We have a neighbor with a Frenchy. She's a muscular, incredibly tough little dog. Like a cannonball on legs. She jogs with them and runs after them when they're biking. I can't imagine how she does it, especially as the weather warms up. Nor can I imagine even the biggest dog being a threat to her. I'd be more worried about her latching onto the other dog. That Frenchy is like a boulder, and she seems to be fearless.

My understanding is that functional movements are movements that relate to the things we need to do for activities of daily living. So reaching up is a functional movement because we need to reach things in cabinets and on shelves. Squatting is a functional movement because sitting on a chair or toilet is an ADL, as is picking things up off the floor or ground. Installing carpet is a job, not an ADL. And yes, I think it's the repetitiveness that's bad. Probably very bad. I agree with @KathyBC -- avoiding extremes is likely the best. That's what the healthiest, longest lived people I've known have seemed to do. They had active daily lives, but they didn't do repetitive type labor for hours on end most days of the week, nor did (do) any of them do formal exercise. They've been people whose jobs or lifestyles kept them moving a lot in non-stressful, non repetitive ways. They've been (and continue to be) doers rather than sitters. My MIL is almost 85 and is still very healthy and very active. But she doesn't normally sit for more than an hour or so at a time. She'll go for a walk, find something to clean or some yard work to do, etc. That's how all the healthiest older people I know have been. Of course their genes no doubt played a big part, too.

We've had a Weber Q for about twelve years. We don't use it a lot, but it still works fine. We've had to clean out the burner holes a few times, but it's easy to do. We use this cart to hold it.

Youngest DS started an early college high school program when he was 14. He had no problems.

There's nothing at all wrong with wanting the dog who is right for your family. Instead of (perhaps) thinking that you're failing the Weim by not adopting her, think of the huge gift you've given her by fostering her until she finds the perfect home. Also, you've posted at least twice in the past few months about arthritis issues. IIRC now it's just your fingers/hands, and I sure hope it stays that way. But as someone who was diagnosed last year with RA, I know there's no way I could meet the exercise needs of a young, large(ish), energetic dog now. I felt it coming on years ago, and that's why we have a low energy, small dog. Not that a Golden is small by any means, but in general it's much easier to find their "off" switch than it is for a Weim. I won't bring a dog into my home whose needs I can't meet. That wouldn't be fair to the dog, and would cause me much stress.

Regarding fabric softeners -- those should never be used on synthetic athletic wear. Ever.

Add it just like detergent. So if you have a slot for that you can put it there, along with liquid detergent if you're not using a pod. Otherwise put it in the drum, either before or after putting the clothes in. That's what I did with a front loader. I have a top loader now w/o a detergent dispenser, so the PineSol goes in the bottom of the drum along with the detergent, then I add the clothes.

You need to use a small amount of PineSol in your wash (my choice for getting stink out) or use a laundry detergent designed for athletic/sports clothing. For DS23's very stinky laundry (he ran track and cross country throughout high school) a bit of PineSol along with my regular detergent (Tide or Persil, usually) worked wonders. PineSol is an anti bacterial.

I'm sorry, FFH. I too hate mother's day. I have no concrete reason, no issues with my mom or my kids. But the day feels so horribly artificial to me. Since becoming a mother I particularly dislike the day because I feel it more or less forces others to acknowledge me. I don't care for attention any time, and particularly hate the forced attention that MD (and birthdays) brings. Ugh.

If she were mind I'd want to get her checked out.

As long as she's acting relatively okay and you know she has urinated recently then waiting until tomorrow should be fine. Females can get blocked, but it's more common in males. And if that happens it's an emergency. She's a beautiful kitty!

We only use Gorilla or Duck brands for tape that really matters. Gorilla is significantly better, so we get it if we can.

I use diluted Mr. Clean and a microfiber rag for cleaning most things. As others have said, it’s really important to clean that filmy gunk off the inside of the window.

And I forgot to say earlier that sero -negative RA is a thing. Lots of people who get an RA diagnosis don’t test positive for RF or anti-CCP.

Katie, what you describe is similar to what I experienced. My mother had RA. For years I had symptoms in my fingers, wrists and a few other joints. I was always rheumatoid factor negative. Until I wasn’t. My rheumatologist says I had a classic presentation of RA. And FWIW my inflammation markers are rarely elevated, even when I have multiple swollen joints. And yes, controlling that inflammation is key to preventing damage. Take NSAIDs and rest your finger/hands. You need to have your anti-CCP level checked. It’s a marker that is even more specific for RA than rheumatoid factor, although like RF it often doesn’t become elevated until further into the disease process. There are several types of inflammatory arthritis. A rheumatologist can help sort things out. You can fiddle with your diet (not helpful for me, and according to the arthritis board I’m on not helpful for the vast majority of people with RA, but I believe others who say it helps them) or try some supplements (my rheumy recommends turmeric/curcumin) but you probably really do need a work up by a rheumatologist, especially if swelling and/or pain persist for more than a couple of months despite rest and NSAIDs.

Ditto about long wait times for repairs at RV dealers. We try to avoid using them. We aren’t particularly handy but have learned a lot over the years. We have a local mobile RV repair man we use when we can’t do something ourselves. And once we were in Williamsburg when temps were running around 100 and one of our AC units started acting up. We used a mobile repair man for that, too, and it worked out well. Most larger metropolitan areas and tourist areas where RVers are common will have at least one mobile repair, and some popular tourists areas have several to choose from.

We have lots of skinks that hang around our front porch and back patio, and I suppose they keep the insect population under control. I don't see many insects inside. Mostly what I find are centipedes, lady bugs and stink bugs in the sun room, rarely in the main part of the house. Ants are a seasonal issue, but (knock on wood) so far this year all I've seen have been in the sun room. The occasional fly, especially in another month or two when the humidity rises.

No. I have enough unavoidable stress in my life. In the absence of a clear cut reason or need to do so, I refuse to allow something like food, which should be one of life's enjoyable pleasures, to become another source of stress.

I read the reviews from people who said their Zinus mattresses didn't expand properly, and they did make me a bit hesitant. But both of the ones we bought expanded fully within 24-48 hours. They did have just a bit of an odor when first opened, but that dissipated pretty much by the time they were fully expanded. We opened both of them in rooms that had AC on and ceiling fans running; I don't know if that helped the odor dissipate or not. The instructions do say to open the box/allow the mattress to expand within a certain time after receipt. I want to say it's within seven days, but it may be ten days. I don't remember exactly, but I do remember that it was fairly soon after receiving. I don't know if people who had problems with theirs expanding waited longer than that, or if perhaps the mattresses had been in a warehouse too long before shipping. I suspect if you had a problem the company would send you another one and you'd have to dispose of the faulty one. But that's a guess.

I bought one of these for each of the boys last summer. DS23 was moving into his first apartment all of his own and starting his career, and DS20 was moving into an off campus apartment near his university. So they've been using them for about nine months now. And both of them are still raving about how well they sleep.

He's a double major with an econ degree and one in something that had to do with management (I don't remember the actual name!). He's employed by a major tech firm that has offices in Silicon Valley and Research Triangle Park (Raleigh/Durham area). He graduated from UNC, so in the same area as his employer.

DS23 wouldn't have the job he has if he hadn't graduated from the university he did, or from a very small handful of others. They have a blanket policy of only taking new graduates from certain unis. Many years ago when I worked for a huge, nationally known law firm it was the same--they only recruited from a handful of law schools. For some companies (and/or careers) it really does matter. For others it doesn't.

We've been RV'ing for about 12 years now. I couldn't do it full time. Just thought I'd throw that out, FWIW. You might want to check out Long Long Honeymoon (LOLOHO) on YouTube. They're a couple who travels with an Airstream. They don't full time, and many of their videos are more general RV tips and not Airstream specific, but you might enjoy them. There are quite a few motor coach resorts throughout the southern U.S. that sell properties that include an RV parking pad and a smallish cottage. All the ones we've seen (or stayed at--we did it a few times when we had our large RV) are for Class A's only. But you might be able to get some ideas for floor plans of small cottages that work with an RV. Here's one (they call their cottages "executive suites or "RV port sites.")

Sure, there are groups who do dog transports. The longest one I've ever participated in was from NC (I was the first leg) to NYC. But there are groups who will arrange for even longer ones. And there are private animal transporters, too.

If they had in fact ordered the item they would probably have been able to follow the tracking via the carrier. I often get almost instant updates for packages. And I did have a snafu one time with Home Depot. It involved my items, items that were supposed to go to one person in Pennsylvania and items that were supposed to go to someone in Georgia. They apparently put the wrong labels on the wrong items. I was able to figure it all out through my package tracking data and through my account on Home Depot. Had the person who received my stuff been local rather than in Georgia I could have gone to pick my package up. But all that doesn't mean this instance wasn't a scam. You just never know nowadays.