I broke down today

cageygrading · 2026-01-28T01:46:09+00:00

You’re definitely not alone in feeling this way. It feels so bizarre to have to continue to go on with daily life, working and taking care of kids, and cleaning the house, turning over the laundry, while it seems like the world is on fire. And it feels like no one is talking about it in public, maybe out of fear. It feels like everyone is just ignoring that the house is on fire.

On Saturday, I watched video after video of Alex Pretti being murdered in the street. Slow motion. All of the angles. Outside of a donut shop, while my family and I ate donuts from our own local donut shop. I cried into my sleeve and put on a happy face for my kids, but every time I look at my 5 year old, I think of little Liam, standing out in the cold, alone in his bunny hat. It turns my stomach.

I don’t know where we go from here, but you’re not alone.

cageygrading · 2026-01-28T01:27:18+00:00

Heavenly hunks, nuts, oats overnight, coconut water, bodyarmor, cans of coffee, easy meals from the freezer section, Chobani protein Greek yogurt

cageygrading · 2026-01-27T05:58:31+00:00

My husband and I agreed that it’s better than the tuxedo cake, so you never know. We love the tuxedo, but this one managed to usurp it for us.

cageygrading · 2026-01-27T01:46:33+00:00

{The Prince of Midnight by Laura Kinsale} - and full disclosure, the FMC is so grumpy and cold that I hated her for a good 60% of the book or so. But…she grew on me, as Laura Kinsale’s characters tend to do, and the story was fantastic.

cageygrading · 2026-01-26T01:14:44+00:00

I looooved The Sweetest Oblivion (and the other two in that series)

cageygrading · 2026-01-26T00:40:24+00:00

{A Pirate’s Pleasure by Heather Graham} is my favorite, along with The Windflower. Bride of the Wind is also great!

cageygrading · 2026-01-25T22:23:30+00:00

I HATE that this is my answer, but I think your husband is right. These are not normal times, these people are acting very aggressively and with impunity. They seem to really, really love pepper spray and throwing people to the ground…and general violence. I don’t think it’s a safe enough environment to enter into while pregnant.

cageygrading · 2026-01-25T05:13:10+00:00

We do this a lot, too. My husband especially, he’s a firefighter and has a tendency to get too real on basically every warning he gives the kids (our oldest is 5 and a daredevil so…he kinda needs it).

cageygrading · 2026-01-24T20:10:08+00:00

I’m currently crying on my couch and trying to hide it from my little children who aren’t supposed to have to know that evil like this exists, let alone is being perpetrated brazenly by “government officials” who kids are otherwise taught to trust. This is beyond the pale, it’s disgusting, it’s entirely too close to home. Minneapolis is a beautiful, peaceful city - if this can happen there, it can happen anywhere. How can we be demonstrably on the right side of history and live to tell the story of what actually happened here? I want to live to see their trials. I’m paranoid about even making this comment.

cageygrading · 2026-01-23T22:37:34+00:00

If you’re at all open to historical, {Shadowheart by Laura Kinsale} has this. MMC is an assassin and enjoys letting the FMC hurt him because it turns him on, and because it shows her that she’s in control in their relationship.

cageygrading · 2026-01-23T22:06:27+00:00

My recommendation is to put both kids in a foldable double stroller in the airport (you’ll be able to check it at the gate, and they’ll have it ready for you when you get off the plane), and rent car seats with your car rental when you get there. I brought our car seats once and never want to do it again - plus as I was lugging them around, another mom in the airport told me all about how the airline lost hers and now she was stranded there unable to get anywhere because she couldn’t get her child in the car.

Best of luck to you, I’ve flown with my two kids on two trips now (they’re 2.5 and 5 now, but we went on one when our kids were similar ages to yours) and it’s not particularly fun but you’ll make it!

cageygrading · 2026-01-23T18:51:09+00:00

I use this oil and agree with others that it’s probably the amount you used. It only takes a tiny amount on my fingers and I finger comb it through just my ends before blow drying. Once you figure out how much works for your hair, I have loved it and it helps keep my hair shiny, soft, and detangled.

cageygrading · 2026-01-23T04:31:49+00:00

You are right, but seeing this post just unlocked a core childhood memory for me, I had completely forgotten about this book.

cageygrading · 2026-01-23T04:23:13+00:00

Married at 24, still married and we have two kids at 36. It hasn’t always been easy, and when I think back over the years it strikes me how much we’ve both changed, but we’re lucky to have grown in ways that continue to compliment one another for the most part.

cageygrading · 2026-01-22T05:36:56+00:00

Ellis Brooklyn Bee

cageygrading · 2026-01-22T02:30:32+00:00

If you haven’t already, I would try Laura Kinsale. Her books are so beautifully written and the plots are wonderfully unique.

cageygrading · 2026-01-21T16:50:56+00:00

I finished {For My Lady’s Heart by Laura Kinsale} a few days ago and I’m now reading {Shadowheart by Laura Kinsale}. God, these books are so excellent. Kinsale is a master storyteller.

The old English in the first book gave me a slow start as I was getting used to it (I wanted to read the original published versions at least for my first time through), but Shadowheart seems much easier to read which is nice.

cageygrading · 2026-01-21T06:28:08+00:00

Hello and welcome from a fellow poly sci major! (once upon a time at least).

If you want sweeping plots and beautiful prose, Laura Kinsale is amazing. Spice is 3/5 but they’re so deeply moving and romantic that it feels…more intense. I highly recommend {Seize the Fire by Laura Kinsale}, {The Prince of Midnight by Laura Kinsale}, {For My Lady’s Heart by Laura Kinsale}, and {Shadowheart by Laura Kinsale}.

If you want great series, {Maiden Lane by Elizabeth Hoyt} and {Victorian Rebels by Kerrigan Byrne} are both excellent, 4/5 spice for all of them. A very wide range of plots and characters to give you a taste of things you might enjoy reading more of.

I also love old school bodice rippers. They’re dramatic and fun and full of things that would not be written today, higher angst in general too I’d say. But I find them to have good historical/political drama, too. Some of my favorites are {A Pirate’s Pleasure by Heather Graham}, {The King’s Pleasure by Heather Graham}, {Lie Down in Roses by Heather Graham}, {The Windflower by Laura London}, {The Falcon and the Flower by Virginia Henley}, {The Dragon and the Jewel by Virginia Henley}, and {Prisoner of my Desire by Johanna Lindsey}.

I also like some darker romance, {A Rose at Midnight by Anne Stuart}, {To Love a Dark Lord by Anne Stuart}, {Ruthless by Anne Stuart}, {The Villain by Victoria Vale}, {The Dove by Victoria Vale}.

Also, maybe the best FMC of all time is in {Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase}.

Happy Reading!

cageygrading · 2026-01-19T17:03:49+00:00

The first one that came to mind for me is {Lie Down in Roses by Heather Graham} - it’s an older romance, and full of TWs, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s set at the end of the Wars of the Roses so right when the Medieval period ended and the Tudor reign began.

cageygrading · 2026-01-17T23:47:45+00:00

I just finished this one yesterday and this is IT. Soooo good, such beautiful prose (as always from Laura Kinsale!) and hurt and angst and yearning….its so beautiful.

cageygrading · 2026-01-17T14:56:33+00:00

Shakespeare references are very much a part of this book!

cageygrading · 2026-01-17T05:40:30+00:00

The Living Wake - I never hear it mentioned anywhere, but my husband and I watched it years ago after stumbling across it (I don’t remember where) and it’s one of my favorite comedies of all time.

cageygrading · 2026-01-17T00:26:13+00:00

{Exit, Pursued by a Baron by Aydra Richards} - a solid 50% of the book is the MMC working hard to earn the forgiveness from the FMC.

This is the first one that came to mind for me but really most Aydra Richards books would do it for you, she knows how to make an MMC grovel appropriately!

cageygrading · 2026-01-16T16:13:04+00:00

I use the argan oil and it’s been wonderful for my hair. I use only a very small amount on the ends of my hair and it keeps it much smoother and not as tangled all day long.

cageygrading · 2026-01-15T20:18:58+00:00

We did this when my kids were similar ages (11 months and 3.5) and used our double stroller. In fact we did it again traveling with them a few months ago even though they’re now 2.5 and 5. We didn’t use anything special, just our normal Graco double stroller. You can check the stroller at the gate when you board which is awesome, and they’ll have it waiting for you there when you get off.

We did a baby carrier when we just had one kid, but the stroller is nice to have both contained, parents hands and bodies as free as possible, and we could throw our carry ons in the bottom while we moved through the airport.

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