The Chit Chat Chit Chat Thread

[Gabe1]

Speaking of families, for years and years we've been telling my grandmother that she and my step grandfather should come down to Hilton Head. We've got relatives they could see. My step grandfather loves bike riding, and there are bike paths galore in Hilton Head. His daughter has a house down there that they use for vacationing, so we always thought that they could stay there if they wanted to. Or they could stay in the two bedroom at the Disney resort with us.

For years it's always been no no no. They don't want to drive that far (my mom, then later me, could drive), they have plans already (yeah right), and perhaps the most ridiculous of all, we're too old to travel (which prompted a look from my step grandfather, who is in his 90s, to my grandmother, who is in her 70s, that said, "Speak for yourself").

Well, my nieces moved down there when my aunt got custody of them. So a few weeks ago, my grandmother popped down for a "surprise" visit. Thankfully for my aunt, it wasn't a surprise. My grandmother told my one cousin who told her brother who told my aunt. It caused quite a stir in the family, but at least my aunt knew she was coming. Suddenly it wasn't too far to travel anymore. I'm just glad that they got a hotel and didn't plan on staying with my aunt.

Well, we got a call the other day. My grandmother and step-grandfather are going to Hilton Head for a month in December. They are taking the train down, renting a car, and staying at my step grandfather's house. Some of the relatives will be coming to stay with them during that time. It's about a 2 hour drive from Charleston to Hilton Head, so they would stay a night or two. Hmmph. Like NO ONE EVER SUGGESTED THIS BEFORE.

I think what I find irritating about this whole thing is the favoritism shown here. My other niece is not biologically related to us. Her father is in prison, will likely never come out, and my cousin has been present in her life as her father since the day she was born. My grandmother has not treated her the same as she has treated the other great-grandchildren. They've lived in SC for 6 years now. Not one visit down to see her. But suddenly the other girls move down there and my cousin is having a biological child (a boy!) next month and suddenly she's rushing down there. I feel bad for the adopted niece. It's not like she has any contact with her father's family. Thankfully the rest of our family has stepped up, but still.

So we'll all be down there at the same time since we always go down for a week over Christmas. The good news is that we'll pretty much get to see everyone while we're down there. My grandmother offered to let us stay with them, but that was a mutual "no" from us; we will be staying at the Disney Resort as planned. I don't think we could all tolerate being in the same house with her for that long. My brother and I will get the second bedroom to ourselves. This is good for many reasons, real bed, no one waking me up at weird hours (my brother knows that he has to get up and quietly leave). The bad news is I'm sure there is going to be drama at some point. Especially given the rocky relationship between my uncle (aunt's husband, nieces' grandfather) and my grandfather. But in the end, I'm there to relax and spend some time with my family. And I'm very much looking forward to seeing my nieces.

Everyone should have SPACE at night with family gatherings. I call it CHILL time. We had a reunion with my DH family in Colorado. My inlaws being helpful as usual reserved a 3 bedroom condo for DH & 2 Brothers families too. I was like NO and my DH and I were on same page. We got a unit in a extended stay for about the same price and inlaws stayed in the condo with the other 2 brothers and families, each of us all had two small children at the time, two infants, one my DD. It was a week from heck for those in the condo. My SIL that had the other infant, demanded quiet every time the baby slept or should be going to sleep and they sleep a lot. No TV, talking shouldn't be happening...Made my DH and I enjoy our little unit all that much more. Plus knowing what a bore these reunions can be for children and some of the weird distant relatives, we left our kids back home with my Mom. There have been many more reunions. We've never attended a one since.

 

[Gabe1]

I have a situation like that in Rochester. They're giving me a phone interview. Why Rochester and snow country? Your guess is as good as mine.

Better than Buffalo!

 

[Gabe1]

Aspartame is an artificial sweetener, and no, it's not dangerous in small amounts as long as you're not allergic to it.

I've never been comfortable with this particular sweetener. Too much back and forth on it. My fear is one day is the long term might surface. I remember when Tylenol was like the miracle drug. Decades and decades later there is now some hefty speculation.

 

[tcool]

haha
reminds me of these cheap brazilian knockoffs

http://mentalfloss.com/article/2664...titles-and-posters-and-plots-you-wont-believe

Wait I thought these have always been Disney Movies

 

[StarWarsGirl]

I've never been comfortable with this particular sweetener. Too much back and forth on it. My fear is one day is the long term might surface. I remember when Tylenol was like the miracle drug. Decades and decades later there is now some hefty speculation.

I've done a lot of research on aspartame and feel that it's safe in small amounts. It's been deemed safe by over 100 countries' regulatory agencies. I figure it's like anything...too much of anything, even a good thing, is bad.

I also can't have sucralose (Splenda) in my drinks, so aspartame is what I can have.

Tylenol is in Excedrin migraine. Excedrin migraine is what works on migraines. I don't have much choice on either front.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

Everyone should have SPACE at night with family gatherings. I call it CHILL time. We had a reunion with my DH family in Colorado. My inlaws being helpful as usual reserved a 3 bedroom condo for DH & 2 Brothers families too. I was like NO and my DH and I were on same page. We got a unit in a extended stay for about the same price and inlaws stayed in the condo with the other 2 brothers and families, each of us all had two small children at the time, two infants, one my DD. It was a week from heck for those in the condo. My SIL that had the other infant, demanded quiet every time the baby slept or should be going to sleep and they sleep a lot. No TV, talking shouldn't be happening...Made my DH and I enjoy our little unit all that much more. Plus knowing what a bore these reunions can be for children and some of the weird distant relatives, we left our kids back home with my Mom. There have been many more reunions. We've never attended a one since.

It's fine with certain relatives. My aunt and uncle have stayed in the same unit as us. My uncle went to Hawaii with us and stayed in the same unit. I don't think I could handle more than a weekend with my grandmother in close quarters. My parents suggested the idea of me going down there with them and sharing the driving responsibility with my grandmother. A month in Hilton Head sounds nice. A month in Hilton Head with my grandmother sounds...mmmm...no.

I think pretty much when you're in close quarters with anyone, you're bound to argue. Even my parents and I usually get into an argument when sharing a room in WDW. The only time this hasn't been true has been with my bff in WDW last January (not one argument, and we were barely apart for over a week) and, surprisingly enough, my brother. The one and two bedrooms are nice because there's more space. The two bedrooms are especially nice because there's two bathrooms.

 

[Gabe1]

I've done a lot of research on aspartame and feel that it's safe in small amounts. It's been deemed safe by over 100 countries' regulatory agencies. I figure it's like anything...too much of anything, even a good thing, is bad.

I also can't have sucralose (Splenda) in my drinks, so aspartame is what I can have.

Tylenol is in Excedrin migraine. Excedrin migraine is what works on migraines. I don't have much choice on either front.

Yeah, it is a choice thing.

I am old enough to remember when aspartame was denied originally by the FDA and what it did to the stock of that pharmaceutical company. I remember those who came to fight for its approval which took many a year after the original denial. There are so many drugs and products that have been deemed safe and used in countless countries and then pulled. When I was a small child nearly every country used DDT to safeguard food crops. MSG slowly being backed away from as a preservative after decades of use. Cyclamate was a sweetener deemed safe and pulled a decade later and banned by the FDA the same folk that deemed it safe, it is still used in over 60 countries. (boy Gatorade was never the same after that)

But it is a gamble we all take with so much stuff we put in our mouths. Some say Aspirin would likely never be approved by the FDA for over the counter use if it came to market these days and would likely be a controlled substance.

 

[MinnieM123]

My Sister lives in Cleveland. 6-8pm on Halloween.

Ours our still on Halloween here though the times widely vary by town. It was after my kids were grown but I was sure glad when they pushed Daylight Savings Time to after Halloween.

Our area has trick or treat from 5-8 on Halloween night. When I was a kid (I lived in a different town), we never had any notice from the town or the schools, for approved "times" to trick or treat. Somehow, the parents just knew that they would tell their kids to be home by 8 p.m. That worked. I don't recall seeing kids outside after that.

Now I understand that certain things have changed, and some areas have stopped trick or treating to protect the kids from a few bad people. Those communities have big, indoor parties instead.

The worst thing I ever recall from years ago (and this is funny), was what one of my brothers did. I was about 9 at the time and had a friend that went out with me to trick or treat. My brother was 11, and he had a crush on my friend. So, like a dork, he thought up a stupid way to get her to notice him. (He was at that adolescent awkward stage . . .) When she came to the door and rang the bell, for me to come out and join her, my brother had a small paper Halloween bag with something inside, and he put it in her Halloween sack. He had a big grin on his face and said, "Happy Halloween" to her. She and I both walked away from the house, and she opened up the little bag--inside, the nitwit had put an empty jar of piccalilli ?!! Oh yah, right--that will get her attention, and bring out passionate emotions??!

Anyway, I brought up this silly story as an example of "the worst thing that happened" years ago, and how trick or treating nowadays has apparently changed for the worse, in some situations. I think I'm glad I'm not a kid now.

 

[Gabe1]

The Chicago Bears are NOT a lost cause, prior to yesterdays game ... despite the fact they've lost 3 out of their last 4 games ... this according to Jay Cutler's wife Kristin Cavallari.

I missed this record setting game yesterday because I was at a baby shower and likely the baby shower was less painful than watching the Bears yesterday. OMG!

 

[MOXOMUMD]

I dream of a world where all versions of Snow White can coexist.

Thank you for saying that. Me too.

 

[MOXOMUMD]

4 days until Halloween.

 

[Wrangler-Rick]

debt
debit
credit
total asset
liability
yield
net asset ratio

and
Orange Jelly Beans and Black Jelly Beans... (my old Accounting Prof used those analogies a lot!)

 

[MOXOMUMD]

and
Orange Jelly Beans and Black Jelly Beans... (my old Accounting Prof used those analogies a lot!)

I love black jelly beans. The food, not accounting.

 

[Wrangler-Rick]

Yeah, there are so many theories out there, so many meds, what works for one doesn't work for others. It was my own kid that figured out what was making her buckle over after months of tests and meds. It was an acute allergy to Aspartame. I never let my kids have any foods with artificial sweeteners, never thought of the freak'n gum, she finally figured it out on her own. It was never logged in the food diaries. My DH has an allergy to aspartame too along with certain beers. He always orders bottles of beer never tap 'cause they sometimes make errors. Always a risk for both of them too when ordering soda in a restaurant.

Me too! I actually lost a potential job because the interviewing VP took me to lunch and I asked the waitress if the iced tea was made with sugar or artificial sweetner and she couldn't answer. I found out later he thought I was too so he passed on me. Nope, I just didn't want to be laid up the rest of the afternoon in agony...

 

[StarWarsGirl]

Me too! I actually lost a potential job because the interviewing VP took me to lunch and I asked the waitress if the iced tea was made with sugar or artificial sweetner and she couldn't answer. I found out later he thought I was too so he passed on me. Nope, I just didn't want to be laid up the rest of the afternoon in agony...

Maybe you were better off without that job...

 

[donaldtoo]

All this talk of sweeteners takes me back to the time we made molasses from a crop of sugar cane one of my grandfathers grew one year.
Good times...!

 

[StarWarsGirl]

I have come to a conclusion: One of my professors is completely crazy. How he managed to get from talking about IT projects in the workplace to a political rant is beyond me.

 

[donaldtoo]

Maybe I will do a pre-trip report in the Disneyland Paris section. We are going to do 5 nights in Paris, 3 nights at Disneyland, then end our trip with 4 nights in London. We will be celebrating our 10 year anniversary so we decided to go big this year.

Congrats on the 10 year anniversary, and hope y'all have a blast!!!

 

[donaldtoo]

I have come to a conclusion: One of my professors is completely crazy. How he managed to get from talking about IT projects in the workplace to a political rant is beyond me.

I'm actually quite surprised this is the first one you've run into that does that.

 

[donaldtoo]

For us old-timers, she was also the wife of Mr. Kotter.

View attachment 71503

Yep, loved that show.
I always wanted to try Julie's "world famous tuna casserole"...!

R.I.P. Marcia Strassman.