what are you doing right now?

[steph08]

I KNOW somebody posted the "worst chocolate chip cookie" recipe on this thread, but I can't find it now! haha

Anyway, I had printed it out and finally made them last night! They're so good - I mean, bad! So bad! 

So bad I ate 4 yesterday and 3 so far today! 

I always follow my French relative's, Nestle Tollhouse's, recipe (that's a Friends reference for those in the know) and they are always good, but these are delightful as well!

[weltz]

Too Much Reality....

[azucena]

Have been sucked in fb reels lately during our yucky winter weather. Man, does this one hit home with me. Based on some of the recent posts, I thought it might help some others too.

www.facebook.com/reel/3655282784691229

[busymom]

I'm watching the tornado & storm warning online today, and it's going crazy from Florida all the way to Virginia.  Hoping all of our friends here are safe!  Tornadoes are popping up like crazy, not to mention problems with wind & flooding.

[wvugurl26]

The Binax tests seemed to be some of the more complicated ones. The free ones and the ones I bought on Amazon were easier.

No snow here but it's blowing rain. It looks like we'll get storms tonight as the tail of this massive band passes through.

Thank you for the invite Andi. We are looking at doing different stuff next year. It was a weird year where I had time I had to take off and my DH didn't. Definitely not doing the same stuff again this year, that was just depressing.

[TheOtherMe]

James Cantore is in Davenport.  That is not good.  

[taz157]

Jan 9, 2024 14:23:09 GMT -5 giramomma said:

I am apparently just pissed off at the whole world right now.

((((Hugs))))

[weltz]

We're in a Winter Storm Warning


Winter Storm Warning

Quebec

39 mins ago – Environment and Climate Change Canada

Close to 15 centimetres of snow and ice pellets along with strong winds is expected tonight. A period of freezing rain is expected in the late overnight hours or early ...

[giramomma]

Jan 9, 2024 16:33:00 GMT -5 taz157 said:

Jan 9, 2024 14:23:09 GMT -5 giramomma said:

I am apparently just pissed off at the whole world right now.

((((Hugs))))

Thanks. It is what it is.

I was reminded that I'm not ever getting that PhD that I thought about. Which momentarily makes me sad. 

There's just no reason to waste those kinds of resources. 

[seriousthistime]

Jan 9, 2024 12:17:28 GMT -5 raeoflyte said:

I have tmr's cell # and texted her that we're thinking of her. I wish I lived close enough to go see her.

Thank you for doing that.  Let us know when you hear back from her. 

[giramomma]

Jan 9, 2024 15:41:43 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

James Cantore is in Davenport.  That is not good.  

I had to google him...I am so out of it.

[giramomma]

Jan 9, 2024 16:35:35 GMT -5 weltz said:

We're in a Winter Storm Warning


Winter Storm Warning

Quebec

39 mins ago – Environment and Climate Change Canada

Close to 15 centimetres of snow and ice pellets along with strong winds is expected tonight. A period of freezing rain is expected in the late overnight hours or early ...

I hope you can just hunker down at home.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Wilbur apparently hurt his leg this morning leaping off Gwen's bed.  He's been limping.

He milks it too limping up to you on the couch with big eyes like "Mama I got a boo boo.  Snuggles?"

Which of course he gets.  He's going to be pissed when we all go back to normal tomorrow.   I think Charlotte wants us to go back we're interrupting her alone time.

[soupandstew]

I learned something new today.  Last night's hailstorm was something unique.  When the front came in through West Texas, it picked up a ton of dust and sucked it into the upper atmosphere where it met a very moisture-laden atmosphere.  Little mud pellets, coated thinly in ice, form and eventually catapulted down to earth, aka last night's "hail" storm.  The local meteorologists say it's like the Dipping Dots ice cream, creamy on the inside with a thin crunchy coating.  By this morning the ice had melted, leaving everything in Southwest Houston coated with tiny rivulets of creamy brown mud.  I used half a tank of windshield washer fluid in order to see to drive, and the local car washes did a huge business

[soupandstew]

Bagels and lox for breakfast, followed by a load of laundry and assorted online tasks from last night's meeting.  I rearranged the sequence of chapters in the last book section to enhance flow and clarify the story, and talked to my author AGAIN about the western novel.  Tomorrow I will once again send him all the chapters so he can have them printed off.  Third time since mid-December 

I also need to run through Aldi tomorrow, and start work on the next section of the book.  And follow up with the plumbers to get the follow-up visit and a quote so we can decide and arrange the funding sources.

[raeoflyte]

Jan 9, 2024 16:40:39 GMT -5 seriousthistime said:

Jan 9, 2024 12:17:28 GMT -5 raeoflyte said:

I have tmr's cell # and texted her that we're thinking of her. I wish I lived close enough to go see her.

Thank you for doing that.  Let us know when you hear back from her. 

I've been texting with her and she gave me the okay to share. No big updates. She said she's pretty overwhelmed and today is certainly not her best day. Her kids were just getting back to the room.

[bean29]

Jan 9, 2024 12:23:50 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

While it's very difficult, I am fortunate that I am able to feel the pain of grief.  That also means that I am able to feel the joy of love.  I have the capacity to feel joy and love.  It doesn't feel at the time because it hurts, but if you don't love deeply, you don't grieve deeply.

The hardest death of my life was the sudden death of my BFF.  She should not have died at that age.  When her mother died last year, it all came back to the front of my mind.

You are correct.  Thanks for the reminder... and sorry for your losses.

I had a hard conversation with my brother and sister last night about my mother.  DB thinks it is time for her to move to a senior living place.  We just took driving away from her about 3 weeks ago and that has barely settled in.  DB has found a senior living place with an opening about 10 blocks from his house which is also in the general area of where mom lives (I think it is very possibly still in the attendance area of the high school I went to.  He wants to tour mom through there.  He sent me the application to fill out.  I told DB and DS last night that I was having a hard time with it emotionally.  I didn't articulate it, but part of it is that mom is at this stage, and part of it is that I feel I should care for my mom at home.  I am afraid to quit working now (I will be 60 next week).  I carry the health insurance and have been saving pretty much 100% of what I earn between 401K and HSA + paying state & federal taxes.  My check was $315.87 last week which is a bit higher than what it has been...I guess I will up the State/Fed tax add on.  For awhile my check was between $70-100.  So, obviously we don't need my check to live on.  I just don't like the idea of losing the health insurance which we would have to self pay 5 years for me and 6 for DH, and losing my salary to fund retirement savings.  DH easily increased his salary by 1/2 my earnings last year though.  Uncle Sam is probably going take a large part of that away from us though.  I did not oppose my DB on the senior living, just mentioned that I felt it was probably going to be hard on mom emotionally and then admitted to them that I was having a hard time with it emotionally too.

My DH told my mom she could come live with us at Christmas time.  She declined and said she wanted to keep living on her own.  We will see how she reacts now.  DH said he can get someone to stay with my Mom for much less than the Senior living place wants.  We will see.  If she wants to come live with us, and we don't have someone we trust to stay with her, well then I will have to make some decisions.   I have been struggling with continuing to work for other reasons also.  Idk if I would make it past 62 at any rate (but would not file for SS at 62).

[weltz]

Jan 9, 2024 16:41:26 GMT -5 giramomma said:

Jan 9, 2024 16:35:35 GMT -5 weltz said:

We're in a Winter Storm Warning


Winter Storm Warning

Quebec

39 mins ago – Environment and Climate Change Canada

Close to 15 centimetres of snow and ice pellets along with strong winds is expected tonight. A period of freezing rain is expected in the late overnight hours or early ...

I hope you can just hunker down at home.

I've been hunkering down all day, waiting for the phone technician.   When they installed FibreOptic and gave me a new modem, they broke something.   My phones don't ring. Everything was good before that.  They're trying to tell me it's my handsets. All 10 of them from different phones?  They also told me my phones are too old, so I bought new ones. They don't ring.
This is the 4th technician. Nobody knows how to fix it, and this is the 4th day I have to hang around from 8 to 5.
I'm not happy.

[TheOtherMe]

Jan 9, 2024 16:40:56 GMT -5 giramomma said:

Jan 9, 2024 15:41:43 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

James Cantore is in Davenport.  That is not good.  

I had to google him...I am so out of it.

Someone put the picture from the television on the local FB group or I would not know who he is.

[soupandstew]

We are forecast mid- to low-20's next week so it's time to do serious prep - bleed the backflow preventer for the sprinkler system and put the insulated cover on it, remove exterior water hoses and install insulated covers on the hose bibs, move potted plants to the storage shed and cover them with blankets, maybe grab another case of bottled water in case of a boil water notice, get more lunch type foods in case the roads ice and we can't go etc.  It's rare here in Southeast Texas so it's a bit harder for us to cope with our little uninsulated houses.

[busymom]

Jan 9, 2024 15:41:43 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

James Cantore is in Davenport.  That is not good.  

   Seriously?!?  I thought he'd be on the East Coast today.  There's plenty going on there.  

[NoNamePerson]

Jan 9, 2024 17:19:56 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

Jan 9, 2024 16:40:56 GMT -5 giramomma said:

I had to google him...I am so out of it.

Someone put the picture from the television on the local FB group or I would not know who he is.

I live in hurricane country so when “Jim” shows up within 100 miles of us I just pack and head north.   We know him well enough to be informal and call him Jim.  

[raeoflyte]

Water heater is installed which is exciting.

[Pink Cashmere]

I just had (another!) conversation with Mister about Boy last night. I expressed the same old concerns about Boy not knowing his place in the pack and newer concerns about how it is even more important now that Boy is exhibiting new behaviors. Mister tried to play it off by saying but look at him and how cute he is, he is just so loveable. 

I insisted that I was serious and only got his attention when I said “Do you want to end up being one of those people that say ‘I don’t know why he did that, he’s always been such a good dog’ after something terrible happens?” And I told him that I no longer trust boy to sleep in the room with my children, grandchildren and DS’s little crazy dog like he use to, because I am concerned about some recent behaviors.

I also told him (again!) that he needs to get Boy neutered asap. OG was spayed, Newbie was spayed soon after we got her, I don’t get the hesitance with Boy. I was willing to wait until he was a year old, but that was 6 months ago and I’ve brought it up several times since then.

Which brings me to…. after Mister’s kids opened their Christmas gifts, they left a bag of trash in the living room. I refused to throw it away (totally different issue) a couple days later, I was looking for something on my desk in the living room, turned around, and Boy had his leg raised, pissing on the garbage bag. The evening Mister’s brother came over, he sat on the floor to play with Boy, Boy accepted the cuddles, then raised his leg and pissed on brother. It was on Brother’s clothes, face, and in his mouth.

So I already said that last night he snuck on our bed while we were sleeping, even though he knows he’s not allowed on our bed. Mister got him off when he woke us up, trying to creep up to the pillows. 

And today, while I was loading the dishwasher, he got on our bed and pissed on it. I saw it when I went back to the bedroom to get off my foot. o.m.g that made me SO mad. I’d already been hopping around the kitchen to straighten it up, because it hurts to walk on my foot. I did NOT feel like stripping our bed of everything, including the mattress cover, and hopping back and forth through the house to wash it all, because he decided to pee on my fucking bed.

This was less than an hour after I’d let them outside, so it’s not that he NEEDED to pee. Just like he didn’t need to pee when he peed on the trash bag and on Brother. 

I am really more mad at Mister than at Boy, because he doesn’t take any of this shit seriously or think that what I am saying is important. When I was consistently working with Boy, Mister undermined a lot of my work because he would not establish himself  as a leader of the pack too. Now that Boy is exhibiting protective instincts, I think it is even more important for him to understand what’s okay and what’s not, that there are rules and boundaries, and that he is not the boss, we are. I can’t get Mister to understand that it’s for Boy’s own good if he really loves him. It’s similar to how raising a child requires more than a home, food, love and cuddles.

I apologize for yet another rant, but I am really pissed off. And pissed on. 

[TheOtherMe]

That is my line in the sand when it comes to pet behavior.  With a cat, I have taken them to the vet and I have brought in a behavioral therapist.  Those worked.  I don't know what I would have done if it had not but I will not have an animal peeing all over my house.

[giramomma]

No 3rd interview invitation today.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Jan 9, 2024 17:43:30 GMT -5 giramomma said:

No 3rd interview invitation today.

😔

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

I'd just take boy and get him neutered myself at this point. It doesn't cost a ton compared to spaying.

He's marking and the longer he does it the harder the habit is to break even with neutering.

Men have some sort of weird psychological hang up with neutering. DH was the same way with Wilbur at first but I put my foot down.

Midnight was not allowed on our bed or in our room because she would get all protective of DH. I wanted it crystal clear it was MY bedroom not hers.

I don't have that issue with Charlotte. She won't get on the bed if I'm lying on it. She recognizes it as my den and backs off.

H

[soupandstew]

Pink Cashmere You know that I know and love animals, and I agree there are reasons to postpone neutering until a year for some sizes and breeds of dogs.  BUT this has gone too far and I suspect Mister knows it.  Boy had a shot at being a great dog, but for whatever reasons, Mister allowed it to come to this point.  No dog can ever, ever, ever be allowed to deliberately urinate on another human or their possessions.  That is 100% territorial dominance and has zero to do with a physical need to urinate due to a full bladder.  I'm truly sorry for Boy because he has clearly established his dominance within the family, he has become very dangerous and you are absolutely right to make sure he has no access to your family members.  

[Pink Cashmere]

Jan 9, 2024 17:41:25 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

That is my line in the sand when it comes to pet behavior.  With a cat, I have taken them to the vet and I have brought in a behavioral therapist.  Those worked.  I don't know what I would have done if it had not but I will not have an animal peeing all over my house.

That is not something I am willing to deal with either. Especially since I am the only one that tries to keep the house halfway clean. 

I had to use the small spot cleaner to clean what ran onto the carpet when he peed on the bag in the living room. The carpet cleaner didn’t work properly when I tried to use it a few weeks ago. I asked Mister to see if he could figure out the problem, because I’d tried, with no luck. When Mister was sick and sleeping in the other bedroom, I saw that Boy had somehow got hold of the cap to one of the tanks for the carpet cleaner, and chewed it up. It was laying on the floor in that bedroom. 

I paid over $200 for that carpet cleaner after we moved here, and I’ve used it regularly because of the dogs. I am sure it will irritate Mister for me to bug him to replace it. But I don’t like nasty carpet with spots all over it. I already bought what I needed to handle what was an issue for me. He can either figure out if that one can be fix and the cap can be replaced, or buy a new, comparable one with his own money. Or he can pay for a professional to keep coming to clean the carpets. Which, now that I thought of it, would actually be less work for me, if I refuse to spot clean all the spots from Boy getting into something he shouldn’t, and throwing up. So maybe that’s my solution, professional cleaning that Mr. Moneybags pays for, as often as necessary.

I think I’m going to just make an appointment for Boy to get neutered and tell Mister to drop him off on his way to work.