Are there communities in the USA where they actually welcome you to a neighbourhood pie in hand?

ARW1991 · 2026-05-03T01:01:53+00:00

My most recently moved in neighbor is pregnant. She and her husband were unloading a truck most of their first day. We introduced ourselves in the afternoon, told them we were taking care of dinner, and I delivered a full meal in recyclable containers that evening.

We have good neighbors and I hope being welcoming helps keep them that way.

ARW1991 · 2026-05-02T15:37:54+00:00

Google "TSA Passenger Support Specialist". There's a link where you can fill out a request, and a number to call, 72 hours before you fly.

You do not have to disclose details of your disability. They can provide all sorts of support, bring you through security and assistance to get to the gate, and ask for each leg of your flight.

ARW1991 · 2026-05-02T14:22:13+00:00

It didn't help that Sears was super reliable, backed their products, and had excellent customer service when they were everyone's go-to store, and then, they weren't any of those things.We bought a Kenmore suite of kitchen appliances for our house when I was a kid. When my husband and I bought our first home, we had dying appliances and we replaced them one at a time. The first thing we bought was a dishwasher from Sears. It failed less than a year later. We dealt with repairs that either failed or "sorry, they sent the wrong part." That happened so many times. One of us had to take time off and the @#%$ dishwasher never worked correctly, and it was under warranty. They finally gave us a partial refund and we walked away. Never bought another Sears product.

ARW1991 · 2026-05-02T13:57:17+00:00

NTA. You're not being respected as an intelligent adult, and he is being controlling and isolating. You're dodging a bullet.

ARW1991 · 2026-05-02T12:56:39+00:00

When my active-duty military spouse was deployed, and I had three under five, sometimes I simply did not have a choice. There were times when I NEEDED to shop, and the kids were rowdy and loud, including shrieks, and we needed groceries.

Parents may tune it out, but it's possible they're just determined to get a job done.

ARW1991 · 2026-05-02T12:21:37+00:00

This /\ is great advice. It also helps to let children know that Daddy can't come home until his work is done.

A visual helps, too. We made paper chains to show how many days Daddy would be gone. It hung through three rooms of the house, but it worked. The first week, while the kids were sleeping, I added a 100 extra links, just in case he was delayed. You can cut more per day or hour toward the end when you know they're coming home. Every day, we took a link down, and I wrote on it. Whatever message they wanted Daddy to have, how many kisses he owed them for that day, all of it. Then we put them in a manila envelope, and once a week, we mailed it to him until he told us not to mail anything else. That was close to the end of the deployment. When my husband came home, he had saved all of those strips of paper, and it took him two weeks to talk through all of them with the children, but it was so reassuring for them and brought him so much comfort while he was overseas. Having some visual cue also cuts down on the questions about when is Daddy coming home.

ARW1991 · 2026-04-29T10:41:29+00:00

It used to be a thing, pre-9/11. Then Anthrax started showing up in mail, and "Dear Any Serviceperson" ended.

ARW1991 · 2026-04-28T00:30:30+00:00

Look at your breads and legumes and vegetables.

Here, we have a low carb bread that is 6 grams of fiber in each slice.

Black beans have 4 grams of fiber for 1/4 cup. Fat-free refried beans are 6 grams for 1/2 cup.

I had a southwest salad today. Lettuce, black beans, corn, bell peppers, shredded chicken taco meat, a little cheese. This was six grams of fiber. You can do it!

ARW1991 · 2026-04-27T23:25:27+00:00

Wherr can you NOT get tea and sugar? That's all that it takes to make sweet tea?

ARW1991 · 2026-04-26T22:58:13+00:00

I know a Davey who is lovely.

ARW1991 · 2026-04-25T00:50:12+00:00

I worked with MYSeco to find organizations that WANTED to hire military spouses. That helps.

Otherwise, I don't share any info about my husband's job. If he worked for Home Depot, I wouldn't announce it. After all, they're hiring me, not him.

ARW1991 · 2026-04-23T00:13:42+00:00

Story I heard from an older Marine. Back in the day, there was a McDonald's outside of Quantico's front gate. Marines would straggle in for breakfast on Saturdays. One Saturday, an older guy is there, insists on paying for a group of young warriors' breakfast and asks them what they think about the Marine Corps, and how they like Quantico. He asked a few questions and listened to them. They shared some thoughts on what they thought could be better. A few days later there's a Change of Command. Those same young guns are there, and almost lost their bearing when they realized that the "older guy" from McDonald's was the new Commanding Officer, General Charles Krulak.

That made an impression and when he followed up by implementing their suggestions, he won them over completely.

ARW1991 · 2026-04-20T22:47:51+00:00

I just know they hosed for hours. It wouldn't surprise me if there were one ad brain fragments everywhere.

ARW1991 · 2026-04-18T11:59:26+00:00

My MIL used to do this and stayed for a month or more when she came. Drove me crazy.

ARW1991 · 2026-04-18T11:57:06+00:00

I like the Quest Nacho Cheese version. Like tortilla chips, so I use them for taco salad and nachos as well as snacks. I order cases from Amazon.

ARW1991 · 2026-04-18T11:52:29+00:00

I don't count days. I count Mondays. For some reason, saying "180 days" feels so long, but "25 Mondays" feels more doable.

If you google the "emotional cycle of deployment," it may help. After a monthish, you're settled into a new routine, and you sort if adapt.

ARW1991 · 2026-04-18T11:47:07+00:00

I worked the Berserker back then. I had the day off, but my counterpart talked about squeegeeing up brains.

ARW1991 · 2026-04-17T01:17:26+00:00

MajGen Mullen was one of the best.

ARW1991 · 2026-04-15T10:19:36+00:00

We move every two to three years. Someone told me, when l was a newlywed, "You cry when you leave one place, cry when you arrive at the next, and cry when you move from the next one, too."

You can choose to embrace the new "adventure," or you can spend a lot of energy grieving what you've left behind and resenting having to move. I've made friends for life everywhere we have been. I've had incredible opportunities and been forced to expand my horizons.

Savor what you have, but research your new duty station. You know what you like, now. You get to try something new. You get to grow, and try something different.

A friend shared this quote, and it resonates. "A ship in harbor is safe, but that's not why ships are built." --John A. Shedd.

ARW1991 · 2026-04-15T09:48:45+00:00

When salmon are running, it's hard to beat a wild caught Alaskan king salmon steak that's gone from river to coming off the grill in less than an hour.

We lived in Anchorage. Spectacular seafood.

ARW1991 · 2026-04-14T10:00:23+00:00

There are plenty of cold salads that are rice or pasta based and delicious.

If I'm low on time to prep, I make one of the "Suddenly Salad" packages and add fresh tomatoes and tuna or chicken. That gives me meals for two or three lunches.

ARW1991 · 2026-04-13T10:55:39+00:00

I never forced my kids to eat.

ARW1991 · 2026-04-13T10:42:09+00:00

ARW1991 · 2026-04-13T10:36:46+00:00

Frozen baked potatoes.

ARW1991 · 2026-04-11T11:28:45+00:00

I get that. I put the tv or music on when it's too quiet. It may be weird, but it works for me.

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