working out for Disney

[HouCuseChickie]

Well that kind of stinks, but at least Kendall and the other girls can bond with their irritation over the other girl.

She's just very "different" for lack of a better term. There have been complaints on everything from her being intentionally unclean (including personal hygiene) because it never mattered at home. Even when they go out of their way to say hi to her if they see her in passing, she just looks at them and nothing more. So, I think it's just going to be a matter of coexisting.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Sounds busy!! I've been working way more than my contract is for, too. I'm supposed to be doing 20 hours a week, and it's flexible..like one week I could work 30 hours and another week 10, but we have one person out on medical leave, so we all have to cover her hours between us, and I've been working 32 hours a week for several weeks. We did get permission to hire someone at least temporarily so we can use time off to work off some of the extra hours we've been building up, but we have to find someone and then get them trained before that happens, so I'm still scheduled for 32 hours a week for now. Between that and all the household chores being on me, not much is getting done around the house.

That's so strange about K being rejected for absentee voting!! What did they change? I got my absentee ballot a couple of weeks ago, but it's so daunting. Like, the presidential election is easy, but there are all kinds of local offices and things that you know nothing about any of the candidates. Like it asks if a specific justice should retain their office, but I can't find anything about their voting records or their stances on issues. How do I know whether I think they are doing a good job if I can't find anything about what they've done in their capacity as elected officials? There was one website....votesmart or something, where you can type in a politician's name, and it will give you their bio and their voting record, etc, IF they've filled it in. But I think a lot of Wyoming politicians don't consider it worth their time to fill it in, and I think most people probably vote along party lines rather than voting based on specific issues. I know when I was in high school, I had no idea which stances were leaning left or right. I knew what my mom voted, but not why. It wasn't until I moved here that I got more interested in the issues and actually learned what different parties stand for and what the arguments for and against certain issues were. But living over here, I'm obviously not getting news about candidates for the school board or about Wyoming legislative representatives. It makes it hard to make an informed choice!!

How's Voodoo now? I hope she's ok! Did she get attacked by an animal or something?

Our norm is 37.5 a week but I put in a little over 50 last week. I try to do work around the house, but I am so tired that it's the bare minimum...like dishes and maybe remembering to run the robot vacuum to get all of Voo's furry tumbleweeds. David was home by himself over the weekend, so he did some, but still focused more on the yard.

When I put everything together, it looked like we were going to have to mail in all of the paperwork. Then we found something on the website that absentee applications could be accepted in some counties by email or fax. We confirmed that our county was one of those counties. It made no mention of any conditions with submitting in this manner, but after the rejection, it now says that they must receive a physical application by mail within 4 days of receiving the email or fax in order for the application to be formally reviewed. What is the point of saying you accept the applications by mail or fax if it also has to come in by mail? Honestly, it's even a challenge knowing what people stand for if you're over here. Even voting records are unreliable because they tack so much onto some bills that you need to know why. Like maybe it included something everyone wants, but took away funding from something else that we want even more. It's so convoluted that it's hard to ever really know.

No...the filters won't allow me to use the specific words for her issues, but a particular gland on her posterior was abscessed. The blood was tied to the fluid buildup and infection related drainage. Of course, we didn't know at the time and it's scary whenever there's bleeding and swelling for some unknown reason.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I thought you might have been slightly less busy with K at school! I guess not.

Wow, I admire you for bringing K and her roommate back to vote in early voting. I'd be curious to know if the first names of these people whose applications for absentee voting are being rejected are female. Even if it is not, it still sounds like it could possibly be voter suppression. You could always report it to the DoJ's civil rights section, if you suspect that is the issue. Young people are often a target of voter suppression.

I hope Voodoo is on the mend soon. I have seen a cone of shame that was actually a daisy of shame. It was cute. lol

I bought that LSS bag so long ago. I like it for trips where I just want to carry the basics and not have one shoulder taking all the weight. It's good for touring around cities when all you need to carry is a wallet and phone. It's great for WDW, of course.

I bring some of this on myself. In hindsight, I regret going to get K this weekend. We had some good times together, but she was mainly cranky. I hate to say it, but I felt kind of used. Like she was just there so I would buy her food and take her to Target before dropping her off at her dorm. On top of that, she was sick. I think some may be tied to gunk in the dorm air ducts...because she sounded much better yesterday. Still, she could have told us.

For ours, it was tied to rules that were not initially communicated on the website. I'm not sure if these rules were just added or if they were brought down for a bit. Either way, this whole sending the physical absentee app by mail to be delivered within 4 days of any email or fax definitely wasn't communicated on the state's and county's resources when I was assembling everything to help get this done. I suspect it might not just be females but young people in general. I really don't feel like driving up there to do this, but I'm tired of these games they're playing with people's rights to vote.

She seems to be doing pretty well now. Just her normal allergy issues. The cone was impeding her ability to do normal things and I had a hard time getting it on and off, so I replaced it with an inflatable. I thought about getting a cute one, but the solid blue was the cheapest.

I want to say they came out sometime between 2012-2013. I remember buying a couple early on (while still on the LSS website), loving them, but using them as a reason not to buy anything from the Paris Disney Dooney retro collection. I still kind of regret not buying the rounded crossbody from that one, but I think the LSS is a sturdier and more functional bag. That particular bag is a good smaller bag.

 

[Sans Souci]

I bring some of this on myself. In hindsight, I regret going to get K this weekend. We had some good times together, but she was mainly cranky. I hate to say it, but I felt kind of used. Like she was just there so I would buy her food and take her to Target before dropping her off at her dorm. On top of that, she was sick. I think some may be tied to gunk in the dorm air ducts...because she sounded much better yesterday. Still, she could have told us.

For ours, it was tied to rules that were not initially communicated on the website. I'm not sure if these rules were just added or if they were brought down for a bit. Either way, this whole sending the physical absentee app by mail to be delivered within 4 days of any email or fax definitely wasn't communicated on the state's and county's resources when I was assembling everything to help get this done. I suspect it might not just be females but young people in general. I really don't feel like driving up there to do this, but I'm tired of these games they're playing with people's rights to vote.

She seems to be doing pretty well now. Just her normal allergy issues. The cone was impeding her ability to do normal things and I had a hard time getting it on and off, so I replaced it with an inflatable. I thought about getting a cute one, but the solid blue was the cheapest.

I want to say they came out sometime between 2012-2013. I remember buying a couple early on (while still on the LSS website), loving them, but using them as a reason not to buy anything from the Paris Disney Dooney retro collection. I still kind of regret not buying the rounded crossbody from that one, but I think the LSS is a sturdier and more functional bag. That particular bag is a good smaller bag.

Maybe she was cranky from being sick, but I understand feeling used feeling. Some times our son will come with us on a local-ish weekend trip, but wants nothing to do with us until it's time to go out for dinner-then he orders lots of expensive dishes. Otherwise, he just stays in the hotel room or goes to the hotel gym while we go out.

I've been seeing some people online going to vote early and find out they've been purged from the rolls.

I am not a big purse person. My husband thinks I am, though! He got me a very nice satchel-type purse from Radley London as an anniversary present in July. It has bamboo handles. I never used it until we went to Phoenix last month. It's too nice for everyday use. As I was getting my ID out at security, I noticed the handle on one side broke. My husband tried to super glue it when we got to Phoenix, but it didn't work. Then he checked if he could exchange it for a new one from Macy's, but he was out of the return window. He called Macy's and was on the phone an hour with them, they told him he could send it back and someone would determine if I caused the damage or not and if I wanted it back I'd have to pay for the shipping (both ways). Then he contacted Radley London directly who told him to go to Macy's for help. He bought this in July and it broke in September on its first use. I don't think he will be purchasing anything from Radley again. It's a shame, because I do have a really nice wallet from them. It's funny, my husband tried to write a review about this purse at Macy's and it was declined. There were no reviews of this purse at all and I am wondering why.

 

[Sans Souci]

Hello-

Checking in with a kettlebell workout that had way too many burpees in it.

My brother lives in Cape Coral and evacuated to Orlando last night with his two dogs. He is staying at the Renaissance at Disney Springs. He was just there with us 2 weeks ago. He is supposed to move house next month in the same town, because his GF is pregnant and they want more room. I hope he can still do that. I know Orlando is under a hurricane warning, but it's still safer than trying to ride it out near the coast.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Maybe she was cranky from being sick, but I understand feeling used feeling. Some times our son will come with us on a local-ish weekend trip, but wants nothing to do with us until it's time to go out for dinner-then he orders lots of expensive dishes. Otherwise, he just stays in the hotel room or goes to the hotel gym while we go out.

I've been seeing some people online going to vote early and find out they've been purged from the rolls.

I am not a big purse person. My husband thinks I am, though! He got me a very nice satchel-type purse from Radley London as an anniversary present in July. It has bamboo handles. I never used it until we went to Phoenix last month. It's too nice for everyday use. As I was getting my ID out at security, I noticed the handle on one side broke. My husband tried to super glue it when we got to Phoenix, but it didn't work. Then he checked if he could exchange it for a new one from Macy's, but he was out of the return window. He called Macy's and was on the phone an hour with them, they told him he could send it back and someone would determine if I caused the damage or not and if I wanted it back I'd have to pay for the shipping (both ways). Then he contacted Radley London directly who told him to go to Macy's for help. He bought this in July and it broke in September on its first use. I don't think he will be purchasing anything from Radley again. It's a shame, because I do have a really nice wallet from them. It's funny, my husband tried to write a review about this purse at Macy's and it was declined. There were no reviews of this purse at all and I am wondering why.

Feeling sick could have been part of it, but she was sounding significantly better by Sunday. I expect her to be like this with me, but even Sam was hurt by her behavior. I suspect some may be Kendall shifting into college kid mode. Like Sam can't appreciate the freedom and doing things like going out to fraternity parties. So, they may grow apart a bit during this time. For me...she and I always butt heads, but I wasn't expecting such a rapid shift into bratty behavior.

We've checked our registration status just to make sure they're still active. They purge the rolls in Texas every year, but it got a lot of attention this year. To the point that I feel like they were trying to make a big deal out of an annual process. They usually scan for deceased, people who moved out of state, and newly ineligible felons.

Yeah...the bag definitely shouldn't have issues on its first use. The paying for shipping part is just insult to injury, especially since you'd probably want to insure the shipment. The review part is what makes me leery of buying much of anything based on reviews these days. Too many companies reject unflattering reviews or have their numbers padded with phony ones.

 

[Sans Souci]

Feeling sick could have been part of it, but she was sounding significantly better by Sunday. I expect her to be like this with me, but even Sam was hurt by her behavior. I suspect some may be Kendall shifting into college kid mode. Like Sam can't appreciate the freedom and doing things like going out to fraternity parties. So, they may grow apart a bit during this time. For me...she and I always butt heads, but I wasn't expecting such a rapid shift into bratty behavior.

We've checked our registration status just to make sure they're still active. They purge the rolls in Texas every year, but it got a lot of attention this year. To the point that I feel like they were trying to make a big deal out of an annual process. They usually scan for deceased, people who moved out of state, and newly ineligible felons.

Yeah...the bag definitely shouldn't have issues on its first use. The paying for shipping part is just insult to injury, especially since you'd probably want to insure the shipment. The review part is what makes me leery of buying much of anything based on reviews these days. Too many companies reject unflattering reviews or have their numbers padded with phony ones.

Maybe the crankiness is part of her transitioning to being more independent and adult. I remember I was kind of awful to my grandmother before I left for college and looking back, it was me trying to "insulate" myself from missing her while I was away.

I was looking at buying something at Sephora.com not long ago, and so many reviews are from influencers who belong to programs where they get a product free in exchange for reviewing it at Sephora and social media. There were so many glowing reviews from people who got it free. I had to filter out these reviews and the truth came to light. I ended up not purchasing what I was looking for. It's difficult to find honest reviews. Amazon seems ok, but even some times, they can get flooded with 5 star reviews that pretty much say the same thing.

 

[Sans Souci]

Hello-

Checking in with a HIIT workout (yesterday) and a kettlebell workout (today).

I noticed Lasagna Love had been sending out emails that the portal where you get contact info for the "lasagnee" was down and I didn't think anything of it. The woman who runs my region's LL sent an email yesterday saying they have to pause lasagnas for now. Someone has been trying to take down the portal because they don't like what LL does. Wut? I don't understand why someone would have a problem with LL's mission? She said the proper authorities are involved, but they are going to have to completely rebuild the portal. Why do idiots have to ruin a good thing? I'd love to know why someone would take issue with LL. This is not tax payer-funded. It is funded by private donations and people who choose to spend their time and money making and delivering lasagnas. This person has no right to stop what we are doing. Toe rag.

 

[Sans Souci]

Hello-

Just checking in with a 45 kettlebell workout. OMG, the burpees.

Callie came back yesterday and after dinner she wanted to come in for a nap. She sat next to me and she fell asleep while I was petting her back. We have to keep the door open when she is inside, so she feels like she can flee easily. I was sitting there petting her and I heard this crunching noise. There was a raccoon in the kitchen eating her food! Because the cat was sleeping, I was trying to scare it without waking her. It was impossible. So, I had to shout NO at it to get it to notice me and scare it out of the house. That woke her up and scared her. She tried to run outside, but the raccoon was there, then she saw me behind her and I think she felt like she was between a rock and a hard place. But she did go outside. My husband put more food in her dish and she came in again. But she went under the table and wouldn't even look at me, except to give me a single, dirty look.

 

[Songbird76]

I returned my ballot yesterday in one of the ballot boxes scattered around my county. There were a few people running for 3 spots on the school board. There is a website where they collate all of the candidates. Some candidates filled out their templates and quite a few didn't. I can't take someone seriously if they can't be bothered to share their platform. Don't make me look all over the internet to learn what your platform is. So I voted for three people who had their platform right there.

I mailed my ballot today. It should be there in time. I ended up leaving a LOT blank. The website I found...I think it was vote smart or something like that, there was one candidate who filled it all out, and the rest didn't. I liked her platform, so I voted for her, but almost everything else outside of the presidential election I left blank. If I can't find what you stand for, I can't in good conscience vote for you.

 

[Songbird76]

Hello-

I've been doing 45 min of kettlebell workouts. They've been pretty sweaty and challenging for me.

I was going to go watch The Substance this weekend, because I thought it was supposed to be satire. I am glad I looked before I leaped. It is satire, but it's also body horror. Nope. I don't do body horror. I'd read reviews about "tsunamis of blood" and pulling lose teeth out of one's head and lose nails out of one's nail beds. Nope, nope, nope. I watched previews of it on YouTube and there are tight shots of Dennis Quaid sloppily shoving shrimp in his mouth and chewing with his mouth open... It sounds like it's gross for the sake of being gross, but it gets good reviews, though. Maybe I am just being a wimp. lol

I've never heard of it, but it definitely doesn't sound like my thing. I don't think you're being a wimp. It sounds disgusting.

 

[Songbird76]

Our norm is 37.5 a week but I put in a little over 50 last week. I try to do work around the house, but I am so tired that it's the bare minimum...like dishes and maybe remembering to run the robot vacuum to get all of Voo's furry tumbleweeds. David was home by himself over the weekend, so he did some, but still focused more on the yard.

When I put everything together, it looked like we were going to have to mail in all of the paperwork. Then we found something on the website that absentee applications could be accepted in some counties by email or fax. We confirmed that our county was one of those counties. It made no mention of any conditions with submitting in this manner, but after the rejection, it now says that they must receive a physical application by mail within 4 days of receiving the email or fax in order for the application to be formally reviewed. What is the point of saying you accept the applications by mail or fax if it also has to come in by mail? Honestly, it's even a challenge knowing what people stand for if you're over here. Even voting records are unreliable because they tack so much onto some bills that you need to know why. Like maybe it included something everyone wants, but took away funding from something else that we want even more. It's so convoluted that it's hard to ever really know.

No...the filters won't allow me to use the specific words for her issues, but a particular gland on her posterior was abscessed. The blood was tied to the fluid buildup and infection related drainage. Of course, we didn't know at the time and it's scary whenever there's bleeding and swelling for some unknown reason.

Yeah, I definitely do enough around the house to put me over 40 hours a week between that and my job. The problem is that now that I'm working so many hours at my job, I end up doing way more than 40 if I do the housework, and my husband doesn't do chores. He sees his weekend as time off and he's not going to do chores when he could be watching his shows, or playing on his computer, etc. And he kind of just doesn't get that stuff still needs to be done, even if it's the weekend. Like....the laundry isn't going to do itself just because I've already worked 8 hours in a day. So I have to do loads of laundry before and after my workday, and I have to do some on weekends. I have to mow the lawn when the weather permits, whether it's weekend or not. It has to get done. I don't have the luxury of declaring it "time off" because then things won't get done.

Ah the hoops you have to jump through!! Wyoming doesn't do email or fax regristration for absentee ballots. I always have to download the form, have my husband print it at work, then I fill it out and mail it in. Then they DO send me the ballot through email, but again, I have to download it and have him print it, I fill it in, and mail it. But I know exactly what you're talking about, with them tacking things on. When I was 18, there was a referendum or something I could vote on. Our school district consisted of several schools. We lived in a really small town with only about 1200 people. There were 250 kids in my school, with 7th-12th grades, so it was very small. And our school was in a district with the next town over...that town was 40 miles away, but there are like 10-15,000 people there, and they have more kids in one graduating class than we had in our whole school. Because ours was such a small school, we didn't have all the facilities they did. Every time our school was slated to get an improvement, like a new track, the people in the big town would complain that money was being spent on a school that benefitted such a small number of kids. They ripped out the asphalt track we had and were prepping it to put in an all-weather track like all the other secondary schools in the district had. They put down shale, but before they installed the track, people complained and it ended up going to another school that already HAD an all-weather track, but that was several years old....they felt that because more people would USE it in the other school, they should update that one. So we never got the new track, but they had already ripped out the asphalt one we had, and there was no more money to repave it...so we just had a shale track for years. And we didn't have an auditorium like the other schools did. We had to perform all our concerts and plays in the gymnasium or in the cafeteria. So there was this bond issue or something that came up that gave the schools in the big town a bunch of stuff, and they were trying to get people from our town to vote for it, so they added an auditorium for us into it. We never got the auditorium. When I was teaching, I was working in the big town, but my old high school was having a concert, so I went to it. I walked in, and one of my coworkers from the big town was wandering the halls, looking for the auditorium. A friend of hers had invited her to the concert, and she had no idea that we didn't have an auditorium. So she's looking around, and she says "You went to school here, right? WHERE is the auditorium??" And I said "We don't have one" and she was flabbergasted, because the voters had been told we had all the same facilities as the big schools, and we were just a bunch of whiners who wanted newer stuff. That's how they manipulated the voters. Spread a bunch of lies about what we have, promise us new stuff, and then in the end, any money allocated to us got diverted to one of the bigger schools where it could "benefit a larger number of students". I'm sure it's a tactic that a lot of places use to get what they want. "Tell them what they want to hear."

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Maybe the crankiness is part of her transitioning to being more independent and adult. I remember I was kind of awful to my grandmother before I left for college and looking back, it was me trying to "insulate" myself from missing her while I was away.

I was looking at buying something at Sephora.com not long ago, and so many reviews are from influencers who belong to programs where they get a product free in exchange for reviewing it at Sephora and social media. There were so many glowing reviews from people who got it free. I had to filter out these reviews and the truth came to light. I ended up not purchasing what I was looking for. It's difficult to find honest reviews. Amazon seems ok, but even some times, they can get flooded with 5 star reviews that pretty much say the same thing.

I'm sure it's all of those things. I know I wasn't the most pleasant person to be around when I was away from school. I'd started to develop this new sense of self and a life with people who made things more interesting. She's coming home next weekend, so hopefully she's not too impossible.

Even Amazon is iffy with reviews. I think it hinges on the product and situation, but I've had several instances where they've rejected a negative review. A while back, I tried that Lume deodorant I always see being advertised. The product smelled horrible, but they wouldn't publish my review. It was within review guidelines, so I can only think they have a deal with the company to weed out the bad ones. I also had a case where I was sent a fake product. I received a notification that they wouldn't publish the review because my money was refunded. That's all well and good, but they allowed the seller to keep selling.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Yeah, I definitely do enough around the house to put me over 40 hours a week between that and my job. The problem is that now that I'm working so many hours at my job, I end up doing way more than 40 if I do the housework, and my husband doesn't do chores. He sees his weekend as time off and he's not going to do chores when he could be watching his shows, or playing on his computer, etc. And he kind of just doesn't get that stuff still needs to be done, even if it's the weekend. Like....the laundry isn't going to do itself just because I've already worked 8 hours in a day. So I have to do loads of laundry before and after my workday, and I have to do some on weekends. I have to mow the lawn when the weather permits, whether it's weekend or not. It has to get done. I don't have the luxury of declaring it "time off" because then things won't get done.

Ah the hoops you have to jump through!! Wyoming doesn't do email or fax regristration for absentee ballots. I always have to download the form, have my husband print it at work, then I fill it out and mail it in. Then they DO send me the ballot through email, but again, I have to download it and have him print it, I fill it in, and mail it. But I know exactly what you're talking about, with them tacking things on. When I was 18, there was a referendum or something I could vote on. Our school district consisted of several schools. We lived in a really small town with only about 1200 people. There were 250 kids in my school, with 7th-12th grades, so it was very small. And our school was in a district with the next town over...that town was 40 miles away, but there are like 10-15,000 people there, and they have more kids in one graduating class than we had in our whole school. Because ours was such a small school, we didn't have all the facilities they did. Every time our school was slated to get an improvement, like a new track, the people in the big town would complain that money was being spent on a school that benefitted such a small number of kids. They ripped out the asphalt track we had and were prepping it to put in an all-weather track like all the other secondary schools in the district had. They put down shale, but before they installed the track, people complained and it ended up going to another school that already HAD an all-weather track, but that was several years old....they felt that because more people would USE it in the other school, they should update that one. So we never got the new track, but they had already ripped out the asphalt one we had, and there was no more money to repave it...so we just had a shale track for years. And we didn't have an auditorium like the other schools did. We had to perform all our concerts and plays in the gymnasium or in the cafeteria. So there was this bond issue or something that came up that gave the schools in the big town a bunch of stuff, and they were trying to get people from our town to vote for it, so they added an auditorium for us into it. We never got the auditorium. When I was teaching, I was working in the big town, but my old high school was having a concert, so I went to it. I walked in, and one of my coworkers from the big town was wandering the halls, looking for the auditorium. A friend of hers had invited her to the concert, and she had no idea that we didn't have an auditorium. So she's looking around, and she says "You went to school here, right? WHERE is the auditorium??" And I said "We don't have one" and she was flabbergasted, because the voters had been told we had all the same facilities as the big schools, and we were just a bunch of whiners who wanted newer stuff. That's how they manipulated the voters. Spread a bunch of lies about what we have, promise us new stuff, and then in the end, any money allocated to us got diverted to one of the bigger schools where it could "benefit a larger number of students". I'm sure it's a tactic that a lot of places use to get what they want. "Tell them what they want to hear."

It's times like this when I'm really grateful that we all do our own laundry, split some of the household stuff, and in general...have lowered expectations with cleaning. It's not that we live like animals or anything... we just all appreciate having downtime. I know every household operates differently and what works for us doesn't work for everyone else. I just don't think I'd survive if I had to work full time and cover cleaning everything all the time.

Each day, I see more and more complaints about rejected absentee ballot applications. In 2022, they rejected over 18,000. More people vote when it's a presidential election, so I can only imagine how large the number of rejects will be this time. Early voting opens here on the 21st and it appears that polling centers are open on weekdays and weekends through 11/1. So, I'm going to drive Kendall home next weekend to vote in person. Your town/school needs vs the stories told to the larger area sounds like another prime example of the power of deceit. Our district seems to try and play this equality game among siblings to keep it all even so that everyone eventually gets the same upgrades. That's not to say that there aren't issues on the board with questionable practices and the schools could all use some help, but they do seem to do a decent job of spreading out the new stuff.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Good morning!

I wanted to share that my foot is finally tolerating some shoes with backs. On Tuesday, I was able to put on a pair of trail runners. They're a little big on me (normal size too small, half size up a little too big), but they afforded me a little space to wiggle in without too much pressure on the area. I tolerated the shoes for 7+ hours. The only problem, they are chunky with a gripping tread. I nearly fell on the stairs a couple of times, so yesterday, I tried my normal running shoes. There was a little bit of a pinch at the ankle, but I tolerated them all day. In fact, I was able to get in some walking while Sam was at practice last night. I managed to make it all the way from the car to the bathroom (close to 1/4 mile) as well as a viewing spot to try again to see that darn comet (nothing- again!). I figured if I'm already walking back to the car and feeling good, why not walk some more? So, I walked back to the car and made a few laps around the parking lot. I ended up having to go up to the bathroom again...so, more walking. In the end, it was close to 2 miles. I decided to try again this morning. Nothing major (baby steps- literally), but I walked a mile before sitting down to the computer. More pinching feeling today, but it's progress. It was also so nice outside. After hitting 99 on Monday and 96 on Tuesday, we had a front roll through. It was a lovely 46 degrees for my walk. Sam is playing at a park this weekend with a nice trail, so I'm hoping to try some more.

Other than that, just managing life. Work is still crazy, but I see some light at the end of the tunnel. We're less than a month from the start of US turkey season, so that's exciting. David also discovered last night that Costco is a much better deal on Halloween candy than our supermarkets. The market (on sale) wanted $20 for a 2.5lb bag of candy. Costco had 5lbs for the same price...and I think theirs also was all good stuff vs. the ones with some of the filler like Whoppers and Skittles. I mean, I like the filler, but not at those prices. I did finally decorate our yard for Halloween, but we're down to one inflatable, one string of orange lights, some ghost stake lights, a trio of hanging fabric ghosts, a projector being repurposed because I'm too cheap to buy a new battery for the remote to change the color/pattern, and a bunch of mini pumpkins. I know it sounds like a lot, but it's a fraction of the old display.

 

[Songbird76]

It's times like this when I'm really grateful that we all do our own laundry, split some of the household stuff, and in general...have lowered expectations with cleaning. It's not that we live like animals or anything... we just all appreciate having downtime. I know every household operates differently and what works for us doesn't work for everyone else. I just don't think I'd survive if I had to work full time and cover cleaning everything all the time.

Each day, I see more and more complaints about rejected absentee ballot applications. In 2022, they rejected over 18,000. More people vote when it's a presidential election, so I can only imagine how large the number of rejects will be this time. Early voting opens here on the 21st and it appears that polling centers are open on weekdays and weekends through 11/1. So, I'm going to drive Kendall home next weekend to vote in person. Your town/school needs vs the stories told to the larger area sounds like another prime example of the power of deceit. Our district seems to try and play this equality game among siblings to keep it all even so that everyone eventually gets the same upgrades. That's not to say that there aren't issues on the board with questionable practices and the schools could all use some help, but they do seem to do a decent job of spreading out the new stuff.

Nothing would ever get done here if I didn't do it. Like....I've literally left the living room trash overflowing for weeks just to see if someone else would empty it. No one ever did. And my husband bought this trash bin with 3 compartments in it for the kitchen, which I HATED. Each compartment was so small that the plastic and the standard trash needed to be emptied at least once a day, and it was so small that it kept sliding back....it was under the counter, but it would slide so far back, you couldn't reach it and you had to pull it out to empty it. But no one else ever emptied it. I just stopped using it myself and took any of MY trash outside immediately, and I waited to see if someone would empty any of the compartments. I even told everyone I hated the thing and I wouldn't be using it anymore. But it just kept getting more full and stuff was sticking out....it was overflowing, but no one ever emptied it and I wasn't putting anything in it, so I wasn't going to empty it. It sat there for MONTHS overflowing until my husband finally took the hint and went back to the old trash bin we had that was like twice the size of the one with compartments all together. And he bought 2 of them. One for plastic and one for regular trash. So much handier. But no toilets will get cleaned if I don't clean them. No floors will get vacuumed unless I do it. I worked Monday through Wednesday, and my husband got home before me. I have choir Monday nights and if dinner isn't ready when I get home, I have to go to McDonalds to get dinner in order to make it to choir on time. I don't have time to go to the store. We've been out of milk for 2 days and I ended up having to get more today when -I- went to get groceries because nobody went and got more on the days I had to work. E doesn't drink milk, so I get that she doesn't necessarily notice when it's low, but both my husband and my son drink a TON of milk...either one of them could have seen we were low and gone to get some. But they don't. They wait for mom to go to the store and get it so they don't have to cut into their free time by doing chores. Just wait....mom will go eventually, and because I drink one glass of milk a day, I can't just not get any to make a point and make them go get it themselves. If I don't buy it, I don't have any for myself, either, and because of my diabetis, I'm not supposed to drink juice because it has too much sugar. My work is right next to a grocery store, so I stopped and got a small container of milk just for my lunch because we were out at home, and even though everyone was home before I was, no one took it upon themselves to get milk. E is the only one who will do stuff if I'm not home to do it, but she's only home this week because next week is midterms and she has a study week this week.

Wasn't there a thing a couple elections ago, like maybe 2012? where Arizona was in the news for purging a bunch of people from their voter rolls who had registered? Like....they would get to the polling place and be told they couldn't vote there because they were registered somewhere else, so they'd go there only to be told they were registered in the original place they went, and then they'd end up going all over the place trying to vote and would end up being too late to vote. Like, I had a friend there who was registered for one particular party and when she got there for the primary, she wasn't allowed to vote because they had registered her for a different party so she wasn't eligible to vote in the primary for the party she had actually registered for. And there were so many people that had that happened to...and in other places they were trying to intimidate voters. There were HOURS long lines of people trying to get in to vote and then they'd get up there and be turned away and told that they weren't registered. So many hoops to jump through!! Hopefully you'll all get to vote! Good luck!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Nothing would ever get done here if I didn't do it. Like....I've literally left the living room trash overflowing for weeks just to see if someone else would empty it. No one ever did. And my husband bought this trash bin with 3 compartments in it for the kitchen, which I HATED. Each compartment was so small that the plastic and the standard trash needed to be emptied at least once a day, and it was so small that it kept sliding back....it was under the counter, but it would slide so far back, you couldn't reach it and you had to pull it out to empty it. But no one else ever emptied it. I just stopped using it myself and took any of MY trash outside immediately, and I waited to see if someone would empty any of the compartments. I even told everyone I hated the thing and I wouldn't be using it anymore. But it just kept getting more full and stuff was sticking out....it was overflowing, but no one ever emptied it and I wasn't putting anything in it, so I wasn't going to empty it. It sat there for MONTHS overflowing until my husband finally took the hint and went back to the old trash bin we had that was like twice the size of the one with compartments all together. And he bought 2 of them. One for plastic and one for regular trash. So much handier. But no toilets will get cleaned if I don't clean them. No floors will get vacuumed unless I do it. I worked Monday through Wednesday, and my husband got home before me. I have choir Monday nights and if dinner isn't ready when I get home, I have to go to McDonalds to get dinner in order to make it to choir on time. I don't have time to go to the store. We've been out of milk for 2 days and I ended up having to get more today when -I- went to get groceries because nobody went and got more on the days I had to work. E doesn't drink milk, so I get that she doesn't necessarily notice when it's low, but both my husband and my son drink a TON of milk...either one of them could have seen we were low and gone to get some. But they don't. They wait for mom to go to the store and get it so they don't have to cut into their free time by doing chores. Just wait....mom will go eventually, and because I drink one glass of milk a day, I can't just not get any to make a point and make them go get it themselves. If I don't buy it, I don't have any for myself, either, and because of my diabetis, I'm not supposed to drink juice because it has too much sugar. My work is right next to a grocery store, so I stopped and got a small container of milk just for my lunch because we were out at home, and even though everyone was home before I was, no one took it upon themselves to get milk. E is the only one who will do stuff if I'm not home to do it, but she's only home this week because next week is midterms and she has a study week this week.

Wasn't there a thing a couple elections ago, like maybe 2012? where Arizona was in the news for purging a bunch of people from their voter rolls who had registered? Like....they would get to the polling place and be told they couldn't vote there because they were registered somewhere else, so they'd go there only to be told they were registered in the original place they went, and then they'd end up going all over the place trying to vote and would end up being too late to vote. Like, I had a friend there who was registered for one particular party and when she got there for the primary, she wasn't allowed to vote because they had registered her for a different party so she wasn't eligible to vote in the primary for the party she had actually registered for. And there were so many people that had that happened to...and in other places they were trying to intimidate voters. There were HOURS long lines of people trying to get in to vote and then they'd get up there and be turned away and told that they weren't registered. So many hoops to jump through!! Hopefully you'll all get to vote! Good luck!

It sounds like the kids' bathroom trash. It's partly my fault. I put a smaller trashcan in there that went nicely with the color scheme. It was something we already had that kept me from spending extra money. Still, even when they had a larger one, it could be spilling out onto the floor and nobody would lift a finger. They'd literally just start propping the trash up against the side of the toilet and the wall. I do usually have to delegate and tell them to do stuff if I want it done. It's rare that any of that will happen without me pushing a bit. David and Sam drink a ton of milk. Thankfully, David usually goes to Costco once a week, so he handles about half of the food shopping for us. He'll pick up some extra milk (among other things) if it looks like we're running low. It is funny...he keeps talking about wanting to vacuum upstairs and keeps forgetting because I have the vacuum in the office right now. It's sort of "out of sight-out of mind."

Probably. Texas does something similar each year and recently got a ton of press for hyping up theirs this year. It's usually them just cleaning out of the people that have died, the ones that are ineligible due to new felonies, and the ones that have moved out of state. Still, they want to make a big deal out of the norms just because of the optics on the national stage. I will be driving up to OK on Friday to get K and we plan to vote on Saturday. Thankfully, Sam has late games that day, so we can sleep in a bit. While I'm quite nervous about the outcome, I'm ready for this to be over. I am so sick and tired of all of the political ads. I guess you can be happy that you don't have to see the American ones over there.

 

[Songbird76]

It sounds like the kids' bathroom trash. It's partly my fault. I put a smaller trashcan in there that went nicely with the color scheme. It was something we already had that kept me from spending extra money. Still, even when they had a larger one, it could be spilling out onto the floor and nobody would lift a finger. They'd literally just start propping the trash up against the side of the toilet and the wall. I do usually have to delegate and tell them to do stuff if I want it done. It's rare that any of that will happen without me pushing a bit. David and Sam drink a ton of milk. Thankfully, David usually goes to Costco once a week, so he handles about half of the food shopping for us. He'll pick up some extra milk (among other things) if it looks like we're running low. It is funny...he keeps talking about wanting to vacuum upstairs and keeps forgetting because I have the vacuum in the office right now. It's sort of "out of sight-out of mind."

Probably. Texas does something similar each year and recently got a ton of press for hyping up theirs this year. It's usually them just cleaning out of the people that have died, the ones that are ineligible due to new felonies, and the ones that have moved out of state. Still, they want to make a big deal out of the norms just because of the optics on the national stage. I will be driving up to OK on Friday to get K and we plan to vote on Saturday. Thankfully, Sam has late games that day, so we can sleep in a bit. While I'm quite nervous about the outcome, I'm ready for this to be over. I am so sick and tired of all of the political ads. I guess you can be happy that you don't have to see the American ones over there.

Yeah, asking anyone but E to do something usually doesn't work. DH will forget or put it off and put it off until I just end up doing it myself. It took him 6 years to finally put in the light fixture in my laundry closet. He kept telling me he'd do it on the weekend, and he wouldn't do it. I'd remind him about it every couple of months, and he'd promise to do it when he got home, but then something always came up or he didn't feel like it, or was too tired, etc. When we lived with his parents when I first moved here, I complained to him that his mom kept nagging at me that I needed to ride a bike to school instead of walking, because Dutch people ride bikes, and if I walked everywhere, people would know I was a foreigner. And people would blame her for not making me do Dutch things. Nevermind that I was 25 years old. I HATE riding a bike, and my school was only about a 10-15 minute walk away, and I LIKED my walk because it got me out of the house and gave me time to think and just to breathe...I didn't have to feel like I was under a microscope all the time with people commenting on my Dutch, or on my American traditions, or eating habits, or clothing. My MIL was very anxious about my appearing American to the outside world. DH told me that the way to handle his mother was just to tell her what she wanted to hear to get her off your back and then do what you wanted anyway. So just to tell her, sure, I'll ride a bike! and then just continue to walk. Once you tell her what she wants to hear, you're good for a month or two before she brings it up again. That didn't work, but it did give me insight into how he deals with things. That's how he handles requests....you ask him to do something or remind him of something that needs to be done, he'll tell you he'll do it tonight, or tomorrow, or this weekend, and then promptly forget about it until you mention it again, and the process repeats. He never has any intention of actually DOING said thing.

We don't get the campaign ads, thank goodness, but we do get a lot of coverage about it. There's been a lot in the news this week about Elon Musk giving 1 million per day to someone who signs a petition, and whether or not it is illegal. And they cover the debates and such as well. There's actually a political correspondent from the Netherlands who I THINK lives in the US now, and he covers all of that stuff. If he doesn't live there, he must spend a LOT of time flying back and forth!! Last election in the US, there was almost nothing BUT stories about the election here...I figured it would be a little blurb....there are often short bits about elections in other countries...Brazil, Venezuela, Russia, etc, but this was like....75% of the news that day was US Elections news. And it's something that, as an American, I get asked about a LOT. I'll be at the cash register, someone will come to check out, ask me about my accent, and then ask me a barage of questions about the election. So it's definitely not completely escapable, but I hate to think what it would be like if I still lived there.

 

[Sans Souci]

I'm sure it's all of those things. I know I wasn't the most pleasant person to be around when I was away from school. I'd started to develop this new sense of self and a life with people who made things more interesting. She's coming home next weekend, so hopefully she's not too impossible.

Even Amazon is iffy with reviews. I think it hinges on the product and situation, but I've had several instances where they've rejected a negative review. A while back, I tried that Lume deodorant I always see being advertised. The product smelled horrible, but they wouldn't publish my review. It was within review guidelines, so I can only think they have a deal with the company to weed out the bad ones. I also had a case where I was sent a fake product. I received a notification that they wouldn't publish the review because my money was refunded. That's all well and good, but they allowed the seller to keep selling.

Going off on a tangent here, Lume smells horrendous, but it's the only thing that consistently works for me. I found the Toasted Coconut scent as the least worst-smelling one. I go through so many brands and types and they stop working after a while. I mentioned this to someone and they asked me if I washed daily with soap and water. Oh, great idea, I never thought of that. Seriously. What do you think I am? OFC I shower daily with soap and water. I just think my body chemistry changed has changed.

 

[Sans Souci]

Yeah, asking anyone but E to do something usually doesn't work. DH will forget or put it off and put it off until I just end up doing it myself. It took him 6 years to finally put in the light fixture in my laundry closet. He kept telling me he'd do it on the weekend, and he wouldn't do it. I'd remind him about it every couple of months, and he'd promise to do it when he got home, but then something always came up or he didn't feel like it, or was too tired, etc. When we lived with his parents when I first moved here, I complained to him that his mom kept nagging at me that I needed to ride a bike to school instead of walking, because Dutch people ride bikes, and if I walked everywhere, people would know I was a foreigner. And people would blame her for not making me do Dutch things. Nevermind that I was 25 years old. I HATE riding a bike, and my school was only about a 10-15 minute walk away, and I LIKED my walk because it got me out of the house and gave me time to think and just to breathe...I didn't have to feel like I was under a microscope all the time with people commenting on my Dutch, or on my American traditions, or eating habits, or clothing. My MIL was very anxious about my appearing American to the outside world. DH told me that the way to handle his mother was just to tell her what she wanted to hear to get her off your back and then do what you wanted anyway. So just to tell her, sure, I'll ride a bike! and then just continue to walk. Once you tell her what she wants to hear, you're good for a month or two before she brings it up again. That didn't work, but it did give me insight into how he deals with things. That's how he handles requests....you ask him to do something or remind him of something that needs to be done, he'll tell you he'll do it tonight, or tomorrow, or this weekend, and then promptly forget about it until you mention it again, and the process repeats. He never has any intention of actually DOING said thing.

We don't get the campaign ads, thank goodness, but we do get a lot of coverage about it. There's been a lot in the news this week about Elon Musk giving 1 million per day to someone who signs a petition, and whether or not it is illegal. And they cover the debates and such as well. There's actually a political correspondent from the Netherlands who I THINK lives in the US now, and he covers all of that stuff. If he doesn't live there, he must spend a LOT of time flying back and forth!! Last election in the US, there was almost nothing BUT stories about the election here...I figured it would be a little blurb....there are often short bits about elections in other countries...Brazil, Venezuela, Russia, etc, but this was like....75% of the news that day was US Elections news. And it's something that, as an American, I get asked about a LOT. I'll be at the cash register, someone will come to check out, ask me about my accent, and then ask me a barage of questions about the election. So it's definitely not completely escapable, but I hate to think what it would be like if I still lived there.

I moved to England for the first time in 1998 and I had this Mrs. Kravitz-type neighbor. My MIL sent me a bouquet of flowers to welcome me. I wasn't home at the time, so they were dropped off at this woman's house. I went there, introduced myself and she invited me in. She was listening to the Clinton impeachment hearing on the radio. She asked if I was American and she started asking me questions about Bill Clinton. I didn't want to be rude, since she was a neighbor, but I really don't like to speak about politics with people I just met. But then she started asking personal stuff and I just met this woman, so I made an excuse and left. Whenever she saw me walking my dog, she'd come up to me with gossip and stuff. I am not into that. One day, I was about to walk my dog and I opened the door and I saw her, I picked up my dog, stepped back inside and closed the door quickly. lol I had to go home because there was a death in the family. My husband stayed behind because it was so expensive to buy last minute airfare for 2 to Chicago. He was out mowing the lawn while I was gone and she came up to him to ask where I was, because she hadn't seen me walking our dog!