when our daughters were younger, if they said they were bored, hubby and i always countered with "we can find you something to do so you're not bored," and voila! all of a sudden, they were never bored. hee....

Derpy claps excitedly. "Cake AND cookies! Tank you!!"

Oooooo, X'hal! What I would give to have cookies and cake. ;n;

My mom used to always say that also, though!
If I were bored she'd say, "Well, you can always clean the house" (Back then we had a three story house.) So I never told her I was bored because she'd make me clean! >:T

But now that I am older, I actually don't mind cleaning.
I think it helps having Pandora and Spotify

that was my go-to, if they were bored, they could clean the house or wash and dry the dishes. hubby was more with the outdoor stuff that they could do. XD

no one was ever bored. wonder why ;)

B] I learned that lesson early and outsmarted my parents.
I never said I was bored. Instead, I asked if I could do something outrageous like, shower with all my clothes on, or make a bed of quicksand in the backyard with the pool water and hose. They usually said "No" so then I asked if they wanted me to do something better instead, like play video games or make a tent fort in their room, and then they agreed. xD

On occasion, they sometimes said "Okay" to some of my shenanigans, <xD But they usually found ways to stop me from doing anything too dangerous or messy.
>:3 But they couldn't stop me from riding my bike with rollerblades on! Take that parental figures of my past! xD

@ Ava: Oh cool! :D Same here. I usually put on Big Band, Metal, Blues, or Fallout music while I do some serious cleaning. xD

gosh, Mers, that's wicked sweet xD

Thanks daiko! xD
x} Though I'm sure my parents wanted me to think that I outsmarted them, hehe,
so I thank them for that opportunity I guess.

Also, just felt like puttin' this here, <x} as my brother got ACNH and I'm just here revisiting my poor neglected town in ACNL.

that's adorable of your parents, then!

i so want to play animal crossing, and it's not just the fear of missing out TT it's so cute and relaxing!!

^-^ I miss my Animal Crossing game. I've been too busy and stuff and playing Pokémon instead to go back.
But now I can! ^U^
And I get to see my favorite villagers again! <3

it looks like such a healing game and the villagers are sweetpeas. :D
i just want to give them cupcakes. and design clothes. U.U

Happy birthday Merskelly! *throws seaweed and kelp streamers*

Derpy waddles in quickly.
"Happy birfday Merskewwy!" He offers up an only slightly squished donut as a present.

Thank you everyone! :D

@ Derpy: <x3 Awh wow! A donut! :D Thanks Derpy, I love the sprinkles on it, did you decorate it yourself? ^w^

@ Bio: :} Ho boi! Thank you! *places sea vegetation streamers around waist* x} <3

@ trystan: xD Very cute animal song for my bird-day! Thank you!

you're quite welcome, merskelly! i figured if i just said "hippo birdie!" without any context, you might have no idea what the @#$%^& i was talking about... XD

x} I might have guessed it, but hehe I woulda been confused at first! >u<

Today, it's gonna storm. o.o It's really cloudy and ominous-lookin' outside and it's been raining for a couple days now.
Fun fact: It was raining as I was born, around 4 or 5 am. :D
I'm a spring baby, so I bring the showers and flowers. But I'm also an Aries, so I'm secretly a volcanic bean of destruction, war and violence. x'D

it's nice and sunny outside where i am. i might go for a walk later. more like a plod, since I'm a little out of shape and need to work up to a walk. XD

happy birthday bash in this weird pond :D trystan's animal song is SO CUTE. //frames it up on the wall of my trisphee living room

Mers, you're having cake! \o/
is it a.... lava cake?
okay i'll see myself out orz

well, it's not mine, per se, daiko. it's Sandra Boynton's :)

thanks for sharing it! :D it's adorable and i wouldn't have come across it otherwise, most likely.

you're quite welcome!

i forget how i first found it....

the few times i've come across comic strips they've been through reddit or twitter. and now trisphee :)

i also have facebook too. funny stuff on my feed.

Thank you thank you! ^u^
It was actually a rather average looking birthday cake with lemon filling. xD But also I got some lactose free vanilla ice cream too! :D
^-^
If it were a lava cake tho, I'd never be able to put out the candles, hahaha! <X'D

i see what you did there :D :D

yay for lactose free ice cream!
also lemon cake sounds awesome. balances out the sweet so it won't be cloying or uneasy on the stomach.

my mom bought some tender coconut ice cream that we've yet to try. \o/

:D I had a slice today, though big, it was a bit easy on the stomach. ^-^ I'm surprised I don't feel tummy pains and it's nice.
I might have ice cream tomorrow. :} Depends on whether or not we get more fruit.
I need some more blueberries. :T And bananas that last longer this time. <X/

Oddly, I like the coconut smell but not the taste. <x3 I can't with coconut, hehe.
:D Though I once had Raspberry Mango Sherbet and it was tasty! I liked it about as much as one Pina Colada flavored scoop, but both gave me gas issues. <xP </3

i love coconut water and tender coconut flesh. dried/shredded coconut not so much.
once i had diarrhea so i had just coconut water for meals, for three days. and i didn't feel fatigue or even hunger at all! it's amazing, full of electrolytes and very nutritious apparently. coconut flesh and shreds, though, can give me tummy issues too.

i love pina colada, even though it has pineapple in it somehow my tongue doesn't hurt. usually only cooked pineapple doesn't hurt my tongue, i can't have regular pineapple.

blueberries are beautiful! bananas are my go to emergency snack, cause i know they won't do anything weird to my tummy :D

:o Ahh, I think I read somewhere that coconut has some laxative properties. But coconut water does indeed have it's benefits. :]

Last night I had to stop myself from eating my ice cream, <w<;; I might have eaten like 1/4 of the tub.

Bananas are good. :D They're part of the BRAT diet. Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, and Toast. I use that as a reminder for when I have stomach issues and don't feel like I can hold down any food. :/

did you create the BRAT diet or is it a pre-existing one? if it's the latter, how did you find out about it? :o

i have that self-control problem with chips >,> and i shouldn't even be eating them in the first place <,<

i have bananas and rice, too, when my tummy acts up. i also have sago. those are like tapioca starch balls? idk if you know what i'm talking about but they're very neutralising

ME?? <xD Oh no. I don't take credit for that! I don't know who created the BRAT diet, but it's something I looked up on google during a time I was having a lot of digestive trouble. :/ also the nausea from my bad periods left me eating little and in turn much weaker and prone to illness and feeling worse. So I looked up what to eat when you really don't feel like eating but you have to eat something.
<X) and that's how I found the BRAT diet.

Hmm, tapioca starch balls...like in Boba Tea? ._. Except smaller maybe and semi-sweet? :]

i see! i once looked up an IBS diet called Heather's IBS diet, but because i didn't have control over my food at the time, i wasn't sure how much i'd be able to follow it. i had to eat at the cafeteria and we weren't allowed to cook. it did give me a guide of which foods to avoid and which to seek, though, so it was quite useful, even if i couldn't make any of the recipes.

yes, like in bubble tea, except smaller and gummier so that they adhere together kind of like cooked rice does. (we call them sago or sabudana here, so i googled to find an english name for them). also they're not even semi-sweet, but bland tasting, a good base ingredient for any flavour you want to try. there are savoury recipes with them, mild porridge-like recipes, and sweet ones too. people here eat it both on an upset stomach and when they're supposed to be fasting because it's supposed to be very neutral on the stomach.

:O
Ohhh. Seems like a good food stuff to eat for when you need something mild and easy to digest. I had some trouble with digestion too. <:/ Turns out, all of the foods I was eating were hindering my digestive health and I should have been seeking more seeds, whole grains, beans, vegetables and leafy greens. <:] Which I'm glad to say, I've been eating less and less of the foods I should avoid and I feel better.

However, speaking of foods I should be avoiding, <x} I accidentally found myself consuming 4 slices of Di Giorno Pepperoni pizza and 1 mozzeralla stick. <:'} I just know it's going to result in crazy amounts of gas, and later on acne...nehhhh. <X/ I have to be extra good tomorrow. <:[ My tummy is a delicate f*cking flower. </3

yes, it's very easy on the stomach, it's so neutral. reminds me of rice. my mom has made cutlet type things with them and those were fun to eat, too.

yeah, you know how we're different from other people who follow diets of any kind? we can't have cheat days without consequences of a whole nother level. if i want to snarf some cheese one day, no matter how bad the craving is, i have to carefully wonder whether the consequences will be worth it.

;u; I got a single pimple pop up on my forehead as a consequence...so..yup!
<x] But at least it's not 3 of them at once, like it used to be.
8C My pores were practically leaking oil and grease every other day back then!
I did eat a lot of pizza, <U<; so I'm sure that had a lot to do with it.
-n- But although I granted myself a cheat day, I'm working on bettering my diet so it's a good variety of heart-healthy, easily made, feel-good foods. -u-
Like oats, beans, nuts, seeds, rice, veggie soups, salads, fruit and fish mostly. :D I found cutting out a lot of sugars, fast food, and dairy entirely really helped with my digestive issues as well as my complexion and energy. I can't let myself give up eating well! :/

same here! i've found cutting out most diary to be very helpful, as well as minimising processed food in general. it's just so beneficial to eat better that i wonder why i didn't do that in the first place :P

>w> I'm not gonna feel bad if all the fast food chains around here go under. I'm really not. I think at home cooking with whole ingredients is the way to go. <:/ If only I actually had the drive to cook more..as it is, my body just wants a meal to appear and has no intention of making it appear. <XD

oh i know the feeling! i think single dish meals are great that way, like instant pot meals, and bakes. you make just one dish and it makes a meal or, increase the quantity and carry it over for more than one meal. and for breakfasts, granola and vegan or lactose-free yoghurt with whatever fruit you like is just a packed meal of nutrients that's good on the tummy too.
another thing i love is fermented foods, because you make a batch at once and can feed off it for days or months depending on the food item. and it's SO good on the tummy! probiotics ahoy :f-happy:
of course, when you cook for the rest of your family in the same go, it's difficult to make enough to carry over to your next meal.

:D I'd love a variety of healthy gut-friendly stuff every day!
^-^ Yogurt and Oatmeal and Spinach with Eggs.
:T But I need to incorporate more veggies if I wanna feel better. So far out of the new veggies I have tried, I can tolerate eating,
Tomatoes,
Red Bell Peppers,
Summer Squash,
Asparagus,
Kale,
Olives,
and Zucchini.

Still no likey Onions and Avocados tho. >X/

Though I wanna make a veggie/shrimp Tortellini, :D With Marinara sauce, Garlic Shrimp, Olive oil, Spinach, and Baby Bella Mushrooms. ^_^ <3 Tasty.
But I also wouldn't mind learning to make rice and grilled vegetables. :O Could really use that for both lunch and dinner, maybe with some chicken or soup. :]

you might want to ease up on the grains a bit. in moderation they are good filler but they really aren't suitable for eating regularly

aside from that and the olives(bleh, olives!) it sounds like you are doing really well ^^

sadly i sort of went the other way last night, hahahaha, we had pan-fried eggs(over easy), porkchops, mushrooms, zucchini and broccoli crowns. i was really feeling rosemary and garlic last night and that was a good excuse to indulge

A million different things can contribute to gut issues, it's such an annoying process to figure out what can be triggers. Elimination diets can be really useful to help, but a lot of people don't seem to do them properly or confuse them as weight loss diets. A lot of probiotics and vegetables seem to have adverse reactions in my case. Along with many other things. My gut just really hates digesting anything in general.