I love the name hazel! Congratulations to everyone!

Thanks for this, it was helpful

Roll back if oil sanctions on Venezuela is very interesting. Preparing for trouble with middle eastern oil? https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/us-easing-venezuela-oil-sanctions-response-election-deal-official-2023-10-18/

I have sent myself to my room. But now I don’t know what to do with myself. Everyday for the last five days has had some completely different stressful or ridiculous or hurtful event. Today however, was going to be different. Had a great day thrift shopping with my 3 youngest after dropping dh off at work. Got some ok deals on some very needed things for ds13. Had lunch together. All good. Then. This evening happened. Someone who shall remain nameless needed dd and I to work with them on something that on the surface seemed easy enough. Oh no, not for our family though. Said person tells me to do something but my gut says don’t. I ignore my gut. This puts dd and I in what was a scary but ultimately not dangerous position. That someone then gives me advice on how to deal with the new situation and once again my gut screams no! I argue back about it but ultimately give in to do said thing. At this point the Lord or our guardian angel steps in and nopes the possibility of failing second, worse, advice. Someone had good intentions, but I should have listened to my gut. And now I am mad at myself. I am in time out because I don’t want to shower those around me with my negative feelings and grumpy demeanor. I am not mad at anyone but myself. I ultimately had the power to do whatever I chose in that situation and I chose to ignore my gut, go with bad advice and put us both in harms way. So how do we forgive ourselves? How do we get over being mad at ourselves? It’s not like when you are mad at someone else and they can be apologetic and make it up to you. I am mad that I didn’t listen to my own gut that knew better and it’s by the grace of God something bad didn’t happen. It’s especially hard as one of my dc was involved. It would be so much easier to be mad at the someone who gave bad advice, but ultimately it came down to me to make the call and I made two boneheaded calls by acquiescing. What do I do with myself now? ETA: said someone has always been the person in charge of this category of thing so I am used to following what they said and since my level of expertise in this area is little to none, I didn’t trust myself.

Your poor family, prayers all around

Philly steak sandwiches to use peppers? I added a boat load of cherry tomatoes to a batch of curry using Patak’s curry paste. It was phenomenal Spanish rice?

So I saw this today, and was immediately transported back to moving dh into our first home and he had an old picture book that in the story the boy was afraid the hunters were coming so he painted cow on the cow, dog on the dog, but on his pet deer instead of deer he painted pet so no one would shoot it. No one in the comments seems to refer back to the book… maybe I’m just crazy

Tipping. It really stinks. People should get a fair wage. Also, tiktokers who blast customers for the amount they tip, or who level their service on what they think people will tip. Just pay everybody fairly and drop the expectation. Tips should be for over and above service and people should not have to feel any kind of way about tipping. In my job I make an appropriate hourly wage, but occasionally do receive tips from people who feel I went above and beyond. I don’t expect tips, people do t feel obligated, as an employee I don’t have to live with the stress of not knowing how much money I am making through no fault of my own. I mean if you put in 8 hours you should get paid for 8 hours, it’s not your fault that customers don’t come for whatever reason. Just pay people a fair wage.

Nvm I found what I was looking for

So cut open a few yesterday and roasted them plain in the oven. They came out almost like a purée in the shell, didn’t really brown or carmelize, but were very sweet! We ate some plain as a side last night. Going to try some other recipes linked here. Not sure how savory will go because everyone that tried them last night said they were very sweet

@Rosie_0801 consider yourself liked

When you bake them whole, do you mean you don’t take the seeds and pulp out til after? When I bake a pumpkin, I cut it on half, clean it out, then bake it

I was gifted a 15 lb box of butternut squash. I have never eaten it before ever. They are smaller in size, about the length of my hand wrist to fingertip. They are a pretty tan color outside, I haven’t cut one open yet. Suggestions?

My small conservative rural town and the two others in my county would appreciate the noncandy prizes. I have not encountered anyone thinking having a non food option as any kind of “thing” accept nice. Now if you brought vegan chocolate…

I don’t have twitter, but right now I kindof wish I did so I could ask!😆

Which made it that much more fun that they might have done it. One of those things that gets stuck in there no one will know about

Ugh, dh agrees with you. 😆 Man I really wanted it to be a super literary nod!

Yes! But does the commercial reference it, or is it my imagination? Dh said he’d never thought of it all the times he’s seen it, and that it doesn’t fit with the commercial. So I am wondering if it’s an Easter egg or my imagination

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKwUp4jWpS4 watching freevee I have seen this commercial umpteen billion times. Is the very last 2 seconds of the commercial a reference to The Rocking Horse Winner or is it my imagination?

Prayers for all of you! I’m so sorry that he is going through this

And this was kind of my point. My girls in their current lives are much less likely to be assaulted by a stranger, much more likely by a date.

Yeah, I guess that could be it too.

I guess, but a rant about the classes and just saying I need to do a better job of teaching situational awareness in an uppity tone seems like maybe not the right way to talk to someone who just asked a question. I do know that a college aged girl in our wider circle was attacked in a parking lot in broad daylight and using techniques she learned in a self defense class got the guy to back off her while she screamed bloody murder til people came running and he ran away

I hadn’t even noticed the others one yet. I came here to post and then saw after it sent me back to the chat board that there were two more threads. I think dh doesnt really understand when I tell him something but he’s smart enough to agree with me in the moment and process it in his own time rather than pop off.

Wow, this seems appropriate as I see two more threads on misogyny! What a weird coincidence