Veggie pizzas or burrito bowls with some well seasoned beans and lots of toppings seem like an easy start. Veggie soup is nice. Make your stock with leeks and it’s surprisingly satisfying as a savory soup base. I’d do component meals so yours can be vegan but everyone else can have cheese. Vegetarian alone will be a hard enough sell in the beginning.

I hate bad smells. I have a super powered nose so I smell everything all the time. With bad smells I KNOW I can only smell them because particles of badness have traveled from the source and INTO my face. It’s gross.

I’ve decided that December brides are the smartest. Everything is already decorated so you save a bundle.

I vote go and use the time for stress relief. Go up the night before. Spend time relaxing in a hotel room alone. Plan your upcoming shopping trips/menus with surgical precision if you want to be productive. Enjoy the visit with family. Make sure you have books or podcasts that you really enjoy for the drive. When you get home you’ll be ready to tackle home and holidays.

I use freezer ziplocks. I’ve been thinking of buying the reusable ones, but haven’t gotten around to it.

A cuisinart with a light hand on the pulse button?

Can't we call the curriculum blunders due diligence or market research or something that makes us sound like we were just being thorough? You know, kinda like the "choosy mothers choose Jiff" commercials. Those moms HAD to try the other peanut butters to make a sound choice. Right?

I didn't know there WAS such a thing as a fruit knife! If it were my kids, I'd send a paring knife and my apple-slicer-thingy that cores it and cuts it into sections. The internet tells me it's possible to cut up an into sections, then secure it in its original shape with a rubber band and that will prevent browning. I haven't tried this in real life yet.

I thought the gin ad was about being frustrated over the Internet uproar that the bike ad caused.

How do you feel about physical labor as a weekend hobby? I grew up in the country. Taking care of land is so time consuming. I have more yard chores than I care to complete on my tiny suburban lot. I can't go back. I also can't go back to committing an entire hour to getting more milk in the house.

I'm 🤣ing at the photos of Christmas trees set up inside big dog kennels so the pets can't get to them.

This is the part I don't get. This wasn't some youtube upload. It was a commercial with actors. What's she fearful of? The director?Messing up her lines? I do not understand this level of backlash over a mediocre commercial that does no harm. As witch hunts go, this one is especially odd.

I've hit a pathological level of stalling with holiday stuff. It only makes sense that I'd start a new thread instead of pulling out my tree! What did you wish for, then get, and it turned out you didn't like it/want it after all? I'll go first: 1. Soda Stream - I'm a girl who uses ALL of the appliances and loves them. We never use the soda stream. It turns out 3/4 of us prefer non-fizzy drinks. We all sort of abandoned even recreational sodas at the same time. Dh likes cola, but that flavor is the hardest to create with the soda stream so it wasn't worth experimenting with recipes. Also, he cut way back AND switched to the cheap stuff because it's lower octane than Coke. 2. Gas stove - I thought I REALLY wanted one. It's so much easier to control the temperature of the range. However, when we had one for five months DD and I didn't like it. Cooking with it was fine, but both of us HATED that whiff of gas you get right before it lights. Dh and Ds thought we were crazy and never once noticed it. We have gas heat, but I'm so rarely in the basement at the exact moment it kicks on so it's not an issue. 3. Open Concept living space - It's so pretty and airy and nice looking! The reality of living in it was not something we enjoyed. We used the functionality of dedicated rooms a LOT more than we entertained anyone. We were also accustomed to a level of quiet that you can't get when your kitchen is part of your living room. I didn't realize how often two people would be having a private conversation, one person would be doing school work, and another would be cooking at the same time and we found it really annoying and distracting to have all of those things happening in the same room. 4. A new sofa - I just made a bad choice. However, I'm they type to use a sofa for twenty years until it literally falls apart. I wish I'd chosen a different one. It really should be more comfortable for what we paid for it. I could probably fix it by adding a layer of denser foam under the bottom cushions, but I'm much better at dreaming up projects than I am at completing them. 5. Two Story House - ugh . . . If I had a time machine. The light, the ease of cleaning, the accessibility. Our house works for us, but if I had it to do over again I'd go the rancher route.

Annnnd I'm still in denial 🙂 "Put up tree" is on my to-do list yesterday and got bumped to today. We'll see. I have my last class before the holidays for one class tonight and the same deal with co-op tomorrow so I can see it getting rescheduled again. Goofing off here isn't helping.

I don’t understand how an actress playing an imaginary woman can “look abused by her husband” or not look “normal” or “happy.” People analyzing it like it’s authentic footage is what confuses me. Sometimes there are just bad commercials. It doesn’t mean imaginary lady needs an imaginary intervention. I think imaginary lady just created an imaginary fitness habit. That’s HARD for some (real) people and WOULD be life changing even if your size remained the same. People LOVE to pile on. They just do.