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Deezer Aisle of Shame, Mom Guilt & Fictional Men
Kaleigh's off living her best life in Scotland, so Kendall is stepping in - and apparently bringing a 98% aggression score disguised as a perfectly polished personality.
This week, we're covering everything from Aldi's infamous Aisle of Shame and people lining up at 5 a.m. for squishy toys to book boyfriends, romantasy obsessions, and the questionable things we'd do for fictional men.
Somewhere between school fun runs, a child vomiting down Steph's back (don't worry, the purse survived), and the chaos of raising tiny humans, we accidentally get serious about motherhood. Are we actually enjoying our lives, or have we just gotten really good at managing them?
We're talking mom guilt, money conversations with kids, careers that make room for motherhood, and why sometimes the only thing standing between you and emotional stability is living closer to the mountains.
A little pop culture, a lot of unsolicited opinions, and absolutely no guarantee we'll stay on topic. Welcome back to the Unpolished Two, with our "Poilshed" one this week.
speaker-0: Should we introduce ourselves? Should we probably should be college to Fridays. It is Friday. Should be? This is a test.
speaker-1: Too tummy pregnancies, too much chaos, too much pressure, too tired to care and too real not to talk
speaker-0: Got it. Love it. Love it. That's an intro. If I've ever heard one. Welcome back. I know what you guys are thinking. There's supposed to be two of us, and technically there are. Kaylee is in Scotland. Not fair. At Aldi, which we will talk about Aldi later. And when she sent us that photo the other day, I was like, is the first thing you thought of was to go to Aldi? Like you're in Scotland?
speaker-1: That's the first place I would be.
speaker-0: I was like, you're in Scotland and you go to Aldi. Okay. So in Kaylee's absence, Kendall has graciously decided to step in and she's going to help maintain the same level of questionable professionalism. We're gonna call it that. Today we're gonna talk about books. We are gonna talk about Aldi, whether you want to or not. Motherhood, what's happening and what we think is important in the world, and whatever else accidentally gets let out. And Kaylee will decide later if she should cut it. okay, so I'm gonna introduce Kendall. Or do you want to introduce yourself? Okay.
speaker-1: Yeah, I can do a quick intro. I am Kaylee's sister-in-law. So our husbands, our brothers, obviously friends by default, but love it. Two unhinged kids. Very feral.
speaker-0: Ferrell is what we like. That's what we're experts at.
speaker-1: But I don't know if I I don't know if I'm truly like an unpolished
speaker-0: Mama We always say that you're the polished of the three. You keep us balanced.
speaker-1: It's a good balance.
speaker-0: You know how like there's those balance things that have like the things on each side? Like what if you're like the stable center?
speaker-1: Okay.
speaker-0: what I mean? Yeah, yeah. I keep everything. I just made that up. I don't even know what that's called, but I just made that up. So base scoot check. I wanna know what's something about you that people would never guess.
speaker-1: my so you know how you do those work like personality trait quizzes? Yes. Have I told you what my highest score was for my my work trait?
speaker-0: Like your IQ? No.
speaker-1: It'll tell you like which trait is your highest like asset or whatever.
speaker-0: Okay.
speaker-1: my highest trait was aggression. I got a ninety-eight out of a hundred on the aggressive score.
speaker-0: Like in life or just
speaker-1: Like I'm an aggressive person apparently.
speaker-0: my goodness. So is that just hidden underneath you? Because I don't see that. So
speaker-1: And I don't really know, like, who knows how accurate these things are. But I will say, like, conflict is not something that scares me. Like I will dive head first into conflict and I wanna talk it out and resolve it and everything, you know? so it doesn't shock me. And especially if it's something that I feel really passionate about. Like I was in debate in high school. I actually lettered in debate that's going.
speaker-0: I love that for you.
speaker-1: Something I don't think people expect, but it yeah, it's hidden under the surface.
speaker-0: And you know what? There has been a couple of times where you have flat out just like called me out. And luckily I can handle it. Like I appreciate the ones that are like, you kind of made me mad. I'm like, I'm sorry. What did I do? My response,
speaker-1: That's
speaker-0: wait, what did I do?
speaker-1: I try not to approach it like in a mean way. But yeah, I'm just very I don't I don't even think blunt is the right word. I'm just very truthful, I think.
speaker-0: Well that's what I mean is when you said aggression, I was like, Where would you be hiding that? Because like I don't see that 'cause if you are, you definitely don't show yourself that way. now Kaylee that lines up for me. If she were to like it's so funny in our text exchange sometimes because your response will be like, you know, I don't like it when someone does this and Kaylee's like, Who cares? You don't need that energy in your life
speaker-1: I think that's why we get each other so well. It's like
speaker-0: Yeah.
speaker-1: it's like we both we align on our thinking a lot, but we definitely present differently.
speaker-0: Yeah, go different routes. And then I'm always like the third person that's like, what do I do? Like I don't know which way to go. And then I get both of your advices and I'm like, Well shit. That didn't help me. Now I'm just more confused. Yeah. okay. And then what is your current hyperfixation? And is it oldie?
speaker-1: I mean, it's probably gonna be Aldi, right? Like I started shopping at Aldi, I don't know, a few years ago and now I'm just obsessed. I go twice a week, every week.
speaker-0: And shameless plug to Kendall, okay? Like we I did not know that Aldi was a thing. And then I went and it changed my life forever. And Kendall is very good at going on is it Wednesdays? It's Wednesdays,
speaker-1: Wednesday.
speaker-0: yeah. Wednesdays. And finding all of the cute little things that are new for the week and tell them about your cute little like cart guessing should I spend? Yeah.
speaker-1: yeah. Like how much so I I have two trips, right? I have my Wednesday trip, which is just for the Isle of Shame, and just for like the
speaker-0: Wait, what's the Isle of Shame?
speaker-1: So literally Aldi rotates their seasonal items, right? And their Aldi finds is what it's actually called is Aldi Finds. And so it's literally one lane of items that changes every single week. And so the
speaker-0: The only community.
speaker-1: on Facebook they call this the Isle of Shame. because you can't stop yourself, right? Like it's a sh-
speaker-0: That's where you get like the slippers and the pajamas and the random like oven mitts you don't need.
speaker-1: Exactly. Yeah.
speaker-0: I love that aisle.
speaker-1: I go on Wednesdays to check the Isle of Shame and then I do a shopping trip on Sundays typically to do like groceries for the week. And I'll have people guess like how much I spent on our weekly grocery budget. Especially because you know, like for recession, people are watching what they're spending. And we have tailored our grocery shopping to where we only shop at Aldi. Like we're not doing H E B, we're not doing Kroger, we're not doing anything other than Aldi. I mean, there's a few times where I'll run to Kroger if I really have to, or like Aldi's clothes, but for the most part, percent done at Aldi and it shocks people that we can feed a family of five, you know, for about two hundred bucks a week.
speaker-0: Yeah, honestly, the amount of stuff that's in your cart, and then when we guess how much it is, it's shocking. Even Walmart now is expensive to grocery shop. So for those of you who don't know, check out Aldi. Go find Kendall on Instagram. Do you do TikTok or mainly Instagram? Mainly Instagram. And follow her. If you are too if you're like me and you're too lazy to go, you can just like watch her stuff. She'll show you the best stuff that's there. And if you're even more lazy and you have a friend. light Kindle, you can say, Grab me one and I'll Venmo you. Yeah.
speaker-1: Have done that a time or two.
speaker-0: Except for I guess when Christmas happens and those advent calendars come out. Then
speaker-1: Be on top of it. Did you hear about the nido craze? No.
speaker-0: Wow.
speaker-1: Okay, so do your kids have nitos?
speaker-0: What's no, I don't even know what it is.
speaker-1: It's like one of those squishy.
speaker-0: I thought those were I thought they were called something else.
speaker-1: So they're called Nidos and Aldi was releasing like these exclusive ones. Stephanie, people were lined up outside our Aldi at five AM. I know because I have to take Marie to swim super early. And so I drove past and people literally had their chairs out there camping, like in line. And then the local news outlet posted people were like fight like fist fighting each other in the local Nitos
speaker-0: They were not.
speaker-1: over Nitos. Not I don't think the fist fights were at ours, but people were camped out that early.
speaker-0: I was gonna say how embarrassing for our neighborhood.
speaker-1: Nine. It doesn't open till nine.
speaker-0: And they were there at five. What what is this called? A neato?
speaker-1: Yeah, in e
speaker-0: Is it the is it those little things that come in a box?
speaker-1: My kids don't
speaker-0: They're called nidos. I thought they were called something else. it's like in a tan box. Dumpling!
speaker-1: like the dump
speaker-0: That's what I'm thinking of. A dumpling. I have not seen a nido before.
speaker-1: Yeah, I think they're basically the same thing, like squishy things.
speaker-0: But my daughter did ask me for this stupid butter stick. Okay, so base coat check for me is like my unhinged weekly review. Is that I'm grateful that my mom is here and she made pumpkin bread, which is my favorite. So I love that. And we went to the zoo. I got in ten thousand steps and plus some. We went shopping and we've been watching like the Harry Potter movies. It's just been really good. week. Yeah, it's been great. And then Benny got sick yesterday. And so that kind of threw off today with the fun run. He was really sad that he couldn't go. And so I took Livy and Everett and Matt stayed home with Benny and Matt went golfing. Matt's just living his best life. He was the whole week off. And so he's been doing who knows relaxing a lot Yeah, yeah, he went and picked the kids up. Yeah. but yeah, he golfed on Monday and today. So what a life. Right. Okay. So Okay, from a base coat perspective, tell me, what has been like the most chaotic part of your week? This
speaker-1: most chaotic part of my week. probably just kids, like kids being normal, crazy. having a four-year-old and a three-year-old is not for the week, especially when they're so opinionated. But you know, we've got extracurricular activities and driving around like crazy. And I wouldn't say there's any like one moment, but you just get to the end of the day like exhausted.
speaker-0: Speaking of being exhausted, are we allowed to talk about like the coolest thing ever that you're doing?
speaker-1: yeah, yeah, we can talk about it.
speaker-0: Okay, so Kendall, you guys, just gonna throw it out there. So we have what seven when it's being KK and then nine when it's the three of us. And then Kendall has a new edition that brings us to ten. Tell us about your new edition this year. Whatever you can tell us.
speaker-1: Yeah, so yeah. So we decided to host a foreign exchange student and honestly it's been so fun. Like time of relations
speaker-0: Coolest thing ever.
speaker-1: she's from France, is loving American high school. Like she thinks American high school is so fun. It's just like the movies and
speaker-0: Wait, wait, wait, just like what movies?
speaker-1: Okay, so I asked her like after the first week. I was like, How was your experience? How are how's everyone treating you? And she told me, she goes, American girls are so much nicer than I thought they were gonna be. And I said, Well what
speaker-0: Really?
speaker-1: what movie are you like referencing for how Americans act? And she goes, Mean girls. And I said, well, that kind of explained.
speaker-0: That's what you're watching over there. my gosh. Yeah. S tell her that they need to watch Sisterhead of like the traveling pants or something over there. Yeah. That's funny that she like referenced that. okay, continue. Yeah. So how long is she staying with you?
speaker-1: She'll be here the whole school year. So she arrived in August. She doesn't leave until May. We're showing her all the American things. So we've done American football, we've gone through an Aggie game, we've done a baseball game, we showed her NASA, like all the traditional stuff. This weekend we're gonna do a pumpkin patch, and I was describing it to her as like, yeah, you go to a farm and you see all these pumpkins and you do all these things. And she just looked at me and she goes, typical Americans.
speaker-0: And I say
speaker-1: Right? Like it's gonna be fine and she goes, Yeah, I really wanna do it.
speaker-0: Typical and now she's judging us? We welcome her into our home and she's judging us.
speaker-1: She is quick on the draw. Like she's got some snappy little comebacks. She's so funny. Like typical teenager. And I'm so excited because if this is what I have to look forward to like teenage years, so fun.
speaker-0: I'm secretly like really excited for Libby to like grow up and be like my friend. Yeah. Not that she's not my friend now, but like I know I'm supposed to still be her mom. Yeah. And I feel like I always like teeter on that line. Yeah. It's a different event now. For sure. At age seven. Yeah. okay. So we'll go into nail that failed it. Do you know do you have your nail that failed it on hand?
speaker-1: Not my failed it. You go first and I'll think about it.
speaker-0: Okay. So my nailed it is that I volunteered to do the fun run and I volunteered like for each kid. Yeah. Failed it because like I didn't recognize that like my twins are in two different classes. So there's a chance that they're gonna be on different tracks. I cannot be in two places at once. I cannot be marking the r laps over here and over here. So if Benny had not gotten sick, I don't know what I would have done. But then my failed it is also that my kid threw up all over me yesterday. My mom like watched it happen in real time because we took them to Ninja Warrior and we came home and he felt warm. And so I was like, I think he's gonna get sick. And he fell asleep in the car. And so I picked him up because I knew he didn't feel good. And I had my bag and I put him on my shoulder. And my mom was like standing behind me and he threw up while he was on my shoulder. And I just felt my back get warm. And my mom was like, this is what my mom said. It didn't get in your purse. Praise God. I'm like, it's all over my back. I'm like, I and it's not war. It's warm. I can feel warm liquid on my back. And I just continued to walk in the house as if everything's normal. This is just another day.
speaker-1: So you're not you're not a sympathetic puker, right? Like if someone else pukes, you're not puking with them.
speaker-0: Yeah, I don't puke because they puke.
speaker-1: I will s definitely start gagging. Like the second I would have felt like warm, I would have like, like I can't even do the gag. I'm gonna start
speaker-0: Kendall Pewse on camera.
speaker-1: Yeah, that that'll get that'll
speaker-0: good. She's like, I didn't expect Stephanie to trigger me this morning.
speaker-1: It's like after having the like I didn't have a weak stomach before the girls, but I was so sick while I was pregnant with both of them and I just threw up every single day that now it's I can puke on command. It's like a hidden talent.
speaker-0: With command. You know, I used to be proud of myself for being able to burp on command when I was younger. Like I used to be able to burp the whole alphabet. That was like a big flex of mine. That's a big flex of mine. gosh. Okay, so that is my nail that failed it. And I guess a second nail that would be that I still showed up for the volunteer thing. I was really debating on like what do I do? Like, would people not want me there because I have a sick kid at home? But I still showed up and I had to move. More kids, so I had a 841 and a 1021, and I was the marker girl. And these kids are little. So you have to bend over to mark their things as they come. And after doing that for a good 15, 20 minutes, I was like, I don't think I can stand back up. Like I don't think I can like straighten back up. And then I looked up. Well I know. Like the first, the first one I did for a volunteer, I just like suffered through the pain. I was like, this sucks. This hurts. And then what by the time I did the 1021, which was like the kindergarten one. The girl next to me after five minutes got on her knees. I'm like, I didn't know we could do that. She
speaker-1: Yeah, using our full grain.
speaker-0: her whole brain. And so then I immediately got on my knees once I realized that was an option. man. But so it was fun. And like surprisingly, I had like a lot of energy. And so like I was like, they're the little cute little timid kids that like didn't know, I'd be like, Come here, come here, you're almost not gonna market. And they're like, okay, like and one mom came up to me after and she was like, Thank you so much because her son, every time, he was this little guy, probably the shortest one out of all of them. Every single time he like cautiously walked over to where us stranger were and just stared at us and I was like, Come here. And so he'd like slowly come over and then I was like ticked it off and I was like, You're at number ten.
speaker-1: So Charlie and Lila were in the same race, right? So like Lila takes off running. She's leader of the pack. She did the confetti thing and she was gone. Like she was just sprinting, right? They do a few laps. On the third lap, Charlie was done. She starts walking. She like looks around, heads straight to the water tent and is just standing there for the rest of the time. And like the teacher's trying to get her to go back out. She's like, come on, like come hold my hand, come walk with me. She walked another lap with the teacher, went right back to the water tent. She said, I'm all done.
speaker-0: We saw
speaker-1: Offers say that to the teacher.
speaker-0: That is like true char char fashion though.
speaker-1: It was so funny. And then of course Lila kept running laps, but after each lap had to stop for water. So every time she went right back to the water I was like, girl
speaker-0: She's like, I'm dying, girl. I'm dying. That's funny. Okay.
speaker-1: Okay, so my nail that failed it. my nail that is I'm not a crafty person, like by any means. And my mom is super crafty, like has been crafty my whole life, super thankful for it. That's why my girls have all the crafty, girly things that they do. but now that I have a high schooler, I'm having to make a mum, right?
speaker-0: Like what is a mum? Yeah. Because this is the Texas thing. It's a very thing. I'm shocked because not only is this girl not from Texas, but she's not from this country. So is she gonna be more like what is this thing that is all over me?
speaker-1: Everyone has been talking about it. We explained the whole thing and I was like, look, if I make this, you gotta wear it. Okay. So but I went and I I have all the stuff and it's already pretty much put together. I'm like doing the the finishing touches. So I'm very proud of myself for actually getting it done. And we still have like a full week before homecoming. So it's done and early enough, right?
speaker-0: What does it look like? You'll have to show me.
speaker-1: Yeah, I'll send you a picture of it. so failed it is though, on the way to go
speaker-0: No.
speaker-1: get all the stuff for the mom. I'm driving out of our neighborhood, right? And I look at my car and the temperature gauge has just shot through the roof and it starts splashing. It's like overheating, overheating, and I was like, my gosh, what is going on? And so immediately had to swerve into the auto shop, which was right next to us, thankfully. but yeah. Car broke down. I was without a car for two days. It was a whole nightmare. New car. New to us.
speaker-0: And this is your new car, right? It's my new car. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
speaker-1: But yeah, that's my baby. I baby.
speaker-0: It's never fun. Yeah. Yeah. Ugh, bless your heart. That's freaking sucks.
speaker-1: So that's why I failed it. So then I literally we had to Uber back to my mom's house because Cameron wasn't home. So and we were on our way to go get the mom stuff and I was determined. I was like, I'm not gonna let this stop me. I'm still gonna go shopping, still gonna get the stuff because I need to get it before they sell out. So gotta done them. You
speaker-0: Way to go.
speaker-1: told me we were talking about books, and I love books.
speaker-0: Okay, so we are going to transition into Spill the Polish, which in the book world we have a couple of things to talk about. In this episode, we will be talking about potential spoilers for the series of Akatar, Empyrean series, and Throne of Glass and Crescent City.
speaker-1: And Crescent City.
speaker-0: If you have not read and are up to date on all of those books, enter at your own risk. There you go.
speaker-1: So I wore my book sweatshirt. I don't know if you can see. So I can see
speaker-0: But it's I can see it's green.
speaker-1: Throne of Glass is like my top tier.
speaker-0: It is it you like it above Akatar City.
speaker-1: one hundred percent. It's eight books. And I mean they all intertwine, right? So that's why I wore it. But it's got all these cute little gems on it. It's got like a little fire heart. That's like super important. But I love it. I love books. I'm super obsessed. And the book world right now is popping off. There's so much to talk about.
speaker-0: Yeah, yeah. And do you have to read them all in order? The throne of glass ones? Because I feel like some were added later.
speaker-1: So the Throne of Glass, like the series, there's one book that can be read either before or in the order it was written. I did in the order they were written.
speaker-0: Okay. Do you so do you have a preference?
speaker-1: There's two you can read together, so that's fine too. They like a tandem read. 'Cause it follows so it follows two sets of the
speaker-0: Okay, okay, okay, okay.
speaker-1: The stories are happening at the same time, but like different continents. So you read together to know what's happening with everybody. So
speaker-0: Yeah. So the fact that I only have gotten through book two of thrown a glass. Yeah. I might not to the tandem ones. No no no.
speaker-1: Tandem Reen is like six and seven.
speaker-0: goodness. Okay. And I have heard multiple reviews that it doesn't get really good until book three to read that statement.
speaker-1: Yeah, I mean, depending on which book three it is for you, depending on when you read Assassin's Blade. But like Queen of Shadows was my favorite. And the series, Sarah J. Mass started writing it as a teenager, right? And so the first book I heard was kind of just like a side project for her. And then it developed into something more. And so each book gets significantly better than the last one. And then by Kingdom of Ash, you're like crying and pulling that.
speaker-0: Okay, I'm gonna tell you right now which one I am on because I I'm also reading the throne of broken gods. did you hear of that one?
speaker-1: Mm. I haven't read that one yet.
speaker-0: Okay, I am on air of fire. So which one did you say was the one that where it gets really good? Well
speaker-1: Queen of Shadows was my favourite.
speaker-0: So I am still two books from Queen of Shadows. Fourth Wing has its violet and Zeta now for the
speaker-1: my god.
speaker-0: Uh-on adaptation. What is your thoughts on that?
speaker-1: Super excited. I know that there's like a lot of controversy, right, over these picks, but I think there would have been, you know, an uproar over anybody that they chose. Like no one is going to appease everybody. But I love these two. So I don't know if you're familiar with her, but she was in We Were Liars. And you'll have to tell me what her name is because I don't remember it off the top of my head.
speaker-0: Mr. McGregor.
speaker-1: Yes, she was phenomenal. And we were liars. And whenever I saw like someone did, you know, the the hair on her, like the dark hair with the silver ends, like violets, it was I was like, see it.
speaker-0: I have
speaker-1: Yeah. I'll send I'll send you the like Photoshop picture that I saw. And it was honestly perfect. And I think her acting was phenomenal. And did you see who her dad is?
speaker-0: Like they've already cast her dad?
speaker-1: No, like her real life dad.
speaker-0: no, I have no idea who her dad is.
speaker-1: So her real life dad is the guy that played Obi-Wan Kenobi and they put him up there and they were like, This is a this is our Papa Sorengale. This is Asher Sorengale and I refuse to accept anybody else now. So I need that to be a double, a double cast there for sure.
speaker-0: Well, I I don't think he actually has any parts. Like he's spoken of in past
speaker-1: Well, I'm sh there's like memories and flashbacks and stuff and then in threshing day, when we get into threshing day, we do see him, right?
speaker-0: True, that's true. But the Amazon is just like for three. Right. So and and how do you feel about Zaiden? I feel like we've known about Zaiden or speculated about Zaiden, about the cast.
speaker-1: Yeah, I love it. I think to me he fits like the description of Zaiden, you know, the tawny skin, the dark eyes, extremely muscular. I'm cool with all of that. I know people are upset about his height. Have you heard this? His height. So
speaker-0: Right?
speaker-1: apparently he's like almost six foot, and everyone's like, he should be six foot seven. Like he should be towering over everybody.
speaker-0: Amazon's like, we will get stilts. We will get moon boots, okay?
speaker-1: Yeah, they were like in order for like the rest of the cast to work. I don't know. I think they're holding too tightly to the story. Like, come on guys, if the acting is great, that's what I care about. Okay. Like the height difference between him and Esther I think is gonna be great. I it doesn't matter to me if Garrick is actually taller or shorter than Zaydon. Like I'm not gonna hold them to that.
speaker-0: Well, interestingly because in Threshing Day, there is that little nugget of how Garrick mentions that he like t grew and towered, you know, just like one inch taller or something like that. that's crazy. I don't know yet. I will say that because I listen to the audiobook, I want to say that I have an even deeper ingrained vision in my mind of like what He should look at like based on what I think he sounds like. and I mean, we'll see how the acting goes because to me, he has to be like extremely sexy for this to work. Like he has to just make us quiver.
speaker-1: That's how I feel. Don't get on the thirst traps because literally I think I saw one whenever he was announced and then my feed was filled with like 30 of them. I was like, okay, I need to go watch like videos of baby animals or something because I cannot have this be my entire timeline.
speaker-0: I do not mind that being my algorithm. One bit.
speaker-1: You know, I don't think we mind, but maybe the husbands are gonna mind, okay?
speaker-0: my goodness. In fact, I came across one of those AI creators that like create the videos of like the books.
speaker-1: Yeah.
speaker-0: Clearly they put in there like this is AI. This is just for fun. But they did a couple of like threshing day with like Dane and Mari. And I was like, my goodness. Like, have you have you seen any of these?
speaker-1: think so. I
speaker-0: I will send you one.
speaker-1: I know I've seen like clips of the video game builders and I've seen them do like the Imperial Wor Imperean world. but I haven't seen any since Thrushing Day has been out.
speaker-0: I'm gonna send this to you right after we're done recording because you also will be like, Wow, I felt something just then. It's it's crazy.
speaker-1: I don't know if I wanna feel something. but yeah, so speaking of, you know, Thrushing Day, that's another big drop. we have Thrushing Day, we have the Dragonkind website that went live. I feel like we are just getting so many good nuggets for the fourth wing fandom.
speaker-0: I know. It's honestly like a lot, especially also with like the book coming out in less than two weeks now for just Sarah J. Moss. I know that the Amazon, I don't believe it's supposed to be released until May. So the show. Right. And she hasn't even mentioned when she's gonna release the fourth book. So that's just kind of, you know, I'm putting that out of my mind right now. And I'm just focusing on Avatar. so my next question to you. Is Acatar has officially entered the underwear business. Have you heard of this?
speaker-1: Ne
speaker-0: a new new
speaker-1: Rewind.
speaker-0: a new Akatar-inspired collaboration with lingerie and apparel brand Nix, I think is how you pronounced it. Getting
speaker-1: Okay.
speaker-0: a lot of attention. They reportedly have 82 pieces inspired by characters and courts from the Avatar universe. There is Nesta inspired lingerie, there is Favra inspired pieces, and yeah, this is happening while fans anticipate the book coming out.
speaker-1: Listen, I don't even understand
speaker-0: Ha ha.
speaker-1: like if someone was to make underwear of me, they would literally just be granny panties. Like with
speaker-0: Apparently reading about the fictional fairies is no longer good enough. Like we need to be able to dress like that. We need to dress like we're romantically involved.
speaker-1: I I just don't I just don't I don't think this is gonna be on my wish list for Christmas, you know? There's so many
speaker-0: I'd be on mine.
speaker-1: other things that I think we can create before we create underwear.
speaker-0: my gosh. I am like when I saw that I was like, What a great idea.
speaker-1: That's hilarious.
speaker-0: My next question to you is what is the most ridiculous thing you bought because of these books series?
speaker-1: I mean ridiculous. I don't know about ridiculous, but I showed you my sweatshirt. I have bought several clothing items. You know, I have a a Valaris t-shirt and a throw in a glass sweatshirt. I am all about the book merch, but I want it to be like subtle book merch. Like not like in your face, but I want it to be if you know you know. You know what I mean?
speaker-0: Yeah, yes. Like so you want to wear something that if someone sees you wearing it, they know what it's about. But if someone doesn't know, like hasn't read the books, then they don't. Because Yeah,
speaker-1: Exactly.
speaker-0: I totally get that. I had a sticker that used to be on my old office and it just said like, Hello Violence and no one's gonna know what that means unless you've read the book.
speaker-1: Yeah.
speaker-0: And so I little things like that, I was like, Yes, this is going up.
speaker-1: So speaking of like book talk merchandise, Target released Fourth Wing and Avatar Book Merch. Yeah. But they sold out so quickly. I couldn't get anything. I couldn't get my hands on anything. But one of the sweatshirts from the Fourth Wing drop said a reader without their book is a tragedy. And I was like, I need that so bad. I love it so much.
speaker-0: That is so I can't believe how quickly that stuff sells out.
speaker-1: Yeah. And I even like I thought I was gonna be slick and I woke up at like two AM to do the target pickup, you know, and like I put stuff in my cart and then I went back to sleep. But then when it came time for them to actually fill the pickup order, they had turned the pickup off and they told me that my order was cancelled and I was so mad.
speaker-0: There's probably people like lined up. How much do you want?
speaker-1: probably. I guess I'm not that committed. I'll just get it off Etsy later.
speaker-0: I very, very much debated going to Barnes and Noble at midnight and Matt was like, No. Like when Thrashing Day was being released, I was like, I wanna go. They're having a party at Barnes and Noble. I wanna go. He was like, No. Like people were like dressing up and I was like, I am one of them, babe. I just listen, you need to accept it.
speaker-1: Next time I will totally go with you. We'll plan for it.
speaker-0: Okay, maybe we'll do it for the Sarah J. Moss one. Plus, I don't know though. I feel like I am gonna feel like a super fan. And then I'll get there and I'll be like, I am not a super fan.
speaker-1: Yeah.
speaker-0: There is another level I have not reached. So, okay. I don't know if you watch this, but I'm gonna do this just for Kaylee's benefit. And spoiler alert, if you guys do not watch Dancing with the Stars, just plug your ears. but Our next topic for Spill the Polish is that Dancing with the Stars has drama this week, per usual, but this drama is actually good. So Tuesday was Super Bowl night on Dancing with the Stars. Did you watch?
speaker-1: I did. I'm actually fully caught up. This is the first time I've ever watched Dancing with the Stars, but I have seen every episode.
speaker-0: okay, cool. Okay. So quick highlights. Obviously, Jenna and Ezra earned a perfect 36, and then Guillermo and Whitney were eliminated.
speaker-1: Womp womp. Yeah.
speaker-0: Which I know that Kaylee liked Guillermo. I mean, I liked Guillermo too, but I mean I was a little disappointed that like he stayed over Sierra. I understand popularity, all that jazz. and then Julia Styles recreating some of the Save the Last Dance nostalgia. And then now there's drama involving Val and Carrie Ann. Are you in on that? The Val's wrong.
speaker-1: I guess I'm not. Is it like did he think that she was too hard or what?
speaker-0: Okay, so Carrie Ann criticized a prohibited lift in like the dance choreographed. And then Val responded online with a reference to the Will Smith Oscar slap. and it did not go over well. And he has since apologized. So
speaker-1: Well, okay, so the lift wasn't even in Val's Dance, right? It was the guy from Gray's Anatomy, right? Did you watch the lift though?
speaker-0: No, I didn't watch the lift. All I know is that Carrie Ann criticized the lips.
speaker-1: Yeah, so she had I wish I knew what the guy's name was. Who's the guy from Greece Anatomy?
speaker-0: But it was a dance choreographed by Val's wife, Jenna.
speaker-1: so that's why Val is like
speaker-0: Then Val responded online with a reference to the Will Smith.
speaker-1: So it was Harry Schrum Jr., right? And he dances with Jenna Johnson. And then Val is dancing with Jenna DeWan. But Harry and Jenna had been criticized on their lifts before, like just doing too many or something. And Carrie Ann, yeah, she was like really quick to call it out because Harry did this move where he like did like a backflip into it and then two of the pro dancers like lifted him. So he didn't lift her. He was lifted by other dancers. And Jenna even caught herself. She cause she was like a lift. And Carrie had like stopped the show and explained what a lift was. And she was like anytime a dancer's assisted by a you know other helpers, whatever. And well it it was like a a definitely a TIF moment. But looking back, like even though he didn't lift her, he was definitely lifted by other people. So I don't know why why pal would have inserted himself into that fire.
speaker-0: So do you think that Val was defending his wife, or do you think he completely overreacted?
speaker-1: I mean I guess both, right? Like he overreacted defending his wife 'cause his wife was wrong. I mean, good on him. That's what we want a husband to do. You stick by your wife no matter what. I know.
speaker-0: So like I was thinking, like, trying to like connect it to reality. Like what would be what's like the most embarrassing thing or most embarrassing way like my husband has ever defended me or vice versa. Like is there a way that I have ever like defended Matt in an extremely embarrassing way? I can't think of any on the top of my head, but
speaker-1: Yeah, I mean I'm super thankful my mistakes aren't nationally publicized, you know?
speaker-0: Yes, seriously. Or you know what? This this analogy actually fits really well with the whole Matthew Stephanie dynamic because would you rather your husband publicly defend you when you're wrong? Or privately tell you you're being ridiculous? Would you rather your husband publicly defend you when you're wrong or privately tell you you're being ridiculous?
speaker-1: I mean I want both, right? Like I want the honesty, but I don't want him to tell me honestly in public. Like if he thinks I'm being ridiculous, yes, tell me at home and also take my side no matter what. So both.
speaker-0: Yeah, I feel like the same. I feel like if I was out like being ridiculous in the streets and Matt was it's his job to be like, that's my wife, and then go home and be like, Are you absolutely insane? What were you thinking? Which
speaker-1: Exactly.
speaker-0: I feel like is like ninety-nine percent of our days. I feel like that's a regular occurrence for us.
speaker-1: So funny.
speaker-0: okay. Okay, so Julius Stiles. Is about to destroy millennial women. So next Tuesday, apparently, Julia Stells is preparing a Dancing with the Stars tribute to Heath Ledger. Did you know that?
speaker-1: Yes, I did see this. And yeah, it's it's gonna be like heartbreaking but also just like a full circle moment, you know? So I thought it was good that she chose him.
speaker-0: I was gonna say, like, I feel like the emotional impact that like Heath Ledger has on the entire generation, it's gonna be an emotional dance.
speaker-1: Yeah, yeah, for sure.
speaker-0: I loved Heath Ledger.
speaker-1: Yeah. And Ten Things I Hate About You is actually our Exchange Student. It's her favorite movie ever. She's already watched it like four times since she's been with us. So we're both excited. Yeah, we're both really excited to tune in for the dance.
speaker-0: She alternates between that one and mean girls.
speaker-1: Yeah. This is this is American high school for her.
speaker-0: Okay, so with that, Kendall, who was your first fictional crush?
speaker-1: My first crush.
speaker-0: Fictional.
speaker-1: Fictional crush. I don't know. Let me go back.
speaker-0: Like which nineties or two thousands movie man permanently altered your expectations of romance?
speaker-1: I mean, honestly, it's probably all of the InSync boys. Like that was that was his all of them. I loved InSync. I loved InSync. I mean
speaker-0: But all of them
speaker-1: I mean probably JT is my favorite, of course, right? But
speaker-0: Yeah.
speaker-1: Yeah. Yeah, probably Justin Timberlake, you know, him and Britney were a huge thing. But yeah.
speaker-0: Okay, I can like name mine very, very easily because it was Jonathan Taylor Thomas.
speaker-1: Okay, okay.
speaker-0: I can't think of the movie that he was in, but I wanna say he was in a movie with like two other brothers. And something about the blonde, shaggy bowl cut hair and the cute smile. I mean, I feel like we were like thirteen too. So it was not even like like I was too young to like have a fictional crush on someone. I just remember he was he was adorable in my mind.
speaker-1: Okay, I just had to look him up and he's best known for home improvement.
speaker-0: No, he's
speaker-1: He was on the home improvement show?
speaker-0: not. No, look at his work before that.
speaker-1: Before that he was a kid on home improvement.
speaker-0: No, he was in a movie. Look up the if you're on IMDB, look at the movies.
speaker-1: Yeah, I mean
speaker-0: I'll be home for Christmas.
speaker-1: In the Lion King
speaker-0: No, I'll be home for Christmas. Is that the one probably.
speaker-1: One.
speaker-0: And then there's one with him in like Wild River gosh, I can't think of what it's called. I'll have to look it up and get back to you.
speaker-1: Okay. I can see it though. I can see it. He's got that nineties look.
speaker-0: I mean he's not Yeah, he's not a resand, but times have changed. We have changed.
speaker-1: Standards have changed.
speaker-0: my gosh. Okay, okay. So Kelly Clarkson. Kelly Clarkson. Kelly Clarkson is in a feud with a store owner. Have you seen this circling the internet?
speaker-1: Yes, yeah. I didn't see this. And I don't know, it's a little ridiculous to me.
speaker-0: Have we reached the point where every mildly unpleasant interaction has to be a public statement?
speaker-1: I mean, yes and no, right? Like people love to go viral because of negativity, right? And I I know that this bookshop posted their statement first and called Kelly Clarkson out, which I think is a pretty bold move. Like Yeah,
speaker-0: That is very bold.
speaker-1: I think if if I would have been the bookstore owner, I would have just let the interaction go, right? Or like if you're gonna talk about it, like talk about it with your friends, I would not post it online for all the Kelly Carl. Clarkson's fans to come at you and defend her. I mean
speaker-0: Yeah. And never buy a book from your bookstore again. But
speaker-1: Yeah.
speaker-0: people don't think about when they do things like that.
speaker-1: Any press is good press, right? I don't know. We'll see.
speaker-0: Maybe. That's true. I don't know. In my one tiny altercation of pissing off the book world, I wouldn't have done it.
speaker-1: man.
speaker-0: So okay, have you ever left a review while you were like super angry?
speaker-1: Not while I'm angry, but I have left a like a negative review before. Yeah.
speaker-0: Where? I have to know.
speaker-1: my goodness. Okay, so it was actually this like massage and facial spa that's really close to us. Do you remember this? Okay.
speaker-0: No, no.
speaker-1: So I don't, I'm not a girly girl, right? And Kaylee actually gifted me like this gift card to her favorite massage place. I was like, great. I don't really like Massages from people I don't know. So that's a whole other story. But I was like, I'll just do a facial since they offer those too. Went and got this facial done and Stephanie they chemically burned my face. Literally like had like open sores, like on my face. It took Did
speaker-0: Get a chemical peel?
speaker-1: you No, no. It was like a regular microderm abrasion, like facial.
speaker-0: A microderm.
speaker-1: I had never done one before and she put some sort of like vitamin C or acid on top of it. And so I got home and I was like in tears. It was so, so painful. And I didn't really know what to do. And I had actually, I first tried to contact them. I messaged them on their social media and I sent them pictures and I was like, I don't really know what to do. This is really painful. I don't think this is normal. And I got a response back that was just like. Thanks for visiting us. hope to see you again soon. And I I
speaker-0: Their auto response.
speaker-1: was ticked. I and I like waited like a few more days and no one ever responded. So I did. I went and left a Google review with all the pictures and everything. And as Yes, because I
speaker-0: Cheers.
speaker-1: I look at reviews, right? Every place I go, I'm reading all the reviews, looking at the one stars. And so I was like, I need to tell the girl who's gonna come next, right? Because I don't want someone else
speaker-0: This is what your face will look like if you come here.
speaker-1: Just very honest. I was like, this was my first time. I to I and I don't even know what made me do this, but I had taken a picture of my face like in the parking lot, like right before I went in, because I was gonna do a side by side and compare. So I literally had the before picture and the afternoon. You have a prep.
speaker-0: Like content that went very wrong.
speaker-1: Yes. And so I left a Google review and I think it did gain some traction because the owner called me and she like fully apologized and they went and like reviewed videos and all of the like ingredients and everything and it was a whole whole ordeal. But I left that review. I kept up.
speaker-0: my goodness, that is hilarious. Okay.
speaker-1: Yeah. So have you left a bad review?
speaker-0: I don't think no. I I mean, I don't leave reviews, I don't look at reviews, I just exist. And but I I honestly I'm trying to think if there's any time I've ever like gone out of my way to like leave a negative review, but I really can't think of one. If I do think of one, I'll let you know. okay, we're gonna transition into under the top coat this week. We're going to be talking about are we actually enjoying our lives or do we feel like we're just managing them? So we're trying to be good moms, have careers, maintain our friendships, stay attractive. I'm not, but some people are. Be present wives. Again, I'm not. Some people are.
speaker-1: my gosh.
speaker-0: Keep up with like the pop culture of the world. Remember to exercise, eat better, save money, make the memories. and now we have boo baskets. Nobody asked for boo baskets. I feel like it's just like another thing that people are like, let's come up with another way to give each other crap, even though it's not Christmas. What how do you feel about boo baskets actually?
speaker-1: I I'm not a member of the over consumption committee. Like I
speaker-0: Thank goodness. I was waiting for you to say like I gave one to this person.
speaker-1: No, I really don't want my children to be like super entitled brats. So I'm actively fighting against it. Not saying that a boo basket is going to make your child that way, but my girls specifically, if I give them stuff all the time or they start to expect gifts, like it just creates little monsters. So I I make it a point to where, you know, when we go shopping, we we discuss our money and what we have money for and like when we do get gifts, it's really special. and why we get them. So I'm not the type of person to do, I don't know, to go all out for all these small holidays. It's just not in me.
speaker-0: You know what? That brings up a good point because this wasn't on something I was going to talk about, but I like that you said it because when you mentioned that going out and saying like what we have money for, that was something that I have thought about recently because we're all living in this world where majority of us have a paycheck to paycheck issue. There's a lot of s prices going up with gas and groceries and all of that. And recently there was something that my daughter asked me for and it was in my gut to just respond and say, like, we don't have money for that. But I didn't purely because I did not want her to repeat that in a setting where maybe she's like at school or with friends and have it turn into something where I don't know how to explain it, but I didn't want to bring her into the world of money in that way where it's like, we can't no, like I can't, my mom says we don't have any money. Like you know what I mean? Like I can't go do to the movies because my mom says we don't have any money, or I can't get this because my mom says we don't have any money. And then I know that people are mean and people are bullies and it almost like puts a target on you very early on of like, like I can only imagine that like kids very innocently will repeat what their mom said in a setting where they're with friends and say like, no, my mom said no because we don't have any money. Or heaven forbid they repeat something even worse that you say in a chaotic moment where you're like, no, I can't my mom said that we spent all of our money on Dad's stupid, what you know what I mean? Like
speaker-1: Yeah.
speaker-0: we have to be like cautious about what we say. And so in this instance, I have there have only been a couple of times where like I like the answer probably was that, but I had to stop myself and say, let's just see how this week goes and maybe if we have a good week we can look at doing that next week. Like I knew I got paid on Friday. You know what I mean?
speaker-1: Yeah. I think there's a difference, right? Like I don't want my child to feel stressed about money because that was definitely my childhood and growing up with a single mom. Like there were many nights where I remember money like being a a really heavy issue that I knew way too much about in in like a negative sense, right? So Cameron and I have really made it a point to become financially literate and our parents really weren't good about discussing money. Like It wasn't it wasn't a topic of like here's how to budget or here's how to do taxes and here's how to structure your finances. Like that was not something either of us learned early on. and you know, Cameron was a finance teacher. So money is something we try not to shy away from, but we do want the girls to know like we have three ways of using our money, right? We're gonna save it, we're gonna spend it, and we're gonna give it. And if you spend all of your money or you save all your money, then you don't have money to give or Vice versa. Like if you give all your money away, then you don't have money to save and spend. So we try to teach them all three of them.
speaker-0: Ooh, I really like that.
speaker-1: Yeah. Like in a way that's like age appropriate, right? So Lila and we have money that we take to the grocery store and this is money that we're gonna buy, use for our groceries. And so if something if we have enough money left over and she wants to get like a coloring book, great. But when she asks me for the Elsa car at Walmart, I'm like, honey. That is not in our budget. Like we can ask for that at Christmas when we get gifts and everything. But yeah, I think there's a way to do it to not to where they, you know, get made fun of at school, but to where they're actually building that financial literacy from very early on.
speaker-0: That's good point because both things are true. Like we want to educate them on the why, yeah. And have them know that. But I think that there's a gentle way of doing it. Yes, I agree with you, because I don't think the answer is to not bring them into that piece of it and have them like understand that from like an early age.
speaker-1: Yeah. And I don't I don't always wanna say like, maybe next week because Lila, I'm telling you, that girl remembers everything and she will come around and
speaker-0: Yeah.
speaker-1: be like, You told me last week we could get this Elsa car. So I can't I can't overpromise.
speaker-0: You're so right and I deal with that. That's something I have not learned. I've learned to get through the hump of when there isn't money for it and like then I next week if she does bring it up, it's like, okay, well, now I have a negotiating piece to use.
speaker-1: Not negotiating with the terrorists.
speaker-0: Yes, now I can be like, we can if you do this, this, this, this, and you don't do this and you don't make your brother mad.
speaker-1: my goodness.
speaker-0: okay, so that was not on my original topic, but I loved that you had said that. but I do want to go back to basically how we don't ever give ourselves time to be human or you know, like are we actually enjoying our lives or are we just managing it? So my First question to you is when was like the last time you did something purely because you wanted to?
speaker-1: feel like I'm pretty good at this. So like I take a lot of time to read. I take a lot of time to go to Aldi by myself. Like I build in little moments throughout the week that are seriously just for me. And it's not, it doesn't have to be like extravagant or anything, but I do like I'll schedule lunches with friends or, you know, a morning to myself. And like Cameron's super supportive about helping me do that because I feel like if you're not intentional with it, it definitely slips away from you. Like you go into autopilot mode so quickly unless you're like actively fighting against autopilot.
speaker-0: Yeah, that's so true.
speaker-1: There's so much that goes into coordinating and like even just jumping from two to three kids, Steph, like the bus schedules and the school schedules and the sports schedules, like it was a it was a big adjustment, like bigger than I thought it was going to be, honestly. So yeah, kudos to moms everywhere. It is definitely a lot to manage. And you don't understand the mental load until you are a mom. Like it's not something you can just explain to someone and they get it. No, because it doesn't stop. Ever.
speaker-0: I'm not gonna lie, for a second there, when you said going from two to three kids, I sat there and was like counting on my fingers because I'm like, when did she have a third kid that I don't know about? And then I was like, wait, the four next team student. I was like, hold on. I feel like I mean it is Friday. good point though. so what is there anything that you've stopped doing since you became a mom that you genuinely miss?
speaker-1: man. Yeah.
speaker-0: Laying out in the backyard.
speaker-1: Yes, getting a good tan.
speaker-0: Like in in with like a free mind. Yeah. Like do I have lay we talked about this last week on the pots. Do I have layout chairs in the backyard that have missers and a TV I can mount? Yes. I cannot lay out there, put in like headphones, and just enjoy the sun peacefully without wondering if someone is lighting my house on fire. Or like I can't like you have to still be watching and listening at all times. In a layout A layout is supposed to be like the spa. You go to just feel the sun and like enjoy listening to music. And to me, it can be like meditation. Like I used to go and just even if before I was married, when I would do it, me and my best friend, good lord, love her. Shout out to her. She just had her third baby. we would go lay out. It was so nice. to just go with a friend, sit there and not have to like worry about a thing. And so I am like, I miss that. I miss being able to just be and not have to constantly wonder if someone's okay or if they're not drawing on the
speaker-1: Yeah. Yeah. I feel like I probably lost a lot during that like newborn postpartum phase. but now that the girls, you know, they sleep through the night, we're done potty training, I feel like I've definitely gotten a lot more of my hobbies back, which is so nice. And I feel like that's definitely a turning point for moms. Whenever everyone's semi self sufficient, you start adding more things back in. And, you know, they might be different, but I think you definitely have to be intentional with it.
speaker-0: That's true. Do you ever feel guilty when you're doing like absolutely nothing? Like when like the kids are at school or at the babysitter, you either like don't have work, you're not going, you're just at your house, right? I have nothing I need. Well, not nothing I need. But like if you're like, I'm gonna do absolutely nothing right now. Do you ever feel guilty like, I should be doing this?
speaker-1: I don't think I've ever done nothing.
speaker-0: Shut the front door. Seventy eight percent of my day is doing nothing.
speaker-1: Some of us actually work while we're home.
speaker-0: Hey, I work. I you know what? I really That's gonna be the next that's gonna the next topic on the pod. We're gonna talk about efficiency. Wait is
speaker-1: Kaylee and Stephanie actually work.
speaker-0: f for starters. And for me, I mean, I'll let KK speak for herself. But for me, this is also a good thing that I want to mention to the moms and the women out there. I was in a corporate job that required me to go in every single day, drive that horrid tollway for forty-five minutes. I had to get dressed. I had to put heels on, I had to do my hair, I had to look presentable, all after doing all of the typical morning things with the kids. And then I would get home late and I would just like I never felt like I ever had a moment to myself and I struggled a lot.
speaker-1: Yeah.
speaker-0: And to if I'm being very, very honest, it led to like a very dark point in my life because I was trying to do too much. And I have a people pleaser mentality where I don't want people to be mad at me or well, I take that back. The people I care about in my life. I don't want them to be mad at me and I don't want them to be disappointed in me. And so if I feel like I'm slacking in some area in life, I start to stress and then I try harder. and so when I switched careers, I was very, very intentional about my next job. And I no
speaker-1: Yeah.
speaker-0: joke in my interviews would say, look, this is what I'm looking for and this is what I'm capable of. Like I am capable of doing this, this, this, like as far as skill set. Like I'm a data person. I know Excel. I know VLOOKUPS. I know formulas. I do analytics. I like to go down my hyper rabbit holes. I sometimes work late at night. I sometimes work in the middle of the day. I have three kids. I have a husband that works and my life is very busy at the moment. And right now, in this stage, I am prioritizing. Being a mom first and then an employee. And that is what I need. And I would say that in the interviews when they're like, what are you looking for? And like some of them didn't call me back, but the one I'm in now did. And so from the beginning, they knew who I was. And I didn't have to pretend to be something I wasn't. That has
speaker-1: Yeah and that's
speaker-0: been like a game changer. And a perfect example of that was this morning. I had taken off three days because my mother was in town and I had to work today. But as I told you, Benny had 102 fever yesterday. I messaged my boss first thing this morning, and my message literally said, Hey, today is gonna be rough for me. Benny has 102 fever. I volunteered for the fun run. Forgot that I volunteered for the fun run. My mother is still in town and I am trying to manage it all. I will be working, but it will be a little chaotic today. And he said, got it. Hope you're doing okay. I hope Benny gets better soon. All I need you to do today is this, this, and this. Don't care what time it gets done. That's the relationship I have with. That's
speaker-1: Yeah.
speaker-0: not the relationship everybody has.
speaker-1: Yeah. Can you imagine how much stronger the workforce would be if they allowed moms to have that kind of opportunity and flexibility? Like I feel like so many moms don't go back into the workforce because they can't find a job like that. And I just think that moms make companies better. And when companies choose to work and support moms, then they're just better for it. So
speaker-0: And I'll say this, I agree with you. And with the amount of corporations I have worked for, I don't think the company is the one that is doing it. I am a firm believer that it's the manager, and the manager is the one that is protecting you within the company. Because the company is the company, is the company. Like the corporation's always gonna look out for itself. But as far as managers go, these corporations put managers in place and they expect the managers to manage the people under them. And as long as it's kinda like if you think of it backwards in the higher up way, all the higher ups care about is that the goals are met and the stuff gets done. Yeah. And so yeah, to them, if their manager is providing the things they need, they're not gonna be looking into like how it's happening unless there's a problem.
speaker-1: Yeah.
speaker-0: And I just know that from an HR standpoint that that's how that works. We're not looking for things. It's usually something's brought to us and then we're looking. Okay, so we're gonna go into quick dry. Are you ready for quick dry? This
speaker-1: Let's go. I'm ready.
speaker-0: is the unhinged addition. You cannot think more than three seconds or I'm passing on you and going to the next question.
speaker-1: I mean that's like that's like in my DNA is to think about what I say before I speak, but I promise to be rapid fire.
speaker-0: I said something yesterday that was the exact opposite. I was like, you know what? I am known for speaking first and thinking later. Like, I shouldn't have said that. okay. All right. So question number one. If your husband had to write your dating profile today, what would his biggest warning be?
speaker-1: She's kinda mean.
speaker-0: No if he had to write your dating profile
speaker-1: She's kind of mean. That's what he would say. Yeah. We
speaker-0: I would say she's kind of mean. So
speaker-1: send each other like the reels all the time about the wife being the bully. And he's like, Yeah, this is you for sure.
speaker-0: Poor Cameron. He's like over there like walking on eggshells, like, my gosh, I can't let her know that I got into the potato chips at 3 a.m.
speaker-1: that's so funny, so true. Yeah. No, it's it's more like I just have like brutal honesty. Like I don't ever ask for Cameron's feedback like on how I look, you know? Like, but if if the rules were reversed and he was to say, How do I look? You know, do you like this outfit? I am like brutally honest. I'm like, no, you should probably change your shirt and your shoes and your pants, like put this on instead.
speaker-0: Matt has never asked me how if I like how well I take that back. If he's going to an interview, like something that is like more of a professional, like I can't wear my like weird headband and whatever, then I'm like, okay, yes, that blue matches. But for any other day, he does not care what I think. So okay, number two. Which Fictional man has done the most damage to your expectations of real men.
speaker-1: Ooh, fictional man, damage to my expectations. I mean, probably Zaydan, but just in the muscular category. I mean, like thinking about having a fighter like this guy that is like constantly like good at fighting and he can kind of kill you. Like, I I like to think that I would like that kind of toxic masculinity, but then at the same time, you know, I look at my husband and I'm like, you know. I I love him so much, but he's the biggest teddy bear, you know?
speaker-0: That is so funny. I love that. I love that so much. I'm trying to think of like for me, it's right now it's Cassian because the way he deals with toxic women. Like like I am the toxic woman. And
speaker-1: Ernesta.
speaker-0: yes, I am Nesta. I am pissed off coming up the stairs, like pissed off that I fell down, thinking it's his fault that I fell down. And Cassian's just waiting patiently at the top. Like I just but then he also has that little bit of like ability to still tease her. It's not like he completely rolls over. But yeah, it's such a perfect dynamic. I just I need a man that can handle my mental health issues, my temper tantrums.
speaker-1: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can see that. I can see that. That's a good match.
speaker-0: what's something your mother did that you swore you'd never do, but now you do it on the regular?
speaker-1: Mm, I think I always wanted to like explain things to my kid. Like I never wanted to say do it because I said so But I find myself at my wits end and Lila will ask, Well, why do I have to do that? And I say, Because I said so And I'm then I find myself I'm like, I sound just like my mom.
speaker-0: We we actually talked about that a couple of weeks back about like do do our kids deserve an answer as to why? And the feedback was that like the baby boomers of the world would say no. Like you
speaker-1: Right.
speaker-0: they don't need an answer, but we're trying to raise women that don't get walked on in the future.
speaker-1: Exactly. Yeah. Yeah.
speaker-0: but yeah, that's true. I My little thing with I'm trying to think of what my default is when Livvy says why. And I I think I had this conversation with my mom because surprised, my mom's a baby boomer. And so when she was like, You already told her no. I was like, I know, but when she asks why, I mean, I wanna know why to everything. Like Matt tells me stuff and I ask why.
speaker-1: Yeah.
speaker-0: Yeah. I wanna know. And so I use I will give her a response if it's not if it's something I can respond to. Like if she says, Why can't I play today? I'm like, Because we've had a long day and it's already seven o'clock. We have bedtime at eight. You need to take a shower. Like I just start listing off all of the random things.
speaker-1: Yeah, yeah. I try to explain as much as I can, but yeah, there's some days whenever I've already explained nine other things ahead of this. And why can you not jump off the balcony of the stairs? Well, you know, there's obvious reasons why, but because I said so is gonna suffice at this moment in time.
speaker-0: Okay, that's a completely different scenario. And I 100% support that because if it's Everett saying why, it's always because I said so. And it's because his questions are not logical. Libby's Livy's, I feel like, are are some that could be ones that make sense. Yeah. Everett's are like, why can't I spray the hose water in the crack of the back door into the living room?
speaker-1: Exactly. Yeah. I feel like there's a good
speaker-0: Because you're insane. You're insane. Now I've gone from like mildly giving good responses to my daughter to being like, Why are you the way you are? Like this because this is not what normal people do. Okay. This is not a question you should be asking me.
speaker-1: And you know, you do what works for the kids. That's yes. That's you have to do what's right for your family in that time for that kid. There's no I there's no like perfect response every time I think.
speaker-0: Or you accept that nothing will work for that kid.
speaker-1: Yeah.
speaker-0: Honestly, when I left the fun run today, the because I'd volunteered for two different ones, I was kind of one of the last people to leave. And all the principal assistant principals were kind of like huddled around or whatever. And I walked by them as I was like walking out. And I was like, look, my ever support crew. I am so grateful for all of you. And they kind of laughed and I was like, you know what? I'm checking him out early today. You guys get the afternoon off. And they were laughing so hard. It was amazing.
speaker-1: That's awesome. I love that you have that relationship with them.
speaker-0: It was not by joke.
speaker-1: Wait.
speaker-0: I didn't want to be here. I didn't want to be known this much at the school because of everything.
speaker-1: But it's better to be like we're a team, you know, we're all on the same side of trying to do what's best for him and not the point of contention. So I think that's cool.
speaker-0: Yeah I hope so. But you never know. Like it could be that like I walked off and they're like, Everett makes sense now. Like
speaker-1: Like, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
speaker-0: Then Olivia's with me too. And like I know Olivia's like the little teacher's pet. And so maybe they really are like, how do they have the same mom? Okay. last questions. what would your teenage self be more disappointed to learn about your current life?
speaker-1: Hm. Like what what would my teenage self
speaker-0: Your teenage self, like what they dreamed about, like what would they be most appoint disappointed to learn about your current life?
speaker-1: Probably that we're still in my hometown. I mean, we lived in South Carolina, you know, for a little bit, but ended up coming back here to be close to our moms, which I know is the right decision. But yeah, I think if I could have chosen to pack up my family, like my whole family, and move us out, I'd be on the East Coast.
speaker-0: See, Matt has that same thing where he did not want to like live in spring. I don't know why. Maybe people in spring are like, we gotta get out of here. But yeah, I don't know. I think it's fine, but I'm also not from here. Yeah. If it were me, my teenage self would be devastated that I am not a Yosemite park ranger. That's all I wanted to be. That is literally all I wanted to be. And I don't even remotely We don't even have freaking mountains in this state.
speaker-1: Steffi, I feel like you would be I feel like you'd be one of those tourists that like walks up to the bison and gets like yeeted because she was trying to pet a bison. That would be you in my mind. I don't I I don't know if Bark Ranger is what I would have begged you for.
speaker-0: You know, are you my gosh. Okay, well, my dad took us there every single summer. And so I like grew up going to Yosemite National Park and I was still as a child, that person just just talked. And so sign me up for that guided tour. Yes, please. Like I want to be around those park rangers. I want to learn about all of the things. And then I remember thinking back then, like, they get to live here. They get to like wake up and see this every day. And I think that's like deep down just like, I don't know, my love for the look and feel of nature. That's the only place I'm like really calm in life is in the mountains and there's none here.
speaker-1: Yeah.
speaker-0: Which is why I tell Matt like that's why I'm not regulated. It's because we don't live near the mountains.
speaker-1: You want me to be a normal, docile wife? Move me to the mountains.
speaker-0: I know. Okay, so last thoughts as we wrap it up. Kendall, I just wanna say thank you for joining and talking books with me and marriage and kids and all of the joyful things that is mother had
speaker-1: I yeah, I love it. I love you guys. I love the podcast. I'm a faithful fan. Might be y'all's first fan. I don't know.
speaker-0: a hundred percent.
speaker-1: But always happy to be here and honored.
speaker-0: And those of you listening, go find Kendall's page and look for her Aldi updates. And if you don't shop at Aldi, you're missing out. You're really missing out. In fact, my mom
speaker-1: Seventeen.
speaker-0: when she got here, she said, I want to go to Aldi. And I was like, Would you see that on Kendall's page? That's literally what I asked. I was like, Did you see that on Kendall's page? Because I'm like, why else would you know about Aldi? And you need to reach out to Aldi and be like, look, I'm supporting you. I'm bringing in people to your store. Like I need a brand deal with you. Like you need to start giving me kudos. Like, I want to see you on my algorithm as an ad. Like, I'm Kendall and I shop at Aldi.
speaker-1: Yeah. Sending some pitches.
speaker-0: Do you want to guess what's in my cart today? Yeah. Do you like pull up with the cart? Guess how much this was. Only at Aldi. I'll start creating. That'll be something I do in my spare time. I'm gonna start creating brand marketing for you for Aldi. Okay, well, with that, we are over and out, and we will see you next week.
speaker-1: See you next time.
speaker-0: We should end on that now. That is a good one now.