DS and I both love these - they're nicely padded and don't slip down into shoes.

I am not usually a halftime show person, but I watched this one. She is incredible!

i've been thinking of him today - so glad it's a good update!! Will keep him in my prayers as he recovers.

Do you have a mac? Open the PDF, go to View, and then "Show Markup Toolbar," from there you can add text boxes and fill it out.

A therapist specializing in EMDR may be more helpful for this situation.

I know you don't want to send him back there (and I wouldn't either) but it couldn't hurt to reach out to the superintendent of the district to remind them of the McKinney Vento Act. They cannot legally remove him from the school if you are currently technically homeless. And given that he's on an IEP (if I remember correctly) this is a double no no. The school also is legally required to provide transportation for your son.

Congratulations - it sounds like a great book!!

I was just texting a couple of friends yesterday. I know this time of year can be hard for many people but I just love October-December. I love watching the leaves turn and then fall. I love the smells - it's crisp, you can sometimes smell chimney smoke, the smell right before the first snow (also yesterday). I love when it gets dark early - it just feels cozy to me and I can put fairy lights in various places. I love having a hot cup of coffee after work. I love looking across the valley to see snow on the tops of the mountains. It's too cloudy for me to get a good picture, but it was gorgeous earlier. I love waking up and having it be chilly enough for a vest or jacket and then warming up later in the day and not needing it. Warm sweaters, wool socks. Making fall/winter dinners. It's my happy season.

Agree with this. When my plantar fasciitis was at its worst, I kept looking for the squishiest shoes, thinking they would be the best. But my feet always hurt worse. When I went to PT, the PT told me that my feet have high arches and I probably needed shoes with good arch support and not a lot of squish. She's totally right and now I wear shoes that don't feel comfortable when I first put them on, but by the end of the day, my feet aren't tired or sore. It's weird. And I am on my feet walking all.day. I think I was at 7,000 steps by 11 this morning.

Aerie goes down to xxxs - I know Aly Raisman, a former (less than 5' gymnast) does some sponsorship work with them Hollister has extra short and also goes down to xxxs Maybe one of those would work for her?

I'll pick part of a state -Cape Cod. If we could afford it I'd have my house on the market today and would be moving!!

The retina specialist is the worst. DH had to go years ago. On the plus side, they prepped us that it would be a crazy long appt and when we got there, they were set up for long waits. I remember really comfy arm chairs, a library stocked with books and magazines and a whole kitchen area with all sorts of snacks and drinks, including heartier things like oatmeal. I think we were there for more than four hours, but they tried to make it as tolerable as possible

Weird question - which way do her hips face when she's in the splits? Is she able to do them without her hips turning a bit? If she's in a right split, for example, are her hips twisting a bit to the left? This video isn't gymnastics specific, but I scrolled through it and it looks like she's demonstrating what I'm trying to explain. Her first splits have slightly open hips and then she demonstrates how she squares up. https://fitandbendy.com/what-is-a-square-split-and-why-should-i-care-how-your-position-in-front-splits-can-affect-your-back-flexibility/

Oh perfect - thank you! OK, her leading foot is landing too far from her hands. She can't shift her weight properly when it's that far away which is why (I think) she can't get up without the second adjustment. Notice how she needs to hop her feet closer to her hands before she can stand up? If she didn't do that, she'd fall on her back instead because it's really really hard to stand up with her lead foot that far away. I'm trying attach a video that shows what I'm talking about. At 1:03, you can see how close her foot lands to her hands. That's what allows her to transfer her weight from her hands to her lead foot and then stand up. She could try it with an octagon, but I think she needs to keep stretching her shoulders and probably more hip flexor flexibility as well. How are her stretches for splits?

Can you describe what she's doing in the front walkover? Where does the struggle happen? Out of curiosity, how is her back walkover?

If she's struggling with the walkover, bridges and shoulder flexibility are going to be the key. She can learn bad technique with an octagon. Walkovers require a higher level of flexibility. (former competitive gymnastics coach)

Yep - it's beautiful. We need to paint a few upstairs rooms and I just added that to our paint list!

I love the color you posted in your update. I would move away from anything blue in there. 🩷

Yay!!! So happy you are DONE! And I hope you can both sleep all weekend to recover. Congratulations!

Before bed mostly. I'm also a "carry a book around everywhere" person and will read during pauses while making dinner or just whenever I can steal 5 minutes.

This sounds exactly right: "Adults emerge several days after pupation and can live for more than one year. Beginning about the first of October, during a sunny, warm afternoon following a cold night, the multicolored Asian lady beetles congregate outside houses, sheds, and other buildings in search of overwintering sites." It's been so warm this past week, we've had everything open, so we've given them an easy route in, unfortunately. I wasn't expecting them to just spring out so quickly though. They don't typically come in like this. But, we had a really unusual week or so of warm, dry weather, which sounds like it encouraged them. They are mostly at the front of the house which gets the afternoon sun (although not today) and it's warmer. And the stink is the WORST!! They're so little and cute, but ugh.

Feel free to be jealous of what we've got going on in the dining room. 😂 The vacuum is out because we keep getting covered in lady bugs for some reason, and DH has to vacuum them up from the ceiling. DS's school stuff is all over, and I dropped my backpack and lunch bag as soon as I got home from work yesterday. I'm hoping to get this room tidied up a bit and put some fall pretty things out this weekend so I am posting this as a "before" picture!

Yes! I'm usually between an 8-8 1/2, and got the 8. It was huge, and I sized down to 7 1/2, which is perfect. The nice thing is they have a very easy exchange process.

I need orthotic shoes now too after plantar fascitis, and love these. They were super comfy right from the start: https://www.vionicshoes.com/kensley-loafer.html?color=1457

Have to share my favorite robot vacuum post: My mom just got the Roomba j7 and loves it. Not sure if it mops though. She says it does an amazing job picking up dog hair.