Sew in cups for wedding dress

I (f21) have always considered myself straight. There is no question I like men.
But recently, I have been seeing some masculine women in passing(short hair, tattoos, masculine clothing etc) who are so attractive to me, I can't stop staring at them. There is something about their face and vibe unlike men's that excite me in an unknown way.
However, I have thought about going down on women, and the idea makes me cringe. That led me to think maybe I find those masculine women attractive because they look like men? So I have watched adult videos where the masc woman takes off her clothes to break "the illusion", and I must admit, it makes me uneasy, but not grossed out entirely. I have observed there is nothing I find attractive on a masc woman's body except for their face, hands, or back though. Also, I find a lot of different looking men attractive in passing but rarely for women. They always have a specific masculine look, and I know if a woman I found attractive would dress like me, traditionally feminine, I would lose all attraction for them.
Therefore, does anyone have suggestions or clarifying questions that might help me figure this out. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds beef sirloin steak, 1/2 inch thick or ground beef (turkey for healthier meal)
• 8 ounces fresh mushrooms, diced (2 1/2 cups)
• 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups beef flavored broth (from 32-ounce carton)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups sour cream
• 3 cups hot cooked egg noodles

Steps

• If your using sirloin-Cut beef across grain into about 1 1/2x1/2-inch strips.
• Cook mushrooms, onions and garlic in butter in 10-inch skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onions are tender; remove from skillet.
• Cook beef in same skillet until brown. Stir in 1 cup of the broth, the salt and Worcestershire sauce. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 15 minutes.
• Stir remaining 1/2 cup broth into flour; stir into beef mixture.
• Add onion mixture; heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute.
• Stir in sour cream; heat until hot (do not boil).
• Serve over hot noodles.

Tips

• It’s important to create a slurry with the flour and broth so the mixture will blend in with meat mixture in the skillet without forming lumps. Bringing everything to a boil thickens the skillet dish and cooking it for a minute or two cooks away any raw flour taste.
• A hearty dash of Worcestershire sauce really enhances meat-based dishes. It’s a liquid condiment that offers a rich, savory flavor to meat dishes and beverages (it’s made from garlic, soy sauce, onion, molasses, anchovies, and vinegar).
• The sirloin steak is easier to slice if it’s partially frozen. The steak strips cook fast and after a short simmer will result in a quick and easy week night dinner.
• Sautéing the aromatics (garlic and onion) first helps define their taste by taking their pungent edge off and allowing them to develop a natural sweetness.
• White button mushrooms are delicious in the creamy sauce; for a different flavor, try shiitakes (remove the stems and slice them) instead.

Hey people, throwaway here. I've been awake since about 4 am slowly spiralling into a depressive episode.
Basically, I'm from Europe. I have a lot of friends that are from overseas, specifically the US. We used to hang out in a discord server all the time, talking, chatting, having fun and being friends. I even met my wife in this friend group. The dynamic changed pretty abruptly a couple months ago. For one reason or another, the server went completely dark. Nobody texted in it anymore, and things just... fell silent on all fronts.
Ever since this happened, neither I nor my wife have had any of our old friend group reach out at all. I've reached out a couple of times, but I just feel left behind. I don't know why nobody wants to hang out with me, but I keep seeing them hang out with one another, them meeting up in person and it just feels like there is a new server without us.
My wife and I also married recently, we met in that friend group and our wedding is coming up, and not a single one has rsvp'd so far. I'm so scared that none of them will come.
I feel more and more isolated from my friends, and I'm hurting quite a lot tonight. Just shouting into the void to see if someone is there to listen. Please tell me I'm not going insane and that our friends don't actually hate us. Please. I don't want to reach out to anybody about why we're not hearing from anybody, I don't want to ask if there is a new server we're not part of, I don't want to seem needy or pathetic like that. I'm in a lot of pain right now and don't know where to put it.

IMD injection molding

IMD (Injection Moulding Decoration, In-Mould-Decoration).
[caption id="attachment_3190" align="alignnone" width="680"]📷 Injection Moulding Decoration[/caption]
IMD injection Molding labeling is different from the traditional direct screen printing, heat-shrinkable label, the non-drying label of the new label packaging form.
At the beginning of the domestic large-scale application.
IMD injection Molding labeling is mainly used for the material such as PP, PE, PET blow molding and injection molding products. Namely before blow molding, injection molding has been printed mold
Labeling in blow and injection molding cavity, when blowing, injection mold on, through the effect of high temperature and high pressure in the inside mould making mold labeling on the special product, with the bottle or plastic surface, when the mold opens, a has beautifully printed bottles or note a one-time finish.
IMD has many advantages over other decorating methods, such as painting or printing. The image is directly embedded into the product, making it more durable and resistant to wear and tear. In addition, the image is less likely to fade or peel over time. IMD also allows for more complex designs and colors to be used, as the image is printed onto a film that can be easily inserted into the mold.
IMD is commonly used in the production of consumer electronics, such as cell phone cases and computer keyboards. The process is also used in the automotive industry, where it is used to create decorative trim pieces and interior components. IMD can be used with a variety of materials, including polycarbonate, ABS, and polypropylene.
One of the key benefits of IMD is its ability to reduce production time and costs. Because the image is pre-printed onto a film, there is no need for additional painting or printing steps. This saves time and reduces the risk of errors or defects. In addition, because the image is directly embedded into the product, there is no need for additional assembly or finishing steps.

IMD-mold stick mark advantages:

1. Enhance the anti-counterfeiting function of products directly, can conform to high standard enterprise brand protection needs more.
2. Mold labeling can do laser printed, aluminum plating, such as special effects, make the product packing grade is greatly increased.
3. The form is novel and attractive, fall off not easily broken, waterproof, prevent oil, mold-proof
4. Increase the health, the safety of packaged products put an end to the secondary printing and labeling of environmental pollution.
5. The comprehensive cost significantly lower than the traditional label and direct screen printing and environmental protection.

IMD-mold stick mark application industry;

1. Beauty, hairdressing products packaging container
2. Medical and health care products packaging container
3. The food and beverage packaging container
4. Oil powder, such as liquefied products packaging containers
5. Cooking oil, soy sauce, vinegar and other spices packing container
6. Washbasin, barrel, cup, etc. The adornment of the commodity.

Hi,
I am a work in progress. But I still think I’m ready for a loving relationship. I want to start the journey with my person.
I’m 27 years old and I have a fairly significant physical disability, cerebral palsy. That basically means that I need help with almost everything, from bathing, dressing, all that good stuff like that. I’ve had a couple other setbacks as well that have prevented me from really pursuing independence, but I’m starting that journey now in earnest. This might be TMI but I’m setting up a meeting with my parents so we can discuss a roadmap to maximum independence.
Having a disability has made it hard to “find myself.”I have a few major interests, namely politics, geography, and history. But I’m looking for more hobbies. I’ll be completely honest. It’s tough to develop your own identity when you rely someone else’s help That said, I do have a great passion for learning. Wikipedia is my favorite website in the world and I just love knowing a little bit about a lot of things.
As for TV, I like stand-up comedy, Saturday Night Live, Futurama, Ted Lasso. On the dramatic side, I like Breaking Bad Better Call Saul, Severance, stuff like that.
And I absolutely love music. I know that sounds generic but I literally have my headphones on for the majority of my date. It’s hard to talk about favorite artist or genres because I’m the type of person to find a song on spotify and play it over and over and over. Sometimes it is here a certain song, no matter the genre, and it just grabs me. In fact, I find it easier to communicate my feelings through song lyrics most of the time.
Now, for what I’m really passionate about, politics. I am a committed progressive/social democrat. Basically, I believe every human should be free to live how they wish, so long as they don’t harm others or themselves. This means I believe deeply in women’s rights and LGBTQ+ rights. I also believe that America, as a wealthy nation, has the resources to take care of its citizens. I believe in free enterprise, but I also believe that the government should create conditions which allow people to pursue full and fulfilling lives. This means support for a living wage, healthcare as a right, paid time off as a guarantee for every worker.
I’ve always felt this way but my philosophy really came together this past summer. My family and I were lucky enough to go on a trip to Ireland last July. We got to stay in a really nice hotel. Pretty much every room in the hotel had a view of this small lake. I don’t know what it was about that particular lake, but I couldn’t stop looking at it. I felt a sense of calm and contentment that I had never really felt before. And that's when I knew that everyone should be able to have the same feeling I had. At least a couple days a year where people can just relax, relatively free of worry. That’s what I want to fight for
Getting back to personal stuff. I also like to meet a girl and take her back to that hotel and share that sense of calm with her. Now, I am 5’7” tall and I am relatively heavy. I have a plan to lose some weight but it is difficult as someone who is relatively sedentary.
I am looking for a close and affectionate relationship. My disability has meant that I have had very little intimate contact of any kind. So I would like someone who is open-minded with a relatively high sex drive. I should say though. Due to disability reasons I may need a little blue pill. We can cross that bridge when we come to it though. I haven’t really experimented with it, but I am kink inclined. What that exactly means, I’m not sure yet.
I don’t really have any strict standards. All I ask is that you are between 20 and 35, single and willing to meet me relatively soon in Nashville, Tennessee.. I know I’m a work in progress. It’s going to take a where I’m going but I have a lot of love to give and I feel like I’m ready to give that to someone, at least.
Apologies for typos. They are pretty hard to avoid when using a dictation software.
As long as this is up, I am open to replies.
Face pic available upon request.

My brother (23 M) lives part-time with his fiancé (23 F) at her mom’s house. The mom is legally married and, although separated from her husband, he pays for half the house. To my knowledge, the wife refuses a legal divorce. The husband has allegedly started seeing other women, but that is unconfirmed. The husband has no idea that my brother stays at the house. He would not approve of his daughter’s boyfriend staying at the house, and has stated such. The husband is generally known to be flippant and paranoid, so the fact that my brother stays at the house has been hidden well for a while (Important context for later).
A few weeks ago, I went on a double date with my brother and his fiancé. I drove and dropped them back off at the fiancé’s mom’s house at 2AM. I noticed a truck parked in the driveway with a military sticker on the back. I hate to stereotype, but I did in this instance and assumed it was a boyfriend. My brother and I were the only ones awake in the car and I asked about the truck. He said “It’s her mom’s friend and we don’t talk about it.”
A few days later, I approached our parents. I needed advice and I was worried. The husband, although separated, has no idea that his daughter has my brother staying over, let alone that his wife has another man staying over. I communicate to my parents that I genuinely fear for my brother’s safety if the husband ever comes home. Although they are separated, they are not divorced and the house halfway belongs to him. The husband would have rights in our US state to defend his property if the situation came down to it.
I genuinely do not care what the wife or husband do, but I do care that my brother could be caught in potential crossfire.
When I confided in our parents, I had asked them beforehand to promise that it would not go further than us. They later changed their mind due to safety. They approached my brother about it and told him that the situation is inappropriate for him to be involved in, and that they’d rather not bury their boy in a worst-case-scenario situation. They communicated that he should not live with his fiancé at her mother’s house at all. Now my brother, his fiancé, and his fiancé’s mom are livid with me. I tried to speak with my brother about it on the phone today but his fiancé grabbed the phone out of his hand and said “I will have him call you later”. (To be fair, they were apparently going out to look at wedding venues when I called. I had not known)
AITA for bringing the situation to our parents? I do think it’s quite possible that I overstepped. In that case, I would apologize to my brother for bringing it to our parents. I couldn’t apologize for my intent though, which has always been to keep him safe.

It was a dark and dangerous night in the Midnight desert, with the Soulfang serpents lurking around, waiting to sink their fangs into a victim to consume their soul.
Luckily, though there was an oasis in the desert, and a new group, Team Zym, was safe inside of it. Two members of this group had been there before, but the rest hadn’t.
“This place is beautiful!” The young King Ezran exclaimed as he took in the oasis; a lush green area contained in a huge magical shield.
“Yes it is,” Ezran’s older half-brother, Callum, agreed.
“Yeah, but we should probably get some rest,” Rayla said.
After their failure to get the clue to the location of Aaravos’s prison from Rex Igneous, the group had gone back to Katolis to think. They had realized that the next clue to Aaravos’s prison was in the possession of the Archdragon of the Ocean, but they needed a guide to that dragon. And while Callum and Rayla had travelled with Nyx the Skywing, they had learned that she knew a lot about the ocean. So they had travelled back into the Midnight Desert to try and find her, but they had had no luck.
So Team Zym had gone to the Oasis and now they settled down to sleep.
Ezran, Bait and Zym slept next to each other.
Rayla and Callum on the other hand, lay apart from each other.
Rayla sighed as she wished she could sleep next to Callum. During their journey to return the Dragon Prince to his mother, they had fallen in love and shared several kisses, but later, Rayla’s lingering anger and grief over the loss of her parents and her mentor at the hands of the ruthless dark mage Lord Viren had led her to leave Callum to seek revenge. She had lied to him that they would look for Viren together, and then left him on his BIRTHDAY of all days.
Callum had already forgiven Rayla, but things were still awkward between them. They both wanted things to go back to the way they were, but they both knew they needed to rebuild the trust between them again.
But it wasn’t just the awkwardness, something else was happening.
Rayla and Callum were both eighteen now; officially adults. They still felt deeply for each other, and something new unfamiliar feeling had awakened within them. A nice warm feeling.
Looking Callum, sleeping so peacefully now, Rayla wanted more than anything to be lie down beside him, but she restrained herself.
Rayla knew that the awkwardness between her and Callum was her fault. She may have had good reasons for leaving, but that did not change the fact that she had deceived and abandoned him. Regret pierced Rayla’s heart as she thought of how her own desire for revenge had almost cost her the one last person who truly loved her. I was so obsessed with revenge that I almost lost him for good, she thought.
Rayla needed to think, and she couldn’t think clearly staring at her handsome prince mage. So she stood up and walked to another place near the edge of the oasis. She sat down upon a log and looked out into the desert, letting her confused thoughts flow through her head. She wanted more than anything than to get back with Callum, but how could she regain his trust?
Furthermore, she couldn’t think of a way to deal with these strange new warm feelings of hers. This… lust. She wanted Callum in a way she had wanted no one before.
Rayla was a beautiful Moonshadow Elf; a type of elf that drew power from the magical energy of the moon. As an elf, she had four fingers on each of her petite hands, dark violet stubby horns and pointed ears that peeked out from underneath her hair. She was slim and willowy with shoulder-length white hair, light pink skin, and purple eyes that had indigo tear-like elven markings underneath them. She wore a braid on the right side of her head. She also wore a form fitting teal and navy bodysuit secured by a black vest, dark brown straps, and a dark brown belt embellished with a silver brooch. The outfit was topped off with thigh-high navy blue boots and bracers. Now that she was eighteen and officially an adult, Rayla’s body had become a bit curvier, and her breasts had grown a little larger and perkier. And with the maturing of her body came new feelings.
A sudden touch on Rayla’s hand startled her. She looked up, expecting to see Callum. But it wasn’t. It was Stella, the female cuddlemonkey she had found and adopted while hunting Viren. “Oh, hey Stella,” Rayla cooed, giving the little primate a gentle touch on the nose. Stella chirped gently, looking at Rayla with huge eyes.
Rayla sighed. “Ah, I don’t know what to do Stella. I want Callum to trust me again, and I… I want him, but I don’t know how to get back with him.”
Stella gently nuzzled Rayla’s four-fingered hand. “Thanks, Stella, but there are problems you can’t nuzzle away,” Rayla said gently, appreciating the gesture, but knowing it could not make her problems go away.
Rayla’s thoughts drifted back to Callum; his handsome face, his powerful magic, and she felt the strange hot feeling in her body again. It seemed to burn like a fire in her skin. What could she do with these feelings?
For a long time, Rayla just sat there, thinking her strange thoughts and feeling her strange feelings.
Then, quite suddenly, Rayla became aware that Stella was not beside anymore. “Stella?” She asked, looking around. When Rayla look over her shoulder, she gasped, her purple eyes widening in shock and horror.
Standing several feet behind her was a huge, green creature, dressed in armor and with a green face like a pig. It was holding Stella tight in its hands and keeping one hand tight over the cuddlemonkey’s mouth to keep her from screaming.
“Hey, let her go!” Rayla cried, leaping to her feet and reaching for her butterfly blades. But before she could even touch them, two long, strong, green arms swung down and wrapped a large, white kerchief around Rayla’s mouth, sealing it shut.
“HYRAGMMMHHGAMMMMPH!” Rayla sputtered incoherently through her gag. Instinctively, she grabbed it and tried to pull it off, but the creature that was pulling the gag against her lips was too strong. It tied the gag behind the nape of her neck in a VERY hard knot, sealing her mouth tight shut and muffling her voice. “LHH MHH GHH!” Rayla whined through her gag. “LHH MHH GHH! MMMMMMPH!”
The creature behind Rayla seized her arms and forced them behind her back. Then, there was a jingling sound something made of metal and had chains was whipped out. Next moment, there was clicking sound as a pair of iron shackles was slapped onto Rayla’s slender wrists. “OWRMPH!” Rayla gasped through her gag as she felt the cold metal snap onto her wrists. That HURT! She thought.
Rayla was quite helpless now; with her mouth tightly gagged, her wrists cuffed behind the small of her back, and her shoulders held tightly by the creature behind her, she couldn’t move. “GHH OFHH MHH! LHH GHH! MMMMMMMPH!” Rayla whined through her gag, wriggling and thrashing will all her might, but the creature was too strong.
Rayla was able to take one last look at Stella before the creature forced her to turn around, revealing itself to be yet another big, green, armored, two-legged creature with a boar-like face. Before Rayla could do anything, the creature raised its right hand, curled it into a fist, and PUNCHED Rayla square in the forehead!
“OWRMPH!” Rayla grunted through her tight gag as the creature punched her so hard that her white-haired head buckled under the blow. Rayla straightened up. She felt stiff and then dizzy. Her purple eyes rolled in her head and her vision went foggy. Then, very slowly, the beautiful Moonshadow Elf fell to the ground, blacking out before she even hit it.
The two Gamorreans looked down at their new captive with satisfaction. They had been sent by their master to hunt for new slaves, and they had found one.
They looked at each other and smiled in their own hideous way. “Jabba will be pleased,” they said in unison.
To be continued...

My kid is 15.5m, recently heavy babbler, points at things, shakes head no, understands instructions, etc. Not walking yet, cruised along furniture great, walks on walker great, etc.
These are recent developments, mostly over the past month other than crawling and cruising along on furniture (he got a lot better at it).
He’s seen a speech therapist, goes to physio, etc. All says he’s a bit slower in development but everything is healthy and normal. He is very social, smiles a lot and conveys emotions well. Lots of eye contact when he wants to.
I am a little worried about impatience and seeming inability to think without being frustrated.
When he tries to play with a toy (stacking cup, putting a shape into a sorter, etc.), he can’t figure how to do it without a lot of help. He literally tries for 3 seconds then starts to vocalize his frustration and spikes the toy to the ground. He wants me to help him with play with the toy instead of trying for a little longer to figure it out.
Just wondering if anyone else has this experience with their baby?

Gday - myself and my partner have found ourselves in a relatively unique situation in which we have just moved in to our newly built home, but we are already keen to move on as we have already found an upgrade.
Why the short turnaround? Well, the 5 year process of purchasing our land and getting our home built has seen plenty change in our lives and our priorites shift. In short, the house we designed and had built over the span of the past 5 years is vastly different to the home we would build now. We like it, we dont love it.
We've found the home of our next 20 years however and wish to sell our current home and purchase it. We've spent a couple of weeks doing the financial gymnastics to see if it can work, but remain undecided. This is where this sub comes in.
Situation:
$472k on our current mortgage
$0 other debts (no credit card, no personal loan, no car loan, no hecs)
$10,400 monthly income
$3300 monthly expenses
1 toddler dependant
Approx $150k savings, approx $250k super
We are in our early/mid 30s.
Plan:
All going well, i.e if we are able to purchase new home for price we will offer, and we are able to sell our current home for what we hope to get, our situation will be
Approx $915k mortgage
Monthly repayments of approx $5150 @ 5.24% 2 year fixed
Monthly expenses of $3300 include everything (all utilities, rates, car maintenance, insurances - everything)
100k of 150k savings towards new home, keeping 50k up the sleeve in savings (redraw account most likely) which would be about $815k all up in down payment.
We'd be buying new property for under asking price in this scenario, and will likely only proceed if we can get this price
Other context: Both my partner and I have baked in 11% payrises over the next 3 years to come
Should we go for it for the dream family home at a time we could snag for under asking? Or are we stretching it too thin?

The title pretty much says it all. Quick background info, my MIL is a strong maximalist and shopping addict. She values convenience over almost anything else; pertinent here is her confused disdain for washable straws, reusable stasher snack bags, etc.
We went on a adults-only trip and my in laws graciously stayed with kids in our home.
When we came home 5 days later she had tossed anything that “wasn’t new” and replaced with single-use stuff. She tossed my kids’ Bentgo boxes and bought a big stack of those styrofoam to-go lidded containers. She chucked our sippy cup straws (you know, the ones that only go with that one particular cup?), and replaced them with an industrial Costco bag of single-use bendy straws. (As an irrational aside, she didn’t toss the cups- just the straws)
I’ll close with her mildly infuriating quote, “I don’t know why anybody would go through all that trouble of washing. You can get these * gestures grandly * for cheap!”

First thank you for the help given so far! Hopefully, this post will include a picture of what I want to accomplish. This top was made using the Master Pattern (Kwik Sew) basic blouse pattern.t (inside out so the seams, etc will show) The shoulder width (and neck opening) are too wide. This may be because the book was reflecting the wide shoulders of the 80s.
So, I've decided to try and draft my own bodice / sleeve block. There are so many different tutorials on the internet. What tutorials have you found helpful and why?
Over the years I've tried to devise a basic night gown pattern. Again, beginning with the KS Master Pattern Book. There were numerous versions with variations on the shoulders (pin tucks, pleats, gathers, etc) to account for the wide shoulders in the pattern.
This time my objective is similar to the picture. As you can see in the picture I tried to account for the neck / shoulder problem by taking in the shoulder seam a bit and then ended up putting tucks in both the front and back shoulder line. I hope to avoid all of this in the future.
For this garment, I cut the pattern horizontally at the armhole notches and added seam allowances to the top part and the bottom part. In addition a total of about 4" front and back was added to the bottom so that it would fit my bust and hips.
My purpose for drafting a bodice is to create this top with shoulders and neckline that actually fit. The way it is now, it falls off my shoulders which is very annoying.
I would like to do more variations in the future.
https://imgur.com/a/a2ERXRn

I'm building a Tilean army and I am looking for a good proxy model for Lucrezia. Everything I can find from 3rd party 3D printers or alternative wargames are all women wearing full armor on horseback. The only thing I can find that sort of matches the design is some Bretonnian sorceress proxies but the dresses they wear aren't quite what I'm looking for.
Lucrecia is mounted on horseback, should be wearing something provocative but still believable, and preferably has a sword. She is supposed to be one of the most beautiful women in the world(THE most if you ask a Tilean), so I'm trying to avoid ugly sculpts. I know I'm asking a lot but if someone has anything that fits that description I'd be really appreciative.

Hi all,
I am getting married with in the next month and we have been trying to work on our relationship with the in laws. We had lunch with them over the weekend and we discovered that MIL and FIL have no reservation information for the trip. They asked SIL who is constantly traveling and unavailable to book there rental home and flights. This was MONTHS AGO, rental home was allegedly booked 8 months ago. However, according to the parents the SIL will not give them any information and is now not answering the phone or responding. They know she's back in the states until the wedding so she is currently available and as far as we know is off of work until after the wedding.
When we tried to bring up the severity of needing this information for themselves MIL brushed it off as "SIL has been waiting to give them all of there Information last minute so it is most up to date". Like what... I pointed out the rental address and check in/ out date wouldn't change and that they are flying with BIL who would be able to notify them of any itinerary changes as they on the same flights. We were told that fiance is "stirring up a nest" and "I trust redacted" when we said we just want to make sure eveything is good to go.
Now we are conflicted on how to handle the situation. While fiance wants his parents there he's highly frustrated and not sure how to proceed, any advice? How do we get the mom to understand she will not be able to fly with out the proper information? She keeps saying oh I'll get the information next time I talk to her.... She has said that to me for the last month regarding the rental home address ... ugh. How do we handle the SIL refusing to talk to anyone? We have reached out directly to SIL and of course were ignored.
Note: I have previously posted about SIL planning to bring her unknown boyfriend to the wedding.

Evening everyone! Had a day full of many symptoms of quitting smoking and healing. Decided to quit coffee on june 16, i will allow a cup of plain coffee if i am running the kids to the doctors or across town. But in going to give myself a good clean cut off on the 16th. And i know many of the side effects of quitting coffee are very similar to quitting nicotine so itll be almost like round two. Ive already got a second support group set up for that. Wishing my shortness of breath would just go away. .good new no sore throat still. Lots of runny nose and a multitude of other things. This is the longest without a sorr throat so im really hoping for real it is gone this time for sure. And it is seemingly gone but ill wait till the end of this week before i declare that symptom resolved. Good luck everyone! Ontk day 87!

A family friend texted me and now my husband doesn’t trust me
If you asked me (35F) a week ago if we would be arguing about cheating I would have laughed so hard, but here I am. Me and my husband(39M) have been together 15 years and have never had a fight about either of us straying.
We were at his brother’s wedding were we saw a family friend who my husband has known for years. Me and him have always had a friendly relationship. There was an after party we were all going to and me and my husband decided to bail. I get a gross text message asking me where I was and saying some explicit shit. I have always been very friendly, but in my mind never flirty. I didn’t show my husband the message the next day as we were with the kids and didn’t get the chance. So I hand him my phone for directions and he sees it. I say to him, “ Ya can you believe that? It is gross, right?” I still don’t even know how this guy got my number and the only reason I clicked it was from him was because he referenced a joke I had made earlier in the day. My husband is so mad telling me he can’t trust me and I should have seen this coming. Honestly, I think he is right looking back in it, but I see this guy every 4 years and never without my husband and never without my in laws. I don’t know what to do. We have had such a solid relationship up to this point and he feels like I am hiding more from him, but I am not. I truly thought it was the grossest thing and assumed my husband would feel the same. How do I get him to see past his anger and listen to the truth? I would never risk my relationship or my family and the thought of making my husband feel like I would is making me sick to my stomach. He is the best thing in the world and his friend went and shit on it. The idea of me flirting with another person is so absurd to me and honestly was never my intention. We have always had our own friends and never put constraints on each other because it was never needed. I am just lost

So I spent the weekend in Nashville (broadway of all places) for a bday which on paper should be my worst nightmare. HOWEVER I’ve always wanted to go and have separation anxiety from my boyfriend soooo opted to suffer through it :)
I wanted to share some of the really easy steps I took to help myself out in case it’s beneficial to anyone else!
First- I packed cough drops in my purse. I’ve realized in the past couple months that the strong menthol/cooling sensation is enough to distract my brain. I focus really hard on how it feels in my mouth and throat and it’s kind of lovely when I feel myself starting to get short of breath.
Second- Chewing on ice. I made sure I always had an ice water cup and would munch on it at every bar. The crunch and cold made for a good distraction (similar to cough drops)
Third- I drank zero alcohol. I know alcohol can “help” with anxiety but I ALWAYS get tummy issues by the end of the night which triggers my anxiety. It’s not worth worrying about in my opinion.
Fourth- I made sure I had enough protein with my meals/low amount of sugar. The last thing I need is my blood sugar dropping and making my heart face.
Fifth- I allowed myself to leave if I needed to. It’s my life and I don’t have to be in any situation if I’m uncomfortable. I kept the mantra in my head of “no one can stop me from calling an Uber and leaving”. That simple reminder helped MASSIVELY. And if anyone asked about it, “I’m not feeling well.” is concise enough.
Friday morning I called my mom having a panic attack. Worried that I would be sick, that the people would notice, that I’d ruin everything, that I’d faint in the bars. Her response was “if you don’t deal with your trauma, it’s gonna deal with you.”
I hope this was helpful to at least one person as silly as they all sound!