My DD is on a smoke free campus, but smells it all the time in her dorm. People also smoke outside beneath her window both tobacco and marijuana. At first she was sure she had skunks outside her dorm room, but her dad informed her it was more likely marijuana. Now that the rainy season has hit the 'skunks' have moved indoors. She had to insist on a roommate switch because even though she clearly requested a non-smoking roommate, she got put in with two smokers. She has asthma and smoking really makes it act up. She had to go through the accessibility office and get a note from her doctor.

All the time. A lot of people smoke in my area. It is a lot of why we stopped going to the county fair and other outdoor events. They can't smoke indoors but plenty still do outside.

My oldest and middle are almost exactly 2 years apart. My middle and youngest are just over 2 1/2 years apart. I was told by a therapist that having children in even numbers was better because then they will not have one left out. I am not sure how true that is though. I did not plan the spacing or number of children. We had fertility struggles and got what we got. I would have loved to have had one more. Oldest and middle have always gotten along fairly well. Middle is very laid back about most things. Oldest and youngest used to get along great until youngest was about 12 and then things went downhill very quickly. They fought horribly for several years and it didn't improve much until she went off to college this last fall. Now they get along pretty well in small doses. They play online games together and have plans to do stuff over Thanksgiving break. Middle and youngest had a trouble relationship. Youngest never got along with middle until they were in their tweens and teens. They don't have a lot in common, but they get along fine and give each other space. With homeschooling, I am not sure. In some ways a bigger age gap would have been nice so that I could have one old enough to work alone when working with the younger one, but in reality I doubt it would have worked out well. I really enjoyed when they were younger and we were able to combine some of their classes to do together, and that wouldn't have happened with a wider age gap. I try to think about the good stuff and not think of the "if onlys". I think that going into my 16th year of homeschooling, I am ready for this to be finishing up. I have two and a half years left. I absolutely love homeschooling and I really will miss it, but it was a season in life. My sister and I are 15 months apart, so one grade apart in a very small school. Growing up my sister mostly acted like she didn't know me in school. I was just the embarrassing younger sister. In college we got along much better, even at the same college for a year because it was bigger and we had more space from each other. My brother is two years younger than me and we always got along pretty well and still do. I don't think there is an ideal age gap really. I think it is more personalities and stages in life.

I did have each one take a night where they had to plan and make dinner one night each week. It went okay at first, but then started to go downhill fast. Youngest was really good at doing homemade individual pizzas, but DD complained a couple times that it wasn't how she wanted it so he refused to make it anymore. Then he tried a few other things, but got more and more frustrated because not everyone would eat what he made. It did give him more sympathy for me, but now he refuses to cook unless I really need his help. Older son was a pain because I had to keep helping him with what he was doing, and he never came up with anything on his own. Eventually it just wasn't worth it, because it was even more stressful. DH does all the cooking on Sunday, but I have to plan what he makes and give him any instructions on how to do it. He doesn't seem to care much how many people eat what he makes.

I don't really have a recipe. I just kinda wing it. I simmer a chicken for an hour in water with salt, pepper, carrots and celery (my mom also uses onions but I leave them out) Pull the chicken out of the broth and let it cool, reserving the broth Once it is cooled, pull meat off the bones, cutting it up into bite size pieces if needed Put the chicken in a large sauce pan or pot, add in 4 cups of the reserved broth, the chicken, season to taste (I use some onion powder and paprika along with salt and pepper as needed). You can also put the veggies back in if you want, they will be soft, or put in fresh for a firmer texture. Bring it to a boil, turn it down to medium-low to simmer. Make drop biscuits (recipe below), drop them by spoonful (or whatever size you want) onto the simmering chicken/broth mixture. cook uncovered for 10 minutes, cover and cook for another 10 minutes. Then it is ready to serve. Drop Biscuits: 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 Tablespoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1 stick butter (1/2 cup) cut up and cold 1 cup milk or cream Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt together with a heavy duty fork. Cut in the butter, add the milk. Mix just until combined.

I hate menu planning. I dread it. I have been sitting at my computer for a couple hours and finally got next weeks menu planned. I can't not plan, because that is a disaster and kills our already tight food budget. We have to deal with life threatening food allergies, food intolerances, and extremely limited foods some family members will eat (flavor, texture aversion, etc) I thought things would be easier when DD was off at school, but no, it hasn't gotten better. She was actually to the point that she would try most things, only a few things were on her won't eat list due to texture issues. DH doesn't do spicy anything at all. But he has improved dramatically since we got married 25 years ago. He will now eat a much broader range of foods if I am careful about seasoning. DS18 will eat many things, but hates any casserole type things, most fruits & veggies. DS16 will not eat much at all. He has food allergies which contribute. He will not eat rice, potatoes (unless deep fried), most fruits or veggies, soups of any kind, or eggs (unless boiled, chopped, and put on lettuce). Meat costs are going up rapidly so I would like to do more meals that spread out the meat like a soup or stew, but kids will not eat either. Next weeks menu is: Waffles for dinner - not nutritious but everyone will eat it Roast beef, potatoes, veggies, homemade rolls - DH will eat it all, older boy will eat all but veggies, youngest will maybe, if I am lucky, eat the roast and rolls Cheeseburgers and chips - again not healthy but I do make homemade buns. DS and older boy will eat, I will have to make a chicken burger for youngest Chicken and dumplings - because I am craving it (comfort food) - no one else will eat it as is. DH will eat everything but the dumplings, not sure if either DS will eat any of it. So I will also make biscuits. Ham - all of them eat ham (usually/sometimes/if I am lucky), rice (3 of us eat it), and veggie (DH &I will eat) Date night is easy - I only have to worry about DH and I who usually get take-out or make something we like for just the two of us and they boys get a frozen pizza of their choice Pork chops, fried apples, and some sort of homemade bread - DH will not eat pork chops, but older DS will, youngest does sometimes, the rest will be eaten by all usually I don't need menu suggestions, just to vent. Please feel free to add you own vents.

We have lived in our current house for three years. The first two it went in the living room in front of the bay window facing the street. Last year we put it in the living room in a different spot because our dog likes to look out front and I was afraid he would knock it over. I want to put it back by the front window this year, but I have the same fear, so I am contemplating where we could put it far enough away to give dog room to look out, but not knock over the tree or ornaments. We don't spend a ton of time in the living room unless we are just visiting in the evening. But we have an open floor plan and can see it from many parts of the house. I am also contemplating getting two trees this year so that we can put one in the family room where I spend most of my time. We have so many ornaments right now that they don't all fit on one tree. In our old house we put the tree in different spots every year. Sometimes living room, sometimes family room. I like to switch things up a lot. My family gets annoyed with how much I like to move furniture around. I get it from my mom, who does the same thing.

Our troop had mostly older scouts when my older DS crossed over from Webelos. Most of them stuck with it until they aged out at 18, but they were friends and had been together since Tiger Cubs. Only two of them made eagle, and those were right around their 18th b-day. Sadly we stopped getting very many cub scouts and most of those started dropping out for sports and other activities around Webelos age so we stopped getting scouts crossing over in very large amounts. Our last crossover was 3? years ago. We actually got a good sized group who were there for about a year, but then a number of families moved and the rest quit without their friends there. So I guess IME we are seeing less even going into scouts. My older DS stuck with scouts until he was 18. He got eagle at 16. When he left he was a Junior Assistant Scout Master. My youngest, who just turned 16 last month, has now decided to quit scouts. We had combined with another troop because we were down to only three scouts, but it happened right around the time of covid. The new troop was not good with precautions so DS didn't feel safe attending, so he gave up. He was about halfway to eagle when he quit, which makes me sad for him and angry that the troop couldn't follow safety guidelines. Scouting in our area seems to be dying. We had a huge loss with some of the recent changes in the last few years. And boys (and now girls) are not joining because they have too much going on. The ones that I have seen stick with it are ones that get involved in leadership roles or OA (Order of the Arrow). A few have done Venturing crews (DD and older DS were in one for a while), but it is hard to keep up numbers at that age group, when they have so much other stuff going on in late high school and early college. Last year we weren't able to recharter our pack and this year we will not be rechartering our troop. It is sad because this is the same pack and troop DH was in, and his dad helped found 40 some years ago.

Our cases, deaths, and hospitalization numbers are looking better than they had been, but I am starting to see a gentle slope upward again. We are now, in my county, averaging about one death a day. We are a pretty small county. Our death percentage is 1.8% (cases/deaths). My county has 53% of the population fully vaccinated. It went up slightly with the vaccine mandates for healthcare workers and teachers. But a number of people would rather lose their livelihood than get a vaccine. I tried to get my youngest a booster yesterday, but was told he was too young (16). For some reason I was thinking he was eligible because he has several health conditions, but I was wrong. People are not masking well, even with a state mask mandate. We had to run to the store last night to get something for a science experiment, and only about half the people were wearing a mask at all. People are not taking this very seriously. We are still doing almost all curbside pick-up for everything and not going out to restaurants or anything. My brother is a public school teacher and has to send kids home several times a week who are sick. The parents get furious about it and some have made threats to teachers and the principal. There are at least weekly protests about "Stop the Mandate".

I really enjoy decorating. It is something I look forward to every year. DH is fine with it and happy to help. DD looks forward to it to. I think the boys like the decorations but they aren't as into helping with them anymore. There was only one year that I had a hard time decorating. My depression had gotten really bad and I just couldn't bring myself out of it. The kids were pretty young at the time, but they and DH decorated that year for me. That really meant a lot to me. I am looking forward the Thanksgiving weekend. DD will be home and we will spend the weekend decorating together.

I would like to see something like that here. I think it would become something most (sadly not all) people paid attention for. The driver's ed car at the school has several stickers and signs on them. I am not sure if it is a legal requirement for them or not.

Update on my booster (pfizer). I am a little over a week out and doing fine now. The injection site was red, hot, itchy, and swollen over my whole upper arm for almost a week. I think I just react that way to shots now though. My flu shot I got on Friday is doing the same thing. I also had fatigue lasted several days as did an on and off headache. But I am prone to headaches, so I am not sure it was a reaction to the shot. Overall, I think I had less downtime with the booster. I still have ringing in my ears, I think it is permanent now. It got really bad starting just after the injection, but is now back to tolerable. I keep telling myself that I would likely have gotten the same thing with covid. DD and DH got their boosters. DD had no reaction and DH was just a bit tired the next day for a few hours. Youngest will get his shot on Wednesday and he is really excited about it (not the shot itself, but the protection of getting a booster). Middle kid doesn't qualify, which he is actually happy about. He has spent months and several visits to specialists to prove to the military that he is fit for duty with no health problems. He will get his booster/vaccine when he goes to boot camp in a few months.

I'm not even sure what we are doing yet. I have been discussing it with DH and the kids, but we haven't come to a decision. We were invited to my parent's house but my 16 year old is refusing to go. He has a lot of anxiety and doesn't want to get his grandparents sick. He is saying that the rest of us should still go and just leave him some fried chicken. I am tempted to take him up on it because my mom is in really poor health, and I haven't seen her much lately. Either way we will be having turkey and the usual accompaniments: mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes w/ marshmallows, cranberry sauce (canned at my parents/homemade if at home), and rolls. If we go to my parent's I will bring the rolls (homemade) and a couple pies (pumpkin and ?). Mom will make dressing. She doesn't stuff the turkey any more due to gluten issues with some family members. We don't have dressing/stuffing at home because none of us eat it. If we stay home, in addition to the rolls and pie, I will also make a stuffed mushroom casserole (DD and I love it), and some sort of veggie or salad. There will be pumpkin pie either way (DH won't let me listen to Christmas music until he has had his Thanksgiving pumpkin pie).

We did driving school, but we were told that we had to take them out and let them practice in addition to the school drives. To be honest, DH has done most of the drives with them. I have some serious anxiety being a passenger, and it is amplified when it is a new driver. It takes a lot of practice, starting with low risk places like parking lots and quiet neighborhoods, and moving up from there. Our kids all had to have enough hours behind the wheel before getting their license. I think it is 50, and 10 (?) has to be at night. Our youngest finished his class last month. All the classes were online except the final class where they do the written test. All the drives are in person wearing masks. Youngest passed his written test and now just needs to get more hours and wait a few months before taking his practical test. One thing my brother (former driver's ed instructor) did with nephew is get a magnetic "sticker" that says new driver on it to put on the back of the vehicle when they were out driving. He had extra, so he loaned one to us. I think that many drivers are more forgiving of mistakes if they know it is someone just learning to drive.

I still have mine. My mom made it for me, and I would have a hard time letting it go. It is in a box with two of my bridesmaid dresses, which I have hung onto because I never bothered to get rid of them. My mom still has hers also. She gets it out every once in a while to look at it. It was beautiful and I wish I could have worn it, but we are totally different sizes.

I got my booster on Friday, and felt fine until about mid-day on Saturday. I started running a low grade fever and had severe fatigue. I am still feeling a bit wiped out, and have had a fever off and on. My arm is red, swollen, and itchy today. Ringing in my ears is still there, but slightly better than just after the shot.

I believe Clallam and Jefferson counties also have a mandate for having a vaccine card (not sure about test) for restaurants and bars.

My boys had a toy shelf with cubbies and they each had one that held little things like this that they would pick up from various activities. My youngest would have loved to get the little trinkets instead of the candy he couldn't have. But I totally get that a lot of parents don't like having all the "junk" in their homes. I have thought about that when I give the stuff out, but I hope that even if it only lasts a few days, it makes them feel included.

I got my booster this afternoon (pfizer). About 30 seconds after getting it the ringing in my ears got a lot worse. The ringing started after my first shot, got worse after my second but had started to get less until today. My whole arm is a bit achy, but otherwise feeling fine so far. DD gets her booster tomorrow. She is really excited about it.

DH lost his somewhere on his desk so he pulled up his state vax record the one time he needed it. I am glad they were able to get your DH a copy.

If there is a specific health concern that runs in the family, I would be sure to bring that up if that is what you want the cardiologist to check on. Being specific on your concerns, I find, really helps. DS's cardiologist was always good about answering any concerns or questions we had. He recently had to go back as an adult, and being straight forward about what he needed/wanted accomplished made things go really smoothly.

I have done a variety of things: glow sticks/bracelets, bouncy balls, stamps, fake tattoos, small tubes of bubbles, sticky hands, stickers. This year I put together little cloth bags that have a sparkly teal pumpkin on them (from Etsy) and put in a small notebook, self-inking stamps, and light up rings. I will put up a teal pumpkin sign, and also registered online to be on the teal pumpkin project map. ETA: I forgot that I also put a set of dragon dice in this years bag.

Mostly, time with my kids. DD is gone at college now, so it will be great to have her home for a month. I would love to have some time with my family (parents, siblings, nieces/nephews) but we'll see how it goes. As far as things, I want a new fitbit because mine is older and not working as well as it should, but the one I want is outside the budget.

My kids always trick or treated in our neighborhood. The boys only went once since we moved a few years ago to a new neighborhood. I think one thing that really irritates me, and maybe it shouldn't, is that our neighborhood is given out of social media as the best place to go so each year we get more and more kids. Where we live now is considered the place to trick or treat in the area. I don't so much mind the people coming from out of the area as much as the traffic hazard it creates. It really bothers me when people drive around house to house because it makes it unsafe for the people walking. And our neighborhood isn't set up to have that much traffic or parking. If it weren't for the cars, it wouldn't be a big deal. We live off the beaten path so we don't get near as many as the main streets, but it is still a lot of kids. I put together small bags with treats and when they are gone we are done. This year I put together around 100 regular and 6 allergen friendly which we will send down a zipline. I really do enjoy handing out treats to the kids, because I know how much they enjoy it. As a kid I grew up rural and we only had a few neighbors we could walk to easily. My mom would drive us to a couple of relatives house, all rural, to get treats. It is a fond memory. We usually ended up with mostly homemade treats like donuts (from a friend of my mom's who made huge donuts each year), cookies and rice crispy treats from grandma, caramel apples from my aunts, etc. I never did a walk through the neighborhood experience until I had kids of my own.

I only use my middle name on official documents. I sign my name with my middle initial. DD has talked about switching to her middle name, but hasn't done it so far. My mom went by her middle name until she got to school and the teachers insisted she had to go by her first name.