This is my dream!!! I tell dh all the time I need a bedroom microwave for my rice bags. I use them almost everyday as I have frequent headaches and sinus pain.

Sentencing is not for four months. Does is usually take that long?

We typically follow the lectionary in my Disciples of Christ church. Yes, it definitely prevents anyone from every feeling like they were singled out for some behavior etc. It also allows members to read/study the passage ahead of time or adult Sunday school classes to discuss the passage before the sermon to help develop the history or context. Also, I do pulpit supply and fill in for our pastor when he has vacation and it makes it so much easier for me to have the lectionary passages and know what to use to prepare a message.

So yesterday I was watching a YouTube cooking video presented by two ladies who are great home cooks (not professionals). One of them is using a lemon juicer and remarks that she finally bought a new one because the lovely yellow and green paint had completely worn off the old one due to fact that she never washed it and always just gave it a quick rinse. Now I own this exact same lemon juicer and leave it on my counter with a small green knife and tiny cutting board that is used just for slicing lemons because I drink lemon water daily. These objects also get quick rinses with each use and only occasional washing with soap. It then occurred to me that my tea strainer is also just rinsed with use and rarely washed. I suddenly felt very confused on why I as a person who cleans everything else, finds it acceptable to rarely wash these items that I use daily. I suddenly felt dirty. Embarrassed and worried the kitchen police were going to be knocking on my door, I quickly seized these unwashed offenders and scrubbed them throughly. I am happy to report that after the tea strainer sat in a bowl of vinegar, I was able to use a little elbow grease to (mostly) restore it to shiny silver. However, though temporarily shamed of my dirty habits, I have this nagging suspicion that I shall revert to them and in a short time the tea strainer will be brown and my lemon juicer will eventually be paintless. Sigh. Confession complete. Please resume your regular activities. (Feel free to make your own dirty confessions if you so wish.)

We have had over a dozen cats through the years (5 currently) and only one has had acne. It started when she was about 10 and she had it until she passed at 14 years. The cats who shared food/water bowls never had it.

I know there a few moms who have completed their homeschool journey, but are still on the boards. I need your thoughts. I am trying to decide what I might do with the next chapter of my life. Obviously I knew this day would come and I have considered it before, but every time I feel a sense of loss. I only have the one child so it will be several years before I can expect grandkids to fill my days. What did you do and do you find it fulfilling?

Mosquitoes are about to carry us away! They swarm the exterior doors, get in the house, and buzz around our ears at night. We have no standing water in the yard, but have had a ton of rain so ditches and low areas are holding water. My essential oil spray from Walmart and the kind from an expensive mlm don’t seem to help at all. I have a giant citronella plant on the patio where we like to sit and I rub the leaves before turning on a fan. The little blood suckers fly right through the citronella air stream to land on my arm that is bathed in insect repellent. I really need ideas for the back patio where we like to sit, the front door swarm, and something while walking my dog.

I have a Dyson ball upright. It does a great job and I love the super long cord. We have hard floors, one room with a thinner carpet and multiple rooms with a thick high quality carpet. I find it difficult to push on the thick carpet. I have some health issues that make me tire easily and pulling the Dyson (pet model) around one large room wears me out completely. I had read in online reviews that it can be difficult to use on thick carpet and I certainly agree.

Ok, now I am curious. How do you wash her paws every time she come inside? Is it a little paw-washing station with soap and rinse containers or are you wiping them with a soapy cloth? How do you get them rinsed? I am thinking this would take some extra effort, but probably less effort than mopping up dirty paw prints on the floor and trying to clean my sofa🤨

I am looking for recommendations for doggie shampoo. We have an Australian Shepherd so a great conditioning product for long haired pooches would be ideal. He doesn’t have any allergies or skin conditions. Also, how often do you bathe your dog? Are there different bathing recommendations by breed? We previously had outdoor only dogs who were not bathed often, but this fellow is our couch potato and I like to keep him smelling clean😉

Katy, That makes sense. We have family I can give our oats to. Better to be safe and healthy.

I can’t seem to find an answer online so I am hoping to find someone on the Hive who can help me. I have several #10 cans of oats that we canned at a LDS cannery several years ago. We have since discovered that ds and I are both gluten intolerant. My understanding is that oats don’t contain gluten themselves but are commonly contaminated. I know some brands at the store mark the oats as gf while others do not. I can’t find anything online about the cannery oats (and they may be a different supplier now). Does anyone have any knowledge on the subject? Thank-you

I have been seriously considering a contoursrx.com product that is like medical grade clear tape that is designed to lip the eyelid non-surgically. The website has a great tutorial and shows how the tape is invisible once on, can be used with or without makeup and comes in different sizes for different needs. I don’t know how to link, so I am editing to add, you can google Lids By Design or see contoursrx.com/products

The missing stray cat showed up last night. He had been out all day with windchills ranging from -3 to 3 degrees. Not sure where he went but he seemed awfully glad to be let in the garage when he came back. I was a wreck worried about him. Today has been a better day since all the fur babies I care for are safe and warm.

The stray cat stayed dry and reasonably warm all night. I put food at the entrance on the box he was hunkered down in at 6:00 a.m. When I checked my “kitty cam” (security camera where I have been keeping an eye on him) he was gone. I didn’t worry because I thought he must have had to go potty. He never came back. Windchill was -3 at the time. It is just now up to 3 degrees. No sign of him. He doesn’t come when called but this is his home territory. He usually doesn’t leave my yard. My husband thinks he went off to die🥺

Just outside of Houston here. I have 4 stray cats I feed. I managed to get 3 in my garage which was no small task. The fourth is an old fellow who I have never touched though I have been feeding him over a year. He is on the covered porch in a box with a heating pad. It has to be cold for him, but I thought it would be enough to survive. Now I am worried that if our power goes out the poor fellow will freeze. I am actually awake now (3:45 in the morning) just keeping an eye on the power and worrying over him. I can see him in the box on our security camera so I know he is out there and still alive.

((((MomN)))) My son and I both have gluten and dairy intolerance (and choose to be vegetarian) and deal with it by not having those foods in the house. I have some regular pasta for dh but we don’t keep snacks etc with gluten in the house. If you are struggling with eating things you should not, I recommend removing it from the house. If you have family members who want certain items you cannot have, give them a box or basket in the pantry with their special items. Having it visibly separated from your food is your reminder that the contents are not for you. Cheese was the hardest thing for me to give up. When we had cheese in the house, I could literally stand in front of the fridge and argue with myself. Did I want the cheese or did I want to be healthy and pain-free. I now have several recipes for cheese sauce that we love and we use Follow Your Heart “cheese” on occasion. There is never dairy in my home now. Why is it so important to not “cheat” and eat foods your body cannot tolerate? A few years ago, my son developed several severe nutritional deficiencies and had stopped growing. The doctor explained that when you eat foods your body cannot tolerate, your intestinal lining becomes damaged. Some of the foods caused immediate pain but others were more silent in the damage they were creating. Even foods that did not create immediate discomfort and have my son racing to the bathroom were dangerous. When the gut is damaged, it can not properly absorb all the nutrients from food (or supplements) your body needs. This leads to feeling tired and low energy all the time and a host of other problems that are exacerbated with time. I know the transition in diet is hard, but you can do it and your body will thank you. It takes time for the guy to heal, but when you have completely eliminated everything that is toxic to your body, you will start to feel much better!

I am wondering if these allergy testing kits are easy to use and accurate. I seem to have developed some new food allergies and have had some unpleasant surprises lately. My lips are currently tingling and swollen from watermelon. I have eaten watermelon my entire life. A few weeks ago I had a terrible reaction to peanut butter. I would like to determine if there is anything else, I may need to avoid. I have always heard you can develop new allergies, but have never experienced it. Has anyone else developed new allergies as an adult?

I have never tried it as toothpaste, but I read you can use it as shampoo and tried that. DO NOT attempt using it on your hair unless you just love to have super dry, straw-like hair, that is so tangled it will be painful to comb😏

Ds 17 has one toe (the one beside the big toe) that is purple, hot to the touch, and looks slightly swollen. It has been like this for “a while.” He doesn’t know how long. Over a week he thinks. He says it doesn’t hurt and he can move it normally. (Editing to add that he has no recollection of injuring it in any way. ) Any thoughts on what could cause this? Should I be concerned? It can’t be broken can it?

Thank-you for all the honest and blunt responses. Reading your responses has helped me step back and look at our family dynamic from a new perspective and made me realize that I need to change my response. For those who wondered how I allowed the situation to go on so long, I think it has been easier to deal with years past only because my husband was working and traveling a lot. When he was gone, his time with our son was so limited he made a little more effort and even when he was ignoring our son it wasn’t as noticeable because he wasn’t home much. Since Covid, my husband is not traveling and has been home a lot. The increased family time has definitely intensified the tension. I hate confrontation and am not a very assertive person, but you helped me see I need to be a better advocate for my son. I have tried to not confront my husband in front of my son because I didn’t want to argue in front of him, but ds needs to see that I am actually standing up for him. Thank-you for pointing that out to me. I think I will also try writing my husband a letter. I think that will help give him time to process privately and be less defensive. Unfortunately, my husband is not interested in counseling but my son and I may seek out a counselor. Thank-you again for your thoughtful responses. You helped me see that I am not helpless in this situation and there are things I can do (and need to do) that might make a difference for ds.

My heart is so heavy and sad. I don’t want to share this with my family or real life friends because it is too hard to admit but I need some words of encouragement. My husband is a good provider and works hard. He is honest and a faithful spouse. We have been married 19 years and he is my best friend. He is also a lousy father. We have one child. Our son is almost 18 and my husband has never enjoyed spending time with him or ever made an effort to get to know him. When we are together as a family, my husband is rude and defensive towards our son like his presence and every word and action irritates him. Our son is hurt and it is breaking my heart to see our son hurt. I have tried to talk to my husband about this many times through the years and make suggestions for activities that might bring them together but my husband is defensive and always storms off angry and nothing changes. I love my husband and he is a good man but I cannot understand why he is such a jerk where our son is concerned. I fear that when our son leaves home he will never want to return to visit and spend time with us because his relationship with his dad is so tense. I just don’t know what to do. I don’t see an answer to the problem and feel heartbroken that the two people I love most in the world can’t be in the same room together. Does anyone else have a work-a-holic type husband who doesn’t have a relationship with their kids? Did it ever improve? If so, what made the difference?

Replying again to add that since your kitty goes outside freely (ours used to), I would definitely buy or build a catio or insulated cat house for daytime outdoor comfort. If you don’t want to isolate in a bathroom like we did, I wouldn’t hesitate to put her in a large dog crate in the garage at night. The big crates have room for a box and plenty on space left for sleeping. We did this with a different cat years ago. The dog crates are so tall, we even built an elevated platform bed with scrap lumber.

I think we have the same cat😏. Our cat struggles sound very much like your own. We tried all the things you have tried without much success. The vet had us try liquid rx calming meds and said they help about 50% of her patients. It did not help our kitty. We were ready to have her put down the problem was so stressful. What we have done instead is to get a catio to allow her to be outside as much as possible. (Sometimes all the daylight hours). She had two fans on her in the summer and a pet heating pad and blanket cover for colder weather. Ours is on a covered patio so it is protected from rain, wind etc. Giving her outdoor time reduced the peeing significantly! (She has water and a small box out there but has never had an accident in her catio). If she is not in her catio, she is in the master bathroom with the largest open-top litter box we could find. (Not ideal, but our best tiled space). She is allowed in the house basically only if she is on our laps. Since we homeschool and are home most of the time, this allows her some daily snuggle time. She is NEVER allowed to freely roam the house anymore. EVER! She sleeps in the master bathroom every night. I feed her at night in the bathroom so she has a full tummy and sleeps well. She does occasionally pee in front of her box. It seems if I put a puppy pad under and in front of the box, she is more likely to just pee in front of the box🤷‍♀️. She still pees in front of the box about once every 2 weeks but that is a HUGE improvement. While the catio and bathroom isolation have greatly improved our situation, I too stress over the idea of being gone from the house. When my mil passed away in Sept and we went out of state for her services (were gone 5 days), my parents drove 9 hours to come pet sit for us. My elderly kitty did great with them and did not pee inappropriately once. We are supposed to be gone on a winter vacation in late January and my parents can’t come pet sit. I am hoping to have a college student come stay at our house but feel super stressed that kitty is going to get upset and pee on the floor. Sigh 😔 Best wishes to you and your senior kitty.

😂I needed a good laugh this morning. Cracked up at Romania’s, “I was bitten by a rooster”. Going to try to remember VOO so I can use it lol