I completely agree that we shouldn't be thinking what we had twenty or thirty years ago is what is happening now. My son had no problems at his dorm in a conservative midwest college. They had strict rules and he ended up with a compatible roommate. Were there some people who misbehaved? Yes, but not as much as many places. Here is what we are doing to help our next child. She will be getting a single room. She needs it for medical reasons but I am certain I will really try to do that with child #3 too even though she doesn't have any medical reasons. We are looking at certain types of colleges primarily. Ones with more conservative student body who actually studies. When I look at reviews of college where kids go out Friday or Saturday night but study on other nights, I know the problems will be more limited. Geeky places or places with very driven kids are less likely to have problems. Then when she gets there, she will connect up with a choir she joins and a Christian group that has plenty of alternate fun. An honors dorm, substance free dorm, or one with more international students is the kind of place she really would like. In terms of youth groups and trips, that really depends on the groups and the areas. None of the youth groups my kids have ever associated with had any drinking, drug or sex problems going on in groups. I know this very well since I have to continually remind my kids to be less judgemental and they do tell me about bad behavior ad nauseum but forturnately it tends to be roughhousing leading to a broken door and such behavior.

I'll be praying for your friend. What a load of troubles.

I don't live near Kohls and they tend to be locating not at the major malls but semi-malls which I tend not to have near the places I live. AS a result, I have been to Kohls maybe twice in my life before and both times not in this area. So today I finally am able to get my car out. Off we go to Kohls for my Shark steam mop that was on sale. IT isn't on display but I nice lady goes to get us one. Then it turns out the sale was over thise weekend but we had a giant snowstorm and the stores were't open and we couldn't get out. She says she is fairly certain they will honor that expired ad. SHe gets a sales manager and he agrees. So I get my sale price and get through the checkout quickly. THey were all very nice and I think I should spread news about a store treating its customers well.

I hated Time Traveler's Wife. I didn't read that this year. This year I didn't read any books I didn't like since I only read books I do like except if I am in something like a book club or teaching a class. I want to join a book club this upcoming year since I really miss being in one.

AF wife here and dh will have 23 years in Feb. He has never deployed but travels almost all the time which is also hard and disruptive. He called this morning and was sking me about switching some trip times. I told him I had three dates in Feb. and March I really needed him to be here and otherwise I already expected him to be gone almost all the time.:glare:

We have had short periods of no outside classes, usually when we just moved to a new area. I try to have them have some outside classes of some kind. In my view, it has been helpful to learn about different expectations, planning, and of course, the actual course work. It also helps in high school for college admittance. Many schools require academic letters of reference. Do all? No. But most of the ones that my kids are interested in do. I am absolutely still homeschooling since I am the one directing the learning and issuing the transcript.

I don't have one physical but many doctor visits. I go to my rheumatologist most often and he does most of my blood work. I also see a gynecologist twice a year- had a bad pap that wasn't a cervical issue but rather a potential sign of something even more serious so have to do two a year for a while. I see my internal medicine doctor a few times a year. I will probably go to him in January to check up on my asthma and consult about things I need to do with my family heart history. I also normally see a dermatologist once a year and an opthalmologist twice a year.

We bought a car in 2006 that had been hardly used (8K in 2 .5 years). The battery died in 2007. We bought a new one and they told is it probably lasted so shortly because of the lack of driving of the first owner. (I suspect that it had maybe been a snowbird car)/ WE bought the battery when we lived in Florida. NO problems until today. The car was buried under snow over the weekend, we uncovered it late Sunday, and I tired to use it this morning. IT doesn't turn over and the inside lights don't go on. I know I bought one of those 60 K mile batteries that is supposed to last for years. I have only put on maybe 25k at most in the time we have it. Do I need a new battery again or is the fact I got the battery in FL mean it doesn't work well in snowland? Can there be some problem that causes increased discharging or decreased charging at a very slow, slow rate so the batteries don't last long but work for about 2.5 years?

I am trying to figure out if she is having reading problems, or is simply so different from all the rest of us. All four of us, both parents and older siblings, really like AIW and TTLG. Thoughts?

I like the same mysteries as the OP said. I also like the MArsh books. However, I recommend the M.C. Beaton series- there are two Hamish MacBeth a Scottish constable in the Highlands, and Agatha Raisin, a middle aged woman in the Cotswolds. Both give a very good picture of life there and that seems to be the kind of mysteries the first person liked.

High School English for us is something like Intro to lit, American Lit, British Lit and finally world lit. That is how I am doing it with child 2. Child one did WTM reading list plus writing. Child two has writing also. Child 3 I am not decided yet. SHe is my non liberal arts kid.

My oldest did not since we were living in Europe, he couldn't drive before 18 and we lived at least 25 minutes away from the base where College (not CC, but regular college) were held. My second is a junior and she took a class as a sophomore. We had problems with administration in this state and we will be trying to get her signed up for more this coming semester. Last semester they were messed up with granting us residence status even though our son is currently listed as an instate resident at the state college down the road.

I thought it was suspicious of the husband but then on the news it said her husband was Jewish and they had a Jewish wedding. If he is orthodox, they want to bury the body within 24 hours and an autopsy precludes that. They also have problems with what they see as desecrating a body. I believe that Moslems also have quick burials.

We have a dog, cat, fish, hermit crabs and a hamster. My dd's hamster is mainly nocturnal but not exclusively. He is very friendly and doesn't bite anyone. He is not a dwarf but rather a Syrian variety, I believe. He is bigger than many.

Prayers for you to have peace and contentment in the Lord.

When I lived in Northern CA, I did not shop at Walmart. It was like Daisy described. Same in Albuquerque except in always had no stock of anything I did want. After a stint in Europe, we moved to an island in Florida. The Walmart there was fine, stocked and friendly cashier and no gigantic problems. Here the Walmart is miles away in a direction I don't normally go and is also unpleasant. I went once and haven't returned,

Double congrats to them. Did they have a graduation ceremony? Here many were cancelled due to snow.

NT

All we have is a mini poodle who is 15" at the shoulder. We had to make a path for him first.:)

This has to be the worst TDY ever that my dh has had in his almost 23 years in the military. He flew out Thursday afternoon to Denver with a connection to Albuquerque. The plane was diverted to Chicago because the co-pilot was sick. After they change the co-pilot and as they are pulling out of the gate, a passenger two rows back has a seizure. Back to the gate and paramedics are called. Finally they take off again but connection in Denver has left. They wait forever for the hotel bus but finally get that and amke it to dinner a few minutes before the restaurant closes. Next morning they finally get on another flight to Albuquerque. Meanwhile the airline is calling my house (and I am not home since youngest is having her bday party) and telling us they rebooked him for a flight to Denver to DC at around the same time as his newly scheduled flight is landing in DC. So in the afternoon, when they are done with their business, they try to get a flight. They get one to Dallas. Then the airports are shut down. He was scheduled for a flight yesterday but finaly gets rescheduled for a flight today to Raliegh-DUrham NC and then to Reagan National. He gets to Raleigh but the next flight is cancelled. Now they are renting a car and driving home. OUr street has not been plowed and we will take a sled, parka, and now boots for him to a nearby street to meet him. We will put the suitcase on the sled, change his street shoes for bots and his medium jacker for his parka. Then we will wait for the street to be cleared better.

I put mine in a toddler bed or just took the mattress off the crib and on the floor when they were climbing over or trying to. It was number two who was the problem child with wandering at night and we had to put bells on her door and on the outside doors.

We got a lot of snow. I think it was nearly 2 feet. It is supposed to get above freezing starting tomorrow for a few hours each day. Then on Friday, we are getting rain. I know almost all the snow will still be here since the temperature will only rise a few degrees above freezing. I am worried about having flooding or an ice lake in my driveway. What do we do? We live midway on the hill and well below our house out our backyard is a stream. NOrmally that is where the water flows. Now what?

Where is the cutlery? I think they are in bedrooms most likely my son's. But he hasn't unpacked and his room is barely passable so we don't get to find them. My dh and I don't eat things in the middle of the night or take food to our bedroom. I also think that a lot of them were probably never unpacked from the move since the movers probably put them in some strange box like snorkle equipment or something like that we haven't used in the year we have been here.

I would choose the house in suburbia with the amenities and the shorter commute. 1/3 acre is not that small and the extra hour a day from your husband and your kids father would make all the difference to me. You may very well be surprised about the kids in the neighborhood. My kids live in suburbia and have homeschooling friends a few blocks away in the same neighborhood. They also have many homeschooling friends living within a few miles.

Our big Christmas present we got together while we were in NYC - new digital SLR camera. He has actually used it already. I haven't. I will wait until someone can explain it to me. (I used to have a film SLR for a long time, then in 2003, we switched to digital when that broke and I could not use that one.) I am really hoping I can use the new one. Other presents I know I am getting is a blender since I had to do the research. I also know I am getting a ruby bracelet but I don't know if it is for my birthday, Christmas, or Valentine's Day. (It was on sale and it matched the ring and pendant he had previously given me and he asked if I like it and I said yes so I had to leave the area). I am fairly sure one of my kids is giving me cutlery since I am so upset about missing utensils every day. (WE are down to two big forks, three or four dessert forks, about five tsps, and five tablespoons, the knives are mostly there- and this is from probably 16 of each originally except even more spoons- and they all claim they don't have them). But I also know I am getting surprises which I don't know what they are.