There are a million places that will come to your house and pick up furniture donations.
For some reason, my 73 year old MIL decided that instead of using one of them, she would load up a wingback chair into her SUV, by herself, and drive it to a donation place. They wouldn't accept it because she has a dog, so she went to a different place, but they apparently didn't accept furniture donations at all.
So she drove it back to her house, and chopped it up with a saws-all and threw it away.
This is the most quintessentially MIL story ever. Why didn't she tell any of us she was doing this and ask for help? Why didn't she call around first to confirm they'd take her donation? Why wouldn't she just have someone pick it up? Why wouldn't she put it at the curb with a "free" sign? In what world is chopping up a nice chair with a saws-all your best option?
All good questions. This is why she makes H crazy.
I bought some Athleta brooklyn pants and have tried a bunch of work shoes to make them work, but I can't figure out what people wear with these to make them office appropriate. I guess I'll have to return.
Post by emilyinchile on Apr 23, 2024 9:52:39 GMT -5
sunshineluv like jinkies said, I'd probably book the Airbnb for Sun and Mon nights if you're going to do that so that you can go straight there and check in first thing, drop your bags, change clothes, whatever and then head out to explore. If your kids are up for it I think being out and about that first day will be better in terms of getting you all on the right schedule than having the option to crash at the hotel. Ply them with gelato!
Post by wanderlustmom on Apr 23, 2024 9:57:00 GMT -5
Annoyed with perimenopause today. I had my upper lip waxed two weeks ago and it already looks like a Jack Russell terrier again. Sigh.
Trying to enjoy a quiet house for a few hours before work. There are very few. My husband goes into the office only one day a week, he's about to retire and our DS is coming home from college for the summer. I am always so mixed on this, love having a little break and then I want them all home again anyway.
DD (17) is starting therapy today, thank goodness. I hope she clicks with the counselor. She went in fifth grade and it helped. It took so long to find her one that I don't know since it's my profession. She was really worried about me knowing her counselor and I respect that. She's a junior in high school and keeps herself so busy. Glad she can go get her space. Her moods have been all over the place but it's going to get better just as soon as exams are over too.
Post by sproctopus on Apr 23, 2024 10:00:26 GMT -5
Whoever suggested magnesium for perimenopause symptoms, I could kiss you. rn. I thought my night sweats were only a side effect of Effexor. I haven't sweat in 2 weeks now since I started. Absolute game changer.
I have an international travel question that is very specific, I need help from those who have traveled with kids. We have two kids ages 10 and 12.
We land in Rome at 9:15 on a Monday and have a hotel room at a conference type hotel 13 km outside of the city, there isn’t a close train station. We have free time from when we land until 4:00 Tuesday. (Then the conference begins).
I am considering booking an Airbnb for Monday night in the city so we can walk around and just enjoy rome, and not have to Uber back and forth from the hotel. We would just have a backpack of a change of clothes and toiletries.
Is this dumb with jet lag and kids? Should we just stay at the hotel and Uber to the city for lunch/dinner and head back? I am so torn bc an Airbnb would give us two bedrooms and save us the back and forth. But also it can be a hassle.
I won't use Airbnb. We landed in Dublin early and spent the whole day walking around. We had a hotel in Dublin and dropped our bags off there. If you have bags to leave I would taxi backa Nad forth to the hotel. My 13 year old was fine walking the city with no sleep.
sunshineluv, we have 2 nights in Brussels this summer (getting in on the eurostar late one evening and then leaving at lunch time the 2nd day) and we have found that hotels were as cheap or cheaper than Airbnb for central areas. Not sure if that is also the case for Rome?
But I think I would stay at the conference hotel - I cannot be bothered to pack and unpack more that I have to!
Post by Patsy Baloney on Apr 23, 2024 10:29:59 GMT -5
I started rewatching the Showtime version of Queer as Folk recently.
HD has revealed that the actor who plays Brian had quite a unibrow that couldn’t be seen in the original definition and I’m just rapt at seeing if it lasts the entire duration of the show. As someone as vain as he’s supposed to be, it doesn’t match with his character to not be perfectly societally beautiful in every way.
My coworker had a mental health incident over the weekend, at our building. We just had a meeting about it and I about cried because the concerns expressed were overwhelmingly “is he getting help, can we send him anything.”. There were some “are we safe?” But the general feeling was helping him through this time. And it amazes me how far we’ve come.
I don’t understand why people treat volunteers poorly.
I'm also here this week; I'm sorry.
I'm debating changing my email signature to, "Help or HUSH."
Yes it's so demoralizing. We live in a small neighborhood and our HOA president does so much volunteering. Last year, she and two more people (including me) planted flowers at the entrance. She said, watch, people will complain. And they did. No one else bothered to help plant flowers but they went straight to the neighborhood Facebook page to say they didn't like the colors we chose.
My lips got sunburned yesterday and today my upper lip feels like it's going to split when I smile. Of course I don't have any chapstick with me because I didn't realize this until I got to the office and started smiling at people! I wish I had remembered to put something on them yesterday to avoid sunburn. I don't know how I'm almost 42 and still can't seem to remember to bring sun stuff with me when I do outdoor activities around home - I am good about it when I'm traveling but somehow day to day I just can't manage.
I got up at 5:30 this morning to do some grading for my adjunct class. I have been so behind for most of the course, and I feel bad about that. I don't think I was giving any crucial feedback that they absolutely needed to know sooner - but with only an 8 week course I prefer not to wait more than 1-2 weeks to grade stuff. Some of this ended up being 3 weeks. At least I'm relatively caught up now, but the next assignment is due Sunday so I'll only have a short reprieve!
I'm debating changing my email signature to, "Help or HUSH."
Yes it's so demoralizing. We live in a small neighborhood and our HOA president does so much volunteering. Last year, she and two more people (including me) planted flowers at the entrance. She said, watch, people will complain. And they did. No one else bothered to help plant flowers but they went straight to the neighborhood Facebook page to say they didn't like the colors we chose.
Holy shit, I am ready to fight someone over this!! The AUDACITY!
Patsy Baloney, my mom is appalled that DS removes his unibrow, and that we used to do it for him. He has my Sicilian hairiness but DH's blond genes so it is harder to see but she also thinks that it's perfectly acceptable for a man and also didn't do anything to help me with mine until I was old enough to pluck it. My brother and I both got laser hair removal but I do appreciate people who embrace it.
Patsy Baloney, my mom is appalled that DS removes his unibrow, and that we used to do it for him. He has my Sicilian hairiness but DH's blond genes so it is harder to see but she also thinks that it's perfectly acceptable for a man and also didn't do anything to help me with mine until I was old enough to pluck it. My brother and I both got laser hair removal but I do appreciate people who embrace it.
I’m all about people looking how they want to look! Rock on with the unibrow. Go forth with 2 brows! Whatever floats your boat.
It just makes me laugh that an *extremely vain character* who cares very much about being the most beautiful, youthful, rich, etc. was rolling with a unibrow, which was def not the hairless late 90s/early aughts aesthetic, and that it was hiding in plain sight.
My lips got sunburned yesterday and today my upper lip feels like it's going to split when I smile. Of course I don't have any chapstick with me because I didn't realize this until I got to the office and started smiling at people! I wish I had remembered to put something on them yesterday to avoid sunburn. I don't know how I'm almost 42 and still can't seem to remember to bring sun stuff with me when I do outdoor activities around home - I am good about it when I'm traveling but somehow day to day I just can't manage.
I got up at 5:30 this morning to do some grading for my adjunct class. I have been so behind for most of the course, and I feel bad about that. I don't think I was giving any crucial feedback that they absolutely needed to know sooner - but with only an 8 week course I prefer not to wait more than 1-2 weeks to grade stuff. Some of this ended up being 3 weeks. At least I'm relatively caught up now, but the next assignment is due Sunday so I'll only have a short reprieve!
Vaseline works wonders for dry lips like that. Do you have anywhere nearby that might sell some?
Post by fluffycookie on Apr 23, 2024 11:05:04 GMT -5
Poor DS. He has to have a colonoscopy and endoscopy and the doctor's office scheduled it for the day before his 16th birthday. His response when he found out was no, no, no, hell no, no....lol. I am waiting for a call back to see if it can be pushed back a week.
sunshineluv, I would definitely do that! But maybe just get a hotel in Rome? I don't know that an AirBNB would be worth the extra fees for just one night if I'm reading that correctly. When we went to Paris last year with our 11 yr olds we were so tired when we got there from not sleeping on the plane really and needed an early bed time but still got dinner and were up early the next morning to sightsee.
Spring illnesses have hit today's caseload in a big way, as of right now I have four patients on my schedule for the day. Four. The next couple days are a lot busier so I'll take the downtime, plus I'm giving a staff education talk on breastfeeding evaluations in two weeks so this gives me time to fine tune my power point some more. But still, ugh.
My old man dog has been having more issues with MOTN whining for no discernable reason over the last weekish. Doesn't have to pee/poop, doesn't appear to be in pain, not drooling or pacing like he would if he was nauseated, etc. He'd settle after he got his morning meds and sleep all day though. So I switched his Prozac dose from morning to evening and upped his evening Gabapentin and between the two of these he and I are sleeping much better overnight, thank goodness. I feel awful for being so grumpy about it-he's 14.5 and who knows how much longer he'll be with us but damn the sleep deprivation was getting to me.
Therapy was really tough today. Almost had a panic attack in my session rough. Now I'm sitting in my car in the parking lot until I feel more comfortable driving and I decide what I'm doing next. I did my errands yesterday. My therapist is all about self care after session, but I have no idea how to take care of myself today. I don't want to go home for a bit, both because a furnace tech is doing maintenance and I don't want to be around my H who was in a foul mood this morning and I cant handle if I go home and he's still grouchy.
I'm debating changing my email signature to, "Help or HUSH."
Yes it's so demoralizing. We live in a small neighborhood and our HOA president does so much volunteering. Last year, she and two more people (including me) planted flowers at the entrance. She said, watch, people will complain. And they did. No one else bothered to help plant flowers but they went straight to the neighborhood Facebook page to say they didn't like the colors we chose.
Therapy was really tough today. Almost had a panic attack in my session rough. Now I'm sitting in my car in the parking lot until I feel more comfortable driving and I decide what I'm doing next. I did my errands yesterday. My therapist is all about self care after session, but I have no idea how to take care of myself today. I don't want to go home for a bit, both because a furnace tech is doing maintenance and I don't want to be around my H who was in a foul mood this morning and I cant handle if I go home and he's still grouchy.
jinkies, sounds like my mom who honestly I wonder if she is mentally declining. She decided there was a problem with her car and diagnosed it herself and starting calling junkyards for the part to get it fixed. First of all why is she calling junkyards??
Then she finally takes it to the dealership and they said it was something else entirely. She got herself in a total tizzy over this when it wasn't what was happening at all.
She does this with other home repair stuff and honestly she may not be able to manage the house much longer.
Post by EvieEthelGarland on Apr 23, 2024 11:26:15 GMT -5
My parents adopted a 7yo golden retriever this year and I bring her to my house about every other weekend so she gets more playtime. I love her. She is great. Finding her on NextDoor was a miracle.
But the fur! Golden fur is no joke. I have a yellow lab who I thought shed a lot, but the two types are totally different. It just floats in the air its so light. This does not change my love for her and she is always welcome here, but all the humans in my household agree that we're sticking with labs.
jinkies , sounds like my mom who honestly I wonder if she is mentally declining. She decided there was a problem with her car and diagnosed it herself and starting calling junkyards for the part to get it fixed. First of all why is she calling junkyards??
Then she finally takes it to the dealership and they said it was something else entirely. She got herself in a total tizzy over this when it wasn't what was happening at all.
She does this with other home repair stuff and honestly she may not be able to manage the house much longer.
I'm sorry you are going through this too. The story about your mom is totally something MIL would do. She has had recent incidents with her gas fireplace and a tire on her car, both of which turned into dramatic, convoluted stories of her fighting with service companies.
Honestly my H does think that she is mentally declining, but also she has always been the type of person who has a passing thought, and then decides it needs to be done RIGHT THIS INSTANT. I think my FIL used to keep her impulses under control a little bit, but since he passed she keeps getting worse.
She has a twin sister who is also single and living alone in a house too big for her. H really really wants them to consider moving in together, but they both insist they are fine alone.
Things are good, though! I'm back in the office three days a week, which sucks, but I'll get used to it. And we just confirmed our 4th exchange student, another girl from Germany!
Post by nancybotwin on Apr 23, 2024 11:45:29 GMT -5
I’m sorry for everyone who is struggling today.
Our Seder last night went late and we got home after midnight. It’s 9:45 and everyone is still sleeping - I am loving this quiet house! We are hosting tonight so I need to get working soon, but I will take the quiet. I think this is the latest DD2 has ever slept!