u/RoseScentedGlasses

His other books are good too. There is one in the same universe as Hex, about a ship, but I can’t remember the name!

For Franklin area right now, Arrington Vineyards, Liepers Fork, or a day pass and dinner at Southall. All beautiful this time of year.

We have broadway season passes and of course this is the one show I missed, but yes, it’s a broadway musical. And both my kid and husband loved it.

This is exactly me. Our plan is to move from the south to the mid Atlantic or New England, depending on how the retirement income situation looks. My spouse works for the state so we need to stay in place and burn to death until he gets the full pension. But with him wearing long sleeves and pants all year due to skin cancer scares, and me in compression for lipedema, we basically always have our base layers on for cold weather.

I agree with this. My spouse is a teacher, and us spouses of teachers have a lot in common. Plan some meetups through them for sure!

Agreed. We do pizza nights on Fridays, and my kid switched to this one with me because she liked it better than other frozen, nonGF pizzas.

My 15 year old really loved The Outsiders, and then really loved its Broadway show. And of course the movie is classic. Its a nice way to compare and contrast all three.

I suggest this one all the time as the book that really opened up understanding and empathy for me: Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity is a non-fiction book by Andrew Solomon that explores the profound challenges and unique bonds that form when parents have children with significant differences, such as deafness, dwarfism, autism, or Down syndrome, and how families find meaning in these experiences. 

Based on the Anne Rice and Charlaine Harris, maybe get her The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix. That sticks a bit on the vampire themes, and if she likes it she can try other books by him.

I am. I don't care what people think. Now, I notice others like me, but thats because my brain says "oh hey, I wonder if she has lipedema too!" but when i see them in shorts or tank tops, I am mostly happy or curious, not judgy.

That goes for anyone with any different type of body or skin or style. I am just proud for them accepting themselves and being comfortable. Body shamers are not the kind of people I want to be around - what a bore and a waste of time. So if I run into someone like that, well then thanks for making it easy for me to see I don't want to hang around you.

(PS - all that being said, I will admit I am not out there in a bikini or something. Frankly, I don't want to shave, and I don't like the feel of my thighs rubbing. So my bathing suit is like bike shorts style. Preference, not shame.)

As a gluten free person, this confuses me. People eat what they like, and we hope the stores see that and stock accordingly. I wouldn't tell you to stop eating the almonds because we need to save those for the people allergic to peanuts?

Buy it, and tell your store manager you love it and to stock more!

But also, and this applies to every food or situation: don't buy more than you can eat before it goes bad. That's just wasteful.

Far From the Tree. I've read through and didn't see this one, and its probably my favorite book of all time! It's about developing a culture that is not based on family lineage, and how you and your family deal with that. Those cultures may be savants, Dwarfism, Deaf, schizophrenia, school shooter parents, and all sorts of things.

How do you find community and acceptance and belonging in a world you were thrust into rather than born into? How does your family support or deny this? This book gave me so much empathy for others.

The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson. It's ultimately about figuring out why people were getting sick in Victorian London. But it covers the advent of the scientific method, cholera and how disease spreads, what life was like at that time period, and reads like a mystery novel. It had me visiting the water pump in that part of London while I was there!

They are also overbooked, at least in my town. I encourage my kid to plan things with friends, and they all seem to want a "two week notice" to put things on their calendars. Therefore all plans with friends are overly formal, with an agenda of events, snacks purchased, etc. Her best friend was having everyone over to swim at the end of school year, and because it rained he freaked out and wanted to cancel. They could not pivot and figure out what things they could do on a rainy day. (These are teenagers and some can drive, not young kids)

I spend a lot of time yelling at them to just be kids and hang out.

Example to give them, if it helps you. I just took a new job. I was a shoo in, knew the people ahead of time, knew I'd be the pick, total relationship situation - still took two-ish months from beginning to offer. Some companies just have to document a lot, find time on calendars for interviews, etc. This is the world now.

I would say less scary than Ghostbusters. If she could handled that movie, she could handle this. The only difference is this one won't have the comedy timing to break up the unease, but a lot of kids won't be uneasy by liminal spaces.

I was confused as well. The one character bit the other character (no spoilers hence vague) but that seems about as tame as anything on TV. Other than that, feeling uneasy about a liminal space shouldn't cause an R rating...

We travel a lot, and have discovered we like the smaller cities, but there are so many it can be hard to decide. Therefore, we use weird reasons to plan trips around - a concert we want to see, a festival taking place, a random museum or restaurant, etc. Find a cool thing to do, go there, and discover all the other fun things around that you'd never have thought of.

Some examples -

- The Minnesota Yacht Club Festival. This year Lumineers and Matchbox 20, and The Strokes headlining. Great lakes nearby for beaches.

- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. Great lakes nearby for beaches.

- A fish boil experience in Door County, WI. Stay on the lake for beaches.

- San Antonio Riverwalk and some table made guacamole and a Tex Mex tour.

- Find the best slice of pizza in NYC (or CT, or Chicago)

- Some kind of big state fair, or summer food festivals (like a blueberry festival, a lobster fest, etc.)

- Opryland Hotel in Nashville has indoor gardens and a waterpark, then lots to do around town.

- Ben and Jerry's in Vermont

- Coca Cola Museum in Atlanta

You can park over by the Frist, and then hit Nashville Yards starting right under the Union Station. They do free movie nights down there, have some games, firepits, etc. It's a vibe. I also like to walk around at the Parthenon park, and then over into Vanderbilt campus. If you venture out, some sightseeing in Leiper's Fork, hanging out at Arrington Vineyards, and then a walk around Franklin Square and the Factory is a good day trip. If you really want to feel vacation-y, look into buying a day pass at Southall, or even try to just go to lunch or dinner there and look around the property.

a few go tos for me depending on what i want and how long the flight is - beef jerky, peanut m&Ms, the small cans of chicken or chicken salad with the pop tops, a banana, rice cakes.

The Christmas market in Carmel Indiana is really fun. The rock and roll hall of fame in Cleveland? A trip down to Nashville?

First you are low staffed and doing the work of 2 or 3 people. Then the attitudes start to reflect all that extra work, and the leaders notice the change. Then they solution with "fun" to fix it. Use the fun money and hire some people.

I worked at a place where the CEO/Owner demanded fun when he randomly showed up (son of the original founder IFKYK), and it was the worst. He would come in and hand you a PBR and want everyone up and drinking with him, playing lawn games and having a party. He'd stay for hours then go home - and then everyone would work until 8 or 10pm to finish the work they didn't get a chance to do that day.

That guy from the movie Family Man did. You can watch how it turned out.

Far From the Tree - this is what life is like for people and families experiencing a unique culture difference (deaf, dwarfism, schizophrenia, giftedness, murderers, etc)

Guns, Germs, and Steel. - how and why civilizations across the globe developed at different rates.

Excellent. 2 or 3 in the frequently recommended section that I’ve not read and can add to the list!