Thank you all, my face is aching from laughing so much. I do things like this all the time, and sadly can't really remember one to tell it right!

o

CIM students are trained to sound like the Cleveland Orchestra: perfect, with that one particular sound.

I'm filled with love and joy. That's all.

I love this concept, but the semantic imagery of "borrowing" a person feels weird. Maybe the legacy of convict leasing comes to my American mind more than it would to the Danes.

Apple to Zucchini come take a look/ Start eating your way through this alphabet book - one of our all-time faves. She and Carle are maybe the 2nd and 3rd of three, Beverly Cleary being the first.

Garbanzo flour makes a yummy gf crepe - you can also think of it as an eggless omelette. Have any ingredients ready cooked to fill them like broccoli, mushroom, cheese, spinach. Whisk together 1 cup of garbanzo flour, 1 1/2 cups water, 1/4 tsp baking powder, a pinch of salt and a grind of pepper or cayenne, let it sit for ten minutes. Whisk it again then pour a small amount into a hot omelette pan that's lightly oiled, swirl it around to get the batter to the edges. Cook it for a minute or two, flip and cook for another minute or two. Instant omelette or crepes! You can make a lot and freeze them for filling another time.

I'm so sorry this has happened, and it makes sense that you are overwhelmed - there's a lot of grief and fear to experience in addition to making concrete, challenging changes. Here are some thoughts, and I'm guessing you already know these ideas so please excuse if it's redundant. I think it's helpful to start by thinking about how you usually eat, especially for protein. If you're used to a meat/veg/starch type plate for dinner, maybe it's easiest to start with a simple conversion - tasty beans or tofu/veg/starch. Lots of flavor, crunch, and plenty of veg can make up for no meat so make more than what would seem like it fills the plate at first. Try to always have a salad with a variety of dressings available and something crunchy in it like nuts, fresh red or bell pepper, or celery. An extra course helps make it more filling. If you don't need the meat substitute/veg/starch plate every night, do a dinner rotation on a weekly schedule so you don't have to think. A kid-friendly rotation might include: chili with gf cornbread and salad; tacos with options your kids can add themselves: refried beans, cheese, olives, lettuce, salsa, etc; gf pasta with mushrooms instead of meat in the red sauce; veggie stir-fry with rice and tofu with peanut sauce; baked potatoes with options to add themselves: baked beans, cheese, green onions, sour cream, salsa, butter; a veggie or mushroom soup with gf biscuits or rolls plus salad; and maybe pizza night with toppings they could add - you can get frozen gf crusts and buy shredded mozzarella, red sauce, pepperoni for the kids, olives, mushrooms, feta, spinach, onions, tomatoes, etc. Having things that kids can choose their own toppings for can be helpful. Good luck!

Does it seem like the zombie threads are a) increasing and b) re-animated by bots with poor grasp of grammar? It's like the machine learning puts on training wheels and goes for a spin in the neighborhood.

Really sounds perfect for your plans.

16 years between oldest and youngest. The middle two are besties, the oldest and youngest are both a bit less familiar with each other. Oldest went to college when youngest was a toddler. I liked starting young and having my last at 40 - I had more energy when I was young, more patience when I was older.

I love this: https://bangordailynews.com/2021/05/22/news/aroostook/in-the-age-of-texting-2-maine-students-honored-as-the-best-cursive-writers-in-the-country/

I have a funny Paul Rudd story that's totally off-topic but relatable to this crowd. Dd and I were stuck in the MN airport during the huge snowy winter of about 7 years ago. We were in an almost-totally empty section of the airport and I was reading The Odyssey out loud to her, complete with character voices and expressions. A gentleman was sitting fairly nearby and was obviously listening. Eventually he got up to leave and a woman swooped down on us to say OMG, that was Paul Rudd, isn't he a hottie? etc...I didn't know who he was but Dd was laughing and tried to explain all the roles he's been in. So maybe he likes Homer?

Pant(r)y & freezer stocking Good for hot flashes.

This is musician dd. To the point where she's almost non-functional when it's something like the windshield wipers are in the wrong tempo for whatever is swirling around in her head. She has synesthesia, so that might be part of it. For me, I just sing along with whatever tune I wake up with.

Rats. Blood test question I don't think the blood test is as accurate as the one for werewolfism.

Almost always. It's usually songs with words, but musician dd is constantly hearing baroque and classical music. I'm sorry Margaret in CO has left, I'd be curious if her musician daughter does as well.

I'm pretty sure angles do not watch over me, though maybe @Not_a_Numberhas seen them.

This. It was already like this but what is detailed in the article is horrifying. My oldest on his first date at engineering school - "so, um, what do you think about evolution?" Oldest: "yeah, we're not those homeschoolers." (Yep, they went on to date throughout college and have been married for 7 years, kinda fit the model but you know, young love.) Ten and more years ago, when people asked why we homeschool I would give my true reasons: how we could follow our passions, dig deeply into subjects, spend more time with each other. Over time I began to be more defensive "oh the schools here are great, we're secular, we just had lots of fun, my oldest was a bit hyper and didn't want him medicated," because I began to realize that people were rarely asking that as a real question and more to figure out where we stood on social issues. As time has gone by and the clarity of right-wing white flight to homeschooling has emerged it's become more difficult. Sorry, weird quote problem, the above was from @Stacia

No, because their chosen group literally says this all the time.

Q

UMass was usually about 3 days. I don't like to take antibiotics if I don't have to, so I would rather have it tested. Our tests have run about 50/50 positive.

Lyme is epidemic here. When I or kids get a tick, I send it to the lab to get tested for lyme or or tick-borne illnesses. If it's positive for lyme we treat, and I generally talk my practitioner into 6 weeks of doxy. My family has not had it, and we've used this protocol for years with many ticks.

O

I'm sure @Karenihas thoughts about some of us "following the rocket" for the Game!