[Presidential candidates....any good neutral charts to compare them?]

You could take the isidewith.com test to find out who is most like you on the issues. It can be expanded for more detail or taken with less. I have found it quite accurate.

[Frivolous Question - Designer for your home?]

It annoys me on the TV shows that when something goes horribly wrong such as, the subfloor was full of termites or all the electrical wiring was a fire hazard, they go over budget, or take out something like a laundry room rehab, but they still have the bowl of fake lemons in the reveal, KWIM? It's as if they never decide to keep the old sofa or just go with the existing lamps because the budget took an unexpected hit.

I actually goggled this because I couldn't believe that they are renovating and decorating these homes for those prices. They don't. It's just staging and most of the decor does not stay in the house. On Fixer Upper I think none of it does but on Property Brothers I think some of it does, but yeah the bowl of lemons is just a prop.

[Race relations - who encourages you?]

I was going to send this up a while back and am just now getting to it.

 

So many people argue over racism here and racism there but I want to shout out that many people, while knowing racism exists to some part in everyone, don't make an issue out of it!

 

We are Caucasian.  Yes, most of our friends are white as well but we have non-Caucasian friends as well (Black and I can't think of any Asians right now).   However, our church as about every nationality represented!

 

Here are some stories -

 

1.  We are frequent shoppers at TJ's.  We shop there so much that the workers know us by facial recognition and we know some of them by name. LOL!  One of those workers is a sweet black woman C from Jamaica.  We talked every now and then.  I learned she has a culinary arts degree which always interests me.  She told me Himalayan salt has less sodium than other salts so I started buying it.  Well, Sept. 2015 she learned that my Dad passed away.  We were in her line checking out.  Her face grew serious - it was very obvious.  She left her register, went to the flower dept. and presented me with a bouquet of flowers!  I will never forget that act of kindness.  I think about that gesture and her every now and then.  DD and I miss her terribly as she moved to Portland, Or.  Ironically, dd's new friend moved back to Oregon this past August. If we're in the area, I will definitely trace C down! :)  I plan on sending her a card or such.  My friend who moved back could hand deliver it to her/C!

 

2.  Another Black woman works at our local Harris-Teeter grocery store.  This is our neighborhood store that sits at the end of our subdivision.  We are regular customers there as well and the customers have watched my dd grow up.  We have 1 personal friend that works there, a man from our church and the rest we've gotten to know their names.  This woman, S, has watched dd grow up.  EACH and EVERY time we are there she makes a fuss.  She comes out from behind the bakery and hugs us.  She refers to my dd as her dd/baby/child! :)   I call her dd's "aunt" S.  

 

We're always laughing about something.  S is that way with everyone, not just us.  She is an encourager like C above.

 

These are just beautiful women - their heart is beautiful.  They don't seek attention nor where racism on their shoulder. 

 

There are more stories of people's kindness toward people, whether white, black, Asian, etc. 

 

Who encourages you? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, to get this straight, you are inspired by two women of color who provide a service to you and don't mention the issue of race while they're doing it?  They don't tell  you about getting pulled over or followed in a store or their concern for their sons while your interact with them during grocery shopping?

 

Honestly, I'm not usually this confrontational but really??

[Frivolous Question - Designer for your home?]

I probably would hire someone to consult but I have my own aesthetic and probably couldn't give free reign to anyone. Many of the pieces in my home were either handmade or are antiques and I really like an eclectic look. The hunt for those pieces is half the fun.

[Exercise program at home?]

I've been doing fitness blender for awhile now, I really like it. I can't stand overly perky people and they're pretty normal so I like that.

[Traffic Stop]

I saw that on FB a couple days ago.  Breaks my heart.  I cannot believe how many people try to deny that we are having and have been having a serious race problem in the US.  :(

[Is there a name for this?]

My exh was a compulsive liar, but he didn't make up outlandish stories, he just lied about everything.

 

As far as dementia goes, my grandmother now has advanced dimentia but way before she was diagnosed she would do some pretty crazy things and one of them was to make up stories about her daughters or granddaughter. She went around telling people I had had multiple abortions when I was 13-14, and I have not ever had even one abortion much less multiple ones. It was extremely hurtful.

 

I think some people do it to feel better about themselves, some people do it for attention, and some people do it as a way to fill in the blanks.

[Just for fun..if you were moving out of the country..]

I have a pretty strong desire to go live in Cambodia for awhile but the medical care isn't up to par, so it will probably have to wait until after the kids move out. If I could move anywhere and have good medical options, I'd probably chose Bangkok. My goal in life is to live on each continent, except Antarctica, for 2 years, but because we need money to live we have to wait about 10 years to start that quest.

[ASVAB scoring]

There are different ASVAB scores. There is an overall, which each service has a minimum, then there are subtests to qualify for specific jobs. This site should help.

http://www.military.com/join-armed-forces/asvab-and-navy-mos-jobs.html

[Are you making any Christmas presents this year?]

I'm going to crochet some stocking stuffers, a pokeball for ds1, a ninja for ds2, and a cat for dd.  I do family photo gifts for extended family, either calendars or albums, this year I may do a collage type thing.

[s/o engagement ring]

My rings are all soldered together, two wedding bands (we had two ceremonies, and it looks more balanced) with the engagement ring between them. I wear them when I'm out of the house, but if I'm lounging at home I don't wear any jewelry.

["This is Us " Could have spoilers.]

I'm still enjoying it. I think Toby and Randall are my favorite characters.

[Who has turned their heat on?]

We just had our first frost two nights ago, so we haven't turned it on yet. We've been ranging from high 50s through upper 60s during the day and it looks to stay that way for the next couple of weeks, so it'll be a bit before we turn it on.

[Motivation to lose weight]

I really love to eat and love food, so getting bored with meals is a sure fire way to get me to quit. I have to stay excited about my food. I meal plan and use tons of recipes from Emily Bites and Skinnytaste, they are almost always really good and mostly fairly easy. I found that working out too much was inhibiting my loss so I dialed it back to 3 times a week (I was at 6-7) but I still try to get steps in. I also believe that wine was inhibiting my loss even when I had the caloric room for it. As far as tracking goes, I hate the monotony of it, so I stopped using mfp and started using he tracker in Fitbit app, and I don't log each food, I only log the calories, it takes much less time and gives me the same result. Sometimes I have to search a particular food, but usually I just figure out the calories and put them in, instead of logging everything individually. Basically I need my healthy lifestyle and weight loss to be as close to effortless and fun as it can be. I have been yoyoing within a 15ish pound range for years and I'm so tired of it, I would accept a few extra pounds if I could just figure out maintenance. I know I can't maintain "thin" but I can get to a weight that I think I look great at.

[Pampered Chef Opinions?]

I have a lot of PC stuff, I have found the quality to be very good, I've had many of he item since before ds13 was born. I most often use my stoneware, my garlic press, the mix and chop, prep bowls, batter bowls, and the stainless steel bowl set. Some of their stuff is gimiicky, I bought a pineapple cutter thing and promptly got rid of it.

[Early Voting]

I vote early/on Election Day based on what's going in my life, for the primaries this year we voted early because I was working as a poll worker on primary day. This year I'm leaning toward voting early because of some of the scary rhetoric being thrown around. I'm now down for confrontations or people "watching" me, though I'm not in a swing state so maybe that's not relevant.

[Do you and dh vote for different parties, different candidates?]

We vote the same on most everything, we move around a lot so the local stuff I just do a little research and call it good. He trusts me to assess station and national legislators as our views are very similar. We discuss the presidency a lot, I think at one point he may have been leaning third party this year as our primary candidate didn't win, but he seems on board now with our party's candidate.

[Wow..another look at the whole gay cake baker idea]

I think last time this topic came up someone told me they were a photographer who wouldn't do gay weddings but had no problem with doing weddings for divorced people and that she and/or her partner were divorced. That's when I knew there was absolutely no point to this conversation, unfortunately. People will do any mental gymnastics necessary to justify themselves and/or their behavior. As a poster upthread said, the lack of consistency just makes it look like many Christian hate gays and that is most definitely the sense I get from them.

[Fall Disney thread - there's a bunch of us going, right?]

We leave the day after Thanksgiving, we will spend Saturday through Monday at Universal, except Monday morning which is going to be Animal Kingdom, then Tuesday through Thursday at the other Disney parks (my bff is very type A and is working out which parks on which days). Friday we go to Port Canaveral for a 3 day Disney cruise, and head home on Monday.  I have never been to Disney or Universal or on a cruise so I'm ridiculously excited.  

 

ETA We aren't doing any of the Christmas parties, because the cruise is all Christmas themed, so I think that'll be enough.

[Race and Homeschooling Culture]

I have noticed it as well. We haven't gotten super involved with a homeschool community here but the few events we've gone to have been majority white, there was one black family at a recent event. Even when we lived in Hawaii whites were more represented than Hawaiians it seemed.

[the proverbial closet]

Yeah I'm right there with you. We are military, so people make a lot of conclusions about our beliefs, and being homeschoolers just adds to those conclusions. I try not to shout it from the roof tops but I'm heavily tattooed and wear a nose ring and curse like a sailor, so that's kind of self selecting haha.

[s/o yoga pants]

I don't wear yoga pants much, but I'll wear leggings or workout attire when the moods strikes and the situation is casual. I don't think a person's willingness to wear yoga pants in her daily life means that she would wear them in more formal situations.

[Workout clothes as regular clothes]

On scrubs....not everyone that wears them is in healthcare. The daycare my niece worked at required everyone to wear scrubs, for whatever reason. They have some really cute prints out there. Anyway, my niece wasn't any more germ infested than the average mom while wearing her scrubs..lol.

 

 

Agreed, I had to wear them when I worked in the billing office with almost no patient contact of an orthopedic practice (not sick people). And I know many pharmacy techs that wear them. I don't think anything of people wearing them in public.

[Question for smokers]

I grew up in a smoking household and was a smoker myself for many years. I HATED the smelll, I never smoked in my home, even before kids. I usually had a jacket or something I would wear over my clothes and I would wash my hands immediately afterward. I was a heavy smoker too, like a pack a day so the hand washing would cause cracks and bleeding. Obviously quitting was a good idea for me haha. I am now even more sensitive to it though.

[Workout clothes as regular clothes]

I love fashion and dressing up, but for the grocery store or drop off? Heck no. If I'm at home I'm in leggings or sweats or something super comfy but cute (IMO) and usually a tank because sleeves or anything near my throats tends to bother me. I love getting dressed for outings though, I just don't consider drop offs outings. Unless I manage to workout and not sweat a lot (Pilates I'm looking at you) I generally only wear my workout gear for working out.

 

What other people wear rarely affects me, I'm pretty self-absorbed so I don't notice unless it's particularly hideous or cute. I will say that I think nice athlesiure clothes look better than bootcut or straight leg jeans with a men's style t-shirt and sneakers. Men's type t-shirts on women aren't my favorite.