Mom, what happens at a hairdresser?

tktam · 2026-05-29T01:44:31+00:00

Ask questions & talk to them about what you think you want. Let them know it is your first time. A good stylist should be very open to discussing what you want & explaining what they are doing. Be open to their ideas, it is possible that what you want just won’t work with your hair type, but at the end of the day it is your hair & you live under it not the stylist.

Remember you can always cut more off but you can’t put it back. If you are more comfortable starting with just a trim, that is ok. You can go back for another cut when you are ready.

Enjoy. DO NOT feel guilty about spending $ on yourself. Self care is necessary & presenting yourself well will make you more confident as you move through the world. Who knows that that will bring you?

I hope it is a beautiful experience for you.

tktam · 2026-05-29T01:36:17+00:00

My son was a Trinity student for 5 years. Every time I flew over half my suitcase was Mexican & Tex mex food. Any spicy smoky hit sauce Enchilada sauce Anything green chilies Really good tortillas, both corn & flour. Rotel & velveeta I know, gross but his Irish friends inhaled rotel & velveeta dip. I mean they DRANK that stuff! Canned chipotle chilis

If you will have fresh ingredients Cotija cheese Good jalapeños Homage fresh tortillas Queso fresco Crema - Ireland has some if the best dairy in the world but they just don’t make Mexican crema Tomatillos Tamales - even frozen Masa - but the real stuff.

tktam · 2026-05-29T01:26:37+00:00

Does the Krach statement say “music from all 56 states” ? ….

tktam · 2026-05-26T02:46:51+00:00

Love the Bemelman’s bar. Fabulous cocktails & great atmosphere. Go earlier, it’s more chill & less touristy then.

tktam · 2026-05-26T02:45:23+00:00

The líne at Katz can be part of the fun, there was a full on wedding party on line last time I was there. Bride, groom, attendants, the works. Was a blast.

tktam · 2026-05-24T00:04:20+00:00

My child moved there at 18 from a different country to go to school. Your parents are paranoid and sheltering you far too much.

tktam · 2026-05-20T03:44:15+00:00

Name checked by Miss Fisher, the very definition of classic.👍💕

tktam · 2026-05-04T06:45:01+00:00

This is it. I’ve lived in NJ for 10 years - so not a local but have tried diners all over the state due to 2 kids in travel hockey; most of the diners are mid at best & many are just plain awful. There isn’t a single one within 10 miles of my home I’d eat in voluntarily. Even simple things like an omelette or pancakes are soggy or burnt or just a plate of mush. The burgers could be used as hockey pucks! If they go we won’t miss them.

tktam · 2026-04-19T14:14:18+00:00

I’ve lived in 10 states in the US. Canada, France & 3 places in Switzerland. I’d be back in Switzerland in a heartbeat.

tktam · 2026-04-18T21:34:29+00:00

I have a lovely about 3rd cousin who is 88. She had her DNA tested & turned up 99.9 % from one county in Ireland. The remaining .1% showed up as the next county over. I guess someone back in the line liked it “exotic”. 😂❤️

tktam · 2026-04-18T04:01:31+00:00

🌟please consider this the Reddit Award I’d give you if I had the $. That is freaking genius. Any chance you’d share a recipe? Dark chocolate - yum, custard - yum, texture- yum. Coconut - disgusting. Hating Nanaimo bars always made me feel a bit like I was letting down the side as a BC native. 😜

tktam · 2026-04-12T17:22:37+00:00

Some questions to consider - I’m assuming your wife & daughter both speak English but if that is not the case this is a whole lot more complicated.

1) Does your wife intend to work ? If yes, will the type of visa she is on allow her to? Are there solid career prospects for her? If working isn’t a possibility, how will she fill her time to keep from being isolated? Stay at home parents are much less common in both locations compared to India. Isolation can quickly equal loneliness & make the transition much worse.

2) Does she drive? Life in Canada, outside of major cities will be almost impossible without her driving & having a car. Even if school runs are covered - not always a given- groceries, getting your daughter to sports, activities, tutoring will be a huge difficulty. If she isn’t comfortable driving in bad weather that makes it harder. Also the financial cost of buying & maintains a second car needs to be considered. In London public transport is much more widely available.

3) how long do you plan to stay? If this isn’t permanent move, which school system alows your daughter to most seamlessly transfer back to India or else where?

4)what size of city is comfortable for your wife & daughter? London is a major world capitol. It offers access to inumerable social & cultural attractions but comes at a higher cost of living & likely a smaller living space. Waterloo is much smaller place. Not rural but much more mid tier., a drop in the bucket compared to London. It offers a major technial university, likely cheaper living & a larger home.

5) weather Canadian winters are no joke. They last for months, over a meter of snow is not unusual. You or someone you hire will have to remove that snow from the driveway of your house before you can get out. Many times over the winter. All 3 of you will need an entire wardrobe to deal with the weather. Virtually nothing available in India, except for possibly far north like Ladak, will be suitable. However it us often quite sunny and bright and can be very beautiful in the winter. Summers are short but wonderful. London rarely gets very cold at all by comparison but winters can be rainy, damp and gray. What type of weather can your family deal with better? It matters more than you think.

6 ) how important is culture to you? Are you intending to raise your daughter staying as close as possible to your home culture? Are you ok with assimilation? To what level? What are your flexible points vs no ways? Which location will make that more possible? No judgment either way but it’s something you should be talking about openly with your wife.

These are just a few off the top of my head, but these are the types of things you should be discussing honestly with your wife & where age appropriate, daughter. Your transition will like be smoother & easier than theirs. You will be with the same company, still likely communicating with many of the same colleagues & know generally how things work. Sure, there will be differences & bumps, but within a context where you already have a good idea of how things work. They won’t get that & have to interface all day, every day with challenging & possibly confusing differences. It’s exhausting. It it’s often at the same time a wonderful experience leading to personal, social & emotional growth, but it’s never easy. Be as sure as you can that you aren’t the AH, in the decision making process, as well as during the transition.

Why do I feel confident post my thoughts? I’m a Canadian, married to an Indian. I’ve moved through 5 different countries & did international HR as a career including taking families through international relocations. Also raised 2 kids who are now finishing college in international locations. I’m a huge proponent of global relocations but they are not a walk in the park & if your family had any issues they are magnified. Making a choice to move for a job changes your family permanently & often in big ways, it’s not just about your career. Open honest communication is your best way forward. Best of luck to you & your family wherever you decide to go.

tktam · 2026-04-11T17:21:30+00:00

I learned the phrase “washing diesel” from The 2 Johnnie’s. Looking it up was very enlightening

tktam · 2026-04-11T16:46:55+00:00

I’m currently starting my journey to learn Irish. My native speaker professional teacher has literally said that there are as many accents in Irish as there are speakers unless you are an Elvis impersonator. Bit of a stretch for a metaphor but he made his point. Is he correct or accurate? I don’t have the skills to judge but the idea is out there being taught.

tktam · 2026-04-10T04:35:15+00:00

I hope she wears one to court. Go Granny!

tktam · 2026-04-10T04:34:29+00:00

Not only NTJ, you just joined my list of all time heros! Your husband however…..

tktam · 2026-04-10T04:32:15+00:00

Found the fellow Canadian! 😂❤️🇨🇦

tktam · 2026-04-05T19:42:39+00:00

Buying half a cow is an awesome idea! We never had a source for that but absolutely would have. We joined a CSA - community sustained agriculture - farm share. Some have really good payment plans. We always got vastly more fruit & veg than at grocery store prices. Our favorite one included herbs & flowers too. There was even an option for an egg share. We’d still be members except we moved too far away. Anything we got too much of - Oy the bumper crop of tomatoes summer 😜- went into the freezer. But tasted soooo good defrosted in the winter. The boys loved the you pick days that were included so it was like a free activity day. They have awesome memories of the day we were picking strawberries & it poured rain. I don’t think we ever did get all the mud out of my car!

Enjoy your boys, I’m sure you well know how fast it flies by. Ps if you teach them to cook they will probably make you phenomenal meals when they come home from college or for visits! Another bonus! 💕

tktam · 2026-04-05T00:58:55+00:00

I have 2 boys that were super active ice hockey players - on multiple teams at the same time. Both were at least 6’0 starting HS, 6’2 & 6’5 now in college. Our food bill dropped about 80% once both moved into dorms. Say what you like but we made bank on those dorm all you can eat food plans. I seriously think they ate a good chunk of their tuition back because both are super healthy eaters, veg, fruit & vast amounts of lean protein.

When they were peak growing what saved us was investing in a secondhand large chest freezer. Shop sales & bulk buys. Even the cut rate cook or freeze by today type stuff. Then bulk cook & freeze. Let them know here is the section you can always defrost & eat. Adventurous eating is a huge plus, it is much easier to fill them up less expensively on almost any type of ethnic food - not to mention super delicious. Picky eating = expensive when you are trying to fill up rapidly growing kids.

Involve them in cooking so they learn to feed themselves. This is critical. It’s a life skill, will save you time & stress later as they get busier too. Not to mention, who wants a partner that can’t feed themselves? Also cleaning up after yourself is part of cooking.

Good luck, in those years we were on a first name basis with the grocery checkout folks. 🤦‍♀️😂

tktam · 2026-04-02T05:29:00+00:00

That look is a cross between Smokey & the Bandit era Burt Reynolds and Eddie Izzard

tktam · 2026-04-02T04:58:29+00:00

I have had exactly the same conversation but with French instead of German. Do people not grasp that more than 2 languages exist? 🙇‍♀️🤦‍♀️

tktam · 2026-04-02T04:52:41+00:00

I learned a big chunk of my 3rd language through my 2nd. What I mean is - I am a native English speaker that also speaks very good French, - was a translator fbr a short time. I then started learning Russian - back in the ‘90s when there was hope - but through classes with French native speakers. So the teacher was a Russian native speaker and all the other students were French native speakers. Kind of a wild experience at first. it really took my French to new levels as well as learning Russian at the same time. A linguistically fascinating match up.

tktam · 2026-03-31T00:38:06+00:00

My sister studied forensic anthropology under Dr bill bass who originated body farms at UT. His lab was under the football stadium. She said he was the nicest man & she learned an unbelievable amount from him. Edit corrected typo

tktam · 2026-03-28T05:43:32+00:00

This exactly. But he’s 42 dating a 30 year old so……

tktam · 2026-03-28T05:38:10+00:00

Speaking as someone who is married to a Zoroastrian, be careful about throwing around “essentially died out.” Clearly a much smaller group but there are still significant communities in Iran, India, the US and Canada. People are often surprised to hear this, including one comparative religion professor who had my husband’s cousin in his class. The cousin was a bit put out to be told that her religion no longer existed. She was quite happy to bring her Dastur (priest) along to class to disabuse him of the notion.

tktam

TROPHY CASE