May I suggest sock tag - use a rolled up sock (or something similarly soft). Kid runs around while you try to tag them with the sock. Similar to dodgeball, but no one should get hurt and you get to sit or lay down while they burn off energy.

Brought to you by a parent with chronic pain

And more penguin species live outside the Antarctic region than in it

Poor, long-suffering baby! Obviously needs more balls to lose and an automatic ball retriever

That’s an amazing idea. Have you looked for any local organizations or after-school programs you could connect with? Or even a local school’s tech program. I bet they’d love to have you in as a guest to do a project with the kids. My kid’s school has local experts come in to do week- or month-long projects with a class. Doesn’t solve your job dilemma but if you’re finding fulfillment outside of work it may not matter.

The US forests got used to not having them, so now some trees like maples need a thick layer of leaves on the ground to trap moisture around their roots so they don’t dry out. There are also native plants that need this layer to help protect them from temperature swings.

A couple of sources: https://nysufc.org/earthworms-implicated-sugar-maple-decline/2017/11/28/ https://wormwatch.d.umn.edu/forest-ecology-and-worms/forest-ecology/about-forest

Edit: This shirt says it all

https://www.raygunsite.com/products/gop-vagina-1

Those eyes 🥺

I’m sorry you found that. It must’ve been hard to read it and feel that betrayal. And I’m sorry your parents weren’t able to recognize your depression and instead made it into a character flaw.

It’s similar to a pretty normal human walking pace, more a “walking up to a restaurant to meet your friends inside” speed than “slowly strolling through a museum looking at art.” If that makes sense? Fast enough I’d have to step quickly to get away when I’d see the one tortoise who liked to use my pants as her napkin heading toward me with bits of food stuck to her face.

Having worked with several large tortoise species, this is true. They can be much quicker than you expect, especially when they notice you have their favorite food.

It looks like either a Galapagos or Aldabra but I can’t tell for certain.

Yay! I’m so happy for you and Greta!

As he should be

Don’t give them any ideas lol

There’s a store near us that almost always has some kind of sale going on. The catch is it isn’t immediate savings - you have to fill out and send in a rebate form. If you manage to do that, they send you “store credit” as a physical piece of paper you have to remember to bring to the store. I often wonder what percent of rebates never get submitted or used. Probably pretty high.

I had a laugh the other day because one of their competitors was advertising an “instant savings, no waiting for rebates” sale.

Yeah we usually buy several at a time. I forget which duck we’re on now. 12? 37? Who knows

I’m sorry for your loss. And glad the photo brought up some good memories.

Most refrigerators here come with a built-in filter now at least to make ice. And often using a fridge filter or one that attaches to the sink tap is something anyone can do themselves, whereas an under the sink or whole-house system is something many people would hire someone to put in. So it’s probably a combination of convenience and cost.

We are on a well, so we have a whole-house filter system. But our fridge still came with a filter for its built-in tap.

I feel like I’m failing adulthood after being bested by a bedsheet.

Don’t worry, no one can actually fold the fitted sheet nicely. I channel Lorelei Gilmore when I fold mine (jump to 0:45 for the relevant part, there aren’t many videos of this scene apparently).

It’s not perfect but here’s what I’ve been doing lately. It’s my favorite method so far because, like you, I find cooking to be too much work most of the time.

From the store I’ll get:

• protein: usually ground beef, ground turkey, or boneless chicken
• premade sauce: not just spaghetti sauce but also teriyaki, sweet and sour, curry, pesto, whatever catches my eye
• whole potatoes or sweet potatoes
• frozen vegetables
• cheese
• rice or pasta if I’m running low

Once or twice a week I’ll throw the veggies in the oven to roast, bake a couple of potatoes (or sweet potatoes), and cook the meat with basic seasoning (salt, pepper, onion and garlic). When everything’s cooked it goes in separate containers in my fridge. If rice sounds good I’ll make a batch of it too. Just make sure you make enough for 3-4 meals.

When it’s time to eat, I just throw it all together with a sauce and heat it in the microwave. So maybe I’ll do protein + veggies + rice + teriyaki sauce. Or protein + veggies + cheese stuffed in a baked potato. Or protein + veggies over pasta with spaghetti sauce.

It does take a chunk of energy and executive function to cook the foods, but if you can get yourself to do it then for the next several days you can be eating in 5 minutes with minimal effort. Since my family insists on eating Every. Damn. Day. this makes it a little more tolerable.