Monday Randoms

[egishere]

WFH today like every Monday which is nice! I've already had the garage door guy here because the garage wasn't opening from either DH or my car. And a designer from Ethan Allen is on the way to measure- we are getting new bedroom furniture finally! The stuff we have now is like 20 years old and falling apart. We looked at a few places this weekend and liked their stuff best even though its $$$ I know it will hold up.

[fluffycookie]

Oct 28, 2024 10:35:34 GMT -5 circa1978 said:

My DS has been wanting to visit Niagra Falls for more than year. The airfare cost for us is close to $1,000K or more per person round trip to Toronto flying direct on Air Canada on the most economy, no refunds, no luggage setting (about $760 if we do a fight with a layover with Southwest to Buffalo). Spending close to $3K on airfare alone to go to Niagra Falls (which I've seen, they are fine, but good lord) seems insane to me, but I've been tracking the fare since spring, and it never gets better. I feel like a shit mom, because it's one of the only things he's ever asked for but we literally went to Maui for less this summer, and we still have to board the dogs and pay hotel and food for the trip and it will be miserable during Christmas or our spring break (which is in March), and even more expensive in the summer. What options (other than driving) am I not thinking of? Other airports to fly into?

Could you fly into Buffalo and drive to Niagra Falls?  I know that is what friends did last summer.

[circa1978]

@fluffycookie that's one of the options we are exploring but from our location, it is a layover no matter what and the cheapest I can get flights so far is has been pretty spendy. Maybe I'm looking at the wrong dates.

[shauni27]

Oct 28, 2024 11:07:47 GMT -5 lavenderblue said:

Oct 28, 2024 10:52:14 GMT -5 gretchenindisguise said:

For those with cats - how do you do a Christmas tree? Ours are climbers, biters and scratchers.

And on the cat subject - we are having them both spayed on Wednesday. We've never had animals that go through this under our care, any tips?

My cats just got spayed last week. I highly recommend the post-surgery suits. They are so much more comfortable for them than the cone collars. Our Vet does the incision on the side of their belly instead of the bottom, so because of that we just had to be extra careful when handling them. My girls were honestly back to being their crazy selves within 48 hours of their surgery. We are now 3 weeks out and their incisions are completely healed. 

As for the Christmas tree, I've had my tree up since last Christmas and other than occasionally batting at a low hanging ornament, they don't bother with it. That said, when I've had cats in the past that were more tempted to climb, I just screwed an eye hook in to the wall behind and tied the tree up to that to keep it from falling over. 

We have done this for the last 4 years because even without cats our tree luck was terrible and would inevitably fall over at night at least once a year until then. So tying it up is our trick, lol.

This year we have a very wild cat added to the mix, so I am curious to see how it goes. He is a pretty quick learner and one squirt with a spray bottle is usually enough to keep him from doing things we do not want, so I am hoping that works for the tree, too!


circa1978, where would you be flying from?

[maudefindlay]

candreco, I love that green. Thinking of doing a mossy green for the island in our new house. Very nice!

[jinkies]

I have been hiking a lot this fall, and yesterday took a long bike ride along the river. My hot take is that Pennsylvania has as beautiful of a fall as anywhere in the country. There is no need to go all the way to New England to look at leaves. The trees have been so gorgeous this year.

My bike ride also took me through a local town known for its Halloween decorations. There is a lady who does this super elaborate Tim-Burton-esque display. She is a retired art teacher and hand-makes all the dolls, and most of them are based on people she knows. It was amazing. Hoping I can go back with the kids one day this week before she takes it down.

[fluffycookie]

We have a pretty busy month coming up and December starts high school hockey which is it's own beast. I plan to tell my family that other than Thanksgiving day and Friendsgiving that Saturday I am doing nothing that weekend, but vegging out.

I have beef stew in the crockpot and I can't wait for dinner tonight.

[beerlover]

Oct 28, 2024 9:44:13 GMT -5 livinitup said:

HEY EVERYBODY beerlover HIT

3000 WORKOUTS TODAY

🎉🎈 🥳 🎉🎈 🥳🎉🎈 🥳🎉🎈 🥳

Aww thank you!! And thank you to everyone else for their comments too Feeling proud of myself!!

[TR]

PDQ since it has my name

beerlover - that's awesome!!! I am always stupidly disappointed if I join a live class for a milestone and don't get a callout. OR when I have gotten a callout, they pronounce my leaderboard name wrong lol because it's on_allison_rd for the Gin Blossoms song and they always say R.D. instead of road lol someone already has on_allison_road unfortunately.

[TR]

I have been obsessed with Snickers recently for some reason. H bought a big bag of fun size candy bars in addition to the box of full size bars. Let's just say no one is getting any fun size Snickers bars in their trick or treat bags this year.

[tiki]

Oct 28, 2024 9:20:56 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

My daughter is coughing so much, and the ped I follow says that pneumonia is going around. But if she does have it, a course of antibiotics will fix it. If she doesn’t have it, back to the drawing board.

If your doc diagnoses pneumonia and gives antibiotics, ask whether they're for typical or atypical pneumonia. My daughter had atypical, and needed azithromycin to clear it rather than the usual amoxicillin kid prescription. 

[ny96]

We went to a neighborhood fair yesterday and one of the booths was for a consultant who will help you pick the right east coast summer camp to send your kids to. We live in LA. This is one one the most bougie things I’ve ever seen.

[beerlover]

TR, I am always a little disappointed too, I'll be honest. I got a shoutout from Callie once, and one from Andy (who did pronounce my name wrong also), but that was a long time ago. I didn't get anything for 2,000 or 2500 either, and I tried!

[mccallister84]

Oct 28, 2024 10:35:34 GMT -5 circa1978 said:

My DS has been wanting to visit Niagra Falls for more than year. The airfare cost for us is close to $1,000K or more per person round trip to Toronto flying direct on Air Canada on the most economy, no refunds, no luggage setting (about $760 if we do a fight with a layover with Southwest to Buffalo). Spending close to $3K on airfare alone to go to Niagra Falls (which I've seen, they are fine, but good lord) seems insane to me, but I've been tracking the fare since spring, and it never gets better. I feel like a shit mom, because it's one of the only things he's ever asked for but we literally went to Maui for less this summer, and we still have to board the dogs and pay hotel and food for the trip and it will be miserable during Christmas or our spring break (which is in March), and even more expensive in the summer. What options (other than driving) am I not thinking of? Other airports to fly into?

I would not go in March or Christmas break. A lot of the cool stuff will not be open or running. I know that doesn’t help but if it’s a bucket list thing for your kid I wouldn’t go when they couldn’t get the full experience

[circa1978]

shauni27, St. Louis. It is a hidden cost of living in low and middle cost of living locations. Travel from the middle of the country blows.

[expectantsteelerfan]

Oct 28, 2024 11:14:21 GMT -5 circa1978 said:

@fluffycookie that's one of the options we are exploring but from our location, it is a layover no matter what and the cheapest I can get flights so far is has been pretty spendy. Maybe I'm looking at the wrong dates.

Just wanted to say, if you do decide to go, I'd recommend going in the summer.  We went over spring break 2 years ago (drove), and while it was fun, the falls were still frozen in areas, so the boat ride (maid of the mist) was not running.  We did a tour behind the falls that was cool, but if you have a kid that wants to go, if they are imagining the boat ride, it would suck to spend the money to go and then not be able to do it.  My ds is going again this spring with band (in April I think) and they are doing the same tour behind the falls.  

[beerlover]

I've been rethinking something that happened over the weekend and I'm not sure if I'm an asshole or not. Feel free to be the judge.

Saturday, H and I dropped DS off with my mom around 5pm. I knew H had wanted to watch the PSU game at 730, but we had talked about going somewhere for a drink and then dinner before making our way to a friend's house to watch it. I originally felt pretty relaxed about the timing of all this. We went to a brewery from about 5-6, and then tried to head somewhere else for dinner. I figured we'd be done by 7ish, then drive the 20 min to our friends, and if we were late for kickoff, NBD, we can listen to it on the radio or whatever. However, we ran into Halloween parade traffic in this town and couldn't figure out how to get to the restaurant we wanted to go to (or where we'd park). H got all pissed off and started ranting about how we would not get to watch the game on time and it was a stupid idea to try and go to two different places, etc., and that he didn't want to go two places to begin with but he knew I wanted to, and I was sort of taken aback at how mad he was. He's very mild mannered. He also basically said that I don't understand anything about his love of football because it's not important to me (b/c well, it isn't, lol)

I was kind of pissed off at dinner then and was relatively quiet, and got a little teary eyed a couple of times. And I could tell that H felt SUPER bad about it all and he apologized profusely throughout the night for getting that upset about it.

I just will never prioritize football over other social things and I don't think he'll die if he misses a few minutes of a game, there are other options like radio and watching stuff on your phone if need be, but also maybe I am just a jerk for not prioritizing his interests?

[Covergirl82]

egishere, my mom bought an Ethan Allen bedroom set (piece by piece, over the course of 2 years or so), and it is still beautiful 25+ years later. My DH will not agree to buy nice, well-made pieces, so I am stuck with junk. (Craftsman style is my favorite, and I have my eye on a few pieces from a local store which sells Amish-made furniture, but DH has said no every time. I'm just going to start saving up money from my annual bonuses and buy them someday!)

[TR]

beerlover - as someone married to a person who loves Michigan football so much so that I put the Michigan schedule in my calendar to avoid conflicts and that we are flying home a day early so as to not miss the Michigan/Ohio State game this year, I sympathize. Did he express previously that he didn't feel comfortable going to two places? My H is very clear about his priorities and so I make sure to honor that, BUT he's clear about it beforehand. I think your H could have better communicated just how important the game was to him.

[hermione]

Oct 28, 2024 9:20:56 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

My daughter is coughing so much, and the ped I follow says that pneumonia is going around. But if she does have it, a course of antibiotics will fix it. If she doesn’t have it, back to the drawing board.

My kid and some of her friends all had it last week. Azithromycin had them all back to 100% very quickly.

[candreco]

Oct 28, 2024 12:21:37 GMT -5 beerlover said:

I just will never prioritize football over other social things and I don't think he'll die if he misses a few minutes of a game, there are other options like radio and watching stuff on your phone if need be, but also maybe I am just a jerk for not prioritizing his interests?

I'm sorry, this is the same guy that already goes to every home game, taking up basically whole days to watch college kids play a game, on top of having a job that requires a lot of weekday hours? You're not the jerk here.

[deadwing]

beerlover, I think any hobby/interest that becomes THAT important that missing a few minutes is inciting anger is a sign of a problem. Everyone should have hobbies and interests. When you share your life with other people, sometimes things are going to conflict with your ability to spend time on those interests. It doesn't matter if that interest is football, video games, reading, knitting, gardening...

[keyslover]

Oct 28, 2024 9:20:56 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

My daughter is coughing so much, and the ped I follow says that pneumonia is going around. But if she does have it, a course of antibiotics will fix it. If she doesn’t have it, back to the drawing board.

We just got a pneumonia notice from school- so hoping that’s what it is since it’s an easy fix.

*in MN

[livinitup]

circa1978 It’s 2 1/2 hours easy driving from Syracuse, NY. Almost all thruway (90). More over the bridge and into Canada (but not much more.)

Make sure you stay on the Canada side. The view is 100x better & lots of interesting things to do. There are loads of hotels that face the falls at night, too. They use colored lights after sunset until about 10-11 pm.

You are doing great as a mom. Not all trips are easy to plan or in the cards, kid.

[bears]

Oct 28, 2024 12:40:17 GMT -5 candreco said:

Oct 28, 2024 12:21:37 GMT -5 beerlover said:

I just will never prioritize football over other social things and I don't think he'll die if he misses a few minutes of a game, there are other options like radio and watching stuff on your phone if need be, but also maybe I am just a jerk for not prioritizing his interests?

I'm sorry, this is the same guy that already goes to every home game, taking up basically whole days to watch college kids play a game, on top of having a job that requires a lot of weekday hours? You're not the jerk here.

And consistently trains for athletic events to an extent that is another job so beerlover is stuck managing home and childcare constantly?

This specific situation was grossly unfair to you--he should have said something, not just expect you to manage the time and predict traffic delays. He had a mouth, he should have said what his preferences were.

You deserved better this weekend and you deserve better in general.

[1confused1]

Oct 28, 2024 9:12:39 GMT -5 lavenderblue said:

I gave my house a much needed deep clean this weekend, and even got caught up on all of my laundry. And then my dog promptly threw up on one of my washable rugs. Sigh.

As part of my deep cleaning, I did my gross baseboards. I was influenced on TikTok to buy a steam cleaner which then sat in my cabinet for 2 months, but finally pulled it out this weekend and oh my goodness, that made a dreaded job so much freaking easier. Definitely recommend.

I have been eyeing the steam cleaner, you may have just convinced me I need it.

[lavenderblue]

Oct 28, 2024 12:59:32 GMT -5 1confused1 said:

Oct 28, 2024 9:12:39 GMT -5 lavenderblue said:

I gave my house a much needed deep clean this weekend, and even got caught up on all of my laundry. And then my dog promptly threw up on one of my washable rugs. Sigh.

As part of my deep cleaning, I did my gross baseboards. I was influenced on TikTok to buy a steam cleaner which then sat in my cabinet for 2 months, but finally pulled it out this weekend and oh my goodness, that made a dreaded job so much freaking easier. Definitely recommend.

I have been eyeing the steam cleaner, you may have just convinced me I need it.

Do it! LOL The one I ended up getting was less than $50 on Amazon and worth every penny after having only used it once. 

[waverly]

Oct 28, 2024 12:54:56 GMT -5 bears said:

Oct 28, 2024 12:40:17 GMT -5 candreco said:

I'm sorry, this is the same guy that already goes to every home game, taking up basically whole days to watch college kids play a game, on top of having a job that requires a lot of weekday hours? You're not the jerk here.

And consistently trains for athletic events to an extent that is another job so beerlover is stuck managing home and childcare constantly?

This specific situation was grossly unfair to you--he should have said something, not just expect you to manage the time and predict traffic delays. He had a mouth, he should have said what his preferences were.

You deserved better this weekend and you deserve better in general.

I didn't know about that he already goes to every home game and spends on day watching college sports. 

I was just thinking parade traffic can be infuriating, and DH and I would both be upset if we got trapped by a parade.  But nothing related to sports; DH is totally fine listening to it on the radio.  

[deadwing]

RE: steamers.... I bought a handheld steamer less than a year ago, and it's under a recall due to risk of explosion. So... I'm not sure I'd get another one. It worked great for the project I bought it for, though.

[1confused1]

Someone was giving away a bunch of Optavia stuff on a buy nothing page so I decided to give it a try. I am at my highest weight ever so the timing was good. I know it isn’t the healthiest thing, but it’s free and seems pretty easy.