Just goes to show even pretty

I use Firemountain Gems - pretty good prices. [2008-11-22]
....

Yes, that's pretty much it. Phone tells you when they're due. [2008-11-17]
nn

Would you do the show Wife Swap? [2008-11-12]
I wouldn't but curious if anyone else here would.

I think they are pretty worthless and not really an IQ test because sm [2008-11-10]
if you have ever had a Wechsler, you know that those kinds of questions don't play into it. They are mind teasers and trick questions, not something that a Wechsler uses. A Wechsler is several hours long and goes through your math, language, spacial relations and problem solving skills, and it is timed. Part of IQ is how fast you can solve complex problems. I have taken a Wechsler and while I won't quote you a number, I will say the person who gave it as part of a psychological evaluation, told me he would diagnose me as way too smart for my own good. He stated that I probably didn't suffer fools gladly because I view most of the world as fools. I only fall at the 99.6 percentile on the Bell curve. No, I don't suffer fools gladly, but I try to be nice while others catch up.

It is just the love they can show...sm [2008-11-08]
You would have to own one. Mine touches my heart. I can't explain it. But he has a geniune love for me. For instance, I went to Walmart this evening and on the way home my husband called and said your dog is depressed looking out the windows for his mama and whining. He shows such genuine love it is just amazing. He waits for me at the door of the bathroom when I get a bath and will whimper and stick his paw under the door. How can you hate an animal capable of such love? It touches me.

I used Debt Free Today. Pretty good [2008-11-03]
company. Never had any troubles with them. Just sent them a check once a month and they distributed among my creditors on the agreed amount. I think we paid off in 4 years. Was really nice!

Thank goodness both my kids are pretty much grown up sm [2008-10-22]
Both are in college, one away and one at home. My gift will be supporting them in everything they do unconditionally, past, present, and future. Just can't do gifts this year. But I WILL have my traditional 3-foot tree LOL. Rays in WS is enough for us all, though!! :-)

If it were MY child, I'd buy her a pretty dress to wear [2008-10-16]
You bigots are appalling.

Whaaat? That's pretty bizarre. And why would [2008-10-16]
It's a perfectly civil conversation about different beliefs. Unless you think that a thread that doesn't follow strict Christian philosophy would automatically be deleted from MT Stars?

Pretty scary, isn't it? [2008-10-16]
I just don Those cities must have been wicked beyond compare. Part of me says Wait just a little longer, Lord but another, ever increasing part of me says Come even so Lord Jesus.

And what does God say he wants us to do to show him we love him? sm [2008-10-16]
To care for the sick and less fortunate, to defend those who are weak and cannot defend themselves, to treat everyone with love and kindness. To love your neighbor as yourself. If we all did that instead of judging everyone, we would probably not be chasing people away from Christianity.

Pretty sad to stunt a child's intellectual growth. [2008-10-16]
.

slide show another ? sm [2008-10-14]
Sorry to be so ignorant. Is the show on a CD-ROM or old VCR tape? I recently saw one at a wake in a funeral parlor, they had a TV in back of the viewing room with the young woman's life on there and some beautiful flower pics here and there in between. It was very impressive but I could not really ask at such a private time when the family was suffering, I thought it was a beautiful touch and done very well.

What price range? I recently made a slide show for a relative (sm) [2008-10-13]
from their old photos

slide show - did you make this yourself? [2008-10-13]
Would love to do this for my kids.

slide show - did you make this yourself? [2008-10-13]
Would love to do this for my kids.

slide show - did you make this yourself? [2008-10-13]
Would love to do this for my kids.

Mine pretty much soaks in immediately but [2008-10-13]
I have found that if you use a primer it does go on a lot smoother. BE has a face and eye primer that I like a lot. On a side note I just got the eyebrow powder in today and love it!

Thanks you! I wanted to say that you are a very pretty [2008-10-10]
doggie mom! (If that was you in the picture). They are soooooo lucky to have you! Have a great weekend and kiss those babies for me!!!!

Show us your messy desks! (pic inside) [2008-10-08]
I thought this would be a fun way to liven up another boring day... show off your messy home work areas! Here

I did want to show you guys my mom's FIVE dogs..I'm a little jealous of them..sm [2008-10-08]
They are so spoiled, as you can see....She doesn't have time to MT because she has to watch them all day long!

Good grief - I hope not!!! Mine was not pretty! nm [2008-10-02]
..

I just watched the interview on the Today Show SM [2008-09-29]
where the a hung jury concerning the boyfriend of a woman after he kicked her seven pouond cat, Norman to death. No penalty at all. He says the cat bit him and he just reacted. He kicked it repeatedly until he broke severa bones, broke his teeth and injured his lungs and left it to die. This happened after a heated argument between the this man and his girlfriend. Can you imagine showing your face on national television saying you were pleased with the outcome in this brutal outright case of animal abuse? Over 200 pound man kicks a cat to death and he and his attorney are trying to justify this. What a poor excuse for a human being. He claims it was not done out of spiteto punish his girlfriend. You decide.

if it does show up on your credit report sm [2008-09-11]
You could try to get it removed. Tell the credit agency to remove it because you don't owe the money, that you sent a certified letter within 7 days to cancel this and that legally you don't owe it. Check out the state attorney general's office. If it were me, I would not pay it. If it does end up on your credit report, i don't know if paying it will get it removed.

Our daughter is pretty trustworthy - sm [2008-09-11]
Actually, she just turned 17 two days ago. Generally, the rule of thumb was that on school nights she was home for supper and thereafter. On the weekends her curfew was 11:00 and she never violated it. This summer, as she neared 17, we let her stay out until midnight, and often she would just stay outside on our lawn swing with her friend talking until 1 or 2, which was fine - we knew where she was and what she was doing. Oh, yes - when she was babysitting on school nights she still had to be home by 10:00. That worked out fine.

Everyone seems [2008-11-22]
pretty happy. It doesn't seem prurient. I've been in favor of other situations in which people are free to develop on an internal time clock rather than one imposed externally & in that regard there's probably something to this, but the siblings following the first probably got the idea to continue for a long time from watching, so there's definitely a bias there. Would be interesting for someone to design a study comparing long-time thumb-suckers with children weaned at a later age. This woman would probably say that the experience of breastfeeding can't be duplicated or substituted with a bottle or a plastic nipple because the emotional part of it would be lost. I don't know. I guess it depends on the family involved. I remember on Six Feet Under, how Lisa & Nate were letting Maya sleep in their bed until she decided she didn't want to any more. I think there's just a whole movement out there comprised of people with similar ideas, & until someone does a long-term study, I guess I'd have to say any suggestion that it's out-&-out wrong is just conjecture or has a cultural bias.

Boobage - SM [2008-11-21]
I feel ya, girlfriend...I wear a 32DD and the choices are so limited. Believe it or not, ICurvation. I bought a couple of them when they were on sale because they were really cute (black with pink ribbon trim and leopard print demi-cup with pink ribbon trim), but didn't really expect much from them and figured they'd just look nice. Imagine my surprise when not only did they look great, they actually provided support, lol!!! I found that the demi-cup is actually even MORE supportive than the full cup style, which I hadn't expected. Have fun and show those girls off to full advantage :-)

OMG! I did the same thing. I have a picture..sm [2008-11-21]
I My kids were younger so the dollar store was great! Seriously, my living room was full! It For little kids that was easy. But now they I miss those days of buying from the dollar store and filling the living room. Now, theyonly get 1 or 2 presents and I hate it. It makes me cry every year. I'll look for that picture on my break and try to upload it.

I would have divorced a long time ago....sm [2008-11-21]
when my husband had a drug problem. I didn't because my son told me he would not come with me but that he would choose to stay with his dad. He was around 7 years old at the time. I couldn't leave my son. So I didn't leave. He is so close to his daddy. He would pick his dad drugs and all over me any day of the week and that hurt me very bad because I have always been a good mom. So I stayed. I guess God helped me though because my husband quit using drugs miraculously later and we are doing pretty good now.

Whatever sale item is most important to you [2008-11-21]
start there...early. Sale ads from Wednesday night's or Thursday morning's newspapers should tell you the store hours and sale hours. Many end at 11am. My dd and I like to go about an hour after stores open, though it's still dark outside. The crowds that were waiting in line overnight for the big ticket items are gone by then, and most everyone else avoids the stores until the afternoon hours, thinking they will be less crowded. Wrong they are though. There are more employees on duty early rather than later, so things move more quickly in the morning hours. We've also found the earlier crowds to be friendlier. DD starts singing Christmas carols while standing in line and soon lots of others join in. She's a blast to shop with. Then we go to a late breakfast and go home before the unfriendly crowds show up. Hope your experience is an enjoyable one.

Also, if there is a really popular item you want...sm [2008-11-21]
you could map out the store. Saw this on the news once where a lady and her husband drew out a map and each aimed for a specific department/item. It was pretty comical, but efficient when you think about it. As for opening times, the ads will let you know. Anyway, good luck!

Where I got my screen name..sm [2008-11-21]
Well I have always had pretty much platinum blonde hair since a teenager. It isn't natural but I always dyed it very light blonde and still do. Hence the name blondie. When I put in a screen name somewhere years ago blondie was taken so it gave me blondie_1147 and I have used it since.

TV crush -- Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs is So Hot!!! [2008-11-21]
Oh man, he is so funny and manly and smart. That show is so loaded with sexual innuendo. Can Think he is a fine specimen of man... yummy yummy.

Lolabug...lol...sm [2008-11-21]
Well Lola kinds of sounds like my first name and my husband used to call me (sorry this is really sappy)...butterfly...so I came up with bug out of that. Everybody's stories behind their names are pretty interesting!!!

the geoduck episode was so phallic -- loved it [2008-11-21]
i watch this show with my 8-year-old. he always asks me whati can not explain the double entendre tohim...

I watched that one with my husband [2008-11-21]
We couldn't stop laughing the whole show!! Now THAT's entertainment!

make a call [2008-11-20]
Look in the phone book under Alcoholics Anonymous and call the central office. Tell them you need someone to make a 12-step call. Someone from your local area who is in AA will come over to your house and talk to your husband and you can leave with the kids during this time. By the time you get back, your husband will have decided whether or not he will sober up. Usually the person he talked to will assume responsibility for taking him to the meetings or finding someone who will sponsor him. So you are off the hook at this point. On the other hand, he may decide no thanks and then you will have your real answer. AA is free and pretty crowded with new people around the holidays, so the timing is good. The average age of a person coming into AA is 25 to 45, so there should be plenty of people for him to talk to. At the same meeting place there should be meetings for you called Al-Anon and for your son called Alateen. Good Luck!

We have been spending less than 100 [2008-11-19]
And we are starving. DH took over going to the grocery store from me (He thought I spent too much when I would spend about 150 a week.) It has been months since we do not have a bare cupboard. I am not complaining. I understand we are broke and he needs to pay the creditors. But the one person who has pretty much stopped eating is me. I am home all day and there is never bread to make a sandwich and I often pass up supper because I am tired of eating junky stuff like mac and cheese or spaghetti with meat sauce. He and our 11 year old son, on the other hand eat thirds of whatever meal it is. I get kind of annoyed. Our littlest boy and middle girl eat very little. All 3 take their lunch to school. I say to DH either stop eating so much (for him and the older boy) or buy more. He flips his eyes at me. We even stopped getting microwave popcorn which used to fill them up. So, now I am hoping to work extra to go to the grocery store myself and put an extra 100 a week in myself, but I keep running out of work. You see, this all started when we started running out of work in transcription about a year ago this fall, and my DH took over the bills. Apparently food was the first to be cut. And, BTW I don't ever go anywhere because there is no gas in my car, and it has 2 flat tires. We live by the school and I borrow DH's car to take the kids but it is always on empty. We seem to make it every time. Oh, well. No need to complain. Just cutting back. The family is lucky I work at home, don't use gas, barely eat. But I do have to pay 10 bucks a month for nerve pills, because it is hard doing without. Like I said, when work picks up transcribing first place I am going after I get gas for the car is to the food store. Eventually I can repair my flat tires.

A good gift for either... [2008-11-19]
is the small cologne/perfume gift sets you can get at the mall stores. they usually have 5-8 small bottles for $20 or so. Sometimes you can also get whatever their free offer is for a sweatshirt or duffle bag with it too. We did this one year for all the nieces/nephews between 14 and 21 and they all said they loved it. It gave them an opportunity to try different things without being stuck with 1 fragrance and it surprisingly lasts a kid a pretty long time because they don't want to smell like that every day but when they go out it is something special. The girl might also like a gift certificate for a makeup counter to get her colors done and skin consultation. That's if her parents allow her to wear make up. I wish someone had given me one of those when I was that age. Most teens don't realize its not the amount of makeup you put on but HOW you put it on that makes the difference.

How about ideas for siblings and their families? Here's one [2008-11-19]
I have three siblings, with spouses and children. Not only is it expensive to buy for all of them, but it Last year I went to a craft store and bought cheap baskets on sale. I bought each of them a 2-month subscription to the movies that you get through the mail,NetFlix (can do Blockbuster if you want). I put the gift certificate in the basket along with the big boxes of candy that they sell at the show (.99 cents apiece at Walgreens), a few packets of microwave popcorn, and a 6-pack of their favorite soda. They loved it and everybody enjoyed the movies over the next couple of cold winter months. You can purchase the movie gift certificates on line at their website.

At certain stores in MI, s/m [2008-11-18]
They will double coupons up to $1. I do this a lot with toothpaste and stockpile it. A lot of times it is 2/$4 or 2/$5, so I either get it free or for 50 cents a tube. A lot of the $1 coupons are for new items and our local store here is pretty good about having those on sale a lot during the first few weeks it is out to promote it, so I get the new things relatively cheap as well. You just have to be careful about not getting things just because you have a coupon. When I coupon shop, it can take me 3 hours because I compare all the prices with brands to coupons, etc. You also have to really know your prices as compared to other stores. I have one store where I get my meat and I don Where they double the $1 coupon, I don I'm really careful about it and belong to an internet sites to help me as well.

Dogs v kids [2008-11-18]
I am a sucker for a pretty face & don't have kids, so I am at my dogs' mercy. You should see their stockpile of dog treats. It's ridiculous. School lunches. $2 a day! Doesn't sound like a lot for a meal, but it sure adds up...you would think they would give you some kind of deal because you have 3 kids. I guess I'm assuming they all go to the same school. Now I'm dating myself, but when I was in elementary school I think it cost 40 or 45 cents for lunch. A nickel for milk. Amazing!

I'm embarrassed to say this, but [2008-11-18]
we usually eat out at least 3 if not 4 nights a week. Always eat out on Fridays and Saturdays and then usually Tuesday and Thursday nights. I generally cook a large family meal on Sunday with enough leftovers to last through Monday. Tuesday night we either order in and Wednesdays we have breakfast for dinner -- my kids love that one. Thursdays we usually order in because it We usually eat out Friday nights because we go to get groceries (I don Saturday we We When it was a 15-minute drive to town, I planned our meals ahead of time and usually only ordered once a week or once every 2 weeks and we only ate out on Saturdays. We seemed to have picked up these extra 2 nights of ordering in out of convenience (a nicer word than laziness). Oh the cost -- I have 3 kids and a hubby. On the nights we order in, we spend about $25 to $30 (saving because of no drinks or appetizers). When we eat out, the bill is usually around $50. So altogether, I guess I spend about $155 a week on eating out -- WOW/YIKES! Thanks for making me realize that. I think it

YEAH baby!! Me too. sm [2008-11-18]
About 10 years ago I bought a Honda HX with prototype gas-efficient trannie, light wheels, no frills. That puppy would still be with me if not for the prototype trannie pretty much fizzled on most of the HXs but I milked mine for as long as possible. Ex had a Prelude, same year (99). He loved the car and took great care of it. Gas was killing him though (uses it to drive and travels a bit). He wanted to keep it in the family so he sold it to me. I drive about 5000 miles a year, if that. Amost 300,000 miles on that one and what a dream it is!!! He bought a new Civic. Another SWEET car. My son has a 1990 Accord, bought it used with less than 100,000 miles about 3 years ago. We've put some money into it, mostly cosmetic and just catching stuff up, but it runs like new. My Civic was actually built in US, so I didn't feel too guilty, but how many years have US automakers had to see the writing on the wall? I'm sorry, but I like keeping a car forever. No car payments are great. Honda fits that mold.

I try not to even think about it until after Thanksgiving [2008-11-18]
It annoys me just a little that everyone forgets about Thanksgiving. It it a true American tradition/holiday that has pretty much just a prelude anymore to the commercial, overrated Christmas. The people across the street have their glitzy white shimmering tree up. I just don't get it...

OMG!! I have cried a river reading this...sm [2008-11-17]
I am a softie for dogs anyway, and I especially have a special place in my heart for pit bulls and beagles too. This goes to show what wonderful dogs a pit can be. I am not surprised at all that this dog did this because a pit is one of the most smart, loving, feeling dogs you could ever meet. If they are raised right that is. It is so typical of a pit to risk his own life to save someone in need. This pit who some people claim are dangerous could have very well saved this woman and her son from a tragic end. And then for him to jump in her back seat as if to say please take me home. I just would have begged them to please let me take him home. I am glad to know if nobody claims him she will take care of him now because he deserves it. He truly is an angel. THIS is why I love pit bulls. Until you know one you don't know the love they are capable of.

Never before Dec.10 but this year need uplifting sm [2008-11-17]
Perhaps I can ask hubby to drag out my nice blue spruce from the basement for Thanksgiving as where I live the recession is hitting big and we need some joy. I will never forget the kids discovering the tree was fake as it is pretty well made and looks real. It was a hilarious moment of shrieking, Hey, Guys, this tree is fake! Used tohave beautiful, country-themed tastefullydecorated trees and wreaths put up in mid-Dec.So, what the heck, Ireason why I went fake and a bad tree that got so bald by Christmas we had to take it down and had no tree at all that year. Just trying to be festive and lighten the mood. Maybe I will go early, depending on hubbyThat thing again! Oh well.Gotta loosen up a bit.

Any chance you could visit family or a friend... [2008-11-16]
for a few days when he leaves the dogs? Or simply tell DH that you will only take care of your guys? Let hubby experience what a job it is. I have a cat and a large black lab and those two alone can keep me pretty busy. Can I believe in karma, and you have a giant reward coming your way one of these days, as domany of you other kind-hearted posters.

My thirst is Sjogren's disease! sm [2008-11-15]
I am always, always and forever chronically thirsty, but I don't have the polyuria to go with it. I have dry eyes, dry nose (to a point where it is usually pretty full of scabs), dry mouth with caries at the gumline. I have gastroparesis and proctalgia fugax which often go with Sjogren's just like the rest of it. Dry skin and feeling like you are drying out from the inside out is part of it. I even get a nasty, clay-like sludgy feeling in my mouth and throat from my stomach being too dry to digest. It is misery and even better than a gallon of water a day doesn't fix the dry feeling, but it keeps my kidneys from shutting down from being dry. Lovely huh?

Not sure about that, but I grew up on scrapple [2008-11-15]
Scrapple contains basically what you mentioned and it's pretty darn good. It's all good meat, but it's basically scraps, hence the name. I don't mind Spam either, at least when it's fried. My son won't even try Spam, but not because of Monty Python. He won't eat it because of the movie Waterworld where they were throwing it out to the masses of people on the boat and the cans were marked Smeat! LOL!