Oh my gosh. Yes! This happens with either our smallest cat, who somehow manages to take up half the bed, or the long, lean pupper below who has terrible back knee issues that make me feel guilty if I ask her to move or even readjust her sleep position. Can you feel her judgment? She’s misplaced her tiny violin.

(((((((Baby A and all who love her)))))))

Photo shoot for his fans. Lots of tail shots. LOL

Poop. I voted soup. LOL And I live in Arizona and make no food from here, had to actually google what AZ food specialties are and they're all meh to me. So I'm going to make Tex-Mex since DH is a born and raised Texan and Tex-Mex is our favorite. I did a beautiful asparagus dish last week for spring veggies but forgot to post.

My skin changed enough that I had to switch foundation as well. Honestly, as much as good products cost these days, I would make the trip to a Sephora or Ulta without any makeup on and ask the salespeople to help you. I find they are really kind and helpful. They find your color which will give a code match for virtually every brand in he store and will help you sample and remove and sample and remove. No wasted money. They are also knowledgeable about ingredients.

Well, my results were unexpected. 😂 I choose Ravenclaw. I’d like to hang out with Luna.

Our ENT has an audiologist in office. He scheduled dd after examining her ears for other issues. She was complaining about difficulty hearing. She actually has tinnitus, and her hearing tested perfect.

Sorry, wrong product…

I used a fake birthday, too, but Pinterest shows you more of what you look at. They will try to guess where you might be nudged sometimes, based on your history, but mostly they just show you more and more of what you look at.

Coming from Arizona, so even worse heat. 60s and rainy sounds heavenly!

Yes, the sequoias! Any forest would be awesome now, since we’re desert dwellers, but the sequoias are what I’d like to see the most. This has all been very helpful. Thank you. Love the Tu Tu’ Tun Lodge! I’m thinking we might do a few days here and there and move around, since there is so much to see. I’m looking at saving time by flying in. Usually we do the San Diego area, so it’s a pretty short drive. But CA is like vertical TX, and I don’t want to drive that long!

Yeah, the racks can go in the dishwasher, too. I’ve done that before. I spend approximately 36 hours a day in the kitchen, so it’s mine, and I keep it how I want it. LOL Maybe I’m weird though (and a little gross? LOL), but even when I clean the sink, I mentally file it in the category of a constantly contaminated surface because of everything that goes in there (thinking about raw meat juices, gross old drinks that the kids have left in their rooms to fester, etc.). So even when I’ve just cleaned it, I don’t consider it a “safe” surface and don’t use it that way.

I have a Kohler Whitehaven sink (one large tub) that came with a rack and love it so much! I don’t think I’d like the things you’re describing that block the drain/disposal because I’d have to be moving it all the time. But with the rack (I’m thinking what you’re calling a grid maybe?), the wires are spaced widely enough that most anything I’d put down the disposal just goes right through to the sink bottom and flows right to the drain. I use a lot of heavy cast iron pots, and the rack is strong enough to support them, and I don’t scuff my sink. Surprisingly, stuff doesn’t get stuck in the feet, and they don’t stain either, although I do soak the whole shebang in a little bleach water every now and then to sanitize. This is what I have. https://www.homedepot.com/p/KOHLER-Whitehaven-5826-and-5827-Sink-Bowl-Rack-in-Stainless-Steel-K-6449-ST/204660276

I'm doing something I've never done before. Asking here before doing any research at all. LOL We do the beach yearly-ish, but my DD really wants to try a lake this year, and we would all like to see the redwoods. I'm good with the redwoods instead of the ocean mainly because our beach vacation is my opportunity to reset my stress by feeling small and insignificant in the face of the power and beauty of Mother Nature. I think the redwoods could do the same for me. We would love one of those pristine mountain lakes I've heard so much about, and a place that would let us take the dogs would be perfect. I'd prefer a cabin vs a hotel, as we're a family of five, but I'm open to either. Any recommendations?

I always like to go with a couple’s registry. I’m personally not a fan of All-Clad. Beyond preferences though, they may have another set of pans on their registry, something they already own, or something that will be handed down from parents, etc. I have already set aside some of my high quality things that I don’t use as much anymore for my kids when they move out and/or get married that no one else would ever know existed. In particular, anything relatively small (as would be perfect for a single person or a couple) doesn’t get much use here in our family of 5 with 3 large teen appetites, so it’s been pre-handed down and is lying in wait. LOL As a pp said, as long as there is a gift receipt, I guess there’s no harm in going with something that is a favorite of the gift giver instead of something specifically needed/requested.

Is what I wrote what feels unsafe to you? I can only guess that since the post before that said you were going to come back and update. From what you have shared, it’s clear you and your DH have been dealing with family patterns, and that it’s a huge part of what you are processing. You have been through a lot, so it stands to reason that your kids have been through a lot as well, because that’s just the way family works. Kids see, know, and feel so much more than we think they do, so much more than what we wish they would sometimes, and some of what you wrote about sounds like it might have been…so sorry here, but for lack of a better word…traumatizing to the kids. Weirdly, someone deleted my quote of your post before I got back here, which is kind of creepy since it is not noted who did it.

As a person who witnessed my parents' marriage problems from a front-row seat, I would encourage you to look into therapy for your kids as well. It could help them process some of what's going on in their own lives right now as well as help break the pattern of parenting from trauma for them in 20 years. The parents' marriage/relationship can have a profound affect on a child's future relationships.

Cindy Lange at Integritas Academy?

This is awesome! And because I like tutorials, lol, here is their YouTube series of instructional videos.

Might have been Inspiration that I used, but there are so many to choose from now.

I used to have a mind mapping program that did this. It was one frequently recommended by OhElizabeth. Most mind mapping software would probably work. Mine turned the mind map into an outline with one click, and vice versa. Watch the video here to see what I mean. Don’t know how much this one is though.

Which brand do you buy?

Barkeeper’s Friend in powder form and a Magic Eraser got two shades of hair color out of my DD’s sink countertop. She is very lucky it worked so well…

For me, it didn’t. I tried it side by side with Sephora’s Best Skin Ever Foundation and it was identical in coverage.