Gila monsters! Eeek! I like eating breakfast. So maybe we'll do that!

I haven't worked out what we will do at the Grand Canyon, or the general Flagstaff area. We are going to spend one day in Sedona. I'd rather not be lucky and see a pink rattlesnake! Yikes! What I consider to be a snake, probably most of you would consider to be "long worms".

We are taking a trip to the Grand Canyon in May, and staying in Flagstaff. I'm excited! I've never been outside the East Coast zone, so jet lag and a long plane ride will be a new thing for me, lol. I am also terrified of the "24 kinds of snakes in the Grand Canyon" I read about in a travel guide. Phoenix sounds HOT, but Flagstaff sounds more like what I am used to. I've been to Florida in August, and was never more misraeble in my life. However, I didn't see one snake or alligator while I was there. Anyone have any must see, BTDT advice, or thoughts for me?

I think it's one thing when someone says it to you about YOUR experience. As in, isn't it great that by the grace of God YOU escaped THAT situation. But, when they say it about their own experience? I think they have they have the right to see it as they wish.

I liked A Man Called Ove. I didn't love it, but it wasn't bad. I actually liked the movie more, which is a rarity for me. I felt like they streamlined the story well. I also thought it was weird that Ove was only 59. He was playing an old grouch who felt like he had nothing more to live for. It seems like he should have been at least in his 70's. I liked Britt Marie...a little less, but it was fine. I did not like My Grandmother...it did not connect with me in at all. And the worst book by far was Bear Town, IMHO. The subject matter was tough. I'm not sure if I have just gotten tired of his style of writing at this point or Ove was his best book. YMMV :) .

I am going to assume the OP is having some sort of issue at home, and just wants to get perspective from the hive. Not that she's a troll, or OCD.

No, because I do it sometimes. Not if my hands NEED to be washed before I leave the bathroom, but I do it sometimes. I have different soap in the bathroom than I do the kitchen, and I don't like that soap. And, it's like 12 steps from my bathroom sink to my kitchen sink. It's not like I stop in between and do something. Don't ask me why I have soap I hate in the bathroom, that's a long story no one wants to hear :lol: ! FWIW I am super vigilant about washing my hands. I understand that I am "touching the bathroom doorknob with dirty hands" but when you pee 8 million times a day and then wash your hands and are in your own house, I guess I don't see it as a big deal.

Sometimes I think, wouldn't it be nice to just go with the flow, and be status quo for like, oh, 5 minutes? And then I can't. :lol:

A debit card transaction is something different from an automatic transfer, and there are different rules. There are other kinds of transactions too. I can't tell you the ins and outs of all of them, but there are different things with each kind of transaction. Even though it seems like they are all the same thing to us, they aren't the same thing to the bank. Also, I just reread the OP's post and she said her payment was something else. Which sounds like when they take money from your account and it's almost like a check, you just don't write a check. Which is different from a debit card transaction, or an automatic transfer. FWIW, I had all these "automatic transfers" that were done on my account illegally and they were able to reverse them. Because you have 60 days to dispute automatic transfers. They weren't debit card transactions. I just know that they want guaranteed funds when they payoff a mortgage, and that most likely a government auditor is telling them they must do things this way or get in trouble.

That's standard procedure for mortgage payoffs. This is probably about guaranteed funds. With an automatic transfer, a person has 60 days to go back and tell the bank that they did not want that transfer to happen. With a cashier's check, the funds are guaranteed, no one can go back and try to reverse it. The company holding your mortgage might be willing to risk it with a monthly payment, but not with a mortgage payoff where they are going to hand a title over to you. You could also do a wire transfer, but there's probably a $30 fee with that. But, you can probably call your bank and arrange it over the phone with them. I would call the place that you are sending the money from, and ask them what they suggest. I know it's a pain, but hopefully it's a one time thing for you.

I love my Bearpaws, but they kill my feet if I try to do any serious walking in them.

I have the Cuisinart one too, I think I got it for $40. It's easy to use, and works great. You just have to think ahead. Freeze the tub for 24 hours, and depending on your recipe make the base ahead of time and let it chill in the fridge. I just do everything the day before I actually want to make ice cream. The maker is loud, but only takes 20 minutes.

I didn't read all the responses, but the thought of having to stay in the home I grew up in until I was 25 would have killed me. Not exaggerating on any level. I just can't even fathom this idea. It's one thing to be given the opportunity for help past 18, like health insurance coverage available to people until they are 26. But to force it? That's not recognizing that some people are mature enough at 14 to live on their own. That some people are in horrible situations that they need to escape from. That the vast majority of people should be able to get some independence from their parents at age 18 and be given the freedom to become an individual and start to carve out their own path, make their own mistakes. I was moved out, married, and working full-time at 20. I am not saying any one else should do this. But, I am amazed at the number of people in their late 20's/early 30's who delayed moving out, and now out on their own at last and are as dumb as I was at 20. It is shocking to me. They are going through the same things and learning process I went through at 20, and are no further ahead of it than I was. Some things just have to be learned by living out in the real world. And I am in no way against young adults living at home longer than age 18 if they have a healthy arrangement. Some people could use the extra time at home for various reasons. I am just saying, it's not something that should be forced on everyone.

I would recommend the Lena cup for any newbie. A teen menstrual cup vlogger helped design it FWIW. I'm in my 40's, but it is the easiest cup to learn how to use a cup, IMHO, because it pops right open. There is a serious learning curve with getting a cup to open. Once I got more comfortable I switched to a softer cup. I would not have been able to get the softer cup to work first. I also recommended it to a friend who learned on it and then switched later. It's a good "starter" cup.

My sentiments exactly.

And we're in 900 square feet on one floor, so we could not run it at night if we wanted to sleep. But, now I am super cool and can run it whenever I want to!

I didn't know my search for a dishwasher would lead to so much learning about math :lol: !

I have read very good things about the latest KitchenAid dishwashers. The newest models are supposed to be a big improvement. I had it narrowed down to a Bosch and a Kitchenaid.

The exciting update is, we got a new dishwasher 4 days ago! I am THRILLED! It was scary, but I put on my big girl panties and did it :lol: ! I got a Bosch 300 series, and it is SOOOO QUIET I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! I could NOT BELIEVE THE DISHES WERE ACTUALLY GOING TO BE CLEAN WHEN I PULLED THEM OUT! But they were! :hurray: My DD and I actually sat in the living room and watched a show on the computer, while the dishwasher was running. It was amazing. Later, DH and I laughed when the fridge came on and drowned the dishwasher out. It does take a very long time to run, but who cares if you can barely hear it. FWIW, our old dishwasher was 55 dcb, and the new one is 44 dcb. Apparently, going much lower than isn't really worth the money. I also had no idea a week ago, but the difference between 55 and 44 dcb is apparently huge when it comes to dishwasher noise. Now that I have experienced it, I've found it to be absolutely true. It's not silent, but it's MUCH more reasonable. It cost a lot, it's going to take some getting used to as far as loading, but the peace and quiet are well worth all that.

When you give away something, you give away the right to decide what happens to it IMHO. If it's that meaningful to you, you really should keep it.

It's definitely become my personal mantra when dealing with certain people. I am being dead serious when I say, it is one of the best relationship advice books out there :lol: .

If it is a passive aggressive control issue, then it has nothing to do with the actual jewelry, KWIM? It's like the book If You Give A Mouse A Cookie. If you wear the jewelry once, she'll want you to wear it twice. And if you give the jewelry back, she will sigh and make sure to bring that up every time she sees you. I guess I would just stop feeling guilty. And if she ever directly asks you, "Why don't you wear the jewelry I gave you?" I would just take a deep breath and calmly tell her, "I appreciate how much this jewelry means to you, and I am keeping it in a safe place to pass on to my future DIL. It's just not really my style to wear though. I'm happy to return it to you, so you can keep it for my future DIL if that would make you more comfortable." It's not easy, even with sane in-laws. I am guessing, since I don't have any :lol: !

Did anyone else read this as PANTY moth content, or was it just me? My mind went in 14 different directions for that one....

That was great! Thanks for sharing.

Any normal healthy adult or teen needs to just be diligent about hand washing and not touching their face in public. It's just a matter of training yourself. Wash your hands before you eat, before you go the bathroom and after when you are out, and every time you come home. I really think that's all most of us need to do, just be super diligent about it in the winter.