[Any Washington Nationals fans on here?!?!?]

We're HUGE Rays fans and really thought this year was the year for us 😔, however DH works out of state in DC and so for this post season we're Nats fans! 😁

Being tied up in the postseason tells me that the right teams got through. Good luck to all watching! Go Nats!

[How do you feel about your birthday celebration being on a different day?]

Sounds like every elderly British lady that I've known. 🙄 I'm sure my Mum will be the same way when she's your Mum's age. Sigh. Hugs to you, you're a really good daughter. 

[s/o achievements and excelling academically]

Jaybee, thank you so much for your posts. I feel as if I could have written them. DS is in 9th grade and he's a really delightful, friendly, optimistic kid. I often have to tamp down my wants for him because he's completely capable of high academic success but he wants to go into a field where it's not needed as much. I constantly have to talk to myself about what's important, especially when grandparents or friends start asking about academic plans. 

[What are your favorite fundraisers to run and/or attend?]

13 hours ago, Medicmom2.0 said:

 

Most financial supports come through taxes, but it’s mostly just very bare bones.  We fundraise primarily for equipment and new apparatus.  Our state is always giving unfunded mandates—equipment we now are required to have by the government but they also aren’t giving us the money to get it.  Fundraising helps with that too.  Plus the equipment we have all has expiration timelines and then we have to take it out of service and buy new. Turnout/bunker gear, for example, is only rated safe for 10 years.  It all adds up. Everyone wants top notch service, but doesn’t want to pay extra taxes for it.

This is a very meaningful graphic. If I saw something like this printed on a poster at an event it would cause me to give more (if I could!) Of course firefighting gear is expensive, by the nature of what it needs to do, but I've never thought about how expensive. OP, you should put this up whatever you do!

[24 hours in Portland, Or]

14 hours ago, MorningGlory said:

This is so true! I'm from Memphis...❤️

We are arriving in Portland on the 8th and will fly out on the 17th. Thank you OP for starting this thread. We will actually only spend about 2 days in Portland because we are road-tripping as much of Oregon as we can...we have jam-packed our schedule. SO EXCITED!!!!

(The way I talked my dh into this trip is by whispering "Powell's" to him at random times over the course of time...lol!)

Ha ha ha. This made me laugh. Powells is my DH's love language too. We no longer live in Oregon and miss it!

[Would you consider this racist?]

I'm white and I would have found his comment off putting and would have thought he was either completely out of touch, or racist.

[That's it, I just simply STINK at organizing]

On 7/17/2019 at 8:59 AM, fairfarmhand said:

Well,  I saw this: 

 

and thought of this thread. A command strip hook plus a binder clip.

That's genius! Right now I have a small box holding my sachets but I like this idea so much more! I'm going to have to get some binder clips next time I go to the store. 

Thanks for sharing!

[That's it, I just simply STINK at organizing]

13 hours ago, PrincessMommy said:

Thanks so much for this.  I feel like I have been validated.   I'm a Ladybug.  It was fun watching the Ladybug video and thinking "I've been doing that for years"   But, it always felt like the lazy person's way to organize.  Now I know it's just my style.   I feel so much better now.  

You are SO welcome! It has helped me immensely, I'm glad it was helpful to you! I read this a few years ago and have never forgotten it. I'm a ladybug too! 🤗 It took me a while to figure out what my organizing style is and what brings me rest. 

 

 

[That's it, I just simply STINK at organizing]

I haven't read the responses as I'm just popping in (will go back and read later), but this was incredibly helpful to me:

https://clutterbug.me/start-here

https://clutterbug.me/what-clutterbug-are-you-test

Identifying what sort of organizer you are and knowing how you reach a level of calm with it it essential. I'm a ladybug so I've found that if I have large containers (like yours in your pantry) to organize things in so that everything LOOKS put away I feel like things are organized. I'm not a cricket, who must have even those things in bins organized, or any of the other bugs, who like things stored differently. 

Seriously, I don't think you stink at organizing, as that's how I organize my pantry! You may FEEL that you do because you'd feel more at peace organizing it differently. Take the test and see!

[Improv Shows Like Whose Line Is It Anyway?]

I think Would I Lie to You is cleaner than Whose Line Is It Anyway. It's a British TV show where contestants read out a statement from a sheet of paper and it may or may not be true about them then the other team tries to tell if they're lying or not. It's technically not improv but there is a lot of improv and on the spot witticisms. 

You could find it on youtube or if you subscribe to Britbox or Acorn on Amazon (can't remember which one it's on) then you'd get it on that.

There may be some off color statements, I can't remember, but it's mostly funny explanations. 

 

ETA: You may want to preview just in case!

[A couple of TSA questions]

DH is an airline pilot so we travel a lot. You can have your battery in your carry-on (not in checked luggage) no problem. Definitely take your own food as you may not find good vegan options in the airport. TSA may ask you to pull out food  and put it in one of their tubs so they can run it separately but a PBJ/carrots/apple are all fine to take. If you have a liquid or a dressing or that sort of thing those have to be under 3oz. 🙂 Happy traveling! 

[7th grader asking for really in depth Bible study next year.]

I really, really like the Christ Centered Exposition Commentary series. It's Reformed Protestant and, to me, is a grown up version of the Jesus Storybook Bible. 😁 Every book focuses on a book of the Bible and points to Jesus.

I'm going to go through it with my just finished 8th grader next year starting in Exodus.

[HS fails]

On 5/14/2019 at 11:19 AM, vonfirmath said:

 

Not 4th of July but celebrating "Independence Day" is common in many countries. I've got sponsored kids (from South America, true) ask me what we do for our Independence Day.  And a LOT of them ask about "children's Day" -- which we don't celebrate at all but is evidently a big holiday in places.

Sure! These particular cases were Americans asking a British person about Thanksgiving and the 4th of July (and Christmas). 😂

[Brand of tea bags]

On 5/18/2019 at 8:39 PM, happysmileylady said:

So...wow.   

Do people who aren't actually meeting with QE2 offended if these procedures aren't used?  

Not the OP, but in my experience no one cares as long as you're serving them a cup of tea. People are much too polite to say anything if it's awful. LOL!

[Brand of tea bags]

I'm glad you got your PG Tips! We can get ours from World Market or Publix and I just pay the prices for them because we have to have it. 😂

My Dad, a Yorshireman, has a definitive way of wanting his tea made if not in a pot: hot water poured over the tea bag and steeped for 4 minutes then discard the bag and add only a splash of milk. He used to have it poured over the tea bag and then dunked 20 times then taken out but apparently he saw a documentary about the best way to make a cup of tea and now wants it done the previous way. LOL! I just finished visiting my parents and I thought "I" drank a lot of tea. I couldn't keep up. I like mine light and sweet though!

[Do you enjoy flying?]

I'm not a huge fan of flying and my DH is an airline pilot. LOL!

I'll do it to get to fun destinations, but I don't particularly look forward to it.

Thankfully my kids LOVE it so I don't have to worry about them. Also, of course, my DH LOVES flying too. 😂 I'm the only scaredy cat in our family.

[HS fails]

If it makes you feel better it's definitely not just hs'ers! I'm originally from England and if I had a penny for every time an adult asked me if they celebrated Christmas/Thanksgiving/4th of July in England I'd be rich! 

I would have assumed that those asking about Thanksgiving/4th of July would have been pulling my chain but when I would reply to the negative with a smile they'd all seriously ask me why. 🤔 Even as a child I'd have to ask leading questions like "What is celebrated on xyz holiday?" 😂

 

ETA: Ha ha ha. I should have read the whole thread before responding! LOL!

 

[Gardeners! Favorite gardening shows?]

You could look with anything with Alan Titchmarsh (I see you've already watched Love Your Garden). He's the original British Patron Saint of amateur gardening! 

 

ETA: You could always watch Gardener's World if you have britbox on Amazon. Lots of Monty Don on that (and his golden retrievers!)

[End of the academic school yr.......4 day count down!]

I just got back from an unexpected 3 1/2 week trip overseas to help my parents while my Mom had surgery. The kids were with my inlaws and they didn't do much school so unfortunately that puts us behind where I wanted to be at this time of year. I think we're going to have to be doing math through the summer, though I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing if we can get it done first thing. 

I'm heading to the beach today, though, to sit in my beach chair and soak up the sun/blue skies while letting the kids swim. One of the benefits of living by the beach. The only problem is that it's so tempting to play hooky! 

[First Overseas Vacation- tips?]

On 3/17/2019 at 3:35 PM, soror said:

Very good point about medical care for the kids, that is something we'll have to make sure is settled, we do have back-up care!!!! I bet that was a bit scary. We were planning 2 CC's just in case, we planned on getting some Euros and pounds for London but no clue how much we need. WE're going to pay for most stuff ahead of time but some things, like a taxi that won't work.  Dd3 did ask for some Brittish candy! 

You should be able to get pounds and euros at an atm at the respective airports after you land. We've found ATMs are the best places to get actual cash.

I second (third?fifth?) the recommendation for no nap. I'm from England and every time we go back to see my parents (very often) we SO want to nap as soon as we get there but try to hold off as long as we can. If you nap right away it will throw off your body rhythm and you will sleep too long and it will be hard to wake up (then you'll be wide awake at 2am). Go for as long as you can without taking one and get an earlier than normal night. You'll be so glad you did!

[Poll about eating meals together as family; North America and elsewhere]

I'm the lone other vote.  We live in North America but I'm from England. DH works a lot out of town. When DH is home we eat at least one meal a day together, usually 2. When DH is gone it depends. We spend most of the day together so sometimes mealtimes in our house are everyone reading a book at separate tables while eating. 

Growing up I'd always eat before my parents unless we were eating out at a restaurant. They'd feed me around 5/5:30 and then they'd eat around 8 or 9pm. That's fairly common in Europe, however.

[S/o Questioning by TSA]

My kids and I fly very often. Every time they're asked at the TSA screening what their names are. It's just a normal part of screening. 

[Show me kitchens you love]

5 hours ago, moonflower said:

That's...very purple.

 

 

 

What I like about the first is the window over the sink - love a window over the sink.  Also wood trim and white walls.

 

I like this kitchen too. I have to admit,though, it took me a while to actually look at the kitchen because I was so distracted with the view outside the window and the plant in the garden. It took me a while to realize that what I was looking at was a plant. I imagined it to be a giant bunny rabbit who would poke his head up and look in the window any second. Then, knowing that was a weird thought, I tried to figure out what it was. THEN I looked at the kitchen. LOL! I've always thought I had un-diagnosed adult ADD. Can't you see it though!?! I just can't un-see it...

[Dog content: licking, chewing feet trouble]

3 hours ago, itsheresomewhere said:

Our dog who passed away was on this.  It was not that expensive ( 25 last refill).  It did work when he was on it.  

Our friend’s dog is also on this and at her vet, it is not expensive.  If they put your dog on this, check around for pricing.  

 

 

For our 65 pound Golden it was $50 for a 14 day supply from our vet. We couldn't do $100/month so she's not on it even though the sample that they gave us helped the itching immediately. Sigh. Where do you all buy it cheaper than this? 

[Family Games as Christmas Gifts....let's review them here 😊]

On 12/29/2018 at 9:36 AM, Attolia said:

 

Saboteur - Love, Love, Love.  We love the group game Mafia and there are similar elements in that the bad people are unknown.  I love that you can play with so many. My Brother and SIL played with us last night and they loved it too.  We have the Saboteur 2 expansion and will try it this weekend. 

 

If you like Mafia and Saboteur (both games that I really like) then you should look into The Resistance: Avalon. It's similar to both in that people are unknown but you have to choose people to go on quests with and so that makes it more fun, IMO. 

We only got one game this Christmas, which is unusual for us as we LOVE games. I got DH Love Letter for his stocking. It's a super easy game to pick up and we can play it quickly. All of us (including kids, 9 and 13) really like it.