u/bookish-99

Hi all! I’m a middle school teacher and I’m moving districts this year. Because of this, I’ll have a new classroom, which does not have external windows.

At my old school, my classroom had a ton of windows, and I had plants for a multitude of reasons (brighten up the space, my wellbeing, calms down kids, gives disengaged kids a classroom job, etc).

I’d love to have plants in this classroom, but am not sure about the best way forward. I have a single grow light, which I can put a few plants under. However, some sites have said that florescent lights for low-light plans can be sufficient. Is this true?

I’m down for some creative solutions! Please help me have plants in my classroom this year!

Hi there!
When my partner and I started dating, they said my perfume smelled like “river rocks” (in a good way). That perfume has since disappeared from the internet, but I was wondering if anyone had good recommendations. Here are some other notes I’m open to along with petrichor:

Woodsy
Earthy
Bergamot
Lilac
Fog
Lavender
Bamboo

This may sound silly, but what changes from being in a long-term relationship to being married?
Especially asking nonreligious people, as I know marriage has a special place in a lot of religions.

Hi! I have a reasonable collection of books in my small apartment (around 300-400 whoops), but I was hoping to really read through a lot of them this summer to be able to pair down. I’m a teacher, so I’ll have a bit more time to do so. However, I get serious decision paralysis and will often just avoid reading what I already own and go to the library instead (which I also love).
Any ideas on a fun or creative way to choose a book to read with a bit more randomness?

I (27 nb) am debating calling out my friend (30 m) for consistently flaking.
So my friend (let’s call him P) has been flaking on me for the past year and a half, and it is really starting to hurt. P and I started off as friends with benefits about 4 years ago, and then moved into just friends pretty quickly. During that time (about a year into just being friends), I moved in after a tough living situation ended. He offered me some really discounted rent since he hated living alone. We really lived well together, and I only moved out about a year and a half ago because we both wanted to live with our respective romantic partners. However, we had both grown really close and so leaving was hard. In fact, we both cried in the parking lot as I drove away and promised to keep our friendship a top priority. About a year ago, P and his girlfriend came to my master’s graduation ceremony and we had an awesome time with my other friends and my partner. 
However, since I moved out, our relationship has been very weird. He has been much slower to respond to texts and has turned down a lot of plans. Initially, I was very understanding because living with a partner changes priorities. He is also going back to school, which can be difficult to manage on top of a full time job. When we do manage to make plans, he often cancels at the last minute with very little explanation or he comes at least an hour late. He will halfheartedly apologize, but get irritated when I ask what’s going on. 
After leaving me at a coffee shop where I was harassed by a stranger and I left in tears, I did text P that leaving me hanging when we make plans is hurtful. He apologized but did not reach out for the next two months after that. The next time we made plans to grab lunch, he did come on time, but often commented about how he missed his girlfriend (who he saw prior to coming to lunch and he would see when he got home) and how he wished she was there. 
Today, however, really got to me. We made plans to go out for drinks for my birthday, which was earlier this week. I picked a nice place, collaborated on the time that would work with his schedule, offered for him to bring his partner, and even sent him a Google invite. He accepted and said he was excited to come. However, less than two hours before the reservation, he texted to cancel. I said that it was fine, but asked that next time he tell me sooner, as I was charged for the reservation. He texted back “I let you know as early as I could. If you want I can pay you back for my portion of the reservation.” I responded “No thanks.” I don’t want his money. I just wanted him to know that cancelling has consequences.
He is also being weird to another mutual friend of ours, who he also had a sexual relationship with a few years ago. We have speculated about if he feels like he can’t be friends with us now that he is with his girlfriend? But we are both also friends with his girlfriend, so who knows.
In fairness to P, I think he may be on the spectrum and may not understand how his actions have been hurting me. However, I am hesitant to say anything because of him giving the silent treatment last time. Should I send him a message saying how I feel/asking if he wants to continue the friendship? Should I just silently let the friendship die? Should I suck it up and be more understanding? I would love some advice.

(P.S. I'm probably missing some important information, so feel free to ask questions and I can do my best to answer. Sorry, I'm just typing this up as an emotional SOS)