I haven’t thought about this in over 20 years, but it was definitely a fixture on the middle school lunch menu in southwestern Ohio. But I never got to buy my lunch so I doubt I’ve ever done it. And it was probably Cincinnati chili, so maybe the cinnamon actually goes even better with peanut butter.

I’m a little younger than Drew (born in 1978) but I remember the 1984 Summer Olympics and not much before that in a newsworthy way. And we watched the ABC news every night, even before Peter Jennings started in 1983. But those earlier memories are hazy while the Challenger explosion is super clear. I have a 4 year old…

You should also look up “grey shirting” which is a newer phenomenon. Mostly it means taking a semester off after high school and enrolling in the spring, so you have an extra year to get bigger and stronger before college athletics. Disturbingly, it’s also being used in junior high, holding kids back in 8th grade so…

We had similar experiences. I’m a late December birthday and barely made the cutoff in the state I started school. (But I had to go to private school for kindergarten because it wasn’t available for all public school students.) Then in 2nd grade we moved to a state with a September cutoff and I had to personally meet…

we much preferred the halo ones to the summer infant ones. My daughter desperately needed to be swaddled, well past the typical age. We moved on to the Merlin’s Magic Sleep Suit to help weight her down and keep her asleep. But my son is a thumb sucker and always managed to get that one hand free. He’s also a better…

Jameela is the best. Have you heard the Good Place podcast? They talk about how she literally knows everyone but also is totally cool and self-deprecating. 

And thank you for working on Thanksgiving. My mom had her first mastectomy nearly 20 years ago and they scheduled it in the day before Thanksgiving. Single mom/only child and I was a senior in college 2,000 miles away. I came home that week and it was super lonely being in the house while she was in the hospital but…

We happened upon that one the other day and watched with glee. HIMYM hasn’t aged well for me but Thanksgiving mixed with Slapbet is always enjoyable. I really like some of the Friends Thanksgiving episodes, especially the “triffle with meat” one and the one with all the flashbacks and the turkey on the head.

Although food banks are great, I also make monthly donations to a local diaper bank and a domestic violence shelter. As you mentioned there are many items that can’t be purchased with WIC/Food Stamps (laundry detergent, diapers, feminine hygiene products). If I have some really great coupons and I can combine them…

That’s good to know, I was about to forward this to my husband to check. I think our investments are each over $10,000 now but there may be a few funds that are just under.

I had it in second grade, the year I got tonsillitis five times. It was bout 3 or 4 when I had the chicken pox and pink eye at the same time. And my older cousin had bronchitis and strep but had already had chicken pox so they just left us in a bed together for a week and our parents alternated who stayed home with…

My cousin got them when she was 5, on the family’s first and only trip to Disneyworld. Her older brother had already had them so he went to the park with one parent and the other stayed in the hotel with the 5 year old. They covered her up and took her to the park on the last day of their vacation anyway. 

I’d rather eat at twelve thirty or one but I also have small children that nap in the afternoon and need to eat first. Thanksgiving should be at a real meal time. I wish we had appetizers, maybe I should bring some next year.

I didn’t let myself get dragged into it but my uncle (lives in Baltimore, works in D.C.) was arguing on Facebook that she should just take a loan out from the credit union, like “normal” people do. Yes, she will make decent money for at least two years. But maintaining two residences in two very expensive areas is not…

Happened to my mom and she was teaching junior high at the time.and in her late 20s. She also got pulled over for speeding in her late 30s and the first thing the cop said was “do you have a license?"

I’ve tried to follow along with youtube videos in my hotel room or in the “gym” at the hotel, but it’s usually just easier to get a day or week pass at a real gym. I’m happily an unlimited member of Orangetheory and I can go to any other studio if I call ahead and there’s room in the class. (there’s a small surcharge…

I don’t know how any one person could eat one of those things. I got a small Blizzard yesterday because I stopped at a Stuckey’s on a work trip for pecan candy and Dairy Queen is always attached. The Snickerdoodle Cookie Dough was calling to me, but I definitely should’ve got the mini. It took an hour for me to eat…

I hate those machines. The best ones let you choose “random” to have the resistance switch on you or some sort of “cardio” that instructs you to alternate forward and backward.

Have you tried Aerie?

Don’t worry, you’re not alone. I can’t STAND raw tomatoes. I don’t care what variety they are or how recently they were picked. But cooked tomatoes are fine (tomato sauce, tomato soup) and I like ketchup. Some salsas are fine but pico de gallo is naty to me.