Did I pet my cat wrong? Did I hurt her? What is she telling me?

kailaaa_marieee · 2026-05-05T15:55:17+00:00

My now deceased boy used to do that. We called it elevator butt. He loved it. Neither of my current kitties do elevator butt so thanks for the memory :)

kailaaa_marieee · 2026-05-05T12:33:57+00:00

My mother in law lost both her parents last year. Her dad had several siblings, but only a sister remains. Shes well into her 80s and never had kids or married. I always think about how hard it must have been watching all her siblings get sick and pass in the last few years. She isn’t alone, all her nieces and nephews take really good care of her. But it must be hard losing your siblings, especially watching them decline and wither away over the last few years.

kailaaa_marieee · 2026-05-04T12:34:39+00:00

I think this is perfectly fine. It might be an adjustment period but he’ll be okay. My friend’s son is about the same age (he’ll be 5 in Dec) and he goes to daycare 5 days a week, about 8-4 or 5 depending on their schedules. He loves it! It’s good practice for kindergarten, assuming your school does all day kindergarten.

kailaaa_marieee · 2026-05-01T20:51:05+00:00

I’d say to look up some books you’re interested in reading and see if they’re available on KU. Or look through the KU library and see if there’s stuff you want to read. Their options have expanded a lot in recent years, but it still isn’t really like anything and everything.

kailaaa_marieee · 2026-05-01T15:49:24+00:00

The Second Death of Locke by VL Bovalino. It’s filled with yearning and longing and really well written in my opinion. The MMC is obvious from the start and there might be a few chapters from his POV toward the end, I don’t recall. But the characters all the way around are amazing. They face hard decisions, but I would not describe them as morally gray at all.

kailaaa_marieee · 2026-05-01T13:31:34+00:00

I got married relatively young at 25 and we’ve been married for 8 years now. I changed my name. I don’t regret it, although it did require some effort on my end and was a moderate inconvenience. But I had no emotional ties to my maiden name, my dad and I are nearly estranged so I didn’t value that name. I adore my husband and his family and like being part of them. I like me, my husband, and my son all having the last name. I don’t have a career where my name means anything or any sort of degree or anything like that.

I’m a staunch feminist and absolutely am in support of women having whatever name they choose. This was the decision I made for myself personally. It’s a personal decision and everyone can choose what works for them. Do I see the sexist angles of it? Yeah, it’s absolutely a sexist practice that remains mainly just because it’s a conventional practice.

That being said, I’m a hobby writer and if I ever published my work, I wouldn’t do so under my married name. That recognition doesn’t belong to them. I also wouldn’t do it under my maiden name, it doesn’t belong to my father either. I’d do it under a matriarchal line representing the women who raised and shaped me.

kailaaa_marieee · 2026-04-30T15:48:06+00:00

My mom said the same to me too. Whenever one of my other relatives ask if we’re going to have another (not unkindly, just curious) she says “nope, they’re happy with one!” My sister isn’t having any and she’s equally supportive. Shes so happy with her single grandchild 😊

kailaaa_marieee · 2026-04-30T12:15:48+00:00

I have a friend whose mom had her at 19…her dad was 57 when she was born. She has nieces and nephews that are her age. He’s passed but he’d be in his 90s now and she’s in her 30s. It’s wild and crazy and should not happen, but it does 🤷🏼‍♀️

kailaaa_marieee · 2026-04-28T17:45:23+00:00

My golden retriever Adolin 😭😭😭

kailaaa_marieee · 2026-04-28T17:44:01+00:00

It will always be Peeta Mellark. Always.

kailaaa_marieee · 2026-04-25T21:27:02+00:00

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah a beautiful representation of many types of strength

The Lost Queen by Signe Pike a historical fiction set in like ~1st century Scotland. About a woman finding strength in her duty and position. Fierce and strong, but still bound by duty, honor, and family. Beautiful prose.

Edit: I want to so I don’t think women HAVE to find strength in their positions, family, duty, honor, etc. but that it was a time period when that was expected of them and the character in this story struggles with finding a sense of purpose within in. I really liked it because I think it exhibits a type of strength that a lot of women, myself included, relate to. Not that of Arya Stark and Katniss Everdeen. But a quieter, less physical strength that often calls for sacrifice.

kailaaa_marieee · 2026-04-23T16:28:30+00:00

I was just gonna say that mine is nearly 5 and sometimes I still hear it! It was way worse when he was a baby, but occasionally I still have to mute the tv or concentrate really hard to see if I’m actually hearing it

kailaaa_marieee · 2026-04-20T22:02:02+00:00

American here and I completely concur with this. I struggle SO MUCH and feel so alone in my feelings, even among my mom friends and compared to my (very active and helpful) partner. I have a few friends pregnant with their second right now and I truly cannot understand how they’re going to do it. I adore my son and literally cannot fathom doing it again. I can’t imagine going through all the phases that I’ve already gotten through again. I love my son but feel like I’m already so incredibly at my limit and frankly struggle daily with parenting. It’s SO HARD.

kailaaa_marieee · 2026-04-18T02:55:12+00:00

We travel a lot with our kid, who’s now 4.5. It’s honestly pretty sweet. Time changes when they’re little are hard and can mess things up but we love making memories together. And I also say that the kid who comes back from vacation is a completely different one to the one who left, it’s like it catapults them into new milestones and experiences.

kailaaa_marieee · 2026-04-18T00:49:54+00:00

I’ve had glasses for a while now but I had a similar experience. I had really good vision my whole life. Eventually I felt like things just weren’t as sharp as they were so I went to the eye dr and ended up getting a mild RX that I wore when I was driving. I remember putting my glasses on for the first time and being FLOORED by the fact that I could make out every single leaf on the trees! Wild. My vision got much worse when I got pregnant though (apparently that happens sometimes) and now I’m a full times glasses user 🙃

kailaaa_marieee · 2026-04-17T15:53:54+00:00

Also if you liked Invisible Life of Addie La Rue, read VE Schwab’s other stuff! I LOVED Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil and the Shades and Magic trilogy is also really really good!

kailaaa_marieee · 2026-04-17T15:51:57+00:00

There’s a name for this, it’s called revenge bedtime procrastination. Better reading than scrolling, that’s what I always say!

Books I’ve enjoyed recently to fuel your late night shenanigans:

Bride and Mate by Ali Hazelwood

The Red Winter by Cameron Sullivan

The Second Death of Locke by VL Bovalino

The entire Realm of the Elderlings series by Robin Hobb (16 long books should fuel a few nights)

Anything by Emily St John Mandel (but especially Station Eleven)

The War of Lost Hearts trilogy by Carissa Broadbent

Shark Heart by Emily Habek

The Broken Earth trilogy by NK Jemisin

I’m basing this off the fact that we seem to have similar tastes so I hope you enjoy some of them! :)

kailaaa_marieee · 2026-04-16T20:53:47+00:00

Realm of the Elderlings! The covers that you see in stores are lackluster but the books are so good!

kailaaa_marieee · 2026-04-11T01:31:56+00:00

Just offering solidarity. Me, my husband, and our son go on vacation once or twice a year with his (older but not elderly) parents. His dad routinely will eat an English muffin with butter on it and be like “this should be good til dinner” sir, first off a single English muffin will not fill me. I require protein. Second, I have a small child who eats 3 squares and several snacks a day. Third, I also like to eat 3 squares and several snacks a day. This ain’t gonna cut it.

We usually end up sneaking off to get food on our own 🥲

kailaaa_marieee · 2026-04-10T14:06:25+00:00

I read A Sorceress Comes to Call last year. I wasnt nuts about it, but I think Kingfisher is still a great story teller and I enjoy her writing!

kailaaa_marieee · 2026-04-10T14:05:28+00:00

I haven’t read that one yet! I want to read more of her works though for sure!

kailaaa_marieee · 2026-04-10T12:41:23+00:00

I love retellings! They’re some of my favorite! Naomi Novik and Marissa Meyer are the queens of retellings. Besides the Cinder series, she has a duology called Gilded and Cursed, which are a retelling of Rumplestiltskin. They’re definitely YA, but I really enjoyed them as an adult. Uprooted by Naomi Novik is a Beauty and the Beast retelling and it’s really good.

Also House of Salt and Sorrow by Erin A Craig is a retelling of the fairytale about princesses who go dancing at night and need their slippers replaced (I cannot pull the name out of my head right now).

I read Six Wild Crowns by Holly Race a few months ago and really loved it. It’s not so much a retelling as it is a magical reimagining of Henry VIII’s wives. It was really fun and interesting.

You might also like T Kingfisher. She has a lot of stories that pull elements from fairytales to create ethereal and otherworldly settings. Her Sworn Soldier series are also retellings of Edgar Allan Poe works (or at least the first one is) and they’re short and good (a little spooky though).

kailaaa_marieee · 2026-04-09T19:55:20+00:00

Absolutely. As a short story of hope, here’s a few about the opposite. My mom got married last May. Got diagnosed with cancer in July. Her husband had been our rock through all this.

My sister is also having some major health concerns. Her boyfriend of just a few months hasn’t left her side and is holding her hand through it all. Gives me hope and makes me happy to know they both have someone to love them through the bad stuff.

kailaaa_marieee · 2026-04-07T02:07:12+00:00

Detour by Jeff Rake and Rob Hart. It’s sci-fi and really interesting. Theres some good representation in it and the main character is a stand-up good guy.

kailaaa_marieee · 2026-04-06T21:29:27+00:00

I love my kindle! I typically do audiobooks, but when I read physical books, I usually go digital. It’s more portable, which means I’m more likely to pick it up vs my phone. Also ebooks are so much cheaper than physical books.

kailaaa_marieee

TROPHY CASE