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My bridal shower was yesterday and it was absolutely wonderful! the ONLY problem was, my soon to be MIL and SIL were complete no shows! in fact, the only person who showed up from my fiancé's side was his brothers fiancé (she's marrying into the family as well). they both sent in an RSVP and I knew that my SIL would be late since she had to work. i spent 1/2 my bridal shower thinking they were dead in a ditch somewhere, and by the end of the shower there was still no call or text to explain. i had my fiancé call the both of them and still no answer. at this point I was SURE they had either been hit by a train or someone was in the hospital and we were really growing concerned. about an hour later his sister calls to inform me that the reason they both weren't there is because one of their friends never stopped by to wake them up. the event was at 2 pm, less than 5 minutes from their home (they live together) and i just feel that at the ages of 32 and 54, this is a very poor excuse. i can't help feeling hurt over the fact that nobody from his side of the family was there, and that "well my friend never showed to wake me up" is a very pathetic excuse, especially for two adult women. they keep saying "we'll just bring our gift later" but i could care less about the gift honestly, i just wanted support from his family! how do i handle this exactly?

My bridal shower is tomorrow (yay!) but I'm not really sure how formal the event will be and I don't want to offend the (wonderful) hostess by being under-dressed. would a jean skirt (it comes 3 inches below my knee) a nice blouse, and some dress boots/nice sandals be appropriate? or should I wear a nice dress with a cardigan and low heels? I don't want to be out of place either way. my mother said she was dressing "business casual" but do any of my above ideas fit that description? thanks for any ideas!

our 55 gallon turtle/fish tank has become cloudy and very smelly recently and I have never experience this type of a problem. we have a fresh water tank with a bunch of different fish, including pleco's and a banjo catfish to help keep things clean. we change about 1/3-1/2 of the water every week as well as clean the filters and vacuum the tank (turtles are very messy for those that don't know!). we have about 40 gallons of water in the tank and have 3 filters. an normal fish filter rated for 50 gallons, and 2 submergible reptile filters rated for 35 gallons. this set up has worked great for us for the past 6 months, but now we have a fog tank and an AWFUL smell! the Ph balance is ok (just had it checked by a pro he actually recommended adding a little tap to unsoften it and then retested, all was well with the Ph.) we have gravel and larger rocks in the tank, no sand or plant life (anymore, the turtle eats it so we have to restock!) and our fish are very healthy, despite the water being icky. we can't use clear water drops, they made one of our fish sick last time so that option is out... any ideas how we can refresh our tank without hurting our aquatic buddies? we have quite the variety of fish including a few diamond tetras and a rope fish. there are also two small fresh water sharks and a pink tailed nameicantsaysoiwonttry, and feeder fish as well as a red belly slider turtle.

we have a 55 gal. tank with about 40 gallons of water in it so there is room at the top for our turtle. we have 3 filters running at all times. 2 are underwater filters specifically for turtles and are 3 stage filters, the other is a normal fish tank type filter with 2 stages. our water was nice and clear before we switched to a larger tank and we have never had a problem with our tank being cloudy or smelly until now. we've had the tank for about 6 months, but we've been fish/turtle owners now for 4 years. we tried the clear water solution and it actually made one of our fish sick so we cant try that again! we already vacuum the tank every week and swap 1/2 the water with nice fresh water but the cloudiness and are back by the next day! would bigger filters help? the 2 submerged ones are for up to 35 gallons each and the fish filter is for a 50 gallon so I thought we were ok on that end but now I'm not sure. are there any plants that would help? literally looking for any advice! I've thought about getting an under gravel system with a canister filter but unfortunately I don't have $300+ to drop on our tank right now.

can someone recommend a brand of panty hose that come in very light skin tones. the nude colors I've found are just too dark for my ghostly pale legs (we haven't hit shorts weather yet, give me a break!) does anyone have a favorite brand (that isn't too expensive) that comes in something lighter than nude color? I also prefer ultra sheer but its not a deal breaker

*so I asked this in the newborn section but maybe it fits better here*

I was at a baby shower last night (it honestly felt more like a bachelorette party than a baby shower) and something kind of struck me as odd. now I know that you are supposed to play games, and then the winner gets some kind of small prize (candle, bag of treats, whatever). however at this baby shower, the gifts were things that the guests were supposed to give back! like for example, the person who won the baby food guessing game won a bag of sippy cups, and she was expected to give the gift to the person hosting the shower (person having the baby). I thought this was kind of a tacky way of giving yourself a gift but has this become the norm? maybe I'm just out of date? also, is a baby shower now a "go out on the town and go clubbing" kind of thing? the whole thing just seemed very odd to me. this wasn't a friend by the way, just an acquaintance of a good friend who was also attending, I mainly went to hang out with her. I was invited (along with her whole friends list on facebook) to the event about a week before via email. no formal invites were ever sent, but she let us all know where she was registered at (FIVE different stores!) with plenty of time to get a gift for her! again, is this the new normal? or just a tacky shower? i'm praying for the future of baby showers it's the second option.

I was at a baby shower last night (it honestly felt more like a bachelorette party than a baby shower) and something kind of struck me as odd. now I know that you are supposed to play games, and then the winner gets some kind of small prize (candle, bag of treats, whatever). however at this baby shower, the gifts were things that the guests were supposed to give back! like for example, the person who won the baby food guessing game won a bag of sippy cups, and she was expected to give the gift to the person hosting the shower (person having the baby). I thought this was kind of a tacky way of giving yourself a gift but has this become the norm? maybe I'm just out of date? also, is a baby shower now a "go out on the town and go clubbing" kind of thing? the whole thing just seemed very odd to me. this wasn't a friend by the way, just an acquaintance of a good friend who was also attending, I mainly went to hang out with her. I was invited (along with her whole friends list on facebook) to the event about a week before via email. no formal invites were ever sent, but she let us all know where she was registered at (FIVE different stores!) with plenty of time to get a gift for her! again, is this the new normal? or just a tacky shower? i'm praying for the future of baby showers it's the second option.

I recently heard this comment when I was getting my engagement ring cleaned. I handed it to the sales lady and the older woman next to me made a comment that it was a lovely ring and asked if it was a family ring. I told her no, it's my engagement ring. she acted a little shocked (not rude or anything, just kind of like "OH!") and made the "wow! buy you're so young!" comment. I'm 24, my fiancé is 26. I have graduated college and we both have steady jobs that pay well. we don't have debt (not even student debt on my end) and we've been together for 7 years now, living together for 5 of those, no children. I don't think we are too young at all, considering all the facts, I just want to know if there a tasteful way to respond to this other than just kind of laughing and saying "yeah but we've been together for years now! I swear we're already an old married couple!" I don't want to say anything rude or abrasive, I prefer a more conversational or comedic approach so I don't make the other person feel awkward.

two of my bridesmaids are a size 4x and they would like to wear spanx or some other spanx like undergarment for my wedding. does anybody know where I could find something in this size? I've looked online but I'm honestly afraid of buying some cheap piece of junk from a scam website. I would really love a link to a reputable website if that's possible. thanks in advance!

I have a migraine and I'm not sure how many Tylenol 3's my doctor told me to take and I can't get a hold of him. also, I'm not pregnant.

my poor toy poodle has allergies and her eyes have been runny all week. I don't like to use store bought tear stain remover as it irritates her eyes. is there anything else I could use such as a home remedy? I really don't like putting harsh chemicals near her eyes...

who comes in when and in what order do they leave??? I know the groom stands at the front, but what about the grooms men and best man, do they pair with the brides maids and maid of honor, what about my mother and father and his parents? do the flower girl and ring bearer go before the bride? omg I'm so confused!

my fiancé and I are getting married at the end of August and so far there is only one hitch to our special day, and he's four years old. We are having a child friendly ceremony and reception and I genuinely love kids and I know that they wont be the most silent guests and a I really don't mind. all the other kids at the wedding I would describe as well behaved, this little four year old boy however is a terror. EXAMPLE: he joined us when I went in to pick up my dress and try it on (SURPRISE!) and from the first second we walked into the store, he was having a melt down. he was screaming that he wanted to leave, hitting his mother (my maid of honor), running around (in a bridal store!) and this was all before I had even talked to a sales rep about picking up my dress! during those 15 minutes that we were in the store he jumped on everything he could jump on, screamed at an ear piercing level, and I'm honestly surprised we were not asked to leave the store, my mother was mortified. he was TERRIBLE. this is not unusual for him either, this was not a bad day, this is everyday. the worst of all is that his mother does literally nothing to discipline him other than saying "don't do that please" over and over and over. and when he doesn't listen, well, nothing happens, she rolls her eyes and turns away from the behavior! how do I tell her this crap CANNOT happen at the wedding? LEAVING THEM OUT IS NOT AN OPTION! I need suggestions on what to do to get him through the wedding!

my fiancé and I are getting married at the end of August and so far there is only one hitch to our special day, and he's four years old. We are having a child friendly ceremony and reception and I genuinely love kids and I know that they wont be the most silent guests and a I really don't mind. all the other kids at the wedding I would describe as well behaved, this little four year old boy however is a terror. EXAMPLE: he joined us when I went in to pick up my dress and try it on (SURPRISE!) and from the first second we walked into the store, he was having a melt down. he was screaming that he wanted to leave, hitting his mother (my maid of honor), running around (in a bridal store!) and this was all before I had even talked to a sales rep about picking up my dress! during those 15 minutes that we were in the store he jumped on everything he could jump on, screamed at an ear piercing level, and I'm honestly surprised we were not asked to leave the store, my mother was mortified. he was TERRIBLE. this is not unusual for him either, this was not a bad day, this is everyday. the worst of all is that his mother does literally nothing to discipline him other than saying "don't do that please" over and over and over. and when he doesn't listen, well, nothing happens, she rolls her eyes and turns away from the behavior! how do I tell her this crap CANNOT happen at the wedding? I don't want to exclude my god-son and his mother, but im running out of options.

my fiancé and I are getting married at the end of August and so far there is only one hitch to our special day, and he's four years old. We are having a child friendly ceremony and reception and I genuinely love kids and I know that they wont be the most silent guests and a I really don't mind. all the other kids at the wedding I would describe as well behaved, this little four year old boy however is a terror. for example, he joined us when I went in to pick up my dress and try it on (the whole experience was literally 15 minutes and we didn't even have to wait in line to pay since we had already done that) and from the first second we walked into the store, he was having a melt down. he was screaming that he wanted to leave, hitting his mother, running around (in a bridal store!) and this was all before I had even talked to a sales rep about picking up my dress! during those 15 minutes that we were in the store he jumped on everything he could jump on, screamed at an ear piercing level, and I'm honestly surprised we were not asked to leave the store. he was TERRIBLE. this is not unusual for him either, this was not a bad day, this is everyday. the worst of all is that his mother does literally nothing to discipline him other than saying "don't do that please" over and over and over. and when he doesn't listen, well, nothing happens, she rolls her eyes and turns away from the behavior! how do I tell her this crap CANNOT happen and she needs to control her kid???

i have been vomiting and had diarrhea every morning for the past 4 days. I've taken anti-nausea medication prescribed by my doctor but it doesn't really help. I was a little better on day three but today is day four and im back to vomiting and dry heaving with diarrhea every 15-30 minutes. the odd thing is that the vomiting stops around 10 am but I will still feel nauseated and have the runs the rest of the day. it is to the point where it is interfering with my job and the doctor just thinks its a stomach bug. there could be the possibility that I'm pregnant but it isn't very high and it would be too early to take an at home test (14 days too early). I did have a very light period last month and had breast tenderness which is abnormal for me. sorry if this any of this is TMI but I just want to know what to ask my doctor to look for when I go in later

i have been vomiting and had diarrhea every morning for the past 4 days. I've taken anti-nausea medication prescribed by my doctor but it doesn't really help. I was a little better on day three but today is day four and im back to vomiting and dry heaving with diarrhea every 15-30 minutes. the odd thing is that the vomiting stops around 10 am but I will still feel nauseated and have the runs the rest of the day. it is to the point where it is interfering with my job and the doctor just thinks its a stomach bug. there could be the possibility that I'm pregnant but it isn't very high and it would be too early to take an at home test (14 days too early). I did have a very light period last month and had breast tenderness which is abnormal for me. sorry if this any of this is TMI but I just want to know what to ask my doctor to look for when I go in later

my red belly slider turtle is basically shaking his fists at me and a fish, what does this mean? he extends his front arms over his head and flaps his little hands rapidly, getting very close, then backs away. then repeats until he gets bored. any advice? seymore (the turtle) is just about 1 year old and very social.

im doing some research befor considering adopting 2 parakeets (budgies) and i was wondering what the best store bought seed mix is. the ones i am researching are:

ecotrition essentials 8 in 1,

Kaytee Exact Rainbow Premium Daily Nutrition for Parakeets & Lovebirds,

Healthy Select Natural Parakeet Diet,

and 8 in 1 Ultra-Blend Gourmet Harvest Celebration for Parakeets.

the seed mix will be an addition to a diet of fresh fruits and veggies. also, any websites with good bird owner info would be greatly appreciated as borris and natasha will be my first parakeets. i already did my reseach on basic needs but any owner advice would be greatly appreciated!

i am in the researching stages of adopting 2 Budgies and i was wondering what the best store bought food for them would be. im looking for something that is close to their natural diet without a lot of fillers (or completely filler free if possible) and that is affordable. also, any reliable websites with good info about Budgie care would be really appreciated!

p.s. my Budgie shopping list already includes

30X18X18 cage with 3/8 inch vertical spacing

natural branch perches

2 food dishes and 2 water dishes

8 toys (to start with, i know i will need a lot more)

cage liner

cage cover

seed catcher

bird bath

cuttle bone

is there anything else that you guys would recommend? im looking for things that my birds will need during their first few weeks while adjusting to their environment, not really things like an outer cage play area (even though i picked one out already!)