u/ilovemouserat

I know there’s only so much folks can help without me watching me actually diffuse my hair, but I keep seeing these videos of people who get done diffusing and their hair has beautiful spirals or coils. Mine just ends up being messy, inconsistent curls with frizz. And holy cow I feel like going to melt while drying (my hair takes a long time to dry), even on the lowest heat setting on my dryer (I use the T3 Cura).

Rest of my routine: shampoo and condition with Bed Head Recovery
Small amount of leave in Kinky Curly Knot today leave in conditioner
Giovanni foam
Odele curl gel
Micoplop with a tshirt
Diffuse: first go over my hair without scrunching, then start scrunching it into the diffusing bowl. I usually try to flip my hair over to each side, and also diffuse with my hair upside down

Looking at doing a homeschool preschool program with my 3 1/2 year old (mostly because I want to test the waters with homeschooling and see not only how she handles it but also how I handle homeschooling to see if it is a viable option for us when she is school age). Any suggestions on a program? Genuinely not trying to do anything strict, just trying to learn doing a routine and having a basic program for some structure.

Our daughter is 3.5 years old (4 in December). Husband and I are leaning very heavily towards homeschool. Do most people who homeschool do preschool (such as church preschool) or do something at home? I am self employed (chiropractor running my own private practice with one other doctor in there part time as an independent contractor).

Husband and I are returning from a trip to Nashville and the surrounding area this past week. Thought I’d share what we loved, what we didn’t, and what helped us along the way.

Country Music Hall of Fame: this may be a controversial opinion, but it was not my favorite. Maybe I’m not familiar with some of the origins of country music, but there were many displays with names of people we had both never heard of. Not saying I regret going, but I probably would check what they have on display before returning. The Dolly Parton exhibit was good, but that was about all I enjoyed.

RCA Studio B: we added this to our Hall of Fame ticket and it was 100% worth it. Our tour guide Eric (who looked like a rocker himself) was fantastic. To stand in the very space where so many greats created some of their finest work was special. He shared some fantastic stories about who recorded there and details about the building. One of my favorite stops

Ryman Auditorium: absolutely a must stop and worth the money. Full of both Nashville and country music history.

Robert’s Western World: a downtown Nashville institution. The back door is across the alley from the side door to the Ryman, which made it a favorite hangout for some of country music’s greats over the years. We had lunch there our second day in town. Obviously it wasn’t as crowded as it would have been at night (we were already over the craziness that is the bar area at night). They are known for the Recession special (a fried bologna sandwich, chips, a moonpie, and a can of PBR). We opted for cheeseburgers instead and I have to say it was a pretty solid cheeseburger. Would definitely go back, would like to maybe go back at night next time.

Marathon Village: good for picking up souvenirs and cool off in the AC. Parking was a little cheaper than many places downtown.

Hattie B’s and Princes Hot Chicken: we liked both, but we both liked Hattie B’s better (especially the sides).

Hugh Baby’s: delicious and decently affordable meal. Husband got the burger with pulled pork and loved it.

Love Circle: a short drive outside of downtown, it has a fantastic view of the city. A lot of folks up there had blankets and had brought food.

Woodlawn Cemetery: a lot of country stars are buried there. They are happy to take you around the mausoleum and show you the bigger names. Only thing was the mausoleum smelled horrible. I walked out of there with a headache. It honestly smelled of formaldehyde (as a medical professional who went through a year of dissection lab, the smell was obvious).

Parking: Music City Center was the best parking we found. Reasonable prices compared to other spaces in Nashville and central to everything downtown. We paid on average $15-$20 most days.

Outside of Nashville-

Jack Daniels Distillery: 90 minutes from Nashville and worth the drive and money. Our tour guide Jon T. knew his stuff and did a great job. Even if you don’t drink, this was a great tour. Lynchburg is a pretty little town and we loved this day of the trip.

Loretta Lynn’s ranch at Hurricane Mills: this was awesome. The house was great, but the best part was the museum. Loretta saved EVERYTHING. It was full of her costumes, handwritten lyrics, awards, childhood items, as well as items from other stars, such as suits from Porter Wagoner, an Elvis jumpsuit, one of Dolly Partons outfit. Honestly, I was more impressed with what was on display there than the Country Music Hall of Fame. When you leave there is a restaurant up the road called the Log Cabin with good southern staples (fried chicken, pot roast, etc). Husband got a steak and said it was good.

We were originally excited about checking out the downtown bars, but got over that quickly. The music coming out of the bars all competed with each other, and it was nothing but bachelorette parties down there.

Husband and I have been ttc for nearly a year now. We have one daughter who is 3 and a half. She was unexpected which makes it frustrating that trying to have a second has taken so long. I’m on levothyroxine and metformin. He has no major health concerns. I’ll be 40 in July, he is 30. Ive been using the Inito device which has been giving me consistent readings saying peak fertility, I’ve had confirmed ovulation, etc. I will admit we probably don’t get to try as often as we like with a 3 year old and our busy schedules, but we still at least try during my fertile window. I know we are very blessed to have the little one we have, and I have friends who have been ttc to years with no success, so I feel guilty being upset about not have a second yet. Anyone have any advice on conceiving when you are approaching 40?

Our daughter is almost 3 1/2 and we are at our wits end with potty training. I bought potty training underwear and she just pees in them. We’ve tried prizes for going in the potty….no help. Tried letting her run naked and taking her to the potty every 20-30 min…she just goes on the floor (thank god we don’t have carpet). Tried Oh Crap book method…nothing. She is almost defiant about it. I’m at a loss of what to do. I’m almost ready to pay to hire a consultant but I would love to avoid tha because we are on a tight budget.

Has anyone else experienced a weakened immune system since starting per menopause? I always used to joke that I had a cast-iron immune system, but it seems like the last year I catch everything. And I’ve struggled more with sinuses and allergies the last year than I ever have in my entire life. I used to never get sick or get fevers, but it seems like every month or so. I’m catching something. The only other thing I’m being treated for is hypothyroidism. If you have experienced this, have you found anything to help boost your immune system?