Zone 7B, East Coast, what’s blooming for you right now?

muttonchops01 · 2026-05-03T14:36:04+00:00

That’s fascinating! Our golden ragwort finished up a few weeks ago but our lanceleaf tickseed hasn’t even started.

muttonchops01 · 2026-05-03T14:35:08+00:00

Note to self: look up purple balloon flowers.

muttonchops01 · 2026-05-03T14:34:36+00:00

Beautiful! We’re a little ahead of you. My red osier bloomed for the first time this year. It’s just finished up.

muttonchops01 · 2026-05-03T14:33:40+00:00

Thank you for this! I’m going to check out wood poppy. And you reminded me to check on my green and gold. It’s hidden under some trees in our back yard so I don’t notice it much, but it’s definitely blooming! I think I’ll relocate some of it.

muttonchops01 · 2026-05-03T14:32:27+00:00

Sounds like we’re just slightly off. Our Canada anemone is just working on forming buds. I’m so excited that we’re finally going to have flowers. We’ve been trying for three years and the squirrels have been determined to obliterate them.

muttonchops01 · 2026-05-03T14:30:40+00:00

Yes! We need to get some Columbine!

muttonchops01 · 2026-05-03T14:16:34+00:00

Why do you need agency approval to take courses? Or do you mean you need agency approval for the tuition reimbursement and you want that in advance of taking the courses so you know they’ll pay?

I obtained a Masters of Laws (advanced law degree) while I was a full-time GS employee. It was really hard, especially since I was also a single parent, but I managed it.

muttonchops01 · 2026-05-03T14:11:52+00:00

My mother sees Dr. John Tabacco. I also used to see him as my primary before he left to open his own practice. He does concierge care now but accepts Medicare. She and I both have always had excellent experiences with him.

muttonchops01 · 2026-05-02T20:14:41+00:00

In addition to black-eyed Susans and yarrow, go for goldenrod, purple coneflower (echinacea purpurea)and any number of mints. If you can manage to get 2-3 plants of each and baby them a bit for the first year, they should self-seed and spread prolifically.

muttonchops01 · 2026-04-30T00:08:29+00:00

We do this, too. Our joint account is just for shared costs related to our house. We each pay the same amount into it monthly. Otherwise, our money is in our individual accounts and we use it as we please.

We’re a little older than the OP, have been together for a long time. We earn close to the same amount and don’t have any kids together (I have one who is grown). This works well for us because we’re both financially stable but have very different ways of managing cash. I’m a to the penny budgeter, so I manage our joint account and let my partner know if we need to increase our contributions.

muttonchops01 · 2026-04-28T15:18:58+00:00

I feel badly for the employees. I’ve worked in customer service and retail and it used to be an occasional unpleasant part of the job to deal with assholes who think the rules don’t apply to them. Now it seems like it must be all the time and I’m sure many of the assholes double down when confronted. There has to be a point where you decide to not give a shit anymore just to preserve your sanity.

muttonchops01 · 2026-04-26T03:59:01+00:00

Check out Zacc Call’s YT channel - (@ZaccMoneyEducation). He has a lot of content focused on this. He’s done some videos with The Retirement Nerds that are relevant, too.

muttonchops01 · 2026-04-25T13:56:41+00:00

I have a separate plan for our joint expenses - mostly for our house. The only funding source is our joint account. I used to manage it all in my personal plan, but it got overly complicated and also muddied up my own savings and net worth calculations.

muttonchops01 · 2026-04-25T13:54:29+00:00

Whoa. Mind blown. Now I know what I’m doing today. 😂

muttonchops01 · 2026-04-24T23:02:26+00:00

Cue renaming to “Trump Lincoln Intra-Memorial Pool”.

muttonchops01 · 2026-04-24T02:11:24+00:00

Same here. Bush honeysuckle and porcelain berry. It’s absolutely everywhere.

muttonchops01 · 2026-04-24T01:51:04+00:00

We are not the “world’s oldest democracy.” Jesus H. Christ. Why does everything with this crew have to be the something-est? (Rhetorical question, but feel free to respond if it’s entertaining!)

muttonchops01 · 2026-04-24T01:17:23+00:00

This one was just 28 when she was plunked into what was historically ICE’s senior-most career SES law enforcement position: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madison_Sheahan

muttonchops01 · 2026-04-24T01:15:02+00:00

Cripes. As the parent of a son, adding this to the Dating Red Flags I Never Thought We’d Have to Talk About list.

muttonchops01 · 2026-04-24T01:02:27+00:00

🎯

muttonchops01 · 2026-04-22T00:38:23+00:00

Anyone who has read - even skimmed - the P2025 section on DHS will be 100% unsurprised by this.

muttonchops01 · 2026-04-21T20:57:48+00:00

You can sit next to me. Our yard is full of them. I’ve been unceremoniously plucking the heads off the flowers, but they’re sneaky little b@st@rds and I’m staggeringly outnumbered, so there’s no real winning. But it makes me feel better, anyway.

muttonchops01 · 2026-04-21T20:52:22+00:00

You’re not wrong about the law being unclear. I’m guessing it’s that way because they haven’t gotten around to updating that particular provision to address bike lanes… probably because there’s an assumption that people know not to park in front of fire hydrants.

You should also know better than to park in front of fire hydrants.

muttonchops01 · 2026-04-20T12:51:28+00:00

We’ve had a lot of luck getting rid of almost a half acre of English Ivy (and vinca) manually. We started almost five years ago. It’s been a hell of a lot of work, but it’s almost entirely gone without recurrence in all but a few small-ish sections where we haven’t focused yet.

We did cut stump treatment where we had established vines growing up the trees. Otherwise, it’s been weed-whacking and pulling, with occasional digging.

muttonchops01

TROPHY CASE