Halfway through 'slug' week.

mrsconn23

I saw a website calling the week between Christmas and New Year's 'slug' week and it's quite fitting.  

My nieces are here. We had so much fun with them last night playing games and chatting. They're 16 and 17, and ridiculously funny and whipsmart.  They are so fun to have around.  I wish they lived closer. 

A funny though, we have an alarm system and we normally leave it off when houseguests are here.  I turned it on last night out of habit.  My niece's BF got up to get a drink from our garage fridge at 2am and set off our alarm.  DH and I woke up to it going off and her poor BF was so embarrassed.  He was raised in south GA his whole life and is the most southern kid I've probably ever spent time with.  I apologized to him this morning and he just blushed.  

Also, I heard DefConn just yelling at his Alexa clock to turn off while the alarm was going off.  He woke up this morning and I asked if he remembered it going off and he was all, "What are you talking about?"  So that makes his yelling at Alexa even funnier.  

I'm so ready for another long weekend.  Shit keeps going back on forth on NYE and I'm to the point where I just want to tell DH we're staying home, ordering Chinese food, and watching movies.  Eff it. 

climbingsingle

This definitely feels like slug week - perfect description. 

I'm thankfully back to working from home, nice and comfy in my pajamas. I put my new vacuum together and I am in love. So much better for my apartment - lightweight and so easier to maneuver. 

CharmedPam

I’m so with you on the NYE thing.  I texted my bff exactly 24 hrs ago about it, and still no response.  It’s typical of her. Girl, I know you read the thing! I don’t have read receipt, but who doesn’t look at their phone within a 24 hour time period?
It would be awesome to have them over and have board game partners, of course, but on the other hand it’s two more possibilities of bringing covid into the house too (she’s vaxxed, her hubby is not for medical reasons). And I have to get a covid test on the 11th for my long awaited upcoming surgery so I’m being super duper careful about everything. If I end up getting it, it’s a $250 reschedule fee AND another 10 month wait for his next available window.  The last I heard (from his patients’ message board) he’s around 10 months out from the consult to operation day. I’ll roll up in a ball and cry if that happens.

Glad you had a fun night @mrsconn23.  Edit: love the name slug week!

@climbingsingle, I get geeked out on stuff like that.  Have you ever stopped and asked “when did it get to the point where ____ appliance makes me feel this way?”

MNNEBride

I'm loving slug week.  No Zoom meetings this week so I don't have to wear make-up or do my hair - yay!  We're staying in on NYE.  DH wants to go visit his sister on NY Day.  She's in a long-term care facility so we'll see if they are open to visitors.  

We got about 3" of snow yesterday and then the temps plummeted. I think it was -10 when I woke up.  It's now -3 but the sun is shining so that helps.   

STARMOON44

Loving slug week too. I’m working, and I usually work from home, but this week I’m working in pajamas and taking midday walks and no one is calling me and it’s just great. 

missJeanLouise

Happy Slug week everyone.

@climbingsingle congrats on the new vacuum. The expensive one DH bought was damaged coming out of the box so we need to get a replacement part. 🙄

The school board just announced that schools will be virtual for the first 2 weeks after winter break. Of course the schools find this out at the same time as the general public. There is no word yet if this also applies to nurseries so we are waiting to hear if DS will actually start nursery next week or not.

Today is my mom's birthday. We haven't been talking, she hasn't responded to any of my texts since mid December (which feels longer than it really is). I know I should call but part of me just wants to be done with the whole thing. I did text her this morning, and sent her a present, so I feel like the ball is kind of in her court.

mrsconn23

I'm sorry your relationship with your mom is strained @missJeanLouise.  That sucks.  You've reached out and sent a gift, so know you've done something and be kind to yourself about the rest.  

missJeanLouise

Thanks @mrsconn23 It's almost better this way. At least I know where I stand instead of believing differently and being disappointed.

short+sassy

Today is my last day of work for the week.  Though it will be a long day.  I'm going to Costco after work to combat three hours of scanning.  I'm taking a vacation day tomorrow, but my H and I will need to return to Costco and finish the scanning.  But we'll have most of it done today, so it shouldn't be longer than 2 hours tomorrow.

It's already been a hectic day.  I started this post about an hour ago and am finally getting back to finish it, lol.  Unfortunately, I woke up at 3AM with a low blood sugar and was up for quite awhile, because I didn't want to go back to sleep until it was back at a good level.  But for me, lack of sleep=bad headache.  So I'm not happy about having extra stress on a day I'm already feeling extra crappy.  But I think the fires are out for now and am hoping/expecting the rest of the day will be smooth.

By H and I never do anything for NYE.  More his choice than mine, but I'm good with it.  For me, if I'm going somewhere for NYE, I better be spending the night also.

Where we live, the bars don't close.  So, especially on NYE, it is nothing but drunk drivers on the road.  Even if I'm sober or a pedestrian, I do not want to be out and about.  It is way too dangerous to be on the roads.

On a brighter side, my long weekend will be all the snacks and beverages!

short+sassy

missJeanLouise said:

Happy Slug week everyone.

@climbingsingle congrats on the new vacuum. The expensive one DH bought was damaged coming out of the box so we need to get a replacement part. 🙄

The school board just announced that schools will be virtual for the first 2 weeks after winter break. Of course the schools find this out at the same time as the general public. There is no word yet if this also applies to nurseries so we are waiting to hear if DS will actually start nursery next week or not.

Today is my mom's birthday. We haven't been talking, she hasn't responded to any of my texts since mid December (which feels longer than it really is). I know I should call but part of me just wants to be done with the whole thing. I did text her this morning, and sent her a present, so I feel like the ball is kind of in her court.

Did you all have a fight or is that more her usual?

I'm definitely the bad daughter.  I don't know why even after all these years, but I can never remember if my mom's birthday is Dec. 28th or 29th.  I'm planning to stalk her FB page at lunch to figure it out.  But she didn't wish me Happy Birthday in Nov. until it was two days later and didn't reach out at all for Christmas, so it goes both ways.  Though she did send me gifts for both of those occasions.  Our relationship isn't strained.  But it also isn't that close.

ei34

Yay for the upcoming long weekend @short+sassy  Yikes, stay warm @MNNEBride You've done what you can @missJeanLouise although I'm sorry for the strife!  What do you mean by he's very Southern @mrsconn23?  I guess that's he's very polite? Lots of "ma'am" and "sir"?  I know Oklahoma isn't south but I'm picturing Ree Drummond's sons, (Oblivious Northerner question, lol)

Slug week is the perfect term.  I had visions of Christmas dinner with family, and for our week off I had Sing 2 movie tickets booked, Natural History Museum and Central Park Zoo booked, etc.  But Covid- 1, Eileen- 0. 
Last Friday my sister said her kids were sniffling and then my brother let us know he'd tested positive, so we canned our Christmas gathering.  The kids and I (and even STBXH) had a very nice Christmas Eve, the kids sang beautifully in their choir, our feast of four (lol) fishes was delish...Christmas morning cinnamon rolls were the star of breakfast and the kids were happy with their gifts.  I did drive them around to my parents' and sisters' homes and we visited them all from the front yards, masked.  My girls love singing so I brought along a book of Christmas songs and they caroled at each stop, which they enjoyed.  
Then on Sunday my oldest, who is asthmatic, started a funky cough and said her throat hurt.  By Monday she also had a fever of 100.2 so off to the pediatrician we went.  I brought the other two kids bc they're aalll over each other.  She had PCR and rapid tests as well as strep and flu, all but the first which we are waiting on negative, thankfully.  Younger DD had a negative rapid...and son had a positive rapid.  Ugh!  So everything has been canceled as he has to quarantine for five days, unless we receive a negative PCR before then.  Thankfully the unwell daughter feels better, and now all 3 are jumping. off. the. walls.  Fun times.  I'm just concerned bc I don't know where or how DS picked it up, he's masked indoors in public (as we all have) literally from March 2020.  I just don't get it.  So this week is definitely slugging along.  

missJeanLouise

@short+sassy we had big fights this summer because it is normal for her to prioritize everything else ahead of me. Things haven't been same since then. But she would rather blow up the relationship than apologize, it seems to me.
She also might be going through a 3/4 life crisis. She is going through a divorce, she just (unexpectedly and without telling anyone) quit her job to move back to CT to take care of Nana. That part was planned but not until April. Another weird thing, she says she sent us Christmas presents via Amazon (like she has done in the past). But we never got them, my sister volunteered to help her track them down but mom said she was too busy and couldn't be bothered. Oh well, it's her money. 

mrsconn23

ei34 said:

 What do you mean by he's very Southern @mrsconn23?  I guess that's he's very polite? Lots of "ma'am" and "sir"?  I know Oklahoma isn't south but I'm picturing Ree Drummond's sons, (Oblivious Northerner question, lol)

Yes, exactly.  Plus, just his little turns of phrase and accent just make him so adorbs.  It  makes you want to mess with him a little.  But he's a really good sport and is so kind to my niece.  I keep teasing my niece that we'll keep him over her, LOL. SIL and BIL really like him.  BIL took him on a hunting trip to Montana this past fall. 

ETA: OMG so stressful with your kiddos and illness.  I'm glad they're all doing better. 

charlotte989875

I love slug week. Both of us took it off I don’t know what day it is, baby M is sleeping through the night again, and we can finally smell and taste again. Things are looking up! 

mrsconn23

That's so frustrating @missJeanLouise.  Not that this justifies it, but I wonder if she's pushing you away because you're 'absent' living halfway around the world and she misses you more than her pride will allow her to admit.  Instead of identifying her emotions and processing stuff, she'd rather run from them and work her shit out on family, especially you. 

Your mom sounds a lot like my FIL and they are extremely difficult people to deal with and not allow them to completely frustrate you even though you know you're really not to blame for their issues.  I'm sorry she's choosing to miss out because she'd rather be right and mad than understanding and honest. 

missJeanLouise

@mrsconn23 I think she just runs closer to the narcissist line than most people but honestly, I am just over trying to figure out why she acts the way she does. It doesn't matter why and I just need to figure out how to have what relationship I can have (or not) safely. But that's why I have a therapist, lol.

On a lighter note, I am have been kicking ass these last few days reorganizing the house but am torturing myself looking for a little drawer unit to put on a shelf in the bathroom. Everything is either too small/ big, ugly, or stupid expensive, and most likely 2 of the 3. It is so annoying! 

mrsconn23

Yes @missJeanLouise, YAY therapy!  

I saw something on Amazon recently that was from some sort of 'curator' collection and it was some bathroom drawers that go under your sink. I was interested because I do want to redo my bathroom organization in our master bath because it's shitshow currently.    I wonder if they have other options that may work as you describe.  I'll see if I can find it. 

short+sassy

ei34 said:

Yay for the upcoming long weekend @short+sassy  Yikes, stay warm @MNNEBride You've done what you can @missJeanLouise although I'm sorry for the strife!  What do you mean by he's very Southern @mrsconn23?  I guess that's he's very polite? Lots of "ma'am" and "sir"?  I know Oklahoma isn't south but I'm picturing Ree Drummond's sons, (Oblivious Northerner question, lol)

Slug week is the perfect term.  I had visions of Christmas dinner with family, and for our week off I had Sing 2 movie tickets booked, Natural History Museum and Central Park Zoo booked, etc.  But Covid- 1, Eileen- 0. 
Last Friday my sister said her kids were sniffling and then my brother let us know he'd tested positive, so we canned our Christmas gathering.  The kids and I (and even STBXH) had a very nice Christmas Eve, the kids sang beautifully in their choir, our feast of four (lol) fishes was delish...Christmas morning cinnamon rolls were the star of breakfast and the kids were happy with their gifts.  I did drive them around to my parents' and sisters' homes and we visited them all from the front yards, masked.  My girls love singing so I brought along a book of Christmas songs and they caroled at each stop, which they enjoyed.  
Then on Sunday my oldest, who is asthmatic, started a funky cough and said her throat hurt.  By Monday she also had a fever of 100.2 so off to the pediatrician we went.  I brought the other two kids bc they're aalll over each other.  She had PCR and rapid tests as well as strep and flu, all but the first which we are waiting on negative, thankfully.  Younger DD had a negative rapid...and son had a positive rapid.  Ugh!  So everything has been canceled as he has to quarantine for five days, unless we receive a negative PCR before then.  Thankfully the unwell daughter feels better, and now all 3 are jumping. off. the. walls.  Fun times.  I'm just concerned bc I don't know where or how DS picked it up, he's masked indoors in public (as we all have) literally from March 2020.  I just don't get it.  So this week is definitely slugging along.  

That sounds like a great Christmas, despite things not going as perfectly as they could. 

I'm glad your daughter is feeling better.  That does sound wild that your son tested positive, but no one else did.  Or that he caught it in the first place because I know you all are super careful.  I wonder if it was a false positive?

I heard a story from my neighbor that just goes to show how powerful the vaccines are.  Caveat, this was before the Omicron variant.  Back in July, she had a couple from CA visit her.  My friend was fully vaccinated and she thought they were both fully vaccinated but, as it turns out, only the guy was.

Early in the trip, they went to a music venue that was PACKED.  She felt uncomfortable going in, but her guests didn't want to go, so they all stayed.  After returning home about 5 days later, the unvaccinated woman from that couple was diagnosed with COVID.  They assume she probably caught it at that concert.

They were staying at my friend's house so, for about 5 days, she was in constant contact with her.  The b/f lives with her, so he was certainly in constant contact with her and took care of her while she was sick.  As an aside, she was pretty sick, but fortunately nothing that required going to the hospital.

My friend and the boyfriend went for testing multiple times because of the exposure.  Always negative.  Neither one of them contracted COVID despite MASSIVE exposure to someone who was sick.

And you betcha, the first thing that woman did after being cleared to get the vaccine was get the vaccine.

missJeanLouise

@mrsconn23 if you see it again, throw a link at cha girl. So far the best thing I have found are some drawers meant for fridge storage. 

CharmedPam

Question: 
a coworker of yours has B.O. it’s not something you have to be up close and personal to smell it either. Sometimes he can be out of the room and you can still smell him (we have an open office, general workspace, and he doesn’t have his own office)

How would you handle this?

eta: and he’s been with us for over 2 years, with no complaints so this is something new

charlotte989875

Does anyone have a skincare line recommendation? I’ve been using Philosophy for years but it’s just not cutting it anymore. We have very dry water (and the cold/ forced air heating) are doing a number on my skin. I’m willing to spend a bit if it will work and also not have 10 different steps. Make this easy & effective please!! 

charlotte989875

CharmedPam said:

Question: 
a coworker of yours has B.O. it’s not something you have to be up close and personal to smell it either. Sometimes he can be out of the room and you can still smell him (we have an open office, general workspace, and he doesn’t have his own office)

How would you handle this?

eta: and he’s been with us for over 2 years, with no complaints so this is something new

Is this something a manager has noticed? They could address it discreetly in a 1:1. They can ask if something has changed in his situation that’s making it difficult to address this. 

CharmedPam

@charlotte989875, while more on the expensive side, this is what my esthetician uses and I love it.  Slowly am replacing my stuff with this line:
https://buynaturalskincare.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzdyJmMuJ9QIVA8iUCR0mmgArEAAYASAAEgJNUvD_BwE

mrsconn23

Ugh.  I hate when you see the traits you least like about yourself in your kids.  DefConn is solidly in the middle of all the cousins on DH's side.  My nieces are 5 and 6 years older than him and my nephews are 4 and 6 years younger than him.  The kiddo is 10 years older.  He *adores* my nieces and they are mostly good to him, but he's a 10 year old boy.  He's funny and a good time, but he's also got his annoying moments.  

FIL offered to take the girls and niece's BF to his house to see the dogs briefly before they went on their planned outing this afternoon.  FIL had stuff in his backseat and there wasn't room for DefConn.  Also, it was probably the only one on one time they would get with FIL for the next 6+ months vs. DefConn seeing FIL weekly. So it's truly OK that they ran to FIL's for a half hour and left him here.  

DefConn of course was so upset and felt left out.  So he cried and was all sorts of butthurt. "They left me behind!", he wailed.  Of course I thought they weren't taking him out with them as planned, so I called my niece to sort it out.  I also think oldest niece, who messes with DefConn the most in a big sisterly way and they are also the closest out of all of DefConn's cousins, was not the nicest about telling to scram and he wasn't going. 

But dear God, it was like dealing with my 10 year old self. I was the same way when I was kid and I still fight the urge to be reactionary all the time.  It was funny and also put me in a defensive mode at the same time.  

charlotte989875

CharmedPam said:

@charlotte989875, while more on the expensive side, this is what my esthetician uses and I love it.  Slowly am replacing my stuff with this line:
https://buynaturalskincare.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzdyJmMuJ9QIVA8iUCR0mmgArEAAYASAAEgJNUvD_BwE

Do you use everything or just a few steps? I know a good serum and moisturizer are important but like there’s so many options! 

charlotte989875

Ugh that’s so tough @mrsconn23, especially when you can logically see why they didn’t take him but also totally understand why his feelings were hurt. And I think 16 year olds don’t always know when to joke and when things come out too harsh. 

CharmedPam

charlotte989875 said:

CharmedPam said:

@charlotte989875, while more on the expensive side, this is what my esthetician uses and I love it.  Slowly am replacing my stuff with this line:
https://buynaturalskincare.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzdyJmMuJ9QIVA8iUCR0mmgArEAAYASAAEgJNUvD_BwE

Do you use everything or just a few steps? I know a good serum and moisturizer are important but like there’s so many options! 

Right now I use the peels, moisturizer and the cleanser. I had (have?) the toner but never use it. I have to use the calm one (forgot what plant that was) because of my rosecea. It’s not to harsh.  My girl hooked me up with the moisture whip one because I’m dryer in the winter. 

mrsconn23

charlotte989875 said:

Ugh that’s so tough @mrsconn23, especially when you can logically see why they didn’t take him but also totally understand why his feelings were hurt. And I think 16 year olds don’t always know when to joke and when things come out too harsh. 

It is tough.  And I also want to honor his feelings, because I remember being told harshly that I was being dramatic and to get over it, which just added to the hurt and humiliation.  I told him that it was OK to be upset and it's also OK for the girls to go to Papaw's without him.  I advised he needed to get a hold of his feelings before they came back so he could go have a good time this afternoon.  Plus I told him if older niece hurt his feelings, he should tell her that once he's calmed down if he feels like he needs to stick up for himself. 

But I wanted to cry with him and also tell niece to not be mean to him.  However I know how they interact and DefConn's not innocent, LOL.   

short+sassy

I ran across a interesting fact today that I'm mulling over.

Human beings have better endurance than almost any other mammal on the planet.  Endurance-wise, dogs and horses are some of our closer competition.

But an elite runner capable of completing a marathon (26.2 miles), will beat a horse's time.

It's a large part of our early success as a species.  We couldn't run as fast as most of our prey.  But we could keep chasing them until they tired out.

Of course, then there's me.  It would take me all day to do half a marathon.  Then I'd need to check into a hotel for the night.  And spend all the of the rest day finishing it.  My horse competitor would probably beat me by a whole day, lol.

Edited to add:  Oops, I looked more into it.  You need to be an elite long distance runner to beat a horse in a marathon.  I corrected my verbiage.

charlotte989875

That’s me too @mrsconn23 so I get it. Sounds like you handled it super well. We can have our feelings but we can chose how we act them. If he can learn that at 10 he’s going to be so much better off than most people’ 

charlotte989875

I’m a non-elite marathon runner @short+sassy, I now wonder if I can put run a horse!