Small Talk: The Prayer Closet

[Scarlett45]

Breaking a nose sounds so painful! So many nerve endings in your face. 
 

I broke my right wrist at age 9 and I broke my left funny bone at age 11, the week of standardized testing. I was the dork that LOVED standardized testing week, and I was determined to finish before I would leave school to go to the ER. 
 

The worst thing about breaking my funny bone was that I couldn’t braid my own hair for 6 weeks, and no one cared to braid it for me🥹. 

[BetyBee]

1 hour ago, Scarlett45 said:

Breaking a nose sounds so painful! So many nerve endings in your face. 
 

I broke my right wrist at age 9 and I broke my left funny bone at age 11, the week of standardized testing. I was the dork that LOVED standardized testing week, and I was determined to finish before I would leave school to go to the ER. 
 

The worst thing about breaking my funny bone was that I couldn’t braid my own hair for 6 weeks, and no one cared to braid it for me🥹. 

The determination you showed at age 9 directly led to the strong, accomplished woman you are today, @Scarlett45 - I like that story! Except for the braiding part. That must have been hard going to school every day, if you were unhappy with the way your hair looked!

[CalicoKitty]

2 hours ago, sagittarius sue said:

Calico Kitty, I'm curious if your grandpa had some German ancestry?  It sounds so German, "alles in Ordnung,"  everything in order, done correctly.  Years ago I would tease my mother about this preference of hers.

Betey Bee, I did the same thing to my mother.  No outside damage, but years later she had surgery for a deviated septum.

Actually his ancestors were from England and Scotland.  He just had a really weird personality.  My grandma was one of those people that everyone liked--even if she was a horrible cook.  Grandpa was just very strict and unbending.  He was nice to us grandkids, but definitely not a cuddly, fun grandpa.

[Scarlett45]

9 minutes ago, BetyBee said:

The determination you showed at age 9 directly led to the strong, accomplished woman you are today, @Scarlett45 - I like that story! Except for the braiding part. That must have been hard going to school every day, if you were unhappy with the way your hair looked!

I was 11 with the broken funny bone, but you are so sweet!! When I tell that story, my Mom always points out "but I let you wear my red mink jacket because it was big enough to fit your cast under it"- an example of how I get 7% of her Mommy guilt (while my sister gets 93%). No I just wanted to finish my standardized testing because I thought it was fun and I got a lot of self esteem out of my scores!

Back then those claw clips were in style, so I was able to twist, clip and use some oil sheen for those six weeks and still be somewhat on trend. I had more hair accessories than the law allowed. I used to store my scrunchies in a Caboodle and arrange them from light to dark. Yes I was extra even in the 90s. I remember when the cast came off how DIRTY my arm was and all the dead skin was so gross, I couldn't wait to exfoliate. 

[oliviabenson]

My poor mom had to cut her hair and remove her earrings because I was a grabby baby. Babies do not sound fun at all.

Or maybe I was the worst kid ever.

[Scarlett45]

7 minutes ago, oliviabenson said:

My poor mom had to cut her hair and remove her earrings because I was a grabby baby. Babies do not sound fun at all.

Or maybe I was the worst kid ever.

Oh yeah- I don’t wear dangly earrings around babies. It’s a natural inclination to grab those things. 

[Turquoise]

10 minutes ago, oliviabenson said:

My poor mom had to cut her hair and remove her earrings because I was a grabby baby. Babies do not sound fun at all.

Or maybe I was the worst kid ever.

Earrings are a common magnet for babies. They see bright and shiny, and don't realize they're attached to your earlobes. With the grands I just wear small posts, or no earrings while I have them until they're a bit bigger. They grow out of it.

Edited October 25, 2023 by Turquoise

[Jynnan tonnix]

My broken nose story ...well, not my broken nose, but my kids'. When my older son was about 11, we signed him up for baseball, and since you got a discount for having two kids in the sports leagues in town, signed my daughter (age 9) up for softball. They were not overly enthused, but we told them they should give it a try. Anyway, a few weeks later, my son took a baseball straight to the nose and broke it. Had surgery a few days later to fix it, at which point my daughter took a softball to the nose (this was less than two weeks later). Not broken, but it definitely warranted a trip to the ER for X-rays. In the interim, my younger son (age 5) took a tumble off his bicycle in the driveway and scraped his face up a bit. We were so afraid someone was going to report us for abusing them! Luckily, they were very understanding.

[Salacious Kitty]

I broke my nose for rock and roll! 

Junior in high school, in a spirited debate with a member of the basketball team about music. One of my friends played music over the school's intercom system at lunch. Played a song I liked and made my opinion known. Unfortunately, he was kind of behind me, and as I turned my neck, I smacked the corner of a wall. Still have the bump to this day. 

Edited October 25, 2023 by Salacious Kitty

[Quof]

I've told this nose story somewhere on these Forums before, so apologies if it was this board and you've all heard it already.

I used to date a guy whose nose had clearly been broken at some point, and not  professionally set.   He liked to tell the story of how, as a toddler, he climbed on the kitchen counter to get a cookie and fell to the floor.  One time he was telling the story yet again (God, I heard that story a lot) when his older sister was there.   She said "oh my god, do you still believe that story?  Here's what happened.  I hated you. So I dropped you on your face."

 

[sixlets]

Mr. Six broke his nose in college playing hockey.  He never had treatment, and to this day, he has issues with breathing.

My major childhood injury came from a claw clip in the 80s.  It was bright red, and I just got out of the bathtub, and my mom used it to put my wet hair up.  For whatever reason, I was feeling all Evel Knievel/Hulk Hogan that night and decided to make a running dive onto our couch.  It was up against a wall, and we had a coffee table sitting directly in front of it.  I totally missed the couch, landed on the edge of the coffee table, and that damn claw clip broke with all of the tines going into my scalp.  Looking back, I needed stitches.  Instead, I sat on the floor while my dad picked every single tine out of my head...while watching Saturday night wrestling.  Evel & Hulk would have been so disappointed in me...

[jcbrown]

My broken nose: I was hurrying across a parking lot to class and it had been raining. Focused on getting where I was going, I slipped on the combination of a bumper block and painted pavement (cyclists can attest that road paint gets slick when it gets wet!) and face-planted on the asphalt. Pouring blood, I flagged down some poor fellow student and persuaded her to help me walk the block to the health center. You get really quick service if you come in looking like that. And I got a ride in a cop car to the ER. Still the only bone I have broken. My husband at the time was out of town and came home to find me with a broken nose, six stitches closing my lip, and two black eyes. It's hard to drink coffee through a straw, is one of the things I learned from that.

[oliviabenson]

4 hours ago, Quof said:

I've told this nose story somewhere on these Forums before, so apologies if it was this board and you've all heard it already.

I used to date a guy whose nose had clearly been broken at some point, and not  professionally set.   He liked to tell the story of how, as a toddler, he climbed on the kitchen counter to get a cookie and fell to the floor.  One time he was telling the story yet again (God, I heard that story a lot) when his older sister was there.   She said "oh my god, do you still believe that story?  Here's what happened.  I hated you. So I dropped you on your face."

 

I’m still laughing. Thank goodness I’m an only child.

[crazy8s]

I am staying with the grands this week while their parents are away.

A laugh for you all

Grandboy "I was taking a shower and I accidentally found out I had socks on" 😂

I think he is the most head in the clouds child I have ever known. Not in a bad way, he is just a dreamer.

[Scarlett45]

I’m watching Coco and I’m reminded of how beautiful it is, yet so sad!

Im getting emotional. Grief is a bitch no?

[GeeGolly]

Goodness, our poor noses. 

At around age 6 I didn't break my nose, but similar to at @sixlets, I tried to jump over my sister's friend from to top of the couch with the intention of landing on the coffee table. Well my feet got caught up on her shoulders and I landed on the bridge of my nose and split it wide open and needed stitches.

A funny related story is when my son got hit in the nose by a ball. We iced him up and I said, if your eyes are black in the morning it might be broken. Fortunately it wasn't. Weeks later my daughter jammed her finger pretty bad. We iced it up. As I was putting her to bed that night, I commented on the fact her finger looked better. She said, well, if my eyes are black in the morning we'll know its broken.  She was 4.

Edited October 27, 2023 by GeeGolly

[oliviabenson]

15 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

I’m watching Coco and I’m reminded of how beautiful it is, yet so sad!

Im getting emotional. Grief is a bitch no?

I always cry watching it 

[Turquoise]

Mr Turquoise and I went to Yellowstone a few weeks ago to celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary. We realized we hadn't taken a trip since our honeymoon (oops!). Sharing a few pretties to start off the weekend.

Edited October 28, 2023 by Turquoise
Hopefully added pictures everyone can see this time :)

[ChiCricket]

2 hours ago, Turquoise said:

Mr Turquoise and I went to Yellowstone a few weeks ago to celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary. We realized we hadn't taken a trip since our honeymoon (oops!). Sharing a few pretties to start off the weekend.

Those links don't work for me.  :(

[Turquoise]

1 hour ago, ChiCricket said:

Those links don't work for me.  :(

See if they work now. I can see them fine on my end, but I tried adding them a different way.

[Notabug]

42 minutes ago, Turquoise said:

See if they work now. I can see them fine on my end, but I tried adding them a different way.

The pics show up nicely in the post.  Gorgeous stuff!

I tried earlier and couldn't get the links to work either.

[Scarlett45]

4 hours ago, Turquoise said:

Mr Turquoise and I went to Yellowstone a few weeks ago to celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary. We realized we hadn't taken a trip since our honeymoon (oops!). Sharing a few pretties to start off the weekend.

This is beautiful! I’ve never been to Yellowstone, Im the furthest thing from outdoorsy you can imagine, but I greatly admire the beauty of places like this. 
 

I can believe you haven’t had a trip in four years, we did have a pandemic!

[ChiCricket]

9 hours ago, Turquoise said:

Mr Turquoise and I went to Yellowstone a few weeks ago to celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary. We realized we hadn't taken a trip since our honeymoon (oops!). Sharing a few pretties to start off the weekend.

Great pictures!

[Lisa418722]

Thank you for sharing the pictures.  I was in Yellowstone - over 10 years ago, I didn't realize it had been that long.  I would love to go back.  

[ozziemom]

Great Yellowstone pictures, thanks for sharing @Turquoise.  We were there about 7 years ago and it’s amazing how beautiful the entire area is.

[Turquoise]

38 minutes ago, ozziemom said:

Great Yellowstone pictures, thanks for sharing @Turquoise.  We were there about 7 years ago and it’s amazing how beautiful the entire area is.

Thank you, and you're welcome. 😀 It really was gorgeous! I would've liked to see wolves & bears, but what we were able to see was wonderful. I liked the time of year we went, leaves had changed and it wasn't as heavily crowded as it is in peak season. I had a few coworkers mention it's on their bucket list and I've told them all-go!

[Minivanessa]

@Turquoise, thanks for sharing those fine photos. I love Yellowstone, and it's been too long since I was there. I'm glad you enjoyed your trip!

[Mindthinkr]

I’m that weird friend that loves looking at travel pictures you take. 
Everyone please share more. Thanks @Turquoise for your Yellowstone ones. 

[Ancaster]

I'm mad at myself.  In an effort to be more social and get out of Covid funk I joined a MeetUp group that meets every other Tuesday.  This week's event was changed to Monday (tonight) because of Halloween, but costumes were encouraged.  Because of the costumes thing and because I can't get my stupid phone/calendar to remind me in any effective way, in my mind it was Tuesday as usual.  So I sat at home tonight planning my costume (I never dress up) and looking forward to tomorrow, then got a message that I'd missed the MeetUp.

Grrrrr.

[BetyBee]

That sounds exactly like something I would do, @Ancaster! I'm sorry you missed the MeetUp, but there will be more!

[Mindthinkr]

Today I have joy in my heart. My cats Squeaky and BB turned 20 years old. I plan to spoil them rotten today with all their favorite foods and kitten milk 🎉🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛

(Pictures posted on the Pets thread) 

[BetyBee]

I am fuming. I'm so disgusted with my greedy sister-in-law. She's all in on trying to squeeze some money for herself from her late sister's meager inheritance. She died without a will. Probate was over, but had to be re-opened for a time after she started making claims. This is for money she supposedly lent her sister that her nieces knew nothing about. At the same time she's trying to get together with us (my husband is her only remaining sibling) and I'm so disgusted with her behavior that I don't want to. With us, she acts like everything is fine, but I'm friendly with the nieces, so I know better. No one ever tells her off, so that is our part in this fiasco. She's a narcissist, so I don't enjoy our get togethers, but I've tried to be nice for the sake of family peace all these years. She's the kind of person who brags endlessly about herself. I have warned my daughters that we have no agreements to give her anything and we certainly don't owe her a nickel, in case we die before her. I wanted them to be forewarned because she is like Veruca Salt and wants it all and she wants it now! She's the one who told my husband (her baby brother) that he ruined a happy family by being born. She's awful. 

In other news, it's snowing here because of course it is - Halloween in the Chicago area usually brings awful weather for the kiddos!

[GeeGolly]

@BetyBee, if I may be blunt and very harsh, you and your husband should kick his sister to the curb. It sounds like you've put up with her bullshit for years. I think its time for you to have some peace. It might save her from harassing your kids someday too.

Setting boundaries with family is harder than with friends, but in my opinion we only owe family a few extra tries to get it right, than we might extend to a friend. After that if the relationship is toxic or causes stress its just not worth it.

You could open a dialog and have a likely uncomfortable discussion, or you could always be busy, or you could just rip the band aid off and ignore her completely from here on in.

Hugs to you and your husband.

New England is not kind to trick-or-treaters either. We've had an unseasonably warm fall and bam, its cold out today.

Edited October 31, 2023 by GeeGolly

[Notabug]

1 minute ago, GeeGolly said:

@BetyBee, if I my be blunt and very harsh, you and your husband should kick his sister to the curb. It sounds like you've put up with her bullshit for years. I think its time for you to have some peace. It might save her from harassing your kids someday too.

Setting boundaries with family is harder than with friends, but in my opinion we only owe family a few extra tries to get it right, than we might extend to a friend. After that if the relationship is toxic or causes stress its just not worth it.

You could open a dialog and have a likely uncomfortable discussion, or you could always be busy, or you could just rip the band aid off and ignore her completely from here on in.

Hugs to you and your husband.

New England is not kind to trick-or-treaters either. We've had an unseasonably warm fall and bam. its cold out today.

I would also be concerned that perhaps this SIL is interested in getting together with you in order to get you on her side in the dispute.  Or, she knows you're friendly with your nieces and she hopes to get some information out of you that could help her.  Or plead her case to you so she can tell the nieces that the whole family agrees she deserves money from the estate.  Or maybe she is hoping to say or do something that will plant a seed that you or your husband will pass along to the nieces which will somehow give her an advantage.

She's a user and abuser, and I doubt her motives are pure or that she wouldn't turn on you, your husband and your kids if she thought it would benefit her somehow.

[BetyBee]

Thank you so much for valuable input, @GeeGollyand @Notabug. I agree with you both. I'm leaning towards still getting together and facing a difficult conversation. It would actually be easier and more like me to avoid the situation, but I think I need to face it. My husband has a lot of issues with her, but I think he's swayed by the fact that they are the only 2 left of their family of origin and he has always been good friends with her husband. I have thought that she's pushing for a get together with us now to either try to sway us to her side or to pump me for information on the nieces. Wise posters here to pick up on that! She won't succeed in either goal, but I do think I should face her even if it's for the last time. 

[Zella]

Just out of curiosity, what are you hoping to get out of talking to her, BetyBee? I think a lot of times people put energy into these kinds of events, hoping for closure or a reasonable but difficult conversation with the person, and that would be reasonable to expect of someone who's capable of behaving that way. But do you really think she's capable of that and has she ever demonstrated any interest in doing so? I think you're probably giving her exactly what she wants, even if you intend it to be the last time. 

[Scarlett45]

Happy Halloween everyone. Photos of my pumpkin carving on Sunday. My god baby who will be 9 in a few weeks carved her own! The first year she carved with us rather than just watching or painting. I’m so very proud of her. I was mindful to offer suggestions but not “take over” as it was her pumpkin and I wanted her to feel confident in trying something new. 
 

I did the mummy, she did the wiener dog and her mom did the palm tree. We started doing this before she was born and now she’s joining in! Circle of Life and all. 

[BetyBee]

1 hour ago, Zella said:

Just out of curiosity, what are you hoping to get out of talking to her, BetyBee? I think a lot of times people put energy into these kinds of events, hoping for closure or a reasonable but difficult conversation with the person, and that would be reasonable to expect of someone who's capable of behaving that way. But do you really think she's capable of that and has she ever demonstrated any interest in doing so? I think you're probably giving her exactly what she wants, even if you intend it to be the last time. 

You may be right, @Zella. Getting together was sil's idea, but we do see them every month or two. We're supposed to go on an outing, including lunch at a restaurant. I think more than having it out, I want to nip in the bud any criticism of the nieces. So I may end up just shutting down a conversation. I don't want to get involved in a huge drama, but I do want to take steps to start being more real and less of a doormat to my overbearing sil. My husband feels much as I do about his sister. We both also feel that our niece exacerbated the situation by not telling her attorney about the stuff sil is pulling when probate started. She keeps worrying that it will cost her more money to let the attorney handle these things, but I worry about her peace of mind! She's very poor, disabled, in poor health and on food stamps, in addition to losing her mother. 😥 There are people in the world who see a death as their last opportunity to get some money from the estate. My sil is one of them. 

[CherryMalotte]

7 hours ago, BetyBee said:

I have warned my daughters that we have no agreements to give her anything and we certainly don't owe her a nickel, in case we die before her. I wanted them to be forewarned because she is like Veruca Salt and wants it all and she wants it now! She's the one who told my husband (her baby brother) that he ruined a happy family by being born. She's awful. 

For that alone I'd tell her to eff off.  And include some hand gestures just for some added impact.  If 

You've gotten some really good advice here.  Having some questionable in law conduct of my own here I totally sympathize with the situation.  If she brings up any of the estate crap you would be right to tell her you are not going to discuss it, now or ever. 

I've been lucky because my husband knows the faults of his siblings and understands that there are times where I just need to not communicate or be around them for my own sanity.   Lucky too because he knows that I can be very quick to anger and can ride it out or give me a  constructive clue or two to back down. 

Good luck.  I'd like to know how it all pans out, if you don't mind sharing.          

[oliviabenson]

14 hours ago, Ancaster said:

I'm mad at myself.  In an effort to be more social and get out of Covid funk I joined a MeetUp group that meets every other Tuesday.  This week's event was changed to Monday (tonight) because of Halloween, but costumes were encouraged.  Because of the costumes thing and because I can't get my stupid phone/calendar to remind me in any effective way, in my mind it was Tuesday as usual.  So I sat at home tonight planning my costume (I never dress up) and looking forward to tomorrow, then got a message that I'd missed the MeetUp.

Grrrrr.

That happens to me a lot. I understand. I’m sorry you missed it.

[oliviabenson]

Happy Halloween!

[oliviabenson]

I went to target thinking maybe I’d find some Halloween candy on sale: found nothing. 
 

Candy was $4 a bag pre Halloween. I remember when it was 2/$5. 

[Love2dance]

@Scarlett45 Your pumpkins are all amazing. Thanks for sharing!

[Ancaster]

On 10/31/2023 at 4:23 AM, BetyBee said:

That sounds exactly like something I would do, @Ancaster! I'm sorry you missed the MeetUp, but there will be more!

I grovelled to the organizer and he was both pissy and whiny about it.  We reached a solution so I can stay in the group if I follow the rules (!), so I'm feeling good.  (It's a MeetUp for a four person card game with usually around 28 participants, so it takes a lot of organisation and I totally get that I messed up, but the guy's being pretty ridiculous.  I love the game and the social aspect of it though, so I can deal with a bit of dickishness!

[Minivanessa]

OMG. Look what I parked next to just now. 

[ginger90]

Ha!

[ginger90]

A belated happy birthday to you @Teriacky !!

[SunnyBeBe]

On 11/3/2023 at 12:56 PM, ginger90 said:

A belated happy birthday to you @Teriacky !!

Oh yes!  Happy Belated Birthday Teriacky!  🎂⭐️🥳

Have you guys seen this video? Scarlett, it reminded me if Cosmo!  It’s really amazing!

 

 

 

[Mindthinkr]

1 hour ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Oh yes!  Happy Belated Birthday Teriacky!  🎂⭐️🥳

Have you guys seen this video? Scarlett, it reminded me if Cosmo!  It’s really amazing!

 

 

 

I loved that so much. Thanks for sharing it 🥰

[SunnyBeBe]

7 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

I loved that so much. Thanks for sharing it 🥰

I’m in a good mood today!  I hit a milestone in my fitness journey.  I have lost 50 pounds!  The downside is I have little to wear!  Lol.