Battle Kitten: Ascension

[fleaball]

11 hours ago, Bean Sidhe said:

 

So this may sound silly, but I am fully of the belief that almost everything is better with veggies. However, my problem can be I will eat too many of the darn things. I have noticed I am eating more veggies and less meat, and I am okay with that. Hardest part of that is eating protein when nuts are a no-no. But I am not making a plan one way or another. Its kinda a "see where this goes" .

 

Either way, I think it looks good. and I do something similar when I make pasta sauce. I kinda call it the "clean out the fridge sauce" since its whatever veggies I have laying around and some ground turkey.
 

Don't let the haters get to you, add those veggies.

Oh hell yeah. The only time I don't add veggies to my pasta is when I'm sharing with one of the manchildren I live with. I feel you on the protein issue too. If I don't put turkey or tuna in my pasta I throw in a can of white beans just to make sure there's protein in it. When I was vegetarian/vegan I had to make a concerted effort to add protein to things. Easier for me than you since I could add peanut butter to breakfast, but I'd still rather eat veggies all day than beans or nuts. 

[Severine]

1 hour ago, fleaball said:

This song is frustrating because I can get a little bit of the Spanish and German (significantly more of the former than the latter, but still) and it just reminds me I need to pick a language and do something with it. D: Like at one point I had I think 7 active languages on Duolingo, which really isn't helpful.

 

Yeah I am so bad at language commitment. What keeps happening is that I get to a level that's good enough for basic communication and then the motivation kind of stalls. It has totally happened with Spanish - like, I can now communicate well enough with my students to explain stuff and have very basic conversations, so the urgency of "ahhhh I need to learn so I can talk with my students" is much lower...and as we've learned it's a lot harder for me to motivate myself to do something when there's no emergency...

 

 

 

[fleaball]

3 minutes ago, Severine said:

 

Yeah I am so bad at language commitment. What keeps happening is that I get to a level that's good enough for basic communication and then the motivation kind of stalls. It has totally happened with Spanish - like, I can now communicate well enough with my students to explain stuff and have very basic conversations, so the urgency of "ahhhh I need to learn so I can talk with my students" is much lower...and as we've learned it's a lot harder for me to motivate myself to do something when there's no emergency...

 

 

 

Yuuuuup. I'm pretty sure I finished the entire skill tree in Duolingo Spanish once, but it took so long that I forgot a lot. I've since reset my progress a few times. Got maybe halfway through the German tree before going "hey I can understand simple German!" and never opening that one again. That's kinda why I want to take a class in something eventually. I'd have the same problem you did in Spanish where I'd be like in between levels, but I'm pretty sure being in a class for that or anything else would make me excited about it and I'd probably go out of my way to look for media in my target language. But now it's kinda like "mehhhh..." 

 

I think part of my problem right now is that I can't decide which language to really go hard at, largely because it's not for a real reason, just for fun/because I want to. And we all know I have problems letting myself do things just because. I can't even pretend it would be useful for job hunting, because I'm not going to reach a level of fluency in any language fast enough for it to have an impact for job hunting. I'd need at least a month in a Spanish-speaking country to achieve an ease with the language, if not the vocabulary. Anything else, forget it. 

[Severine]

2 minutes ago, fleaball said:

I'd need at least a month in a Spanish-speaking country to achieve an ease with the language, if not the vocabulary. Anything else, forget it. 

 

I've periodically considered just fucking off to Puerto Rico for a couple months, teaching English somewhere there, and letting immersion do its thing.

[fleaball]

14 minutes ago, Severine said:

 

I've periodically considered just fucking off to Puerto Rico for a couple months, teaching English somewhere there, and letting immersion do its thing.

If you do that I'm hiding in your suitcase lol. 

 

My new career goal: anything with enough money and vacation time to fuck off to another country for a month or so every year for language learning purposes.

[fleaball]

Also someone needs to teach me Irish immediately. I don't care that it has zero relevance to anything I want to do with my life. I need it.

 

This post brought to you by falling into a YouTube black hole.

[fleaball]

15 minutes ago, fleaball said:

Also someone needs to teach me Irish immediately. I don't care that it has zero relevance to anything I want to do with my life. I need it.

 

This post brought to you by falling into a YouTube black hole.

This is the video that started it, which I found on tumblr. 

 

 

[Severine]

That's gorgeous.

[Wobbegong]

That was amazing and Seo Linn is on Spotify! Thanks for the rec, Flea! 

[fleaball]

Arrrrrgh. I just spent the past 2 hours agonizing over reapplying for income-driven repayment for my federal student loans. They initially denied me because the way Lyft structures pay statements is stupid and confusing until you get used to it, so apparently they couldn't figure it out. So I had to write another letter saying "hey here's what I've made recently and I'll do all the math for you" but it was a pretty low number since I've not been driving much thanks to depression, but they only take pay information from the last ~60 days so I couldn't figure out how to be like "well this is what my yearly average looks like based on these numbers but it could turn out higher because of other weeks ahhhhh." >_> So there was a lot of staring at the blinking cursor on google docs. It shouldn't have been that stressful, but if they deny me for real then I suddenly have a payment of $1563 every month so I was definitely overthinking it and trying to get it to be perfect so they can't deny me. Fingers crossed I didn't shoot myself in the foot in the process. 

 

Now it's 6pm and I feel like I've wasted my day. (Because before working on this letter I was just puttering around doing nothing while avoiding calling them in the first place to see if they needed this letter or not.) I'm home alone til 8 and considered going out to buy and make salmon + roasted brussels sprouts for dinner, but the kitchen would still be stinky (fish + garlic) when my father gets home since I'd be eating later, and I don't really want to subject myself to his bitching about it. So it'll have to wait for another day when he's working til 11pm instead. I know I haven't actually done nothing today because doing a big scary finance-related thing isn't nothing, especially in my family (  ), but there was other stuff I wanted to get done and I just don't feel like doing anything. I think today is going to be a neon-orange-mac-and-cheese comfort food day. I considered going driving but it's the day before a 3-day weekend, plus Marriott workers are striking at at least 7 Boston locations and google won't tell me which ones so I can avoid the area, plus the Red Sox are hosting the Yankees for game 1 of the division series at 7:05, so tl;dr too much chaos.

 

I have a feeling that even the not-a-lot-of-stuff I've done the past two days has worn me out. And that just makes me sad. I grocery shopped and cooked on Wednesday and did a bunch of small cleaning tasks yesterday. I know I don't do so much in a short time usually, but it's just frustrating that I apparently need to work my way up to doing basic chores like a normal human? Especially given that I've had more time alone without having to worry about Thing 1 and Thing 2 being around so you'd think I'd be in a better place regardless. Meh.

[fleaball]

Pro tip: adding shredded cheese to Kraft mac & cheese to thicken it after you accidentally put in too much milk and make it soupy instead? Not a great idea. Barf. 

 

But! I feel better about my decision not to drive tonight - a bunch of drivers in different states, including one from Boston, are complaining on reddit that the Lyft app is entirely fucked right now and they're all having problems getting rides and marking people as picked up. 

 

Now I'm going to settle in and read fic for the night. Ha, literally as I was writing "and enjoy my last few minutes of peace" my father pulled up, so that sentence got deleted. Timing fail.

[Jean]

2 hours ago, fleaball said:

I have a feeling that even the not-a-lot-of-stuff I've done the past two days has worn me out. And that just makes me sad. I grocery shopped and cooked on Wednesday and did a bunch of small cleaning tasks yesterday. I know I don't do so much in a short time usually, but it's just frustrating that I apparently need to work my way up to doing basic chores like a normal human? Especially given that I've had more time alone without having to worry about Thing 1 and Thing 2 being around so you'd think I'd be in a better place regardless. Meh.

 

Yeah, trauma is funny that way, that it has effects even long after happening. And we are crazy that way, that we think "hey, because I have the right environment right now, I should be able to do stuff!". At least, that's what I do and when I fail, I just realise for the umpteenth time that recovery takes time and that recovering in itself is a very important thing to do. So, congrats! You did big things! Not the things you wanted, sure, but that financial thing looks like the kind to put a shadow on your mind and ruin your efficiency whenever you think about it.

[Severine]

3 hours ago, fleaball said:

if they deny me for real then I suddenly have a payment of $1563 every month 

 

Me when I read that sentence:

 

Jesus. It's amazing you're as calm about it as you are so dude, do not get down on yourself for taking a while to put that letter together. I really hope they approve it this time. If they don't can you appeal again?

 

3 hours ago, fleaball said:

Now it's 6pm and I feel like I've wasted my day. (Because before working on this letter I was just puttering around doing nothing while avoiding calling them in the first place to see if they needed this letter or not.) I'm home alone til 8 and considered going out to buy and make salmon + roasted brussels sprouts for dinner, but the kitchen would still be stinky (fish + garlic) when my father gets home since I'd be eating later, and I don't really want to subject myself to his bitching about it. So it'll have to wait for another day when he's working til 11pm instead. I know I haven't actually done nothing today because doing a big scary finance-related thing isn't nothing, especially in my family (  ), but there was other stuff I wanted to get done and I just don't feel like doing anything. I think today is going to be a neon-orange-mac-and-cheese comfort food day. I considered going driving but it's the day before a 3-day weekend, plus Marriott workers are striking at at least 7 Boston locations and google won't tell me which ones so I can avoid the area, plus the Red Sox are hosting the Yankees for game 1 of the division series at 7:05, so tl;dr too much chaos.

 

Yeah Boston traffic is a shitshow right now. And dude, even if all you did this entire week was save yourself from a $1500 student loan payment, it was a productive week. That shit is important. And boooo on your family for not appreciating the delicious smell of garlicy salmon.

 

3 hours ago, fleaball said:

I have a feeling that even the not-a-lot-of-stuff I've done the past two days has worn me out. And that just makes me sad. I grocery shopped and cooked on Wednesday and did a bunch of small cleaning tasks yesterday. I know I don't do so much in a short time usually, but it's just frustrating that I apparently need to work my way up to doing basic chores like a normal human?

 

I mean, if you think of it as being just about the chores sure, maybe you end up feeling bad. But let's be realistic - the reason cooking was draining has nothing to do with the physical or logistical toll of buying food and prepping it, and everything to do with the layers of emotional shit wrapped up in it. For someone who has a traumatic memory of almost drowning, literally just walking along the shore of a lake can wreck them for a day or two. Special situations have special impacts. 

[Severine]

2 hours ago, fleaball said:

Pro tip: adding shredded cheese to Kraft mac & cheese to thicken it after you accidentally put in too much milk and make it soupy instead? Not a great idea. Barf. 

 

I once tried to make a homemade version of Kraft mac & cheese by just melting real cheese and adding butter and milk, and yeah no, that shit does not work. We cannot duplicate the magical foodscience power of the mystical cheese powder. 

 

L makes homemade mac and cheese by making a bechemel sauce and it's great, but requires actual skill so I leave it to them...

[fleaball]

I will totally reply to you guys tomorrow; too tired for coherent thoughts rn but I need to say this. 

 

Who wants to guess what my brother said when he came home tonight?

 

Ready?

 

"I think I figured out the secret to not vomiting every night: just don't."

 

Wut. 

 

Yes. This disgusting bullshit habit of his? That I thought was just his body rebelling against him and was involuntary and there was nothing he could do about?

 

HE'S BEEN DOING IT ON PURPOSE.

 

Apparently he's been forcing himself to vomit. For years. Immediately before eating whatever meal it's called when it comes home after work. Because idk, there's post-nasal drip or some other feeling of grossness at the back of his throat so he's literally just been making himself throw up every single night to try to get rid of it. But then has trouble stopping once he's started, hence the going on for an hour or more. (And then eating his food, which is gross as well.)

 

He's on 5 consecutive days now of not vomiting, because he just decided "hey, maybe I should just not do that anymore." 

 

Jesus motherfucking Christ on a pogo stick.

 

Not only has he been subjecting everyone in the house to it for years, but he's been making all of us feel terrible for him because we assumed this was some kind of medical bullshit to go along with the rest of his issues and wow it must be awful to go through that every night. I'm pretty sure my mother talked to him about it repeatedly over the course of however long it's been happening. I've literally offered to take him to the hospital a half dozen times in the past year as well as asking how he's feeling and straight up telling him it's fucking gross to be subjected to so maybe he should see a doctor about it. My father has been woken up countless times by it and knocked on his door and asked with actual concern in his voice if my brother is okay and if there's anything my father can do for him. 

 

And. He's. Been. Doing. It. On. Purpose. With zero regard for anyone else. Which is true to character, obvious, and not surprising in and of itself. 

 

But holy shit I am beyond pissed right now. This just takes every selfish bullshit thing he's ever done and turns it up to 11. I don't even have words to describe how mad I am. I'm not even upset about it, like hurt or anything. I'm just seeing red. He casually drops this into our conversation and it took all I had not to yell "are you fucking serious?!" 

 

I need some long lost super rich relative to die and leave me their entire fortune so I can get the fuck out of here, yesterday. 

 

The best part is that I'm super pissed but can't do anything with this anger. Channel it into driving or job applications, sure, fine. But there's no point in actually directing it at him and telling him how I feel about it, because he already has zero fucks to give about my feelings. 

 

Also? He did actually know that just not vomiting was an option. I thought it was super coincidental that while we were at the hospice house for 3 nights he didn't have a single issue. Turns out that was just because he decided "nope, don't want to do this here." You stupid fucking asshole.

[WhiteGhost]

WUT?????

 

Your family makes no sense whatsoever. 

[Severine]

11 hours ago, fleaball said:

Yes. This disgusting bullshit habit of his? That I thought was just his body rebelling against him and was involuntary and there was nothing he could do about?

 

HE'S BEEN DOING IT ON PURPOSE.

 

 

 

 

 

I can't even with your brother. That is so fucked up on so many levels.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

13 hours ago, fleaball said:

Yes. This disgusting bullshit habit of his? That I thought was just his body rebelling against him and was involuntary and there was nothing he could do about?

 

HE'S BEEN DOING IT ON PURPOSE.

 

 

 

 

 

[fleaball]

Uggggggh. Apparently I sleep weird on my left side, because everything hurts from my neck down to like mid-ribcage. Neck/shoulder/back pain I can easily attribute to sleeping wrong, but my brain being the dick it is has decided that pain in my underarm and boob area = breast cancer. Largely just because there was an image on tumblr the other day with signs and symptoms to watch out for since it's breast cancer awareness month and it listed certain kinds of pain - none of which I think this is, but that doesn't really matter to my anxiety. My father's mother did have breast cancer, and there was talk of doing full genetic testing before/right after she died since her colon cancer was caused by a genetic thing as well (or possibly caused by it? I never got all the details) but it doesn't seem like it was actually done. I would've liked to know if the breast cancer was one of the genetic ones or a fluke, but oh well. (My father is my grandparents' only biological child so my aunt and uncle left it up to him and I think he just waffled so long that the window of time closed. I've asked him several times since whether it was actually done or not and all I get is a speech about how he's a terrible person because he always waits too long and misses things etc.) Aaaanyway. Have done all the requisite poking and nothing feels off. For the past few days I've had a twitchy feeling in my boob and I can't figure out what it is. Could be the surgery scars being weird (old PCP said sometimes they can feel funny or hurt because of the scars on the inside?) or maybe like, referred pain from whatever else is going on? I still have a week's worth of regular pills left in this pack so I know it's not PMS-related. Apologies if any of this is TMI but also... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

I'm glad you all feel the same way about my brother as I do. 

 

More family fun: my father woke me up this morning (I was clearly asleep but the door was slightly open after fat cat let himself in) to ask if I wanted to try poutine that he'd gotten from somewhere. It's 10am, go the fuck away?

 

Edit: apparently the poutine was from the galley of a WW2 destroyer that's at the Navy Yard? I'm even more confused now.

[Arkania]

Is there no chance to get a test of your genes regarding the breast cancer genetics?
And here are some hugs for everythingelse (oh man, what a family!):

[fleaball]

19 hours ago, Jean said:

 

Yeah, trauma is funny that way, that it has effects even long after happening. And we are crazy that way, that we think "hey, because I have the right environment right now, I should be able to do stuff!". At least, that's what I do and when I fail, I just realise for the umpteenth time that recovery takes time and that recovering in itself is a very important thing to do. So, congrats! You did big things! Not the things you wanted, sure, but that financial thing looks like the kind to put a shadow on your mind and ruin your efficiency whenever you think about it.

All of this. I'm terrible about overdoing things and/or pushing myself when I shouldn't. I'm trying to be nicer to myself and remember that it will take time no matter how good I feel, and I think I'm making progress? But yeah getting that loan sorted is a massive issue and now that I think about it, it probably took even more attention and energy than I thought because of what a big deal it is and all the implications. So it's probably a bigger accomplishment as well. I guess I'll just sit here and be pleased with myself lol. 

 

18 hours ago, Severine said:

 

Me when I read that sentence:

 

Jesus. It's amazing you're as calm about it as you are so dude, do not get down on yourself for taking a while to put that letter together. I really hope they approve it this time. If they don't can you appeal again?

Haha yeah when I read that in the letter I was like "...nooooooooooope." I think I'm possibly in denial lol. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to appeal again tbh. They're not really clear about the rules? I think I'd be able to request a waiver or something of the first payment because the process took too long, but beyond that idk. Fingers crossed I won't have to find out.

 

18 hours ago, Severine said:

Yeah Boston traffic is a shitshow right now. And dude, even if all you did this entire week was save yourself from a $1500 student loan payment, it was a productive week. That shit is important. And boooo on your family for not appreciating the delicious smell of garlicy salmon.

I can see your logic but my brain is like "lol nah." One day I will learn to be reasonable with my expectations for myself.

 

18 hours ago, Severine said:

I mean, if you think of it as being just about the chores sure, maybe you end up feeling bad. But let's be realistic - the reason cooking was draining has nothing to do with the physical or logistical toll of buying food and prepping it, and everything to do with the layers of emotional shit wrapped up in it. For someone who has a traumatic memory of almost drowning, literally just walking along the shore of a lake can wreck them for a day or two. Special situations have special impacts. 

Yeahhhhh. I know this but I want it to go away. It's especially annoying because none of it is my fault, I think. I have to learn how to do all these things like a normal person because of the consequences of someone else's behavior and bullshit. Blah.

 

18 hours ago, Severine said:

I once tried to make a homemade version of Kraft mac & cheese by just melting real cheese and adding butter and milk, and yeah no, that shit does not work. We cannot duplicate the magical foodscience power of the mystical cheese powder. 

 

L makes homemade mac and cheese by making a bechemel sauce and it's great, but requires actual skill so I leave it to them...

What's funny is I pretty much hate all mac & cheese that doesn't come from a powder. It's usually way too thick and creamy for me. I think my mother made it a few times by essentially just melting velveeta into macaroni? That's not really cheese either though. But I am hella jealous that you have someone who likes to cook.

 

9 minutes ago, Arkania said:

Is there no chance to get a test of your genes regarding the breast cancer genetics?
And here are some hugs for everythingelse (oh man, what a family!):

I mean, I probably could get tested on my own. But that also comes with consequences for health and life insurance if they find that I'm predisposed to something, I think. Although I just asked my father about it and my grandmother was one of 8 siblings (6 girls) and she was the only one with it, and all her siblings also had a million kids but as far as he knows only 3 at most have had it, so I'm guessing it's probably not the super genetic kind? Unless I'm entirely wrong about how it's passed on through families. But either way, yeah I could get tested but I don't really want to deal with the consequences and I was mostly just curious to see what my grandmother's results were. (Each of my maternal grandparents had 2 kinds of cancer, my paternal grandparents had 3 each, and my mother had 1. So I'm already fucked as it is.)

[Arkania]

Know that feel.

Grandma 1 cancer, grandpa 1 cancer, dad cancer, cousin cancer (miss her so much....), grandma 2 cancer.... And a lot of heart problems in the family. *knocks on wood*

Today figured out (again...) that I am not so healthy (psychologicly) as I thought I were again. Or were ever. Just don't know what to do with it now.

Big hugs!

And maybe I will read t he whole 116 pages because I wanna know your story (family etc) before I can say something regarding this.

[Bean Sidhe]

On 10/4/2018 at 5:52 PM, fleaball said:

Oh hell yeah. The only time I don't add veggies to my pasta is when I'm sharing with one of the manchildren I live with. I feel you on the protein issue too. If I don't put turkey or tuna in my pasta I throw in a can of white beans just to make sure there's protein in it. When I was vegetarian/vegan I had to make a concerted effort to add protein to things. Easier for me than you since I could add peanut butter to breakfast, but I'd still rather eat veggies all day than beans or nuts. 

 

I thought this was another "Bean is strange" moment... Glad to hear I am not. I think mushrooms are going to be my friend, but seriously I just kinda wish I could do the "I am tired of food, can we just do an IV or something and move on?"
 

On 10/4/2018 at 8:37 PM, fleaball said:

Also someone needs to teach me Irish immediately. I don't care that it has zero relevance to anything I want to do with my life. I need it.

 

This post brought to you by falling into a YouTube black hole.

 

Seriously, I would love to know a bit more Gaelic. Right now, I can say my name and that is about it. Maybe one day when Agents move out and I have money, I will get one of those "Learn this language" thing, but this is on my bucket list.

 

22 hours ago, fleaball said:

Pro tip: adding shredded cheese to Kraft mac & cheese to thicken it after you accidentally put in too much milk and make it soupy instead? Not a great idea. Barf.

 

Actually we do this to the Kraft mac and cheese quite often. the trick is to not add too much and put it in with the butter but cut the milk a bit. This may be how we always do it. If there is too much milk, I may have drained some of it before.

 

As for your brother....

 

 

The level of WT-everloving -muppetfart-F is amazing in your family. I can't even.

 

As for the cancer thing, I get the idea. I know when Sister M was diagnosed, she told all of her cousins to get tested for the gene since between her mom and dad's mom it was a possible. And since she had it, they could use her for reason and the insurance SHOULD cover it, but that was 4-5  years ago and well, health insurance in the US??

 

[fleaball]

@Countess D'If is that you I see lurking? Hiiii I was going to post on your Facebook later anyway.

 

1 hour ago, Arkania said:

Know that feel.

Grandma 1 cancer, grandpa 1 cancer, dad cancer, cousin cancer (miss her so much....), grandma 2 cancer.... And a lot of heart problems in the family. *knocks on wood*

Today figured out (again...) that I am not so healthy (psychologicly) as I thought I were again. Or were ever. Just don't know what to do with it now.

Big hugs!

And maybe I will read t he whole 116 pages because I wanna know your story (family etc) before I can say something regarding this.

Ugh, psych problems are the worst, because sometimes you don't even realize anything is wrong since that's the way you've always felt. (It took a lot of me bitching here before people were like "hey so your normal isn't actually normal" and I realized I have PTSD and depression. Whoops.) You'll figure out what to do with it.

 

Oh man, that's dedication haha. There's a lot of bitching about grad school and anxiety problems, somewhere around page 50 starts a lot of bitching about my mother having cancer and all the complicated feelings that kicked up, and then just general bitching about everything haha. The tl;dr about my family is that my parents were emotionally abusive and emotionally neglectful, and my younger brother is an asshole and the favorite child despite being a massive fuckup. I moved back home after grad school to help with my mother and she died 6 weeks later; I still live in my childhood home with my father and my brother and it's terrible for me, but because of mental health issues I'm having a hard time getting a job so I can move out. Actually, if you just want the context for that stuff, page 58 is when my mother was diagnosed. There's some other bitching about my family in the pages before that, of course, but her diagnosis is really what kicked off the epic shitshow in my life that's still going on. Don't feel like you have to read everything before you can comment on it though! 

 

43 minutes ago, Bean Sidhe said:

I thought this was another "Bean is strange" moment... Glad to hear I am not. I think mushrooms are going to be my friend, but seriously I just kinda wish I could do the "I am tired of food, can we just do an IV or something and move on?"

Bean may be strange, but in good ways. Mushrooms are gross. You can have all the ones I don't eat when I'm the worst vegan ever lol. (Seriously, mushrooms and avocados are in like every recipe and I hate them both so much.) I hear you though; sometimes needing to eat is such a huge inconvenience.

 

43 minutes ago, Bean Sidhe said:

Seriously, I would love to know a bit more Gaelic. Right now, I can say my name and that is about it. Maybe one day when Agents move out and I have money, I will get one of those "Learn this language" thing, but this is on my bucket list.

I've been told how to pronounce my real name in Gaelic but part of me feels like that person didn't know what they were talking about. Duolingo has Irish, if you ever have free time again. I don't like it because they don't pronounce all the words like they do in other languages and I need that to learn, but maybe it'd work for you? Side note, I just tried it to see if they'd improved it since the last time I did it, and "Bean" came up and even though I know Bean Sidhe is banshee it was a mind fuck to see "bean" and hear "ban" lol.

 

43 minutes ago, Bean Sidhe said:

Actually we do this to the Kraft mac and cheese quite often. the trick is to not add too much and put it in with the butter but cut the milk a bit. This may be how we always do it. If there is too much milk, I may have drained some of it before.

Huh. Maybe I'll try this next time.

 

44 minutes ago, Bean Sidhe said:

As for your brother....

 

 

The level of WT-everloving -muppetfart-F is amazing in your family. I can't even.

Love your choice of gifs, and your expression is the best lol. 

 

44 minutes ago, Bean Sidhe said:

As for the cancer thing, I get the idea. I know when Sister M was diagnosed, she told all of her cousins to get tested for the gene since between her mom and dad's mom it was a possible. And since she had it, they could use her for reason and the insurance SHOULD cover it, but that was 4-5  years ago and well, health insurance in the US??

Yeah when my grandmother was diagnosed with colon cancer and they said it was a genetic mutation of some kind that leads to up to an 85% risk of getting colon cancer? Plus increased risk for a shit ton of other cancers, since i just looked it up. Fuck, I guess I'm only eating blueberries for the rest of my life. Anyway. I looked into getting tested as a result but really didn't want to deal with the other repercussions. My father apparently thinks he should get genetic testing done (if he has it, my brother and I each have a 50% chance of getting it, but if he doesn't we're fine) but wants to get life insurance first... keep in mind he's 61 and a cop so that's going to be atrociously expensive if he ever follows through, meaning he never will. Plus my grandmother died 4 years ago so that's 4 years he's already put it off. >> If you can do genetic testing on dead people I'm having him tested when he dies. 

[Severine]

1 hour ago, fleaball said:

Yeah when my grandmother was diagnosed with colon cancer and they said it was a genetic mutation of some kind that leads to up to an 85% risk of getting colon cancer? Plus increased risk for a shit ton of other cancers, since i just looked it up. Fuck, I guess I'm only eating blueberries for the rest of my life. Anyway. I looked into getting tested as a result but really didn't want to deal with the other repercussions. My father apparently thinks he should get genetic testing done (if he has it, my brother and I each have a 50% chance of getting it, but if he doesn't we're fine) but wants to get life insurance first... keep in mind he's 61 and a cop so that's going to be atrociously expensive if he ever follows through, meaning he never will. Plus my grandmother died 4 years ago so that's 4 years he's already put it off. >> If you can do genetic testing on dead people I'm having him tested when he dies. 

 

You probably know this but just in case: colon cancer genetic predisposition is actually no big deal as long as you know about it and get regular colonoscopies, because it's one of the most preventable/treatable cancers - it starts with polyps in the colon, which they can just cut off during colonoscopies.

 

Not sure if you know, but D's dad died of colon cancer. Part of what made the whole thing so fucking awful was that he FUCKING KNEW he was predisposed (BOTH of his parents died of it) and he never went and got checked out, and then ignored his bathroom-related symptoms for a long time when they started, so by the time they found it, it was super advanced and had already metastasized. He had a lot of feelings about that, as I am sure you can imagine. D's mum was pretty frustrated with him for a while after his diagnosis because he could have prevented it.

 

Anyway, both D and his sister were told to start getting colonoscopies starting at 30 and then every 3-5 years. D has had two now and they haven't found anything yet, but I'm sure eventually they'll find polyps, and then they'll remove them and then switching him to getting checked every 1-2 years. Basically it means you end up having a lot of colonoscopies, but nothing else (as long as you do them!)