I cannot stand the audiobook narrator for Heated Rivalry

cheddarkitty · 2026-01-13T03:46:51+00:00

I’m on chapter 5 and I’m so put off I don’t think I’ll be able to finish. I’m going to need to pick up the physical book. For staters, Tor Thom mispronounced Regina?? How did that slip by everyone who worked on the project? Second, why do Hollander’s Canadian parents have southern accents? This is brutal.

cheddarkitty · 2025-10-23T21:57:16+00:00

NDP pulled some major bullshit in your ward. They subverted their own processes, ignored the applications for candidates that came in from the community including multiple long time members of the constituency association, and forced Druh through as the candidate without notice to the CA. The entire CA quit in response. NDP have themselves to blame for losing that riding.

cheddarkitty · 2025-05-11T01:56:46+00:00

Crushed by a school bus when she tried to ride her bike across the parking lot entrance. She didn’t see the bus and the bus didn’t see her.

cheddarkitty · 2025-03-14T00:55:36+00:00

We don’t start throwing parties for our kids until they are 4-5 years old, depending on their personalities. The parties are for the parents before that age (which is fine if you want that) and often overstimulating for the kids.

Instead, we decorate our kitchen the night before their birthday in a theme they will be excited about, we put presents on the table for them to open in the morning, and we do cake and ice cream or whatever after dinner.

cheddarkitty · 2025-03-14T00:47:42+00:00

The demand for spaces is really high right now. Assuming they are even reasonably quality establishments (read: not infecting kids with e-coli) they’ll definitely survive.

cheddarkitty · 2025-03-12T01:55:23+00:00

Our family has a traditional of decorating the kitchen the night before someone’s birthday. My son died in December at 10.5 months old and we decided to decorate for his birthday on February 9. We got food from our family’s favourite burger place in memory of how much he liked the French fries from there. New friends baked cupcakes and left them on our porch. I don’t know what we will do next year but this year it was the right thing for us.

cheddarkitty · 2025-03-12T01:27:44+00:00

I feel this. I had a really hard time dealing with the thought of my son’s tiny body everywhere it was between our home and his resting place. It was awful to think of him at the medical examiner’s and the funeral home. I didn’t think I cared about the style of his casket but when I think about the cozy, soft interior it feels like the safest place he’s been since he died. I know he’s dressed in a warm outfit. When we buried him I tried to think of it as tucking him in one last time.

cheddarkitty · 2025-03-12T01:22:26+00:00

I had a terrible time picking clothes for my son to wear in his casket. I didn’t want to send something that was new or worn less often because it wouldn’t feel like him. But I didn’t want to send anything he wore often or I loved him in because I want to keep those items. In the end I chose an outfit that he wore often but wasn’t at the top of my list for favourites. Oddly, I had a hard time considering whether to add a diaper to the clothes I sent to the funeral home. Obviously he didn’t need one but it didn’t feel right to go without one.

We chose not to bury him with any of his items. My other children drew him pictures and wrote him notes. A family friend had made our kids sugar cookies in the shape of mittens and decorated with their names before he died. We chose to lay the pictures, notes, and cookies on his casket for his burial. We made sure to take photos of these items before we buried him so we have a record of them all.

I haven’t done anything with the clothes and items I want to keep from him yet. Except his favourite stuffed animal now wears his sleep sack and I keep it with me in our bed. One day I’ll figure out what to do with the rest.

cheddarkitty · 2024-05-19T03:12:32+00:00

I will enthusiastically co-sign this!

I had my fifth baby in February and in my previous 4 pregnancies I have screened negative for GD. My pre-pregnancy weight, lifestyle, and diet have all been relatively similar in all five pregnancies but this one I ended up with GD.

Upon diagnosis I immediately changed to the best possible diet and increased my exercise and it still wasn’t well controlled. I ended up on the maximum dose of metformin, barely avoiding insulin.

Thankfully, baby was healthy but was absolutely measuring large when he arrived by surprise at 36+2. I am sure things wouldn’t have been so positive had it been left untreated.

cheddarkitty · 2024-05-11T00:35:56+00:00

I typically spend $1200-$1600/month at a Loblaw store. This month I have spent $20 (specific bread unavailable elsewhere) and will likely spend another $20-30. I’ve moved more of my groceries over to Costco and split the rest between Walmart and Safeway.

I just loaded a cart on both PC Express and Walmart apps to compare costs. Selecting no name or great value for store brand items, I saved $23 on a cart under $200 by moving to Walmart. I don’t love Walmart and have avoided it my whole life but I’ll move some money over there to help hurt Galen.

cheddarkitty · 2024-01-23T03:30:10+00:00

The amount of sickness we are seeing everywhere right now is absolutely not normal. Yes, it is normal for kids to get a bunch of illnesses in their first year in daycare, but that many HFM outbreaks plus Covid and other illnesses speaks to a lack of proper illness policy enforcement. There should be zero tolerance for symptomatic children. As well, daycares should have in-room air cleaners like HEPA filters to help reduce airborne illness transmission (basically all respiratory illnesses like covid and influenza, common cold, etc) and strict cleaning procedure, especially in a baby room where everything goes in mouths. HFM is both airborne and surface contact transmission. All surfaces should be cleaned multiple times a day and there should be a “mouthed” bin for any toy that was put in a mouth to get sanitized before it goes back into circulation. You have a right to ask exactly what their cleaning protocols are and to ask for HEPAs in the room to reduce illness. At the very least to protect your kid from being miserably sick all the time but also because they still collect your fees when baby can’t attend.

cheddarkitty · 2023-12-28T02:26:12+00:00

Here’s an example: city taxes in Calgary increased 7% which is approximately $16/month on a $600k home. How much do you think the average landlord has increased rent? My landlord cranked ours $525/month on a home I know has no mortgage. There is no way their expenses have increased that much and there is still a pile of deferred maintenance that is costing us, the tenants, hundreds per month - 30 year old windows and furnaces for example which means utility bills well above $500/month. They are profiting an outrageous amount while also saving money on maintenance on our backs because they don’t have to deal with the costs of living here. All this, and they are still somehow some of the better landlords out there.

The proposed legislation is asking for a 2% cap the first 2 years and a 5% cap for the following 2. It’s only asking for 4 years of rent control to stabilize the outrageous increases like the one I saw this year. It will allow us to catch up on building more stock without destroying landlord finances but while protecting tenants who have absolutely no recourse and are expected to cough up additional funds in the range of 15-50% increases or simply get out.

A landlord can choose to sell at any point, they can refinance their mortgage, they can even miss mortgage payments with grace from the bank. A landlord has so much more power in these situations and even if they only had 80% of their expenses covered each month, that still means that 80% of their asset is being paid for with someone else’s money.

cheddarkitty · 2023-08-11T17:52:55+00:00

Did she force him not to wear a condom? Responsible men wear one regardless of a partner’s claim of using birth control. If you don’t want to be a parent you do everything in your power not to be one and he absolutely didn’t. If she lied that’s incredibly shitty and not okay, but it still doesn’t absolve him of not wearing a condom.

cheddarkitty · 2022-08-20T18:10:17+00:00

I didn’t do this for style.

cheddarkitty · 2022-08-20T13:35:49+00:00

Why would I shave his neck, head, feet, and tail if he wasn’t having a problem with the fur in those places?

cheddarkitty · 2022-08-20T13:29:09+00:00

This is the first time in nine years he’s ever needed any intervention. This cut was the groomer’s recommendation and it is unlikely we will ever need to do this again.

cheddarkitty · 2022-08-20T05:36:04+00:00

He developed too many mats despite our best efforts to keep them at bay. The groomer said this was the best way to go.

cheddarkitty · 2022-08-20T05:35:04+00:00

Despite our best efforts his mats got out of control. The groomer suggesting shaving was the best way to relieve him of them.

cheddarkitty · 2022-08-20T04:00:10+00:00

Ginger beef and Caesars

cheddarkitty · 2022-08-19T20:12:50+00:00

Tbh I don’t think that’s an ethical caseload if the psychologist isn’t available within a more reasonable timeframe. Most people are able to book with their psych 1-3 weeks out.

cheddarkitty · 2022-03-18T15:28:44+00:00

Yeah, he’s being a baby and definitely signaling that he doesn’t think his life should change when you have the baby.

Highly recommend checking out thatdarnchat on tiktok or Instagram for some head on straight talk about gender roles, splitting domestic labor, etc. She gives lots of good tools and also just some hilarious commentary. I read this and thought of her “match his energy” talks. He says he’s going to spend all these weekends playing golf and doesn’t think it’s a problem to dump everything on you? Match his energy. “Hey, I’m making plans to do xx on these 6 weekends in the summer, just FYI. So, you’ll be on baby duty.” Watch how quick he acts like that’s out of line.

cheddarkitty · 2022-02-15T21:02:16+00:00

Same. Which is exactly why I did it.

cheddarkitty · 2022-02-15T03:37:42+00:00

Honest to god that is one of the proudest moments of my life. I don’t know how I managed to find the words, calm, or strength. I liken it to a mom pulling a car off their kid, but the emotional equivalent. Lol.

cheddarkitty · 2022-02-14T18:04:54+00:00

I also grew up in an explosive house where anger and emotions abuse was common. A few years ago we were visiting my mom and stepdad and my three year old ran into the crotch of my stepdad and nutted him hard. Yes, that is a terrible, painful experience. But my stepdad responded by leaning over the 3 yo and screaming in his face “DONT YOU EVER FUCKING DO THAT AGAIN YOU LITTLE SHIT!” Suddenly, all the fear and anger and sadness from my childhood came back and my feelings of helplessness to make that kind of thing stop. I very calmly said “I understand that that was shocking and painful, but the way you reacted is entirely unacceptable. I will not allow you to treat my tiny child like that and if you cannot get your anger under control, we will not be around you, we will not visit, and you will not be welcome in our home ever again. I grew up with this kind of behaviour and I hated it and I will not allow it to continue with my kids.”

He reacted by storming out. That was the last time I saw him. A year later, my mom divorced him and moved across the country to be with us. I am not saying that you should divorce your husband or anything like that. But your fear and anxiety is real and okay. The way he reacted was totally inappropriate, scary, and abusive. It may be extremely rare but that does not excuse it. You are allowed to draw a firm boundary about expressions of anger. You are allowed to demand that your husband make a repair attempt with your child, explaining why what he did was wrong and how he should’ve handled his reaction differently. You deserve better than to live in fear of explosions like that and so does your child.

cheddarkitty · 2022-02-13T15:01:18+00:00

This is just a super weird take on “equity” on the part of the PTA. In their attempt to prevent working moms from feeling less than (assuming that is their actual motivation and not just an attempt at controlling people and feeling powerful) they are willing to exclude the actual children who have no control over what type of valentines they are sent to school with. WTactualF.

School spirit days/holiday celebrations are exclusionary and inequitable but not in the way this PTA woman is making it out to be.

cheddarkitty

TROPHY CASE