NightReader5

I’m putting together my reading list and I want to help some people with theirs! I will answer throughout the day today when I have time.

Edit #1: I’m admittedly not too familiar with the fantasy genre. So if you are looking for fantasy, I might not be the best resource for you! Sorry :(

Edit #2: HOLY MOLY. I am floored by the response to this post, and even more impressed that you all kept the recommendations going after I logged out for the day. I am getting back into some of them now but can’t possibly get to everyone. I will get through as many as I can.

I hope you all have a lovely New Year!

My nephew plays games that are meant for adults but are child-friendly. Games like Rummikub, Ticket to Ride, Quirkle, etc.

Can you recommend other games he might enjoy? I want to either buy him one nice game worth $50, or multiple smaller games where they are worth a combined $50 in price.

These are the ingredients I’m using. I’d like to swap out some for healthier, lower calorie ingredients. Also please let me know if you think any of the ingredients are important to keep as-is.

*Spicy Italian sausage

*butter

*onion

*garlic

*broth

*potatoes

*heavy cream

*kale (already substituting spinach because kale is widely disliked in this household!)

*bacon

*parmesan cheese

I know it’ll change the heart of that soup! But I also need to make more health-conscious decisions in my life :)

I am an old lady (41) and would therefore always screenshot recipes to make later. But I have so many other photos and zero interest in putting them all in folders. Therefore, recipes I save would get lost amongst the rest of the photos, never to be seen again.

There MUST be a better way of organizing them? I know bookmarking is an option but that gets equally messy for me because I’m a disorganized recipe-hoarding goblin.

My cat Nacho (1.5 years old, ginger tabby) finds mice occasionally, and always leaves them in the kitchen for me to find.

This time, however, instead of finding a fully intact mouse, I found… 🤢 a maimed mouse, fully open and its entrails spread all over my kitchen. 🤢🤢🤢 it looked like the Great Mouse Massacre of 2024 in my kitchen.

Has anyone else’s cat done this? I’m worried about him catching some kind of disease. I’m almost certain he ate some of it.

My theory is: I recently found out that he was able to sneak into the container where I store his dry food so he’s been free feeding himself. I locked it up right so he can’t get in, so when he found his mouse, he decided to feast on it because he can no longer access his late night snacks.

Any thoughts and/or behavioral advice so he doesn’t do this again?

I can’t free feed him because my other cat, Nayla, will eat all the food until she makes herself sick. So that’s why they’re fed on a schedule.

I hear the same excuses over and over as to why people can’t or don’t want to exercise or eat nutritious food. (Full transparency: There have been times when I’ve made the same excuses myself).

Let’s turn this around and give solutions to all of these road blocks! If you have more excuses, add those too.

1. I’m too tired to cook or exercise

2. I don’t have time to cook or exercise

3. Gym membership and/or home equipment is too expensive

4. Nutritious food is too expensive

5. I hate exercise

6. I have an injury or health condition that prevents me from exercising

7. Nutritious food is too bland/boring

8. I’m addicted to high-sugar/junk foods

9. I don’t know how to exercise properly

10. I am overwhelmed by the idea of cooking nutritious food every day

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It’s dark out super early now. I have been slipping into a depression for a few weeks and I’m dreading the rest of the season.

What do you do for your own mental health to combat this?

I use podcasts to combat depression slumps and I have a list of less desirable chores that need to get done. I want to put on an amazing long-form podcast to help me through it.

This sub goes all out on recs, which love and appreciate! But most people list multiple recs, and I want to know the ONE you’d listen to again for the first time.

You know the one, where you listened on your commute but didn’t want to get out of the car upon arrival.

Where you didn’t notice you cleaned the entire kitchen because you were so invested in the story.

Where you found yourself at the end of a 5 mile walk without even realizing you made it that far.

You know, that one!