This is the rule we have for our young adult children (18 and 21). I have a friend whose son was killed in a late-night accident back in January. Then a month or so later, my son decided to spend the night at his friend's that night without telling us - you can imagine how I freaked out when I got up at 5AM and realized ds wasn't home. We told him we'd take his car away if he did that again. :( So our rule is pretty strict now that they need to let us where they are & what time they'll be home, and text us to let us know if they aren't coming home. We don't set a curfew for them. They are adults. But we have also had to have conversations with the same ds about making wise choices, since he sometimes has school & work early. He got about 4 hours of sleep Friday night, so I guess the conversations aren't working. :glare:

Oh no, I definitely don't need one of these then! I can picture me not letting myself go to bed because "I haven't done enough steps!!"

I'd never leave anything semi-valuable unattended at a water park or beach, after somebody tried to steal my Tevas at Blizzard Beach 15 years ago. We got something similar to this for our cruise last year: waterproof wallet You can get them just big enough for cash/ID/key, or a bit bigger to add your cell phone. If you've got more stuff to keep secure, maybe try this: Locking beach bag

I agree that mid-calf is generally unflattering. It also looks dated, so it's on the frumpy spectrum. All my skirts are either above the knee, or maxi. I highly recommend maxi for anyone updating their look who doesn't like shorter skirts! I see them on women with all body types, and it looks flattering as long as the fabric isn't too clingy. (I ordered one in grey, loved it so much I ordered it in brown and the jersey was completely different & you could see every line and bulge - back it went!)

Not as bad as trashing the wedding dress, at least!

That's basically what I do, except I add chopped onion and canned green chilies to the crockpot, along with the salt, pepper, & garlic. Then it's ready to go straight into tacos or burritos. And then the next day we mix with BBQ sauce for sandwiches. (nobody notices the green chilies once it's been mixed with the sauce). Yum.

I've wanted to go to a Wegman's ever since I read about it on this board! (I think somebody told a funny story about taking some food somewhere and another woman accusing her of taking her food? They had gotten the same thing at Wegman's). We have found some lovely small independent grocery stores in our travels; we love trying their delis.

That's what I was thinking. Your rules are reasonable for your family, but they are resulting in your kids missing out on some stuff. "My kids can't play inside someone else's house" necessarily means "My kids will miss out on play at someone else's house."

I just want to make sure that while you're reading the above atmospheric selections that you're sitting at a sidewalk cafe sipping espresso, or on a park bench overlooking the river, or something else equally atmospheric. :)

I think it's worth mentioning that the first 3 victims of the recent killing spree at UCSB in California were killed by a knife. I don't know what the answer is. I think a huge part of the responsibility is on the press - these are cases of monkey see, monkey do. Which is why I try not to even read the articles about these incidents anymore, and I'm glad we canceled cable.

I voted "other" because our favorite fast food is a local burger joint. We would basically never eat fast food if it weren't for this place a couple of miles from us! I have their number on my phone and can call in the order and it will be ready by the time we get there. I think they sprinkle their sweet potato fries with crack; so addictive. When we travel is the only other time we eat fast food. Then we tend to look for In-n-out, Chipotle, Panera, or Chick-Fil-A.

In the summertime...Blueberry! I have one on my table right now for after dinner tonight. :)

I survived! But gosh it was hotter than I thought it would be. I was drenched in sweat by the time I got to my first destination. Maybe I will only do this again in the mornings during the summer!

We definitely look for the local spots, whether it's food or coffee. We went on a weeklong vacation a couple of years ago to Northern California, and made it our goal to NOT drink Starbucks. In Northern CA, that's not too hard to do. :) We found some fun spots by ignoring the chains.

OK, while I was posting, dh went out to the garage and made sure my tires were filled up. So he is now "ok" with it but warning me to be super-careful. I'll post again later this afternoon when I safely return. :)

Yes, but there was just a huge write-up in the paper about it last month - it was shocking - BUT, at the time, I looked up some statistics and found out that many (1/3 maybe?) of the dead cyclists had alcohol in their blood! Not a problem for me this afternoon! No, I could easily walk or bike with a small backpack - I have to drop off a large envelope at one place, and a shoe-box size package at another.

:grouphug: Yes, you are doing the right thing for HER. Blessings on your day through your grief. :(

I want to ride my bike on some errands this afternoon. Total circle route from my house is 4.5 miles. Dh thinks it's too dangerous. They aren't particularly busy streets, but, we've just heard a lot lately about all the cyclist deaths in California. So he wants me to walk! What the heck? Google maps says walking the route will take 91 minutes, while cycling will take 33. What would you do? (oh, BTW, I do have a car available. My goal is to not use the car.) ETA: dh filled my bike tires for me. He's "ok" with it - not happy - but we're good. :)

The price increases lately have been insane. 7 years ago we bought the cheapest SoCal annual passes for $114 (which pass is now $289, and it means you can't ever go on weekends or in the summer; it's valid fewer than half of the days of the year). Now we can barely get a 1-park 1-day ticket for what we paid for our annual pass 7 years ago! And the park is always full. They acknowledged that they raised the prices this time because of overcrowding.

Ugh, 1 day/1 park passes for Disneyland are now $96 each. At that price I don't recommend. I'm a SoCal resident and there are so many other unique things to do which have already been mentioned on other replies. Do you like art museums? The Getty is simply fantastic. It's close to Hollywood so you could easily do it on the same day. It's not just an art museum - beautiful architecture and views of the city and ocean.

Oh. I'm the only one who voted for the kitchen. But after I voted, I read the details on your awful car. So I don't know. :confused1:

1. It tastes better to freeze uncooked and then cook on the day you eat it. For example, I've done meatballs both ways and it just tastes better/better texture if they are cooked the day of. Although I have to admit there's nothing handier than pulling out already cooked meatballs, so I still do that sometimes! :) Or already cooked ground beef - so easy. 3. Well, it saves time on the day you eat it. I think it also saves some overall time because of economies of scale - I only have to mess up the kitchen once for all those meatballs and ground beef, for example.

I knew a couple (who'd been married many years) who were both named Terry. I think they even both spelled it that way, because I remember thinking "I'd have changed my spelling to Terri!"

Wowza. I know the joke is that Sean Bean always dies, but, I had no idea the extent of it!!

I closed my eyes as it started to get gross, but then I peeked. Wish I hadn't, yikes! I'll never get THAT image out of my head. LOL on Sansa's clothes. I don't remember her sudden personality change in the books. It's been on my to-do list to re-read the books ahead of each season to refresh my memory, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.