No but I've always had a pet who slept with me so maybe they took the place of one. It's always been either a dog or cat but there were times when I shared a bed with both. Fortunately dh likes sharing a bed with pets too. Ds' girlfriend sleeps with one - she's 24.

We started the year by going on a 7 day group cruise with neighborhood friends. The Eastern Caribbean cruise went to the Dominican Republic, St. Thomas USVI, and Tortola, BVI. Photos below are from the British Virgin Islands at the Virgin Baths and Gorda, which was our favorite part of the cruise. Next Friday (May3rd) we're leaving for the longest, most expensive vacation either of us has ever taken. We're flying to NYC and taking the Queen Mary 2 to Southampton. From there we head to London for a few days of being tourists. Then we fly to Edinburgh where we'll join a group for a 15 day tour around England. The tour is called Journey Through Scotland and England but Edinburgh is actually the only place in Scotland on the tour. The tour ends back in London where we'll stay another few days and do various touristy things (including a day trip here and there). Next, a train to Cardiff where we'll spend several days in which we haven't booked anything. If anyone familiar with the area has ideas I'm open, otherwise we just plan to explore. We might do a Doctor Who tour if one is reasonably priced. Finally, we head back to Southampton for 2 days then board the Queen Mary 2 for the westbound trip home. We would have liked to spend a few extra days "doing" NYC but our budget won't allow it so we'll save it for another time. Instead we'll head from the ship to the airport and will finally arrive home on June 15th. Am I excited? Absolutely. Am I also a bit nervous? Of course. Ds26 and his girlfriend (24) will be here while we're gone so we're not worried about anything at home. Fingers crossed that no early season hurricanes come while we're gone but if they do ds is a native Floridian and knows what to do to protect the house.

I agree about The Rest is History. The History Chicks is two women talking about historical women. I really enjoy both of these podcasts but I'm a history nerd 🤓

Same here. Radical feminist. Before I met dh I had a career and was fine on my own without a man. After ds was born we both wanted one of us to stay home. My traditionally female career as a teacher meant I made less than him even though I have a college degree and he doesn't. If I was making more than him he would have been the stay at home parent. We made the decision purely on who needed to continue working due to higher pay. As always Rosie, you're spot on. In the US it seems odd how many men in the trades have turned so conservative. They still want their unions and the unions still support liberal candidates and causes, yet the rank and file often vote for the conservative candidates. As to the Gen Z question, my only reference is ds 26 and his friends. None of them are into any of this kind of thing. He and his male friends are feminists. They're quite liberal/progressive, and all the young women work. Not all have careers but all have jobs they don't want to quit.

First, I should say I cry easily over movies and books. I just watched the trailer and it made me teary eyed. Can't wait to watch the whole movie. Thanks for the rec.

Not from the south but no. I don't have a lot of information about my dad's side but general family lore is they (both his paternal and maternal side) came from Ireland during the famine. It's possible his paternal side went to Canada first. They all settled in the northeast and were too busy being poor immigrants to own people. My mom's side (again both paternal and maternal) came from Italy in the late 19th century. We have papers from her maternal grandmother's family coming to Ellis Island in 1885. We don't have details about her grandfather's side but it was around the same time. They all stayed in the NY-NJ area. Dh's family likely did but probably very distant relations. Both his parents can trace their families back to some time in the early 1700s and both families went to the south - Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. His branch of both families settled in Tennessee and seem to have been the poor relations. It's not impossible that a direct ancestor of his owned slaves but there's no actual information that anyone can find and all seem to have been fairly poor. FIL was very into ancestry research and I'm pretty sure he would have mentioned if he found anything. He wasn't afraid to confront such truths so he wouldn't have hid the information if he found it.

It sounds like a wonderful trip! Thank you for sharing that photo.

Thank you for the update @MercyAand @Kassia. ❤️

I have quite the potty mouth. I'm neither proud nor ashamed of it - it just is. However, I'm actually careful about my audience when I do use profanity and I wouldn't put any of those words on a sign outside (or even inside) my house, on a tee shirt, etc. I'm right there judging with you.

Ds' girlfriend works at Starbucks. You did what she told me people should do. She says when you have a freebie reward you should get a big, expensive drink. Was it good?

Editing because I realized you said don't quote. The quote was in regard to complaints about you not attending meetings. Is there any way to work into a conversation (with those people around to hear it) something to the effect of, "It's hard for me to fully know what the situation with X-student is since I was told not to attend the meetings.". ?

A friend and her husband just returned (I was watering her plants and feeding her cat while they were gone). They enjoyed a walking food/history tour, a river boat architecture tour, the Field Museum, Art Museum (they went twice), and Lurie Gardens. She said the Museum of Science and Industry was a let down because there's your admission ticket but then you have to pay extra for a lot of the exhibits once you get inside.

OJ was one of the best players in the history of football and not a bad actor. He'll only be remembered for one thing though. The murder of his wife and his subsequent escape from justice.

Sorry, I've never made it. I just order it at country, southern style restaurants. MIL used to make it and though she shared many southern recipes with me that's one she never got around to sharing.

No one has mentioned sausage gravy on grits. Yum!