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Post by beaglemom on Nov 14, 2022 3:24:57 GMT
I put up the one we moved with us with the kids yesterday, we didn't decorate it, just put it up with the tree skirt and train. It looks ridiculous (9ft tree, 15+ft ceilings) in the room, way too small. So we lucked out and a good friend of my bil was selling a 12ft one for a good price. They dropped off the first box tonight and they are bringing the other boxes by tomorrow. We gave away our 7.5 one when we moved. I think I will get another one next year, because we have the perfect front window in the dinning room with 7'10 ceilings so one would fit perfect there!
I am going to be looking at after Christmas sales for a 7-7.5 ft one and a 4-6 ft one for dd's room. She would love a harry potter tree. We love the Pottery Barn Teen ornaments, but they are so pricey! So another thing I am going to be watching after Christmas sales for!
I'm thinking the 12ft tree will be my "adult" tree. All the blue, white, and silver ornaments I have been collecting over the years. The 9ft I'm either going to put in the front entry or the library and I think I'll do that one with our Disney ornaments this year. Next year the dining room one will have all our travel ornaments on it!
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Post by beaglemom on Nov 12, 2022 3:09:13 GMT
1-2 times a year, maybe? Weddings, but we've only had a handful in the last 10 years, Christmas card photos, 1-2 nice dinners a year. I used to love to dress up, maybe if I lost 50+ pounds I would enjoy it again. But then again we don't do much that requires dressing up.
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Post by beaglemom on Nov 8, 2022 17:21:01 GMT
Abu Dhabi - grand mosque, Ferrari world (I think it’s over rated but if you want to ride the world’s fastest roller coaster, this is the place) I'm pretty sure that the city tour that we have booked with a 90 min mosque tour is for the grand mosque.Dubai - Burj Khalifa, go to the top Tickets are booked! - eat dinner outside in the evening and watching the fountain show - if you’re looking for traditional Emirati food - Al Fanar Restaurant - we went once to have the experience - Al Marhabani - we went many, many times and loved the chicken and lamb mandi. You eat on the floor with your hands and share a big platter. - I’ve heard good things about the cultural center meal and talk but never got over there. - we enjoyed the camel farm one time. It’s very small but you can get on a camel and walk a bit. They have camel milk you can try. If you’re pressed for time, I would skip this. - the Dubai aquarium is in the Dubai mall on the list - drive out to Atlantis on the palm Staying here! - there’s also a nice water park at Atlantis Definitely doing! - if you like Gordon Ramsay’s restaurants, there is Bread Street and Hell’s Kitchen - from Kite Beach you can get a good look/photo of Burj Al Arab - Global Village is interesting. I went once and that was enough. - La Perle puts on a good show. Both my kids enjoyed it (at the time 15 and 6) There’s so many things to do with kids that are like amusement parks and such. So it depends on if you want to feel like you’re in the UAE and do cultural things or if you want to just have fun. I’ll post a layout I did of Al Fanar. It has a list of what to order there. ETA - check to see if camel races are happening. They are usually super early in the morning but it’s interesting. Oh my goodness this is amazing!! Thank you so much!! I will use all of this in our planning! I think we are trying to balance the fun with the cultural, because I don't think we will have another opportunity to go. Ferrari and the Atlantis Waterpark are the top picks from the kids. Is it worth taking them to the Louvre?
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Post by beaglemom on Nov 7, 2022 21:23:47 GMT
We're headed to Abu Dhabi and Dubai over Thanksgiving. 2 adults, 4 kids 12 and under. We have a couple things that we know we are doing for sure, Ferrari amusement park (my 2 boys are very excited), the Abu Dhabi Mosque, a dinner safari, the Burj Khalifa, and the aquarium in Abu Dhabi (the one in the mall?).
Any must do/see things? Places to eat? Things to be aware of?
Thank you!
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Post by beaglemom on Nov 2, 2022 20:09:28 GMT
I would just say no, have other plans. I don't though. I plan to spend Christmas eve with my kids and husband. But the week before is my mom's and dad is Christmas day and the week before for Jeremy's family and then cookie baking two weeks before. I want out of all of that except for my Christmas eve with the kids. So I can't say I have other plans because on those days I don't have other plans. I just don't want to go. But you do have other plans. Those plans are at your house with your family. You don't own them any explanation or justification of what your "plans" are. Your plan is to NOT be with them. Sending lots of hugs and support.
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Post by beaglemom on Oct 16, 2022 23:53:56 GMT
So the not for clothing is because it does not have flame retardant. You can't make and then sell stuff from their flannel because of flammability requirements. But you can make and use it for yourself.
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Post by beaglemom on Oct 14, 2022 15:27:00 GMT
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Post by beaglemom on Oct 4, 2022 19:11:08 GMT
With 3 out of my 4, I had my membranes stripped (ouch) and all 3 arrived less than 24 hours later. The outlier came on his own 2 weeks early.
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Post by beaglemom on Sept 26, 2022 1:26:57 GMT
Have you tried a different browser? That’s my usual go to action for something like this. I'm usually totally resistant to this, since if it doesn't work on Chrome I am not sure why I should bother. But I tried anyways, since I hadn't thought to till you mentioned, still doesn't work. I will be mailing my check! What is crazy is the dues are much lower than the last place we lived $xxx for the entire year vs $xxx+$100 per quarter where we used to live. It seems crazy that they need a company to manage it.
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Post by beaglemom on Sept 26, 2022 0:51:19 GMT
We moved and now live in an HOA. Fine, whatever. But they have decided to use a "management company" for dues payments and other things. We got the first thing in the mail today for the year's dues. It came with information on how to log on to the site to pay and update information.
The website is seriously from the early 90s. The pay my assessment link that was in 3 of the docs doesn't work and returns "Service Unavailable HTTP Error 503. The service is unavailable." There is no way to update your profile information. There is a drop down form to send an email with questions. If you try to edit your message, ie move the cursor to fix something, it makes the entire email box go away and you have to start over.
I am all for going electronic, but for goodness sake please make sure that the tech was designed at least in the last 10 years. I can't believe our dues are going to pay for something this crappy.
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Post by beaglemom on Sept 16, 2022 17:58:41 GMT
Wordle 454 6/6*
🟨⬜⬜🟩⬜ ⬜🟩⬜🟩⬜ ⬜🟩⬜🟩⬜ ⬜🟩🟩🟩⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
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Post by beaglemom on Sept 16, 2022 17:15:00 GMT
I have the insulated in purple, blue, red, and orange. I guess I need to look for the green one!
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Post by beaglemom on Sept 14, 2022 18:45:38 GMT
I am in awe of you for wanting to figure it out. I gave up. I try to be civil, but I often make more snarky quips than my dh would like.
After years of trying so hard to please them and gain their favor and getting stomped on and thrown under the bus I just gave up. I have asked my dh to be the one to deal with them. Fil is 80 and rarely responds to texts or emails and doesn't really answer his phone. If he does text it comes through almost as a weird email, ie. subject: dinner, what time are you coming? Mil is just a horrible, mean, person. She also will text or email asking us to call her, which drives me nuts. She is uber critical of everyone and everything, but can't take any criticism. We lived 15 minutes from them and the daughters and grandkids in another state saw them more than we did. We now live in that other state and they are coming out here for the first time since we moved. I guarantee that we won't see them much. She also is very conflict-averse so she will throw anyone else under the bus to avoid being responsible/answering for anything she does.
The kids totally see it. I have tried to bite my tongue because my 11-year-old dd started being snarky to my mil, I constantly remind her that mil loves her, but just doesn't know how to show it. My kids totally prefer my parents over dh's.
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Post by beaglemom on Aug 29, 2022 18:38:46 GMT
Generally I enjoy them. Even more so when I get to bring dessert - since that is what I am the most comfortable making. I love trying other people's stuff, especially when people will share recipes.
Now in a covid world I haven't been to one since before March 2020, I think I would be fine going if I know most people and their habits around food/general health safety.
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Post by beaglemom on Aug 25, 2022 4:37:58 GMT
We are currently having that problem. Well, that plus we are up a private windy road that is scary the first couple of times you drive it. I have literally heard people on our nest doorbell say "Wow! This house would be listed at 10x the list price if it wasn't up this road." It's stuff like this that people have to drive 5-10 times to realize it isn't that big of a deal. I haven't lived closer than 15 minutes to a small grocery store and 30 min to target/costco in 15+ years. It doesn't bother me in the least. I have a large, gorgeous home on acrage. I'm happy.
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Post by beaglemom on Aug 24, 2022 18:31:56 GMT
We had a 7 hr school board meeting last night. The board banned the use of “preferred pronouns,” everyone will be called by the pronouns assigned at birth. Banned CRT. Eliminated the Scholastic Book Fair (too many woke books). Made strict rules about which bathrooms people can use because girls will get raped if trans people can choose which bathroom to use. Eliminated GT classes. The room was filled with people wearing tshirts that said “Patriot Mob” and more than one speaker used the word “woketards.” So, yes, they’ve lost their minds. Oh my goodness! That sounds awful!
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Post by beaglemom on Aug 24, 2022 18:29:39 GMT
yes please!
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Post by beaglemom on Aug 24, 2022 18:25:15 GMT
I have no student loan debt and was very fortunate that my parents paid for my undergrad and dh and I paid for my masters.
I am 100% for forgiving student loan debt and/or removing the interest/penalties. I have friends from my masters/teaching credential program that 15+ years later are still paying back their loans and they have been teaching full time + other jobs to make ends meet.
I think the predatory stuff needs to be forgiven as well. There are so many people that were sold loans under terms that are awful that they took because they were told they needed to go to college and that was the only way.
We forgive and bail out corporate debt all the time. Surely all those who have been working for years to pay off their student loan debt deserve the same.
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Post by beaglemom on Aug 22, 2022 15:57:17 GMT
We just moved out of CA. But the school our kids went to didn't switch to 8:30 and I have friends in other districts that still have other start times (9am).
Our new school is a K-8 and we are supposed to drop all kids in the family off at the earliest start time for the family and pick up at the latest pick up. My 6th grader technically starts at 7:45, but they have been encouraging them to get there closer to 7:30 and she doesn't get out till 3:15. It makes my 1st grader's day really long.
Our county (possibly all of CO, but I am not sure) will move to a later start time and a standardized school day length across the county next year. Our kids have at least 30+ more minutes a day than some of the other schools around us. 7:45 is way too early for me! We had a hard enough time with 8:25 last year. So I will be thrilled if it moves later. Last year I could get up and work out before taking the kids, but I am not bumping to 5am to be able to do that! Also, this new school doesn't have hot lunch. So after 2+ years of not having to pack lunch, I am now helping kids with 4 lunches in the morning.
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Post by beaglemom on Aug 22, 2022 15:51:09 GMT
We have been staying at the Pueblo Bonito resorts in Cabo since 2007. We go December 16-Jan 2. We have stayed in the Sunset Beach resort (family friendly), Pacifica (16 and older), Monte Cristo estates (3 bedroom houses) and Novaspania estates (4 bedroom houses), we had friends stay at the Blanco and they enjoyed it.
The Blanco and Rose are on the Sea of cortez and have their own pools (but no hot tubs if I recall) and beach access. The rest of the resorts are on the Pacific Coast side, which is not safe to swim in the ocean. Sunset Beach has multiple pools with hot tubs, at least one that is adult only. Pacifica has a gorgeous pool! The Monte Cristo and Novaspania houses each have their own pools.
They have all inclusive as an option, we have only done it once (because my dh's family would rather grocery shop and cook for 18 instead). We loved it the time we did it.
If you stay at any of their resorts there are busses that will take you over to the others. So we often take the bus/shuttle over to the Blanco/Rose if we want to go to the beach. There are a couple of other places that if you rent a car that you can drive to other beaches with snorkeling. But there is nice stuff in the sea of cortez if you take a boat over to Lover's beach and snorkel on the sea of cortez side.
Let me know if you have any other questions and I will do my best to answer them. We have been going with dh's family. The first trip there were no kids. Now our group has 10 kids ages 4-17. 3 couples in their 40s and my inlaws in their 80s.
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Post by beaglemom on Jul 25, 2022 22:41:29 GMT
chocolate - I love to bake and I am picky about the chocolate I use and I buy it whenever it is on sale conditioner - I am picky and buy it when it is on sale - I didn't realize how much I had till we moved and I had to pack it all oil and vinegars - I love fancy ones and we do use them, we also have a ton
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Post by beaglemom on Jul 24, 2022 18:04:57 GMT
1st condo, 2 cars in garage 1st house, 2 cars in the garage, 2 cars not in the garage (2 car garage) 2nd house, 0 cars in the garage, 4 cars not (3 car garage) - way too much stuff in the garage + multiple redwood slabs that dh was working on to make into tables current house, 2 cars and 1 trailer inn garage, 1 car not in garage (2 regular car spots + short spot for trailer/workshop/mower)
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Post by beaglemom on Jul 20, 2022 19:40:03 GMT
librarylady and other history lovers! I have been going through my grandparents things and we found a box full of letters and postcards and official correspondence from WWI that my great great great grandfather sent to his parents and his later wife. We are working on getting them scanned. Any ideas of organizations that might be interested in them? Thanks! Where are you located? I know in my area, we have a War Museum that has artifacts from my area that have been to war. Maybe your area has something like that? What about a College Library close to you? The letters are currently in CA with my parents. I might look into those on the East Coast. I believe they were in Borden Town, NJ at the time.
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Post by beaglemom on Jul 20, 2022 19:37:55 GMT
Kitchen Aid mixer Peloton (original purchased Jan 2019, gifted to sil June 2021 and upgraded to Bike+ and second bike+ purchased Nov 2021 for dh) Nook and Kindle Our electric cars
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Post by beaglemom on Jul 20, 2022 17:40:39 GMT
librarylady and other history lovers! I have been going through my grandparents things and we found a box full of letters and postcards and official correspondence from WWI that my great great great grandfather sent to his parents and his later wife. We are working on getting them scanned. Any ideas of organizations that might be interested in them? Thanks!
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Post by beaglemom on Jul 19, 2022 16:43:59 GMT
We have been going over Christmas since 2006. We own at the Pueblo Bonito properties. The first couple of years we stayed at the Monte Cristo Estates, now we have 2 houses at Novaspania. But the Sunset Beach resort is totally family-friendly and has tons of pools. They have busses that you can take from Sunset Beach (on the pacific coast side) to the Sea of Cortez area where they have the Blanco and Rose resorts. We switched from every year (2006-2010) to every other year starting in 2012 when we had our oldest. So we have been there pre kids to now between me and my sister-in-laws this year we will have 10 kids ages 18 down to age 4. We have loved our time there we are very much looking forward to this year (since we didn't go in 2020). There is also the Pacifica resort on property that is only for those 16 and older if you aren't traveling with kids. Thanks for the info? Is it an all inclusive resort? It would just be me and DH, did the big family trip already this year. You can do all inclusive. We have done it and loved it. Dh's family refuses to do it, so we only do it when we have time there without them.
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Post by beaglemom on Jul 19, 2022 4:11:47 GMT
We are going to Abu Dhabi for Thanksgiving. Dh qualified for a race there that week. And then Christmas is Cabo, we usually go every other year, but didn't go in 2020 because of covid, so it's been 4 years. Where in Cabo do you recommend? We have been going over Christmas since 2006. We own at the Pueblo Bonito properties. The first couple of years we stayed at the Monte Cristo Estates, now we have 2 houses at Novaspania. But the Sunset Beach resort is totally family-friendly and has tons of pools. They have busses that you can take from Sunset Beach (on the pacific coast side) to the Sea of Cortez area where they have the Blanco and Rose resorts. We switched from every year (2006-2010) to every other year starting in 2012 when we had our oldest. So we have been there pre kids to now between me and my sister-in-laws this year we will have 10 kids ages 18 down to age 4. We have loved our time there we are very much looking forward to this year (since we didn't go in 2020). There is also the Pacifica resort on property that is only for those 16 and older if you aren't traveling with kids.
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Post by beaglemom on Jul 18, 2022 21:35:59 GMT
We are going to Abu Dhabi for Thanksgiving. Dh qualified for a race there that week. And then Christmas is Cabo, we usually go every other year, but didn't go in 2020 because of covid, so it's been 4 years.
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Post by beaglemom on Jul 8, 2022 17:20:23 GMT
Are you in CO? We just moved and we have some work that needs to be done. After our experience in our last house, I am so gun shy about hiring people. But it sounds like your experience was amazing!
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Post by beaglemom on Jun 28, 2022 1:55:47 GMT
Thank you!! I always love the beagle cakes that you find!!
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