Same!

I have never slept with stuffed toys even as a child, and I don't have any. But I do love to hold them and feel them, so I have definitely been tempted on occasion to buy one occasionally, just to hold and feel--I guess a kind of sensory calming thing. I just don't want anything else lying around the house, or I would.

Well, last year I bought a longer style jean jacket because I needed something for in-between weather. I wear it with jeans all the time, but I don't have anybody to tell me it's weird. I recently heard a teenager at church saying something to her dad about how he was wearing denim-on-denim and that was a no-no. I just shrugged. I never have been a style icon, so I don't guess I'm going to worry about starting now. I do really like the short ones like you have with sundresses and such--on other people. But I don't own a sundress because I don't like the way my legs look either--not the veins, but they are always pasty white and I have thick ankles.

Congratulations! That's wonderful! I hope you have a fantastic vacation celebrating.

Very lovely! Thanks for sharing!

I'm so glad it was a great time together!

This may not work very well for you, because my sons were much younger at the time. But I was homeschooling the two youngest--maybe around 6th and 3rd grades? And they got in the habit of whining and complaining. So one day I brought out a jar with a lid and put it on the table. I told them that when they whined and complained, they had to give me a quarter to put in the jar. (Inflation would make that more, now.) If I had to listen to all the whining and complaining, then I should get to take myself out to a coffee shop by myself, and I might even get a dessert too. In fact, I could hardly wait! I think from that point on, I only got two quarters. They just needed something to make them aware of what they were doing and to break the habit. It was understood that if they were having trouble with something or really needed something to change, that I would work with them on that. With a teenager, I'd see if I could come up with something similar but age appropriate. Sometimes they just don't realize how much they are doing it, and what it sounds like to others.

I'm so glad!❤️

Sadly, yes. I'm afraid I don't remember the details very well. I should clarify before my mother is gone, but her memory isn't very good anymore, so I don't know if I could count on the accuracy of her answers. I had assumed that none of them (either side of my family) were slave-owners due to being rural farm families in the South--not wealthy people, by any means. But I was wrong. One family, at least, did have several slaves, but I can't remember how many--3-4, maybe? She remembered the story that when the man went to war, he told his slave that if the slave took good care of his horses, when he returned, he would give the slave one of his horses, which he did. That is all I remember being told. It saddens me that this is part of my family history. Was giving him a horse supposed to make up for the man's being a slave? It also saddens me that we still have so much racism, which periodically raises its ugly head even more than usual, reminding us that it never really goes away. One summer as a college student, I lived with a family from NJ. The mom told me that her (white) daughter was in a jazz dance troupe that was all black except for her. The mom said she did not understand the South, and why anyone would have a problem with their child dating someone who was black, because she would have no problem with her daughter dating one of her co-dancers. Playing devil's advocate a little bit, I said, "But what if he were Puerto Rican?" She paused at that, and said, "I see what you are getting at." I have lived in many places, in both the United States and overseas. In every place I have lived, there has been a kind of hierarchy of race; one group is the more privileged, one group is the more looked down upon. (And if it isn't race itself, it is ethnicity, or social status, or educational status, etc.) Like @gardenmom5 says, there is a tendency in people to want to be in power over others, to be the "honored" ones, to be "better", and to put down others so they can feel more important. It isn't just a problem of the South. It is a worldwide problem. As if something that we can't control makes us better or worse than someone else, rather than being a reflection of God's creativity in making all races in His image. And it is a "me" problem. If I start to be proud because I am "not racist," then I look in the mirror and see that I still have pride that tells me I am better because of another reason.🙁

We have a Speed Queen washer and dryer, not sure what model but they both say Commercial Heavy Duty on them, and were bought in 2016. Top loaders. We didn't use them for one year in there, because we moved and were in a rental that year that had a washer/dryer, so we just stored them in the garage that year. We haven't had any problems with them, I haven't seen any mold. We should probably look up how to clean them out, but haven't yet. They clean the clothes fine, especially if I use a good detergent. Though the unit in the rental looked pretty new, it was frustrating because I usually had to play with the washer in order to get enough water in it to actually clean the clothes well, and I don't have to worry about that with my SQ. No problem with them being rough on clothes. Ours was in an apartment that was on an upper floor the first year, and has been in a house on a slab since then. I haven't really paid much attention to how loud/quiet it is.

I love having six. But that's just me. I would have had more if we could have handled it financially and also other circumstances (including my age--I'm 43 years older than my youngest). So if you want five or more, go for it!

Thank you! I was thinking of her yesterday.

I'm so happy to read the update! I got on checking for your post to see if you had updated. I will continue to pray that he will heal and the doctors will know how to treat him most effectively. What a scare!

Oh @Janeway, I'm so sorry! What a shock to you all. I am praying for your son and your family right now.

Our 5th, that I mentioned above, might be closest to his sister who is 11 yrs older. They have soooo much fun together! He thinks she is the greatest ever, and they are now 34 and 23.