My mother only bought margarine but insisted that we call it butter. I think it was some sort of reaction to classism? I don't know.

I took and passed a covid test this morning. But apparently I have to take another one in two days, so I have cancelled my engagements for the next few days.

I have no idea what to send my nephews for Christmas. Cool socks? Books? Games? They are 11 and 13, and they are suddenly really into water polo. Also fond of YA fantasy novels. Any ideas?

We called it butter on the shopping list but we bought Imperial margarine. I think because it was cheapest. There was no reason to distinguish between butter and margarine because it was always margarine at our house.

It’s odd that margarine was a soft g. Where did that come from?

Oh, the “sensitivity training for 1,000 years” was a highlight!

And I just this moment connected the name Miette with meow. What an excellent name.

Mmmm, butter.

I am pretty much putting myself in lockdown mode despite missing out on stuff. We have a tailgate memorial tomorrow for a former employee who was an avid Dolphins fan and participated in a tailgate group every home game. His mother from Tennessee called us to invite us to join her and his fellow fan group before the game. I had planned on going with DH, but have decided to stay home. A bunch of strangers with unknown vaccination status most likely hugging given the nature of the gathering. I have to take a Covid test on the 24th prior to my surgery and I would be really unhappy to blow it now. Sad, but I think I will just watch the game on TV and toast his memory. I feel comfortable doing things outdoors with friends and family who I know to be vaccinated, but strangers not so much.

I've seen the videography thing for the house, but it depressed me since all I see are the flaws. I need to get over it and remember how I felt when I did my first walk through nearly 22 years ago. It is a great house. It is a great house. It is a great house.

I find the butter/margarine generational thing very interesting. We too only had margarine and called it butter. The only folks in my town who had butter were the actual dairy farmers and one “hippy” family. We even baked with margarine. I asked my mother about it and she was offended that I would think we could afford butter! Which is kind of funny to me, because we afforded Minute Rice and Potato flakes, which also were thought of cheaper than a) actual rice and b) actual potatoes. But maybe that was true in the 80’s? Maybe rice was a luxury item and not the cheapest way to get starch?

Did anyone else always have bread and butter at every meal?

We always had plain ucky white bread and "butter" at every meal.

We bought “hillbilly” bread, which was wheatier. [link] We were the only family (who were not the people who made their own bread) with wheat bread.

Mom did make bread fairly often, but with 6 of us there were always plenty of store bought loaves too.

I not only grew up with margarine, I grew up with Squeeze Parkay out of bottle. That's how I "buttered" my raisin bread toast.

Side note: my mom didn't call it margarine. She called it "Oleo."

We called it “oleo” too! My mom said when she was little they bought oleo and it was perfectly white like Crisco, and then came with a capsule of yellow coloring that you mixed in. Oleo was also a crossword clue for “mixture”!

Yep, oleo here too! I had forgotten about raisin bread. Yum!! Used to slather honey butter on that.