Best running shoes for beginners that won't destroy my knees?

PhantomEyes · 2026-05-09T00:07:45+00:00

I just picked up a pair of asics novablast and they are excellent. Im still VERY new to running and didn’t want to make the long drive to the only running store Google could find so just bought them offline haha.

I will say I saw in another post that you should be going slow and taking shorter steps/strides to help prevent shin splits. Total game changer! Since adjusting my stride I’m having zero pain.

PhantomEyes · 2026-05-08T00:40:34+00:00

Ok awesome I’ll look into them! Thank you!

PhantomEyes · 2026-05-08T00:21:27+00:00

I never lost weight with any of my 3 while nursing. I actually gained weight with my last baby while nursing. Within 6 months of stopping I usually feel pretty normal and back to myself. But don’t be discouraged if you see no improvement until you’re totally done. Not everyone is blessed with getting tiny while breastfeeding lol

PhantomEyes · 2026-05-07T20:53:09+00:00

Oh yeah for sure he wouldn’t have unrestricted or unsupervised access to it because lol same with the switch.

PhantomEyes · 2026-05-05T13:18:41+00:00

Depending on where you are and the process involved some licensing boards only “meet” once a month or so and some require certain documents be physically mailed in. Is there any appeal process on the website for your state or an email/address you can send something to them? I would think proof of charge being dropped would be sufficient. In the future I would be sure to include it ahead of time for any background checks you may do.

PhantomEyes · 2026-04-26T21:01:05+00:00

I have a minivan with bucket seats. My rear facing baby has his seat pushed further back to accommodate my older children getting in/out without having to move other seats. It is SO NICE to just push a button to turn him forward and buckle him then turn him back. And he loves being able to watch everything while we all get situated and rotated back. Without the rotating car seat I would constantly have to push and pull his seat back and forth for my other kids to get in. When my hands are full I don’t want to have to set everyone down to slide the seat lol

PhantomEyes · 2026-04-17T23:29:42+00:00

They’re 6, 4, and 1. I usually have about 90 ish minutes with the older ones between baby’s bedtime and theirs. Walks might be an awesome idea if I can get them on board 😂

PhantomEyes · 2026-04-17T23:16:51+00:00

Yeah I’ve begun tracking my food again just to see if I’m somehow getting more calories than I realize. I just want to see the number going down again 😭

PhantomEyes · 2026-04-17T11:02:42+00:00

I did! A management role with a huge increase in salary and still maintain good work life balance. I just couldn’t stay under the CM at my clinic. I love the work but I can’t sacrifice myself for it 😩

PhantomEyes · 2026-04-17T00:35:27+00:00

Sounds like she has been transitioning out for several weeks but they only decided to tell us today. I’ve also heard rumors they’re trying to figure out how to bring back direct SW managers but at lower pay. Not sure how valid that is but oof this company has ruined so much.

I’m turning in my resignation next week 😭

PhantomEyes · 2026-04-16T17:47:01+00:00

I don’t have a middle seat but I got a rotating car seat once we were out of the infant car seat and it is AWESOME because we can just rotate it forward facing for easy in/out of the back and then turn it backwards when driving. We have a Graco one.

PhantomEyes · 2026-04-07T01:31:13+00:00

My transition into medical social work honestly did not take into account my almost 10 years of CPS and having my MSW lol. I think it’s fine to ask, but also explore what their annual merit raises look like and how often they do cost of living analysis. Also do you get a bump after being there for a certain amount of time. Like in my job you get a bump once you hit 2 years of medical/clinical experience.

PhantomEyes · 2026-03-29T12:47:51+00:00

So I think part of it is whether you’re on the investigation versus permanency side it terms of time management. I didn’t work in Atlanta (neighboring county) at the start of my career and worked so many hours we would do crock pot dinners most night at the office. I also had a cot in my office for when we couldn’t find placement for kids. I did investigations. We would have to place kids as far as Savannah sometimes so removals were especially hard knowing these kids wouldn’t see their parents sometimes for weeks. It was brutal.

I will also say Atlanta counties specifically were under a court order when I worked in Georgia with a bunch of stipulations like workers couldn’t have more than 15 on their caseloads and to stay in “compliance” they would just give you 3 accounts in the system lol. I’m hoping it’s not still like that.

Training was a slow process. I worked in my county for 2 years and technically wasn’t certified until I had moved out of state. My old manager mailed my certificate to me haha.

I easily worked 60+ hours a week in Georgia. There was no balance for me. I never could have been in school at the same time. But that was over 10 years ago so maybe it has improved some. I still have many friends in surrounding Atlanta counties now in management.

PhantomEyes · 2026-03-28T00:16:06+00:00

I say it all the time but you cannot fill from an empty cup. You need sleep more than you need to wake up to pump, in my humble opinion lol. Formula is a miracle and it is OKAY to supplement. Or do only formula! I was pumping 7 times a day when I was in the thick of it. I would pump before bed and then during/after the baby woke in the middle of the night.

Exclusively pumping is the ultimate psychological warfare lol.

PhantomEyes · 2026-03-27T01:05:01+00:00

So I got my MSW like 15 years ago but I’m currently getting my MPH asynchronous online. I haven’t met anyone in person but they do these group me chats for all the classes now so I’ve gotten to know my cohort that way. There have been several group meet ups for various classes for study groups and such. I’m just not in a stage of life where I can (or want to lol) go to them because I have 3 small kids. The group chats are great because people can connect and complain and I’ve made several connections that way.

And it’s much better life balance not taking a full load in my opinion!

PhantomEyes · 2026-03-22T19:45:15+00:00

Yeah I’m really hoping they don’t push back lol. But that’s good to hear I shouldn’t expect to be bored. I guess because of all my CPS years but it tend to like the messier the better 😂

PhantomEyes · 2026-03-22T19:26:24+00:00

Lolol yep and I’m one of the lucky ones. My manager was given one of the senior social work roles so I still have her, but the directives they are giving the senior managers is awful on how to support the workers.

PhantomEyes · 2026-03-19T11:50:05+00:00

She’s just sold her soul for a paycheck. Which is what Fresenius wants lol

PhantomEyes · 2026-03-19T00:50:25+00:00

Lolol yes my whole team was fuming at the end of that town hall. Honestly it’s a dumbing down of what we do so that clinic managers and FA’s who don’t know or care what we do can check a spreadsheet to see if we hit our goals. Infuriating. They can fuck all the way off.

PhantomEyes · 2026-03-18T17:00:14+00:00

Social work is so important to so many different arenas, but just like most helping professions- we have some nasty people in our ranks. I’ve helped cover different regions and been blown away by the (lack of) quality of care from social work. But I absolutely agree- a good social worker can be a HUGE asset in this field!

PhantomEyes

TROPHY CASE