weight back down with those 10-15 pounds on the horizon at some point. Thoughts? I guess I am asking what kind of weight gain is just normal/expected for a healthy aging woman and what isn't?

Thanks, everyone. I'm going to try to let it go. HEY! She just texted me back with a short summary of what she wanted to share and where to get more info. She doesn't sound mad at all. The good thing about slightly insensitive friends is that they have thick skin. ?

I am trying to learn to speak up and be honest. I am someone who WAY too often goes along so as not to hurt feelings. But I am afraid I was mean today... I have a friend who is a special ed teacher in another state. I have a son with some learning issues and she recently offered to "share some strategies." I said okay because I thought it would be a quick email with a handful of ideas. Then she sent me a Google slides presentation and has made it clear that it will take 1-2 hours for her to go through all the information she wants to share over the phone (she went to a conference recently and is enthusiastic about this new material). After putting her off due to a schedule conflict once, I just came clean and told her via text I'm too overwhelmed for that. I'm super busy with work and driving kids to summer activities. I an already up to my neck in meetings with people HERE who are actively involved in ds's case (SPED teacher from his elementary school, case manager, tutor, etc.). Also this friend is kind of long-winded and a know-it-all and I don't like her manner when she talks about this stuff. She's not very sensitive. And ds's issues are a big emotional thing right now. I just flat out do not want to do this. I explained my situation and that it's hard for me to learn from a lecture and asked for a book/article/website reference. But now I'm worried that she's going to be offended or think I don't care about ds. I need to chill, right? It's okay that I was honest? Or should I have sucked it up and made time for the lecture?

It has been about a year now and they are getting more frequent (2-5 nights per week). So GROSS... sometimes I have to get up and change because I'm so wet. I scoot way over to dh, trying to find a dry spot. And I'm only 42! ? So what works to help decrease these, anything? I sleep on cotton sheets in cotton t-shirt and shorts/pants. I have started wearing shorts whether I am cold or not at night because I know that sometime in the middle of the night, I'm going to be HOT. Please tell me how to make these less frequent/severe, or how to weather them without losing my mind. I'm exhausted because they always wake me. ETA: If you are concerned that I'm too young for these, I had partial hysterectomy 2 years ago. Kept my ovaries but I recently learned that even partials increase your risk of early menopause.

Dh did a slow transition to minimal shoes and they made his knees hurt a lot (over time). He's back to regular running shoes.

Thanks for this reply. It was enough to prompt me to call again and have them look up his actual account. We discussed it and the guy thinks the reason it's still pending is that ds was registered for the SAT with essay and then (unilaterally, grrrr...) opted out of it on test day. That put him into a flagged category (not forbidden just different, so delayed). The customer service guy did something to "escalate" the account so hopefully that will help them be ready before the 10-15 business days he mentioned!!! ?

I usually frequent the Chat board, but I am going a little crazy and I thought I would post here to ask the above question. Ds took the SAT on May 5. He goes to public school. All of his friends have scores already. His are still "pending." I called today (they are supposed to be all out by today) and was told they would be posted today. But it's 5:30pm local time and still no scores. What is going on? It's so hard to wait!

Thank you! After I posted I did some more googling and YNAB seems like a super popular option. I like that there's an app and you can enter stuff immediately. Keep the feedback coming if you have any!

Dh and I are terrible at budgeting. Early in our marriage, we went to a Dave Ramsey class and we agree with all of his principles. We want to live without debt and have an emergency fund and all of that. We are just so bad and putting it into practice. I took over the finances a few years back and now our bills get paid on time (I use a spreadsheet to keep track of amounts and dates) but beyond that, our money still "tells us where it went" vs. us "telling it where to go." We want to start doing the latter so badly! I googled Dave Ramsey app and I'm looking at EveryDollar, but I'm sure there's other good stuff out there. Details (if it helps you recommend something that would work for us): Dh gets paid every other week. It has been varying amounts based on commissions but he's about to change jobs and it will be steady (phew). I get paid once a month but have several clients and the amounts vary. We would like to put my pay into a separate fund for Christmas, vacations, etc. I pay bills online on my bank website. Some things I use checks for (medical bills, housecleaner, school expenses, tithing). I totally just wing it regarding groceries and other things (I don't know how much I spend, I just try to be careful). Obviously I need to go back and track everything so I can set up realistic budget categories and amounts. Open to doing cash if that's better. I'm not sure what other info to include. Thanks for any reviews or suggestions.

Nixpix5, I mentioned Garga but this was super helpful too. Thank you for acknowledging my love for her... that meant a lot to me as I was in a place of feeling like a failure. And I used your words almost verbatim. You are very insightful and sweet. Yes, I hope this is a clean break. They have done the cycle thing all year (they were high school sweethearts who now attend the same college and kept "taking a break" but not really all of this past year). I think they are now done for real. This hurts, but I'm glad for true healing/closure to begin.

Well, I did sort of a very abbreviated version of the speech... that much verbiage didn't feel right but the heart of it did. It was really helpful to see that written out, Garga. But for those of who said less is more -- that too. She texted me today asking if we could stop for dinner at her favorite place (she's just home from college and hasn't been back). Umm, YES. She was way more talkative, not about the breakup but about other things. It felt so good to chat about random stuff. And so at some point, I just said, "Listen, I'm sorry for asking you how you are too often. I care about you so much, and I try to express that care as questions but I realize that's not helpful. So I'm not going to ask anymore. Just know that I'm not ignoring you or pretending you're not hurting. I love you and am available anytime you need to vent or talk or whatever." And she interrupted me and said, "Mom, I totally KNOW that's true! But you asking me about it does make it worse. That's why Dad is so good, and it makes me want to talk to him more because he doesn't ask. I don't want you to ask me followup questions if I share stuff with you. I know I can talk to you when I want to." (The comparison to dh didn't sting, it's totally true and I am glad they have a close relationship too.) And then we moved on. So it was more of a conversation than a speech. And we did talk about stuff around the breakup... her saying goodbye to his cat, and how she doesn't like it when friends just take her side and act like ex-bf is a jerk, and how she's trying not to think too much about things she could have done differently, etc. So it's not some taboo topic, but I am taking her lead and not treating the initial big emotional talk like a precedent. I'm giving her space. She knows I am here. She is happy about our plans tomorrow and she wants to watch a show with me tonight. So I am really relieved that she's not pushing me away, and I am learning how to love her better through this. THANK YOU, YOU WISE WOMEN. You all helped me so very much!!! Honestly, I can't tell you how grateful I am to those of you who chimed in. Thank you!

I'd buy a gift certificate to a nice local restaurant and include (in the note) an offer to watch their kids while they go out for a meal.

My dd19 just broke up with her bf of 2 years. It was mutual but very painful. It has been coming for months but it took a big ugly misunderstanding/fight to make it final. I am relieved by the breakup (I have not thought they were right for each other, though I never said so). But wow is it hard to see dd in this much pain. After the fight (Saturday) she was very open about what happened, what she was thinking/feeling, etc. We talked a lot. But yesterday (Monday) and today (Tues) she has not wanted to talk at all. Last night they met to have a final talk and she came home in tears with a box of things he returned to her. She walked right by dh and me saying "I don't want to talk about it." I stepped in it yesterday because I texted her to make sure I hadn't offended her. I had driven her somewhere and she was very quiet (understandable) but when she got out of the car, she slammed the door and stalked off. I really debated asking because my gut said "it's the breakup" but I was also concerned that I had done something to exacerbate her pain. She was mad at me for even asking ("Mom, I'm going through a breakup, it's not about you, you make thing worse by constantly asking if I'm mad, etc"). For the record, I hadn't asked her this before... but I do have a history of assuming that if someone is upset, it's because of something I did wrong. I feel so clumsy... I'm aching for her (I have cried many tears in private over the pain she is feeling)... but I feel like anything I do is wrong. I DON'T want to make this about me, but I really need help with how to help her through this. Yesterday I bought her some bath bombs and chocolate and just left them in her bathroom. I made a nice dinner with some of her favorites. I think those things blessed her. Today driving her to work I said, "How did it go -- or do you not want to talk about it?" It felt weird not to ask anything at all about this big talk she had been ramping up for. But she didn't want to talk about it, and again I am left wondering if I stepped in it for even asking. ? I honestly wish there was a script for this. I am longing to love and support her through this. I just don't feel like I know how. Sometimes I feel like I should give her space, but then I am afraid that she'll feel alone. I don't want to smother her. I also don't want to ignore her. I know it's different for everyone, depending on so many factors, but if you have any wisdom about this kind of situation, I would love to hear it. We are supposed to go shopping and for pedis tomorrow (planned before this happened). I don't know if she will still want to go, but I am thinking of how to communicate beforehand that I won't be pressuring her to talk (I feel like she might fear that I will)... I want it to be a glimmer of happiness in the midst of this dark time, or at least a little distraction. Should I say something today to alleviate any fears she might have that I'll ask questions? Or just leave it? Any other ideas for navigating this tough time?

I'm right where you are. I'm so glad to know I'm not the only mom of a college kid who can't sleep while they are home (and out at night). I know it's illogical but oh well. How my husband manages to sleep when they are out late is beyond me. No advice, we are still figuring this out. Just wanted to say I feel you!

What do you think? Use among my friends continues to rise. (I'm starting to feel like a weird minority for not having a diffuser!) I haven't done enough research to feel strongly; I just haven't gotten into this trend. Curious about opinions/use here.

My friend cut her finger yesterday and put a band-aid on the wrong finger. She didn't notice for several hours.

Are you taking any allergy medicine? I just read that they can cause excessive hunger.

Are these Rx or OTC? Thank you for weighing in!!!

I'm miserable. Pollen (tree) is super high right now and my allergies are awful; they seem to worsen every year. I have a constant cough/tightness in my chest, runny nose, itchy eyes, headache. My whole face hurts. I have to limit my outdoor hours, change clothes as soon as I come inside, shower frequently, etc. I use Flonase, but every allergy pill I've tried makes me super edgy, like I am going to jump out of my skin or kill someone. I tried Xyzal this year in hopes that it wouldn't have that effect (like Claritin and Zyrtec do) but it does. WHAT CAN I TAKE? I know I should Neti-pot but I had a bad experience once (it went into my sinus cavities under my eye instead of out the other nostril -- very painful). I'm looking for medication recommendations. Someone told me she takes an anti-anxiety drug to counteract the allergy meds. That seems a little extreme to me but honestly, I am so miserable, I would consider it.

Maybe being there post-hysterectomy will actually help dissuade him from living there. If their health issues require him to do a lot for them, he might decide it would be too much care-giving. At least that could be a bright side.