I am so sorry about your family's loss. I will be praying for you all.:grouphug:

I get muscle cramps occasionally. I find that a few days of muscle relaxant works well. Same for my husband. NOw we use Skelatin which is expensive if you don't have insurance but is non sedating.

Well it isn't true in our case. It is hereditary with us.

I don't think everyone should be going to college. I think a lot less people should be going to college and many more should be going to actual vocational schools. That said, for my family, advanced education makes sense. My dh did much better by his education than by not having one and I did the same (since I married dh and met him at college). My one kid who has the skills to be something well paid but not needing college is most definitely going to college. Yes, she could become a plumber or electrician or repair person of some kind, but she will become, most probably, an engineer. There are two main reasons for that- a) she is not interested in being an entrepreneur at all and doesn't like selling and the best jobs for skilled workpeople is when they are self=employed b) she actually wants to get married and live a certain lifestyle and not many college educated or professional men marry not college educated skilled technician women. My other two desire professions that require degrees and have no particular talents that would give them good livings without degrees.

The only cat I ever had that wanted to be outdoors sometimes is the one I have now. He is the only cat that I have had who was a rescue. But after living almost all his life (we found him at 11 weeks and he is now 9), he really doesn't want to go out anymore. Some days, he wanders out onto the patio but he comes right back in. He likes to watch birds from the window and since he lives in an almost 4000 Sq. ft. house, he has plenty of room to chase bugs and spiders that intrude.

First of all, I have to say that both dh and I had older parents and mine were deceased before any of our children were born. But thinking back on my in-laws and how they were with our children when they were young was they could cope with a walk or something minor but hours babysitting, no. Now, thinking ahead to my future. We are in our mid-40's and no grandchildren. I expect that it will probably be that we will be in our mid-50's by the time we have grandchildren. Since I don't volunteer now at church nursery because of health issues and while I do babysit at soccer, I only deal with the somewhat older children and do things like read a book or walk one to the restroom. Taking care of little children is exhausting which is why so many have little ones when they are in their 20s and 30s rather than then 50s or later. Yes, I plan to communicate my expectations and realities to grandchildren's parents but I am a straightforward person and not scared of asserting myself.

I think America The Last Best Hope is a pretty even handed set.

Well in the 10/meal I had to tweak it several times since a) I do not have 6, I have 5. I made it low carb which we don't do too. I don't limit food, per se, but do limit food I serve. So for dinner, I know we serve less meat than many others. I make one chicken for all of us five. I add something like rice or noodles or mashed potatoes and vegetable. If we are having pork chops, we have one fairly small one each or if they are thick kind, we have less than one each. For steaks, if they are larger ones like round steak, it is one or two for the family or if they are little filets, one each or sometimes one of us shares.

I just looked at the LSAT and it seems so easy to me. About 50% of it is logic puzzles, then arguments -does it follow or not, and finally reading comprehension but with an argument point. That makes me see that I need very practical logical help for her. SHe is good at Logic puzzles, now she needs to learn how to do them herself.

We have blinds and curtains in our house. My daughter suffers from insomnia and recently went to the store, got black trash bags ( our regular garbage bags we use are white) and taped them on one of her two windows because both the moonlight and the early morning sunlight were bothering her. Since that window faces the forest, I don't think anyone noticed (there isn't even a nature path in that part of the forest so I think the only who would see are the deer on the opposite side of the stream).

I did logic with my first child who did Traditional Logic one and Two. NOw my second will be a senior but I really want to do a logic course with her. I want something that will help her later on with the LSAT and with a college logic course. I expect her to take those. My problem is that she will already have a heavy schedule and I am not sure that the formal logic of Traditional Logic is the way to go. I seem to remember that there was a lot of work. SHe will be doing a heavy duty English course (20th century lit with lots of writing), physics, pre-calc, Spanish, World History, Statistics. Her activities next year will be speech and debate and adult and youth choirs. Oh, and she did read at least a portion of Fallacy Detective and did logic workbooks in jr. high.

Melanie, what state is that? I hadn't heard that a state made homeschooling more difficult recently. I sympathize with you.

My dd has low blood pressure and she has been advised to add more salt to her diet, particularly on days she is doing sports. She ends up feeling faint and all the color drains from her face.

No, actually more than a pound. I am using prices that I pay but in some cases, I am dividing prices. Not in this case. That is how much ground beef often costs (about 1.29 a pound) at the base commissary.

Jinnah said Also, there is a big difference in Miley Cirus and 7-year old girls. Well yes, but there is also a big difference if my dd did this and Miley Cirus. MIley Cyrus is a role model for lots of little girls. My dd is at most a role model for a very limited amount of girls since she is not a star. (My dd would never do this, btw). SO what I am saying is that teens doing pole dances who are in the public eye leads to 9 year olds doing them in dance routines and at school. Just the same way that 20 years ago, little kids were imitating Michael Jackson's moves -first the moon walk and other okay moves and then later the crotch grabs. Now he wasn't a youngster when he was doing this. I think it is even worse that she is a teen while doing this.

Carmen said Hmmm... I am not sure what poverty has to do with moral breakdown No, I do not mean poverty causes moral breakdown, I mean moral breakdown has many bad side effects including increasing poverty.

Okay, low carb meals Breakfast eggs w/ ham and mushrooms (2.54) frozen oj (80c) Lunch 2 cans tuna (1.5) sliced cucumbers w/vinegar/oil dressing (1) lemonade to drink (10c) Snack carrots w/vinegar/oil (75c) DInner milk (1.00) Ground beef(1.5)/mixed vegetables(.75)/barley(,75) stew with canned tomatoes and paste (.95) total for day 10.84 (but I did count staple prices for everything except spices)

I am also very thankful that my girls limited dancing was always appropriate. My girls have been in dance and are in swim and dive now. There is simply no comparison between what they did and do and that dancing. But I am not surprised. My older dd is just totally appalled by what Miley Cyrus is doing and I think it is partially because they are close in age. SHe is just so upset about what a bad example she is putting out there. I was saying that maybe the parents are turning the tv off but I think she is right. The older teens who know they are rolemodels for young girls are being completely raunchy and inappropriate and the young girls model this. And then add what Perry has said that this kind of performance wins the prizes, and then youtube and you have a perfect storm of inappropriateness and lure for pedophiliacs. It is disgusting and heartbreaking. Yes, all of us protect our daughters from this kind of behavior just like we are parents who are very concerned with the education our children receive. But all around us the society crumbles. 40% of children are now being born to single mothers and the statistics bear out that poverty among that group is rampant. Unfortuantely, just a very bleak societal picture., even though there are bright spots around too.

It really depends on the course. I'll describe what we are doing currently with How the Earth Works. We watch the lectures, sometimes havind a globe or atlas by us. We stop at points and I make sure they understood a point or we point to an example of a place we were at where X is true. After the lecture, I ask the questions in the booklet. WE supplement with field trips that have a book and the ultimate trip will be this summer with lots of geology thrown in.

I have never had this kind of dealing. We have rented both in this country and others and no one wanted that kind of information. I would not send it.

I said B but with the exception of sniffing. I have a miniature poodle and he doesn't have to get right up to you to smell. He is a watch dog and does bark at doorbells (which I want since I can't always hear them) but he doesn't jump up on guests unless they want this (by indicating with gestures and here, name) (some of the youngest's friends do this). He never licks anyone including us. SInce he is a well-behaved, non problem dog, I don't see a reason to exclude him or lock him away. When we take him on walks, we never let him come up and sniff others unless they initiate. My cat is more likely to be a nuisance and him I do lock away, if necessary.

I never played with the kids unless you are talking about things like board games, card games or something like Screenit. DH plays tennis with my girls and used to play soccer with all of them. The only part I could see as playing with my kids was when they were very, very little and you try to interest them in some toy by showing how to use it (bucket with shape holes, new activity board, etc). My parents didn't play with us and I thought they were great parents. Some parents did but it was almost always Dads and involved sports. Never felt any guilt about it either.

I named my mini poodle mix that I used to have Ezekiel. We called him "Zekie". That is actually what I do with strange names I like- use them on my pets. I used to have a cat I named Tsareenie Nktaschi. SHe was a beautiful Shaded Silver with black rimmed green eyes.

I will pray for you. My mother had this.

I also think it would be great. I would love it if I had such a opportunity for my youngest here. But we don't have charter schools in my county.