[Vacation Ideas, about 6 hours drive or less from Nashville]

I'm a travel writer. Georgia's barrier islands are awesome, but it's eight hours from you.

This is the article I wrote for a Virginia parenting mag.

The Family Went Down to Georgia

I completely get not wanting to do a long drive.

[Getting over other's opinions]

On 6/24/2022 at 2:21 PM, Soror said:

This is not a new thing. I'm just really raw and stressed and it makes it harder to deal with atm and there have been too much of it. 

I do hold different opinions than many people but do not share those opinions. I'm not a big sharer in general. I've come to realize that I stay pretty guarded. I've been even more guarded with so much going on as a lot of it would invite more disapproval. 

No, I'm not misconstruing things. When people ignore you, leave you out, talk about you etc it is obvious. 

And I've realized when people tell me I'm crazy such and such is so nice and no that didn't happen, just because that is their experience with said person doesn't make it mine. 

And in my experience trying to put it all out there with people has yet to end well. 

That's all rather cryptic because I'm not up to details. 

 

Please know: You are not alone.

[If you had to name a cat...]

I don't mean to be annoying, but I collect names so that I'll have something I like when the time comes to getting a new fur-kid.

These are my boy names:

Pilot

Scrumptious!

Precious

Maple -- like syrup.

Darling

Truffle

Tripp

I plan to give my next fur ball a double name like, Darling Tripp. (I have to admit my girl names are cuter.) I just think it's fun when you go to the vet to have a very different name from the average. That said, our current kitty is Max. 🙃

One of my kids wanted Dragon and I sooo wish we had gone with that!.

I know, this whole thing makes me weird.

 

[Workout Clothes - not sure what to get]

3 hours ago, scbusf said:

So the family and I just joined the YMCA. I need some workout clothes, but I have no idea where to look or what to get. I wear about a size 14/16/XL. I’m not a huge leggings girl, but give me some ideas, please! As far as workouts go, I do mainly the elliptical, maybe some treadmill walking, yoga/Pilates classes. 
 

ETA: I’m also not looking to take out a second mortgage! But maybe if I had cute exercise clothes, I’d be more excited about exercising. LOL

I think you're exactly right: cute clothes are a huge support for this person who doesn't love working out.

I'm following for ideas.

 

[Wish me luck folks]

On 6/30/2022 at 1:47 PM, DawnM said:

I am not even going to explain it.   I am just going to say that we need him to get more care due to safety "for now" and then he will just stay.   He won't remember the conversation when/if he gets out of this, so.....

Smart. ♥♥♥

 

 

[Absolute mildest, non-drying hand soap]

I'm not sure if someone said this, but I have bad exema on my hands and dry skin. My sister too. We're kind of experts in dry skin at this point. 🙂

At the kitchen and bathroom sinks I keep a large bottle of body wash meant for the shower:

DOVE, deep moisture nourishing body wash. We get ours at Costco, but you can buy online.

I also agree w/ using lotion after washing. My dermo has always said Lubriderm. (Again, I get mine at Costco.)

And if the hand washer wants even more moisture: this is a nighttime cream that is very thick: Eucerin. (If the hand washer is willing, slathering the Eucerin on hands and then putting hands into light weight gloves for the summer -- sleeping all night with them on -- would be great.)

Good luck!!

 

[Can We Share Father's Day Gift Ideas? I'll Go First.]

My very hard-to-buy for dad LOVED this book on baseball that came out last year. He liked it so much that he sent a copy to his best friend a state away.

The Baseball 100. (Over 1200 five stars on Amazon).

I also had a real hit (no pun) in buying books about my dad's baseball hero (Stan Musiel). If you know your dad's favorite, you might get books on him/them too.

Adding: one year I sent chocolate dipped strawberries and he loved them.

I should add: I don't mean our husbands, I mean our dad who is 70 or 80 or 90. 🙂

I'd love to hear cool ideas.

 

[Best audiobook? I’ll start.]

The audio version of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is excellent.

It's a semi-true-ish story about something that happened in Savannah, GA decades back.

The audio is so good because the narrator does the various Southern voices so well.. I listened to it three times which is something I never do.

Highly recommended. ♥♥♥

[Next week is my trial]

You've got this!!! ❤️❤️❤️

[Songs you forgot ever existed]

10 hours ago, Eos said:

Ugh, this one.  Every. Word.

 

LOVE this song! I memorized it so that I could sing it to the kids at night.

[Songs you forgot ever existed]

Here's mine. Fun thread!

 

[I found a new way to donate sentimental-clutter!!]

2 hours ago, Selkie said:

We started as soon as our youngest went off to college. Having no kids at home made it much simpler.

Honestly, what made it really easy for us was seeing the aftermath when relatives died and left behind houses stuffed to the gills. None of them were hoarders, they just had a large volume of stuff that had accumulated over their lifetimes. We didn't want to ever saddle our kids with a situation like that, so that was our motivation to get it done.

My dad had to clean out a lifetime of stuff from his mom (even found out that she'd been married before his dad), so today he and my mom have gone totally minimalist so that my sister and I will be on easy-street when they go. Which is really nice of him.

[I found a new way to donate sentimental-clutter!!]

6 hours ago, Selkie said:

Dh and I did our Swedish Death Cleaning last year and everything went to a thrift store that benefits an animal rescue. It definitely was a great incentive!

Ha! I wish I had the oomph for SDC. Was there anything you did that made it easier? I live with pre-hoarders, so I'm on my own.

6 hours ago, Selkie said:

 

Oops. Sorry!

5 hours ago, Pawz4me said:

Yep. All of our donations go to an animal rescue thrift store.

That puppy face!!

4 hours ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

There are lots of Goidwills etc but some charities are more “faceless” and generic than others. The OP likes this particular rescue  more because its cause is more personal to her. 

Exactly.

[I found a new way to donate sentimental-clutter!!]

I used to be so reluctant to donate my kids' clothes they'd out grown, or a beloved pet's bed and so forth. I'd been giving to a charity that picks up. But they hounded me so much on email and the phone that I started getting suspicious.

 

But then I realized -- it only took five decades -- that a dog/cat rescue group has five thrift stores around the suburb of Atlanta. They don't pick up -- unless you have a huge item -- you drop your stuff off with them.

 

I was stunned how easy it was to give up sentimental things when I fully back what the thrift store is doing. Two kitties even live in each store. So sweet.

 

I plan to calendar it each month to take bags to them of gently used items. I'm cleaning clothes, folding nicely etc.

 

This was a huge realization for me!

[Threatening to kill someone......what are my recourses?]

1 hour ago, Faith-manor said:

I have heard from law enforcement that putting up beware of dog signs, having a HUGE chain around a tree, and massive dog dish with a name like "Killer" or "Brutus" on the porch, and motion detector lights that can activate a recording of "big dog frothing at the mouth waiting to eat you" kind of barking is a huge deterrent to people who would consider breaking into a house to assault someone.

I love this advice. I'd suggest getting a German shepherd, but the two I've had were giant babies. Definitely not lethal.

[How do I respond? Everything sounds so trite. :(]

A friend who has a genetic degenerative disease just found out that her adult son -- late 30s -- who's recently been diagnosed with MS, has now also been diagnosed w/ the genetic degenerative disease she has.

I'm at a complete loss as to what to say. She told me over email.

I know that thankfully there is good stuff out there for some with MS. But there's pretty close to nothing for the degenerative disease.

I'm so sorry. . . just seems blow-off-ish. 😞

[Buying flowers long distance]

I'm with the local florist idea. The internet search was relatively quick.

Hugs to you for your loss.

[Look what crawled out of our carrot patch …]

So sweet!!

 

[Prom dresses for a full figured body type]

Another idea is to check out: RenttheRunway.com.

On 4/23/2022 at 7:07 PM, fairfarmhand said:

Here’s where we ended up. Our thrift store had a donation of brand new dresses from David’s bridal. We got this one for $15. I did have to do some minor alterations but she was thrilled with it. Thank you for all your suggestions.

She's darling and what a find!!

 

 

[Help! I have itchiest eyes ever!! Need suggestions!]

4 minutes ago, SusanC said:

Sounds miserable! Do any of the things you've tried help at all? More on the weekend - are you inside more? Or outside? It does sound like allergies, but you've already tried all of my go-to remedies.

Thanks Susan. I live pretty much inside. I just took a full Benedryl twenties minutes ago so hopefully it will kick in. I've been trying to keep it to 1/2 a Benedryl. But that didn't help at all today.

 

[Help! I have itchiest eyes ever!! Need suggestions!]

I don't have any allergy symptoms except for super itchy eyes.

I've taken anti-histamine drops, and a half Benedryl. (I tried a cold compress, TEARS drops.)

It keeps happening more on the weekends. It just started last weekend.

Sometimes it's just one eye. Sometimes it's both.

Any advice, very appreciated.

 

[Losing Weight in my 40s]

Busy,

I hope you'll take a look at my site. I lost 55 lbs. in my 40s, but then I figured out how to maint 

the loss. At this point I've maintained for 16 years and I'm 57 years old today.

I hope you'll take a look and I'd love your feedback: TheInspiredEater.com

I forgot to add: totally free.

[Where to get Healthy Eating support?]

((Jean)),

Take a look at my site. It's totally free. I lost 55 lbs. in my early 40s w/ twin toddlers.

And, believe me, I understand your frustration.

Most importantly I figured out how to keep the weight off. I've been maintaining for 16 years now.

I'm 57 and way past menopause.

It's the maintenance that the experts can't speak to.

Just take a look and I love to hear what you think. TheInspiredEater.com.

[My first article in SixtyandMe!!]

14 hours ago, Harriet Vane said:

Fantastic article! You go, girl!

Love your response! Thank you so much!!

W.

[My first article in SixtyandMe!!]

16 hours ago, Lucy the Valiant said:

Your writing genius lies in that perfect balance between tone, content, and style. They were smart to snap up the article!

You are always THE BEST. Thank you!! (I'm printing your words out!)

W.