Nothing too exciting, but we did indulge dd in a new pack of highlighters in her favorite color. In case you're confused, her favorite color is rainbow. :D

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Ah, this explains why I couldn't remember posting about missing chipmunks. Got a couple new Likes on my post, though. :D

My ds2 started part-time private school in 7th and then went full-time in 8th. He, too, was a bit lonely and was ready to be around more people. We'd tried several homeschooling groups and just never clicked with anyone. And there were very few kids his age at church. He's more social than the rest of us and needed a different outlet; he wanted to go. School turned out to be a good fit for him. Your son's decision may have nothing to do with you--he may just be ready for a new adventure. It's hard letting go but sometimes that's the best choice. I felt a lot of guilt when ds1 went to school because we basically pushed him out; he didn't want to go. But for various reasons it turned out to be a good decision for our family. :grouphug:

Agatha Raisin--mystery series--is always up to one thing or another.

Dh did all the driving when we went on an RV vacation a few years ago. He said the most exhausting part was keeping the RV in the lane because the steering was loose. I don't know if this is characteristic of all RVs or just the one we had. For context, he has his CDL and has driven a bus before.

Similarly, our vet recommended against us taking in a stray we found as it tested positive for feline aids and we have healthy, non-infected cats in our home.

Dh has done the Staples rebate thing. It didn't take 6 months--probably about 6 weeks, I think--but he said it was such a hassle to get all the info submitted. This was a few years ago so possibly things are easier now. Anyway, since then we've just bought paper by the case from Walmart--10 reams for $25. It's only 88 brightness but that's good enough for us.

My current favorite black teas are Three Gardens and Irish Breakfast from Republic of Tea. My current favorite herbal is Ease from Plum Deluxe. (Sorry, don't know how to link from my phone.) https://www.plumdeluxe.com .

Last year ds1 had similar symptoms. Doc said probably either strep or mono and that they'd do the strep test first because it's faster. When that was negative he did the mono test; that came out positive. He was given a steroid shot for the aches and pains and sent home to sleep it off. He was fortunate to be mostly over it in about a week, but I know it can take much longer to get well. :grouphug: Hope your ds gets better soon!

I'm not crazy about Eclipse but it's way better than Clipsey.

We recently tried those small yellow potatoes that are about the size of a small bouncy ball. The directions say cut in half and bake at 425 for 10-15 mins. I didn't cut the smallest ones at all, the medium ones I cut in half and the large ones I cut into 3-4 pieces. Most were done in 15 but a few of the larger pieces needed about 3 more mins. But when I roast white/russets they seem to take at least 30-40 mins with pieces cut about the same size as the yellow potatoes.

Yes! I remember reading through those catalogs. I don't think I ever bought anything; out of my price range. But the catalogs were great. And I loved Seinfeld's parody of it.

Well, it seems like a silly disagreement but if it bugs your dh that much then go to a different place for your ds.

I got a fire ant bite on my hand once--my hand swelled up and itched like crazy. The swelling went down after a few days and the bite mark cleared up but the itching went on for a month! The time I got stung by a yellow jacket was horrible for a couple days but cleared up faster than the fire ant episode. :grouphug: I hope your ds feels better soon!

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Dh and I have noticed the tea thing changing as well. When we lived in MS tea was automatically sweet, as in, if you ordered tea without specifying what kind you'd get sweet. You had to ask specifically for unsweet if that's what you wanted. After that we lived in TX where tea was automatically unsweet. Then we moved to AR; if you ordered tea you were asked if you wanted sweet or unsweet. Maybe AR was halfway between sweet and unsweet country or maybe they were just ahead of the game by then (late 90s). But now we're in GA and it's standard to be asked sweet or unsweet if you order tea.

Hive baby name starting with N. Have you considered Nutella? :lol: :lol: :lol:

We only lived in AR a few years but folks there did consider themselves southerners.

I like Noah and Natalie best--from others' suggestions; here are a few more. Nelson Nash Norman Newton Nona Nanette Nancy Nicole

Panda Express. He started as a dishwasher, then food prep (still included dishwashing) and eventually moved up to cook. He did counter service once or twice but it was not a good fit. Fortunately he had a good manager who recognized this and kept him in the kitchen. My other one isn't shy but he enjoyed being a stocker at Kroger. There is some customer interaction but not very much--mostly people who want to know which aisle something is in.

We also got TracFone flip phone for our extra phone.

Commiserating here. Ds1 went to no naps when he turned 2yo. Ds2 was a good napper ... until he turned 3yo and suddenly realized ds1 wasn't napping. So he quit napping because clearly he'd be missing out on some great stuff if he was asleep. Dd was toughest. She not only quit napping at 18mo, she was a terrible night-time sleeper as well and didn't sleep through the night until she was about 8yo. :svengo: :grouphug: It's hard, for sure. Hang in there!

I like the large tote from LLBean. It's heavy canvas and stands up on its own. I use to hold a few library books, a small coupon wallet, sometimes a light sweater, water bottle, random stuff. It's spacious but not too big. My MIL is partial to the medium, but she carries around less stuff in her tote. She has a larger purse than I do, though.