they have truckloads of that stuff in Big Lots

Try Florida. Lots of foreclosures there, and unfortunately the price of housing is way down. [2008-06-28]
you should be able to afford something there. Always warm. My sister just moved there, on the gulf side.

Patience, Lots and Lots of Patience [2008-06-24]
First off, she is TOO CUTE! Oh how I miss those days. I have a 2.5 year old Basset boy. He is my third Basset. He was the easiest to potty train, I highly recommend a doggie door. My two prior Bassets weren't trained with a doggie door and I had accidents galore! Once I trained them on a doggie door, no more accidents (they were 4 and 5, so you can teach an old dog a new trick). Crate training is good too, it just takes patience. Basset Hounds are stubborn, but don't give in! I have loved these guys for a long time, they have the best personality.

My grandparents swore by it for LOTS of things [2008-06-10]
xx

Don't drink coffee, but lots of tea, but [2008-05-20]
am quitting the tea. Thank you kindly

ME TOO i hate that stuff. [2008-05-06]
but prettier!

they have truckloads of that stuff in Big Lots [2008-05-06]
packages, never bought it. I sure won't now because you said it was nasty, tia

Kim Komando's Solution for thowing out stuff [2008-04-30]
I thought this might be of interest to some...Rather than throw away junk, try this. www.kimkomando.com www.freecycle.org

Go for a walk someplace where there are lots of people (sm) [2008-04-14]
Sometimes I appreciate my alone time and other times I am sick of it. Maybe you could volunteer a couple of hours someplace once a week or so, or find other things to do where there are people around. I know with working at home, sometimes I have to put myself out there to remind people that I still want to socialize!

Seen movie lots and scene only recently deleted. [2008-04-13]
X

Last visited lots of retirees. Ft. Myers beach [2008-04-07]
nm

My parents live in N. Ft. Myers, lots of retirees, sm [2008-04-07]
Lots of people and traffic, but I love going to visit. Good beach and pier. If you're not staying at the beach and want to go, there is a trolly where you can park your car (We usually do this at Summerlin mall) and ride the trolly to the beach, to avoid finding a place to park. Also, Sanibel and Captiva islands are close by, which are neat. There are a few major league teams that have spring training in the area, which is fun. Make sure you get a street map to make it easier to get around there. If you are going to live, Cape Coral is nearby and that is a nice place to live. There is just about any type of living arrangement - apartments, condos, manufactured homes, regular homes. It is a great place. Golf course communities.

I don't believe in the good/bad luck stuff with these but [2008-03-16]
I do forward those that have cute pictures or good jokes. I usually edit the email though and take out the send this to.... part or if I don

You have yummiest sounding stuff, Kim. [2008-02-25]
x

you mean stomach bugs? Lots of sick folks [2008-02-23]
x

Lots of flu in California [2008-02-23]
Flu vaccine only covered 40% of flu bugs so I hear.

Yes, I buy some items from them. Some stuff is very good [2008-02-21]
ice cream is great, too!

I'm sure there are lots of stories [2008-01-24]
about angels, too. I have never seenangels, but I have often seen them at work. I thank the Lord for providing protection through them. Whenever I have a near-miss I thank the Lord. My husband told me once when he was trying to change lanes, the steering wheel pulled itself right back so he couldn There was a car in his blind spot! I remember once one of my kids running down the sidewalk and fell. From where I stood it looked like he cracked his head on the step in front of him. I cringed, but when I got to him he was fine. I just know an angel put his hand between the step and his precious head. My mom was driving one day and didn She tried to stop but started sliding. She slid into the path of an oncoming car. She closed her eyes and braced for impact but...nothing. She opened her eyes and the car waspast her. She said there was no way hecould have missed her. These are angel stories. Demons are fallen angels. They chose to worship Satan. They exist to torment and cause people anguish. Angels exist to praise God and they also provide divine intervention and protection for people.

Get her lots of bottled H2O. nm [2008-01-23]
x

There are lots of things [2008-01-23]
Chocolate, greens, and by the way, for fiber sprinkle flaxseed over food- no taste, mix in, you never know its there and I second the recommendation about prunes- cooked, dry, very good source.

Been to lots of places [2008-01-18]
My favorite all-time place for me has to be Salzburg Austria (birthplace of Mozart), if you want sunny beaches the best time my hsbnd beach vacation spot is Greece. Was there for a week. Lots and lots and lots to do there. Beaches, sightseeing, shopping. Mind you these were the mid 1980s when Reagan was president (and our country was a little well more liked than now), so not sure about safety in other countries. Hands down though I say Ibiza has to be the best if you want a relaxing beach vacation.

Try drinking lots of water today, bet you feel at least nm [2008-01-17]
x

It has lots of caffeine. [2008-01-17]
I think less than coffee but I can pull an all nighter with it.

Bowls of popcorn, or lots of cut-up sourdough baguette - sm [2008-01-17]
bread, with things like cheese, salsa, some lunch meats to put on them. When I'm at a party the bread always fills me up pretty fast. Also make a salad-bar... it's cheap and some people will only eat that, if on a diet. Maybe a huge thing of soup (cheap & easy), with some croutons, crackers, etc. nearby to put in it. Or, along with that big pot of chili someone else mentioned, a bunch of already-grilled hot dogs, with relish & stuff to put on them, as well as the chili. (I better stop - I'm making myself hungry...)

We have lots of snow! I hope I did this right. [2008-01-02]
One of my babies in the snow.

Do you have a Spencers Gifts by you. Lots of clean, [2008-01-02]
x

We're off to the beach and need some ideas! [2008-07-02]
I think I have most of my bases covered, but just wanted to see if anyone had any other ideas for the trip. We're off to Ocean City MD for the fireworks - woohoo! I have 3 boys, ages 10, 7 and 5. We figure it We have a DVD player for the kids and they each have a portable video game to take. I think I have the drive down pretty well covered, but if you have anything to add, feel free. At the beach -- we borrowed boogie boards from a friend for each of them to try. I We also got some sand toys for building castles. Any other suggestions here? I'm afraid 1 or 2 won't like the boogie board thing and get bored very easily with the sand toys. We Anyone else know of anything at OC, MD that was really great for kids? Hubs and I have been there without the kids last summer, but really just enjoyed eating out and walking the boardwalk. I don We usually vacation at resort towns - like Disney and Dollywood - where there Just looking for suggestions!

A question about emailing. Please read. I need your help! SM [2008-07-02]
The other day my niece sent an emaill accidentally to a friend of mine whom she does not know when I sent something to the regular group of my friends and she ended up sending it him. He answered her, and then they began talking back and forth. The next day she wrote me an email telling me they talked. I wanted to talk to both of them now because I thought this was funny, so before I replied to her I put his name on as a CC. Today he replied to ME on that same email and asked some questions about her. I did not say anything bad, but just told some personal stuff about her that was not bad, just stress she is under. I clicked reply to send that to him. Did that go just to him, since he emailed me today, or did it go to both of them since both names were on the original email? I only clicked REPLY and not REPLY TO ALL. Hope I made sense. I already apologized to my niece in advance, and she is not mad. I just feel terrible about this. I love her dearly and should never have discussed anything personalregarding her life with him. Awaiting your reply! Thanks!

Some advice -- been there myself, [2008-07-02]
First of all, congrats on almost paying off that mortgage! I would love to have a $350/month mortgage payment. I watch a lot of financial shows on TV, so I hope some of the stuff I learned can help you. 1. Pay yourself first. I know this sounds hard to do, but if you put a little back each paycheck to a savings account, you can avoid getting caught in the credit card circle again. It doesn We do $40 a paycheckinto2 club accounts, $20 into a Christmas Club and $20 into a vacation club. This really helps out when those times of year come around. 2. Pay your highest interest rate credit cards first and/or lowest balance first. You say you have a credit card in the 20% range for interest with a balance of $200. Try to pay that one off ASAP, while still maintaining minimum payments on the others. Once that one is paid down, I would start on the next lowest balance (since 3 of your credit card interest rates are in the similar 20% range). You should put the money you were paying on the $200 card (after it 3. Try to make your payments as soon as you get your bill for that statement; don Interest is figured on a daily basis, so the sooner you pay it for that month, the less interest you'll end up paying. 4. The $5000 that you are planning on getting would probably be best used by paying off the credit cards for 2 reasons: 1) The interest on your house is probably a lot better rate than those on the credit cards. 2) The interest you are paying on your house can be tax deductible. If I were in your situation, I would start out with the first 3 suggestions. After you get the $5000, I would follow through with number 4. Finally, any remaining balances left, I would try to obtain a home equity loan. Home equity loans are not second mortgages. The closing costs are much less, usually not more than $100, if any. The interest on a home equity loan would be better than any of your credit card interest rates, and again, the interest paid on a home equity loan can be tax deductible. When shopping for a home equity loan, try to find one with a fixed interest rate rather than adjustable (the market You should be able to find one with a rate somewhere around 7%. Good luck to you!

We just got a Garmin Nuvi 350 [2008-07-01]
We My husband and I are both directionally challenged. We always seem to get lost. We haven We also looked up local stuff on it and it was very accurate. We got it from QVC, that way we have 30 days to try it out. If we don Can We ordered it the other week when everything was on easy pay for 5 payments. The total cost (shipping and a dash mount) was $305.00 After reading the reviews, we opted to get the bean bag dash mount, so we could put it in either vehicle.

Scary isn't it? [2008-06-30]
I don't have any advice for you, but I have an 11 year old son. Found out that lots of kids in his MIDDLE SCHOOL are having sex, drinking, smoking, and using drugs. This is in a 'supposedly good' school in a suburb of Atlanta. There is also some gang activity. I will be homeschooling him starting this fall. I am so sorry to hear of your problems with your daughter. I hope that someone here is able to offer you some sound advice. I know that it is not a good feeling to have someone living in your house whom you feel you cannot trust.

A lot depends on your daughter, not just you - sm [2008-06-30]
Is she sensible? There are not many 16-y/o that have not tried drinking or smoking, it is all part of trying new things,etc. and it will happen whether you like it or not. You have to learn to trust her to make smart decisions and to make her own mistakes but obviously to guide her and make sure she doesndate had MadDog, nasty stuff, and I got obliterated as I did not realize what that crud would do to me. Lucky for me my dad was out of the country at the time. My punishment was being forced to go to school with a horrible hangover (though I puked my guts out in my friendscares). I actually went and got on the pill while still a virgin so when it did happen I would be protected. --- is your daughter that sensible and with some common sense? I did a lot of stupid things along with the smart things I doing, just got lucky and came out of it okay. At 16 you want to experiment and have fun. All my friend and I were A/B students, 1 smoked and did all sorts of drugs. I would drink and smoke pot now and them (1 x a week or so), and again parents NEVER knew it. I remember one time my dad picked me up at school after play practice (was helping out with set design), I was stoned, had been slipped angel dust and had been hallucinating about an hour or two prior, was still pretty high. He wanted me to drive home for practice (I was 16), I turned him down because I was very tired.....he never knew, I crawled into bed the minute I got home. I was very, very good at hiding it from my parents, how they didn't smell it on me I never knew, unless they just ignored it. My best friend smoked and they new that so I guess that helped cover it up a bit. Despite all this I was very anti-drug (anything but pot) as I had seen too many people messed up on coke, crank, LSD, etc. I was furious with my BF's brother as he was the one who slipped me the angel dust, I got lucky as nothing bad happened to me. He is dead now, ended up addicted to coke, then alcohol, got hepatitis, car-jacked 3 cars for drug money, and ended up in prison with a 20 year sentence, got out after 8 years in 2006, then got addicted to painkillers, they found him dead in his apartment, killed by mixing alcohol and painkillers. This just happened about 8 months ago. He was only 42. Very sad as he was a smart guy but had many, many problems and never got his life together. Obviously this does not happen to everyone who does drugs, it all depends on the person and their upbringing. His sister (one of my BFs) is a successful therapist, drinks but quit smoking several years ago, never got into hard drugs like her brother. ---sorry for the rambling, but don't go overboard and lock her up, that will just make her go in the opposite direction. Obviously you need to set limits, etc, and try to know where she is and who she is with, and set punishments if you catch her doing it and let her know what those punishments will be, whether it is grounding for a month, or no cell phone, no TV, no driving, whatever, be firm and stick to it. I know that my brothers and I all did stuff, most of which we got away with, but it was shear luck and stupidity when I look back at it. Not all kids are so lucky. I hope you daughter is one of the lucky ones.

Two reasons..... [2008-06-30]
When you don't have the money, you learn to do it yourself....or else. On the other hand, like my son-in-law and his family, they pay everyone to do everything and that is why going OUTDOORS to sweat is a real no-no for him. He was raised to believe you pay someone else to do everything for you (they got lots of money) and you can do nothing. On the other hand, at least those people can give others a job that really need it and can't afford to do nothing.

We just bought a Prius and I will NEVER own anything but hybrid now! [2008-06-30]
We took our Prius from Philadelphia to Yellowstone Nat'l Park. Two weeks of driving, 5300+ miles on 10 fill ups of about 10 gallons each time. In fact, I filled up in Pittsburgh and am still driving around here at home on that tank of gas. Pretty much all of that trip was on interstate highways across the plains and up into the high mountains, and we still got close to or over 50 mpg. Our town mileage is even higher! It husband and 6 son are very comfortable driving this car. It's quiet, handles very well, and has lots of nifty gadgets for the base model, which is what we bought. The downside is that there is an 8-month wait for one in our area, and they just recently upped the price a few hundred dollars. But we love it, and found it to be great on the highway AND in town.

That's my 6-foot, 3-inch hubby and 6-foot, 5-inch son... [2008-06-30]
Those quotation marks and apostrophes don't show up on this board, do they! Also, forgot to mention that the Prius is a whopping 90% less emissions than a regular combustion engine. That's a plus. The electric engine supplements the gas and so the car never loses ground going up hills, great pick up. And don't worry about the rumor that says the batteries eventually die and need pricey replacement. That's not true. There are several individual cells that are not at all expensive to replace and should last many, many miles. There are lots of older Prius on the road now that are going strong after 200,000 miles on the road with not even one cell replacement, much less the entire battery system. They are THE standard for hybrid design right now. You can find out more about them at the dealer or by googling. The tech-geeks really like the car and put out lots of detailed information on the internet about the Prius.

Your SIL must be my BIL [2008-06-30]
My BIL is exactly like that. I donhow-to books and tools around if people stop by it appears like he can do things himself. HA HA. On the other hand my sister isn't much better. She has been working on a computer about as long as I have (over 20 years) but she cannot copy, cut, paste, doesn't know where her files are when she saves them, does not know what the desktop is. Cannot work with more than one program up at a time, etc, etc. (again she has a computer guy help her). When I go back to see her she asks me to help her with her computer stuff, but when I tell her she writes down everything exactly word for word and what takes me about 2 minutes to do takes me about 40 minutes to explain to her and stop because she writes slow. Very frustrating (and then my aunt calls her asking computer questions). HA HA. However, now that their business has died down and one of them is out of work and the other looking for full time work they are having to do a lot of stuff they don't know how to. Was laughing when my sister told me BIL busted the lawnmower because he crashed it into a tree. HA HA HA

Well, now it's my turn to tell my story...(Beware..this is long) [2008-06-29]
Well, I just don I was 26 years old when I met and married my husband. It will be14 years ago this August. I was a platinum blond, Swedish, 26-year-old, voluptuous virgin waiting for my prince to come. I had never dated because I was too fearful and shy. My mother always told me that my prince was coming. She just didnthe prince of darkness. It has been a nightmare, although he says it has been great with only a few bumps along the way. He is abusive in every way including verbally, mentally, emotionally, some physical although very little (not an excuse, just telling it the way it is), what I feel is sexual abuse with me but not the children,but the worst by far is his financial abuse. He has told me many, many times, Who do you think YOU are? What do you think...that you I can find a dozen more women like you. I have three children, now ages 14, 13, and 11. 14-year-old has ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder. My husbandis just like this although he has never been diagnosed and never would be because in his own words, I am perfect just like God made me. There is nothing wrong with me. The problem here is you. My credit is down the toilet. Credit score is about 500. His is 800. Through the years, when the children were babies I had to feed them dry cereal with a cup of water because he wouldn One very hot night in the summer, I had to feed them generic hot dogs and pink beans, which were some kind of bean that slithered out of the can in a gelatinous material. The kids werewere dry heaving at the table. One day when I was about 8 months pregnant with my last child, he came up to me and said, Well, I I said what He said (very matter of fact), I I won If you want something, get off your f______fat a__ and get a job. I had a 6-month-old and a 1 1/2-year-old and 8 months pregnant with the third one. What!! Get a job!! Are you crazy?? He said, Oh well. Famous last words. That is all I ever hear. He has ripped out phone lines, denied us food and clothing. We have two cars. He used to hide the car I would drive around the neighborhood so I couldn He would even take the carseats. One time when I was pregnant, I had no money so my girlfriend needed a babysitter a few hours a week. She lives in Connecticut, which is about 45 minutes from my home. She could only pay $45 a week but I would drive up there four days a week to watch those kids just to get that measly $45. One day when I was leaving to go, I wanted $2 for an ice cream cone (I was pregnant at the time and that was my thing during that pregnancy). I asked him for $2 and he said no. I reached into his wallet and took $2 anyway. So he came after me. I took out the butcher knife but he ran outside to get to the car first so I couldn I put away the knife and ran out the back door to try to get to the car first but he got there before me. I reached in to try to grab the car keys out of the ignition when he rolled the window up as hard as he could. I was screaming at the top of my lungs. I thought he was going to break my arm. I was able to backhand him and he unrolled the window. A little while later I ran to the neighbors to call the police because he ripped the phone lines out. I was there for about 15-20 minutes calling the police, family, and my friends to come and help. When I got back to the house, he had taken both cars (hid one in the neighborhood) and went to work. He left my 9-month-old and 1 1/2-year-old children all by themselves (and at the time I lived on a very busy street where cars would drive by at 50 mph). When I walked in, they were sitting on the living room floor screaming at the top of their lungs. The next morning I was in the shower and I lifted up my arms to wash my hair when out of the corner of my eye I saw something on the underside of my arm. It was a jet black bruise about four to five inches long by about two inches wide. It was literally jet black. I was stunned. When I called the police, I told them what was going on with his abuse. I told them I was pregnant with two little ones at home. I told them I had no food. I told them and showed them the bruise and I told them I wanted to press assault charges. They said, He did that to you? I said yes. I said, I want him arrested for assault. I told them where he worked. They turned around and told me that because the incident happened the day before that there was nothing they would do and that they weren They told me to just let him lie low for a while. This happened in 1996. We are not talking the 50s here. This was just before they handed me a pamphlet on battered women and battered women The pamphlet said there does not have to be any sign of physical abuse. If you are in a situation where you simply fear for your safety, the person can be arrested. And I am sitting there pregnant with ahuge, jet black bruise underneath my arm from where he rolled my arm up in the window. This is just a few tidbits of the life I have had with him. There have been some good times and good vacations but mostly bad. We have fought so bad for years and years that I know the toll it has taken on the kids. The guilt I have is insurmountable. If he buys groceries, I have to pay him back. If he pays the phone bill, I have to pay him back. If he buys me anything or gives me a $10 or $20 bill, I have to pay him back. Most of the time, I am not allowed to go into a store with him. I went with him once to Wal-Mart and I put a $2 box of sweetener into the carriage. That was it. I am now not allowed to go into a store with him. He screams at us that he pays the rent, therefore, it is his house and we have to learn to live the way he wants us to and we should be catering to him. If we don He has told me for years that he is a king and that the house is his castle and that he has allowed us to live with him because he is kind, loving, and gracious. He will only buy oneChristmas gift for his kids and no stocking stuffers or tape or wrapping paper or anything like that.I have to do that with what I get paid to do MT work. He doesn When they were little, I would tell him that the children needed some cool clothes for summer. He would take their little pants and cut them off and then take their turtleneck shirts and cut off the turtle neck and cut off the sleeves and say, There you go. There Or he would just tell me, Go ask your sister to buy them some clothes. He has threatened to kill me and the children if I leave. He has told me that he would kill me and the children before I would ever see child support. He has a sex fettish where he wants it all the time, every day multiple times in a day if he could get it (not that he does, mind you. I stopped that crazy crap a long time ago), and I am just supposed to stop all that I am doing and fulfill his needs (even though sex for me offers virtually nothing other than soreness,swelling, and boredom and has always been like this). If I don I am very overweight, I smoke like a chimney, my credit is destroyed, I don I have less now 14 years later than I did before I married him. At least before I married him I had my own very nice car and some clothes. I don My clothes are tattered, stained, and worn. And...I had dreams of what my life was going to be like when I got married. But it certainly was not a life like this. My kids are older now and they are seeing their father for who he is. He blames me and tells me it is all the bad stuff I am telling the children. I keep telling him it is what they have seen for 14 years. They beg me to divorce him. My youngest, who is 11, was diagnosed last year with severe ulcerative colitis. He has had a flare now for the past six weeks with at least ten bouts of diarrhea with blood every day. He talks about depression a lot and always asking me what it is. When I got the call last year from his pediatrician telling me to take him to the hospital for a possible blood transfusion (this was when we got his diagnosis), Ialmost fell on the floor from fear. I called my husband at work to tell him he needed to come home. He said, I can I have to work. He said, Don His red blood cell count had dropped to 7.2 froma normal of 12 because of his bleeding. He came to the hospital when he got out of work. He showed up at 6:00 p.m. We went outside and talked for a bit and then about 20 minutes after he showed up, he said, Well, I have to go home to eat and shower. I When I got angry, he said Hey, I I need to rest. Besides, there We still didn I didn I was scared to death. But he had to go home to eat and shower and rest!!!! I think that was the beginning of the end for me. I once read something on these boards that someone posted saying Marriage is not supposed to be a good deal for one and misery for the other. That is what my life has been. My marriage was a great deal for him...kids that he never has to pay for (I mean nothing...not school projects and believe me there are a ton of them, not clothes, not shoes, notebooks, backpacks, nothing), free sex, and a wife that he doesn I believe in my soul that my marriage was a good business deal for him. If you knew my husband, you would laugh at that statement because he is extremely uneducated and talks like a mentally retarded person. People in the past have actually asked me if he was mentally retarded. He thinks that if my son would drink lots and lots of water, that that will cure his ulcerative colitis and makes fun of me and insults me and everyone else. Itell him he is a moron and he doesn His abusive mother made them drink nothing but water. She would not buy them anything or strive for a better life. They lived in a nightmare life. So now he gets very angry when we woncure everything. He tells us that he is trying to show us how to live right but we just won He tells this to other people too including our landlord. He has the most disgusting habits. He picks scabs and eats them, he has eczema and psoriasis so he is one huge flake, which he enjoys picking off chunks and dropping them in a pile on the floor, he passes unbearable gas (like every two or three minutes that has such a horrid stench it makes all of us nauseous) and then flips out if we spray a room spray. He will actually grab the can and scream that this is his house and we are all just disgusting to live with and just impossible to live with. He just had a fight with my 12-year-old daughter tonight because he was passing tons and tons of gas and she sprayed a room spray. He got up in her face screaming at the top of his lungs at 11:00 at night that this is his house. He will pass gas all he wants and that he won She was crying and begging me to divorce him. She kept saying, You said it would be better for the family if you stayed married to him but it It won Well, I could go on and on. It has been 14 years of this but I think you get the picture. I have no money. I don I have a son who is going to need ongoing frequent medical care and I am afraid he will cancel the insurance if I do anything to get rid of him. I have a great fear for our safety. He has major problems with having to give up his money so to haveto pay child support will send him over the edge. He is a pathological liar so you can He told me, I would never allow anyone to judge me like that. You can tell the judge to kiss my balls. He seems to expect the absolute highest standards from the children and I but he doesn Never has and never will but will shove it down my throat when he doesn Well, any advice. I really am looking for legal advice for anyone else who has been through this. I know I need to get rid of him...for the kids sake. They need to see that life is not like this and not all men do this and that you don My daughter, who just turned 13, says to me she hates men with a passion. I told my niece that I felt like I was dying. I never, never, never, never leave my house except to go to Dunkin Donuts up the street to get a coffee. I haven And that is three hours probably once every two months. I am lonely, isolated, and ragingly angry. I want to go back to school but when I talk about that, he poo poos it saying I should go back in five or ten years or 15 years when my bills are paid and I can afford it. HELLO????? I am going to be 43 in October. Maybe I should just wait to go back to school until I Well you get the picture. If you By the way, when I bring up any of his abuse to him, he tells me I don Funny, he always remembers every time I swear at him though. Has never forgotten a single time.

I can't really think of a bad one. [2008-06-28]
My b-day is the day after Christmas, and usually it's a great day for me. Everyone else has the after-holiday let down, it seems, but I get one more day. As a kid it wasn't great, because I never really had a b-day party. Everyone was visiting with family or too busy with the holiday, so it was hard to have big parties with my friends. But now as an adult, hubby and I go out to dinner every year. No one is in the restaurants or out that day, so we usually have a great time. The numbers don't bother me too much. This year will be #47. Only a little gray hair and I haven't dyed it yet. I could certainly lose a few pounds, but I'm healthy, and that's a huge plus. My youngest is 18, and we can do pretty much whatever we like when we like, but we do have a simple life. A movie or a nice hike makes me really happy. Overall, the years have been pretty good. When the bad stuff happens, I'm able to put it into perspective and keep plugging along.

This works! [2008-06-27]
I did the same. It only took one summer (last year) of doing this and then we slowly tapered off the chore chart. I would forget to print it off the computer from time to time. Since then I no longer have to ask but when I do it is already done, just had to get in the habit of doing it without question, I think. My child is like OPs that he really is a great kid but for some reason brushing teeth was a nightmare twice a day every day. The only difference in our allowance chart was that for each item completed (without being asked or questioned) my child would get 25 cents - totaled at the end of the week. He still had to do everything, it was just a matter of initiative and no arguments on his part. I think max would be $5 a week or something like that. I had it calculated out so I new there was a limit. Truth be told, he asked for more than $5 of stuff every time we went to the store (and that was another fight) so this did double-duty in that if we went to the store he had to use his own money. Amazing how picky kids get when its their money.

Been there...... [2008-06-25]
My daughter had a choice between a state college and private and no, it does not necessarily look better on her resume going to a private college, it's what she will bring away from that and how she feels while there. My daughter went through orientation at both colleges and immediately knew what she wanted. She could get her scholarship at either. She said she just felt uncomfortable at the private college, too many snooty kids who were there more to please parents than anything else. The state college she chose had a very laid back atmosphere, where she felt comfortable. And you're right, comfort zone is everything. If a student is nervous nellis the entire time and feels out of place, what good is that going to do her? My daughter came out of the college with a job handed to her because of her grades and high recommendations from instructors. My husband went to her rival state college, one of the best business schools around, and has worked for an exceptional private firm for over 20 years, making lots more than many going to private colleges, so private doesn't necessarily mean better. It's what she puts into it. Good luck to her!!

Wish you all the best [2008-06-23]
Just saw your message. I always like to say something positive to people who are going through hard times. Probably the best thing is if I say something stupid I should just come out right away and say, boy did that sound stupid, that. My mom had CA a few years ago and I have lots of friends who never said anything to me and I too realize they didnother end to know how you feel when people say stupid things or nothing at all.

I'm with you [2008-06-22]
I too am getting burned out. I've been doing this 9 years. I like working at home. Don't know if I want to go back to working in an office with a bunch of old women all with their office politics, gossiping, dislikes, likes, etc. Plus the cost of working clothes, lunches, b-days, various pot lucks, etc. Here I wake up at 8am (no kids if you can't tell), turn on the computer and work. However I am getting very bored and some days have little motivation. I feel like I'm going to end up MTing until I die in my chair here. What's worse is DH does not work (I think he's going through a mid life crisis), so when I see him out doing yard work and other stuff I'm a little jealous. I want to be quilting and reading, and playing games, and all these other projects but I have to work my tail off to pay the bills. I am getting burnt out though, but what I get paid here, in this town there is nothing that would pay as good. I keep learning new things through the local college and that helps a lot. The college here offers on-line courses for $99, so every once in awhile I will take one if it looks fun (like writing or a computer program). But just wish I had something a little more fun and exciting.

Isn't it awful [2008-06-22]
I was talking to my DH and told him (it is actually his half-brother going through this), and he agreed its hard to know what to say because his brother laughs about a lot of stuff (serious stuff and makes jokes out of it). So we have decided a sympathetic uh-huh is probably the most appropriate. I canmy dad always tells me that these people have died but they haven Talk about an ee-gads!

I wish my husband still liked to kiss like that... [2008-06-19]
We've only been married for a year and he's quit doing all that stuff.

Wait a minute. She's only 7-8 weeks old...sm [2008-06-19]
You've only had her a week, and you expect her to be housetrained already? And you're already thinking about giving her up because she isn't? WOW! Boy are you in for a surprise - if you keep her, that is, which at this point I'm not sure is the best thing for her, unless you're willing to adjust your expectations and do a bit of a 'crash course' in puppies/dogs. And please be honest with yourself, because if you don't keep her, it's much easier to find her a home while she's still young. First of all, it's totally unrealistic to expect no 'accidents' from such a young puppy. She is *very* young. In fact, it sounds like she's doing remarkably well for being so young! It isn't *physiologically* possible for a puppy to be 100% pottytrained until about... 4 months of age, if I remember correctly. They don't have the muscle control to hold it more than... 4 hours, I think it is? (I'm going by memory, so I'll have to look that up.) So, my next question is, how long does she have to stay in the crate w/o a potty break? Because it is extremely unusual for dogs to soil their living area - unless they either have no choice and can't physically hold it anymore, (or if they came from a puppy mill/pet store where they had no other choice but to go in their cage and so get in that habit), OR if her crate is so large that she can go in one section and then go off to another section and be away from it. (If that's the case, you can use a crate divider.) But as young as she is, she probably just can't hold it for more than a couple hours at a time. I had a great site for potty training stuff. Let me find it and post again later. It does s/l you're doing everything else right as far as keeping her on a regular schedule. For now, I'd suggest that she commes out of the crate for a potty break at least every 2 hours, or immediately if you see her start to sniff around in her crate or otherwise act like she's going to go in her crate. BTW, she should have stayed with her mother and littermates until *at least* 8 weeks of age, which tells me you didnleave them hanging so to speak, because it's the puppy that suffers. Okay, enough of my ranting.

Eeek [2008-06-19]
As a person who worked with a trainer for a long time, please dongame all the time. Thatdon don) etc. is all attention whether good or bad. Dogs will do what they know gets them the most attention, good or bad. I hope that she learns soon. She's still pretty little, so just take her out a lot and try to make it a fun game she's playing and be excited... I hope that helps.

Not as often as I'd like, but [2008-06-18]
we still hold hands when walking, and just the other night, he was standing behind me and put his arms around me at the ballfieldjust to hold me. HeIin love feeling.

showers [2008-06-18]
I think itplease come to my wedding and buy me a gift that I have picked from Target. I think a baby shower for a 2nd baby is fine if the 1st was a girl and the 2nd is a boy, something like that. I think (and this is just my opinion) that once you already have the clothes for the gender of baby you are having you shouldn't have one, but I have been to lots, some specified as diapers-only baby showers. Close family and friends will probably gift them anyway, but no need for a shower.

Just my opinion - see message [2008-06-18]
I think I read some place (like Ann Landers) where it is in really poor taste to have multiple showers for multiple marriages. I tend to agree. If the couple already has everything they need then the point of the shower is to just get even more stuff? I certainly would not bring a gift if they were tactless enough to register for something. The same goes for *money only* bridal and baby showers. Guess that is just my opinion, you asked...

I think that my biggest change is that [2008-06-17]
I am no longer a people pleaser. If people don't like me as I am, then they don't. I use to do so much stuff to try and make people like me, but not any more.

Interesting question! [2008-06-17]
I have really lightened up over the years. My political views are way more liberal than say 5-10 years ago. Home decorating has made a complete turn from that cutsie country stuff to a bit more upscale bohemian look. And my clothing styles have made a big change. I guess along with my political views, my wardrobe has become less stuffy too. My clothing style is more fun than it was when I was younger and I regret missing out on the fun stuff when my body was in better shape!!