You don't have to entertain people every second of every day. They're adults. They should be able to spend time with their own son and his kids or even by themselves while you get some downtime. Entertaining is exhausting and you should be able to take a break without anyone giving you grief for it. You get a break from your regular job, so why shouldn't get a break from the job of entertaining people for four days??

Can he go to bed while the older one is still dawdling at the table? Maybe he'd be winding down by the time the older one is ready for bed. He might be overtired. It's worth a shot.

I was prepared to tell you to sit this one out but with your additional information I say go.

My parents divorced when I was small and my mom remarried a year or so later. My dad died when I was 14 and my step father came to the funeral. All of us kids (there's 6 of us and I'm the youngest) were really unhappy about it. It was very inappropriate...mainly because we just didn't like him and there was no reason for him to be there. I'm not sure they'd ever even met (certainly not when I was around.) I don't think this situation applies to you though. You sound like a really good person.

Anonymous wrote:

doodlebug wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Love Actually!!

That movie annoys the crap out of me! ha. For me it would need to be The Grinch or any of the Santa Clause movies or White Christmas or It's a Wonderful Life.

No advice OP, but I can certainly commiserate. Some days are just like that!

You can hate me, too: Santa Claus doesn't have an E in it.

Santa Claus does not have an E but the movies I referenced..The Santa Clause does in fact have an E since it's about a clause.

Anonymous wrote:Love Actually!!

That movie annoys the crap out of me! ha. For me it would need to be The Grinch or any of the Santa Clause movies or White Christmas or It's a Wonderful Life.

No advice OP, but I can certainly commiserate. Some days are just like that!

I ordered some that said Be Merry and they're gray with some red, white and green but mostly gray I think. They have 4 pictures so the actual preprinted portion is minimal. I think Be Merry is a decent compromise IMO.

I haven't read all the responses, and I want to be clear that I didn't vote for Trump or Hilary because I didn't feel either of them were the right person for the job, so I'm probably feeling less disappointed by this outcome than a lot of people are. Shocked was my initial response but I've settled into a let's see mode.

I think there are a couple of things that might go well. One is the congress and president will be the same party so stuff might actually get done. Whether we like that stuff is another matter. I really want to get rid of The Unaffordable Care Act, so I'd be on board with changes to that.

Next, Trump isn't a politician so I don't think he really has any allegiance to the republican party or anyone else. He can will do whatever he wants without worrying about pissing off the wrong people within the party. I think that has the potential to be a good thing (but like anything else in life it could also go horribly wrong.)

Lastly, Trump has filed bankruptcy and just walked away from stuff in a tiff that he might not even make it four years. He might get a year into this job, realize it's actually a lot of hard work and his enormous ego might take a beating and he'll say I don't need this job, I'm rich and smart, see ya and resign. Who knows.

I think unless he really surprises everyone that he'll be a one term leader and if nothing else, both parties will have 3 yrs to shape up and find good, solid, electable candidates.

i would have asked the cashier if she needed me to call the police. he would have shut up.

Whatever you do, just make sure you contact your banks and let them know you'll be travelling so they don't shut down your card thinking it's fraud.

late spring or fall. June is nice because the roses are in bloom and it's Rose Festival season (not to be missed!) but this year it was 100 degrees the first weekend in June. That's not historically normal but with global warming it's getting hotter for longer in the NW. Avoid July and August. VERY hot and not everywhere has A/C since it hasn't historically been unbearably hot for weeks at a time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pppssshhhh close family is much more likely to screw you over statically then a house cleaner.

Yep. Especially if they're hiding a gambling or drug addiction.

this is what i was thinking too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This stuff blows my mind. I have literally been to the ER twice in my 50+ years of life. Once due to an allergic reaction - I probably didn't even NEED to go, but I didn't want to risk it, and another time because I thought one of my children had appendicitis and it was 3:30am. It's called an EMERGENCY room. It seems as if people treat it like it's a walk-in doctor's office/clinic. I do NOT understand it.

I agree. I was there recently when my husband was experiencing symptoms of a heart attack. The majority of people in there were there for garden-variety ailments. This was on a weekday morning--not even a weekend.

How do you know what the majority of people were there for? Did you take a poll? Last time I went to the ER it was 12:30 am and I had a nasty cut from work. I bled so much I never even saw the waiting room, was escorted directly inside. (Once I signed all the obligatory paper work with my hemorrhaging hand that is.) Totally get you OP. I have a friend or two like this as well. The really fun one will post check ins from the hospital, give no reason for the visit, get all the obligatory hope all is well notes (she's pregnant so everyone hopes the baby is OK) and then she'll come back later and post that she was there for a class or something like that.

Anonymous wrote:Because hipsters are assholes?

Because the gray and rainy weather has sucked the joy out of their lives?

I have a different beef with Seattle: why do they have so many homeless youth? What's wrong with the parents? What's wrong with the culture?

The overwhelming majority of those use were kicked out of their homes in other parts of the country and migrated west due to a) hospitable weather b) hospitable people willing to put up with them and their crime and begging and c) social programs that must be good enough to motivate them to stay vs moving on.

I'm from the NW and haven't noticed any more rudeness in the NW than anywhere else I've lived or visited. Some people are extroverts and will yak your ear off, and some are introverts who get pissy when you yak their ear off and would prefer to be left alone. Same as anywhere else.

http://www.packupgo.com

Let these guys plan your trip and be surprised! I would do that if I had more disposable income and didn't still have a long list of places I want to see.

This reminds me of the line from the new Ghostbusters where the tour guide at the Aldrich Mansion says "it was in this room that P.T. Barnum first had the idea to enslave elephants." It could just as easily have been referring to Seaworld enslaving marine mammals. Ridiculous place and it can't be shut down fast enough.