u/Only-Moose2301

My husband and I bought an older home, lath and plaster construction. It had popcorn ceilings that contained asbestos. We had the popcorn removed and the plaster ceilings beneath aren’t in great shape so we want to put drywall up over them.

The drywall screws will have to pass through the original plaster ceiling to get into the ceiling joists. Should we use slightly longer screws to account for this? I’m guessing the plaster ceiling is about 1/4” thick. If we’re using 5/8” drywall, is it okay to use 1 5/8” screws? Or will we not be putting the screws deep enough into the joists?

I had my first foster experience recently. A very friendly stray cat in my neighborhood was pregnant and she gave birth to two kittens before I could get her in for a TNR. I took her and the kittens in and fostered them until they got old enough to be adopted out. Earlier this week, I brought them to the humane society to be spayed/neutered and placed up for adoption.

It was so, so hard to say goodbye to them, especially since it was my first time going through this process. I love them all so much but already have 4 cats and can't keep anymore. I kept wondering if I was doing the right thing by giving them up for adoption.

Well, lo and behold, I dropped them off Monday morning, and by Wednesday, all three had been adopted! And to make matters better, the humane society posted an adoption photo showing that the two kittens went to the same household! I'm so happy that they'll get to be together. And I'm really glad that their mom no longer has to fend for herself on the streets and can hopefully enjoy a relaxing life as a housecat.

The emotional journey of fostering has been hard but I can definitely see how it's worth it, and I'm grateful to have gotten such clear closure at the end of my first experience.

Ever since I got my IUD out about 3 years ago (I'm 33, was 30 at the time), I've been spotting intermittently for about a week before my period. Ranges from dark brown to light pink, sometimes heavy, sometimes light.

I asked my gynecologist (edit: about two years ago) and they didn't seem concerned about it. I wasn't actively trying for a baby at the time. Plus, I have a bicornuate uterus, which can cause some abnormalities, and my cycle has always been a little inconsistent. I had my hormone levels checked at that time and it didn't seem like anything was off. I also had a pelvic ultrasound done, and I don't have PCOS/PMOS. So my doctor didn't really investigate it further or offer much of an explanation beyond "spotting is normal for some people," and I didn't really push.

Now, however, I'm more curious about what is causing this spotting and whether it's a concern for trying to conceive. It usually starts about 7 or 8dpo, and it can last all the way up until I get my period.

Is this a sign of low progesterone? I've read that pre-period spotting can be caused by low progesterone, but I feel like I experience symptoms that are consistent with raised progesterone, such as breast tenderness and irritability, around the same time that the spotting starts each cycle.

I know I need to have another convo with my doctor, but I'm curious if anyone with similar symptoms has gotten to the bottom of what causes this type of spotting.

My 5-year-old cat Marty (male, neutered) is slow to warm up to other cats. He was our first cat that we adopted, and it took him awhile to warm up to his two siblings when we brought them home. We would see standard stuff like hissing and having a puffy tail when he would first see the new cats through the door.

I've been fostering a stray mom cat and her two kittens. The kittens are almost 8 weeks old, so it'll be time for them to get adopted out soon. Out of curiosity, I put the kittens on one side of the door and cracked it open so Marty could see them. He stared at them, came closer and sniffed them, but showed none of his usual signs of fear or agitation.

This leads me to believe that he could tell they were kittens and didn't feel threatened by them like he would feel about another adult cat. Is this because the kittens are physically much smaller? Is it because they have a kitten-y smell to them? They are mostly weaned but still breastfeed a little bit.

I was re-reading a fic from 2007 on ffnet, and the author felt the need to make a disclaimer stating that "they don't own MIT" (the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) because the characters in the story happened to attend MIT. It make me laugh but also reminded me of how there used to be a much stronger emphasis on making disclaimers back in the earlier days of fanfic. I believe this is because fanfiction was newer to the internet back then and there were legal issues being hashed out over transformative works, whereas nowadays our legal rights to write transformative works are better established.

Anyone else remember these kind of gratuitous disclaimers?

Marking as NSFW just in case. I have always been told the old adage that "if you insert it properly, you shouldn't be able to feel a tampon." This has never been true for me, and I'm confident that I know how to insert them. (I'm in my 30s and have been menstruating for 20+ years).

I only use tampons as a last resort when swimming or no other period products are available. I just find them so uncomfortable, like they just don't fit right in my vagina and I can constantly feel them whenever I move or shift around.

Well, after learning that I have a bicornuate uterus, I now wonder if I have a more tilted pelvic anatomy. Maybe the reason why I find tampons so uncomfortable is because my vagina sits at an unusual angle?

Curious if anyone else has this experience.