I'm looking for grain/bean/pasta plus protein (we like chicken, beef, and pork) plus veggies. I have six kids. What are your crowd pleasers?

:(

This didn't happen in a vacuum. My heart breaks for our country and for targets of this hatred. :grouphug:

I have six kids and often I do road trips without dh because he's not into national parks and traveling the way I am. KOA cabins sometimes accommodate 8. If we are traveling as a family, we usually get two hotel rooms and each take three kids. If it's just me with kids, I look for six-person suites (my oldest opts to stay home with my husband). Exactly one time we stayed in a hotel with two-room suite that accommodated eight people. It's extremely rare to find a hotel that books more than six to a room/suite. I frequently book an apartment through a vacation rental site because having a kitchen and living area is much better than just a hotel room with beds and a microwave.

We have a Reebok that meets your requirements. Dh is 6'5" and over 200 lbs. The treadmill folds. It has an incline feature. We paid like $500 for it new six or seven years ago.

I opted for general anesthesia because I was nervous. I have a friend who recently had an ablation. She has a fear of being unconscious, so she chose to have a local anesthesia for her procedure. There are options to make it a less scary experience. For example, a Valium taken the morning of might help. (You'll need someone to drive you there and back home, but you're also not supposed to be alone afterward.) I had NovaSure. It was a good experience as far as medical procedures go. :)

I had an ablation a year and a half ago. I decided to do it because of very heavy, cramp-filled periods that inevitably triggered yet another UTI. I also got a migraine and was generally miserable and incapacitated for ~3 days every 3.5 weeks. (My cycles have shortened significantly in recent years to 24 days or so). Mirena made me bleedly daily for the full 18 months I had it. Continuous birth control pills made me bleed half the month. Both of these options made my migraines worse. I was also anemic, which compounded my autoimmune thyroid disease. When I went in for a consultation with an OB/GYN (I usually see my family practice doctor), he said that ablation or hysterectomy were the two options most likely to help. He recommended ablation as it's far less invasive, but he said that it may lose effectiveness over time. I'm a proponent of minimally invasive treatment, so I chose ablation. I underwent the procedure in an outpatient sugical facility. I could have had it done in the doctor's office, but I didn't want to be awake. I remember nothing between when I fell asleep and when I woke up. Recovery wasn't bad (slightly crampy for a week or so). My periods are still arriving every 24 days or so, but they're really, really light. No cramps. No UTIs. I do still get a migraine, but I wasn't expecting that to change. My iron levels have improved and I'm generally much happier with my cycles. ETA: Dh had a vasectomy more than two years before my ablation, so I didn't get a tubal ligation. They did ask me before the procedure what birth control I'd be using afterward. Pregnancy is possible after ablation, but the chances are extremely low and the risks are high (probable miscarriage). I've already birthed six babies, so I'm not interested in having more.

These are helpful, thanks. Our current home is very large (multiple living spaces, lots of bedrooms). The rental homes I've seen in the new area often only have one eating area and one living room area. Our formal dining set has seen better days, so that's on the list to sell or give away since we are unlikely to have a formal dining area unless/until we purchase a home with a formal dining room. If we end up with a formal dining room in the future, we can buy a new set. (Our plan is to rent in the new area while we sell our current house. Showing a home while living in it with six kids is not something we care to do again. We also want time to be sure we like the new neighborhood enough to buy there.) Our current bedrooms are large and only the two youngest girls share. Everyone will get a roommate in the rental house, but we currently only own one set of bunk beds. The other twin beds aren't anything special, so I think we'd get rid of those and buy bunks in the new city. Some of the furniture choices can't be made until we know the details of the new property, so I'll wait to get rid of big items that we might want to keep. I do want to keep my piano. It's a nice instrument, and it also holds sentimental value. An electric piano that can be used with headphones would be far more practical for a smaller home with multiple people who play, but the thought of selling my piano makes me cry. Dh bought it for me when we were newlyweds. I don't like the idea of packing the piano with our other items. Even if we rented a truck and drove it ourselves, I'd be nervous about damage. There are some twisty stretches of road and major elevation changes between here and the new city. We can drive the distance in one long day (I've done it that way many times but dh hates it and prefers to stop at a hotel halfway). I'm also nervous about parking a moving truck in a hotel lot. I've seen news stories about people being robbed. Dh and I watched a documentary on minimalism last week. Excess stuff really does stress me out. I hate picking it up and trying to organize it, etc. I've been trying to convince the kids that less stuff will be a nicer living experience. :) I have a large closet that I can empty out and use for storing packed boxes. If we could limit our boxes to fitting in that closet, I'd feel really good about that.

Dh and I are planning a move this summer (targeting June or July, depending on housing availability). We will be moving about 700 miles away to a different state. We've been married 18 years and have six kids. Our most recent move was three years ago, but that was only a distance of seven miles. I got rid of some stuff, but we brought a bunch of things over that we shouldn't have (new house was bigger than the old house). This time we are looking at a significant downsize (less than half the space we currently occupy). If you've done a move like this, I have questions: 1) Did you hire movers, use portable storage containers, rent a truck, or something else? If you rented a truck, how did you get your passenger vehicle to the new location? Would you recommend the moving method you chose? Why or why not? 2) How did you plan and execute the Purging of Things? I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. We've already decided which furniture items are worth the hassle of moving. We will sell or give away other items. But there is still a lot of other stuff. Did you go room by room? Do a certain number of things each day? Something else? How did you pare down your kids' items? I'm thinking of giving them each a box and saying they can only take what fits inside. 3) I have a piano I'd like to move. If you've used a professional piano moving service across state lines, what company was it? Did they do a good job? How much did it cost? I'm starting school (online) in April, so I'd like to be as move ready as possible before my program starts.

I've only been on one cruise, but I'd definitely do another under the right circumstances. Dh and I went to Europe five years ago. We planned last minute (two weeks before we went). I booked a Mediterranean cruise as a way to see multiple countries without having to unpack multiple times or deal with travel between cities. The rate was cheap ($299 per person) for six days and five nights, stopping at three ports before returning to Barcelona. We spent time in Barcelona in the days before the cruise left. How do you do it with a big family? I haven't done this. It would be tricky. We have six kids and dh's family wondered about a family cruise. Rooms only seem to hold 4-5 people max in most cases. What lines do you love or hate? We had a great experience with Royal Caribbean. I've heard mixed reviews about Carnival. Where are the good places to go? I LOVED the Mediterranean cruise. We stopped in Nice (we spent the day in Monaco); Florence, and Rome. There are longer cruises I'd love to do sometime. What are good prices? The $299 per person price we paid was really a steal. It included meals, too. They seem to drop the price to fill up empty spots. That price point put us in a random room assignment. We ended up on a lower deck but with a window (usually an upgrade). It was nice. Do you get sick? I felt a little bit seasick the first day. Dramamine helped. What else do I need to know? There's generally a lot to do on the ship, but we didn't see much of that because we chose to explore the ports instead. Excursions booked through the ship are generally more expensive than touring on your own. We did Monaco and Florence through the cruise line, but we did Rome on our own because the transportation from the ship to the city was more straightforward (train). We rode back from Rome next to a man who worked for the Vatican. His job was to verify miracles for sainthood. We conversed in Spanish since he didn't speak English and we didn't speak Italian. :)

In my experience as the parent of a transgender person, there is not an immediate acceptance. It's a process. It takes time. It takes thought. We sought the help of a psychologist who worked with our child to explore this issue. We did switch to a different (gender neutral) name at our child's request about a month into this exploratory time because it helped our child feel more comfortable. Here we are more than two years later. We are only now pursuing a legal name change because my child has chosen to transition socially as well as medically. It was not a quick process. It was thoughtful and careful and deliberate. In order to treat the mental health problems caused by gender dysphoria, medical transition was necessary. It is not necessary in every case. Many transgender people opt not to pursue it.

I think it was a dig at people who use or appreciate trigger warnings--in the same vein as the term "snowflake." When someone has the Truth of God's Word :rolleyes:, they don't feel a need to be sensitive. They don't care if "the truth" hurts because they feel like they are doing a service to the d*mned souls they're preaching to. :sad:

Dh is 6'5" and his sisters are 6'2" and 6'3". They are both married. They wear heels when they want. I'm pretty sure they both went to prom. They definitely dated in high school and as adults. Their husbands are both under six feet tall (5'10 or 5'11). My SILs say that a confident man isn't negatively affected by a taller woman. Some of my kids are tall and some are average. My 8yo dd has always been super tall. She's a head taller than most kids her age. So far she doesn't seem bothered by this. With a grandpa who is almost 7 feet tall, I think she understands where she gets it. I plan to have her talk to her aunts if she gets self-conscious as a teenager. In the moment, humor is a good diffuser for most insensitive comments.

I read story about 300 plumbers showing up to install filters for free. This was after local plumbers had been working to swap people's faucets to standard sizes so that filters could be more easily attached. I'm glad there are people like that, but it's also horrifying that no one at a city, state, or federal level has actually worked to fix this. It's my understanding that lead poisoning affects generations. :(

Nothing feels more loving than being bludgeoned to death by religious law.... I recall Jesus saying something about the law and the prophets needing to hang on the commandment to love, but whatevs. It's clearly more "loving" to shame and coerce people into living heteronormative lifestyles even though that kills them because at least their souls won't be eternally damned. Suffering in this life is no big deal. Except it is. It's a huge, bloody, horrific deal in some cases. :(

I'm glad my transgender son came to me, too. And I'm glad God prepared my heart to accept it long before my child came out to me. But I also wish that everyone had supportive, inclusive families. I know too many queer people who have the tortured experience of being rejected by their family and friends and religious communities. I have a friend who adopts these souls (welcoming them into her home and heart, inviting them for holidays and meals, etc.). She's a Christian, too, and her actions exemplify the love of Christ.

Okay, stop the bus. Let's talk about Jesus in the New Testament. He criticized the church and its leaders and its laws. He reached out to the marginalized--the ones society and the church ignored or vilified. He said to love. Period. The Christian persecution complex (and I was raised in a sect heavily steeped in this) is absurd. Actual persecution (i.e. physical, emotional, or legal harm) is experienced FAR more often by queer people in America than by Christian people in America. Someone disagreeing with tenets of your Christian faith while not actually preventing you from following those tenets is NOT persecuting you. On the flip side, conservative Christians try (sometimes successfully) to limit the ability of LGBTQ individuals to peacefully live their lives with the same opportunities as everyone else. When's the last time someone tried to make your heterosexual marriage illegal? Or said it was fine for someone to evict you for being straight? Or fire you for being cisgender? Or murder you and get off on charges because you're a freak who deserved to die?

WRT medical transition for transgender minors, I can speak from the experience of a parent. My child came out as transgender at age 14. He was always trans, but he'd never had the word to describe his experience before. I raise all my children to play with whatever toys they want and pursue whatever interests they have. This child was never "feminine" in the way our culture expects girls and women to act or dress or play. I didn't care about that. I also didn't wonder if he was transgender. I categorized his interests and preferences as "tomboy" (which is typically a culturally accepted gender non-conforming designation). Puberty triggered a massive mental health break-down. I know from experience that many teens have difficulty with the new surge of hormones, but my child's experience was very nearly deadly. I sought help from medical and mental health professionals. When my child came out about his sexual orientation, I thought, "oh, maybe that's why this has been so rocky" (we live in a very conservative community that is active in restricting rights for the LGBTQ population). Then he was bullied at school about it (someone he trusted had shared the info). Then he was suicidal. Then I pulled him out because the school refused to do anything. Then he told me he was questioning his gender identity. Then I found a psychologist who delved into that with him. The end result was a diagnosis of gender dysphoria. Two years later, at 16.5 years old, was when we started hormone therapy. The doctor would not have started treatment without the mental health professionals' recommendation (we switched to another therapist last year) that it was likely to be helpful in my child's case. And it has been. After two months of treatment, my child feels more comfortable in his own body. He's less anxious and less depressed. He's eating more. He's interacting with people more. It's a very positive change. I would never recommend someone jump immediately to hormone therapy. There are risks and the risk/benefit analysis must be weighed carefully with a particular patient in mind. I'm also skeptical that there are many doctors who would agree to hormone therapy without a clear and persistent case of gender dysphoria.

I'm just venturing into this thread to read Nathaniel's story. I'm so sorry for your loss. Thank you for sharing your sweet baby with us. I wish you comfort and peace for you and your family as you move forward. :grouphug:

Personally, I'd see someone as hostile if they wanted to legislate away my marital, parental, or other rights simply because they think my orientation offends their deity.

Transgender transitioning has nothing to do with sexuality. There are gay couples who, now that they have the option of marriage, wait until they are legally wed before they consummate their relationship.

An affair (which breaks faith and trust of a marital relationship) is not at all the same as a gay person dating a person of the same sex or a transgender person transitioning to live as their gender. Living an authentic life as a queer person is not comparable to cheating on a romantic partner or doing drugs or murder or stealing, etc.

I don't need them to agree, but I do need them to respect my life choices as valid. I don't question the validity of choosing a religious life. If it fulfills them and helps them be better people, I'm happy for them. That sentiment is not reciprocated. I concede that I'm defensive around them, but that's largely due to their previous behavior. For example, at a family birthday brunch my brother and sister talked in depth about how to get people to come back to church. I was sitting across the table from them. After twenty minutes or so I suggested to them that not everyone is better off returning to church and that it's important to understand someone's personal journey when attempting to minister to them. The conversation turned nasty (mainly due to my BIL) and I left in tears. That's only one example. For the most part I hold my tongue when talk turns religious. They don't feel a need to censor themselves because they "know" they are "right," but they sure don't like it when I respectfully offer up my alternative point of view. My transgender son feels largely invisible at family events because people generally ignore him. They don't want to acknowledge his identity and they don't want to hurt him, so they avoid the issue by avoiding him. Is that love?

"Approval" when we are discussing fundamental elements of a person's being is vastly different from loving someone who makes bad choices (according to you). I have experience with being loved despite my "bad" choices and it isn't nice. I do not feel comfortable with my religious family members because I know (based on my time in the church and things they've said in my presence) that they are judging me negatively. I don't feel accepted as I am: a good person who no longer shares their religious beliefs. They see me as an apostate, an Other. There's a barrier to the kind of close relationship I wish we could have. On queer issues, there's plenty of data showing that affirmation and acceptance by a person's family has a huge impact on their long-term mental health and wellbeing. Rejecting or disapproving of a child's queerness creates a huge possibility of suicide, drug abuse, and other tragic outcomes. Love without acceptance and approval is not enough.

This issue is a primary reason why the church and I parted ways. I was raised in a very conservative religion that has been politically active against the LGBTQ community for recent decades. My oldest child came out as queer a little over two years ago. I'd already been struggling with church because what I was hearing in lessons didn't match the loving God I knew. Too many people were being damaged by the messages and the actions done in God's name. Minor children were and are kicked out of homes, adult children were and are forbidden to bring their loving partners home, parents are saying they'd rather their child be dead than queer and these children are killing themselves. The message they hear is not "we're all sinners, but we are all welcome at church." The message they hear is "YOU are defective, unworthy, unloveable, and unwelcome unless you fit this specific mold" (not even all straight, cisgender people fit the mold). So I left and I took my children with me. My husband followed over a year later. My parents and my husband's parents are heartbroken because my action to protect my child in this life has (according to their belief, which I do not share) jeopardized our eternal lives. This belief soils our relationship with them because it prevents them from truly loving and accepting us as we are. Even though we are successful, compassionate people, we are not enough because we aren't part of the church anymore. How can anyone have a close relationship with someone they know disapproves of who or how they love? With someone who disapproves of who they are? They can't. The stories "love the sinner, hate the sin" religious folk like to tell about their gay friend coming over to dinner--well, I'm not sure if that gay friend views the relationship the same way you do. I have a lot of friends who also happen to be queer and none of them are really okay with the "love the sinner, hate the sin" rhetoric. They may be friendly with people who hold those views, but it's not the same as being friends with them. When I read about Jesus, I don't see any qualifications or restrictions on the commandment to love. I wish all Christians felt the same.