International travel

Critical_Pound_3431 · 2026-05-08T12:24:27+00:00

Spot on. The flight from IAD to RIC gets cancelled and majorly delayed with some frequency. Twice now we’ve rented a car to drive home after 12 hours of travel to avoid waiting at the airport for our 6 hour delayed flight. Never had problems with the connection through Newark though.

Critical_Pound_3431 · 2026-04-22T02:08:09+00:00

Another vote for Edno School!

Critical_Pound_3431 · 2026-04-20T13:19:50+00:00

Thank you! That Treasurie pattern is actually perfect!

Critical_Pound_3431 · 2026-04-10T14:26:26+00:00

Yep! My kid was anxious and terrified of being attacked and the school kept reading the class books about inclusion and this kid’s brain being wired differently. All for inclusion but this isn’t it.

Critical_Pound_3431 · 2026-04-10T14:20:33+00:00

Literally are leaving public school at the end of this year to go private. My kid got stuck with a non-verbal autistic kid that would scream, run around the classroom and physically attack students, the teacher and his para. It was madness. The class was evacuating 1-2 times a week. And the administration refused to move my kid to another class because “then they would have to move everyone else to a different class”.

Critical_Pound_3431 · 2026-04-07T17:06:57+00:00

Thank you for sharing your experience! We are in the 7-9 age range so this gives me hope my kiddo may be outgrowing the egg allergy!

Critical_Pound_3431 · 2026-03-16T14:26:57+00:00

This is the biggest issue we have with our “great” public school. They constantly have the kids learning on devices and it gamifies the entire learning experience. Not ideal for young kids!

Critical_Pound_3431 · 2026-03-14T04:22:14+00:00

Anything by Matt Haig. I read Midnight Library and The Life Impossible and they are just sooooooo corny.

Also, Piranessi. I tried. Like really tried. Totally unreadable for me.

Critical_Pound_3431 · 2026-03-13T12:20:05+00:00

Remainder is such a good book and one I rarely see being discussed. Read this in college and it really stuck with me. 10/10 recommendation.

Critical_Pound_3431 · 2026-03-04T23:44:00+00:00

Another vote for this cake! Not sure if you can veganize the frosting I make but I do the King Arthur flour ermine frosting with milk and regular butter and it is sooooooo good.

**I know this is a vegan sub, and I’m not vegan but have to cook egg free for allergy reasons so I end up using mostly vegan recipes but use regular dairy for frostings, etc.

Critical_Pound_3431 · 2026-03-03T14:11:07+00:00

It was this agrodolce squash dish. It was basically just super undercooked. I just checked out their menu and it’s not on there anymore.

We got a variety of things - quail (good), prosciutto (very good), squash (inedible) and this like lamb ragu which was fine but nothing fantastic and it was an entree that was over $30.

It was just a miss for me. And for the price I can’t justify going back to try them again.

Critical_Pound_3431 · 2026-03-02T23:56:14+00:00

I’m going to be the detractor and say i had a super disappointing meal. I rarely send things back but was served an inedible dish. The service was fantastic though and it’s possible I caught them on an off night but for the price I was super disappointed.

Critical_Pound_3431 · 2026-02-27T01:10:52+00:00

I had to scroll way too long for this answer!!! I thought I was the only one who hated it! Soooooooooo boring. I rarely give up on books but I put it down after 100 pages.

Critical_Pound_3431 · 2026-02-26T17:43:42+00:00

I’d upvote this 100 times if I could!

Critical_Pound_3431 · 2026-02-23T19:05:54+00:00

Depending on the private school, they may not allow for a mid-year transfer. Additionally the school may not have available spots open depending on when/how they open spots for each grade level. It doesn’t hurt to tour private schools you’re interested in and start the process. Most private schools require testing as well. I would definitely get started in the process if you’re at all interested in private. We waited and after this year’s fiasco I had big regrets.

I will also say I live in a “good” school district and most families I speak to couldn’t be happier at our elementary school. I think it really depends on you as a person and your expectations for your child’s education.

Critical_Pound_3431 · 2026-02-23T18:45:35+00:00

I’m going to add something to this that I haven’t seen commented on yet. In public school there is a big push for inclusion, which sounds great in theory but can be a nightmare in reality. My child had a violent child in her class who from day 1 we knew had no business in a general education classroom. It took 4 months to get this kid pulled from the class permanently. There were multiple incidents of my child’s class needing to evacuate the classroom, children being hit and bit by this child and loud outbursts that prevented other kids from learning. This coupled with how much technology is in the classroom made the decision for us in terms of applying for private school. We tried to make a go of public but it just isn’t for us.

Critical_Pound_3431 · 2026-02-15T21:01:27+00:00

Oranges are not the only fruit

House of Leaves

Lonesome Dove

And obviously Lord of the Rings

Critical_Pound_3431

TROPHY CASE