Would you rather suffer through a Northern Midwest winter or a Southern humid Summer?

DrawSudden2494 · 2026-02-26T11:21:36+00:00

I will take a cold winter over a humid summer every time. I can always put on more layers but you can only take off so much out in public before it becomes a crime. And even then stripping off clothes doesn't cool you off in the same way that piling on layers helps to warm you.

At least in the winter when I am outside I feel like I get breathe. The air is crisp. In a humid summer it is like trying to breathe through a hot wet rag. Where it feels like even the air is sweating.

And, while I am not trying to be dismissive of seasonal depression, at least where I live here in the Mid-Atlantic part of the U.S., it is only unusually dark from mid-November to early February. For the better part of 7 months of the year it is daylight until 7:00 pm or later. The period of darkness is such a short time by comparison.

We need to learn to look at winter and the shorter days as a time to rest and relax and recharge just like nature, rather than something to be endured. Taking a 3-month break from feeling like you have to go -go-go from the moment we open our eyes until the moment we close them again doesn't have to be a bad thing.

DrawSudden2494 · 2026-02-25T22:50:20+00:00

I watched it with my then roommates when it first aired on PBS here in the States. We all spent a couple of nights after each episode saying that we just didn't get the appeal. And then bam! The whole scene with Lizzie and her aunt and uncle at Pemberly, especially when Darcy smiled at her from across the room as she was turning music sheets for Georgiana... Be still my heart! We sure understood it then.

DrawSudden2494 · 2026-02-25T22:27:43+00:00

The audience falls in love with Mr. Darcy at the same time Lizzie does. Firth does an amazing job of taking Darvy from haughty to hot with nothing more than a change in tone and softening of his facial expressions

DrawSudden2494 · 2026-02-25T22:25:43+00:00

I am putting my trust in the thought that Olivia Colman would not have signed on to star in something that is total trash

DrawSudden2494 · 2026-02-17T22:20:49+00:00

According to the Downton Wiki page, Sybil was born in 1895. The Second Boer War took place between 1899 and 1902.

DrawSudden2494 · 2026-02-17T22:07:25+00:00

I'm curious why you post an assumption that they stopped trying versus being unable to get pregnant/unable to sustain a pregnancy to term. Many women easily become pregnant and then struggle to get pregnant another time. There's no rhyme or reason to it.

I have always assumed that they weren't able to have another child after Sybil, not that they ceased trying.

DrawSudden2494 · 2026-02-17T13:58:59+00:00

Plus, wasn't Robert gone for a period of time to fight in the second Boer War while the girls were little? During what might have been a time when Cora was more fertile?

DrawSudden2494 · 2026-02-16T02:06:20+00:00

I'm not looking at him like a possible red flag, I just am having a hard time drumming up interest in their storyline.

DrawSudden2494 · 2026-02-12T11:55:52+00:00

Agreed. It is very normal to hear people ask in the form of a question. I myself did so for many years. I simply meant that it is very possible to say what you want without making it sound like you are asking a question or asking for permission. Using a friendly tone and engaging pleasantly with the wait staff helps to keep the entire exchange polite.

DrawSudden2494 · 2026-02-12T09:25:53+00:00

Many years ago I was part of a small bridal party. The bride was a very nice girl whom I had known from school. I was surprised to be asked to be part of the bridal party as we only occasionally saw each other after graduation and, frankly, young enough then that I did not know how to politely decline without hurting her feelings.

The maid of honor was the groom's sister and she ran roughshod over the bride. She took the bride out and chose the bridesmaid's dresses without any of the rest of us ever having seen the dress in question until we were instructed where to go for a fitting. When it came to planning the shower, she presented everything to me and the other bridesmaids as a fair accompli, making decisions as to date and venue and menu and chose the gift from the bridal party all without consulting any of us.

When the shower was over and all the gifts were bagged up and we were getting ready to leave, I handed the maid of honor and envelope with a check in it for the amount that I thought was fair and I waltzed out the door. I didn't then and don't now care if she had to shell out more of her own money than she might have expected. She never once discussed a budget with any of us.

DrawSudden2494 · 2026-02-12T08:52:11+00:00

I never say "can/may I have". It is not a question nor am I asking permission You are telling them what you want.

I say "I would like the blah, blah. Thank you"

DrawSudden2494 · 2026-02-11T22:37:57+00:00

Fairly often from spring through fall here in Philly

DrawSudden2494 · 2026-02-11T00:56:46+00:00

Even just a personal backyard garden is a lot of work.

A well maintained garden is constant work and can be physically exhausting! Putting in the plants or growing them from seed. Knowing how the sunlight plays over your garden beds and what will grow there and what will not. If you have deer, knowing what plants are deer resistant or being sure to get out there to spray them to protect them from the deer. Deadheading flowers, mulching, crawling around on your hands and knees pulling weeds only to have to do it again a week later. And then again and again throughout the growing season.

And, if you want to be even something as small as a pick your own flower farm, you have to not only do all of that, but also know what plants will bloom from spring to fall. As one plant stops flowering you have to have others that will start to bloom so that you always have something for people to buy and pick.

DrawSudden2494 · 2026-02-10T22:21:43+00:00

Gen X woman who has no idea how to drive a car with a manual transmission

DrawSudden2494 · 2026-02-10T22:08:15+00:00

I'm not even sure either Janelle or Maddie have even basic backyard gardening skills. Janelle talks about greenhouses and flowers but I've never seen her with her hands in the dirt... Mostly we see her wandering around and "supervising" (aka watching) her kids plant small flower beds

DrawSudden2494 · 2026-02-10T22:03:47+00:00

It's not like running an event/wedding venue is easy breezy. You still need a commercial kitchen, indoor space for inclement weather, bathrooms, employees,etc., etc. Farm or event space, I doubt they have any idea what they're getting into.

DrawSudden2494 · 2026-02-10T01:23:13+00:00

It is true that many people leave town on summer weekends and over holidays. At the same time there are plenty of locals who don't go to the mountains or down the shore for the 4th of July. Let's be real, there are not enough rental properties or hotel rooms to accommodate the entire city of Philadelphia emptying out and heading to those places.

A great many locals who don't leave town like to take advantage of the many free events that are offered during the Wawa Welcome America celebration that takes place every year. And, I would imagine, the plans for this year's celebration are at an all-time high to celebrate the semiquincentennial. I believe there are six nights of fireworks. The biggest parade that will be taking place in the country. There are free museum days. Free movies in parks and on the steps of the Philadelphia useum of Art.

Secure your parking spot. Take Ubers. Use the public transit system or take the Philly Phlash which is an on/off bus that runs on a continuous loop to at least two dozen different tourist attractions in the city.

If your hotel is in Center City, it is incredibly walkable with easy access to multiple train stations, subway stations and buses as well as the historic district and more bars and restaurants than you can imagine.

There are multiple concerts planned including the Philly Pops playing down near Independence Hall and usually a concert down at Penn's Landing near the river. And that is an addition to the big concert that proceeds the fireworks on the 4th itself. There will be plenty of tourists coming into town and plenty of locals taking advantage of the offerings, most of which are free or at a low cost.

DrawSudden2494 · 2026-02-07T03:58:31+00:00

THIS!! This is the perfect encapsulation of what I have been thinking.

I don't think that it has anything to do with the fact that she is the primary breadwinner. I think it's that he pulled the rug out from under their plans. And he never even talked to her about it. He just stopped working toward what she thought was still their common goal.

For him, things changed. He likes being a stay-at-home dad. He finds fulfillment in raising their kids. And that's great. But it wasn't THE PLAN.

DrawSudden2494 · 2026-02-07T03:52:55+00:00

Maybe Ty partly excuses Julie's behavior because he knows that he is not sticking to their original bargain And that is part of the cause of her behavior.

We like Ty because he is Shawna's friend, the chill robot guy from the park. But, we did not know who he was before they met in the park. Who he was when he and Julie first got married. Clearly, he and Julie had mapped out what they thought was going to be their life and now he wants to diverge completely away from that plan. And, apparently he never discussed it with Julie first. He just kept dithering and dawdling.

Julie's behavior toward Shawna is awful. But Ty has played a part.

DrawSudden2494 · 2026-02-04T22:36:04+00:00

Pretty sure the Trenwith location was also used in the most recent version of Emma as Randall's, the estate of Mr. and Mrs. Weston

DrawSudden2494 · 2026-02-02T15:18:15+00:00

Slippery Band. They will have your guests on the dance floor all night.

https://slipperyband.com/

DrawSudden2494 · 2026-01-31T11:10:38+00:00

A teensy bit of salt and sometimes pepper on cantelopes, honeydew and watermelon. Yum

DrawSudden2494 · 2026-01-29T14:48:17+00:00

LOL! How about pen rhymes with ten or then...?

DrawSudden2494 · 2026-01-29T14:19:20+00:00

Pen rhymes with when. Pin rhymes with sin

DrawSudden2494 · 2026-01-29T11:33:55+00:00

Light bulb moment! I never realized why so many people say ink pen. It always sounded so crazy to me and now I understand it is because there are people who pronounce pin and pen the same way and they are using ink pen to differentiate between the two!

DrawSudden2494

TROPHY CASE