I feel like the ground turkey plastic cover is often ballooned out a little like that. I'd probably give it the sniff test and be fine with it as long as it smelled fine.

Oh this is wonderful news! I am glad you are mending and close enough to see family! I've been keeping you in my thoughts and reading all of the updates. ❤️

It used to be 2 days, sometimes overnight. Over the past few years, delivery has gotten slower and is regularly closer to a week. I used to order on a Saturday and delivery would be Monday. I just looked - anything I order right now will be delivered on Thursday. I haven't moved. It's annoying, but I use Kindle unlimited all the time so I'll keep prime because the money I save on books makes it worth it.

I promise I left my room. 😁 I believe the issues with the school I attended may have been a combination of extremely prevalent Greek life - almost everyone rushed- and the wealthiness of many of the students that attended. I received a generous scholarship that paid for almost my entire tuition, but many many kids were from very wealthy families. Wednesday-Saturday nights were all about parties everywhere - many of them in the frat houses. Every weekend, some drunk idiot would pull a fire alarm in one of the dorms, and we'd have to stand outside in the middle of the night waiting on the fire department. Monday morning class conversations would be about how many different people each student hooked up with over the weekend. It was gross. I believe they've cracked down a little bit on the partying based on my googling, but it's still known as a party school. I was the first in my family to go to college and there wasn't much of an internet in 1995, so I was unaware of the reputation of the school prior to attending.

I pulled VT State University and University of Vermont's room and board fees. They seem reasonable. There's no way you can get an apartment in Burlington for anywhere near that price. My friend living in a crappy 3rd floor 1 bedroom in rural central vermont pays $1200/month before utilities.

That's good to hear - the LAC I attended for my freshman year was only about partying. Almost every night, if you weren't at one of the frats, you were sitting alone in your dorm. I tried to find things to do, but there really wasn't much. I made one friend who didn't want to get blackout drunk and hook up with random people every night, but that was it. And that was all we had in common, so it wasn't a friendship that stuck. I transferred to a small state school in my home state and commuted, and had a much better experience. I played tennis, helped at the radio station, and got a job. My experience at the LAC (mid-90s) was pretty common based on my high school friends' experiences, too.

YES!!!! I am SO happy for you guys!! 🥳🥳 Congratulations!!

Slightly underhanded, but is there someone in the community with more social power than Other Person that DS could reach out to for support? He could phrase his request in a way where he's asking for this person's help in managing a tricky social situation, but in the process, they'd see what's really going on and possibly be in a better position to shut down Other Person? I've done that in tricky work situations. For example, if a colleague is asking for something inappropriate or pressuring me, I've gone to another colleague who I know has the boss's ear and said, "I have this sticky situation, and I'm not entirely sure the best way to handle it, can you help?" Then, helpful colleague went to boss to shut down the inappropriate colleague. Or, colleague with more clout can shut down colleagues with less clout. I'm trying to come up with an actual situation I've used this type of tactic, but I'm drawing a blank right now.

I agree that retirement is super important, but it's also often a lot easier to get a job when you have a job. So, don't necessarily look at the first job you take as a permanent one. If I remember correctly, you haven't had many full-time positions as an employee for a company in your career (forgive me if I'm wrong), so securing one and holding that job for a year or so may put you into a better position to make your next move. $15/hr isn't great, but it's a lot more than the minimum wage in your state, I think? If that's the position you get, you're not settling necessarily; you are building your resume while earning. Hope that made sense!

Eddie Bauer has Trail Tight leggings that are super comfy and they have tall sizes. Don't pay full price - they are regularly on sale for 40-50% off.

I love this idea and I may steal it for our staff this year. Last year we did a "Thanksgiving Madness Tournament" and had a huge bracket in the cafeteria narrowing down best thanksgiving sides over the course of a week or so. I love the idea of a cookie bracket that people can taste test and vote on during a staff meeting!

My friend gives her dog Dramamine for car trips because he gets car sick too. Her vet recommended it and she says it works well. She pops one (or half a pill, I can't remember) into a bit of cheese and he gobbles it up and then he's fine in the car. As a human who gets carsick, I can verify that Dramamine is great!

I like any bathroom that allows for privacy - I hate stalls that are open at the top and bottom. I'm very happy that the schools I work in all have single bathrooms, so I don't need to pee next to someone.

I've always lived in states that have self-serve, but we do have some full-serve stations still. The one near my house has the same prices as self-serve, and they will also clean your windshield, refill windshield wiper fluid and check oil and tire pressure. So I can pump my own just fine, but, especially on cold days, it's nice to go to a full-serve station!

Ugh, I'm so sorry! I've found it helpful both with DS and students in my school to discuss different social scenarios and "sneaky" ways kids can be less than kind. I explain that it's often because those students are insecure and are looking to make others feel insecure as well. I also talk a lot about circles of trust. I start with a small circle and go through the people in my life - the people in my inner circle are very small, my husband and my aunt. Those are the people I can trust with anything in my heart. Then I make a slightly bigger circle around that - that's where my immediate family and best friend live. I trust them with almost everything, but maybe not 100% of everything. I draw a bigger circle, which is where my close friends are, and explain that here is where I can get a little guarded. Then an even bigger circle- this is where acquaintances are, including most of the people in your classes. I don't word it like this to the kids, but this is the circle where you don't give anyone psychological ammunition to use against you. I talk about how, in a new school, while you're getting the lay of the land, it can be helpful to think of yourself as an observer first. Watch people, only make polite small talk for a bit. Make sure they're all in that outer circle until they start to earn your trust bit by bit. Sometimes it helps. I hope she has a good day tomorrow!

@Ginevra- I apologize for assuming ill intent in your question. I'm overtired getting ready for the school year and just spent the morning in my school cohort discussing equity in schools, and I am probably being oversensitive right now.

Because you don't speak the same language? Or because you made up the scenario for rage bait?

Have you asked them what they would like?

Yep - this. I can't remember the last time I was in a school or public place in VT that didn't have a gender neutral option. At the middle school I work at we just have bathrooms. They're all singles. Also, from my experience, the kids that describe themselves as gender fluid do not act the way you described at all.

Also, long-distance charges! I couldn't afford to call home too frequently.

Exactly. I was watching the board meeting online and DH was in the room. He was stunned and just yelled, "it's the WHOLE library!!!"

I've been trying to think of anything I can do to help make your hospital stay a little easier. If you like audiobooks and would like to listen to one, PM me which book and your email address, and I would be happy to send it to you through Audible.

We had a group of students at the school I work at request and create a small LBGTQ display in our library. Our school board got wind of it and forced the librarian to take it down because "where is the straight section?" I live in VERMONT. We had a tricky time finding a social studies curriculum for elementary school that hadn't been whitewashed to adhere to FL's new laws. Meanwhile, almost every single student in the school has unfettered access to their smartphone with no parental controls and school Chromebooks that they spend so.much.time figuring out how to get around the security controls to look up things they shouldn't be and playing first person shooter games they find that haven't yet been blocked by the security software. It is hard to see.

Fingers crossed! Do you have time to make a batch of brownies or something yummy to leave on the counter for them? (a little food bribery never hurts!)

OK here are the ones I do: crabby walks (3 sets of 20 steps back and forth) toe yoga (3 sets of 12 on each foot, both big toe and all 4 little guys) ankles (3 sets of 12 on each foot - I do all of the ones in this video) heel raises on stairs (3 sets of 12 - I worked up to doing these one leg at a time) Her biggest tips for me were to focus on putting my weight more over my big toe - I had been leaning more to the outside of my foot due to the pain I was in. So I had to re-learn how to walk correctly (which felt ridiculous but it worked). Her other big tip was to strengthen my ankles and hips as much as I could because it's all connected and stronger ankles/calves/hips helped with the inflammation and pain. My right foot started feeling better more quickly than my left, although I ended up with a stress fracture on the outside of my right foot (overcompensating), which is just now slowly healing. I work on my feet all day on concrete crappy floors (public school) so it's been hard. There are also some deep tissue massage techniques you can do to yourself - she would really dig in, but it helps. These are very similar to the therabands I have. Start with the lightest (usually yellow) and build up to the heavier ones. Hope some of this helps!