Oh the “OK I gotta go, $20 should cover my food” people drive me insaaaane. Even if they factor in tip, they NEVER factor in tax.

If you need to have a bday dinner at a restaurant, order-at-the-counter places solve most of these problems. This includes taco places, some beer gardens and plenty of BBQ joints. Get there early (as the host) and scout a big table. People show up, order and pay for their own food at the counter, and grab a seat. No…

Yes! So few people know this. It’s old-school etiquette. You pick the place and time and invite people. Guess what? You’re the host! If people want to take you out for your bday, they will invite you and pay for you.

I’ve had a few conversations with men, where they are bitching about an interaction/date they had with a woman who was clearly NOT interested. They’re like, “AUGHHH women! So confusing. So many mixed signals. I don’t get women.” And the men present will nod along.

More sad than sloppy. My darkest New Year’s Eve.

This year, I’m pretty sure I became part of someone’s ghost story.

I used to be a clinic escort when I lived in Missouri. When I moved to Austin, I wanted to continue and was also told that the clinics in town and nearby don’t really have a need for walkers because they only rarely get protesters.

Yeah I am attending two very expensive, complicated destination weddings for two people in my husband’s family. While I could technically skip, doing so would have huge unpleasant consequences.

I have similar pictures.

Yes! Hell, I’ve frozen up in class sometimes when I find myself crushed beneath a larger opponent. My brain goes foggy with fear the second I find my breathing restricted.

The “learn self-defense” thing has always rubbed me the wrong way too. And I say this with 5+ years of martial arts training with a self-defense bent.

My husband and I recently had the “how are we going to afford to go to all the weddings next year” talk. I am starting to eye the housewarming gifts family gave us that we haven’t unwrapped yet and thinking about their holiday/birthday re-gift potential.

Our new house didn’t smell like home until I baked the pies the other day.

Yes. Most pumpkin pie served at restaurants, made at pie places or sold in stores is the equivalent of a Trump-style steak. And, for that matter, pumpkin pie recipes posted on popular recipe sites (like AllRecipes) are a vomitous atrocity.

THIS.

Me too. And I flavor it via my family’s recipe, which is DEVINE.

I remember cringing during that too.

Exactly.

Story of my life. One does not simply wear polyester in the summer in Texas.

I still remember shopping at the mall with friends who were like “YAY THE GAP.” And having to buy perfume or something to not feel left out, because nothing there fit me!