It’s the best, right? Fresh Basil alone is enough to keep me from an all meat plus salt diet 🤣

Harvested so much Basil today and that means - - - vegan pesto 💕

I definitely don’t think it’s only Bali but I had some warners bras that were far more forgiving when DH would dry them.

Like, super supportive and comfy and the straps don’t slip. I’ve had such a hard time with this since I’m a little gifted in that area (D cup). It is cheap and free returns from Amazon. It’s worth a try if you’ve been looking. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013G736SG?ref_=cm_sw_r_apin_dp_K5A96FS9GWNDX7XHZMKA&th=1&psc=1 My problem with Bali in the past is you cannot dry them at all, they break down fast that way. I’ve decided to just keep them aside and make sure I wash them myself since DH isn’t good about checking for bras to air dry. ETA: I know some don’t like underwire but I just can’t be comfy in a non underwire. It’s not enough support for me.

It’s interesting that (unless I’m missing it) they don’t include dairy? As someone who was dairy allergic way before the vegan movement provided tons of alternatives, that is refreshing. I also don’t think that cows milk is supposed to be consumed by humans at all (unpopular opinion, I know). Other than the dairy, the break down of the plates is pretty similar. I love how Canada’s plate shows so much variety and examples though. It seems far more solid nutritionally.

Thats funny. It could be worse though lol. My parents have been on the carnivore kick. I have to listen to them tell me all.the.time how carcinogenic vegetables are and they rarely eat veggies. They don’t stick to it that great and when they go off of what is acceptable it’s for brownies or ice cream (not veggies). My dad had a heart attack and bypass surgery three years ago. So now he’s carnivore (lots of red meat) but he also still loves and eats ice cream and drinks sweet tea. It makes no sense.

I remember the breakfast posters would show cereal and toast. Both. Even in the 90’s when carbs were pushed that seemed so weird to me. ETA: I’m referring to like a pic of a sample breakfast.

I can’t discuss exactly what DH does but he works for a private organization that includes some of the wealthiest people in the country and especially in the south. He’s worked there for over 20 years and it’s taken him a bit to get over the waste, the frivolous decisions, and also the whining when their world is less than perfect (a world that is far far better than 99.9% of people experience). He finally embraced that it provides for our family well (and isn’t anything bad or illegal) and finding comfort in knowing that he would make very different decisions in their shoes. They can be insufferable to work for at times. They know it.

Another thought, some people in my family had to make a pact to “agree to disagree” and not discuss certain topics. Both parties should consider, for the sake of the relationship, keeping certain opinions to themselves. It has helped our situation a lot.

Covid and Trump wreaked havoc with some of the relationships in my extended family (not me or my dc or DH). It isn’t 2020 and Covid crazy is over. Many people are embarrassed about how extreme they acted (on both sides). I had something similar typed out as @Terabith. I’ll take it a step further, be ok with being hurt. People hurt each other. We just do, intentionally or unintentionally, it just happens. For me to have relationships with certain people I have had to humble myself and be ok with not being right and have had to grow thick skin. Is a relationship with them worth that? If there is nothing otherwise redeeming in the relationship then that is another story.

We were on a college tour with oldest DD at a top University and there was a dad and daughter in our group. I thought the dad seemed rather standoffish and uncomfortable. Kept his sunglasses and hat on, in the back, arms folded. He looked so familiar but I couldn't place him. The daughter was up with the visitors and very chatty and cute with a British accent. It hit me later who he looked just like ... Jude Law. I really think it was him. He was trying to stay so in the background and the British accent and all. Oh and it meant the girl was Iris Law, which matched the pics I found of her when we got home and I looked up his kiddos. I guess she is pretty famous now too. She wasn't hiding or being shy. She was happily touring the school.

No church will be perfect because it is full of imperfect people. Just never forget that. I have shared my DH's struggles with our past church (and church in general) a few times. We had to compromise. Could y'all compromise? He will leave for you but you will go mostly somewhere he is comfortable (but also doesn't make you feel down in the dumps afterward). Then, you can listen to the larger church's sermons online or via podcast and pop in sometimes on your own?

We didn't realize we liked them until we tried growing them 3 or so years ago. They are one of our favorite garden delights. I really need to experiment with them beyond just dicing them in with the greens lol. It is nice with seed starting racks and stainless shelving, I'm so blessed. And as always, DH recycled a lot of the materials from elsewhere. They are constantly renovating at his workplace and he is over construction so if they are tossing it and he truly thinks we can use it he will snag it. Thank goodness he isn't a pack rat and lets a lot of things go too though haha.

We had a dog that was a great judge of people. He was very chill with most people but occasionally didn’t like someone. One time we had a termite inspector come out and the dog went so crazy, I was embarrassed to be honest. The man wouldn’t come in the home to inspect like normal because he was afraid. Later we found out he had been stealing from the homes he inspected and had taken multiple credit cards.

Wow I love new ideas. We always just dice them and eat them with their greens.

It is very expensive to live there, like crazy expensive. That is one of the many reasons we came back to where I grew up. Also the traffic is awful, like you will sit in traffic for hours. There are far more Asians there than here but not many blacks at all. Probably more in Seattle than outside of it though. For example, Charlotte is close to 40% black but Seattle is 5-6% and falling annually.

It really is, they were just tossing it at his workplace and so he recycled it. I wish I had half as nice a sink in my actual kitchen 😂

yes yes we need to know more about these?

It seems interesting but probably not since I never followed or watched Duggars in the first place and the little I know about them is from here. I don’t think I’d get the context 😜

Does anyone know what this squash is? I think they sent me the wrong seed. It was supposed to be a small honey bear acorn that vines and needs trellis. It is a bushing squash and I didn’t give it room to be that lol.

I was harvesting a large amount of turnips and then remembered that I can process them in the commercial sink my DH put in my garden/potting shed. Win win 💕 It is bigger than it looks - that metal pan is a commercial size steam pan. I love having this option.

People who don’t live in the south don’t understand the dynamic. They imagine the old south they read about in books of times far far in the past. I’ve lived in a total of 6 states, spanning all the way to the PNW and the south is the least racist place I’ve lived. Don’t get me wrong, racists can be found anywhere but in general there are simply more blacks here. Something like 59% of all black people live in this one region. That means 41% are spread across the entire rest of the US. That means a much much higher concentration here. We live together, work together, and go to school together daily. It is harder to be prejudice against people you know personally and do life with. When I lived in the Midwest, it was more white. I knew several people there who were scared to death of black men. I don’t see that here. In fact, if I feel threatened or need help I’m far more apt to reach out to a black man than anyone else. I’ve done this a few times in my life actually. My in laws are from the PNW and are by far the most racist people I’ve ever met. Also one of Dd’s best college friends spent many many holidays with us while in college (a gay black man). He was always surprised at how different it is here. He’s from a large city up north and he says the racism is much stronger there and he didn’t expect that. Spending so much time with us made him realize his own wrong stereotypes about white people and we had some amazing convos. As an aside, he ended up at Oxford as a Rhodes scholar and he was just admitted to Yale law and I’m so very very proud of him and all that he has accomplished.

I think it’ll be ok. Just remember, it is more hurtful to dismiss someone or their experience than to misunderstand them. Our kids will be the most prepared to go into this world if we teach them to be learners and ask questions and not dismiss people. That is useful regardless what happens with this boy. My oldest dd was homeschooled and didn’t have that many life experiences to draw from. She stepped into a top ten university on a full ride scholarship and the recipients were a tight group. Out of 30 recipients only 2 were white. She did very well, made tons of friends, and wasn’t offensive or hurtful and not because she had so much experience navigating various cultures but because she was a learner who loved people and asked questions and didn’t dismiss or assume. That is key.

I lean toward the side of not borrowing trouble. At the same time, what you can encourage your daughter to do is be a learner and not think she understands racial issues. It’s better to listen and learn and not say too much on any topics she doesn’t understand and she needs to assume she doesn’t know much. As far as the stereotypes. I live in the south, have had plenty of black friends, and was student body president of a public high school that was well over half black. I’d never heard these stereotypes (like grape kool-aid and fried chicken) before social media. Granted, I was raised in a very non racist family who would’ve never used them but I never heard other people use them either. I’ve always hated racism and was pretty careful to the opposite extreme which can also be offensive or hurtful in a different way. I used to avoid saying anything about someone’s skin color until a friend called me out on it. She said “call me black” and made me until I was comfortable with it lol. ETA: what that means is she has to get comfortable with the fact that he is black and not just ignore it. “Skin color doesn’t matter” isn’t true and only white people can even live in that make believe world. For example, some friends of ours are an interracial couple and they were pulled over one day by an officer to make sure she was safe and hadn’t been kidnapped. Crazy, not right, but reality. This was like 15 years ago but still, too close to an age when people should know better.

I’m in the south too and black women are more understanding of two people just falling in love regardless of color. What they tend to be bothered by more is white women who will only date black men.