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!

Cheddar for me but I'm not a native southerner. Dh was born in Tennessee and moved to Florida at age five. He says cheddar.

Have fun storming da castle! I do not think it means what you think it means. Feed me Seymour (when one of us is hangry). Tis but a flesh wound or Tis but a scratch. I'll be back (always said in Arnold voice) Please, please, please listen! I have one or two things to say - from Life of Brian There's no crying in - substitute baseball for whatever the situation is.

Some important safety information for the eclipse

I confess I have moo'd at cows but from the safety of a car while passing them. Also, I regularly have meow conversations wit my cats. 😂

We went on RC last year and it was good. Dh and I didn't get the streaming package but ds did and he didn't have trouble with videos.

My first thought as I read this was "She's probably calling to make sure you all aren't looking at the sun". I know it's frustrating and not funny but it did give me a chuckle when I thought that.

It's too far to make a difference to you but we always get gas at Costco, the cheapest around. You could top off your tank when you go. Electronics - I bought a Samsung tablet and Samsung Galaxy watch, we bought our most recent printer. We did look when we needed a new tv and more recently when I needed a new laptop but didn't find what we wanted there. Still, they have a great selection of electronics at often the best price. Ds loves the pho and ramen - they have several different kinds of each. We get coffee, cat litter, and some otc meds. Our insurance gives us a card that reloads every quarter with money to spend on otc meds but Costco isn't on the list. We only buy there if we use up our cards. A lot of people like their eyeglasses but again, not on our insurance. Frozen - pot stickers, egg rolls, mozzarella sticks, fish Bulk - We do buy paper products in bulk but we have room to store them. There are four adults living here (ds and girlfriend) so it makes sense. I also buy chicken and pork chops in bulk, then divide and freeze them. I buy dishwasher tabs and laundry tabs. I rarely buy vegetables because I don't like buying them in such large amounts. Same with eggs. They sell a premade chicken tortilla soup that we all like. When I can't decide what to make or forgot to thaw something for dinner we go and get the rotisserie chicken and some sides. I bought some clothes there that I like. I have some stretchy cargo pants I got last fall and recently bought a pair of capri pants. I also got a windbreaker/rain jacket there that's perfect. They have a nice wine selection at decent prices though I also like Aldi wines. I don't know about the liquor store because we don't really drink spirits but a lot of people say the prices are good there. Keep in mind you get cash back (in the form of a Costco gift cert.) at the end of the year based on your spending.

I agree. We had a Costco about an hour away for years and I never went. We have BJ's and Sams close by and I alternated memberships. Once Costco opened up 5 minutes from my house I bought a membership and let Sams expire (We let BJ's go some time ago). Now that I've been to all three I do like Costco best but not enough to drive an hour. If one hadn't opened near me I'd still be using Sams.

That's the bridge accident that I had in mind for reference. They're very different types of bridges but my first thought went to the Sunshine Skyway bridge accident.

I have an 88yo aunt who constantly complains about how hard it is to get old but 1. She's in the early stages of dementia and repeats her age complaints all day long, and 2. She's always been a complainer. I don't remember a time in my life when Aunt *** didn't have something to complain about.