I was a junior in high school in VA. Saw and heard about it on the news. I loved earth science, still do, and was just really fascinated by it. NOVA had a show last week I think about Mt. St. Helen's 30 years later and how life has come back. I have it recorded and plan to watch it with my girls tomorrow since we are doing Earth Science now. It probably is available at the PBS website.

Be very careful with this. Last year, I was hostitalized for a number of days with peri-orbital cellulitis that turned out to be antibiotic resistant. They think I was probably bitten by a bug- a very common way to get cellulits. Cellulitis is a very serious infection especially in the face. If it is getting redder, spreading, get her to the doctor or hospital er. When my dd had a wasp sting on her hand, she developed both an allergic response and cellulitis. The doctor x-rayed her hand to make sure the infection hadn't spread to her bones. Then he put her on strong antibiotics and steriods for the allergic reaction. Just be very watchful. With my problem I got it one evening, bad enough the next morning I went to my doctor and got an antibiotic prescription, kept getting worse and by evening I was hospitalized. That is how fast this goes.

oh, if they won;t do purebreed dogs that I agree with the above poster that it is on very shaky grounds. I have adopted a poodle and a number of years ago, a maybe poodle, maybe poodle mix. My poodle that I have now looks exactly like a poodle but since it came from a breed rescue that got him from a shelter where they had found him wandering, who really knows? He is neutered and had been at an early age but what if he wasn't I wanted to breed him? Maybe I would want to verify he is a pb poodle. (Now I wouldn;t do this since I would a) not breed b) definitely not breed without papers c) especially not breed without papers and identified buyers or recipients for any puppies). But sometimes vets even would like to know breeds because of breed specific conditions. I think that they won't verify PB breeds is a giant red flag.

I would like to see who is boycotting Az and then I will boycott them. I also need to see which companies I already buy from are from AZ and make sure I am buying their things.

I have a hard time believing that you have to be a high schooler to be left alone at home in IL. That is an outrageously old age to me. As I previiously posted, something like the VA rule seems to be reasonable. 8- 10, up to l.5 hours at home alone. So yes, a quick run to pick up another child is fine. 11-12, up to 3 hours alone but not late at night. Over 12 and up to 15- any amount but not overnight. 16 and 17, up to two overnights. It all depends on the child, the safety of your area, and the law i your state or locality. The IL law is so far removed from reality that it is a nuisance law. I lived in Chicago for 6 years and I did not see 13 year olds continually being supervised nor did the parents I worked with put their middle schoolers into daycare. One easy way to figure out supervision rules is to see when daycare stops. In Florida, it stopped with age 10. Here it stops with 12. I have a 13 yo that I have no issues at all with her staying home. SHe is old enough to babysit.

I follow the rules of the place we live in at the time. My youngest is now 13 and there are no more restrictions beyond what I feel comfortable with. The restrictions for her are not anything I don't do with even the older one. SHe can't be left overnight and dd16 can but we have no need to do so. Here are Fairfax County, VA rules7 years & under: Should not be left alone for any period of time. This may include leaving children unattended in cars,playgrounds, and backyards. The determining consideration would be the dangers in the environment and the ability of the caretaker to intervene. 8 to 10 years: Should not be left alone for more than 1½ hours and only during daylight and early evening hours. 11 to 12 years: May be left alone for up to 3 hours but not late at night or in circumstances requiring inappropriate responsibility. 13 to 15 years: May be left unsupervised, but not overnight. 16 to 17 years: May be left unsupervised. In some cases, for up to two consecutive overnight periods.

I have been to bookstores that have a few floors. Many of them do. Those that don't often have a large one floor space. If I was a clerk, I wouldn't call the police without talking to the children or if I suspected the parent was going to leave the store and this was against store policy, I would talk to that parent before she/he left. IF the employee did file this report, it is so completely wrong. Another poster said nothing harmful happened. I completely disagree. Traumatizing children is not nothing harmful. The policeman was utterly wrong. Threatening parents and children with removal from home when nothing illegal was done and there is no risk to the child is just very wrong. I agree with the other posters who say that the child's fear of the police needs to be addressed.

Okay, here is another viewpoint. WHen someone says that a child, spouse, or friend has a more serious diagnosis, some people try to make you feel better by suggesting a milder diagnosis. Is it right? No, but it is a way they try to cope with bad news. So if you tell them Johnny has bipolar, they will suggest adhd. If you say ADHD, they will suggest food intolerance. If you say food intolerance, they will tell you the story of how Aunt Sue used to be so allergic to X but with herb Y she is no longer allergic. I have this happen to us all the time with all of our illnesses/differences. My RA gets dismissed as we are getting older (of course I got this at 30) or eat x or y and you'll be cured. Our ADHD was dismissed as boys will be boys but not much is said anymore when it is my dd who has it and much more severely than her brother. I can go on and on.

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)