Lunch foods

Hi All, I've been lurking this subreddit and have googled some itinerary ideas for a 6 day solo trip in Iceland mid June 2024.
I have a rental car booked at Lotus Car Rental for a Suzuki Jimny with their full Platinum Coverage. I don't plan to do any off-roading but driving a manual 2 seater seems fun.
I'm an early riser so I plan to visit places early to beat the crowds. Any comments and suggestions would be appreciated.
Day 1:
6:00 am - Flight arrival
7:00 am - Car rental
7:30 am - Kronan to pick up food
8:30 am - 11:00 am - Blue Lagoon
1:00 pm - Food Tour with Wake Up Reykjavik
4:00 pm - Check-In @ Loft Hi Eco Hostel
Explore Reykjavík

• Hallgrimskirkja church
• Harpa Concert Hall

Day 2:
Leave Reykjavík
Stop @ Selfoss for food
Visit Seljalandsfoss and Gljufrabui
Skogafoss
Lunch @ Vik
Reynisfjara Beach
Dyrhólaey
Seljalandsfoss Sunset (I was told this was nice)
Accommodations - Midgard Base Camp
Day 3:
Option 1: Hike Fimmvorduhals Trail (weather permitting) - I'm a fairly experienced hiker and would love to do this famous hike.
Option 2: Bus to Husadalur (Volcano Huts) to Hike - Húsadalur - Þórsmörk Langidalur - Rjúpnafell (18km)
Option 3: Midgard Thorsmork Day Hike or Midgard Thorsmork Super Jeep (both options are expensive and not sure if it's worth it)
Option 4: Explore Vik Area
Accommodations - Midgard Base Camp
Day 4:
Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon
Diamond Beach
Fjallsárlón Glacier Lagoon
Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon
Accommodations - The Barn
Day 5: Golden Circle
Kerið Crater
Gullfoss
Strokkur Geysir
Thingvellir National Park
Accommodations - Loft Hi Eco Hostel
Day 6:
Sky Lagoon
Departure: 5:15pm
Any advice would be helpful! Thank you! :)

I (32F) like to sleep in on weekends if I don’t have anything going on. (I’m talking usually 9:30, rarely 10. very, very rarely would it be any later than 10.) I wake up at 7AM for work on weekdays. My boyfriend (34M) moved in with me in January, we’ve been together almost 2 years. He can’t sleep in, ever and is up at 7AM every day. This was a bit of a point of contention early in our relationship but more in a “oh one of us is a morning person and one of us isn’t” way.
To be clear, if he says like oh let’s grab breakfast tomorrow say 9, I will say yes and be up at 8 to go, same with any other plans. I’m only sleeping in if I have no plans. And it’s honestly rare that there are no plans. Maybe 2-3 times a month.
The issue has become that on those days, he’ll come wake me up at whatever time he deems appropriate for me to get up for the reason he’s waking me up. Examples: “We’d better get going, we’ve got to meet our friends at 11.” I check the clock and it’s 8:50. Yes, we have plans to meet them at a place 15 mins away… “Hey can you get up and help me unload the groceries?” It’s 9AM. What groceries? I got groceries 2 days ago.. he went to the store and got 12 items and wants me to get up to help put them away. “It’s time to get moving, babe, we should take the dogs to the dog park” it’s 9:15. Why can you not wait 15 minutes until I am up?
I will clearly state the night before my intention. I don’t have anything going on tomorrow morning, I’m going to sleep in. Or if there are plans I will state what time I’m setting my alarm for. “Im getting up at 830 so we can do XYZ” Even then, without fail, he will wake me up 15-30 mins before my alarm is set. I get irritated every time and ask why he can’t trust me to determine what time I wake up. I’ve asked him if I’m running late and stressing him out or something and he always says no. When I ask why he can’t let me sleep in he will just give the reason for why he woke me up that particular day. It’s starting to feel intentional and sort of manipulative?
This really came to a head on Sunday. I’d spent most of Saturday cleaning the house and prepping food for a Mother’s Day lunch we were having for both our Moms. Going to bed that night I said I’m glad that’s all out of the way, we just have to pop the food in the oven half an hour before they get here, I’m so excited I can sleep in until 10, it’s gonna be so nice! He replied “totally!” Sunday morning he wakes me up by gently flicking my nose and saying time to get going, we have people coming today” I look at the clock and it’s 9. I absolutely lost it, I started crying and went to the bathroom. When I came down an hour later he said you can’t act like that because you didn’t get an hour of extra sleep that’s childish. I asked why the hell he couldn’t let me have the extra hour of sleep? It’s not gonna take me 3 hours to shower and put food in the oven? Why can’t he just let me sleep until an alarm I set goes off? And don’t ever fucking flick me on the nose to wake me up again that’s so incredibly rude. He made a comment about how I’m obviously grumpy because I didn’t get enough sleep and I told him that I need him to really think about why he does this and come talk to me when he’s ready. We had a fine enough Mother’s Day and then he has avoided really speaking to me since.
I sat him down last night and asked if he thought about what I said and he told me he thinks I overreacted and that he’s trying to be helpful when he wakes me up. I said I’ve asked him to stop doing this so why would he think it was helpful? He just shrugged and I was getting irritated and didn’t want to push it. I feel like I’m going insane.
TL;DR because it needs one, clearly. BF won’t let me sleep in past whatever time he deems appropriate. I snapped and he says I overreacted.

Here is the recap of the 10 monetized posts from Kylea and Joseph "Joe" Gomez of Kylea G Weight loss Journey on 05/15/24.
"Indecisive people are the most troublesome and frustrating type of persons." Kilroy J. Oldster
⚠️ Compulsive Buying Disorder (CBD), aka shopping addiction, Death, Domestic Violence, Disordered Eating, Gaslighting, Illness, and Religion, will be discussed
Disclaimers: I am not a physician, influencer, or paid content creator. I am not affiliated with WW. I am semi-retired from the healthcare field with multiple college degrees. These opinions are my own based on social media content. I wish no harm to Kylea or Joe Gomez.
☎️ If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, please call or text 988 for assistance.
☎️ National Domestic Violence Helpline: Confidential Help is available 24/7 at 1-800-799-7233. Or text START to 88788.
https://www.thehotline.org/identify-abuse/power-and-control/
The tagline of Kylea G Weight loss Journey is, "I changed my life with prayer and a playlist of songs. No surgery, no meds. Just Jesus."
DAILY STATS 05/15/24:
0/10 posts discussed prayer
0/10 discussed music
2/10 discussed extra walking from sightseeing
0/10 shared a recipe
5/10 were about something Kylea ate or drank
1/10 was about 2 bandanas for Birdie
1/10 was about the weather
1/10 "Joe" posted about Arby's Kylea had delivered to the apartment
📢 For our friends at Meta, that means 30% of her monetized content had nothing to do with weight loss, which is the tagline and purpose of her page.
⚠️ Disordered Eating- Daily WW Points Used (Data compiled from monetized content):
1-2 WW Points?: Warm latte with almond milk, sugar-free vanilla, and monkfruit. 🚨 No sugar-free options are available at the Parakeet Cafe. Per their website, only house-made organic vanilla syrup is available. Kylea did not list the WW points for this beverage. 🤔
0 WW Points: FOUR scrambled eggs, fresh berries, and water
0 WW Points: Fresh Pressed Juice 🚨 Kylea does not count points for this, but the WW website counts blended and pressed juices as points.
0 WW Points: Southwest salad with chicken, corn, blackbeans, and salsa
7 WW Points: Poppi Root Beer, fresh pineapple, and a Quest Coconutty Caramel Bar with Almonds
📢 For our friends at Meta, that means Kylea consumed 8-9 out of (up to) 30 daily WW points in maintenance mode= Disordered Eating. This is dangerous messaging for her 140k+ followers on a weight loss journey. Please follow your policies on eating disorders and take action.
Recipes Shared: ZERO
🚨 Please speak with a medical professional about any questions or concerns you have about your health.
Comments: Kylea stopped showing the food and beverages her sister consumed today. Her sister is physically active and appears to practice moderation in eating with a more diverse palate. I think Kylea did not appreciate the praise her sister was receiving, and it made Kylea's Disordered Eating more apparent to followers.
Most posts were edited 3+ times (a few rapidfire edits then multiple hours later).

1. "Starting our day with a 30 minute walk to breakfast.👟 We wanted to explore as much as possible with our own two feet and that's exactly what we are doing!! The girl that showed up on July 5th of 2021 is so proud! 💖"

⏸️ People who have walked daily to a playlist for almost 3 years should not make a BIG deal about walking 30 minutes.

1. Kylea spent approx. $34 on 2 more bandanas for Birdie at the Farmers Market.
   
2. Parakeet Cafe: Kylea was charmed by this cafe and said, "I sat here enjoying my coffee and thinking of my grams. All the birds remind me of her 💖 ☕️"
   

⏸️ May Grams RIP. 🙏 To her family and friends, I am sorry that Kylea repeatedly monetizes her death.

1. Morning Glory for Breakfast: A large bowl of 4 scrambled eggs and berries are shown.

⏸️ This was not a choice on the online menu. To fear food in a wonderful culinary destination, like San Diego, is sad. Kylea needs medical care. ☮️

1. San Diego Zoo: "I've done a lot of walking here so I'm so thankful for my improved health. God is so good! 💖"

⏸️ Kylea does not look well in the picture. I feel her body is not used to this level of outside activity.

1. Fresh Pressed Juice: Kylea posts a green fresh pressed juice from the Farmers Market. The Reddit theory is that this stop occurred before breakfast, and she waited to post it since she had just consumed a latte.
   
2. "Joe" posted about Arby's: "My wife is the best! She sent me one of my favorite meals for dinner tonight and enough for me to have for lunch tomorrow. I love the roast beef sandwich from Arby's! ❤️"
   

⏸️ Please see the link above on power and control in domestic violence. Why was Joe unable to purchase Arby's on his own? Why was it delivered? Why the goofy picture of him holding the food bag? Although I realize "his" posts boost "her" engagement, fast food is triggering for those on a weight loss journey. Meta, please take action.

1. Southwest Salad: Kylea dined at an unnamed restaurant. "I tend to eat chicken, eggs, veggies, and fruit while on vacay because it is what I like the most! 💖"

⏸️ Kylea needs help for her Disordered Eating.

1. Post-Dinner Snacks: "Having some snacks after a long day of a lot of walking! 👟 I've never tried the poppi before or the quest candy bar and they are both SO good!! I got 12 grams of protein in while eating that quest candy bar and it was amazing!!!"

⏸️ That's right...her only WW points from food was a "candy bar" today, and it was "SO good" and "amazing!!!" This is gaslighting. Food is fuel. Green beans and brownies are the same... The iced cookie cake was "fine," remember? 🤔

1. She's cold: This travel blogger must not have checked the weather for her backpack trip. "I packed a sweatshirt just in case and it turns out I'm probably going to be wearing it the entire time because I'm so cold."

Takeout: Parakeet Cafe latte= $6.50 est + tip; Unknown beverage for sister= $6.50 est + tip; Morning Glory for KG= $20 est + tip; Unknown bfast for sister= $20 est + tip; Juice Hut pressed juice= $10 + tip; Unknown beverage for sister= $10 est + tip; Arby's delivery for Joe= $25 est + fees; Unknown restaurant for dinner (Southwest Salad) for KG= $15 est + tip; Unknown dinner for sister= $15 est + tip; Poppi, Quest Bar & Fresh Pineapple= $10 est
Shopping/Travel Expenses: Unknown Accommodations= $120 est + fees; Airport Parking (up to 50% off with prebook)= $16 est; Barks & Crafts Dog Bandanas= $34 est; Go City Pass 3 days for 2 Adults= $488;
All info from Reddit. ✌️

Just started a soul food business, making hot plate lunches and catering in the Dallas area, and was wondering how did everyone get business rolling in? Did you do Craigslist, Facebook ads, newspaper ads?

Thank you AskNOLA for all your help and suggestions, this trip would have been less eventful without you all!
Stayed at Omni Royal Orleans and loved it, great staff.
Day 1: Starving so I stopped the nearest open place, Oceana Grill. Had the taste of New Orleans, jambalaya, crawfish etouffee, sausage, red beans and rice. I liked it.
Day 2: Cafe Beignet for breakfast and had the crawfish grits, decent. For lunch I went to Croquettes. This was the best food of my trip. Roasted oysters were so tasty I licked the shells after. Also ate the dry-aged duck breast, so good!
Day 3: Swamp tour with Cajun Encounters. The swamp was so beautiful, and the warm air felt great when we were going fast on the pontoon. Saw more gators than I thought I would and also racoons, wild pigs, turtles and the poison plant hemlock. He broke off a piece for us to smell.
Day 4: Breakfast at a different Cafe Beignet for the beignets and cafe au lait, decent but not very memorable. Shopping on Magazine Street and stopped at the Balcony Bar for drinks. $3 cocktails! For lunch I went to Drago's and had chargrilled oysters, fish topped w/ crawfish stuffing, crawfish mac n cheese, and a crustless cheesecake. All was very tasty. Croquette oysters were tastier.
Day 5: FTBF voodoo tour, I did not enjoy our guide because his presentation was more like shock humor sprinkled in with some facts. Lunch I just had a club sandwich from the Rib Room. Partied on Bourbon Street and Frenchman Street for the night. The Dragon's Den near Frenchman Street was always lively.
Day 6: Neyow's Creole Cafe for lunch, had the fried porkchop, red beans and rice. Had a huge cocktail called the Bow Wow with like 8 shots of two kinds of rum and fruit punch, tasty. My second favorite meal of the trip! Visited the NOMA and the sculpture garden. Ceasar's Palace Casino for some poker and roulette = +$100!
Day 7: Breakfast at Parkway Bakery for the James Brown po-boy, bbq roast beef and fried shrimp. So messy I had to finish with a fork, decent. Back to the NOMA for more pictures. Lunch I went to Mr. Ed's for the fried catfish and jambalaya, pretty good.
Most nights I ate dinner at Wille's chicken shack because I eat late. Took the streetcar to a lot of places around town which saved some money. Went into a bunch of art galleries and antique shops in the FQ. Visited Voodoo Authentica for some souvenirs. I visited Bourbon Street most nights but always grabbed a cab to Frenchman Street for the cocktails because the ones on Bourbon are all on tap, yuck. Double yuck for the smell, but the street performers make it a spectacle to see. All around a great time had by this first-time solo traveler and I owe a huge part of that to this sub! Would love to visit again.

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{Sorry for the late post. I had some trouble with my scheduled summer semester pop up so I wasn't able to write this out as much as I wanted last weekend. Anyways, enjoy the domestic fluff of Damian and his newly expanded flock :) }
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-----Damian-----
"The next one's simple. Say their name then (sit). Like this: Braxton, (sit)." As Damian said the command he raised his hand to around shoulder height and snapped. The Great Dane in question slowly sat with his usual amount of sass. Ree cooed in awe and Scales' eyes sparkled. Damian smiled as he pats the large dog's head with praise.
"(Good boy). Ok, you two. Your turns. Make sure to say the commands in English. I haven't taught them Common yet." He motioned to the dogs Damian picked for the two to learn the commands with. It took Damian a bit of trial and error figuring out what commands each dog knew and what ones had different commands for the same motion. Then it took even longer to retrain them to all follow the same commands. He kept in mind the 'specialized' commands for a few of the dogs and didn't try teaching them to the whole group. Ree tried the command he was teaching them first, his dog being Diesel.
"Trii-cheiu, (sit)." Ree raised his wing-arm, though he couldn’t snap he still did the gesture. The boxer he was talking to blankly tilted his head. Damian chuckled and helped out the bird, knowing they all tend to have problems pronouncing new words without a chirp to them.
"You pronounced his name wrong, he doesn't know you're talking to him. It's more like 'Dee-sell'. The 's' is sharp enough it is almost pronounced as a 'z'." Ree practiced a few times as Scales took her try. She pronounced her dog's name a bit slow, but it was recognizable.
"D-ing-oh, (sit)." The stocky dog hesitated, glancing at Damian for a few seconds, but eventually plopped down then panted in a smile imitation. Scales' tail wagged violently, and she wordlessly cooed and trilled happily. Dingo didn't yet understand that was praise so Damian jumped in really quick to let her know she did good.
"Good girl, Dingo! Good girl!" He made sure to over exaggerate his excitement and made wide happy gestures before smothering the dog in pets and scratches. Dingo goes wild. She jumps up, bounces around a few times, then bolts into excited zoomies. A few of the other dogs joined in on the zoomies. Ree tried again on his command.
"Dee-zell, (sit)." The boxer's cropped ears perked and he promptly sat. Before Damian could, Ree copied his bigwing's previous praising and flared his wings. "Good! Good boy!" He praised, overly happy. Diesel's whole body perked up and he jumped up, landed in a playbow, then spun a few times before joining in on the zoomies with a butt-tuck run when Damian smooched at him. Damian laughed at the zooming dogs and shuffled over to be closer to his chicks, just in case the dogs tried to do fly-bys.
"Good job, you two. We're almost completely through the basic commands. I didn't think we'd get through them this quickly." His chicks cooed, trilled, and wiggled happily at the praise. Damian chuckled and rubbed their feathered heads, making a few bits of baby-fluff fall off as he drew back. He played with the few bits stuck to his fingers and watched his chicks play with the dogs as they started to wrestle. All of the dogs were bigger than them, if only slightly, but they were gentle when letting the chicks join in.
As they played he looked over them. They had changed a lot in the last month or so since the disaster of their first flying lesson. In that time, they had a few more lessons and were almost completely capable of flight, they still had a bit of supervision when they did though. They had lost almost all of their baby-fluff and their adult plumage was sported on the vast majority of their bodies. They still had to shed the last bits of fluff and a few of their baby-scales but that wouldn't take much longer. Damian was still taken with their coloring and patterns. And often found himself studying them over and over like he used to with their parents when he first got here.
Ree was a slightly grey-tinted shade of green with his scales slowly getting darker the higher they went. His stomach was a dirt brown color with a more red-ish clay spot on his chest. All his plumage was a light orage-ish brown color and he had speckles of more pastel green under his right eye and in a clump on his left jaw. His beak took the coloring of Blueberry's, a near-black color, but had the shape of Ruby's. His ears took after Violet's, long and pointed like a stretched fox's. His feathers and fur were more pressed down and made him look slimmer overall. His eyes changed from their baby brown-gold color to a beautiful sky blue.
Scales, on the other hand, had the coloring more towards a bumble bee (from what he remembered anyways). Her main coloring was a bright sunshine yellow that slowly grew more towards orange towards her underbelly and beak. On her chest was a splash-like clump of pink feathers. Her scales were less than her brother's and were a deep brown-ish color. The feathers and fur edging them were a deep enough brown to basically be black. Her plumage reminded him somewhat of Ruby and Sky's. It had a gradual fade towards the end like Sky but the pink-ish color of Ruby. She had near-neon yellow speckles too, like her brother, but the clumps were a bit larger. She had them ending on her wing-forearms like Violet's and a big clump scattered around the left side of her face. Her feathers weren't quite as fluffy as Sky's but was pretty close. Her beak had the shape of Violet's and the near-white tan color of Ruby's. Her eyes had a beautiful dual color in each eye. The top majority was a hot pink/magenta color while the bottom and inside edge was more of a petal/pastel pink.
Both were gorgeous and made Damian wonder how the genetics of their species worked to allow that vast difference in coloration and patterns when compared to all four of their parents, who tended to be different shades of the same color throughout. Ree had finally slowed his quite concerning growth rate and was starting to level out around Damian's upper thigh/lower hip, exceeding the taller of his fathers by quite the margin. All four of his parents telling him that Ree was probably one of the largest of their species in multiple generations. Scales was now barely a third of her brother's size, if that, having evened out just barely shorter than Damian's knee. Apparently that was a bit shorter than average for the species with Ruby being more towards the upper part of the average size and Sky being borderline short.
A demanding snort drew his attention away from his chicks and to the window he claimed as 'his spot' so long ago (was it really only just over one of his years since he was brought here?). There he found Casper lazily curled and dozing on the floor with Ares propped up against her where Damian had set him to nap while he taught his chicks. Said child was no longer asleep though. He was very much awake and staring Damian down with an expression demanding to know why he thought it was a good idea to even dare to set him down and walk away. Nevermind Damian wasn't even ten steps away. Ares snorted demandingly at him again and glared harder at the human's amused snort back. Damian did walk over though and picked up the child when he raised his arms at him. Ares had changed a bit too over the month Damian had him. He'd filled out to a more healthy-looking weight, though he was still a bit thin, and Damian had finally managed to memorize how to properly trim the toddler's hooves and brush out his fur.
Ares still had the bird-like plush and brought it nearly everywhere with him. Said plush was now being whacked into the side of Damian's head. Apparently, Ares decided being held wasn't good enough and wanted something else. Damian tried blocking the hits or holding the toy, but the little brat only started using his hooves in his growing tantrum. Getting tired of being hit with no explanation, Damian took the advice of one of the texts he'd read about taking care of a Grongri child and yanked Ares away from him by his scruff to hang in mid-air. The toddler wiggled and squirmed to try and hit him more but eventually the tantrum dimmed, and he went limp, a small pout on his face.
"You ready to tell me what's wrong now?" He asked the child before he cradled him again. He'd only made that mistake once. He still had the bruises to prove it. Ares glumly flicked his right ear down (which he's learned is a non-verbal yes), pout still present. Damian finally cradled the toddler to his chest again and let him sniffle and bury against him in self-comfort until he was ready to talk. Damian glanced back at his chicks to see them flopped on the ground with the other dogs, all panting and exhausted by the play. Damian chuckled at them, earning an irritated crow from Scales. Damian snorted in amusement but let them be. Ares was finally willing to tell him what was wrong.
"Want learn too." Ares' understanding of both Common and English has come a long way in the past month. He still can't string a proper sentence together, but Damian can't tell if that is because of a lack of knowledge or just because he's a toddler. He has adjusted to the flock a bit too. With it being so different from the usual Grongri Sounder structure it is understandable. He does have a few hiccups here and there but now he mostly just watches the chicks' reaction to things when he is unsure.
"'Learn too'? You wanna learn how to command the dogs too?" Damian questions, making sure he had the same idea. Ares' ear flicked again while he nodded. Damian hugged him a bit closer.
"You're a bit too small for the dogs to obey you immediately but I can introduce one to you and have you start trying. How about that? Will that work?" Ares was quiet for a bit longer but eventually agreed. Damian smiled and praised him with a few pets, receiving a few happy rumbles in response. Damian glanced around at the dogs, trying to pick one for Ares to start working on. He doesn't think any would follow the commands without his own help but if he worked on one long enough it would eventually cave. His eye landed on Casper, who was still in the same curled position as before. She was the most maternal of the group and was the one who took to the children the easiest and quickest.
"Ok, little piglet. Let's start easy." He said as he set the runt down on his hooves. As he did he got Casper's attention and called to her. "Casper. (Stand)." The large white wolfdog looked at him then crawled to her paws. He praised her softly then turned back to Ares.
"Ok. We'll start with (come). Say her name, Casper, and tell her to (come)." He said as he sat down next to where the toddler stood. Ares' little hooves stomped a bit in his excitement, but he tried. He tested out the new word before he did. What he settled on wasn't the right pronunciation, but it was close. He could mostly pronounce the command correctly too, though with a pretty heavy accent.
"Gas-prrrr. (Come)." Casper tilted her head at the child and sniffed at him. She looked at Damian and he looked to Ares then back. Casper followed and glanced, then back. Ares deflated eventually when she still didn't approach so Damian thought up something quickly.
"Maybe she doesn't understand your accent. Try this," He patted the ground, "when you say it. She knows that gesture." Ares perked back up again.
"Okie!" He turned back to Casper and tried again. "Gas-prrrr." He crouched down and clumsily patted the ground like only a toddler could. "(Come)." Casper's ears perked but she still hesitated for a second before slowly padding over and stopping right in front of the child. Ares squealed in excitement, tail going wild and hooves stomping. Damian made his chuff-imitation as praise for the child as he pets Casper to do the same. Child happier now, he figures he could take the kid away for lunch without protest. Scooping up the toddler he received no complaint.
Looking to his chicks he clicked his tongue. He learned that was a good way to gain their attention with zero hesitation, no matter what they were doing. He found out by complete accident, to be honest. He was clicking at the dogs from a habit that hasn't broken despite the years away from the farm he grew up on. Sure enough, just like every time before, both chick's heads immediately whip up to look at him. Both still looked groggy like they had just woken up. They probably had.
"C'mon, you two. Lunch time." The two groaned but climbed to their feet. Damian smiled and them and patted them as they passed. Once they were well on their way, he called the dogs and gathered them as he left behind his chicks. The dogs happily trailed after, excited after they heard the word 'hungry' when he asked. He entered the flock's kitchen, pack in tow, only a handful of minutes later. He had to take a slightly more roundabout way over since some of the dogs hadn’t quite figured out the ladder-like walkways and ramps yet and he didn't want them to fall through and get hurt. His birds greeted him with their usual trills and Untruthful with their latest attempt at teasing.
"So, the Pack Master finally decided to grace us with his presence!" Damian let them know it was a good one by sending a tease back.
"I see you haven't gotten any less spikey yet, walking pincushion." Untruthful's eyes slowly shut in a smile and Damian sent one of his own back, momentarily closing his eyes in an imitation of them. Untruthful looked surprised then they eye-close-smiled harder, spike-crest wiggling their excitement. Damian chuckled at them and set down Ares in his make-shift baby seat.
He chatted with Violet as he grabbed and rationed out the dogs' small lunch. He ignored the protesting whines, grunts, and half-barks urging him to 'go faster already'. Violet advised him to use one type of meat instead of another because of both better nutrients for the dogs and there being more of it. He thanked her and did as told. The dogs' lunch wasn't that big, more of a snack than anything, but it kept them from pouting and begging when everyone else ate. It also had helped him give them meds when they were still healing. They were mostly fine now, apparently Galactic Standard medicine works faster than the stuff he remembers. Finishing with the dogs' food he picks up the bowls, stacking a few to do so, and turns around. He walked past the dogs, chuckling at the excited spins, bounces, and tippy-taps they did as they followed him. He glanced back at them once he made it to the wall the flock had designated as their eating area.
He gave them a stern look and waited. They all eventually sat down, some more slow and reluctant than others. Once they did he placed down the bowls in the designated spots. Braxton and Casper had two stepstool-stand things he placed their bowls on because of how big they were. Once all the bowls were down he turned to look at the dogs. He waited in silence for a bit, snapping or humming warningly whenever one tried to shuffle forward. Once he deemed it long enough he gave the sort-of-command he was on the tail end of teaching them.
"(Ok)." When he said that all six dogs ran over to their bowls and started to eat. Damian strode back over to the counter and helped his birds move some plates to the table then settled cross-legged in his usual spot, Ares immediately crawling into his lap and Scales fluttering to perch on the shoulder opposite the side her brother sat on. The flock started to grab food and eat as they chatted with each other. Damian grabbed a little more than a double portion of fruits, beans (or maybe they were berries?), and a few crunchy finger foods he thinks may be cooked or specially prepared insects. He grabbed roughly more than a single portion (for someone his size anyways) of meats, the few root vegetables presented, and what he thinks may be foods made of bone pieces.
Once his plate was full he placed it down in front of him he reached over to grab a smaller plate and started making that one with tiny portions, letting his three kids have free pickings of his plate as he did. When he finished that plate he sat it in front of mini, receiving a grateful squeak before she dug in. He then propped his arms on the table, completely ignoring both his plate and the children stealing from it as he chattered on with his flock. By the time everyone finished his kids had their fill and were starting to fall asleep like usual after eating.
As his flock started gathering their dishes and the extra food on the table, Damian glanced at what was left of his plate. He made a mental note of how there weren’t as much leftovers as before and to grab bigger portions for dinner. As his flock started to disperse he looked to the dogs and said one of the first new commands he taught them.
"(Pups)." He got their attention. "(Take)." He ordered as he lifted up the half-asleep toddler on his lap. The dogs made whisper-boofs to show they heard and the largest three walked over to pick up the kids by their scruffs. Casper (the biggest, though not my much) grabbed Ree, Braxton grabbed Ares, and Dingo walked over to carefully lift Scales from his shoulder. Once they had a firm grip, they looked to Damian for further instruction.
"(To bed)" He directed as he pointed out the door they came from. The pack turned and left him alone in the room. He sighed to himself once he couldn't hear them anymore and looked back at the leftovers on the plate before him. It was maybe under half a portion for his size, probably less. He glanced at the counters and saw all the leftover food was already put up. He could go grab more but even half a portion for him would be nearly three or four large portions for his flock. No. It wasn’t worth it. He'll just grab more tonight.
He ate the leftovers in silence. Since he's got the dogs his head has been a bit quieter, though not silent. Apparently he was still enough for the building to register the room as empty, and the lights cut out. He blinked and paused at the sudden darkness but there was barely a second of blindness before some of his voices put their hands on his mental controls, giving his eyes a boost of minor night vision. It wasn’t much better than his natural amount of it but it helped. He decided not to go turn on the lights again and continued to eat his food as he peacefully listened to the soft chattering of his voices.

For the mother's day last weekend, JNMIL invited me, SO and our twin babies to lunch. I declined and told SO he can go alone, but I'll be home with the babies. MIL sent me a long email talking about how it is important for short term and long term development of children to be surrounded by nurturing relationships from their grandparents and how she knows that I want what's best for the kids, therefore I should reconsider coming to mother's day lunch. She also mentioned in the email that she hopes she's wrong, but feels as though there is a growing distance between us. I was pretty upset at her feigning ignorance after everything with comment about the growing distance, and the very blatant attempt at guilt tripping using my children to manipulate me to have her way. Of course she can't take a simple no for an answer.
I thought about ignoring her email completely, simply telling her I'm not going to spend my first mother's day around someone that does not respect me as a person or a mother, or writing out a long ass email explaining exactly why there isna distance between us. I ended up settling on a very polite "I respectfully decline, hope everyone has fun though. But you're right, there is a distance between us and I can explain why in another email if you wish." JNMIL has in the past accused me of not being open enough, so I figured this was she can't claim I attacked her for no reason or accuse me of not being open enough. If she wants to know, all she has to do is ask.
Well, she did not respond for a week and mother's day went really nice for me. SO went to see her for a short while for lunch, then me and him spent the rest of the day together with the kiddos. MIL and FIL passed on a card to me and I thought that was that.
Well, finally earlier this week MIL responded saying she'd like to talk in person and wants to go out for brunch somewhere together. I feel like I shouldn't decline this time, as then it's me being difficult and not even being willing to discuss things. Thing is, twin babies (well under a year old, being vague for privacy) are hard and I'd be leaving them both with my husband alone during the day when they're most active. One of them has also been having tummy issues and has been extra screamy lately. SO says he doesn't mind watching them both, but usually he only watches them both alone for only a portion of the night (we do shifts) when they're asleep or at least one of them is asleep for most of the time, so I'm not sure he's fully aware what he's signing himself up for. Quite frankly, I also just don't want to waste my time, between work and taking care of the babies, I've learned to really treasure my free time. Now I'm supposed to waste time driving somewhere, waiting for a food order, and waste time with her. I also know she's just going to try to manipulate me, make underhanded comments, pretend to be completely unaware of her boundary stomping, etc. it's just going to be such a waste of time at best, and more likely dealing with a bunch of underhanded insults from her. But I feel like I need to at least pretend to be open minded because I don't think SO really believes how badly she really treats me, and how much of it is intentional. So I kind of want to show him that I am willing to be civil. If she does end up using the time to throw some backhanded compliments or other subtle or unsubtle insuts, while we are at a restaurant, I'd basically be stuck there until the bill which sounds like torture. She may also come in hoping to try to manipulate me to spend more time with the kids or try to convince me the fact that I'm willing to stand up to her shows that I'm really suffering from PPD.
So, I'm not sure what to do. I considered inviting her over instead, but I don't actually want her in my house and am afraid she'll take it as an open invitation to invite herself over whenever she wants in the future. She tends to "misinterpret" these types of things. It might still be a better option to being stuck in a restaurant. Not sure what the best course or action would be here.

I am taking my father in law out for lunch on Friday. He wants to go to a dive that has good food. Last time I took him to Johnnie's Beef on North Ave and he absolutely loved it. Help me out with some good ideas, beautiful people. We are not picky eaters

Hello. My 14yr old Yorkie was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease 12/18/23.
Since then we have been doing at home Sub Q treatments every other day 150ml per treatment, one fish oil a day and high blood pressure medicine.
He had incontinence at the beginning then it seemed to stop and now it has started back up again. He was eating everyday with no vomiting.
For the last week, his eating has slowed where he skipped maybe two days of not eating. He is drinking and there is no vomiting.
Today I came home for lunch to check on him and he seemed ok. When my husband came home this evening he found him sleeping in a cardboard box our cats use. He seems weak and tired and no interest in food. He did eat at lunch.
I know this is a progressive disease that cannot be stopped or fixed.
Can anyone share their experiences with this disease?
I am also keeping a log of his bad, good and best days.

Have painstakingly planned a trip to Tokyo, and was able to fit all of my top things into the first 3 full days i am there. Now i'm not sure what to do the 4th day. Would like this day to be more relaxed compared to the other three, but still would like a suggestion on a cool area to end up in or some suggestions on what to do. Here is what i have so far
Saturday, (Tokyo Day #1)

• Arrive in Tokyo in mid afternoon - try to stay up until 10 pm at least to deal with jet lag
• we are staying in Shinjuku area and don't plan to leave the area first day
  • Tokyu Kabukicho Tower: arcades, nightlife,
  • Omoide Yokocho (West side of Shinjuku Station): traditional alley (food/drink)
  • Golden Gai: narrow alley of bars/food

Sunday(Tokyo Day #2)

• 9:30 - Senso Ji Temple
• 10:30 - Walk around Nakemesi Dori street
• Asakusa (~3 hours) just vibe here with no concrete plans. Options include:
  • Ride Rickshaw
  • Hoppy Street (bar district)
  • Tokyo Sky tree
  • Asahai beer tower (cool view bar)
• 2:40 - Board Tokyo Cruise Himiko boat to Odiaba
• 4:00 - Arrive in Odiaba, just vibe and walk around for a hour or so
  • Would have been interested in The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation or Joyopolis but don't think we'll have time
• 5:30 - Teamlabs Planet’s
• 7:00- Dinner in Roppongi Area
  • Tokyo Tower Red (closes at 10): VR Games

Monday (Tokyo Day #3)

• 10:30 - Tokyo Metropolitan building observation deck
• 11:30 - Walk around Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden (cherry blossoms)
  • There are three gardens here, only interested in japanese one
• 1:00 - Lunch
• 2:00 - Meji Shrine
• 3:00 - Walk down Takeshita street
• 4:00-6:00 - Stay in Shibuya area
  • Walk Miyashita Park
  • Nintendo world
  • Shibuya scramble (Starbucks for elevated view)
  • Hachiko dog statue
  • Pepper Parlor robot cafe
• 6:00 - Reservation for shibuya sky sunset
• 7:00 - Dinnenight out in Shibuya

Tuesday (Tokyo Day #4)

• Morning activity??? (open to suggestions here as well), or just sleep in
• 12:00-4:30 - Lunch and Ueno park
  • Walk around Ameyoko shopping district
  • Walk around giant park (2.8 miles total)
  • Go to Zoo (just to see Panda’s rest of zoo has bad reviews)
  • Museums- Japan national museum or others
  • Ueno Toshogu Shrine
• 4:30 - Walk around Akihabara
• 6:00 - Tokyo Giants game (probably only stay a few innings)
• 8:00 - Dinnenightlife

Wednesday, (Tokyo Day #5)

• This is where i need help. Some ideas i have are Art aquarium museum Ginza, watch sumo practice at sumo stable, Harajuku, and teamlabs Borderless.

Thanks for your help!

I usually am a solid unmoving eater. I eat a small deli sandwich for breakfast. Another one for lunch and cereal for dinner.
I'll snake cucumbers when I'm in need for a snake or some bread. But I don't "need" to number 2 at all. I mean I'll go like once a week if needed. Is thus normal to digest all or most of your food. I don't go off the beaten path unless I go a number 3.

So i recently got a 8 week puppy (some sort of poodle. im not sure). i sadly have to go to work but try to come home on my lunch to spend time with her and feed her and stuff. she of course cries when i leave and i understand shes a baby and doesnt know any better. ive been distracting her for when i leave the house so she doesnt deal with the heartbreak of watching me leave. i've been feeding her high reward foods/treats that distracts her when i leave. ill put treats into her kong and have her dig at it in the morning and feed her wet food when i leave to go back to work after coming home for lunch.
Do you think she'll catch on to what im doing and end up not falling for it anymore? like not wanting her treats or high reward foods cus she knows whats about to happen? i'm worried she'll end up not falling for it anymore and have to see me leave :(

Hi all! I grew up in Sonoma, but haven't been back in ages. I'm looking for a nice brunch/lunch spot to bring my family (4 adults) for a relaxing Sunday day trip. Looking for a nicer (more high-end) brunch/lunch spot to go to in Napa, Sonoma, Yountville or further (location isn't a big deal as I can drive them anywhere.) We are all huge foodies though, so the food should be good. Ideally, I would like to find a place with a nice view (think view of vineyards, gardens, etc.) Not really interested in doing a wine tasting since none of us drink, but any restaurant recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

I was a victim of crime when I was around nine or ten that resulted a few mental health problems that followed me well into adulthood. It's something that I'm still dealing with to this day but have much better control over and I have more good days than I have bad days. Because of it, I missed a lot of school due to anxiety, panic attacks, PTSD. Eventually got brought into a program at a hospital to try to get some of the education that I was missing in a more secluded, personal setting.
I ended up going back to high school and entering grade 10 but ultimately dropped out for good because the son of my abuser transferred there, too, and that sent me spiraling once again because his father was arrested since the police did end up getting involved.
I'm 29 now and I do have a job that pays cash. I watch children before and after school ( private carpooling ) from the moment they're dropped off to start their classes until they're picked up to be sent home. I'm actually in pretty good graces with the school because I've been doing this for two years now and they told me to put in my CV and they can try to get me in for a lunch room supervisor but I haven't heard anything back, unfortunately. I think I'm too embarrassed to ask about it, too. My resume is lacking because I didn't finish my education and my mental health was just too terrible lot of my life to get a job, and that's on me. I live with my mom but she's sick now and I think the reality of the situation is finally hitting me.
I want a more steady job. I want to work. The problem is a lot of the jobs require experience and education that I don't have, even when I was looking around at fast food jobs and retail.
Any ideas how to get started, basically from scratch, at my age? I plan on applying for the CAEC because I also want the education that I missed. I'm not picky with jobs. Work is work and I want to work but everything just seems a little bit too out of my range with what they want from their workers vs what I can offer them.
Thank you so much!

I've neglected my health over the last few years. I stopped trying to lose weight as it just wasn't happening to me and now I'm suffering the consequences.
I really want to eat better but I don't know where to start. I make it too complicated for myself then I don't know how to make it simple.
A simple week usually goes like this
Weekdays Mornings are usually an omelette and white toast with butter. I teach, sometimes I bring lunch with me, other times I don't. I don't always go to the staff room as I have to catch up on things during my break so I might stuff down a white bread roll with chicken or ham (from the leftovers of the kids lunches) Dinners could be anything from salmon and rice to chicken curry.
I will then graze all evening.
Weekends tend to have fried eggs and toast on breakfast, I might skip lunch because I've been grazing all day, then I'd probably get a takeaway or cook a simple.pasta dish.
I have menstruation issues, I have inflammation, I have PCOS, possible Insulin resistance but never diagnosed..
I feel like I'm drowning in sugafat and want to feel goodness in my bones again..
But I don't know where to start AND am impatient for the results... Argh I'm a hopeless case.
Also to note, I live with my mum and she buys the groceries. I've told her I want to buy my own but she gets offensive and it's easier just yo let her do it. But I feel I've no control over food.. And it's the same boring dishes every night (if I cook) because she doesn't want anything else.. And is also an almond mom and is always dieting then binging at the weekend and then starts again on Monday.

My partner just started a new job wfh. He had been off for two weeks before starting this one, and his previous job allowed him to get a later start in the morning and an hour lunch, meaning he was able to take care of both breakfast and lunch for us.
Now that he’s started this new job, I’m fending for myself for breakfast and lunch, and it’s been… less than stellar with an 11wk LO. If she allows me to wear her, I can at least do eggs and a tortilla. Otherwise it’s frozen microwaveable garbage that I can eat with one hand as she’s velcroed to me.
How are we managing to eat? Any ideas for less unhealthy but easily made foods?

Looking for advice on becoming OE if anyone is feeling froggy. I just don't know what I could do, but debt keeps slowly piling up and there's no good end in sight. Crap keeps happening and we add a little more debt each time. You all seem to have yourselves together, but I also think you are working with more knowledge & experience in the fields that make OE possible. I'm going to apologize for the length in advance.
I am 46. Intelligent, but far too dumb to do anything with it in high school when I would have qualified for full free rides to college if I'd put any effort into it. They called it gifted and put me in special & advanced classes. I outscored the valedictorian on the advanced grammar final without studying. This is relevant; I swear. I just want to lay out what I'm capable of despite the path I put myself on due to early poor decisions.
Graduated at 17 despite no effort (I started school early; back then you could do that if the kid tested high enough), working full time right away in food service. Got pregnant at 18, got a job at the bank. Started as teller and ended as the Vault Manager. Over the next few years, I did switchboard for a large construction company and Club Secretary for one of the local country clubs. Turns out I thrive in support roles. I'm a people pleaser.
Still in my early 20s, I was a legal secretary for eight years specializing in everything but criminal and domestic. I can do transcription, correspondence, and manage calendars. I can create pleadings, estate planning documents, rental and purchase agreements, corporate filings and even some PI work. Mostly my dictation for creation of documents went like, "We need a will. Use the Smith's as an example. Each other's PRs, then the daughter. Everything to each other then the kids, per stirpes. Separate share trust with distro at 25 and 30." I cannot create a full will with all the legalese, but I can edit an existing template to fit the customer. By the end, I was reminding the atty of the provisions he was forgetting to add to some agreements.
After that, I started my Exec Asst gigs. Three years for the CEO at a healthcare facility until they eliminated my position and four years for the President of a manufacturing facility. That's when they promoted my boss, he headed back to Germany, and I got the boss from hell. He fired me for refusing to come in on my day off to work for free (not to mention the subtle fat shaming). I guess they do that in Belgium, but not here buddy. HR tried to tell him. He didn't listen. I'd not been fired before, but I was mad and took the free vacation.
After unemployment and my little settlement, I took a small job as a receptionist seven years go because Exec Asst jobs are not a dime a dozen in this Midwest region and I didn't want to waste all of my savings being lazy. I tried to leave within a few months because I did find something better that still had quite a commute, but my employer had issues in the past filling this role so they threw a bunch of money at me to get me to stay. I've been answering a busy phone on top of other tasks I was assigned once they realized that I could do more than answer a phone, but still got exec asst pay. Only recently were they able to find another receptionist so I could focus all my time on being the boss' asst. I guess four lines lighting up at once isn't something everyone can handle.
I have a lot of down time while on the job, in office. I can't do remote for them because most of my job is harassing my boss to do his (the joke is he pays extra for the harassment), and another physical job is impossible because the commute is just over forty-five minutes each way. I have an eleven hour day. I'm physically driving for an hour and a half, I'm lunching for an hour, but I'm only actually working about 2-3 hours on some days while I'm here. I do like it, especially the people and my boss(es) are great. It's not overly challenging unless you count flighty customers who can't seem to decide what day they want my tech to fly there for service, and I don't have to take stress home. Kids are grown, so I only need to be in the room with the spouse for "quality time" once I get home at 6pm.
I'm proficient in all Microsoft Office programs, Google office programs, I've learned some user-unfriendly management software over the years like SAP and Prophet 21. It's been awhile since I've done much Adobe, but I can get through it and make some damned good looking business cards. I book travel and coordinate meetings, I plan events, I create flyers (Canva for this because I'm not that creative), etc. Basically, lots of support tasks and I just figure out what I don't already know. That's what Google's for, right?
I've not done any social media management nor QuickBooks, but I think learning one of those might put me in the direction I need...maybe? Seems like those might be things that would make finding remote work easier, but I'm only speculating. I want to ask you all, but that seems rude...and time consuming.
I need something either sporadic enough or with enough deadline leeway I could do it on my down time or even a tad after I get home in the evening if I couldn't get to it during the day. I was thinking Virtual Asst, but that market seems flooded with people from overseas willing to work for nothing. I can do cheap tasks, but I can't work for $5/hour. Maybe reach out to some law offices for spill over dictation? I did do that over my unwanted sabbatical through a service. I think I'm going to have to learn to market myself, maybe. I do still have a foot pedal.
Does this sound familiar to anyone? Do you have advice for me on how to get started? Do you have a suggestion for what I could pull off based on what you read about me? Do you have suggestions on things I need to do/learn before I even attempt something?
Any knowledge you wish to bless me with would be greatly appreciated.

Hi everyone!
I work for a grassroots community based organization and we have been asked suddenly to host and coordinate logistics for a state meeting at a community satélite location.
There are approximately 40 people in attendance from about 8am-5pm. We are providing lunch and coordinating with a local place but I need to set up a snack table for food/drinks.
I wanted to know if someone was familiar with how much food or what types of options to have? I’m thinking fruits (apples, bananas, cuties mandarins), yogurt, granola, maybe fresh cut fruit, bagels, cheese danishes, trail mix etc?
I need to also make sure I buy the supplies for the snack table, silverware, cups, etc how do I want to have the bagels presented? Do I need to put them on a platter etc.
Hoping someone can give me a pretty good list and instructions of what’s worked for you in the past. Planning to go to Costco for example so if there’s any specifics or recommendations in general, please would be greatly appreciated!