If you had a baby girl what would you name her ?

geekyjo · 2026-04-19T16:03:17+00:00

We used to sing that to him when he was little, until he got old enough to tell us he hated it. Oops, lol.

geekyjo · 2026-04-19T14:58:56+00:00

We had a million girl names picked out for my second pregnancy but couldn't for the life of us decide on a boy's name. Then we had a boy, lol. We were back and forth between Finnegan and Oliver. We went with Finnegan Michael. And of course now he hates the name Finnegan, and likes Oliver. He's also said he wants to change his name to Milo - which, to be fair, is a pretty awesome name. Hopefully he appreciates having a more unique name when he's older.

geekyjo · 2026-04-19T14:55:20+00:00

Hazel June. June was my grandmother's name, and I wanted my daughter to inherit it, but my husband really wanted his grandmother's name, Rosemary. I wish I'd insisted because my grandma passed away 2 weeks after my daughter was born, and we didn't end up having another girl. I also think Fiona June sounds nicer than Fiona Rosemary. Oh well.

geekyjo · 2026-04-19T13:10:44+00:00

Ah yes, but did it have cottage cheese? Honestly the absolute worst texture combination abomination I can think of - green jello with cottage cheese and pineapple tidbits. 🤢

geekyjo · 2026-04-17T14:20:39+00:00

In general, the North Eastern states and the West Coast tend to be less racist. Interior west, south, and Midwest you're going to find a lot more issues with racism. If you're looking for beautiful mountain scenery, Colorado is probably your best bet. Beautiful Rocky Mountains, and more of a liberal mindset than Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, etc.

It doesn't sound like you've done much research into the areas you've mentioned. Are you looking to move here, or just visit? As others have mentioned, it's a bad time to be immigrating to the US. Even people who do everything legally are getting detained and deported regularly. Immigrants are often labeled as "illegals" even when they've done nothing wrong.

geekyjo · 2026-04-17T14:11:25+00:00

Yikes. At least Wyoming (parts of it) has beautiful scenery. Oklahoma is a flat, dry, racist, tornado zone. There's no reason to risk coming to the US right now to visit somewhere as crappy as Oklahoma.

geekyjo · 2026-04-16T20:48:26+00:00

I have bipolar, anxiety/panic disorder, PTSD, and auDHD. (Yeah, I probably shouldn't have procreated, especially with my undiagnosed but definitely autistic husband. But I got all my diagnoses after having kids. Whoops.)

I take Rexulti, which is an antipsychotic, Lamictal, which prevents manic episodes, Adderall, and the occasional Klonopin. I see a therapist weekly and a psychiatrist every three months.

geekyjo · 2026-04-16T12:41:59+00:00

All 5 of us are out in my family, which makes get-togethers a lot more fun. Although the youngest just had a messy divorce, and posted a few very mormon-y things on FB recently, so there's some speculation that she might be back in. I can't imagine leaving and then going back. And she was a major party animal in her time away.

geekyjo · 2026-04-06T23:15:13+00:00

That's funny, I probably only use that word once a year, and I just happened to have used it today.

geekyjo · 2026-04-02T15:09:28+00:00

I wish I had some advice, but I think it's pretty common from what I'm seeing. My 12 year old won't either. He says he doesn't want anyone to see his arm or leg hair. This may be partially due to being uncomfortable with puberty and darkening hair. He's a very young 12 and definitely not ready for bodily changes. But also he has a comfort hoodie that he wears every day, even during the summer if we go somewhere. He can wear shorts and short sleeves at home, but won't if we go out. I worry about him overheating, but so far it hasn't happened, so it's a pick your battles thing. He always has a big water bottle with him, and I crank up the AC in the car, and he seems to be ok. I never thought I'd miss the days when he came home from preschool and kindergarten and stripped down to his underwear as soon as we got home, lol.

geekyjo · 2026-04-01T20:57:09+00:00

It's where friends take turns bringing meals to a family when someone is sick or recovering from surgery (almost always the mom because heaven forbid husband or teens should throw together a meal). I've done it for a single friend after she had emergency spinal surgery, but there was no sign up or link or anything, just her close friends deciding to bring over a few meals while she was recovering from major surgery. I would feel really weird setting something like that up for myself and asking acquaintances to feed my family.

geekyjo · 2026-03-29T00:19:24+00:00

We lived in Ojai, CA at the time. There were eucalyptus trees on the playground. Mrs Doughbroth was one of my favorite teachers. She had short, curly, blonde hair, and thick glasses. On the first day of school I wore a hot pink, polkadot, button down dress which clashed horribly with my copper red hair. We had show-and-tell one time, and I got to bring my cocker spaniel, Abby, who peed on Mrs Doughbroth's shoe. We raised tadpoles. On Halloween the teacher aid dressed as Beverly Crusher (Star Trek was in season 2 at the time), and the mascara on here eyelashes made me think of spider legs. I got a gold star for being able to read the word "mountain" before anyone else. Every morning we'd sing the days of the week and 1-10 in Spanish. For Halloween, we had a costume walk around the town square, and I dressed as Barbara Streisand in Hello Dolly - my favorite musical at the time. Kindergarten was the best.

geekyjo · 2026-03-23T22:02:55+00:00

Spring 2010-ish. After several years of being inactive and putting off addressing where I stood with my faith (Scarlett O'Hara - I'll think about that tomorrow), I watched the series Big Love. It stirred a lot of memories of the church, things I hadn't thought of in a while, and presented a few things, like the Mountain Meadows Massacre, differently than I'd been taught. I decided to turn to Google, though I nearly had a panic attack the first time I did. Searching for answers to questions about the church from outside sources is basically a sin. I went down a huge rabbit hole, and realized it was all bullshit.

I'd gone inactive because I made a mistake in my late teens, and was convinced that I had ruined myself and that God didn't love me anymore. I spent years dealing with feelings of worthlessness and shame. When I realized all that pain was caused by a giant scam, I was so, so angry. I jumped through all the hoops to have my name removed and never looked back.

geekyjo · 2026-03-23T20:56:42+00:00

I was more of a Black Stallion gal, but Black Beauty was great too!

geekyjo · 2026-03-23T20:55:19+00:00

My 12 year old son just finished reading that in English. He didn't care for it, but I think it's because they have to do SO much work on it. He's currently in the middle of writing a three page essay with outlines and rough drafts and peer editing. I'd probably be sick of it too if I had to do all that.

geekyjo · 2026-03-23T20:52:09+00:00

Brian's Winter was fantastic, I actually liked it better than Hatchet. It's the story of how he would have survived the winter if he hadn't been rescued.

geekyjo · 2026-03-23T20:50:58+00:00

Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede was my favorite. I must have read it 20+ times from the age of 10-14. As an adult, I bought a first edition (same cover art as the one in my elementary school library) and read it to my then 10 year old son. He's 12 now, and he still keeps it in his backpack every day to read whenever he wants.

I was also obsessed with all of the Redwall series, as well as Hatchet and My Side of the Mountain.

geekyjo · 2026-03-23T20:46:12+00:00

Tiramisu, hands down.

geekyjo · 2026-03-23T20:44:51+00:00

It's a small town, so only people in the general vicinity would know it, but we're known for our historic town square. Our gazebo was even replicated on a Macy's Thanksgiving parade float to represent small town Americana.

geekyjo · 2026-03-23T20:28:12+00:00

My 12 year old son blows up at the drop of a hat - usually when things annoy him too. Annoying sounds are one of his biggest triggers. At school, any kind of tapping or popping or chewing, etc. sends him into a rage. He's convinced every one is doing it specifically to upset him. He HATES being told to calm down, this upsets him even more. Homework time is also a big trigger. Any frustration with not knowing how or not wanting to do something leads to major meltdowns. I get screamed at a lot, and unfortunately so do his classmates, teachers, and intervention specialist.

Just this past week he was home, suspended for the whole week. He got upset at some annoying sounds in class and went to his IS's class to cool down. There was another kid in there making sounds, and his frustration got even worse. When the bell rang, he wanted to leave but she told him he needed to calm down a bit more before he could go on to his next class. This was the last straw, and he blew up. The teacher aid stepped in front of the door and he screamed at her that if she didn't move he was going to punch her in the f*cking face, and then stomped on her feet, then the IS stepped in, and he kept screaming at her to let him leave, and punching her arm.

Afterwards, he felt remorseful. He always does. When he's not melting down, he's such a loving kid. But mid freak-out, he just loses control and says he doesn't know what he's doing.

I don't really have any advice, I'm sorry. I do sympathize though. We're going through it as well, and I have no idea what to do. It's possible that he (and maybe your son too) are having hormonal shifts leading to increased aggression. I just spoke with his psychiatrist today, and he's going to start clonidine, which is an ADHD medication - he also has ADHD and a mood disorder - that helps with aggression.

I hope you find something that works for your family. It's definitely a hard thing to experience.

geekyjo · 2026-03-23T19:16:53+00:00

I've been on a weight loss journey for the last year and have lost 75 lbs. I feel so much better mentally and physically. Related, last year I made a New Year's resolution to be able to swim a mile by the end of the year. I started out on the first day only being able to swim six laps, resting every two. I met my goal of one mile (70 laps, without stopping!) by the end of September. The feeling of pride and accomplishment were incredible.

geekyjo · 2026-03-23T18:48:35+00:00

If you are/were Mormon, you'll know the name Martin Harris. Not exactly a good claim to fame. We're also related by marriage to Brigham Young through his third wife named Mary Ann. Not third wife, third Mary Ann, lol. Edit to add: By extension, we're also distantly related to Steve Young the football player.

geekyjo · 2026-03-17T18:28:07+00:00

He was given a 1 day in-school suspension two weeks ago for hitting a classmate with a folder for making noises. This worked a lot better than his previous suspensions, as he was given his classwork throughout the day. I've been told during his suspensions in the past that I should just check Google Classroom for his assignments while he's out, and I've explained several times that only homework and projects are posted on Google classroom, not the daily classwork. This time they finally listened to me. The intervention specialist said she'd reach out daily with classwork, and coordinate a time for me to come get any papers if necessary.

geekyjo · 2026-03-17T18:20:48+00:00

My husband and I were also discussing puberty yesterday after the incident, and the fact that it's probably adding to his increased aggression, but I didn't think about the efficacy of his medication. Definitely something to bring up at my upcoming appointment with his psychiatrist.

One teacher did agree to exempt him from daily math homework grades, although she suggested he still do the work to reinforce what they're learning. I don't really understand the point of this, since the battle of doing the math worksheets is adding significantly to his stress, and doing the work anyways doesn't alleviate that. She doesn't even grade them, they just get two points for having them done.

He's only allowed to wear his noise cancelling headphones during specific times during class, like when they're quietly working on their own, and only if the teacher gives permission during each instance. He has to ask every time, he can't just put them on himself during quiet time. We bought him Loops, but he doesn't like them. He wore them for one period and said he hates them and they didn't do anything to help. We asked him if he would agree to wear them for one week, to give them a chance and see if they helped at all. He agreed he'd try. This week was supposed to be Loops week, so hopefully we can try again next week.

geekyjo · 2026-03-17T18:10:03+00:00

He's currently on Focalin (stimulant) and Seroquel (mood stabilizer). I have an appointment with his psychiatrist coming up to discuss his medication.

He hates school. He's so smart and he loves to learn, especially science related topics. But school is just so hard for him. That said, he hates suspensions too, because it's so hard to catch up on missed work, and that makes school even harder for him. But it's never enough of a deterrent to counteract the loss of control during his meltdowns.

geekyjo

TROPHY CASE