In my experience, genetic counseling = explaining the results of the test and some discussion of possible health impacts, but very limited. Basically ‘this is rare. We don’t know what missing this chunk of DNA means. so we are going to ignore it) I had to do my own research in PubMed on the deletion specifics to get any real information. PDQ - it actually could have very serious consequences for a few systems but Kaiser won’t run any bliss tests to find out).
8 roses is a really manageable number. If that is her whole bouquet, it should be easy to hold even unwrapped (prpviddd the stems have been stripped or thorns and excess leaves). Adding the ribbon at the end can be mostly decorative so no one has to adjust, wrap tightly, or anything else that could be awkward.
As someone noted, the bouquet is often handed to a bridesmaid at the altar, so the tying could even be done by two bridesmaids after the hand off So it’s ready for her to take back at the end.
I could count them on my fingers , I bet. And most of those were audio books or read alouds to my kids.
I have shifted to mostly podcasts. when/if I dive back in to reading properly, I don’t anticipate a higher book count. The next thing on my ‘to read’ shelf is Moby Dick and I’m unlikely to race through it.
I’m sorry you are in that position and wish you luck finding a counselor. I admire your commitment to parenting your husband’s child given your husband’s absence and hope both your husband and the child’s bio mom work with you toward that end if that is what you and the child want.
I wonder if you *might* have luck with someone doing counseling from outside the country? Their licensing rules may allow them to provide care to people located in other countries, (unlike American licensing which requires them to be providing care to people within the state where they are licensed.). A quick google search suggests a Canadian licensed psychologist must be providing care to residents of the province where they are licensed, however, there may be other countries that allow for it. (The counseling equivalent of insurance companies setting up in Bermuda for favorable legal status or people who use traditionally used Swiss banks for their privacy laws. Or CA protecting providers who give abortion to people who have traveled from out of state).
The disillusionment described isn't new either. (almost) every young generation feels like politics is meaningless, the candidates are all the same and it isn't worth their vote and if they don't show up the powers that be will learn to value them more.
But of course that isn't what happens when people don't show. The only person who benefits is whoever you like least since they get one less vote against them.
Working to keep you disenfranchised or disinterested is a winning strategy.
I actually don’t think a lot of the Democrats (and would be Democrats) who don’t want to vote for Biden are disinterested. They voted for him because they had to last time and hoped they wouldn’t have to do it again.
People are very angry about Palestine, policing, healthcare access, and how he continues to (not) handle Covid among other big issues. It’s hard to want to vote for someone who you feel is literally killing your people.
A lot of people held out hope that Biden wouldn’t run again and Trump would be in prison and here we are again except now we know what kind of president Biden would be and a lot of people don’t like it. Voting for someone you don’t like and who you think is making your life worse just because he’s not the other, even worse guy is not very inspiring but it’s all voters have been given for years.
I just meant historically sitting out an election because of either disinterest or disillusionment (which can definitely escalate up to fury) end up looking the same for election outcomes: it's something that benefits (and is cultivated by) the GOP.
In contrast, voting at the lower levels for people who align with your values is much more effective for getting heard than sitting out. (case in point: the squad. They weren't saying anything new. But they got into the halls where people heard them saying it).
And I was dismissive of her early struggles because a lot of her stuff was "normal" to me.... but I hauled myself through school and life, so suck it up, kid.
This sounds a little too much like me and my eldest.
There is no world in which the Dems are going to run a different candidate 10 months before the most important election. Biden isn’t the sexiest candidate in the world, but you don’t always get a Tik Tok government, and the young voters need to understand that politics is give and take since their wants and needs aren’t the only ones that matter. The party should certainly try to court them, as they are a key voting bloc, but to cater solely to the 18-25 voters, who vote irregularly anyway, is a mistake. I have worked with this generation for years. I love their passion. But seeing beyond themselves has not been a strong point.
Now get off my lawn
I would say this isn't unique to that generation...Gen X, Millennials, Boomers are absolutely the same way.
Every election the older generations dismiss the power of the younger generations, and now is not the time to do so. The Dems need to try hard, much harder to get them out to vote.
True.
The disillusionment described isn't new either. (almost) every young generation feels like politics is meaningless, the candidates are all the same and it isn't worth their vote and if they don't show up the powers that be will learn to value them more.
But of course that isn't what happens when people don't show. The only person who benefits is whoever you like least since they get one less vote against them.
Working to keep you disenfranchised or disinterested is a winning strategy.
nsl: I’m not in an area where book banning is a thing. So ‘what I’m doing’ is on the opposite end of the spectrum. Every year, I try to check out the LGBTQIA+ picture books that had meaning for my kid in the past. Especially the ones we liked enough to buy a copy. I want to make sure they don’t get flagged for underuse just because the audience seeking them is small. There aren’t a lot of preschool and kindergarten age kids looking for trans representation. But for the kids who are, those books *really* matter.
I’m sure he’s not the first upper level DoD official to transfer duties because of a medical issue he didn’t immediately disclose.
I’m guessing a lot of people forgot that Trump was hospitalized for COVID and didn’t tell the American public….
I thought I remember it being public knowledge? I feel like I was sitting in the hospital during the fall of 2020 waiting form my mother to be discharged watching Trump go into the hospital for COVID (which he’d gotten from the Amy Coney Barrett garden party.) Not that trump is my measure of appropriate behavior.
(I would say for both Lions and our kids' sports, it's generally a short-term impact, like 1-2 days.)
My mood is impacted when I watch my kids play sports. I definitely get into the games, and am happy when they win and disappointed when they lose. (And I feel upset when it seems that a bad/unfair call is made against them/their team.)
This hits a little too close to home. We have friends trying to keep their anorexic 17 year old daughter alive who are having the opposite problem - the doctor keeps sending her back home without treatment. She has dropped below 80 pounds and will not eat and has four organ systems at risk of shutting down. Every week or two they go in and the doctor just says - "if she keeps going like this she risks death. Let’s give her one more chance to gain on her own and if she doesn’t we’ll hosptialize her next week." but the next week comes, and she always has lost a little more weight - but all they are offering is ‘one more chance’ for her to turn things around on her own without any professional help (just a worried family doing what they can without any help or progress).
The real issue is with what's being banned. There are plenty of "explicit" books out there that aren't being challenged, because the sexual nature of them in cis-het. It's always fascinating that folks like MFL only see sex when it comes to gay sex. It's almost like it's not about the books at all...
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ding ding ding. Wawa: did you see that 28% of what they are banning was LGBTQIA+? If they banned 16-17ish LGBTQIA books, that was probably a huge percentage of thier LGBTQIA+ offerings. And it wasn’t even something like Gender Queer (which is fantastic but does have one or two panels that my 4th grader isn’t ready for.)
My mother grew up with an angry dad like that and always told us kids to avoid it in a partner. A college boyfriend's Yankee obsession brought it home to me. After that, I took her advice to heart. lol.
(ironically, my mom is now a devoted 9ers fan, but not quite at "sports nut" level. She texts me regularly with mid-game updates even though she knows I think football is paid brain injuries. Why can't she be all in for a different sport?)
We did a trip around Morocco by train focusing on marakesh. Fez and Meknes. We stayed in Riads in the Medina of each city. I highly recommend using train travel in Morocco. It was more like European train travel than US trains. Fez was by far our favorite city. Marakesh had a lot of tourists and felt exhausting. We had been told it was modern but we got hassled (and pawed at) there in a way we weren’t in other parts of the country. Our trip would have been better skipping it. Meknes was interesting as a college town but had less going on.
In Southern Africa we drove around Namibia with. Stop in Botswana and a quick trip up to Zimbabwe for Victoria Falls. We planned that on the recommendation of my brother who had done a semester abroad in South Africa. Namibia combines amazing, diverse scenery with fantastic animals. We mostly staying at the government run hotels within the game parks. The apricot dunes of Namib desert (soussvelei) the Etosha pan for Savannah animals, Botswana and the caprovi strip for elephants, hippos and other water centered animals. You can rent a pop up camper van and stay in the arks which often have a watering hole that animals go to a dawn and dusk. It was an amazing trip.
it's interesting how experiences can vary (not a criticism!). I'd have skipped fes and loved the extra week I spent in Marrakech. Maybe it's because I did not stay directly in the medina and was lucky enough to meet a great cab driver early on as well as an extremely helpful homestay owner (who just messaged yesterday about joy at finding Corona lol)
I agree the trains between the bigger cities are great. But there is so much unreachable by train.
I truly think nearly every suggestion everywhere is going to have something great about it and some annoyances. Such is travel.
i an ‘explore on your own’ type. And Marakesh was very much a Medina that wanted you to pay a guide. (Things like the very detailed map we got there put all the landmarks a little off from their actual location so you’d have to pay someone to redirect you. The actual twisting streets weren’t a problem.). And a lot of teenage boys surrounding us and touching us for no reason or physically blocking our way on streets. If you go, make sure every inch that isn’t your face and hands are covered. A T-shirt or exposed hair were definitely perceived as an invitation to touch. Nothing like that happened in Casablanca, Fez, or Meknes or the trains.
We did a week long trip in March around Morocco by train focusing on marakesh. Fez and Meknes. We stayed in Riads in the Medina of each city. I highly recommend using train travel in Morocco. It was more like European train travel than US trains. Fez was by far our favorite city. Marakesh had a lot of tourists and felt exhausting. We had been told it was modern but we got hassled (and pawed at) there in a way we weren’t in other parts of the country. Our trip would have been better skipping it. Meknes was interesting as a college town but had less going on. For a short Morocco trip like you are planing I’d just do fez (take the train right from the airport).
we spent 3 weeks in July in Southern Africa we drove around Namibia with. Stop in Botswana and a quick trip up to Zimbabwe for Victoria Falls. We planned that on the recommendation of my brother who had done a semester abroad in South Africa. Namibia combines amazing, diverse scenery with fantastic animals and you get to meet some great people. Having English be ann official language was very convenient. We mostly staying at the government run hotels within the game parks. The apricot dunes of Namib desert (soussvelei) the Etosha pan for Savannah animals, Botswana and the Caprivi strip for elephants, hippos and other water centered animals. You can rent a pop up camper van and stay in the parks which often have a watering hole that animals go to a dawn and dusk. It was an amazing trip. The best of our marriage. For a shorter trip, I’d do soussevlei, the Etosha pan and one other park. For a shorter trip, we’d have skipped Swakopmund which was a charming ‘German holiday beach town’ with pastel buildings. And there probably isn’t time for Botswana.
Can someone explain the nutcrackers? This is a fad? Is it a specific brand of nutcrackers? I'd google it, but I dont know what I would google other than "nutcrackers".
Prepare for your social media feed to be wrecked. This year one of the "viral" Xmas decorations was a giant ass plastic nutcracker from Walmart ( www.walmart.com/ip/75-White-Nutcracker-Holiday-Time-Christmas-Decoration/2467166580 ). People were buying them and then painting them to match their decorations. Some were beautiful, most were ugly.
As anyone who has a friend that bought into the "paint your plastic outdoor playsets a different color" knows, it's virtually impossible to keep paint on plastic no matter how you prime it.
last year I saw this with unfinished wooden ones from Michael’s. Leave it to Walmart to make a useless version. It doesn’t even look like the mouth has a lever on that one.
What time of year are you visiting? My kids are exactly those ages.
Personally I'd drive for Stanford and take advantage of the car that day to do other things that aren't easy on foot/MUNI. (Redwoods? Fort Point? Headlands? Land's End? Whatever is a good fit).
I'd do the Exploratorium over Cal Academy if you are staying in Fisherman's Wharf. You can even walk there. (Cal Academy has three knock out exhibits: the aquarium, the planetarium, and the rainforest dome with butterflies. All nice but really a better fit for slightly younger kids who are at "look at the animals" ages. Exploratorium has a big variety of individual hands on exhibits that you can enjoy from a purely observation level up to learning the physics/chemistry/bio involved.
Dim Sum is always a favorite with my kids. (Yank Sing is a classic option. SF Gate has a column just on local dumpling places).
I say ice cream cake. Part of the fun of a birthday is doing something out of the ordinary. And December isn’t classic ice cream season.
( around here (ie in my house), the December birthday dessert is the s’mores torte from a local bakery - graham cracker crust, flourless chocolate cake, covered in toasted thick marshmallowy meringue).