Laura’s Middle-School Election Mess (Throwback) – Ep. 347

Shanna

Hi, welcome to Big Fat Positive with Shanna and Laura. On this week's episode, we have our weekly check-ins. We have our special segment, Throwback, where Laura tells us about the time her brother saved her from political humiliation, and we wrap it up with our weekly BFPs and the offense. Let's get started.

Laura

Okay. So this week we faced a little bit of an unexpected wrinkle in our lives as homeowners, but it was really extra difficult because we have kids. And so I thought I'd talk about it in my check in.

Shanna

Okay.

Laura

So shortly after we came back from evacuating for the fires, I noticed that when I was taking things out of our freezer, they felt kind of soft. You know, like taking a ice cream sandwich out and it's not like frozen brick hard. It was just a little soft.

Shanna

Oh, actually, that sounds perfect. That's the consistency I like in an ice cream sandwich.

Laura

Yeah, I mean, honestly, it was kind of perfect, which is why I didn't really register it as a problem right away. I thought maybe, oh, this ice cream sandwich brand like is pre softened or like whatever it has. What I really mean by that is that it had like preservatives in it, which made it so it wouldn't freeze solid or whatever.

Shanna

Yeah.

Laura

But I did tuck it into the back of my brain. And as a few days went by, things were getting softer and softer. Like, Augie loves his puffy pancakes for breakfast, which is these little like Scandinavian pancakes that are really puffy. I don't know how else to describe them.

Shanna

Oh, that sounds good.

Laura

Yeah, they're like able skivers if you've ever been to the Danish restaurant and solving or whatever. I think different areas of Scandinavia call them different things and there are differences that seem slight to me that are like between able skivers and other types of these puffy pancakes. But as a non Scandinavian person, I just think of them all as puffy pancakes and conveniently they are sold at Whole Foods under like the 365 brand. So they're relatively inexpensive. And they are the only thing that Augie will eat for breakfast at this moment like okay literally well actually he will eat dry honey net Cheerios, so that is an option, but he does like to eat those one by one with his fingers So it's not a good option for school days. You know because it takes about 45 minutes to get through a bowl Yes, yes So puffy pancakes are the way and I would bring the puffy pancakes out.

Shanna

Yeah.

Laura

So I started doing what I do, which is like YouTubing all kinds of repair videos and like really diving into the problem. So you were going to attempt a DIY this? Well, I was diagnosing it in a DIY fashion. Like I wanted to know what I was dealing with before I called anyone because, you know, they're going to say something like, oh, your vents are maybe blocked or maybe you need to reboot it. Like that is literally something that you apparently sometimes just have to do with bridges that have a computer in them. Sometimes they just need to reboot. So I got out my trusty thermometer gun, the one I got originally I think to make like candy or something. Like I got it for a cooking purpose, but it works for anything. And I did test the fridge and the freezer and they were definitely not cool enough. So I had to like use up one of my work days basically to troubleshoot this.

Shanna

Oh, right. I was like totally picturing you guys living out of ice chests.

Laura

I mean, but here's the problem. It was also raining this week. So like having to go next door to get every little thing was definitely a real pain. We did use this opportunity to buy the chest freezer that I've been coveting for a long time. But like, you know, we kept justifying, oh, we don't need it. We can just be better at culling what we have at our freezer, blah, blah, blah. I was like, no, okay, now we need a chest freezer. So we bought a chest freezer from Costco and put it in the basement. Nice. And yeah, I spent all week schlepping back and forth between my moms to get, you know, puffy pancakes and peanut bars. When your kids almost exclusively eat berries and frozen foods, you realize it's really hard to live without a fridge.

Laura

So up and down for the basement over the next door, it could have been way worse. I totally recognize that. However, when we finally got the guy in this week, we found that it was unrepairable. Oh. So then we had to go and buy a new fridge from Costco that is getting delivered on Monday. So we're still without a fridge. Whoa.

Shanna

Oh my gosh.

Laura

Yeah. And I am really realizing how the conveniences of modern life make my parenting possible, like without the fridge. I don't know. Would Augie starve to death? Probably.

Shanna

It's true. We take so much for granted. And yeah, and don't really think about how it affects our parenting as well.

Laura

Yeah. And it just adds to the baseline stress, you know, when Augie's like, mama, I want strawberries. And you're like, OK, hold on. I'm going to put on my rain jacket and rain boots to tromp over to grandma's and get it, you know.

Shanna

Oh, yeah. There you go. I don't know which would be trickier walking over to grandma's in the rain or growing your own.

Laura

Well, the strawberries I tried to grow are long dead, so I think I know the answer to that.

Shanna

OK, OK. So have you gotten the new fridge yet?

Laura

No, no, no, it's coming on Monday, so we're still fridgeless. Or rather, I should say, we just have a big hunk of metal doing nothing in our kitchen. So yeah, we've also been doing a lot of McDonald's, not going to lie. A lot of to-go meals this week.

Shanna

There you go. They need to have a to-go berry shop that you can just drive through and get some blueberries and strawberries and be on your way. I mean, that would be brilliant, wouldn't it?

Laura

to go a drive-through fruit stand. I would go there. Yeah, absolutely. I would do. I definitely would. A million dollar idea. All right, we should do it. But in the meantime, I think it's time for your check-in. Do you have a fridge that's running? Is your fridge running? You better go catch it.

Shanna

It is. It's running. It's running very quickly.

Laura

If only someone prank called me this week and they were like, is your refrigerator running? I'd be like, no. And that's the problem.

Shanna

Can you fix it? You would have ruined their joke.

Laura

Laura, the ruiner of jokes. Okay, tell me what happened to you this week.

Shanna

I designed and set up an escape room for a children's birthday party at my home. Yeah, you did.

Laura

And it was spectacular.

Shanna

Thank you. Wow, this week has been so fun because I have just been knee deep, waist deep, I don't know, chin deep in Getting this escape room birthday party together for L because if you listen last week, you know that she requested this nine days before the party and I was like, ah, so I went online and learn all about escape rooms, got some inspiration and then put my own spin on things. And I created a spreadsheet and air table to track every step of the escape room, what clue leads to what and what items I need to get. And this was maybe one of the most fun things I have ever done in my life. I'm like, maybe this is something I should do for a living.

Laura

I mean, that must be a job, right? Escape room architect.

Shanna

Maybe or at least escape room kids birthday party planner.

Laura

I don't know.

Shanna

I shall look into it. But anyway, I set up 12 different missions that each led to a different part of the house and they had to figure out all these different clues and unlock boxes and decode messages. and collect puzzle pieces and at the end they were gonna put the puzzle together and get like the grand prize. And I mean, I worked so hard on this way until the last minute. Like people were coming over to the house for the party and I was still like putting the finishing touches on this pinata that was like the grand finale. Once again, I had another party where I did not shower, did not put on any makeup. I was just like, hi everybody. But yeah, I completed it and we had Elle's birthday party.

Laura

And we were there. I think we were late additions, right? Because you wanted to keep it small, but we saw you guys at the Natural History Museum last week and apparently we zled our way into your party invites.

Shanna

Yes, I didn't mind too much about the size, I guess. But Elle really was like, I only want these four friends from school. And I was like, OK, that's fine with me. That makes it easier. And then we saw you at the museum. And the second we left, Elle was like, oh, I want them to come to the party too. And I was like, of course, of course. So you guys got a last minute invite. Yeah, you weaseled your way in. So I was really happy.

Laura

That you were there. It's so sweet because they were like the young. Well, that's not true. One of her friends had a younger sibling who is like the youngest little toddler there. But Augustine Sebastian, you know, they were a lot smaller and the girls were really welcoming and accepting of them.

Shanna

Oh, yeah. Yeah. And Elle just loves them so much. So I'm really glad you guys were there. So the party started, just started off with pizza and food and playing on the trampoline and lots of fun, but people were definitely like, when are we starting the escape room? The kids were very, very eager about this. And I was too, because I was very excited to see how they would respond to all of my work and creativity and all the things I'd printed up and I was excited to run the show. And my first indication that this was not going to go as planned was probably when I said, let's do the escape room and got everyone together, explained the rules, and immediately Cici started crying because she felt left out of everything.

Laura

Is that why she was crying? All I knew was she was really sad and we had to reboot. You were like, okay, let's take a moment and come back. I didn't know what had triggered her.

Shanna

You know what it was? The very first clue was in a Manila envelope on our piano and so all the kids went in to look at it and CECE was taking the opportunity to Show off her piano skills I guess and like playing a little song and I was like no no no we're not playing the piano right now and close the lid and CECE lost it. She was like playing a piano. So anyway we reset and started again.

Laura

That is some peak second child behavior right there for sure.

Shanna

Now I had anticipated some short attention spans, maybe some difficulty like reading clues out loud. Like I was like, ah, they're going to want to all read the clues. I don't know exactly how this is going to go. It was just so much more. conflict-ridden and dramatic and, oh my God, just wild than I thought it would be. Having a bunch of nine-year-old girls and some six-year-olds and a three-year-old, I mean, it was complete chaos. Honestly, Laura, I thought they were going to complete this entire 12 mission, 40 clue escape room in an hour. It took them 25 minutes to figure out clue number one.

Laura

Yeah. I mean, they were so excited by it, but the focus maybe wasn't there. That's not to say they weren't focused on the task at hand. It's just there was, you know, by the nature of an escape room is that there's a lot of like diversions and, you know, it's not so straightforward. And they definitely got got lost on some side quests for sure.

Shanna

They did. They did. And as anticipated, they were all competing to be like, who gets to read the clue? I want to read the clue. And L was really trying to take charge and, you know, be the leader. All her friends have strong personalities and including Cece and it was just loud and wild and no one could hear the clues being read. But that being said, it was so fun. The kids were so into it. When they started off, I gave them little notebooks with like secret UV pens so they could like pretend to be, I don't know, spies or whatever and an evidence bag to collect all the puzzle pieces. I just feel like everyone really got into it. And hopefully, the kids didn't see all of the, like, glances I was giving you, like, oh, my God, this is taking ages.

Laura

What have I done? What have I done? Oh, no. They were none the wiser. And they were having so much fun. They were absolutely into it 100%. Like, they probably would have been there all night if you had let them. They would have. They would have. But it was a bit of sensory overload, especially the clue where you had to pop balloons and then they just all started popping the like all the balloons, even though they had already found the puzzle piece or whatever.

Shanna

Yes. Yes. And we have such a mix of different like sensory processing personalities as you do. Right. So L is like pop, pop, pop, pop, pop. And then other kids are like, ah, that's so loud. I'm like, oh boy. I learned from my mistakes of how to set things up in an escape room for young children, but it was good. So it's like it went from the family room to the kitchen to the better. I mean, it went all over the place. And like I said, I thought they were going to finish this whole thing in an hour. About an hour and a half in, I was like, oh my God, Laura there. Halfway through. Yeah.

Laura

Yeah. And I didn't know because you hadn't shared with me like the whole situation. So when you told me that, I was like, oh, that's a problem. Like that's like, I think at this point, parents had shown up and like, because there was a drop off party for most of the kids, right? And so the parents are sitting there being like, uh, is the party over?

Shanna

I know luckily all the parents get along so they were sitting in the living room chatting and I'm just like trying to direct these children through the house and these puzzles and I'm like oh my gosh it's getting so late. So at one point we were in Elle's room and Steve was in charge of setting up the clues in that room and one of the clues was supposed to be like asking Alexa to read the clue, right? So they ask, and Alexa doesn't respond. And I look at Steve, he's like, oh, I forgot to program that clue, darn it.

Laura

Well, now you can have it for another one, right? When Cece decides she wants to do it, you already have enough clues for another party. Right? Absolutely.

Shanna

And she has already told me that that's what she wants to do for her birthday. I withered and died inside. And we know she never forgets.

Laura

She will not forget that.

Shanna

I know she definitely won't forget that. So I'll have to save all of that. But the puzzle was like the final clue, and it led them to a hidden pinata. And they lost their minds when they saw the pinata. They're like, pinata. And we hung it up and they hit it. And then I just really went over the top. My goodness, after the piñata for some reason, that led to it like a chest of gold, which I'd wrapped all these like prizes in gold wrapping paper. And, you know, they dug through that. And then I was like, OK, guys, you can go home now. You can go. Oh, no, wait, there was a silly string fight.

Laura

Yeah, I was going to say one of those prizes was silly string for everyone who attended. And so they had to have a silly string fight, which I was grateful for because I was like, I don't want to take this home. So I'm really glad that we did it at your house.

Shanna

Yes, that's what I said. I said, everybody, you use that here that is not for you to take home. I was looking out for all you other parents. So they went in the backyard and they had a blast just spraying each other and like, oh my gosh, it was hilarious. They loved it.

Laura

It was. It was. My kids loved it. I had so much fun. Good Cory though at some point was like I was too loud for me. I was like, well, that's why you went out into the like you removed yourself. Good job protecting your own hearing.

Shanna

Good good for him. Yeah, that was smart because it was very loud.

Laura

But yeah, I had to like talk Sebastian and Augie down from disappointment that they weren't going to take an Orbeez bath with L like. Augie was seriously like, but we were gonna take a bath. We can't leave before we take the Orbeez bath. I was like, that is never gonna happen. It's just not happening. I guarantee Shanna is not dumping these Orbeez into her brand new bathtub that she renovated.

Shanna

God, wouldn't you know that I did the next day for those kids, for my kids. Oh my gosh.

Laura

How do you get them out? That's my question. Do you have to like scoop them all out after?

Shanna

I used like a pasta strainer like a mesh like strainer thing and we strained them out and then immediately like just dumped them in the garden and stuff like so we could get rid of them and they could just absorb water. It was yeah it was funny but it was it was a blast definitely my most over the top party and it's just fulfilling to me to do this shit clearly. So, yeah, it was fun and I'm glad you were there. Yeah, it was a great success. Hooray! Yay! But yeah, that's it for me. Shall we move on to our special segment? I think we should.

Laura

Wouldn't it be weird if I did it and I was just like, and let's go on to our BFPs and BFNs?

Shanna

Shortest special segment ever.

Laura

Nothing has ever happened in my past. The end. No, I do. I do. So I was thinking about sibling relationships. You know how we were just talking about how CeCe made you would do a reset on the beginning of the escape room because she and Elle got into a little disagreement that resulted in crying. And I gotta say, this is a daily, if not hourly occurrence at our house right now. And it's one of those things that like really triggers me. And I mean, I could I've talked to my therapist a lot about this, so I don't need to go into the deep details. But I do find it really hard to deal with my kids bickering with each other, because I didn't really have that relationship with my brother when I was growing up. Right. partially because we weren't allowed to fight with each other as much as we were. I mean, I don't know.

Shanna

I'm so curious how they got you to not argue and fight though. I mean, I feel like I'm trying constantly with my kids to get them to stop that. And it just, I'm powerless, powerless in this regard.

Laura

I do think being a boy and a girl made a little bit of a difference because we didn't like all the same things. We liked a lot of the same things, but it's not like he was trying to steal my Barbies and I was trying to steal his trucks or whatever.

Shanna

Right.

Laura

Which is, I'd say, the source of 90% of the meltdowns. The brotherly meltdowns that happen here is like, oh, he stole my toy. I was going to play with it. And he's like, he wasn't playing with it. It was just on the ground. And then like they're both sobbing. And I'm just like, I don't know how to like, I can't solve this problem for you guys. Yeah. And the other night I kind of broke down and decided I was going to try some Susan winter parenting techniques on them for better or worse. OK. And I was like, you guys, do you know who your best friend in the whole world is? And I think Sebastian said someone from school. I was like, no, your brother. And I regret saying this because it led to more problems. But I was like, and you know, your brother's going to be there when no one else is there for you. Your brother's going to be there for you when mommy and daddy are even gone.

Shanna

Oh, yeah.

Laura

Yeah. Sebastian was like, who is going to be my mommy? I was like, no, no, no. I mean, it's not going to happen anytime soon. I was like, damn it, Laura. So I am not as good at this technique as my mom.

Shanna

That's funny.

Laura

But I really want them to have that relationship that Jeff and I have, you know, to this day where we really have each other's back, we're really supportive of each other. And we never really fought very much, at least to my memory. Like we must have bickered as young kids. But as we got older, we really didn't fight that much. And then it reminded me of the story that I'm going to tell about a specific time when Jeff really had my back, when he really didn't have to. Aw. Yeah. And so let's go all the way back. in time to the 90s, Shanna. The early 90s. What a special time that was.

Shanna

Oh, that's such a special time. Paula Abdul is running through my mind. Was she early 90s? I don't know. That's like the soundtrack.

Laura

Definitely late 80s, early 90s. I think late. Yeah, like she was probably like 91. This is a few years later. We're thinking like 1994 ish. I'd have to like do the math based on how old I am. And I couldn't possibly do that. That's too many numbers. So we're just going to say 1994 ish. I was in seventh grade, and I was a go-getter. I went to this magnet school. It was called Computech in Fresno, California. True to its name, it was a computer and technical middle school, which was very ahead of its time. This is 1994, and it was one of those schools where everyone had to take computer classes. Which was awesome right I mean this people always ask me like oh you taught yourself to code like now your coder how did it start like well probably that I went to compu tech and like learned really I didn't learn coding per se.

Shanna

For student council?

Laura

Yes, for student council. And while I want to run for president, I am realistic and I know that a seventh grader is not going to win president. So I look at all the other roles. It's like secretary, treasurer, vice president and president. I think it was just a very small roster. And I decide secretary is a role for a seventh grader. Like a seventh grader could potentially win secretary. So I decided to throw my hat in the ring and run for secretary. Now I never run a campaign before and they didn't have a teacher like Elle had that like said exactly what you need to do. You need to create a poster and you need to create a platform and all that stuff. So I was just going off of my own gut. And the advice of my parents who my parents also go getters obviously both physicians, but not like the most in touch with like what was cool in the 90s amongst middle schoolers.

Shanna

Oh, like a speech that you were going to like read to to, you know, the class or what?

Laura

No, it turns out only the presidential candidates get to do a speech. That was something I knew beforehand, but I was like a little jealous because I thought that the people needed to know what I stood for. So since I wasn't able to give a speech, my dad assisted me in printing out like 150 copies of this platform so I could distribute it like a flyer around school.

Shanna

So it's basically an essay written by a seventh grader, printed out single spaced, and that was what you were going to pass out. Okay.

Laura

I think there was clip art involved.

Shanna

Good. Okay.

Laura

Because my dad was also very advanced with computer stuff, and we definitely had like Corel word perfect at the time, I think. Yes. And yeah, we definitely had clip art. We definitely had some like jazzing it up, but it was a full page of me explaining why I should be secretary of Computech Middle School in 1994.

Shanna

Amazing. I'm sure it was brilliant. I mean, I would vote for you, I'm sure.

Laura

That's very kind. So I showed up to school early so I could pass these out in the quad. And I mean, I was so hopeful and naive and like cheery. My brother was a super popular guy. Okay. My brother was like big man on campus. I don't know if you ever seen pictures of Jeff at this time, but I mean, he was freaking cute. And it pains me to say that as a sister, but he was like very cute. He had like this blonde surfer guy hair. I mean, he was honestly the guy all the girls had crushes on and all that stuff. I mean, my whole life, that's how it was. So I kind of thought I was going to like be able to ride his coattails a little bit and just like fly in and be like the cool guy's little sister.

Shanna

Did you put that on your flyer? Like was that your catchphrase?

Laura

The cool guy's little sister. Yeah, that was my main platform. Yeah. But for me, because my brother is cool.

Shanna

Ah, gotcha, gotcha.

Laura

Like any great political dynasty, you know, they would know I'm a B-Rex. They're like, oh, there's no other B-Rex. She must be related to the cool guy. Absolutely. So by the rule of transference, she must also be cool. I get it. I'm not sure everyone else did. So I show up at the quad early to pass these out. I pass them all out, Shanna. And I am not clued in yet that this is not what a bunch of tweens like early young teenagers and tweens want at eight in the morning. This to me handed a platform. But I pass them all out. I think it's a great success. The bell rings. I go to my first period computer class, which is right off the quad. And I'm sitting there and I'm working on a hypercard stack, if you know, you know. And all of a sudden, like the vice principal comes into the door and is like, Laura, I need to see you. Sean, question.

Shanna

Oh, absolutely not. No way.

Laura

No, not a not a whiff, right? Never been sent to the office. I was a goody two shoes. So I was just like in my mind, I thought like, oh my gosh, they saw my platform and they just want to like give me the role. Like they like I thought like something I thought they were coming to congratulate me for being so proactive, right?

Shanna

It's amazing.

Laura

So I'm still excited and following this vice principal out the door and I take a step out and this vice principal waves their hand and says, do you have an explanation for this? And I look out and the entire quad is just littered with my platform. Like it snowed eight and a half by eleven pages with clip art. It's like clip art ocean out there and everyone everyone had like balled it up and just thrown it on the floor or just like dropped it where I handed to them. I just going back imagining myself like happy go lucky passing this out and not realizing everyone else is just dropping it as I like walk is devastating for poor little me.

Shanna

Oh my gosh, like clean it immediately. Yeah. Yeah.

Laura

It was like, pull me out of class, you have to clean this up.

Shanna

Look, I feel this is not on you, but on all the litter bugs that you clearly went to school with.

Laura

Yeah, seriously. I mean, like there are trash cans in each corner of the quad. I remember because I had to go walk to each of them multiple times as I was throwing shit away. I mean, and like she treated me as though I like took my stack of papers and threw it in the air and made it rain, right?

Shanna

Right. Right.

Laura

Like I'm in the club.

Shanna

Yeah, you're just like spraying them out like you would dollar bills in the club. Just like. Maybe that's what she thought like that you hoped people would stumble upon your platform because they're just everywhere.

Laura

Yeah, maybe. I don't know. I mean, I guess the alternative was to make everyone else pick them up. And that could have also been really humiliating for me, right? Like that everyone would find that they just dropped them on the floor. Well, either way, I was humiliated and I was so sad because I had never been in trouble before. And I was just like, this is awful, like not only does nobody like me or like my plan, but now I'm having to clean all this shit up all by myself. And I'm like rushing to beat the clock because the minute the bell rings, everyone's going to pour out of the classrooms and see me doing this, right? Wow.

Shanna

Yeah. That really adds insult to injury, you know, people throw away your platform and then you get in trouble for it and have to clean it up. I just want to give seventh grade Laura a hug.

Laura

Well, you don't have to, because as I'm sitting there sobbing, like slowly picking it up, like I'm trying to rush, but I'm sobbing and I'm like, ah, this is awful, the worst day of my life. How privilege am I that that was the worst day of my life up to that point, but still like putting everything away? And then I hear Jeff appear behind me asking if he could help. What? And I turn around, like tears pouring down my eyes. To this day, I have no idea how he knew I was out there. I feel like someone must have come and told him like your sister's out there. Like someone must have walked by or even the vice principal might have been like, Jeff, can you go help her?

Shanna

Yeah.

Laura

But somehow he got word in his class that he needed to come out and help me. And he gave me a big hug. And together we were able to like gather them all up and throw them away before anyone else saw. And yeah, he gave and even though he was like the cool guy on campus, he could have risked his reputation for coming to help me, right? He didn't even think twice about it. He just came right out to help me and like, I mean, how great is that?

Shanna

That's so sweet. I love that. Have you talked to him about this experience or asked him how he knew you were out there?

Laura

You know, I haven't I should really ask him about it. He probably I wonder if he even remembers, you know, because to me it's like such a pivotal moment in my life. But he, you know, it was probably just another day for him. But I'm going to ask him and report back.

Shanna

Yeah. Okay, okay. So you and Jeff pick up all of this garbage. I mean, you're worked hard on flyers and put them in the trash. Did you win, Secretary?

Laura

Oh, God, no, Shanna.

Shanna

Oh, okay. Definitely not. You know, I wasn't 100% sure.

Laura

I will say I was vindicated because the following year, I guess I had not learned my lesson, but I decided I was going to run for president like I had always planned.

Shanna

Nice.

Laura

And somehow I won.

Shanna

What? Did you change your marketing tactics before the election?

Laura

I learned my lesson. I did not bring in a 8.5 by 11 platform. And I did get to give a speech though. So there was that.

Shanna

Oh, very nice.

Laura

I got to put it all in the speech. Yeah, no, I just made some posters and shit.

Shanna

As you do when you run for student council in middle school or high school, very good. Yes, yes.

Laura

But anyway, someday I'll have to tell the boys that story when they'll be old enough to like really get it and see if that'll help them bicker less and recognize that They have a built in best friend. Like that's the other thing is like, I don't need to force them to be actually best friends. Like they can have friends outside the house and stuff. But like, how great is it that you guys have a built in buddy that's going to be there with for you? You know, like so don't fuck it up by being jealous of the toy they have in their hands.

Shanna

Oh, I know it is. It is really cool. And in our house, despite all the bickering and stuff, when the girls do connect and really show their love and friendship for each other, it is just like, oh, that's amazing. It really is.

Laura

I know, I know. So, yeah, that is my throwback. That is the time I did not win secretary in my seventh grade class.

Shanna

I love it. And I love Jeff. He's a great guy.

Laura

He is. He's coming in a few weeks and I can't wait to see him again. That's awesome. Actually, I'm going to send you a picture of Jeff now because I really want to hear your reaction to the heartthrob version of Jeff.

Shanna

Oh, OK. So this is eighth grade, Jeff. You're sending me? Yeah, actually, it's just the right era. OK, perfect. Let's see.

Laura

Oh, yes. I just found another photo that also demonstrates his status at the school.

Shanna

Two girls hanging on him. Oh, their scrunchies are so of the era. They've got their hair pulled back in scrunchie ponytails, and he is betwixt to them just smiling and enjoying being hung on by what look like popular girls.

Laura

Jenna and Michelle. Jenna and Michelle. I remember them well, yes.

Shanna

Too cute, too cute. Well, I'm sorry you weren't able to write his coat tails into the secretary position, but it resulted in something more meaningful. Connection between siblings.

Laura

It sure did. But that's it for my throwback, and that means it's probably time for our BFPs and BFNs. What do you think? Oh, yes.

Shanna

I have a BFP. Yay. Yay. This week I went to a birthday party, a children's birthday party with CeCe for one of her little friends and it was an ice skating party and it was really fun.

Laura

An ice skating party for six year olds. That's that's bold. That's brave.

Shanna

Very brave. Five and six year olds. You know, Cici's on the older end of a lot of her friends. And so there were a lot of very tiny children wobbling around in the ice skating rink. And they got a lesson for the party that was part of it. And they all had their little frames and they all like scooch out there, including Cici. And I just have to pause here and say that this is such a perfect example of how me, my family are just never prepared for the cold ever, right? I grew up in Arizona. It's just like, it's not on my mind. We get there. It is freezing. I mean, it's probably like 40 degrees in this ice skating rink. CECE had like three layers on but she was freezing. I was like, here take my jacket. So she's wearing like my puffy white jacket, which is completely oversized.

Laura

Honestly, good for her for knowing her limitations, you know?

Shanna

Exactly, exactly. And I was just thinking back to the one time I took a roller skating and it was a complete shit show like trying to roller skate with a frame. So I did not expect like great advancements quickly on the ice.

Laura

Especially wearing a puffy dress, basically.

Shanna

Basically, yeah. And then like halfway through, I realized I didn't tie her skates tight enough and they were big and her ankles were displaying and everything. But despite all that, she had a blast. And so did I because I was ice skating too. And that was really fun. And she said she wants to come back and do ice skating more and all this stuff. And I was like, hey, it turned out to be like a really cool party and really cool experience.

Laura

Oh, I want to do that. I wonder if Augie would be able to figure it out because I love ice skating. I'm not like amazing at it, but I can handle myself on some skates and I just I love the feeling of being on the ice. That makes me want to do it. Where was this ice rink?

Shanna

It was in Van Nuys and it's one of the practice locations for the LA Kings and it's like really nearby but also you can come in and you know pay to just ice skate around a lot of people were there practicing really fancy ice skating they were doing flips and twirls and it was really fun and they have tons of these little frames so if you guys ever want to go ice skating let me know we'll meet up and you know get these kids on frames and maybe do a little lesson.

Laura

I do. I want to do that because Van Nuys is kind of in the middle of us. It's like a perfect location.

Shanna

Yeah. Yeah. It's great.

Laura

Okay. Consider it booked. I want to do that.

Shanna

Yay. All right. Well, what about you, Lord? Do you have a BFP or BFN?

Laura

I also have a BFP. All right. The BFP are those UV lights and notebooks you gave us during the party. Oh, really? Oh, cool. Yeah. Those were neat. The kids love those. That's why it's the BFP. So first of all, they're very cool. Like they're little pens that like it appears that you're writing nothing. It's like invisible ink and it has a little UV light at the end that you when you turn it on, you can see the ink and it's very legible. Like it's really clear. I kind of thought, oh, you know, maybe this is some like Amazon purchase that might not work as well as it like purports to right, but it works so well It's so cool even in bright daylight when you light up the like stuff you wrote on and the reason is my bfp is the poise like latched onto these you think they would be more interested in like all the other toys and shit you sent us home with you know like candy and

Shanna

Oh, he's following in our footsteps. I feel like that's all we did in grad school.

Laura

I know. Be still my writerly heart. I was like, absolutely, honey. So we walked all the way to the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf because that was like the only coffee shop that was open, which was like about a mile actually. So we went on this really long walk. They walked the whole way, which I was like, wow. And then I had Corey come and pick us up. But I have a picture of him writing in his notebook at the coffee shop that I want to share with you.

Shanna

Oh, look at him. He's got his notebook and pen, and it's all secret spy-like. It's really cool how the UV light actually shows up in the photo. It shows up kind of purple. Yeah, you can actually see it.

Laura

So, yeah, I mean, don't spy on his important notes, Shanna. I wouldn't dare. I wouldn't dare.

Shanna

Oh, I'm so glad those were a hit with the kids. That's so fun. Yeah, it was a great party favor.

Laura

So thank you very much.

Shanna

Oh, you are welcome.

Laura

But I think that's it for me, and I think that means it's it for our show.

Shanna

All right. Listeners, thank you so much for being part of our BFP community. And if you want to continue to support our show, please share this episode with your friends or another episode that really resonated with you and spread the word about BFP. And if you haven't done so yet, could you please do us a favor? Head on over to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you listen. Leave us a five-star review, say a few things you love about the show, and we might read your review on an upcoming episode. And if you have any questions or comments or feedback on this episode or anything else, please reach out. We love hearing from you. Laura, where can everyone find us?

Laura

We're on all the social medias at BFP Podcast. We have a website, bigfatpositivepodcast.com. And if you want to send us an email, you're always welcome to send us a voice memo in those emails because we love those. Just send it to contact at bigfatpositivepodcast.com. And finally, if you want to join the coolest group of people on the internet, just search Big Fat Positive Community on Facebook. It's a private group, and you really got to answer those two membership questions so we know you're not a robot or an imposter. But once you do that, you'll get sent straight through to all the wonderful, supportive, amazing conversations we're having in there.

Shanna

Our show is produced by Laura Birek, Shanna Micko, and Steve Yager. Thanks so much for listening, everyone. Have a Big Fat Positive week. Bye. Bye.