I'm sorry, Heart. I'm praying that God will sustain you and give you strength and wisdom. And that the light at the end of the tunnel will be a relief to you and a step forward into hope and better health after all you have been through.

I agree. My kids that have hammocks all have ENOs. Not cheap, but very good quality. I think most of them have doubles. They don't have stands, but have the straps they can use to put up on trees or columns wherever they are. Very easy to take wherever you might want one. Youngest always takes his on vacations with us, whether camping or otherwise. It becomes his place to retreat or nap.

https://www.pauladeen.com/recipe/cheese-straws/ This recipe can also be made by rolling out the dough and using a small sized cookie cutter if you don't have a cookie press (I don't). They are yummy and can be made ahead. If you have a mini-muffin tin, you can make tiny tarts of any baked pie by dividing up the pie crust recipe and pressing the dough into the cups to make the crust, then putting in the pie filling and baking. I've done this in regular muffin tins often, making French coconut tarts, pecan tarts, etc. (One recipe of crust, and one recipe of pie filling makes 12 regular sized tarts; you'd probably want the mini ones though, because a regular one is a full serving.) These can also be made ahead and frozen.

I agree with others that I would not tell the mother she needs therapy. I would do as much as possible to help her before she goes home. It might be that her home country does not have good therapy options, or that she might not be able to access them easily. Medical exam (with a female OBGYN), any therapy sessions that could be worked in (with a female), and any books that might be helpful (with the awareness that she might not be able to take them home).

I'm back! I was finally able to order my rower (it took about two months being on the wait list), and it came weekend before last. So last week was my first round with it, and I worked out five days. I took Wednesday off because it was the day after my vaccine, and I was fatigued, but I did a Saturday workout. My goal is 5 days/week with the rower or some other type of exercise. I've been pretty sedentary for a long time, so it may take some time to get revved up. However, today I did a 5K on the rower, so I'm very pleased. That will probably be my regular workout for awhile. It took me 38 minutes. Then I did a few stretches, which I will continue off and on throughout the day to keep my muscles from getting too tight. Maybe I will try different rower workouts, but I'm really boring when it comes to exercise, and prefer to hit a habit and stick with it, even if the variety might be better for me. That's one reason I wanted a machine that would work muscles from more parts of my body. Anyway, I'm glad to get moving again, and I'm starting to look forward to the workout rather than dread it.

What a precious boy. Hugs for your momma heart.

Those sheet pan dinners look delicious! Thanks for sharing.

Your comment on furniture took me back to my childhood. We moved into a large new house when I was 3 ½. I'm not sure how many years later that we got living room furniture (we had a den that was much used)--I was maybe 8-10? All that was in the living room until then was the piano. That room was so much fun. We built tents in there with card tables, had sleepovers, etc. My mom was so happy when she finally got furniture in there and could actually use it as was intended, but we kids were just a little disappointed, lol.

Day after 2nd Pfizer. Tiny bit of arm soreness. I've had a headache most of the day, and have felt tired/fatigued. That's all. Very manageable, especially since I didn't have anything on the schedule for the day, just in case. If I were working, I'd be able to push through, just wouldn't be quite as productive.

Just wait till you turn 60! 😆😬 It's so freeing.

I very happily got my second Pfizer this morning. It's a relief. I will be glad when my other family members are vaccinated, as well.

I was a fairly early homeschooler--my first student was born in 1986--but I was/am neither of the above. Conservative, yes. Fundamentalist, no.

I haven't done any research on this, but you might see what you can find as a consumer math or business math. It has a whole different approach, and includes things like different kinds of interest, etc.

Yes, those aspects of it do concern me. The impact of the physicality of the job can be a bit scary. On the other hand, it's like he's made for that type of job, and I know he will be good at it.

One ds is planning to do this. I just sent him the video! Thank you.

Mine was the same or maybe even less than normal. Growing up, the tetanus boosters were worse than this. And when I had a typhoid vax one time, it was much, much worse. Much.

Lots of good ideas above. I would add Spike Ball if it isn't a crowded beach.

For you, personally, Quill, if you feel you are on the line of "murky," I would think that the cancer would push you over that line to the vaccinate side. I don't know what the ones in charge of your area would think.

There is no way I'd go spend several days to a week at his parents'. It's just plain awkward, and that is not a healthy place for you anyway, from what you have described in earlier posts. Enjoy the break from the stress, tension, and responsibilities, and prepare for the move as much as you can. I am so glad you are making boundaries and standing up for yourself. You are sounding more healthy almost from one post to the next. (Don't look now, but I think your confidence is growing! 🙂 ) From afar, you sound like you are growing back into yourself again, with the added maturity that experience brings. Just an impression, since I don't know you personally. It could be that some of your difficulty in keeping up with housework, organization, etc., was related to depression or hopelessness related to your situation. (Musing here.) It sounds like your dh wants his cake and to eat it too. If you go, then he can push off the responsibility of the kids onto you, and just do whatever he wants without anything interfering with it. If you don't, he is the one responsible for making things work, or maybe his parents will. I agree that his thinking does seem to be spectrum thinking, though I don't know tons about it. It will be interesting to see how he handles the responsibilities in the future, and how his thinking might change after you move.

Congrats to your dd! Also, as far as feeling under-qualified for the job, my impression is that many jobs are looking for the capacity to learn, dependability, and a good attitude and work ethic more than they are for a candidate to have the exact training and skills for the job. I could be wrong, and it does depend on the job, but that is my impression. Training a new person can often be much easier than it is to find someone with the other qualifications.

My 17yo does not want the vaccine. He thinks he is invincible. Since he was exposed a couple of times and didn't get it (as far as we know), he "knows" he won't get it. Because he will be 18 soon, we don't feel comfortable forcing the issue, and we won't. But it is concerning. He has a hidden underlying condition that could make things worse if he gets it, and he knows that. It is possible (probable) that he has listened too much to the popular local idea that it's NBD, etc. Thankfully, the others in our present household will be glad to get it when their groups come up.

All the mentions of bootlegging remind me of something my dad told me once (he was born in the 1920s). When he was a boy, he and his cousin found a still in the woods. I asked what they did about it--did they tell the police or anything? He said that they ran away as fast as they could, and never mentioned it to a soul. It was a very dangerous thing to find a still; you could get killed for the discovery.

Thanks for checking in. Praying for you. I know you have had such a stressful past few years. I hope that your future is able to relieve some of that stress and help you feel healthy and normal again. You have made a lot of progress in spite of the circumstances.

October Sky

We live in a medium-ish town. There is one private school, and the big public high school (800-900, I think). The private school is not an option for us financially, and I don't think a good match for ds as far as his interests. Homeschooling became not-an-option about 8th grade for this particular ds. So public school it is. Last spring, from spring break on, school was virtual. Last fall, students were given a choice of virtual or in-person. Ds chose virtual, but it did not work for him, and after a few weeks, he asked the counselor if he could come back on campus. He is very relational, and needed those relationships with his teachers in order to do well. The students are supposed to be masked and other precautions are taken as well, but I don't know how well those things are enforced. There has been little apparent spread in the school, and when there are cases, the classes that student/teacher is in quarantine. It has seemed to work surprisingly well. If you feel both are safe, I, personally, would go with the larger school so that your ds is challenged and has more educational options. Even though there are options for our ds that he is taking advantage of, he is not very interested in school. It just doesn't challenge him where his interests lie. It is not a fun thing to see your young person lose the sparks of interest in learning. 😕 I miss the days when he was little and still happy homeschooling.