Shout out to @Kassia! ❤️ I wanted to say who made contact but waited to get Kassia's permission first. 🙂

I don't have Facebook but someone else here does and tried contacting blsdmama through messaging. She replied, hooray! She gave permission for this to be shared with all of you: I'm sorry for the MIA. Around late summer/fall, it became apparent my ALS progression had sped up. I've been experiencing more bulbar symptoms, voice softer and much more garbled. Legs about the same but I've lost 2/3 of the strength in my hands. I began using a vent at night. It's been a lot. I needed to be more present here and TWTM is a place where can fall down a rabbit hole and "step away." At the same time, I was finding myself becoming mildly resentful of folks fussing over minor bumps in their roads and that wasn't okay for me to feel that way. I didn't want be that person. And, if I'm very honest, because it's an online forum, we voice thoughts in our heads we'd never say aloud. It made me wonder, "How will this person really feel/think if I say _________?" I was becoming very inhibited in my real life. It became necessary for me to draw back, be present and intentional here. Aside from that, medically, we're having a PEG: tube and suprapubic catheter put in next week. It should simplify my care here. So far, as long as I'm upright, I don't need the Trilogy (bi-pap/ non invasive vent) during the day so that's good. I'm tired more often but most days are still great and I'm able to be in the kids' lives. We have our 14yo's play tonight and while it will be awkward because people will be caught off guard by my inability to chit-chat, I'm so grateful to still be here and go to these things! You are free to share the update and thank you so much for thinking of me. ❤

Just making sure I understand...the church said they would pay for the books?

Praying. ❤️

Right there with you. DH, DD, and I saw a woman in a family restaurant the other day. She was wearing a "F*** [candidate for President]" jacket and the "F***" was made out of guns. That's not just offensive, it's threatening. My usually non-confrontational DH said, "Excuse me, do you think that's appropriate?" Well, of course she did, and she's entitled to her opinion, and she guessed that DH was a [candidate for President] supporter (he's not). She walked away huffing about how SOME people are offended by ANYTHING. The crude stuff that goes on people's houses should surprise me but doesn't too much considering all the Confederate flags around here. Classy. 🙄

Same. 🙂 Dmmetler, you are a very kind person and I'm sorry people have been taking advantage of that. Love the suggestions you've received so far.

Just Like Heaven, The Barbie Movie, Never Been Kissed, Legally Blonde, My Big Fat Greek Wedding

Love, love, love the snake habitats!

@Indigo Blue, I would not personally buy wool from Australia. About 70% of Australian sheep farmers perform a procedure called mulesing on lambs, often without any anesthesia. From Wiki: "During this operation small strips of skin are peeled from a sheep's buttock using steel shears on either side of the anus and underside of the tail. ...For lambs older than two months the period of greatest discomfort seems to last for approximately two weeks, by which time healing is almost complete...While the lamb is under restraint (typically in a marking cradle), the wrinkled skin in the animal's breech (rump area) is cut away from the perianal region down to the top of the hindlimbs...In addition, the tail is docked and the remaining stump is sometimes skinned. The cuts are executed to avoid affecting underlying muscle tissue." They do it to reduce the incidence of flystrike, but there are other more humane methods.

We love Chicago. My grandparents spent their childhoods and early adulthoods there. ❤️ My top two must-sees: Art Museum and Field Museum. I do my best to not support aquariums with captive marine mammals. In the wild they travel hundreds of miles a day with their families. In aquariums they live in what is basically a chlorinated bathtub and swim in circles all day (or just lie there). 😞 Shedd has wild-caught belugas and dolphins who are forced to perform in shows. It is unconscionable.

Also The Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, if you are into that kind of thing. It's fascinating and a little awe-inspiring.

Wow!!!

I'm really sorry your family is going through this. I still have to admit that every time I read the thread title, I think it's going to be a true crime story.

Can someone explain the statue meme? 🙂

Sympathy and hugs to you, @goldberry.

Have you looked at Boma? Hypoallergenic, nickle-free, super cute earrings in your price point: https://www.bomajewelry.com/ https://www.bomajewelry.com/blogs/news/what-is-the-1-cause-of-itchy-skin-in-jewelry

A few board books that have not been mentioned: Splash! Eric Carle's Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother Too? Global Babies A few special picture books: Our Animal Friends at Maple Hill Farm--the best book about farm animals ever written ❤️ Peter Spier's Oh, Were They Ever Happy!--so much fun, so many details!

Jane Goodall celebrated her 90th birthday yesterday.

I just used $15 more of my "Trashie Cash" for a Bath & Body Works gift certificate. No problems. 🙂

Deepest sympathy. ❤️

DH also says Beat Saber. 🙂

https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/12/covert-microwave-weapon-most-plausible-cause-of-cuba-health-attacks/ "According to a [2020] report by a committee of scientific experts assembled by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, the 'most plausible mechanism' that explains the diplomats’ experiences and symptoms is directed pulsed radiofrequency energy."

The Shadowline brand has been around since 1914. I'm guessing part of the price is just for the name.

My dress up trunk when I was little was partially populated with my mom's cast-off silky nylon nightgowns. We thought they were fancy. 🙂 My nieces and nephews still dress up in them. One is sleeveless and floor-length (and red, with a plunge neck!). Her 60's prom dresses are also in there. ❤️