u/ButtonNo7337

My dad's been sick this past week - sudden hospitalization, surgery, and now a long recovery - so I've been at the hospital a lot, dealing with all the things that come with aging parents.

It's also the first week of school for my elementary school aged daughter, so there's all the stuff that goes with that. Plus work and all the other life stuff that doesn't stop, even in an emergency.

My husband was out of town when this all went down, so for the first few days it was just my daughter and me. I was exhausted but managing.

Then somehow when he came home, instead of me getting some breathing room because he can now help out, I suddenly have more to do? I thought he'd pick up some slack, but instead I find myself spending more time justifying why we need to go to the hospital at this time instead of another time, explaining why no we can't skip this or yes this is why we have to skip this other thing, and so on.

I think this is just a vent. I need to get this out of my system, it's been a long few days, but why is it more work to manage things when he's here vs when he isn't?!? Help me work through this here so I don't blow up at him later. 🤣

Edit: Removed a couple specific details about our situation to make them less recognizable.

My in-laws live in central North Carolina. Our parents are getting older, and we're considering a move or maybe getting a second home in NC so we can be closer.

My husband and I have a 5th grader, and we currently live in Austin, TX in what I think of as an "urban suburb" - a walkable neighborhood just outside downtown (in the Austin city limits) with a highly-rated neighborhood elementary school, vibrant arts scene, diverse and friendly neighbors, lots of kids and dogs. We love our neighborhood and would be interested in finding something similar in NC.

I lived in NC 20+ years ago, and I know a lot has changed since - both for me and the state. So I'm wondering where to look for the kind of area we want.

• Urban, or at least medium-sized city. Not interested in rural or true suburbs because of the next set of criteria...
• Walkable neighborhood, can be mix of single-family homes and multi-family dwellings, just needs to have some food/drink/coffee/shopping within walking distance
• Homes have small yards (less than 10k sf or .25 acre)
• Good schools (public or private, though we prefer public and since we're coming from Texas I get that a "good" school is a relative concept)
• Community activities
• Support for the arts
• LBGTQ friendly
• DoorDash/delivery options

Open to most any budget if it meets those criteria. What neighborhoods in what towns would you recommend?

My daughter (10yo, going into 5th grade), loves vintage and unique clothes. She's super into 90s and 00s styles, dresses and tops with fun features like ruffles or asymmetrical hems. Bonus points if they're black. Think brands like Delia's, ASOS, Bebe, etc...

She's 5'1" and 105 lbs, so she's mostly outgrown kids' sizes but women's clothing doesn't quite fit her body yet. So juniors clothes might be better for her, I think. But it's been a while since I've shopped for juniors clothes. Where do you go for them now?

We've had some luck thrifting, but it can be hit or miss. Sometimes the Art Class and Wild Fable brands at Target have cute stuff, but she wants things that are less likely to show up on other girls in her class. Any better recommendations for places we should shop? Online or in-person.

My daughter just got back from camp where she took horseback riding and is now OBSESSED with horseback riding. She wants to take lessons to learn how to ride better. I know nothing about horses and a quick Google search for local lessons didn't help a lot.

Does anyone have recommendations for local places a 10yo girl can ride a horse once a week? I'd love if we could sign her up for something when school starts back.

Ideally we'd love a place in or near central, west or north Austin. TIA!

Had the weirdest thing happen this morning and I can't figure out why/what it was.

I pulled up to a stoplight on Burnet Rd (a few blocks south of Anderson), waiting for the light to change so I could turn left. This is a 3-lane intersection and there was a car next to us in the center lane, also waiting at the light.

I glanced over at the car. The windows were down and the man driving looked over at me. Then he got out of his car, ran around behind my car, and took a photo of my car. He got back in, grinned at me and gave me a thumbs up, then immediately drove away (he turned right from the center lane on a still-red light if that matters).

The whole thing was so weird, and happened so quick. It was unsettling.

Has this happened to anyone else recently? Any idea what he might be thinking or trying to do?

ETA: Found one of the other posts about this from a couple months ago - definitely the same guy. Thank you! https://www.reddit.com/r/Austin/comments/1srnafj/driving_scams/