Destiny Skywalker

My MIL has bought Q clothes that are so painfully ugly that it's been comical. She wants Q to be her mini me so bad and Q is my little jock girl who lives in t-shirts and adidas soccer training pants. I definitely didn't dress her frilly when she was little because she was at daycare and rough and tumble and tearing holes in the knees (she's 12 and still gets rips in the knee). So we never did the Princess dress theme other than Christmas dresses for choir concerts. So a couple of times she bought her old lady outfits with roses and cardigans and shit in toddler sizes and Q was so glad they didn't fit.

Otherwise, she did buy stuff on the list this year. But it looks like the alarm clock is arriving tomorrow so I will have to return that myself and get a credit. I did put some funny stuff on there like a back scratcher. He's a funny kid, he likes weird stuff. And all the Boomer grandparents are staying away from anything video game related because video games are the devil even though that's what he likes.

Boomer problems part 2:

Earlier this week my dad sends me a big list of options for the kids and us and asks for my advice. On one hand, please stop making me do it for you, I've already given you a list to pick from. On the other hand, he is actually pretty bad at picking out gifts. (Last year he was going to buy me a Princess Peach Halloween costume I had put on there as a Halloween idea. No Dad, just no.) He wanted to buy E an alarm clock that was on there, but it was out of stock. So I wrote him back to tell him that it was now in stock. He missed it and texted me some other suggestions that were similar. I explained that what E really wanted was an alarm clock, not a wall clock, and it needed to be battery powered and not USB powered because the USBs are short and the plug is not close to his bed. So then he found other sketch places to buy it for a much higher price. I told him chill, there's 20 days until Christmas, it will come back in stock.

My mother-in-law emails me this morning, asking for the 428th time for a link to the Amazon wishlists so she can buy presents. I go check the lists to make sure there is still decent stuff on there to buy. It's a little picked over but that's not my problem, and my MIL is notorious for not buying what's on the list anyway because she doesn't like the same things as the kids. (You don't say.) So she sends me her confirmation email and she just decided to buy a different alarm clock that is USB powered. Lady BUY SOMETHING ELSE OFF THE DAMN LIST.

Yeah that's where I'm going. I was admittedly being a little vague. But now I found out I need Hepatitis B, Yellow Fever, and Typhoid vaccines so I'm extra annoyed today. I won't be able to be fully vaccinated against Hepatitis B by the time of the trip, either. I thought it was just 2 shots but apparently it's 3.

I have been asked to travel to a South American country for a work trip in January. We recently opened a branch there because cost of living is dirt cheap and I'm sure they are cheaper than US labor. This country also has a new visa requirement that begins shortly before my arrival, so now I have to scramble to apply for that. First they asked me to come for a week. 2 days later it turned into 3 weeks and I said hell no. Then they agreed they only need me for 3 days. So then I looked into travel arrangements. Originally they wanted me there Monday. This happens to be my birthday. I get it, I'm an adult, not a kid, but I would definitely rather spend that day with different people. So then I looked into how to get there by Monday and it turns out I have to leave Saturday at noon to be there by Sunday early morning. It takes 16-20 hours to get there, even with a reasonable layover. Now they don't need me there until Tuesday. So I could spend Monday there, arriving super early, and not be traveling on an airplane on my birthday. But my company also will not pay me for my time to fly Sunday, only Saturday. It's a old Boomer company policy that pisses me off because nowadays they expect you to be some place Monday morning instead of giving you Monday to travel. I hate the idea of leaving Saturday but if I left Monday, I wouldn't arrive until 5:30 Tuesday morning and I would have to go straight into the office (which is also an hour from the airport). I think the answer is leave Saturday and go into the office on Monday, but I am pretty annoyed about losing an entire weekend.

The only bright side is I will be done Thursday afternoon and I will get on a flight back and just sleep in business class, and be back home Friday early afternoon, so I can spend the weekend with family.

I should be more excited about going to a foreign country, but I don't speak a lick of the local language. If this was Europe, I'd be a lot more game. Or, you know, if I spoke Portuguese or even Spanish so I could struggle along. 

Nice! I'm sure it was a lot less hassle to deal with you than someone entirely new.

I have a first world problem. How do I get my Boomer dad to stop buying not just 1, but 2 proof sets every fucking year for my kids? They do not collect coins. They don't collect shit other than art supplies. I've tried to tell him it's just clutter, that it just goes into a box, that it's not actually worth what he pays for it. The man won't stop. He is convinced crap like will be worth something, especially if you have a lot of it, and he loves collecting junk.

I have 2 of that mouse, Tami. Works great and we've never had a problem with them. I think we got them at Target.

Oh man if you can do cash, absolutely do it. What do you need fixed?

Got the bathroom sample tile last night, and my husband didn't like it. He thought the grooves looked like grout. So it looks like we are going with the second choice, which is a blue large format tile we found. I was debating between a blue vanity and a gray vanity, but I was thinking gray floors. But then I need to figure out a linen cabinet too. I have a medium brown freestanding cabinet that I think I'm going to use short term and then I'll figure that out later, because a blue linen cabinet might be a bit much.

I like this brand of vanity. We have a larger one in our master bath and it's good quality and has soft close features, while still being reasonably priced (under $1k).

Well I mean that's fair for it to fall on her. I would rather the fan bros call her out on that rather than the fact that she has female reproductive parts.

I like how Filoni keeps track of the story. I happen to like a lot of the stories he's telling. I'm not enjoying Mando so much, but I did like Ahsoka. But I've always enjoyed the Skywalker story and Jedi lore. And I was a big EU fan girl until they killed off Mara Jade, after killing off Anakin Solo.

Well, the video had her talking to every resort BUT Snoqualmie. I don't think they've set an opening date.

It's finally raining here. But also warming up. Feels like a pineapple express. That's our typical November weather. Showed up a month late.

10 hours ago, Jacen123 said:

Quoted for both posterity and posteriority.

I'm so good at this game.

Ugh yep. https://www.fox13seattle.com/video/1374365

https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/wheres-the-powder-western-washington-ski-areas-push-back-opening-day

Maybe clean the bottom? Sometimes mine gets a little funky.

Agreed. Covers you everywhere.

I wasn't drunk but I bought some of those claw clips that are cool again. I like them for things like dyeing my hair or using a straightening iron, and my last surviving clip from the 00s was looking pretty rough. I got an 8 pack, put one in, and said I look dumb. My daughter told me that my hair looks better in a ponytail. Then we put one in her hair and she looked adorable. Screw you kid.

Offering to help with a project lol

Does he have a lot of kitchen stuff already? Is there a small gadget that might make cooking easier? Nice new pan?

BTW, Jonny Moseley follows jerryoftheday. My husband and I just spent the last 30 minutes catching up on the Jerrys. And he doesn't even ski!

We got E's genetic testing results back and they were thankfully mostly benign. The one variant that did pop up is related to growth hormones. So I'm glad that there was nothing scarier than that. However, when I start googling that gene there are a few other things that might be explained as well. Apparently there's some things in there that can be associated with ADHD, clumsiness, and social issues (gee, you don't say). We are still on the waitlist for an autism evaluation. However, he got this variant from me. So this explains why I started off tall and ended up short, and why I'm significantly shorter than my biological parents. We've been talking to Q's pediatrician about how she seems to have fallen off the growth curve. So I have a feeling she has the variant too.

Oh I've done that upper body drill. You're right, it is freaking WORK.

I think we are in for a bad year up here. We've had like 2 weeks without rain. It's cold af (for Seattle) but no precipitation means not a lot of snow, either. 19" so far at the top of Alpental, 1" so far at the base of Summit West. Not good. May not have been a good season to buy passes.

We redid Q's closet this weekend. I think that got the DIY out of my system for now. I need to throw crap away instead.

Before/after pictures

So earlier this month I was all about decorating the tree. My family told me to chill until Thanksgiving weekend. And now that it's here... I don't want to. I think I'm in a little bit of a funk because of our upcoming remodel that is going to last 2-3 months starting in February. It's going to restrict us to our bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, the dining room, the office/den, and our small family room. Losing the downstairs bathroom is not a big deal, but losing the kitchen and washer/dryer for so long is going to be rough. So the idea of rearranging the living room to fit the tree does not have a lot of appeal right now. I might move it to the billiard room this year, even though that's not a great spot for opening presents. My husband noticed last night that I seemed off, and the best I could explain was I'm just thinking too much.

However, this year I actually got Christmas cards early because I didn't have to wait until Christmas day to beg everyone for a family picture because a friend who is a realtor set up a bunch of family mini photo sessions this fall. It's an ongoing joke that I do New Years cards because I can't get my shit together for Christmas cards. I stuck with my usual funny theme instead of pretty/nauseating perfect family cards.

So far I've bought all of the kids gifts. I'm going light this year, they have a lot of stuff already, and I can't tell you how much stuff they've never played with. They have their favorite toys and they play with those 90% of the time. E is getting an indoor climbing gym that mounts to a wall. Q got a bedroom makeover and a ski bag. I got my dad some cheap Bluetooth earbuds because he listens to his cheesy Christian worship music on his phone on full blast and the sound quality is TERRIBLE. I also bought us a new desk so I can get rid of this gigantic corner desk that my husband HAD TO HAVE like 7 years ago that is beat to heck because he also had to have a gigantic desk chair that doesn't fit into it and it's beat the desk up so bad and I'm tired of banging the chair every single time I get in and out of the desk. Now that we don't get work from home benefits anymore because our executives are mad about their apparent lack of control over us, we need a smaller desk and we're changing the office back to a den/gaming room/playroom.

I hate so many choices. Honestly what helped with this one was I showed my friend who was over for Thanksgiving some haphazard choices and she pointed out that our hardwood floors have a lot of character and said do you really want competing wood? So that eliminated any wood look LVP and we went to tile, which there was a lot less of. Haha

Flooring choices!

We're going to do LVP in the pool table room and the mudroom. We have kids and a dog and the bar will be there too. So anticipating lots of mud, spills, and scratches.

I think we've already kicked out the gray one on the left. We put this on the step down into the room because I do want it to look good against the hardwood floors above.

I think the one on the right looks really good with the wood cabinet sample, but it also reminds me of Sulphur stains from the nasty ass water in Florida.  The one in the middle is really close to the current carpet, so it wouldn't be that big of a change, might lighten up the room a bit? But it's kind of boring.

I'm never moving again. I say this every time, but I usually stay put for 7 years or so. But seriously, I have to stay here until the kids are out of high school. Maybe college. So 2 years down, 9-13 to go...