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eternalknot

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Everything posted by eternalknot

  1. I work on an airplane, so I'm always picking up random magazines left behind there or in the terminal :D we joke that we could tell when the economy went south a few years ago because people stopped leaving magazines, and started instead to take them home! I'll read just about anything, and I've learned there is certainly a magazine for any interest. My favorites are The Week, The New Yorker, and - for my gossip fix - something in the Us Weekly/Star/People vein (don't care which, can't tell a difference half of the time). We also have subscriptions to GAMES magazine.
  2. If you put people on pedestals - when they fall, it's less on them and more on you. None of us are perfect, not even people we think are or should be.
  3. Has anyone been to, or have plans to, see the Mythbusters exhibition at the Tech Museum? I have plans to be in the vicinity next month and wonder if it's worth taking the kids to. Thanks :001_smile:
  4. Hate touchpad. My husband totally humored me by finding - and paying more for - a laptop that didn't have it. It has that red button thing in the middle of the keyboard instead. Much better :D. Signed, Happy Wife
  5. Yes, my own clothes as well. I find it less messy, in general, and easier to stay on top of should it BEGIN to get messy. We're not tall, either. I'm 5' on a great, big bangs day LOL. We keep a wood stepstool in the closet so we can reach the top two rungs. I keep a bookshelf in the closet, and we stack underclothes and pajamas on the shelves. We keep a long, shallow plastic tub without its lid under the lowest rung; in it, we keep socks and winter stuffs (the hardest stuff to keep organized). The pants we have hung do skim the top of the plastic tub, but it's no biggie. I bought sticky foam stuff for the kids' sized hangers to keep some tee-shirts from falling off. Four boys, three of whom are always in a rush so we still use kid-sized hangers if possible because otherwise, in a rush, they'd stretch the necks of their tees trying to take them off of adult-sized hangers. So I learned the hard way ... this was true once the kids hit about a YM/YL and definitely once they hit Youth XL.
  6. I think I'd rather replace/repurpose bedroom furniture than to settle on a lesser-ideal home. But I say this coming from the perspective that a bedroom is basically just that - where you sleep, where the bed is. I'm not into the "master retreat" thing, so if you are ... if that room is your personal hub in the home ... you'll never be content knowing you settled for one so small. Tough decision!
  7. I travel for work and keep very odd hours, so I really empathize with the being kept from sleeping part of your story :grouphug: it's frustrating in and of itself, but even moreso when we feel others should know better about habits we don't keep secret. I'm a stickler for my sleep time! In my community most elementary school kids have smartphones; sometimes the kids "inherit" their parents' phones as the parents upgrade to the newest available versions. I wonder if this might be the case here, too, in which case your number would have been already programmed into the contacts list? I know also that kids can/will sometimes import contact lists from each other or a parent; I programmed specific numbers into my nephews' phones and later discovered that they had imported some more from my contacts lists (their friends' parents) using some bump app. They didn't do it with any bad intentions, but wanted to have the numbers "just in case" and in one case, because they really like the parent and did have a relationship outside of the friend/child (was a coach). I explained, we deleted. But I discovered by accident, it hadn't occured to me they'd do that. I'm the opposite of you - I'm very much of the "it takes a village" mentality, and in this situation I'd rather you go directly to my kid. Despite your annoyance and difference of opinion on kids/phones, you appear to sincerely desire to educate the child on why this can't/shouldn't happen again, and I think most reasonable parents would be fine with you giving them (parents) a heads up but addressing it directly with the child. They can still follow up with their kid later, you know? (And I definitely would, if the child were mine.) "Honey, thanks for thinking of me. The video came through when I was already in bed, so I haven't looked at it yet. I'm going to ask the same of you that I ask of my own friends and kids - if you want to chat or if you find something interesting, email is better than texting. It lets me check it when I have a free minute, rather than accidentally interrupting me if I'm sleeping or working or doing something else." I've noticed there is an overall lack of text-etiquette, which surprises me given that one texts from a phone and most wouldn't dream of calling at the hours during which they'll text. It's like the equate texting with emailing, and figure people will check at their leisure. My kids and I were just joking about the whole Pavlovian effect people have with their various phone tones/alerts, unaware that not all of us desire to react to each noise that the phone emits WHEN the phone emits it! :D
  8. So I'm searching Houzz for inspiration and (after a ridiculous number of hours) remembered that there are two ways to spell the color I'm looking for. Searching both spellings gave me so many more hits to drool over! And now I'm curious, which is the more common spelling? :tongue_smilie: Signed, Too Much Free Time Today
  9. Wonderful news! Congratulations to the young man and kudos to his best teacher and biggest supporter!
  10. My husband and I are both from immigrant families, his from a Communist country. We've enjoyed reading and discussing this thread, seeing other POVs and how relative it all is.
  11. Yes. Like a PP, I'm all for close family friendships. I'm also for time alone in the car listening to loud music I don't want my kids hearing :D
  12. I live with other adults. We don't have a system, just when it's time to go ... someone goes. Sometimes it's me, sometimes it's me with any kids that tag along, sometimes it's someone else, sometimes it's someone else with any kids that tag along LOL.
  13. Poll coming; vote multiple times (as both a host and a guest). *NM, messed up the poll. Vote once, for whichever side you fall on most (host, guest). We host a variety of people: children, newlyweds, older couples, girlfriends, guyfriends, ... we run the gamut of guests. Some stay just overnight, many stay for long weekends up through 10 days or so. We have guests passing through very often. We currently have a king-sized bed in the guest room. It accomodates all couples, groups of kids, and even partial families (parents + young kids). It's pretty perfect. But we're no longer able to dedicate the bedroom to just a guest bedroom; we now need to incorporate a small study area into the room. This means getting rid of the king-sized bed; we need that wall space and the bed won't fit on any other wall. So, my sister and I :D ...one of us thinks the natural option is to downsize to a queen or full. The other of us thinks it makes more sense to put in two twins. The room is able to comfortably accomodate either arrangment alongside the new study area. It'd be possible to squish together the two twins for a visit, but doing so blocks a door to the bathroom (which is also accessible via the hallway). As a host, which arrangment would you choose? As a guest, which arrangment would you prefer? (Read: which one of us is right? :lol:)
  14. If I were at a low, that kind of letter would make me feel lower. If I were at a high, that kind of letter would have pissed me off. If I were somewhere in between, ... maybe that kind of letter would be fine. But I spent more time at either extreme. At any time I think I'd have welcomed a letter knowing I was loved and cared for and accepted (for better or worse, warts and all). You wouldn't have to get specific; I'd know why you were writing. If I reached out from that point, I'd have shown myself open to hearing more ... the disappointment, the never too late stuff. But I wouldn't receive it well if it were unsolicited. I'd be embarassed by any public action that incited the correspondance, and that alone might guide my reaction to your letter (not giving it due attention). I'm not everyone, though, and you'd know this person best. I think it's wonderful that you care enough to reach out.
  15. I totally get it, OP. I work on an airplane and see all kinds of head-scratching behavior. Mostly I'm amused, occasionally I'm annoyed, and rarely I am wondering if I'm Truman existing in some fake-reality world where everyone is in on the joke except for me (because there's no way some of these people are for real LOL).
  16. Very irregularly. Maybe once every few years, if that. Insurance covers every six months, I just don't care to do it that often. Or at all, really, but I have a dentist in the family that lets me know it's past time to come in and I generally comply at that time. Or several months after the initial harassment LOL.
  17. My first thought was that he didn't want an electronic trail, and that he'd be free after 5:30 so she should call anytime after that at her own convenience. I have an in-law like this. He's at least self-aware enough to give us a heads up and to "permit" us time to psych ourselves up for the call/favor. It's the least courtesy this in-law can do, considering the nature of the favors requested LOL. My in-law knows this, and perhaps so does the OP's brother :D. OP, I hope the call goes ... as well as it can go, I guess! You're a saint of a sister, and I know it has to be frustrating to your husband (and yet may be one of the things he finds most endearing about you, too: your loving and kind heart.)
  18. :grouphug: I don't think you would. And truly it's the thought that matters. Any busybodies giving you grief or looks otherwise, well ... they'd find something, if it weren't the flowers. Where I'm from, funerals are very formal. We don't do bright, pretty smelling flowers. It's all very ... plain, subdued, bland. Mums are a good example, and those seem to be prevalent this time of year. Maybe those? But I've been to a number of American funerals where the thought is "celebrate the life" so it's not uncommon or even wrong to have fragrant, beautiful and colorful bouquets. If I were unsure, as you are, I'd use the discount code and select something close to what the company also offered on the funeral side. If they're offering bright, colorful - go for it! Alternatively you can never go wrong with a plant instead.
  19. Not that I've noticed. I do know that in my culture, certain flowers are "funeral flowers" and certain flowers are NOT ... but since this is for your own family, you'd know best if this applied. And you could still maybe hand-select something appropriate. I'd use the coupon code. I'm sorry to hear of your loss :(
  20. If it were an exception and not the general rule (in terms of behavior/attitude), I'd be firm that it had better be an exception and not the rule and give a one-time pass. If it was a repeat showing of an on-going problem, I'd give a small time-out period (which the teen seems to have taken on his own) to calm himself down (because learning to work through frustrations is just as valid a lesson as biology, and sometimes even harder!) and after 15 minutes or so, call him back to finish the quiz. Not in a nagging way, in a "I get you were frustrated, this still has to be done" firm but understanding tone. If he came, we'd finish; if the attitude increased, quiz over. (And quiz would be over and graded, but I think I'd assign extra work such as writing out the quiz on his own time -with no grade for work done, though this doesn't need to be shared when assigned- or doing a small paper in lieu of the quiz.)
  21. Lunch is our main meal of the day, and happens anywhere from 11am to 2pm. Dinner is much lighter fare, and is timed roughly 4 hours after we've eaten lunch. During sports season we typically do two mini-snacks in lieu of a set dinner -- something light/fresh around 4pm (fruit, raw veggie, salad, crackers) followed by something filling/hot around 8pm (soup, cooked veggies, rice).
  22. Ditto to National Geographic. Our kids like Games Magazine, too. We like Discover Magazine, and some really good conversations have sprung from articles we've read therein. It's not super meaty, but it's an easy read and good introduction to topics that can then be delved into more deeply on your own time. The content might not be appropriate for all families, so flip through one before you commit. My very small library carries it, most stores will, and there is likely a website for it. Stay away from Popular Science. It's like the Vogue of the science world, all ads LOL. Not worth a subscription, and barely worth a flip through for free at the library!
  23. Bittersweet times! Can't wait to hear how her first day went, and hope yours is going okay, too :)
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