I talk to the 18 yr old. I’d tell him that the next time he brings alcohol to your house that you will call the police on him, and then do it. He may not realize or care that there are legal implications on him. If it ever happens again I would not allow him in your home, or at very not allow him around your kids without your direct supervision. I don’t know that it matters if his parents are included in the discussion unless they are the ones providing him the alcohol. My DS, who is now 21, has had many friends who are younger than him, and for a time several were under 18. He had I had many discussions about how he needed to be careful because of potential legal implications for him. This included discussions about providing alcohol or weed (which is legal 21+ here), driving while intoxicated especially with a minor in the car, crossing state lines with a minor, and intimate activity with a minor. I have always told him that his friends are welcome in our home at any time, but that no illegal activity is allowed.

It’s all relative. 71 and humid is much better than 98 and humid. Can you put a fan on your porch? Can you go walking after dark? That what we used to do in Houston. I can remember in the summertime the kids didn’t really start playing outside until around 8pm. Are there any parks nearby that offer tree cover? Camping can be fun, but you’d have to drive quite a ways to get to better (cooler) weather, even then my camping season in Texas was late October through April. I don’t know how he does it, but my DS never seemed to care about the heat or let it curtail his activities. He would come home with sweat pouring off of him and just shrug and say “It’s hot”. Honestly, I got tired of the weather, and that was one factor in our move away from the gulf coast, but we are planning to move back to the gulf coast in a few years after my DH retires.

If you want it warmed, you can cut the slices first then reheat the slices in the oven. That will be much quicker than heating the whole thing at once.

A few more thoughts Since the plan is to gift this over a three year period, that means your brother will have to put that money in savings and not use it for some other purpose during that time. have they thought about what they will do if brother doesn't use the money the way they think he should? Once they give it to him, he could freely decide to buy a car or take an extravagant vacation. If they give the money to him, will he be able to assist in providing financial support to your parents if and when it is needed? I didn’t see if you mentioned how old your parents are. There can be a huge variation in “retirement age” and how long their retirement funds need to last. My father died at 80yrs old. My great grandmother lived until 97.

I am currently playing a lot of Nonogram which is a logic based picture drawing game. It does have adds but not an annoying amount.

I don’t like them, but they are all over our town. They tend to hang around outside waiting for people to leave trash bags in the bed of trucks. They will rip open the bags to get to the garbage inside, and they also hang around the dumpsters waiting for people to drop stuff on the ground. I think they are icky, but very smart. Id be more concerned about all the other wildlife that will come around if food is on the porch - rats and mice, which then attract snakes, and bears.

I agree that you should stay home. No need to get other people sick for the holidays. I would say that it is fine for the rest to go without you. Where I live there are a couple nasty respiratory viruses going around that are not Covid, but after having them run through my house, I would not wish them on anyone else.

Two things - 1. That is a hefty amount that can have considerable tax implications to them both. 2. Medicaid has a 5 year look back period. If they (or just one of them) will potentially run out of money and need Medicaid, giving that much money away can cause along delay in qualifying for Medicaid. If you think you are going to have to be future financial support for your parents, I do think it is valid for you to speak up and let your opinions be know. You don’t have to support their bad decisions. It is not reasonable for them to give away such a large amount of money, and then expect you to pick up the pieces. Expenses for my two elderly parents both in skilled nursing level care was near $10,000 per month. If they have so much money that there is no chance of it running out before they die, then I would keep quiet.

Have you gone to a running store and been fitted? I live my Hokas and Brooks, but they are obviously athletic shoes. Oh, and I don’t do any running at all and probably never will, but the shoes saved me.

A talking watch Super large print playing cards If you want a higher priced item, I’d suggest a Victor Reader Stream or a Victor Reader Trek

iPhone is an Apple product. There are versions of iPhones that work on the Verizon next work. A iPhone SE is plenty for a teen. Yes, you will purchase a data plan to go with the monthly cell plan.

There is no way to manage this situation without pain for someone or several someone’s. It is going to be hard no matter what you do, soy You are just going to have to pick your hard. My kids did stop visiting the extended family much after they finished high school. Don’t think that is a terrible situation. I have posted many times that I started a new family tradition of going camping on Thanksgiving for the purpose of avoiding extended family holiday obligations, and I have intentionally avoided visiting my parents on Christmas Day for a long time. - just too many unrealistic expectations. There is nothing wrong with your kids visiting less often and/or for shorter periods of time. Split the drive up into 2 days. That way you can stay in a hotel a couple of hours away. Then spend only 1 night at grandmas house if you feel that you must. Then head home the next day or head to somewhere else. If you feel you need an excuse, you can always use the “I’m getting older and my eyes are getting worse. It is harder to drive so long in one day.” Plan things to do out of the house and share those plans in advance with everyone. If sister or grandma wants to bring the cousins in a separate car, that’s on them. Or plan things to do for your kids that aren’t for younger kids. For years, I would go get my hair done somewhere while visiting my parents. Go shopping for shoes, or what ever was needed. I even would go out to play Pokemon Go. Anything just to get out of the house for a while. I would even invite my mom to go do things I knew she would refuse to go do, but it got the rest of us out of the house and made the lack of participation her choice. As much as your mom and sibling “means well”, that is just making excuses for their poor behavior. It isn’t on you and your kids to entertain the rest of the family all day long, and I don’t think it is good to have your kids think that your extended family’s behavior is ok, but I am still coming off a bad situation, and I may be over-sensitive. Even if you don’t feel that you can confront the relatives, I would have a conversation with your kids and remove any unspoken obligations. It isn’t on you or them if grandma or the cousins get upset.

My MIL didn’t, but my mom sure did. My dad didn’t, he actually got nicer as he got older. The all had various forms of dementia. I think dementia takes a person to the base of their personality, and with no filters left you really see the true self that was always lurking underneath.

I am not familiar with this family, but it is quite common for wives to defend their husbands in DV situations when they are obviously victims, so I wouldn’t worry about how a bunch of random people on the internet interpret what she says.

It popped on on my YouTube feed, so I watched it. I burst out in tears when they walked out to the truck. About 15 yrs ago, long before my dad had any dementia symptoms, my DH and I bought a truck from my dad. My dad loved that truck and liked knowing we had it. We still have that truck and drive it frequently. Last thanksgiving, we took my dad for a ride in “his” truck. My DH had to almost pick up Dad to get him in the truck. While my dad didn’t have the memory recall that the grandmother in the add had, he was so happy to be out riding in “his” truck.

I know there are people on this board much more knowledgeable than me, but I have a couple of thoughts. Have you seen a pain specialist yet? My mom used to go to one regularly, and that doctor offered different treatments than what she could get from her primary care. For the HBP, I take my meds twice a day rather (every 12 hours ish) than just once per day. When I was first diagnosed, my primary care Dr had previously had a long career as a geriatric specialist, and she said that she saw much better BP control with the 2xs day dosing even though it isn’t standard protocol. She did offer for me to take a larger does one per day if I preferred. I went with her experience and it has worked well for me. After she retired, my next doctors have been willing to continue the 2xs day dosing.

We are having smoked brisket and ribs. Not sure about the side as no one but me even cares if we have sides at all. But there could be fist fights over the ribs (just kidding)

I found this https://www.va.gov/records/get-military-service-records/#how-do-i-request-someone-elses

I had one porcelain crown that broke and had to be replaced. It was around 10 yrs old, but I clench my teeth very hard when I sleep, so I think most of the fault is mine. When it was replaced, the new dentist went with a crown that was some kind of metal with porcelain over the metal. It was cheaper than all porcelain. The other crown I have was put on the same time as the first one. It is over 20 yrs old now and still fine.

I don’t have any experience with toothpaste causing an issue, but I do know that old fillings can eventually fail and need to be replaced. If new decay develops, or the filling cracks, that can cause pain.

I don’t think it is either one, but I agree they are expensive. My adult DD was on Medicaid for a time. Medicaid does not pay for crowns at all. It only pays for extractions at that point, so I guess there is an alternative. There are different types of materials that can be used to make the crown. I would imagine the more visually pleasing the more the cost, but I don’t know that for sure.

The week of Christmas to New Years is the single most busy time at Disney. If this is a first trip for everyone, most everyone will probably end up unhappy with the trip. Imagine hundreds of thousands of people squeezed shoulder to shoulder at times. Combine that with the fact that most people start planning such trips a year or more in advance. Dining reservations open 60 days from the actual date (plus a few extra days for certain people). At this point, it will be next to impossible to schedule restaurants on Disney property for that many people to eat together. My personal recommendation is that you could start planning for Christmas 2024. It is much too late to plan trip for such a large group for this Christmas. All that aside, the first thing to do is to find out everyone’s expectations. Are there people who are expecting everyone to stay together at all times? How often do they expect to eat all together? Do they want to stay on Disney property? Staying on property will be easier for transportation, but it is more expensive. Renting a vacation home will be cheaper, but transportation will eat into park time. How many days will the trip be? I would want at least 5 days for Disney and at least 2 days for Universal (Harry Potter). How much money are they willing to spend? How will expenses be handled? Another suggestion is read the Disboards site for more suggestion on planning a large group trip.

My arm hurt for several days, and I felt all-around lousy for 24-36 hours. My stomach did bother me a bit, but hard to tell if that was because of the vaccination. FYI for others- The age recommendation has lowered. My insurance now pays for shingles vaccine for anyone over 50. I was 52 when I got the first one.

For body lotion I have been using Dermasil brand from Dollar Tree or Family Dollar. I like that it is a bit thicker than other low cost brands, but it doesn’t take a long time to rub in, and it doesn’t leave me feeling greasy. The brand also has facial products, but those have been harder to find.

Oh yes, I feel like that quite a lot with my parents/siblings over the past couple of years. Thankfully,I am almost done with it. I’m spending my thanksgiving driving 12hrs each way to clean out my deceased mother’s storage unit because not one of my 4 siblings that all live much closer would take any initiative to do it. Also, I may have yo come back next spring to meet with an attorney to get probate started. When this is all done. I’m a never stepping foot in this town again! (Maybe an exaggeration, but today I’m not so sure) after reading everyone’s posts a second time, I just had to add this like to the song from Encanto. https://youtu.be/tQwVKr8rCYw?si=GC9dQjVSLoJ_FSgd