On Thanksgiving many years ago, my mom surprised me and my brother with our early Christmas gifts. She was giving us the gift of togetherness. She was flying our sister home for Christmas.

Our mean and utterly horrible sister.

My brother asked if his gift could be returned.

Sometimes, I think the point is the effort & the intention, even when it doesn't pan out as hoped. Oddly enough, that helps me sometimes get through the "what's the point" feelings? Just a sense of acceptance in advance that "pfft, this may go nowhere & that's fine, that's not the point of this"?

Yeah, it's fascinating how it suddenly blew right up after being kind of a regional niche thing?

It's a Southern soul food thing. Absolutely common in the south.

About twenty years ago my mother developed Religion. We'd never prayed at the table, but she decided Thanksgiving was the time to start. She began thanking God for the food and my uncle who drove 3 hours for his visit muttered "I'm the one who's been cooking since dawn, you ought to thank me."

Yep. If anyone is going to get tax credits for donations, it's better it be the regular members of the public who are doing the actual donating.

And for that matter, how does anyone know that all the money donated actually makes it to the charity? It's putting a lot of faith in the corp.

"Yes, which is why I already donate to the local food bank."

Also, the kinds of men that are a shitshow are not going to be equal partners in a marriage or parenting. All this advice is going to do is dump more responsibility and stress on their partners. Nobody should have to set themselves on fire to try to fix somebody who won't do anything for themselves.

Anti-SLAPP laws are meant to protect people's right to free speech, particularly when the person/corporation being discussed decides they don't like what's being said & then attempts to use the court system to force the commenter(s) into silence.

So many things they do financially come across as just a really complicated way to enrich certain families and possibly launder money. Lots and lots of shuffling around. Then again, not like anyone could really know one way or the other. It's all sketchy due to the secretive shit.

Not that I'm a legal expert, but I do have to wonder if this is going to turn into an anti-SLAPP case. If so, I look forward to the Utah courts being forced to recognize that somebody commenting about the LDS church in a less than positive light is protected speech, so the church can suck it.

Which then leads to the question of how much money that goes to Kirton McConkie circles back to the LDS church in the form of tithing and donations?

So, safe to assume that they're going for the "we have a lot more money than you do to waste on pointless legal proceedings" method of getting what they want?

My grandma thought "sticky gum salve" solved everything, so if you were showing any signs of illness or injury, you'd end up smeared with pine sap. Obviously, that was the reason why I am still alive, not my immune system.

I hope that person was being a smartass, because hello, coincidence.

Maternal death rates for every single birth meant you had about a 1-1.5% chance of dying every time you got pregnant (higher for your first). Then consider that the death rate for infants was much higher and that even those that survived birth had a 50/50 shot of even surviving to see the age of 15.

Glad to see you back. <3

Yep. If we wanted to shop at Walmart, we'd shop at Walmart. Come on.

Even with my bread and peanut butter being at room temp, my kid insists on toasting the bread before smearing peanut butter on it because she likes that it gets a bit melty and is easier to get a consistent coating on the bread.

My parents also fridge the peanut butter and bread. My personal view is, "who the hell has bread long enough that it needs to go in the fridge?" Then again, I may have a carb problem.