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hoekaashi · 4 years

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HQ Skincare hcs

a/n: i had too much fun with these hehe, hope you enjoy! onto my next series which will be longer than the skincare ones characters: kageyama, kenma, kuroo, oikawa, iwachan, atsumu, osamu warnings: none other than my language lol taglist: @babydabi @suckersuki @bakugoustanaccount @animoozies @haiikyuuns @depths-of-your-soul @differentballooncollection @waitforitillwritemywayout

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⇾ growing up as in going to middle school with oikawa, he picked up some stuff ⇾ small things, like which cleanser is better for his skin, what type of skin he has, the difference between toner and essence, what daytime moisturizer he should use and what nighttime one ⇾ things like that ⇾ and even once he was no longer around oikawa, skincare became something that he enjoyed doing ⇾ he would look up new products on his own and he was always willing to try new products too ⇾ his teammates are always so awestruck by his dedication just to his skin ⇾ wouldn’t mind splurging every once in a while on a holy grail product, but everything else is pretty much drugstore stuff ⇾ until he started getting products sent to him in pr packages once bokuto and atsumu let it slip in an interview that kags has a dedicated routine ⇾ his 4 step routine turned into 12 very fast and unfortunately for him, half the time he doesn’t know what he’s doing and ends up bothering oikawa about it

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⇾ he’s a rich bitch and it shows ⇾ he gets a facial two to three times a month, doesn’t care that he shouldn’t get them too frequently ⇾ his mentality is that if he’s not washing his face every day, it’s okay for him to get facials more frequently ⇾ he just really enjoys the massages they give him, but after learning that he doesn’t do anything at home to take care of his skin, they make him a list of products to use and create an entire daytime and nighttime routine for him ⇾ and because he can, he buys the fancy shmancy products that are overpriced ⇾ his favorite part of the routine is putting a cold sheet mask on his face and letting it marinate on his skin ⇾ he ends up buying a beauty fridge and stocking it up with mostly sheet masks ⇾ but because he doesn’t want to be wasteful, he ends up learning how to recycle them properly along with how to make his own sheet masks ⇾ his facialist starts crying when she finds out that he’s actually taking care of his skin now

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⇾ literally didn’t do shit for his face ⇾ but as he got older, he would look into ingredients more - not only with what he was putting in his body, but also on it ⇾ around his last year of high school, he decided to start a routine but it wasn’t anything too fancy ⇾ proper face wash and a moisturizer ⇾ slowly he started to build it more looking into the benefits of using toners and the difference between fermented products and regular ones ⇾ you can pry nerdy science kuroo from my cold dead hands but rigor mortis will make that even harder for you to do haha ⇾ once he got his fancy schmancy job, he had the money to splurge on skincare so not only did he get products that were good for him, he also got the expensive ass ones that typical people would save up for and make it last way past the expiration date ⇾ kenma got him hooked on sheet masks ⇾ he has a mini fridge in his office and whenever he’s stressed or just super tired, he’ll pop one on with some eye patches and just take a 10-20 minute nap in his chair ⇾ even though he’s not very active on social media (most of his followers are people who found him through kenma), he will still email companies and ask them to add him to his pr list ⇾ will bug kenma whenever he isn’t added to the pr list

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⇾ this bitch has a full 12 step routine that he perfected at a young age because he wanted to preserve his youth ⇾ ”why do you wait until you start aging to use anti-aging products? if i start at a young age, i’ll never get wrinkles and people will forever think i’m 20 years old” ⇾ rotates out one product whenever it finishes so his skin doesn’t get used to it ⇾ takes pride in his looks so he would never hesitate to drop money on a product that he knows works ⇾ but on the other side, he also doesn’t mind drugstore products if they do a bomb ass job too ⇾ tried to change the other seijoh third years to have better routines and they all either ignored him or assaulted him with body wash bottles or anything else laying around ⇾ everything is displayed in his bathroom in an aesthetic way ⇾ easily notices if even one product is off ⇾ has a travel sized version of his entire routine and it doesn’t matter if he’s away from his place for even one day/night, he will take the entire thing with him wherever he’s going ⇾ has never missed a single day of his routine which is why iwa went through his acne phase through puberty and oikawa didn’t he still holds it against him to this day

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⇾ literally uses bar soap to wash his face and moisturizes with coco butter BODY LOTION ⇾ oikawa has a heart attack whenever he sees him do this and proceeds with his cardiac arrest when iwa tells him to fuck off ⇾ wanted to punch oikawa in the face whenever he teased him about not having breakouts since he took care of his skin while they were growing up, but once puberty was done and his hormones were balanced, he never saw another pimple on his face again ⇾ will go to grave without a soul knowing, but his acne pissed him off so much he actually bought products to treat it ⇾ advocate for Proactiv MD ⇾ eventually grew out of his bad habits with skincare but still doesn’t do anything more than face wash, toner, and moisturizer ⇾ will never spend more than 25 bucks on a single product. ever. ⇾ enjoys how oikawa gets jealous knowing that he does the bare minimum and his skin looks as great as it does ⇾ quietly thanks his parents for their good genes

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⇾ aha ha ha he’s awful ⇾ rinses his face with water after practice, and if he’s showering, he’ll use his 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner to wash his face ⇾ complains about the weird coating it leaves on his face and when osamu tells him it’s because hair products aren’t for his face, he just says it’s extra moisturizing and walks away ⇾ wanna know why he copied osamu’s hairstyle in high school? it’s because his greasy ass forehead was covered in acne from the sweat, clogged pores, and lack of proper hygiene ⇾ in desperation, he stole osamu’s skincare products and used it to clear up his forehead their last year of high school ⇾ for once in his life, osamu let him get away with it because he was tired of hearing his brother complain about his skin ⇾ his patience ran out when he saw his brother using coconut oil on his skin - the kind you use for cooking ⇾ atsumu sat through three hours of his brother telling him what was good for his skin and what was bad - coconut oil was bad especially for his oily face ⇾ as an adult though, he has the money to spare to get facials and visit a dermatologist regularly ⇾ ironically became the face of a new skincare line and osamu never laughed harder when he saw the ads

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⇾ not super involved as a teenager but knows what products work for him and what don’t ⇾ definitely reads the ingredients and knows the good stuff from the bad stuff ⇾ doesn’t mind splurging on a product or two in high school, but nothing more than that he’d rather spend his money on food ⇾ as an adult it’s up to his mood on whether he would drop money for skincare or not ⇾ he enjoys getting microdermabrasion facials and gets one every 6-8 weeks to help his skin cell turnover rate ⇾ never misses his nighttime routine but not because he’s dedicated to his skin, but because he uses the time to relax before bed and just unwind ⇾ will have either relaxing music playing or complete silence as he does his routine - do NOT talk to him while he’s doing this though it’s his ‘me’ time just like when he works in the kitchen but that’s neither here nor there he needs a lot of ‘me’ time ⇾ if he can’t go to his facial, he will be working in the kitchen with a headband pushing his hair back and sheet mask on ⇾ has an anonymous blog where he rates and reviews new skincare products that’s pretty popular

#kageyama tobio #kenma kozume #kuroo tetsurou #oikawa tōru #iwaizumi hajime #miya atsumu #miya osamu #hq #haikyuu!!#haikyuu hcs #hq hcs

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datingintampafails · 4 years

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Chapter 22: Jaden*

“Better Together” Jack Johnson

I matched with Jaden*, and based on his main picture, a professionally taken headshot, I got the feeling this guy was out of my league for sure. I matched with him one time, my opening message being about his eye color, with some adjective I cannot remember, but the 24 hour window expired before he responded. A couple days later I saw him profile again, matching for a second time, my opener this attempt was simply “hello again.” He answered with “Let’s hang out.” I ask him about his intentions and he says no clue, asking me about mine. After explaining myself, he says he is “in the EXACT same boat.”

After that, I tried to get him to fill out the dating application. He refused, despite me telling him essentially I’d be asking the same questions anyway. He said he would rather learn about each other in person, which is fair. Since this is more or less the same time as Allen*, I tell him the same thing regarding waiting to get tested before I go out and meet anyone. He says “that’s nice of you.” I suggest instead a virtual drink and he just replies that he hates these times. I agree but acknowledge that at least I’m trying and once I’m negative we can get drinks in person. He asks when I took the test and I admit that I haven’t taken it yet and am getting it the following day. “At least you’re honest” he tells me. I tell him I don’t see the point of lying, which he says is a “good trait.” I make a joke about him being a realtor and that his job is not lying but putting positive spins on things and he finds that really funny for some reason.

I request that since he wouldn’t take my dating application, if I can at least ask him the most important question. He says “Yes” then “I do not like anal.” I sent him a full line of “haha”s. “Oh wait that wasn't the question sorry haha” was what he said next. Funny. “That’s a very important answer too… I’m glad” I tell him. Then I asked the actual important question, regarding children, and at first he said “I want kids, couple, not for at least 5 years or so.” I give him a “womp womp” essentially saying, wrong answer. I explain myself and then he says “Lol that'll probably be my path. [Kids are] too pricy and I want to travel and build my career.” The question with this 180 remains, is that how he really feels or is he trying to appease me? Either way it seems one of the answers was a lie or at least less truth.

After this, I send him five messages, two related to what he said, one saying I like his vibes and want to go out once my test is back, a follow up after he doesn’t reply a day later saying “if you’d like to of course,” and then “officially no rona” two days after the previous message when I got no responses. I figured this dude was bored, but he hadn’t unmatched me yet so I figured I’d still sort of try. He finally responds to that last message with a “yesssssssssss.” He tries to make plans for that afternoon but I tell him I’m working. I ask him about Saturday night, he says he has no plans so far and I say “You do now” with a wink emoji. We plan the night, settling on me cooking dinner and having some drinks at my place. I thank him for motivation/a reason to clean my house. The reason that I chose night, is I actually have a date scheduled as well with another guy for lunch.

He asks me about weed, if I smoke, getting Peter* flashbacks here. In my blurb about my feelings on weed, I specifically tell him “I prefer not on one on one time that someone be high.” He simply says “I dont act like a little stoner but I get it” I ask follow up questions which lead me to finding out he habitually, daily, smokes marijuana. I ask him about how that works during the COVID pandemic, he says that the price has gone up but otherwise it’s the same. I then inquire about what he’s up to that night. No response.

Then it’s past midnight and officially Saturday, the day we are supposed to meet up. I ask “Sooooo gameplan?” No response. I don’t want to keep messaging and messaging, so I just see if he will come back out of the woodwork. The guy that I was supposed to have lunch with messages me around that time saying unfortunately he cannot make lunch anymore, so that’s cancelled. I don’t see the point in telling Jaden* that my afternoon has freed up or anything like that.

When the day comes, my friend invites me to the beach and I say I’ll come since my daydate was cancelled and “I’m pretty sure that I’m being stood up for my nighttime date as well so I don’t care.” As we drive up to the beach, I see that lady and her two kids from when Ethan* and I was at the beach. I’m sure it's them. I’m weak in my vulnerability so I actually break down and text him, telling him that I spotted them. I do not expect a response. My friend and I had a good time at the beach, but got rained out so our four hour trip turned into only two. It was really hot outside though so we were okay with it being cut short. Still no word at all from Jaden*.

Now when it is 6:30pm, I feel that officially I have been stood up. By this point, I'd already cooked dinner and had finished it, so even if he did magically appear I would tell him too bad. I message him to redeem myself, “Well if you actually wanna meet up let me know. I’m pretty busy so my time is valuable” I also add a stone faced emoji, because I’m sick of this shit, frankly. An hour after that, he messages me “hey!!” I for some reason don’t get the notification, and when I check my phone about 40 minutes later, I just reply “lol hi.” An hour and a half after my response, he gives me his number and asks me to text him. Here’s some screenshots.

My phone rings and it’s him. “Are you in an SUV?” I am and I jump as a figure appears to my left, it is him. The lightning storm going on has transgressed into a full on rain. We quickly hug hello as he escorts me to the door and the safety of no rain.

Once inside, I am greeted by his lab, a really nice pupper that I give lots of pats to. I’m then introduced to his friend. Jaden* offers me a drink, I let him make me a drink with some local rum. It is made way too strong, and I add some of my sparkling juice to the mixture to try and soften it up. It marginally works, but I just slowly sip on it.

Both Jaden* and his friend are outgoing and friendly, we talk about random stuff, shoot the shit. Honestly, thus far I am getting along better with the friend, not in a romantic way, but just a regular way. Jaden* is a little too talkative, occasionally interrupting, and loud. I cannot tell if he is drunk, high, or whatever, but he just seems a little off. Since I have no baseline of what he is like sober, it’s hard to tell. Jaden* brags about me, essentially saying that I was so nice and awesome and was going to make him dinner, which I make a point of adding “oh don’t worry I still made it, I just ate it myself” to be cheeky. He continues talking about miscellaneous other stuff, mostly things I cannot connect to at all, as it relates to other mutual friends the other two have.

He stops at one point and says “oh! You said I have some explaining to do so here you are” and he goes on to say that he went to watch the Barcelona soccer game with friends, and upon them winning, continued the celebration with drinking all day, he repeats a few times, “it’s not a good excuse, but it’s an honest one.” I shrug and say “I mean that’s okay.” He goes on to tell another similar story about when he was in college and skipped hockey practice, again like “it’s not a good excuse but it’s an honest one.”

Then another friend comes by, it’s a female. She is nice and seems to be long time friends with them both. They (meaning the two friends of Jaden*) are discussing plans to go to another bar or something in a little, but they end up sticking around for another hour and a half. Jaden* mentions he’s hungry (munchies??) and upon looking in his fridge, there’s nothing to eat except literally lunch meat. He eats the lunch meat, offers me some, which I decline, and actually goes back a second time to eat the rest of it after 5 minutes. He complains he’s still hungry so I say I’ll look up food options for him. He orders food (McDonald’s) and offers me to get whatever I want, I’m barely hungry so I opt for some small fries and a small frozen coke.

Jaden* has prepared some weed and puts it in a vaporizer, him and the male friend partake, both myself and the other woman decline. He now brings out a guitar and tries to play the beginning of a song, making us all guess what it is. He plays so sloppily and in combination with the guitar being out of tune, I have no clue. He repeats the set of notes like five times before revealing it’s the beginning of “that one Jack Johnson song.” Upon later googling, it was “Better Together.” He asks everyone if anyone knows anything on guitar, I sheepishly go “oh I used to play as a kid, I know like one song.” I take the guitar and play the one song I know by heart on guitar in fast succession, Beethoven’s Fur Elise. They’re all just staring at me blankly, confused that this quiet chill chick just whipped out legitimate guitar skills out of nowhere. I also continue to just strum on the guitar while everyone talks, just to have something to do. Jaden* takes the guitar back to try and tune it with some app on his phone. He complains about how the app doesn’t really work to tune it and that it is still out of tune. The guitar gets put away.

Jaden* now is complaining about how he “ordered his food an hour ago and it’s still not here;” it has been fifteen minutes. His friend believes him; “it has not been an hour” I say so as to not sympathize with him. He is again bragging about me, and talking about how nice I am and that he liked that when we were talking on Bumble. The flattery is something I’m immune to but I thank him. Next he goes into a long winded story about when he partied with Justin Bieber back when he was dating Selena Gomez, “he could have had any girl he wanted at that party” he attested, “but he didn’t and he even went upstairs to talk to her on the phone. Biebs is loyal.” Also don’t really care about Biebs so I was not impressed by this anecdote. We did randomly bond over liking old Adam Sandler movies, specifically my favorite, Little Nicky, and agreed we’d watch that tonight. Randomly his dog jumped up on the couch next to me and I noticed that the dog had a boner, which was awkward and I pushed him away so I wouldn’t get humped.

The friends finally left a little before 1 am, I told Jaden* that I wanted to get going by 2 since I had stuff to do the next day and needed to get back to my dog. He says that’s fine and then gets mad about his food still not being there after at this point long enough to bitch. Now that he’s a little closer to me, I can smell his breath and it is horrid. It smells just like butt. I assume from a mix of the smoke and alcohol he had been drinking all day.

He calls McDonald's and gets in an argument with the lady. It’s really weird and off putting. On the phone he is saying how he’s worked at restaurants and know how the system works with delivery services, and the fact that they’re “still working on it” means such and such. They claim it’s already been picked up despite the app saying it hasn’t. He says he is just going to order from somewhere else. I’m arguing with him that nowhere he orders food from is going to get there quicker at this point and to just wait. Finally the UberEats updates and it will be there in 10 minutes which calms him down. He remembers he has a cookie and goes to eat it. I do find it pro status that he microwaves the cookie for a little bit. He asks me if I want some, I say sure, but then he tries to spoon feed a piece to me. I go with it; the cookie is actually pretty good. He offers me another piece, again spoon feeding it to me. A little weirdly intimate.

We go back to the couch to finally start Little Nicky. I’ve seen this movie countless times at this point so it’s not super important that I pay attention. He briefly rubs my shoulder and it feels good, I try to convince him to give me a full shoulder rub, and offer one to him as well. He gets his, I successfully break out a knot in his shoulder. When it's presumably now my turn, I get that same shoulder rubbed for maybe one minute, then he stops. Disappointing. He attempts to kiss me quite a few times, and I unenthusiastically peck/kiss back, but again, his breath is rancid so I’m not trying to get too close to that.

The food finally arrives. There’s no straws so I tried to open the top of my coke and it accidentally splattered on the (brown) couch. I run to the kitchen to get paper towels and come back to clean it. I apologize and he says it’s ok.

He’s eating his food, and is of course to my dismay chewing with his mouth open/smacking his lips, so if it wasn’t already a no go, it now officially was. I stay with my promise to just hang a little longer though. He snarfs down his food, I eat some fries and eat my frozen coke with a spoon. He’s done eating and we go back to spooning to watch the movie. He keeps lighting kind of humping me, which is just super weird, and I ignore that it’s happening. He seems to be completely flaccid which makes it even stranger.

After maybe 15 minutes, I notice that he’s no longer really laughing at the movie or doing anything, I peer back and realize this dude is sleeping. Great. I just lay there and continue to watch the movie. Honestly, I almost drift off to sleep a few times too; it’s late and I’m bored/tired. I check my watch and it’s now 1:58am. I start to get up and say “ok it’s almost 2, I gotta get going.” He awakens and grumbles at me.

He becomes legitimately angry at me for actually following through with what I said I was gonna do. “What the hell I thought we were gonna hang?” I tell him that like I came over but told him we weren’t hooking up so that shouldn’t have been an expectation. “I see, leaving at exactly 2, wow.” I’m just gathering my things and not saying a word. He mumbles at me and I cannot make out half the words he says, but says something like “I don’t think I’m the guy you’re looking for.” I respond, “I can’t really understand you right now, but yeah that’s okay.” It is clear to me this guy is not compatible with me whatsoever.

I’m still trying to be more or less not a total bitch, so I give him a peck on the forehead goodbye. I was holding my open frozen coke, so unfortunately in leaning over I again still had a little of the drink on the sofa. Whereas last time he was calm about it, now he is pissed. “AND YOU JUST KEEP SPILLING SHIT ON MY COUCH! GET IT TOGETHER!” He is being a jerk and I am no longer standing by and being friendly, “I’m gonna fucking clean it up again chill out, damn. You don’t have to be such a fucking asshole” He repeats yelling at me about his couch, that is the same color as the beverage so besides it looking wet, it will not stain. “Whatever” I say. I double check I have all my things, as the last thing I would want to do is have to come back here to get a belonging of mine. He is staring at me as I do this like “hurry up and leave. ”As I have my things and I’m about to head out the door, he randomly becomes nice again, “alright catch you later” “probably not,” I respond as I close the door behind me.

I shake my head to myself as I leave and at least the rain has stopped. I actually even feel tears sort of welling in my eyes. I am tired of having such terrible experiences, getting slack from guys I barely even know, having to put on a smile, some make-up, and put myself out there, just to be treated like shit. I drive home without incident, I think about blocking his number, but I figure that can wait until tomorrow. I get home a little before 2:30am, greet my dog, let her sniff me since I smell like another dog at this point, before changing into my pajamas again.

Later that morning, I get a text from Jaden*:

I have no reason to continue the conversation after that. I figured I would be honest because, why not. If I can at least try and teach him a lesson for the next woman, then my suffering will not be for nothing. Another night I won’t forget, similar to Peter*, but at least he did have a clean apartment before I came along.

#dating #bumble #hinge #tinder #relationships #tampa #tampabay #stpete #south tampa #dating apps

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wandaluvstacos · 7 years

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Along with the hair cutting tip, here’s a few suggestions on some money-saving stuff for food.

Milk with higher fat content lasts longer. I was getting skim milk for the longest time and it would always go bad before I finished it. If you have this problem, get 2% instead. It’ll last at least a week longer. Natural fats in foods like cheese and milk are probably way better for you in the long run than processed sugar.

Speaking of processed sugar… despite being sold as a “health food”, those yogurt cups have crazy amounts of sugar in them. For women, it’s recommended that you consume no more than 24 grams of sugar a day, and one yogurt cup will put you at that level or past it. Instead, buy a big tub of generic plain yogurt and buy a big bag of frozen fruit and just mix them together in a blender. It is cheaper to buy the processed cups of yogurt in the grocery store, but if you’re anal about your sugar consumption, this is the cheapest way to get around it. You don’t have to buy fresh fruit, thus saving on the cost, and a bag of frozen fruit will last you about two weeks, depending on the size. And it won’t go bad!

Grab bread from discount bins if you can. It’s usually marked down a lot, and if you have access to a toaster oven/toaster, even somewhat hard bread can soften and be consumable for another day or two.

Frozen produce is nearly as good as fresh produce at half the cost, and it lasts for months.

Iceberg lettuce has very little nutrition and is mostly water. Buy red leaf lettuce if possible - it has the highest nutrition content. Lettuce is known to have a very low shelf life, but there’s a way to prolong it. Fill a bowl that the lettuce will fit in with about a half inch to an inch of water. Cover the lettuce with a plastic bag and place it in the bowl. Put it in the fridge, and it will double or triple the lifespan of the lettuce. Lettuce wilts because there’s no water, and by putting it in a bowl with a plastic bag over it, you’re keeping it hydrated.

Cooked rotisserie chickens are cheap, tasty, and easy. You can tear off pieces for sandwiches or other recipes, and there’s about enough to last one person a whole week.

Not sure of the science on this, but I literally use the spices I buy for years. There may be some loss of flavor, but not enough to make it worth buying new spices every time the old ones expire. I’ve never seen any of my spices get moldy or spoiled. Remember that expiration dates are made up by the company that sells products, and it’s their best guess. There’s no real rhyme or reason to them, so usually products can last much longer than expiration dates claim, especially dressing, sauces, or anything with vinegar in it. I think I still have, like, five-year-old barbecue sauce, and it still tastes the same.

My mother always uses the plastic containers that yogurt and ricotta cheese comes in as her Tupperware. Drove me crazy, but if you really can’t afford Tupperware, it’s one option.

If you have any kind of porch or patio (or even very bright window sills), grow some of your own herbs, like basil or rosemary. Then, if you can’t use it all, pick it and set it out to dry in the sun. Once all the moisture is gone, crumble up the dry leaves and use it that way over the winter. No waste!

Lastly, when you’ve got meat drippings, pouring them down the drain can screw up your plumbing, because it hardens and creates blockage. Instead, put your drippings into an old empty can of beans. Put it in your freezer and leave it there until you’ve filled it up. Then just throw it in the trash. Or, as my mother does, use it to make gravy or other sauces.

#food tips #personal #I am not a food scientist #but this is just shit I do because I'm cheap

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annabethwisegirl-chase · 7 years

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250 Headcanons (Part 4)

I bet you thought you’d seen the last of these. Headcanons #151-200. These cover from Annabeth’s time in college, to her death, as well as a little extra. You’ll see what I mean if you make it to the end of this.

151. One of the general education requirements at the university in New Rome has to deal with an Ancient Roman history course, and how they’ve evolved over time, how things have changed and stayed the same, and how the past repeats itself, etc. Being the good Greek demigod that she is, Annabeth spends most of the class creating edited versions of notes that contradict half of what the professor’s saying. The myths that were so obviously stolen from the Greek tradition get the most heavy handed treatment, with Annabeth opting to continue telling it the way she knows. After all, it’s based on her culture, so it has to be more accurate than whatever the Romans turned it into. Since most of the tests in the class are short and long essay response questions, Annabeth ends up not doing too well in that course because of the fact she refuses to change her perspective on Rome and its history. Her final paper in the class has about half a page about Roman history/mythology, comparing it to its Greek counterparts, before she spends the rest of it detailing where the narrative is completely wrong, citing sources like “my mother, the goddess, Athena,” and “Chiron, trainer of heroes,” and “former Praetor Jason Grace, who met this guy and said he was a dick.” The last one, she found, was really hard to cite in APA format.

152. Although Annabeth does have friends in New Rome (Reyna, Frank, Hazel, and the occasional appearance by Jason), she never feels quite right there. She knows that most of the others living there don’t think twice about having her around, but there’s still an underlying prejudice with many of the younger demigods still at Camp Jupiter. It’s enough to make her want to move back to New York after one year. But, the credits at New Rome don’t really transfer to any other university, and Annabeth can’t stand the idea of feeling like she wasted her time there. So, she agrees to stick it out for the next three and reevaluate at the end of it where they want to live.

153. She spends those next three years drawing up plans for New Athens in her spare time and working with Chiron via IM on how to make it a reality. At first the centaur seemed hesitant, because camp was never intended to become a permanent home. But, with demigods living longer and Camp Jupiter having such a well working structure, Chiron knows he really has no choice but to give in. Through some “anonymous funding” provided by the Olympian gods, the camp is able to buy more land and expand its borders for the creation of a new town. The Athena Parthenos is moved to where the gates of the new city will be, and Annabeth almost hates that she’s not there to see its symbolic new placement. Almost.

154. At the college in New Rome, passwords have to be changed every 180 days. It’s a supid rule, and Annabeth has to get IT to reset her account for her once because she forgets and lets it expire. But, each year, she sets up her passwords based around a “theme” in the hopes they’ll be easier to remember. (Although so many people are amazed at the things Annabeth can remember, passwords just don’t seem to be among them). Her first year is pretty simple, just naming her friends and adding a number at the end of it. The next few years have themes including favorite Disney characters, famous architects, and superheroes.

155. Annabeth has never liked the taste of coffee. Ways to keep her going after pulling all-nighters usually include a lot of exercise and Dr. Pepper. She also has very specific stages that she goes through whenever she hasn’t slept that are, in order: drunk sounding Annabeth, giggly Annabeth, sarcastic/sassy Annabeth, flat out mean Annabeth, and finally dead girl walking Annabeth.

156. The first place she starts to design for New Athens is the home she wants to live in with Percy. It’s completed in bits in pieces, because she keeps trying to hide it from him, which is definitely a task that is easier said than done. He keeps trying to sneak up behind her or steal her blueprints away, just to see what is taking her away from him that he knows isn’t school work. Somehow though, she manages to keep it tucked safely away, in a tube with a pen mark down the side that she stashes with her old Olympus sketches.

157. She will drop anything and everything to have her head and/or neck rubbed.

158. Annabeth also is just a really good artist in general. Like, she’s great at proportions and angles from her years of trying to train as an architect. But, it transfers over into other subject matter as well. Her notebooks are filled with doodles in the corners that look way more detailed than something absentmindedly drawn during lectures.

159. Since her mom is also the goddess of crafts, Annabeth tries to take up knitting over a winter break, watching Youtube tutorial videos to try and get good at it. Although she can make a pretty wicked scarf, her hats kind of look deformed. But, that doesn’t stop her from making them for nearly everyone that she comes in contact with. It’s therapeutic, to be able to work with her hands and continue to create things instead of feeling like she’s only tearing them down. And making hats and scarves take so much less time than watching a building rise from the ground up. So it definitely provides the more immediate satisfaction while she’s waiting for her more major projects to come to fruition.

160. Annabeth cannot cook to save her life. She made it a point to learn how to make cupcakes, but that’s as far as her ability in the kitchen goes. Everything else ends up burnt or not completely done. Then, when Annabeth tries to cook it/bake it longer, then it just ends up burning.

161. Ham, pineapple and extra black olives is her pizza of choice. However, due to the fact she seems to be the only one on the side of pro-pineapple, and her boyfriend’s insistence that the pineapple taints the pizza entirely, she just settles for olives on her half of the pizza.

162. Literally always cold. It doesn’t matter that they spend the majority of the year in California, Annabeth always has some sort of jacket or sweater on her. She walks around her apartment with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders and sleeps with her socks on because she swears that it keeps her warmer.

163. Annabeth is that person who always dresses up for class. Well, not necessarily dresses up, but is careful to make sure she looks professional at all times. Literally the second she gets home though, it’s goodbye pants and hello oversized sweatshirt. If there are going to be any plans to go out to eat dinner, or hang out in the city, those have to be made between classes or immediately after she walks through the door. Because the second she changes out of her clothes, that’s it for the day.

164. The first year that Percy and Annabeth live together brings back a lot of the bickering from their younger days. And sometimes, that bickering can spiral out of control and have them in full on fights. The argument that crops up the most definitely has to do with household chores. Annabeth is used to having a certain level of cleanliness. It helps her to stay focused it there’s not a huge mess everywhere. Percy, on the other hand, does not seem to be quite as phased by it. Fed up, she decides to try and institute a chore wheel, but it ends up causing more problems and neither of them pay much attention to it. But, they never think to take it down off its place on the fridge. So, it stays there pretty much the entire time they live in that apartment.

165. She owns three calendars. One is a little planner that she keeps in her backpack, one is hanging up on the wall by her desk, and one is huge and actually sits on her desk. Although the same information is written in pretty much all three, the constant reminders and hope of seeing it makes it more likely that Annabeth will complete a task that’s set out for her. Everything is also color coded. School assignment due dates and tests are in red, family events are in blue, social events are in green, appointments are in purple, demigod related things are in orange, and anything else that might pop up is in pink.

166. Annabeth gets a job her second year of living in New Rome working at a cafe. She has to be up way too early for her liking, but she always has been an early riser so it’s not too hard to make the adjustment. Besides, it means that she’s done with her shift by the time her classes start, giving her ample time in the evenings to work through her homework as well as her plans for New Athens. She walks around all day smelling like coffee though, and it’s enough to make her never want to get near the stuff when she finally quits a few months before graduation.

167. Growing up at camp, Annabeth’s used to eating pretty healthy. However, that does not mean she can’t inhale junk food like the next person. Her favorite non-healthy snack has to be chocolate covered peanuts (specifically, Goobers, but she’s not super picky on that). On the flip side, she doesn’t really like peanut M&Ms. Despite the fact that people have tried to convince her they’re basically the same thing, she’ll have none of it. She claims that the candy coating gives the M&Ms a completely different flavor and basically refuses to eat them.

168. There’s only one movie that Annabeth has ever cried at: Dinsey’s Hercules. And, it didn’t even start until she was in her teens. Even in college and beyond, she spends the entire film pointing out things that the movie got wrong. But, the last ten minutes of it has her tearing up every single time.

169. Annabeth is a Slytherin. She also thinks that the people who combine houses (Slytherclaws, Gryffinpuffs, etc.) are just lying to themselves to make them feel better.

170. Annabeth and Percy end up adopting two dogs from a nearby animal shelter. They definitely went with the intention of only getting one, because their apartment was still small, and they were super busy all the time. But, they couldn’t decide between two and ultimately decided to just get both of them. Since there were two, each of them decided they got to rename one each. So Otis and Aramis Jackson were added to the clan.

171. Annabeth’s eyesight starts to get really poor during her sophomore year of college. She dealt with it being slightly fuzzy, too stubborn to get her eyes checked out, for more than a year before finally giving in. While she thanks the gods that she’s allowed to get contacts from the get go, her back up glasses have large, black frames and she feels sufficiently like a dork when she has to wear them.

172. They’re juniors in college the first time the question of marriage is seriously discussed. It’s Christmas break, and they're spending a weekend at her dad’s before Percy’s family flies in to celebrate the holiday. Her stepmom meant it as a joke when she asked when they were getting married, and everyone--including Percy--looks stunned with Annabeth answers: “the summer after we graduate, that Saturday in the weird week where July becomes August.” She says it without even looking up from the piece of chicken that’s she cutting, and is genuinely confused at everyone’s expression when she does look up.

173. That same night, after everyone goes to bed, Percy asks her if she was being serious about what she said at dinner. Annabeth responds in the affirmative, explaining how she felt like it went along with the whole idea that she wanted to be married young. And, she wants to change her last name before she makes her mark in the mortal architectural world so that when she becomes a sort of “brand,” she’ll be restricted from doing that. Since everything in their life happens in the summer, it only made sense that they’d get married then and she picked the weekend closest to the middle of their birthdays. He acts all offended for about half a second, claiming that he can’t believe she made all these plans without even asking her to marry him, but they’re both a little too giddy at the prospect of actually getting married for them to believe it’s actually genuine. Their laughter only grows when Annabeth gets down on one knee and asks him to marry her, slipping his college ring onto his ring finger to keep up the charade.

174. Technically, they get engaged twice. The first time, when Annabeth proposed with a college ring and it’s the time that she swears is the official start of their engagement. The second time takes another year to crop up, and they’ve already started planning their wedding when Percy slides the engagement ring onto her hand. It’s the second time that he swears is the official start of the engagement.

175. In high school, the running gag was that if Percy didn’t graduate, then he couldn’t come to New Rome with her. Of course, it was a ridiculous thing to say, because they both knew that no matter what happened, she would not be leaving him behind. In college, the running gag becomes that if he doesn’t graduate, then he won’t get to marry her. Of course, it proves to be just as ridiculous as their old gag, and not just because they’ve already put their deposit down on the venue.

176. She designed exactly four structures for New Athens before deciding it wasn’t worth trying to do it all on her own. She would go insane. So, Annabeth handed over her designs and basic outline of the town to the Athena campers living at camp. Those campers team up with the Hephaestus cabin to work on the city, careful to make sure each of Annabeth’s designs--including the house she made for herself and Percy--go into the final construction of the city. It’s not ready to move into when they graduate college, but it’s closer than anything Annabeth could have achieved on her own.

177. When they graduate from college, it’s a huge ordeal. They have their friends from both camps come out, Percy’s family flies in, Annabeth’s family (including Magnus and two of his friends) shows up, and most of them end up crashing in their tiny apartment. It’s cramped, and you can’t walk two steps without stepping on someone at night, but it’s great. They have a barbecue after the ceremony, and the entire day is spent laughing and reminiscing on the various instances that made everyone doubt either Percy or Annabeth would end up as college graduates. All through the day, Nico keeps shooting her strange glances, like he suspects something, but never voices a concern. The party lasts for an entire weekend, and when people finally start leaving, they all express excitement at reuniting again in New York in a few months for the wedding.

178. They decided to move back to New York after graduation. Although Annabeth liked being close to her family and the safety of New Rome, neither of them felt they were truly at home. So, two weeks after graduation, Percy and Annabeth pack as many of their belongings as they can into their car, and drop off the rest with Frederick, who promises to mail them soon. It’s a long trip that’s only supposed to take four days, but because they’re who they are and constantly need breaks, monster attacks, and a weird case of car sickness from Annabeth, it ends up taking them almost twice that long. Percy ends up having to drive most of it because Annabeth is exhausted or has a headache for most of the trip, and spends as much of it as she can sleeping.

179. Since they don’t have an apartment when they move back to the city, Percy and Annabeth move back into his old room at Sally’s until they find one they like. It’s still small and not in the best part of the city, but it’s theirs and her dad insists that he doesn’t mind helping them out a little. At least, it’ll do until Annabeth’s job becomes more than just an internship and Percy finishes up with the final three courses that he has to take in order for his teaching license to be compatible with New York’s teaching requirements.

180. She’s never been good at taking medication. It doesn’t matter if there’s people there to remind her to do it, or if she puts post it notes up everywhere to try and get herself to take it. It’s just one of those things that slips her mind. It was the case when her stepmom put her on medication for her ADHD, and now, it’s the case with her birth control. And it’s hard for her pills to work if she never takes them. Which might be why she finds out she’s pregnant a little over a month before her wedding day.

181. She absolutely does not want to invite any part of their godly family, and insists that they won’t even show up if they are invited. But, Piper convinces her that it’ll be a slight if they don’t get invited to it, so Annabeth eventually relents. Her invitation to Hera though has to be mailed a week later by Percy when Annabeth insists that it got “lost.” However, due to the fact that Hera is the goddess of marriage, he vetoes her in saying that it’s asking for trouble if they don’t have her come. Everyone is surprised when most of the gods RSVP with a yes.

182. I keep seeing people saying Percy and Annabeth’ll get married at Camp and I’m like... no. Okay here we go. They get married at Montauk, and there’s this place called like the Navy Beach House or something, and it’s super nice and expensive but Frederick insists on paying for it because he knows that this is what Annabeth wants. And he hasn’t really felt like he’s been able to really give her anything she wants before, so this is something that he goes all out for. Also keep in mind, mortals can’t enter camp, and there is no way that Percy and Annabeth would get married without Sally, Paul, and baby Blofis around. They want it to be a small thing, but of course, what Percy and Annabeth want and what usually happens end up being in complete contrast with each other. It’s another huge party, with people from both camps coming in, basically all the gods showing up in human-esque form, the hunters of Artemis showing up (but they kind of have to, since Thalia’s in the wedding), in addition to the mortal sides of both their families. The gods put up a protective border for the day, because that many demigods in one place would definitely draw monsters. And Aphrodite has been waiting for this day since Percy and Annabeth were eleven, so no one is messing it up unless they want to deal with her wrath. It’s great, but there’s so much preparation and planning and hugging relatives that it seems to go by in a blur. Annabeth is sufficiently disappointed when the only piece of wedding cake she gets is the piece that Percy smashed in her face.

183. She manages to keep the whole pregnancy thing a secret from everyone (except she’s like 85% sure Sally knows something’s up, and Nico definitely knows. Turns out he can sense new life just like he can sense people dying and that’s why he gave her the weird looks at the graduation). It’s during the reception that she just writes “I’m pregnant” on a napkin that she passes to Percy before walking off to go greet more guests. The look he gives her when she finally makes eye contact again is priceless.

184. She changes her last name to Jackson as soon as she can after they get back from the honeymoon. Piper gave her some grief about it, claiming that it was giving into the patriarchy or something, but Annabeth didn’t care. She finally was officially a part of a family that was going to be permanent and that was going to be there for her, no matter what. Changing her last name to symbolize her belonging to that family was 100% her choice and something she’d decided on doing not long after her and Percy started talking about getting married.

185. Annabeth wanted to get her master’s directly out of college and was even accepted into a program. However, she decided to delay it due to the fact she was the idea of working, going to school, and taking care of a newborn seemed next to impossible. Annabeth knows she’s incredible, but she’s not that incredible. It actually gets pushed back a lot farther than she meant to, because all of their kids kind of end up being born back to back to back. Eventually, she is able to go back to school when the youngest starts kindergarten, and gets her master’s degree, before going on to achieve her doctorate as well.

186. They have three kids: two boys and a girl. The first two were not planned. The only reason they did decide to have a third was because of the whole ‘rule of three.’ Despite the fact that Annabeth proved it was a stupid law on her first quest, something about it still seemed safe. So, they had one more. It becomes a tradition for the next two kids that whenever Annabeth finds out she’s pregnant, she just writes it on a napkin and slips it to Percy at the end of dinner, before taking one of the kids to another room in their apartment.

187. It’s after their second kid is born that New Athens is completed and they’re able to move back into the safety of camp borders, while still living as functioning adults. It’s kind of a difficult commute for Annabeth for work, but she doesn’t care. She likes living in a home she designed with her family. And knowing their safe is worth the trip she has to take every day to get to the firm she works at. When Annabeth got to take Percy around the house the first time after it was done, and explain the intricate details of it all and why she designed things certain ways, she was couldn’t stop bouncing on her feet as she walked. They totally make out like teenagers in their newly finished kitchen before remembering that their kids are being watched by a few of Apollo’s kids in camp that probably should be relieved of their babysitting duties as soon as possible.

188. Their youngest gets Percy’s water powers and he can’t properly control them until he’s about eight. However, that doesn’t mean that his emotions don’t set them off. Annabeth loses track of the number of times she gets doused in toilet water (to which Percy can’t help but laugh every time) and his siblings find themselves getting water from the faucet shooting straight at their faces every time there’s an argument.

189. There are family Halloween costumes pretty much every year until their oldest is ten. Some of Annabeth’s favorites include the Incredibles, Batman, the Scooby Doo gang, and the Addams Family.

190. Due to the fact that both Percy and Annabeth are ADHD and dyslexic, all three of their kids have ADHD. Only their daughter is not diagnosed with dyslexia and there are definitely tears of joy when Annabeth first hears her daughter read through a sentence without stumbling any more than any other child learning to read.

191. When each Jackson kid is six, they receive a plastic sword to begin learning to sword fight. Granted, it probably seemed overkill, but all three of them definitely do still have a potent smell. So, it’s necessary for them to learn how to fight. After proving that they are capable of handling a blade and not hurting themselves (or pulling it on their siblings for the fun of it), they are given a real weapon, made especially for them by Tyson.

192. Board games, card games, and puzzles aren’t actually a thing that can go on in the Jackson household because everyone is so competitive about it. Pieces go “missing” from puzzles because someone took it so they can put the last piece in. Cards get traded below table tops to help someone win a hand. Board games usually get tipped over “accidentally” when someone gets up to go to the kitchen for something to drink.

193. Annabeth falls asleep more at the kitchen table than she does in her own bed. She gets wrapped up in some new project and insists on it being perfect. So, even though she swears she’ll only be up for fifteen more minutes, there’s no telling what time Annabeth will actually pass out and Percy gave up trying to wake her up to come to bed about a year after they got married. It just seemed that when he would wake her up, she’d murmur something about being awake enough to keep going and that she still definitely had five more minutes of work time left in her.

194. She’s totally that mom who frightens teachers and coaches a like about her kids. Like, when they make a mistake getting onto her kid for something that wasn’t their fault, or they take them out of a play when they’re clearly the best player on the team, Annabeth loses it. She ends up banned from her daughter’s volleyball games for a year.

195. When they take their kids to Disney for the first time, Annabeth is just as excited as any of the Jackson spawn. She spends the entire time describing the inspiration for the facades of the buildings, as well as how the forced perspective is working. She spends weeks planning their days down to the minute, factoring other potential plans for extra wait times, shorter wait times, etc. but ends up ditching all of it as soon as she rides Dumbo for the first time. No one really understands why, but that is her ride. They have to ride it first the two days they go to the Magic Kingdom during that trip.

196. It’s not uncommon for either Percy or Annabeth to be asked to go out and escort a halfblood to camp. Typically, they go as a team on the weekend, after dropping their kids off with Sally and Paul or letting them stay in their cabins at camp. However, after getting a call from Chiron about a halfblood near by, Annabeth opted to take on the mission by herself. After all, she’d be heading back close to camp’s borders at the end of the day anyway. It only made sense to find the demigod and take them back with her. But it wasn’t one demigod that she found. There were three. All kids under the age of twelve, and all looking absolutely terrified and banged up from a long journey. There’s a rushed warning about something following them, and Annabeth decides then and there that it’s probably better to take them back to camp now instead of convincing them to hang out at work with her for the rest of the day first. True to their word, there’s a cyclops on the trail of the three half bloods, who is ruthless in its attempts to hunt them down. It destroys Annabeth’s car, and they’re but a few hundred feet from the protective borders of camp when she tells them to run and she’ll hold it off. And it’s almost poetic, in a way. When she’s turned to call directions to them, the cyclops knocks her to the side with a blow she didn’t see coming. It sends her knife flying out of her hands, but she knows that she has to stall it in order for the kids to get to safety. And they do. They make it. But Annabeth doesn’t. She’s a month away from turning forty one when she dies.

197. There’s a weird murmuring when Annabeth goes into the Underworld, and a few of the guard spirits seem to click excitedly when she arrives. Despite her better judgement, she decides to go in front of the judges, to see if there is any sort of reward waiting for her on the other side. Maybe she’ll get Elysium, or maybe--if she pleads her case hard enough--she’ll be able to wait for a few dozen years before Percy shows up so they can make the decision together. After all, it was never a conversation that had popped up before. Whenever they got close to the topic, they’d quickly find something else to talk about. It definitely took her by surprise when she made her way in and found that she’d been granted not Elysium, but the Isles of the Blessed. Her third life had been completed. It’s then that she’s granted the memories of the first two lives as well before being ushered on. In each of them, there are two common elements. The first, there’s always a demigod present. Somehow, the Greek gods continue to plague her life in each of her three incarnations. The other, the boy she falls in love with is always the same. Different names (except for his first and last lives, a fact she finds amusing), different parentage, slightly different personalities but the same goofy grin and same quick wit.

198. Her first life found her as a princess in Ancient Greece, with parents who claimed she was more beautiful than Aphrodite. The claim was considered blasphemy, and she was chained to a rock to be eaten for her parents’ words. It seemed unfair, but she was too prideful even then to try and beg for her life from the gods. So, she kept silent and faced her fate. But her fate never came. Instead, there was a boy--a demigod--who carried Medusa’s head that turned the monster to stone. They married and lived happily ever after. Seriously, depending on what version of the myth you read, Perseus and Andromeda are described to look exactly like Percy and Annabeth so fight me on this.

199. Her second life had her as another Greek demigod, born in England. This time, she was a daughter of Apollo. Her mother had died when she was young, leaving the girl to become a charge to an aspiring artist during the early years of the English Renaissance. He taught her how to paint and how to play the lyre, which she found that she was rather good at. A soldier heard her playing, and quick banter made the girl find this soldier interesting. Due to who her father was, she was talented with a bow and arrow, so she cut off her hair, ran away from her home, disguised herself as a man, and joined the army. It was foolish, of course, and she died not long after by throwing herself in the way of a sword that was meant for the soldier she cared for.

200. One of the privileges of being in the Isles is that she can travel through the Underworld, but it comes with stipulations. It can never be for too long, she can’t look for people she used to know who chose to stay in the Fields of Asphodel, she can’t speak to demigods that come down for a quest, and the Fields of Punishment are completely off limits. She uses this slight freedom to visit Daedalus when he’s working, often offering up tips for the redesigns he’s doing and to play catch with Cerberus. As much as she enjoys the relaxing after three taxing lives, it does get a little lonely, even in a perpetual paradise. There are definitely some happy tears shed when she finally reunites with who she can only call her soulmate.

#likes #annabeth chase #i onLY HAVE 50 LEFT #THE NEXT SET WILL JUST BE LIKE LITTLE FACTS KIND OF #I'M ALREADY BRAINSTORMING SOME #ONE DEALS WITH PEANUT BUTTER AND ONE DEALS WITH BANDAIDS AND ONE DEALS WITH HER YANKEES HAT #also it'll probably have some rp things to pop up in the next one as well #OKAY I'M EXCITED THE END

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themomsandthecity · 6 years

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20 Things That Have Actually Made Me Cry as a New Mom

When I was pregnant, everyone wanted to impart their advice about what I was about to get myself into. Out of everything everyone told me, one little tidbit stuck with me the most: my baby would expand my heart. Her prediction was right. When I held my son for the first time, I felt a love stronger than I'd ever known. Overwhelmed by it's beauty, I cried, and I pretty much haven't stopped crying since. I cry at the drop of a hat now. Yep, I am that mom. The tiniest of milestones, changes, or TV commercials turns on my waterworks. Every morning I wake up and think, "today's the day I will feel more like my sane, prebaby self," but every day my emotions feel raw and exposed - much like my breasts with this whole breastfeeding thing. It's a strange feeling, much like I'm walking through life as fresh and inexperienced as my newborn. I read all the baby books, so I was prepared for the bottle feedings, my baby's lack of sleeping, and their constant crying. What I didn't expect, however, was my crying over these exact same things (and so much more). I'm loving my new life, but I just wish everything would stop making me cry. If you think I'm exaggerating, here are just a few examples of things that have made me openly weep recently: * My Baby Moving Up in Clothing Sizes. Every time my son's moved up in tiny shirt sizes, I find myself a mess. I miss that tiny baby in my belly, and each changing of shirt sizes means he's moving further away from being that tiny baby in my belly and closer to getting a job and moving out (dramatic, I know, but it's true!). * My Baby Crying. I don't know who sobs louder, me or my son. When my son cries, there are times I find myself sobbing with him because I want so badly to be able to console him. And sometimes, no matter how many different tactics I employ, they simply don't help. All I can do is be there with him, hold him, and cry a little, too. * My Baby Laughing. My little guy laughing is the best sound I've ever heard. His smile is pure joy, and his laugh is infectious. So, each time he laughs, I find myself happy-crying at this tiny little miracle. * Graduations. Any and all graduations make me think one thing: my baby will one day graduate high school and go off to college. Cue the sobbing. * My Hair. When I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror, it's all over. All the baby spit-up (and lack of showering) is making my hair look like a 1980s music video. I hope my baby recognizes me without a hat someday. * Spilled Milk. I never thought I'd be literally wailing over spilled milk, but it has happened. Each drop is more precious than gold. This milk is the kind that comes from my body, and when I spilled almost half a bottle, I became as upset as Cersei Lannister in Game of Thrones when she doesn't have enough wine. * Food Expiring in the Fridge. Yeah, it's this bad. Once I see the label on the cheese and realize that I can't eat it, I'm instantly moved to tears. What a waste. Maybe I can scrape off the mold and it will still be Gouda (had to)? * Potty-Training Commercials. Diaper changing time has become a fun little bonding time for baby and me. Sure, there have been some pee-ful moments, but mostly I'm enjoying every minute. These horrible commercials remind me that one day my baby won't need me in the same way, and that's proving hard for this new mom and her new open heart. Plus, his diapers make good emergency tissues. * Date Night. I love going out with my husband. Lately, though, this means I'm leaving my baby. So, date nights have taken a slightly different turn with me crying during the dinner portion only to fall asleep during the movie portion. Luckily, my husband was already used to me falling asleep during our dates. * Talking to My Mom. I know now how much my mother did for me as a newborn, and each time I talk to her, I burst into thankful tears, because now I understand what she went through. * Stepping on the Scale. I gained a whole other person with my pregnancy. Strangely, when I had my baby, I didn't magically drop all my baby weight in the delivery room like most celebrities seem to. Now, when I step on the scale I just calculate how much holding the tissue box will add. * That Sarah McLachlan Dog Commercial. Need I say more? * My Skinny Jeans. I can see them hanging in my closet reminding me of what life used to be like before having my son. My skinny jeans and I used to go out on the town, and now they hang as a reminder of a life lived before baby. I miss the woman who could fit in her skinny jeans and go out to lunch on a whim. * My Husband Saying "I Love You" Any romantic gesture makes me cry, whether it be something my husband does or something a TV husband does. The simplest of actions and just a whispered "I love you" said at the right time can bring up a cascade of tears. * Pregnant Women. When I see these women out and about, I'm immediately reminded of my months as a preggo. I become so nostalgic, and my heart aches for those times again. I miss the intimacy that my son and I shared, and that's when I reach for a clean diaper from the diaper bag to wipe my face. * Watching Him Sleep. Watching my son sleep is magical. His breathing is soft and sure. Looking at him while he's dreaming, I marvel at the fact that he's here with me at all. There is no truer magic than this, and there is no truer love than the love I feel for him. Bring out the Kleenex. * Little Baby Caps. When I delivered my son, our stay in the hospital was special. I only remember bits and pieces of that time, but I can remember clear as day those tiny hospital caps that all babies are given. Whenever I see one, I'm instantly transported back to that time of holding my newborn for those first precious days. And Kleenex's stock goes up again. * Our Song. I had a special song that I played for my son when he was in still in my belly. I'd play it when he seemed restless and he would settle down instantly. Now that he's outside of my body, when I hear it, I can't help but burst into tears as I recall how special our connection once was. * Mr. Rogers. Now that I have a baby, I'm revisiting old childhood programs, and anything this man says warms my heart. His soft, reassuring tone is wonderful. He makes happy tears fall because he likes me just the way I am. * Grandmothers. Now when I see a grandmother, I'm stopped in my tracks. I know that one day this will be me - stopping unsuspecting pregnant young ladies in line for the bathroom to let them know how their lives will be forever changed. With a smile I will tell them their hearts will expand like they never thought possible. And then I'll do them an even greater favor: I will hand them a box of Kleenex. http://bit.ly/2ylaSmL

#New Mom #Babies #Motherhood

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29 People Reveal Their Best Newly Discovered Life Loopholes

Humans have always existed on the brink of stupidity and pure genius.

Loopholes were discovered by those who lean more on the genius side.

Sometimes when loopholes are found, they aren’t always shared. No one wants their secret to be discovered, and even worse, destroyed.

But Reddit has proved to be a safe space for people to share their loopholes.

Get out your pen and paper because a lot of these you are going to want to keep for a long time.

Airplane Genius

“A few years ago I was flying from Detroit to Charlotte. Prices were higher than I would have liked, so I checked a couple of other nearby destinations.

Found that a flight to Greensboro (two hours away by car) was much cheaper, yet somehow still connected through Charlotte (Detroit -> Charlotte -> Greensboro). So I said screw it, bought a one-way, and carried on my bag, with plans to abandon the flight in Charlotte. All went well.

As I was walking through Charlotte airport, I passed the Greensboro gate and heard the agent asking for volunteers (the flight was oversold). So with a heavy heart and Oscar-winning sympathy for the gate agent’s predicament, I agreed to give up my Greensboro ticket for an extra $200 in vouchers.

Then I skated out of the airport feeling as though I’d beat the unfathomable system for once.” @leaflitterer

Wow, what a truly selfless man. This might be the only lucky airport story among thousands of unlucky airport stories.

The HamBurglar

“I went to a local burger place that was running a promotion for either 1 free large fries or 1 free burger of your choice (from a preselected menu of 4 or so options).

It was one of those promotional coupons that get printed on the bottom of your receipt and you just cut off the coupon and give it to the cashier. Well, I don’t know if the burger place f**ked something up or if they did it intentionally but after redeeming my coupon for a free burger, they gave me a receipt with another coupon for the same deal on it. I came back the next day, redeemed it and the same thing happened.

I was being given coupons for free burgers by redeeming my coupons for free burgers. I took advantage of this situation for about a week before the promotion ended. The next time they ran the promotion, none of the free food came with a receipt so I’m almost 100% positive they caught onto my abuse.” @Merry_Dankmas

I could get very carried away with this because I love hamburgers. But what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?

Idiot Sandwich

“In college, there was a sandwich shop where you’d build your own sandwich using a paper checklist, give it to a sandwich maker, and they’d build it.

I found out that starting with a cheese sandwich base and adding meat was a dollar or so cheaper than starting with a meat sandwich and adding cheese.

Also, the cheese sandwich version would have about the same amount of meat as the meat version, but about twice the amount of cheese.” @robbbbb

In college, you’ll do just about anything to get more food for cheaper, which involves being a little bit of a mad genius.

Rigged Arcades

“I discovered in my local arcade that there’s a machine that you can get to jam up by dumping a bunch of quarters into it really fast, and when it jams it gets confused and starts shooting nonstop tickets out at you.

The folks who work at the arcade probably want to know how I am so dang good at arcade games, and also why I keep coming back for more inflatable dolphins.” @snarkyopteryx

This was my dream as a child. Rig the arcade game and win infinite inflatable dolphins. What I would do with them, I don’t know, but rigging the game would be the best part.

Endless Spaghetti

“While in college, I used to work at a fast Italian place that had two shifts (lunch and dinner). Dinner shifts would start at 5.

Well, employees got one free meal per shift under the manager on duty. So what I would do is go in at 4 and get a huge meal that would be a good size dinner, and finish it by 4:30 when the dinner manager showed up. Then at the end of the night, the dinner manager would set a time for all clean up crew to make a meal before going home.

Basically, because I volunteered for cleanup each night, I would get a second free meal that I would save for lunch the next day in addition to an extra hour of pay. I made it nearly three months without buying food or groceries because of this since the menu was enormous and I got creative/counted calories well.” @musicman206

Again, college kids will do almost anything for a free meal. No shame in their game.

The True Winner

“Back when I was in high school, I worked at a supermarket. At the time Snapple had a contest where you had to check under the cap to see if you won.

Well, I found out that certain flavors, like Snapple Apple, is clear enough you can see from the bottom of the bottle. I just kept buying the winners every week.

So many shirts and frisbees.” @ohitsmark

Dang it, I should have thought of this! I never won any of those contests. All I wanted was a free frisbee.

Blockbuster Goes Bankrupt

“If I kept a video for too long, my Blockbuster would take $25 out of my checking account. If I then returned the video, Blockbuster would put the $25 back into my checking account AND apply a $25 credit to my Blockbuster account.

A useful little computer glitch, that. The next time I rented a video, the guy rang it up, handed me my video and said, “You’re all set, and you still have $23 credit.” That was how I discovered the glitch.

So I kept that movie too long, on purpose this time. Blockbuster then took $25 from my checking account. As soon as that happened, I returned the video. Blockbuster gave me back that $25 and added another $25 credit to my account. So now I was up to $48 in Blockbuster credit for doing nothing more than keeping two videos for too long.

So I checked out another video and kept it… I eventually built up over $200 in Blockbuster credits. I finally quit because it was just too easy. Like shooting fish in a barrel.

They went out of business soon after, which was not a big surprise.” @PaulsRedditUsername

So this is how Blockbuster went out of business! It all makes sense now.

Everyone Gets A Free TV!

“I remodeled my kitchen a few years back and bought all new appliances from Samsung. They had a promotion that gave you a free TV with a new Fridge/stove. The promotion worked by giving you a single use coupon code when you shopped at the Samsung store. The odd thing was this coupon didn’t subtract the price of 1 TV from your shopping cart. Instead it modified the unit price of the TV to $0.00.

This was a normal web shopping cart where you could edit the quantities of each item you were buying. I didn’t really need another 32″ TV but I had to know if really the web design was that bad. It was, and Xmas shopping for Mom was cheap that year.” @frogspaw

Now that’s a glitch I can stand behind! Merry Christmas to everyone, especially you mom.

Disappearing Student

“When I was in high school and we had a sub I’d volunteer to take the attendance sheet to the office so that I could ditch the rest of the period while still being marked as present.” @TornFromTheWomb

This is…beautiful. I’m upset I didn’t think of this myself.

Parking Professional

“Not me but a buddy of mine. In Chicago for a weekend, parked in a garage that was $55 a day. Over a 4 day weekend, that’s a $220 total.

But the signs posted all over the place say if you lose your ticket, you’ll be charged a full day. So my buddy parked for 4 days and only paid for 1.” @Weird_Map_Guy

This is the only time where I’d be happy I lost my parking ticket.

The Gift That Keeps on Giving

“Back in high school, there was this one Jamba Juice in a Safeway that my friend and I would go to every now and then. One day, my friend got a coupon through an email for a buy one get one of equal or lesser value free, but only at that specific location.

The biggest mistake they made? There was no expiration date on the coupon. So my friend prints out a few pages worth of the coupon, cut them into individual slips, and we just used them every time we went there.

They never caught on.” @Sleepy_Potato

No expiration date, no problem. Just endless smoothies.

A Win-Win

“Current job is commission only, but has an ‘additional discount’ if you fail to meet a certain amount of net sales every week.

I found out that if I sell $7800-8000/week I would take home $1200-1500/week.

If I sold $500 more a week (easily doable), I would only take home $700-800/week because of the loss of the discount. It, literally, pays for me do be lazy and know math.” @landravager

It pays (literally) to do your math people. Count it up, rake it in. #MoneyMoves

Hotel, Motel, Holiday Win

“You have a hotel reservation with a two-day cancellation policy. Your plans change one day before your trip, so you can’t cancel without paying for the room.

Instead, reschedule the reservation for a future date more than two days out. Then call back later and cancel.” @Hysterical_Realist

I am so proud of humans. Look at the geniuses we have created! Never will I pay a cancelation fee again.

Milk Money

“A few years ago a milk company did a promotion at work to allow you a free half gallon bottle of their milk.

They didn’t have the vouchers ready at the time so emailed everyone at work a pdf copy.

No one at work paid for milk for the next six months until the offer expired.” @UniquePotato

That’s a lot of free milk. Which means I get to have cereal everyday!

Lush Life

“This isn’t super exciting, but the store Lush loves to give out samples. They sell beauty products.

Now, their shampoo samples run out in no time but if you ask for any kind of soap it goes a long way. Every time I buy shampoo there, I ask to try out a new face-cleansing product and get a good chunk of soap.

I haven’t paid for skin care products in six months and my acne is almost gone.” @Notrightnowplease_

If you add together enough samples, it basically becomes the whole product. This is the life I aspire to have.

Movie Pass Madness

“For the most part, My AMC rewards card works with my MoviePass so when I get to go to movies for 9.95 a month I usually can get a free large popcorn and drink because it tracks my rewards as if I bought the tickets at normal value.” @Underlipetx

I can really dig this. More popcorn? Extra butter, please.

I’m Lovin’ It

“Last McDonalds Monopoly promotion, they had the “get a free burger/fries/coffee” tickets again. Our McDonald’s has the machines where you can put in your order. The machine doesn’t ask for the tickets of course, so you can just add the free items to whatever you order.

Then select that you want to pay at the counter. In my McDonald’s they never asked for the tickets, as their register system just asks for the total amount of money once they put the order number in. I kept the tickets on me just in case.

I also never tried to go above 1 or 2 extra items, but the system would have let you. Took about 2 months until someone asked me to give them the tickets on picking up the food. But it was about a week before the promo ended.” @LemonRaven

I would be absolutely swimming in McDonald’s french fries. Which is actually a dream I had one time. Does anyone else have dreams about french fries? No? Just me?

I’m Still Lovin’ It

“McDonalds brought out this Christmas app where you played each day and it gave you a new prize. Most of the time the prize was like a Festive Pie but sometimes it was a large burger.

You could only spin once a day.

Spin, delete and reinstall the app, spin again till you got the prize you wanted. I ate there every day for free for a month. So did several of my friends.” @harkerryan

More free food! I really am loving this. It feels like all my dreams are coming true at once.

Coca-Cola Contestant

“Coke ran a competition here where you got a code on the underside of the can tab or on the inside of the label on the bottle and you text it to a number and were entered into a competition which ran every 15 minutes to win a football and an hourly one to win an iPod.

12 year old me would collect a few, set an alarm for 5am and enter one in each 15 minutes competition and then had 4 in every hourly competition.

At 5am most people who are up are either getting up for work (not drinking Coke) or still partying (different coke).

Think I won about 40 footballs and 8 iPods until it ended. A hefty profit for a kid who had no expenses. They changed entry hours to more social hours to fix this loophole.” @KetamineKetayours

What could you do with 40 footballs and eight iPods? I don’t know but at least they’re free.

TV Addict

“When I was in middle/high school my parents put child locks on the cable box so I wouldn’t be able to watch tv when I got home and would work on homework instead.

They set it so that it would only work from the hours of like 5 to 11 on weekdays.

What they didn’t know is you can change the time zone in the cable box settings, so every afternoon I just switched to whatever the f**k time zone it was 5 o’clock in and switched it back before they got home.” @hairyhairyveryscary

Hell hath no fury like a kid who desperately wants to watch TV.

Devious Drivers Ed

“In drivers ed we had to do this simulator type thing. Only hard part about it was that everyone had their own driver’s seat, but there was only one big screen- you had no idea if you were making errors. Soooo many people failed the simulators.

I discovered that if you never took the car out of park, it only dinged you for the one mistake. Highest grade in the class.” @if_not_impulsive

Genius idea, just not too sure how I feel about him hitting the streets.

The Happiest Place on Earth

“I work 30 mins away from Disneyland and I usually go to the park on Tuesdays after work.

I usually park at Downtown Disney, buy a movie ticket for $5 using my AMC rewards membership and enjoy 5 hours of validated parking. It works out because it dies down at the park around 6pm.” @julianjames_

Oooh, I am definitely using this one. Disney already takes enough of my money when I cash out buying Dole Whip and churros.

The Generous Vending Machine

“Me and some friends discovered that if we unplugged the vending machine in the band room of the high school for about 10 min, once it was plugged back in it would dispense free drinks for awhile.

Not sure how long the freebies lasted but it was always back to normal by the next morning.” @sharrrp

Do kids even use vending machines anymore? I feel like this would have been the equivalent to hitting the lotto when I was in high school.

Laundry Day

“We lived in an apartment building with shared laundry. The machines only accepted tokens- like at an arcade. You could buy tokens from them and one token was about $2.00 or one wash/dry cycle.

Along with our neighbors we found the exact same tokens online and purchased over 1000-the minimum order- and only $140. We used those tokens for a few years and handed them out like prizes to our neighbors when we moved.

The management company only said we had to use tokens to pay the machines not where they had to come from.” @picklewiffle

All of a sudden I love laundry day very, very much.

AirBnb Baller

“Instead of booking an Airbnb once, use a referral code for $40 and create another Airbnb account to book two trips, just let the host know what your intentions are and that you’re trying to use credit.

Also ask them to refund you one cleaning fee because technically, it is one whole trip. Oh, and the $40 code only applies to trips $75 and over.” @bankrollbully

Fingers crossed that the Airbnb host is cool enough to let this one slide.

First Time, Every Time

“Any app that gives first-time only deals or credits, try downloading a texting app. Rinse and repeat, I used to do this with Uber and Lyft all the time but I think they caught on because some phone numbers generated by texting apps aren’t supported.

You can legit just fill out fake info, fake email addresses, just to use first-time only codes and never use the account again.” @bankrollbully

Multiple identities, multiple phone numbers, multiple dollars being saved. I can stand by a lifestyle like that.

Loyalty, Loyalty, Loyalty

“When you’re traveling and you go to a grocery store or any store really, and they ask for a card, tell them you have a phone number. Then say whatever the local area code is, plus 555-1212 (a quick Internet search can tell you the area code you’re in.)

I cannot tell you how many times this has worked.

God bless all you people that sign up for loyalty and rewards programs under that generic number.” @Mysticedge

Ok so I’m a little afraid of trying this but it’s worth a shot for sure. Love me some free loyalty points.

Pizza Party!

“When I was a broke college kid, papa John’s was trying to get their internet business of the ground and offered a pick-up-only large pizza any way you want it for first time users coupon.

I just made new accounts for apartments that didn’t exist in my building.

Used that for like a year.” @royalobi

Another dream of mine. Endless pizza. This could lead to some serious health issues but it’s pizza so how do I say no?

Freshman 15

“Back when I was a wee little undergrad freshman, the campus cafeteria required you to swipe your student ID to get in, then charged your student account the appropriate flat rate for a meal (so like $5 for breakfast bar, $7 for lunch/dinner, $5 for weekend buffet).

If you knew you’d be eating there often, you could pay a flat $1000 at the beginning of the semester for unlimited use of the buffet. Meanwhile, these same IDs unlocked the dorms, so one floor up from the cafeteria there was a security office where you’d sign out a “loaner” ID linked to the security account if you left yours in your room or something.

Guess which account had unlimited meal credit on it. No penalties for being one of those forgetful types who’s always losing your card, so… I think only myself and my two roommates ever linked the two ideas together, but boy did we eat well in college.” @SweaterZach

I am amazed by college freshman. Is there anything, besides attending class, that they can’t do?

Share The Love

Alright friends, now that we’ve given you the secrets to a successful life, you must pass this on.

Share this article with friends who could use that free pizza or a really great discount. A little bit of a loophole goes a long way.

Read more: http://twentytwowords.com/people-reveal-their-best-newly-discovered-life-loopholes/

from Viral News HQ https://ift.tt/2HUmFf8 via Viral News HQ

#IFTTT #Viral News HQ

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