Meaning

I believe that dreams have meaning... [2008-05-09]
I have had several dreams like that..I had a dream my best friend was pregnant again before she found out she was, and I had a dream later in the pregnancy that it was a boy and it was...always have strange dreams like that...I don't dream like this every night though...

Yes, I believe dreams have some type of meaning sm [2008-05-09]
especially when you remember them. You know the snake is a sign of the evil one! Is there someone in your life who is acting evil? That one would scare me and I would probably pray a lot more, even though I am not the religious type.

Anyone believe dreams have meaning? [2008-05-08]
I normally brush off bad dreams but this one was strange. My 8 year old daughter dreamed that I had a big snake behind me, she told me to run but I didn The snake came up and started choking me and as I was choking I told her that I could taste apple. Have you ever thought that your child had a dream with a message for you? I have an idea of what it might be about but I am wondering if I am making too much of it.

Wait a minute, so no gift, meaning nothing? [2007-07-24]
nada? No money in a card either? I can't believe what I am reading. LOL. Here is how it works.. for a shower they usually want a gift off the registry which just about everyone has these days. If not registered then about a 30-50 dollar gift depending on how close you are or gift card, etc. And for weddings, wrapped gifts are always tacky mostly because they are awkward, much harder for the bride and groom to take care of at/after the wedding (have someone collect the gifts and deliver later?, collect themselves which is tacky, receive yet another item they don't need and/or want), and so ALL brides and grooms expect MONEY. Weddings are very expensive. Mine was over 10000 a while back and if all 60 or so couples brought me a gift I would have been VERY upset. Sorry but it's true. I think most people who bring gifts are the ones who don't want to spend much or don't want people to know what they spent but that's just my opinion. Otherwise, why wouldn't they just put the money in a card and give them something they can really use? Even if you don't have much money, 25.00 is better than more crystal champagne glasses or yet another picture frame that so doesn't match the decor. Okay, done. Sorry......I was on a roll. LOL

yeah. the true meaning of justice--sm [2007-04-27]
or getting even..ha ha.

You do know the meaning of brain-washed [2007-04-10]
dont you?? Oh well, I guess he will have to find another way to live now. Pretty soon he will be evicted from the home he is squatting on in the Bahamas. He was her enabler, not her lover and he knew it, might have wanted to be. Larry has already said the grandmother would get visitation rights and I think that is the way it should be.

If I can only figure out what she is meaning, then [2007-03-16]
it is alright. One time she said had made a cake from strap?? I wondered and thought, hmmmmmm and then she was telling me how you mix all the flour, pinch of salt and so forth and then I knew she meant from scratch, not a strap! She is a trip though, has been around now for about 14 years, does any and everything I want, including the grass if need be!

12 days of Xmas lyrics and meaning [2006-12-23]
On the first day of Christmas,my true love sent to meA partridge in a pear tree.On the second day of Christmas,my true love sent to meTwo turtle doves,And a partridge in a pear tree.On the third day of Christmas,my true love sent to meThree French hens,Two turtle doves,And a partridge in a pear tree.On the fourth day of Christmas,my true love sent to meFour calling birds,Three French hens,Two turtle doves,And a partridge in a pear tree.On the fifth day of Christmas,my true love sent to meFive golden rings,Four calling birds,Three French hens,Two turtle doves,And a partridge in a pear tree.On the sixth day of Christmas,my true love sent to meSix geese a-laying,Five golden rings,Four calling birds,Three French hens,Two turtle doves,And a partridge in a pear tree.On the seventh day of Christmas,my true love sent to meSeven swans a-swimming,Six geese a-laying,Five golden rings,Four calling birds,Three French hens,Two turtle doves,And a partridge in a pear tree.On the eighth day of Christmas,my true love sent to meEight maids a-milking,Seven swans a-swimming,Six geese a-laying,Five golden rings,Four calling birds,Three French hens,Two turtle doves,And a partridge in a pear tree.On the ninth day of Christmas,my true love sent to meNine ladies dancing,Eight maids a-milking,Seven swans a-swimming,Six geese a-laying,Five golden rings,Four calling birds,Three French hens,Two turtle doves,And a partridge in a pear tree.On the tenth day of Christmas,my true love sent to meTen lords a-leaping,Nine ladies dancing,Eight maids a-milking,Seven swans a-swimming,Six geese a-laying,Five golden rings,Four calling birds,Three French hens,Two turtle doves,And a partridge in a pear tree.On the eleventh day of Christmas,my true love sent to meEleven pipers piping,Ten lords a-leaping,Nine ladies dancing,Eight maids a-milking,Seven swans a-swimming,Six geese a-laying,Five golden rings,Four calling birds,Three French hens,Two turtle doves,And a partridge in a pear tree.On the twelfth day of Christmas,my true love sent to meTwelve drummers drumming,Eleven pipers piping,Ten lords a-leaping,Nine ladies dancing,Eight maids a-milking,Seven swans a-swimming,Six geese a-laying,Five golden rings,Four calling birds,Three French hens,Two turtle doves,And a partridge in a pear tree!The Twelve Days of Christmas (12 Days of Christmas) – lyrics Religious symbolism of The Twelve Days of Christmas (The 12 Days of Christmas)1 True Love refers to God2 Turtle Doves refers to the Old and New Testaments3 French Hens refers to Faith, Hope and Charity, the Theological Virtues4 Calling Birds refers to the Four Gospels and/or the Four Evangelists5 Golden Rings refers to the first Five Books of the Old Testament, the Pentateuch, which gives the history of man's fall from grace.6 Geese A-laying refers to the six days of creation7 Swans A-swimming refers to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, the seven sacraments8 Maids A-milking refers to the eight beatitudes9 Ladies Dancing refers to the nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit10 Lords A-leaping refers to the ten commandments11 Pipers Piping refers to the eleven faithful apostles12 Drummers Drumming refers to the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostle's Creed The first publication date for The Twelve Days of Christmas (The 12 Days of Christmas) was 1780. Each of the The Twelve Days of Christmas has a religious significance and are symbolised following the lyrics of The Twelve Days of Christmas it ends January 5th or 6th, theepiphany

one meaning LOL=laughing out loud..... [2006-11-28]

Meaning [2006-10-12]
Her son needed to cool off. Nothing more.

Alternative Christmas celebration and [2008-11-14]
Does anyone here NOT celebrate the traditional Christmas with their kids...specifically I am referring to the Santa portion. I am thinking about doing this with our second child (currently pregnant). Our first child is now old enough to know the truths and it is kind of a relief to be honest. I have tried and tried to stress the importance of family and the true Meaning over Santa but its really hard. Recently I have just been thinking that may be next time it would be easier all the way around to not follow that but wonder how it would work with school, people asking, etc.

It is entirely your decision to do what ...sm [2008-11-14]
you want. I personally thought it was so fun doing the whole Santa thing with my son. I guess different for everybody. It is true that the true Meaning of Christmas has nothing to do with Santa, but it just makes it fun with the little ones. :)

LOL [2008-11-07]
That's a good point he has. A whole new Meaning to comb-over. LOL I figure there are a lot worse that kids could do than grow their hair out long or dye it crazy colors. If mine keeps good grades, acts kindly and helpful towards others, stays presentable, and keeps out of bad things - I'll pay for the dyed hair if he wants it. Actually I offered to do mine too and for some reason he changed his mind. LOL

There are people out there though . . . [2008-11-04]
I had a PA struggling to diagnose me in the office one day and she was telling me probably lupus, blah, blah, blah, all of this crap and she had the doc come in and he said do you know who she is??? (yea, she did). He said to her, this woman is a member of the medical profession and she is going to go right back to her office and look up everything you just told her and panic. She knows what you are talking about, you don't just throw out diagnoses. That's probably not exactly how he said it but I get the Meaning of, don't cross this MT off the list, honey, she knows everything you are saying!!

I guess this one is correct, but [2008-10-25]
I hate it when people say, on either side, Meaning on both sides. I could see saying, on each side, but either just doesn't make sense to me in this context.

I wish I could do this! [2008-10-23]
My family basically does this. Mom buys all the food and the kids cook (mostly me because I love it). We decided last year that we would not buy gifts. We only exchange gifts that have a Meaning to them. We call it Crafty Christmas (or Crappy Christmas as the husbands joke). It can be something that is Meaningful from childhood, pictures, something regifted from your house, something funny, or crafty. We actually had a fantastic time last year and everyone voted to do it againt this year. We agreed not to spend more than $10 getting the gift together, but I don't think anything cost more than a couple dollars as most of it was made from household things. Grandma still bought for grandkids under 18 and did stockings but that was it. Now my in-laws insist on making a big thing of Christmas every year. They spend thousands. I suggested it last year as they were planning to retire and letting us know that they had to cut back - but MIL was obviously offended at my suggestion. My husband's brother and family are in no way financially able to provide any gifts this year (they are living with the in-laws) so I'm thinking of proposing the idea to him and his wife for agreement and let the others do what they want. I can't feel bad for not being able to afford gifts for everyone and wanting it to be more about family than presents. I would love to make dinner this year since we are not going to my mom's (she lives out of state) but that's another thing that my MIL doesn't want to give up and obviously didn't care for my brunch a few years ago BUT since we have the only young child in the family I insisted that we have Christmas morning at our own home and my hubs backed me up.

First of all..........sm [2008-10-20]
It is not my intention to jump all over anyone, and I certainly hope you don't take it that way. As far as different interpretations of the Bible, if you mean the KJV, the NKJV, the Amplified Bible, the NIV, etc....these are not different interpretations but rather translations. The root word translate according to Webster means to change into another language or to explain in other words. The NKJV, for example, just mostly removed the thees, thys and thous to make it easier to undertand. Others such as the Amplified Bible, etc, just restated the Scriptures in a way that is easier to understand. With that said, I do believe there ARE other interpretations out there that are false and do cause confusion because they are not translated but rather interpretted according to what the interpretor wanted it to say. Some, such as the Message, even degrade the Holy Scriptures with vulgar wording and the demoting of the LORD Jesus to Master Jesus. These are manspice it up in order to sell copies. As a Christian, the more one prayerfully gets into God's word, the more able one will be to spot false interpretatons and translations of the Bible. Hope this helps!

Why is it that when confronted with a different point of view, [2008-10-16]
passages from the bible? That seems to be some people's answer to everything they can't (or won't) understand. The bible (like the I-Ching, the Torah, the Quran, etc.) is merely a fundamental of one's belief, and passages and ideas can be tweeked and quoted in different contexts to come out Meaning pretty much anything you want them to. That it why not of that can be taken literally - it's merely a rough draft, if you will. The thing is, you have every right to your beliefs, but you have no right to force others to conform to them so as not to offend you. You all need to grow thicker skins and realize that not everyone is going to want to limit themselves to a small, small way of thinking.

I haven't said you were not tolerant or that you are wrong (sm) [2008-10-16]
I am saying that as a Christian, part of our job is to show others the true Meaning of your religion and to hopefully encourage others to investigate and decide to become a Christian, not to just point our finger at others. I think you are exactly right that there is a lot of evil in the world.

I don't think YOU get it. [2008-10-16]
Every one of these translations says the same thing. The words are different but the Meaning of the individual words is the same. It The words have the same Meaning. These different translations are taken from same text in the original Hebrew. That is why they all say the same thing.

Run, run fast and don't look back!!!! [2008-10-11]
Being a step-mom to kids who have no idea what the Meaning of respect is SUCKS. Especially when the father has no interest in teaching them! Been doing it for almost 10 years now, donget it after this he probably never will, and will never change.

A shame this place is so catty. But that is freedom of speech for you. [2008-08-24]
People come here to be supported, but need to realize there are all kinds of opinions out there. When you place yourself on a public forum to be supported expect to be bashed. That is the way of the world unfortunately. Just learn to try to see who wants to help and who wants to hurt. All kinds of agendas here. Your instincts will tell you who is real and who are the trolls. To all who are well-Meaning here and look for support,or provide constructive criticism hang in there. Just filter out the bad and take away from it what you will.

I still remember.... [2008-08-24]
....leaving cookies and carrots on a plate, for Santa and the reindeer. I must have been around 11 years old or so, and that Christmas morning, I found a beautiful, handwritten note from my mother. I don't have the note any longer, nor do I remember exactly what she wrote. But she explained in a loving, wonderful way, the Meaning of Christmas, including Jesus, and Santa. I recall the Meaning of the note, letting me know that it is the gift of giving, within us all, to give and receive, gifts in His name, and that Santa was the vehicle of that giving, for us, as small children. I donreal. Because her note made me realize that the whole season was bigger and brighter, than just Santa, gifts, and tinsel. And I realize that Santa IS real, just like God and Jesus are real. If we believe, in that small child way, the reasons for believing, will always be with us.

Before the post gets buried below regarding credit - very long message sm [2008-08-24]
I just wanted to share with the posters who were considering bankruptcy. Unless you are on the verge of losing your home, I would strongly encourage you to consider another option. Bankruptcy does not just go away after a few years. It Even if you rebuild your credit afterwards, it A friend and my in-laws also filed bankruptcy in the past. My in-laws filed over 20 years ago and have recovered financially but it My husband is a credit card spender. I would only spend when I had the cash and did not depend on credit. It didn Our spending habits combined nearly led to our financial demise a few years back too. This is what I did and I hope you give it a try and it works for you too. I started with a complete inventory of all of our bills, separating them into three categories. Home (mortgage and utilities) Credit cards - (lowest balance to highest balance regardless of the APR) Miscellaneous bills (entertainment, clothing, food, gas, fast food, etc.) Since the Home category is pretty consistent every month, I set up a budget for that first. I went back through our utility bill for the year prior and chose the highest month bill of the year and added that amount to our mortgage amount. Next, I reviewed our telephone, internet, and television (satellite) bills. On average, I was paying about 230.00 per month for them all combined. Way too much in my opinion. I started shopping around and found a bundle package with Verizon. Now I pay 153.00 per month for unlimited long distance telephone, satellite TV, and DSL service. Saved $77.00 per month, just doing that. Then I added this amount to the mortgage and utilities. This totalled amount is what I know I absolutely have to pay every month and I better make sure it's in the account. Next, I did the Miscellaneous. I I started going over what was spent where and learned that we spent a lot more than we really needed to. I set up a weekly grocery budget and a fun budget. If there was anything extra at the end of the week, it was divided evenly between the two and added to the next week. I do this every week until the end of the month. If there is anything left over, that amount is divided in half again and half is divided again and added to the following week's budget (grocery and fun), the other half is locked away in the savings account. The money for monthly gas was a little trickier when the gas prices skyrocketed. I first had a set limit for gas each week but did have to adjust that. I did manage to adjust it a little bit upwards and still be able to pay the cards down (see below.) Also, every time I spend cash, no matter if the amount is $5.01 and all I need is a penny, I don Instead, I will give them $6.00 and get 0.99 change to put in my giant size espresso cup of change. When the cup gets full, the change is rolled and turned in to the bank as a deposit into the savings account. My cup last gave me $281.00 change to put in the savings account. That was in March. It Nobody touches the cup! They might lose a finger or even a hand! That being said, and having two set amounts for each budget, I then subtracted that amount, plus the Household amount from our combined monthly income. Lastly came the dreaded credit cards. To be honest, I was floored when I learned just how much credit card debt we had. My husband had wracked up over $40,000.00 in credit card debt alone. Since he paid his own credit card bills each month, I had no idea. Even worse than that, he is very inconsistent about paying his bills on time so he had late charges and the interest rates were way the heck up there. It was terrible. I took each of his cards most current statements and started from the lowest to highest balance. The lowest one was about 1200.00 but the interest rate on it by that time was 22%. This is where I started. I had him call the company and basically gave him a script to go by (my name wasn He requested a decrease in his APR on each and every card. Two of the five card companies agreed on the first call. The 22% card was reduced to 11% so they cut it in half. Not as low as I would like but it was a start. Another card was up to 31% and they reduced that to 20%. The other three didn't budge the first time. This is where I made two The first one was MS Money software. I highly recommend it. You can set up your checking, savings accounts, print your checks, balance your checkbook in about 5 minutes, pretty much a no brainer software that really keeps you in line with your bills and spending as long as you remember to faithfully enter any debit card purchase in your check register provided with the software. It will also link to many banks to update your balances online. You can also set it up to remind you for upcoming bills. (Maybe if the husband had used this earlier, we would not have been in this situation?) The second purchase was about $8.00. An accordion file folder for the monthly statements. Husband always threw his away and I cana dumb idea that is. KEEP them. Organize the tabs for each bill and put your statement in when you pay each bill. I also write the date and the amount when I make a payment somewhere on the statement, then keep them in chronological order. The actual payments came next. The smallest balance card was paid off first. All of other cards only got the minimum payment PLUS $1 more. I started doing this just for my own peace of mind I guess but I learned later that this actually helped us a bit when negotiating the lower APRs on the three more stubborn cards. It may have only been $1 extra but it was EXTRA payment and, believe it or not, they do look at that. Excluding the card to be paid off first, I added up the minimum payments of the remaining four cards (plus the extra dollar to each of those) and decided on an amount to pay the lowest balance card to get that balance moving toward 0 as fast as I could. In this case, I decided on 200.00. This left me with a little over 200.00 extra (I call it mad money but it really goes into savings anyway -planning ahead for birthdays, auto insurance, Christmas, and emergencies.) I had that card paid off relatively quickly in a few months. When it was paid off, the card was cancelled and that 200.00 was added to the minimum payment (plus $1) on the next lowest balance card. After the first month of this, once again, had the husband call his credit card company and ask for a reduction in his APR. This time it was granted. Should also mention that this card was one of the three that refused the request the first time. The first six months or so of this wasa mildly painful transition. He was used to whipping out a credit card, I was used to having cash on hand for whatever I wanted. It wasn't going to happen anymore. Finally, I wasdown to the last remaining card (754.00 per month payment by this time, having applied the payments for each card to the next as they were paid off.) When I got to this point, I started shopping around for cards with rewards programs and started comparing those cards. The last card I was paying on also had a rewards program but not quite what I wanted. I wanted to know if the terms were negotiable. It was! How about that! So, instead of losing a valuable customer the card company decided to keep me. Now I get 3% back on purchases of most things as long as I pay the balance in full every month (which I do). Any kind of air or rail travel purchased with the card is a 6% reward. I no longer use a debit card. The husband is not allowed to get a credit card again but instead, takes a certain amount of cash every week. Say what you want but he got us into this mess pretty much so he has to live with it now. It I find that I average about 400.00 per month AFTER the rewards bonuses kick in so essentially I am able to bank another $354.00 per month in savings. It adds up quicker than you might think. Should also mention that we have two teens still at home and they can really be expensive. They were made a part of the plan and do their part to help out too. Their contribution is mostly the avoidance of fast food all the time. They can come home and have a meal or eat before they leave. Things like that. Sorry for the lengthy post but hopefully I can help anyone else get out of a potentially bad financial situation like we faced.

Santa [2008-08-23]
My DD is going on 10 and DS is 6. They believe in Santa. My daughter has questioned and I explained it this way - There was a real Santa, and that whole story and that he brings the presents to those that believe, but the second you say out loud into the air that you don't believe , we (Meaning mom and dad) have to start bringing the presents...and I can't afford that...:) So she still believes but we also get gifts from Mom and Dad so there are also things under the tree from us as well as Santa (who by the way does not wrap, but that's another discussion altogether!) By the way, in our house Santa, the tooth fairy, Jesus, and God all know each other and communicate with each other, as in God sees everything and knows if you are being bad and let's Santa know, etc...They are not to keen on the whole Easter Bunny thing though...

How much is too much? [2008-08-20]
I like to have a glass of wine (sometimes two) or a bottle of the smirnoff ice (okay, so Ithose things (Meaning the packs of smirnoffs or wine bottles) really fast. I don't think have 1-2 drinks every evening is a lot, but maybe it is! Do you guys often have alcohol after work/with dinner, and if so, how much? My roommate tends to get really judgy (she makes faces at me like I should be watching more carefully, if I ever bring home chocolate or chips or junk food! Like I can't spoil myself now and then ) about some things, and alcohol is definitely one of them, but it doesn't seem excessive to me at all. Just made me curious what everyone else here does!

stress reduction [2008-07-29]
My ex-hub wrote some papers while he was doing his PhD in psychology on stress reduction. I typed his papers both before and after we were divorced. It made sense to me. One of the things he said that you work all week to make a paycheck to pay your bills. He said you have to consider yourself a bill out of your paycheck that needs to be paid just like any other bill that you owe. You need to pay a bill owed to yourself for hard work in the form of whatever you can afford out of each paycheck no matter what the amount that you may deem to afford Meaning a new outfit, pedicure, meal out, movie, whatever makes you relaxed and feel happy. Set an amount aside even if it is just $20-$25. It gives you something to looks forward to. We have been divorced for 15 years, but I still remember this and still do this. It makes me feel good because I know I have to pay this bill to myself and it makes me feel good.

Question regarding mental retardation and other issues [2008-07-25]
My sister adopted a boy back in 1989 when he was just about a year old (from Paraguay). He She said he He was diagnosed before he ever went into grade school with mental retardation. Through the years my mom and sister were always defensive about it telling people thatspecial. Anyway....here it is 19 years later and he is getting worse and worse. Sis just called me from Maine on her last day of vacation and said he She said he has mood swings, happy one second miserable another. He won Whenever there is a thunder or lightening storm (which on the east coast is a monthly occurrence) he goes absolutely nuts...Meaning, he runs around their house screaming at the top of his lungs make it stop, make it stop tell God I, then he runs around banging his head against the wall (btw - it rained every day they were on vacation). I went back 2 years ago and one night it started raining. Actually it hadn I was woken up early early that morning (bout 4 am) to the sound of screaming. My bedroom was on the first floor and they all were upstairs (they live in a 2 story colonial home). Anyway...I kept hearing screaming and screaming and I thought something happened to one of them so I yelled up to make sure they were all okay. Sis yells down that there are some dark clouds in the distance and she Hemake it stop, I can. I fell back asleep only to be woken by my nephew standing at the side of my bed saying I can It and his hands were clenched in fists. Then he started hittingpunching himself in the head. I could hear my sis and her husband talking upstairs so knew they were okay, but all I could picture was him standing over them with a knife after hethen stand there like that saying I couldn He Anyway...to make a long story short years ago they brought someone to the house to try and find out what I kept telling her he may need to be on medication, but they had no health insurance so never did anything about it. This morning she called me and said she is going to have some counselers from her church (she She said they charge but not as much as regular ones (outside their church - they charge according to what you can afford). Anyway...she said he is horrible horrible horrible, and she called him a little pri*k. She said even her husband said to her you and Dan don. She said he won They were giving him $50 a day allowance while on vacation this past week and he would demand it every morning before they had a chance to get out of bed. She said they would hide their wallets after he fell asleep because he just goes in and steels money from them. I asked her if I heard that right. I said $50 a day? I said if she held back his allowance for 3 days that would have paid for an hour of counseling. She said to me I dongoing to do it they tell me he I said would you rather have him diagnosed and on medication or know that he has something he needs medication for and he I said itand for her and her husbands sanity she Sis turned 50 this year and her husband is 64. I said this is not what they need at this time of their lives. Also, last October they adopted a little girl from China (she She would get a happy meal at McD At one time this week they asked him if he was upset because they adopted the girl and he said no. They asked what the problem was and he said nothing, leave me alone. My BIL seems to think that maybe Dan realizes that he I just told her either way, she has got to get some help for him because he could get worse and worse. Once I told her that I was worried about the safety of she and her husband if they didn Anyway...I don Sis has talked about some day comeing out for a visit and hanging out at our place, but there is no way in you know where my DH would allow that. I am very intolerable of my nephew. When I go back to visit her he gets on my nerves something really bad. The thing is he does things on purpose to urk them and then he But I get him back because I tattle on him to his parents. HA HA - Okay, I But after being around him for about 15 minutes is enough for me. There is nothing that is nice about that kid. I I love them dearly and they are the nicest kids (sometimes better well behaved than kids without disabilities). Anyway...because I know I can Nephew also has a bowel problem and goes to the bathroom in his pants often, so that woudn Anyway...don Always afraid of saying the wrong thing to her. Anyway...just had to vent about that. I do hope they get him some help but not sure if they will (it's been 16 years since they should have first gotten him help.

need some advice [2008-07-03]
Okay, what would you do? I have a wife who is on disability and will not be going back to work. At the time she was seriously injured I had a very good job and we were living the good life. At the same time she got hurt, I lost my very good job and ended up taking a huge paycut when I finally found a job. I am now back at a decent salary but of course, she is not. Anyway, fast forward to the now - we filed bankruptcy, sold our home and bought a smaller house so that we could have a manageable debt load, start saving money for our future , and still enjoy life in the here and now. However, none of that has happened. If we have $10 left after paying the bills, then that $10 is going to be spent. No savings yet, nothing paid off in advance because we (Meaning she) are still blowing the money on unnecessary items. So here is my dilemma - we have the opportunity to take our smaller home and trade it in on a bigger home (along with the bigger mortgage, higher taxes, higher insurance premiums, etc.) and I cannot decide what to do. I really do not want to face that large house payment once again, but at the same time, I figure since we are not saving it anyway, it might as well go into something that might benefit us some day instead of all the unnecessary stuff we are spending it on now. Can I get some advice (and not get rid of her, that is not an option!)?

Identity theft -- never thought it could [2008-06-26]
Yesterday, I got a call from QVC. I had ordered a GPS system for my hubby and QVC called to say they were unable to complete processing of my order because my credit card wouldn QVC said the address I gave them as the billing address did not match the billing address of my credit card. I asked the rep to hold on while I pulled my credit card account up on line. When I did, I saw that my address and phone number had been changed to somewhere in TX (I live in PA). I told QVC I would have to call them back. I immediately called the credit card company. They pulled up my account and said that yes my address had been changed just a few days ago. When I asked how, they couldn They did not know if it was done on-line or by telephone. This, I don If someone called in to change it, shouldn Furthermore, if it was changed on-line, wouldn At any rate, it was changed, and my cc company tried to contact me to verify it by calling the new phone number given. (Makes no sense). Having received no answer, they sent a letter to me, which I have yet to get. One day after changing my address, someone made a $10 on-line purchase with cc account, which went through. Immediately following that, a $4500 on-line purchase was attempted to be put through. This one the cc company did not allow (thank God for small miracles). After having all of this explained to me, I was then transferred to an Identity Theft Specialist, who would help me close this account and reopen another one as well as put into action security alerts for me. For the next 7 years, my credit report will be flagged as a fraud alert, Meaning that if anyone tries to open a new account in my name, the lender will have go through extensive verification to confirm it I I also had to file a report with my local police, which I doubt will accomplish anything. Local police are not trained in the same manner as state police, and I don We will see. I did, however, write down the address and the phone number that my account was changed to. My husband called the number last night from his cell phone and no one answered. He left a message stating he was looking for my name and to please return his call to his number. They immediately called back, but when my husband answered, they said nothing. They called back again later that night and did the same thing. Here I told her that apparently I was a victim of identity theft. She said that I said what do you mean and she proceeds to tell me that there have been a lot of account takeovers with this particular company and that it was determined to be an inside job. This left me feeling less than secure about setting up a new account with that company. It also makes me wonder if that My husband says as soon as the new account is set up, we Fortunately, this cc company has 0% identity theft liability, so we will not be responsible for the charges that did go through. However, the bigger concern here is that this person obviously has enough personal information about me to set up new accounts without my knowledge; hence, the reason for the fraud alerts on my credit report. I am so furious, if I ever get my hands on this person, I My husband and I have worked hard all our lives to have good credit and some skuzbucket thinks he can just come along and take it. I don I intend to pursue this fully. If it is an inside job, I will make sure that this credit card company does something about its current employee background checks. So, take a minute today and call your credit companies or go on-line and check to make sure that noone has changed your address and phone number.

Obviously, yes this is just you! These girls have been violated. sm [2008-06-03]
Let me see.......how many teen CHOOSE to have sex with 40 year olds. I am not really Meaning by choice but what is ACCEPTED in their culture/religion. None. I live in the dam bible belt and hate it. I am not religious. I am realistic and this whole case scenario was not even realistic. The State of Texas by returning those children made a HUGE mistake. A cult is a cult is a cult but we should protect the children from these types of situation.

just a personal opinion... [2008-05-08]
I think this can be a little tricky with kids. Children's imaginations are developing and they are learning so many new things, not to mention they do not always know the Meaning of things or understand reasons for the way things may be done. Adults on the other hand, I think their dreams do mean something. I think it is their subconscious talking to them. Things they regress coming to the surface. I know I have had some kooky dreams before and they seem to take place when I am struggling with something. I wouldn't put too much into it with an 8 yr old, I have a child who is 10, sometimes they just have bad dreams at that age. If it is something that happens regularly or your heart tells you your child is struggling with something emotionally, it might be worth looking into therapy.

yes, i think some can be taken literal [2008-05-08]
and some symbolic, ie, do snakes maybe represent danger to your daughter? Of course most my dreams have no apparent Meaning. but i have had a few that were helpful. once my horse had gotten loose and we couldn then i remembered what i was dreaming when my dad had woke me up -- and i told him the precise place to go, and sure enough, there was my horse. Another, after a person very close to me died, was one that gave me reasons to 'hang on' and live my life out, helping me significantly. I do think it would be more difficult to tell the significance of your child's dream vs your own.

Did you know this pose means Ecstasy [2008-05-02]
LODI, Calif. -- Two high school seniors are accused of making a drug-related hand gesture in their prom picture, prompting school officials to suspend them. Josh Niemeyer and his date are seen making the letter T with their hands in a picture taken during Lodi High School's prom. The seniors said they made the gesture because the promTechno City. But Shad Canestrino from the Lodi Police Department said the gesture represents the words thiz or thizzin which are slang terms for Ecstasy, or MDMA. Canestrino said therethiz and thizzin'' which stems from Mac Dre songs. Mac Dre, a Bay-Area based rapper who died in 2004, coined the term. We knew there was another Meaning for it, like double-sided. But our intentions were not to promote drugs or anything. Just Niemeyer said. Niemeyer and his date were suspended for three days. I just think the school has jumped to conclusions and they have made their own interpretation and it isn parent Lisa Russell said. Several Lodi High students wore hand-painted T-shirts on Thursday in support of Josh and his date. According to students, the T gesture signifies drug use only when it's accompanied by a facial expression and a slouching body. The school's principal and the district superintendent said they would not comment on student disciplinary matters.

My son modeled a little [2008-04-24]
There are a couple of things you should know. First of all, the legitimate agencies will not ask for money up frontor any kind of fees. They will require you to have head shots if they choose to represent your son. My son There should be no fees associated with open calls. Secondly, call around to some local agencies and find out if they have open calls. All I had to do was take some simple pictures at home with my camera and send them out to the agencies. They will call you back if they are interested. Next, if your son were to be represented, please be aware that it is a pretty serious committment on yours and his part -- Meaning, that you have to be ready at a moment I once had less than 24 hours I hope this info helps!!