Counting On: Season 3, Part 2, Different Show, Same...

[RosyDaisy]

That's just what you need after a tornado or disaster; a bunch of fundie boys proselytizing to you. "We can't really help you but have you heard of Jesus?" 

These kids ARE NOT trained to handle disaster. They are only in the way. Besides, all disaster recovery and rescue MUST go through Emergency Management. Some churches have trained volunteers and are registered through EMA.

[ChickenettiLuvr]

In my defense--

1. I usually do opt out of the kitchen. 

2. The popcorn disaster was my fault. 

3. The jello went off without a hitch. Until ham-fisted hubby tried to manage the fridge. 

4. I'm signing off kitchen duty again. But FJ has to feed me! 

5. I'm off to make chicken broth for my upset tummy. Kindly disregard any sirens or disaster headlines. 

[DaniLouisiana]

@ChickenettiLuvr, funny thing is now Bigfoot never gets hiccups- I do, at the drop of a hat.

[just_ordinary]

16 hours ago, MamaJunebug said:

I'm asking the next also out of curiosity, not judging at all: Why do you suppose it is that a good restaurant meal is so much less than a catered one? Taxes? What the market will bear? The difference in cost boggles. 

Danke schön! I enjoyed Munich, wish I could've stayed longer. 

I am not the poster you are referring to but I can give some general information:

Munich is one of the if not THE most expensive place in Germany. 

If you book a place that offers food they will charge a fee if you bring your own food/ hire an extra caterer (often charged per place setting). 

Caterer here will mostly mean a buffet. Some people prefer seated dinners. 

A fantastic catering might not be much cheaper. Depends also on where you live and booking someone from further away will give extra costs like traveling expenses .

For a long time catering did not mean high quality food. Not saying it tasted bad at all but is was more down to earth and not as elaborate. (It makes a difference if warm food is fresh from the kitchen or if you keep it warm for hours.) High quality catering was always around but not necessarily the cheaper option to restaurants. In the last five years or so you find more and more good catering. On a different note Street Food is becoming more and more popular and you can get excellent catering in that regard.

Restaurants and hotels also often offer to do some dekoration (flowers, fancy chandeliers etc.) so you save money on this point.

The food is one of the most important things at a wedding for a lot of people here. Meaning people are willing to spend a lot of money on food. I think it is followed by the venue/decorations. The wedding dress is often only the third or fourth big matter of expenses.

I am fully aware that there are exceptions to every point. This is just a generalised statement of all the weddings I have been to/ heard about.

More random information: People that marry in a religious ceremony often choose to have the big celebration at this point and not when they do the civil ceremony (which is the real legal one). More and more people go for the civil ceremony way earlier route and save money for the Big Day with church and everything even when they are technically already married. And then there are people who just do the civil ceremony. Having both ceremonies at the same day can get complicated because most Christian weddings take place on Saturday while the registrar's office is open Monday-Friday.

[VeganCupcake]

23 hours ago, eveandadam said:

I attended a wedding once where we, my wife and I, had to pay for our own food and drinks. It was even a requirement written in the invitation. We had to pay 35 $ PER PERSON (much more expensive than a good restaurant in Munich) to attend, plus traveling there and a gift. But oh well, maybe they couldn't affort thousands of Euros more to spend on food and drinks. The food and drinks bill is ridiculous, at our wedding we spent around 5000 € (5500 $) on catering and we only had 60 guests.

 A TICKETED wedding! I've never heard tell. I understand not everyone can afford catering; in that case it's better to do a brief non-mealtime wedding. 

A tricky etiquette case I've run across is the issue of inviting faraway family members. According to "proper" etiquette most say that their rooms should be paid. My cousin couldn't afford this so the out-of-towners had to pay for their own hotels. I personally think it would have been in better taste for her to have the wedding occur where most of her friends/family live. 

She also did not invite out-of-town guests to the rehearsal dinner, which I've heard you should do even if they aren't in the wedding party. 

[Carm_88]

11 hours ago, nst said:

COUNTDOWN  

i love your new avatar 

and who is with me - countdown somehow 

tell us your giving birth stories 

I dare you 

and yes - it's that time before birth so crazy here we come 

The avatar is amazing! Plus Spuddy is the beam of light in this otherwise dull family! The countdown is on! And yes soon it will be time for thread drift while we wait for the next Seewald to be born. 

[nst]

what amazes me also is when I watch the TH's with Jessa and Ben how unnatural and stiff they are. 

I was watching a q & a home video of Erin and Chad and they are come across as fun, sincere people if you didn't know they followed the same cult. 

But I wonder why Erin and Chad can appear normal and somewhat real opposed to the wonder couple who always have their guard up 

[KelseyAnn]

12 hours ago, ChickenettiLuvr said:

I've no idea on the anti hiccups.  Still waiting on that magical idea - through two pregnancies. DD had them every night at 10 pm. Which continued after birth.

Guess I'll go play with my essential oils and let you know.... sticky feet, fingers, and all ...

... (shouldn't have announced murderous plans on FJ -- now it's premeditated) ....

 

Believe it or not, having someone pull on your thumbs WILL get rid of the hiccups. Trust me. 

[lumpentheologie]

7 minutes ago, KelseyAnn said:

Believe it or not, having someone pull on your thumbs WILL get rid of the hiccups. Trust me. 

Sneezing has always worked for me.  Just breathe in over some black pepper. 

[choralcrusader8613]

I swallow 1-2 big spoonfuls of peanut butter and then chug a big glass of water. Works almost all the time.

[MamaJunebug]

@just_ordinary, 

whoa, what a buffet (pardon the pun) of choices where you are!  Very very interesting, I thank you for all the info!

9 hours ago, VeganCupcake said:

 A TICKETED wedding! I've never heard tell. I understand not everyone can afford catering; in that case it's better to do a brief non-mealtime wedding. 

A tricky etiquette case I've run across is the issue of inviting faraway family members. According to "proper" etiquette most say that their rooms should be paid. My cousin couldn't afford this so the out-of-towners had to pay for their own hotels. I personally think it would have been in better taste for her to have the wedding occur where most of her friends/family live. 

She also did not invite out-of-town guests to the rehearsal dinner, which I've heard you should do even if they aren't in the wedding party. 

My favorite auntie was snubbed by her older boy's in laws when this happened. I adored my cousin but when his wife died early and then he did, I almost wondered if it was some kind of karmic payback. Awful thing. I'm all for elopement the more I think about it!!!

[NewOrleansLady]

15 hours ago, ChickenettiLuvr said:

Hello, snarkettes-- 

Just popping in to say hello. And to express hope that none of you caught the stomach flu from me Tuesday evening after the whole popcorn fiasco.  ... what I thought were the "burnt smell queasies" ended up being the norovirus. Not fun.  Not fun at all, I tell ya.

I finished making peach jello for myself on the road to recovery. (Having a Midwest mama, they believe jello cures everything. We'll see.)

But had to share this exciting news:

DD is taking me to see Phantom of the Opera on Broadway at the end of February.  Fourth row orchestra seats!! (Not trying to brag ... just SO excited and can't share on Facebook.)  

 

We saw Phantom in New Orleans when DD was 8/9.  Sat right under the chandelier and had the best experience.  You're gonna love it.

[Carm_88]

I take 10 small sips of water to cure my hiccups. Not that I have them often. 

[Gillyweed]

Fool-proof hiccup cure:

-breathe in counting to 3

-hold for 3

-breathe out for 3

-hold for 3

-repeat

This also helps with anxiety

[Cleopatra7]

3 hours ago, nst said:

what amazes me also is when I watch the TH's with Jessa and Ben how unnatural and stiff they are. 

I was watching a q & a home video of Erin and Chad and they are come across as fun, sincere people if you didn't know they followed the same cult. 

But I wonder why Erin and Chad can appear normal and somewhat real opposed to the wonder couple who always have their guard up 

My theory is that the fallout from the molestations permanently damaged the relationships within the Duggar family, even if they would deny this is the case. The Duggars have always acted weirdly detached around each other, even in the early specials, and I would wonder why. Maybe they're afraid to be honest with each other because it could be a slippery slope to more abuse? As messed up as the Bateses are, not having to deal with sexual abuse in the family has made a huge difference in how they relate to each other. JB and Michelle have also been pimping their kids out to the media even before TLC came into the picture. The kids are probably used to be "on" all the time, in addition to having their thoughts constantly monitored (I.e., "having your children's hearts).

[socalrules]

13 hours ago, just_ordinary said:

 

More random information: People that marry in a religious ceremony often choose to have the big celebration at this point and not when they do the civil ceremony (which is the real legal one). More and more people go for the civil ceremony way earlier route and save money for the Big Day with church and everything even when they are technically already married. And then there are people who just do the civil ceremony. Having both ceremonies at the same day can get complicated because most Christian weddings take place on Saturday while the registrar's office is open Monday-Friday.

You have to do two ceremonies? Here, you can do a religious wedding or a civil ceremony but don't have to do both. I have never known of anyone having to do it twice. That kind of sucks. I find it kind of thrilling that you are watching these people go from being considered single to married right before your eyes. 

[nst]

2 hours ago, Cleopatra7 said:

My theory is that the fallout from the molestations permanently damaged the relationships within the Duggar family, even if they would deny this is the case. The Duggars have always acted weirdly detached around each other, even in the early specials, and I would wonder why. Maybe they're afraid to be honest with each other because it could be a slippery slope to more abuse? As messed up as the Bateses are, not having to deal with sexual abuse in the family has made a huge difference in how they relate to each other. JB and Michelle have also been pimping their kids out to the media even before TLC came into the picture. The kids are probably used to be "on" all the time, in addition to having their thoughts constantly monitored (I.e., "having your children's hearts).

I am talking about a husband and wife though - Erin and Chad seem more real in their TH's opposed to Jessa and Ben who seem formal and react formal. No one lets their guard down, no banter that is real like Erin and Chad (granted i rarely watch them) but I will say that Ben and Jessa may be "on" all the time as you say but then why be on a damn show 

[calimojo]

22 hours ago, Palimpsest said:

I think the only older Duggar boy who did not go to ALERT was Josh.  At the relevant time he was renovating an IBLP building as punishment and then narrating the first special. Also, if you look at the application for ALERT, Josh would not have been accepted because of his molestation.  They seem to have cut back on much of their more paramilitary training opportunities (flying lessons)  lately for the higher levels.  Perhaps overall attendance is down drastically - I hope so.

ALERT claims to do humanitarian work.  They send teams to do clean-up after tornadoes and such. If you look at the photos, it looks more like fake boy scouts doing good deeds with a bit of proselytizing in the side to me.

It has never been mentioned that John David went to Alert.  Jed did not go, only Jer. 

 

I found @LovelyLuna's comments interesting though re: the bad boys having to do women's work and cook.  If I recall correctly,  when Josiah had his extended stay at Alert, someone found out he was working in the kitchen.  I thought he was like promoted to camp counselor in charge of the kitchen, but I wonder if he spent a lot of time in the camp kitchen as a form of punishment.  

 

And, is anyone, besides me scared to death that up to 700 boys, several times a year are put through this indoctrination camp?  That is frightening to me and it explains the ignorance and misdirected focus of modern christianity and the rise of Trump.

[nst]

Apparently not this week but the week after is an episode called All About Jinger 

which means endless flashbacks about Jinger and her photography and how she was Jessa's twin 

 

[Palimpsest]

Just now, calimojo said:

It has never been mentioned that John David went to Alert.  Jed did not go, only Jer. 

Never been mentioned on the UnReality show doesn't mean John David did not go.  Zach Bates too.

A lot of stuff does not make it on the shows - or is deliberately omitted.  Like Lawson supposedly "moving to Nashville" 5 years ago.

J.D. and Zach's  career trajectories are consistent with what ALERT teaches.  ALERT does EMT, quasi-police training (to help them run for Constable or Sheriff) , and political "leadership" stuff.  ALERT was available to both families and it would be highly unlikely that they did not take advantage of it.

 It could just be coincidence that they followed those paths but I strongly suspect they did go - no proof.  Jedidiah may go later.  It would be wonderful news if he escaped it.

[freedom_for_all]

I have no idea where in the world my SO and I will have our wedding. He is British and lives in the UK along with most of his family, I live in the North East with some of my extended family, my direct family lives in the South, and three of my four grandparents live in California. All my grandparents are 87 or above. Also, I have cousins in the UK and Northern Europe. And it isn't even a big family. What is the proper thing to do in this situation?

[Bad Wolf]

We got married twice. Once here, and then in my Church in the UK. Both small weddings. About 2 months apart. This was 41 years ago when travel was too expensive for most people.

[MamaJunebug]

21 minutes ago, freedom_for_all said:

I have no idea where in the world my SO and I will have our wedding. He is British and lives in the UK along with most of his family, I live in the North East with some of my extended family, my direct family lives in the South, and three of my four grandparents live in California. All my grandparents are 87 or above. Also, I have cousins in the UK and Northern Europe. And it isn't even a big family. What is the proper thing to do in this situation?

Proper? I don't have a clue.

If you asked for my advice, I'd say, Seriously: get married whenever and wherever you want. Have it recorded and send it out joyfully, saying you want to visit everybody or get everybody together to celebrate. 

Who wouldn't jump at an excuse to go to California, especially in our northern-hemisphere grey winters? Grandfolks wouldn't have to travel -- another plus. 

Just my knee jerk reaction! A couple of the Jr. JBs eloped and we had parties later and it was fun. 

[Iamtheway]

24 minutes ago, freedom_for_all said:

I have no idea where in the world my SO and I will have our wedding. He is British and lives in the UK along with most of his family, I live in the North East with some of my extended family, my direct family lives in the South, and three of my four grandparents live in California. All my grandparents are 87 or above. Also, I have cousins in the UK and Northern Europe. And it isn't even a big family. What is the proper thing to do in this situation?

Mr. Way and I have our families in Australia and Sweden. We live in Sweden. We got married by ourselves on a stop over in the asian country where we met. Then we had a small party with family and friends in Australia. And when we came home we had a bigger party in Sweden. 

I kind of wish we would have had one big wedding though. Now we'll never have a good reason to have both of our families gathered together. Unless we win the lottery and can pay for everyone to travel at the same time. 

Good luck with the planning! It's hard to have half of your family on the other side of the world but sometimes love happens.

[paulypepper]

On 1/26/2017 at 3:32 PM, LovelyLuna said:

I do have to thank this episode for my new avatar of Spuddy. for all their evil he is one cute kiddo. 

We can only hope he's listening to Megadeth, Pantera, Iron Maiden or heck...even ABBA....