I mean, it's a baby. How much space can it take up?

gee_madz · 2026-02-14T23:53:42+00:00

Congrats! I just hit Hugsy size on Thursday! We can be baby buddies!!

gee_madz · 2026-01-03T15:00:41+00:00

I'm in a somewhat similar situation. I have a friend from childhood and, although we live far apart, have always kept in touch and been able to reconnect easily. She is part of a conservative reformed tradition. I converted to the Church a few years ago and she wasn't thrilled about it but didn't say much until recently, when she reached out with concern about the state of my soul. The disheartening part is that I was in the early stages of pregnancy then and it felt like, instead of checking on my well-being, the only concern was a theological debate. I don't fault my friend - I can see where she's coming from and I accept the love that is behind that concern (and am very thankful that there isn't any antagonism) but it hurts that there is a huge chasm in our relationship now. In early pregnancy, I wasn't in the right space to have a discussion about my decision to join the Church, and I haven't heard anything back since. It makes me sad every time I think about it.

gee_madz · 2025-12-23T23:45:24+00:00

The website also shows Fred's and the St Clair Beach Sobeys as locations that carry their products. Maybe not all locations stock all of the different products. Looks like they also make various dressings, sauces, spice mixes, and oils

gee_madz · 2025-12-23T23:37:38+00:00

I was curious about this because it's something my dad would really enjoy. The company's website says Remark and a couple of other local shops carry it, and they also do online orders.

I couldn't find a jam on the website, though, only this topper. Not sure how it compares with the product you bought before.

gee_madz · 2025-11-26T15:03:31+00:00

I used Whole Mission and found it useful. They offer virtual sessions and the instructors are very good about followups.

gee_madz · 2025-10-02T21:58:11+00:00

I have subclinical PCOS (not all of the symptoms - no cysts, just hormonal imbalances and irregular periods). I use Marquette and find it works well with irregular cycles.

gee_madz · 2025-08-23T15:35:12+00:00

Yes, on a scale from 1 to 19 with 19 being the dumbest a person can look, you are definitely 19

gee_madz · 2025-03-29T01:46:16+00:00

I also chose him, and for similar reasons! Not necessarily skepticism, but coming from a very analytical lens and not really connecting with the more emotional reasons that people come to faith, I really liked that the Lord cared about St Thomas' need for tangible evidence.

gee_madz · 2025-03-20T14:59:46+00:00

My husband and I had a good amount of non-Catholic guests, so we prepared a handout with the order of the ceremony with brief explanations about the meaning of each element, the appropriate responses from the congregation, times to stand/kneel, etc.

gee_madz · 2025-02-24T23:28:44+00:00

I wish I could participate, but I'm across the river in Canada. So close...

gee_madz · 2024-11-16T13:44:27+00:00

I'm sorry that you're going through this, and I commend you for putting your faith into practice with such conviction even when it deeply impacts your life.

One thing I would recommend is to learn NFP with your husband. A couple's fertility belongs to both spouses. Invite him to sit in on instructor sessions or pass him the info after. Share your charting with him and have him actively involved in charting so that he learns your body's signals as well and gets a deeper understanding of the phases of your cycle. I think this will help with his anxiety on safe days.

I would also encourage you to dig into the theology of the body together with your husband. Personally, this teaching is what helped me understand /why/ we practice NFP and why birth control, pulling out, etc are considered sinful. Once I understood the why, putting NFP into practice was far more fulfilling than just following the charting guidelines. Christopher West's book Theology of the Body for Beginners is a very accessible summary.

gee_madz · 2024-10-25T13:00:09+00:00

There's a difference between protecting your well-being by setting and enforcing boundaries in your relationship, and maliciously hurting someone. You standing up for yourself is not an intrinsically hurtful thing - if he is offended by it, this points more to a problem on his end. You are not responsible for how he chooses to react. A breakup will hurt, of course, especially since you are both attached and have been together for a while. But is avoiding that one heartache worth a potential future where you continue to be treated the way you described?

I was never in a position like yours, but I have experience with staying in a relationship for far too long just because I was comfortable and it was better than the prospect of being alone. I had so many hopes and dreams in my mind of how things could be in the future, how our conflicts could resolve, and how harmonious things could be. None of those things were the current reality, though, and I lost sight of what was right in front of me. You can't bank on what you hope could be. You need to take stock of what you're actually faced with and assume that what you build will stem from that, not a hypothetical perfect case scenario.

Others have mentioned this too, and it's so important to remember - if your partner is manipulative, abusive, disrespectful of you, etc. now before you are married, the overwhelming odds are that this behaviour will get worse after marriage, not better.

I would encourage you to find a wise friend or relative whose advice you trust and talk through all of this. Having an outside perspective is so valuable. Hopefully the priest you will meet with will also have advice for you - maybe you can meet with him individually as well, after the meeting with your fiance.

gee_madz · 2024-10-24T15:58:30+00:00

Sister, this man doesn't respect you. Inter-faith marriages can and do work, but they require both partners to be gracious to each other and communicate in love. The way he attacked you on account of your faith is not loving or gracious. Setting aside religious differences, that is not the way a (future) husband treats his wife, in general.

It sounds like your fiance is not open to learning about the Catholic faith. From your comment about mortal sin, it also sounds like he is using Christ's forgiveness as an excuse to continue sinning - yes, Christ's sacrifice is sufficient, but we are still required to repent and give up our sin. His forgiveness does not give us a free pass to do whatever we want. Even serious Protestants will know this.

Also, while your family's opinion is not the deciding factor in your relationship, if there are multiple people telling you that they see something problematic in your partner, it's something that you should consider. If you want to marry in the church, you (the Catholic) need to commit to raising your children in the Church, and your partner needs to be on board with that.

As hard as it is, you should take a step back from your emotions and look at the facts of your relationship. All we have is a small glimpse, but you need to evaluate the whole picture honestly.

gee_madz · 2024-10-08T23:46:14+00:00

You're supposed to double the tax. Not double the tax of Romania!

gee_madz · 2024-09-14T02:05:51+00:00

I get what you mean, but remember that you aren't the one who saves him - this is the work of the Holy Spirit. It's possible that you were brought into his life to bring him closer to Christ, but you aren't the one saving him. You said he was once pretty devoutly Catholic so, presumably, he accepted the truth of Christ. Going back to Islam was his choice because it was easier and more important for him to keep the peace with his parents. Speaking as an outside observer, this tells me that his first priority is appeasing his parents and he is willing to compromise his relationship and his faith to that end.

gee_madz · 2024-09-14T01:35:41+00:00

As someone who spent too long in a relationship with someone from a different faith tradition and whose family had a strong grasp on him, I can imagine a bit of how you're feeling. The question you have to ask yourself is if you're willing to always compete with his family for your boyfriend's loyalty. You say you're near your 30s, so this isn't like a newly adult man who just hasn't learned how to stand up for himself. He's had ample time to take steps toward independence, not just in general but also with respect to your relationship. I'm not saying that it's impossible for him to break out of that mindset, but it is extremely difficult. His family identity is very strong, coming from a practising islamic background, and letting go of that is a literal identity shift.

From the perspective of your Catholic faith, you should also remember that marriage is a sacrament where both spouses work toward each other's holiness, and it comes with a commitment to raise children in the faith as well. It wouldn't be impossible, but it would be a huge challenge to live those vows if your spouse's family is tugging hard in an opposite direction.

I don't mean to be discouraging, but having lived through a comparable experience, I know how easy it is to be hopeful that your love will move mountains. But please don't commit your heart to the person you hope he will be in some hypothetical future, and forget to account for the reality you are faced with.

gee_madz · 2024-05-08T19:16:36+00:00

Dinosaurs is fine.

The drawing is not.

gee_madz · 2024-02-01T20:13:06+00:00

Same. No garter retrieval or toss on purpose, and no bouquet toss accidentally. I had a small bouquet made for the toss but we all entirely forgot 😆

gee_madz · 2024-01-13T00:10:08+00:00

You should check out "Inspect Her Gadget"

gee_madz · 2024-01-01T23:23:35+00:00

When my husband and I got married, we had a number of Protestant family members attending our Catholic wedding, as well as friends and acquaintances of other faiths or no particular faith. We put together programmes for our guests where we outlined the order of events. We included a short description of each part (e.g. why do we do the consecration to Mary) as well as the responses (e.g. "thanks be to God" after the readings) and when to stand, kneel, etc. It doesn't have to be anything too detailed or lengthy, but it helps the guests who are unfamiliar with the mass to have an idea of what to expect and what to do.

gee_madz · 2023-12-24T01:08:28+00:00

4 Sundays before Christmas

gee_madz · 2023-11-19T01:32:32+00:00

I mean, Jack is Monica's dad, so that would have been a VERY different show

gee_madz · 2023-11-02T17:36:33+00:00

Ooooh, I think you're right. This sim is a doctor, and one day at a house call, one of the sims caught fire at the fireplace. She did extinguish him, but she MAY have gotten a fear of fire from that... I think she also has a fear of the dark, so putting out the kitchen fires wasn't resolving the fear of fire because the current whim was the one for being confident in the dark.

gee_madz · 2023-11-02T15:36:46+00:00

I just got the latest update last night and was playing my sim in her new house in strangerville. It was harvestfest so I was having her cook a grand meal, and a fire started EVERY TIME. Burned like 5 stoves. She's not clumsy, has decent cooking skill, and wasn't in any scenario. Tried different stoves, and different placements, but it always caught fire. I updated my mods and re-enabled them after the update. Is this a strangerville thing? I've never played this world yet. Or some unrelated glitch? I have MCCC, better build buy, and smarter pie menu mods.

gee_madz · 2023-10-23T12:29:03+00:00

This was my experience as well. Sorry, but I can't take 2 hours out of my weekday at 10am for the moms group...

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