Dd's crazy cat knocked over her reading lamp this weekend, breaking the CFL. Recalling a thread on this board regarding these bulbs, I quickly looked up how to clean these up. Apparently the room needs to be ventilated for 15 minutes as a precaution, before clean up is attempted, to clear out the mercury vapor. If the bulb breaks on carpet, the carpet needs to be cut out and thrown out. Nobody I know has heard about these clean up recommendations. It looks like regular bulbs won't be available after 2012 either. Sometimes I feel like...what planet am I on? Does this take anyone else by surprise?

He brought home a library book on local ghost stories and unsolved mysteries as well as watched a show on the History Channel called "Ancient Aliens"....about those who believe aliens visited Earth long ago and gave humans secret knowledge and will return in the future. I am very uncomfortable with his fascination w/this topic. I believe strongly in Satan's desire to deceive us and lead us astray. I know there are good Christian sources on spiritual warfare, etc. My sister once heard a pastor say that we shouldn't let these kinds of materials into our homes as they provide a foothold for the devil. I'm looking for advice on how to handle this. His fascination will only grow if I try to distract him from it (which is what I want to do)...I guess I should tackle it head on. How can I do this in a way that will result in building him up? Thanks!

I've been watching a DVD Creation Series by Kent Hovind and he mentioned something about the benefits of eating apricot seeds? I found a few sites online that sell them but then found one site that said they are actually toxic. I'd like to know if anyone here has ever eaten them. Thanks!

I've had similiar experiences and I find the absolute best thing is to act like I couldn't care less. After awhile....I don't. Then I go the extra mile to be even nicer. It pleases God and I'll just let Him deal with it. And it actually makes me feel good to know they didn't get the best of me. It is very, very hard though. I'll give you that! I'm sorry.

Oh thank you-I tell you, I was ONE click away from completing one of those free trial offers. Somehow I just couldn't do it. Praise the Lord, the impulse is over and I read your reply! :) SOO...I am inspired that you lose 32 lbs. using your Wii Fit. Would you mind sharing the exercises you do on it. I'll check out that 3 Hour Diet. I'm also TERRIBLE about drinking water and I do tend to eat out quite a bit, so my salt intake is higher than it should be. I'm trying to eat at home more and not eat at night. Thanks again for your reply. It was the cold splash I needed!

I admit, I'm desperate here. I've been working out for a month and only lost 3 lbs. I know it must be that I'm now 36yo and losing weight isn't as easy as it used to be. But 3 lbs. in a month??? Also, I admit I've mainly been using the Wii Fit which is not a very strenuous workout at all. I add 9 lbs. weights to the advanced step just to get my muscles to feel like they're working and increase my heart rate. I've been running on the trampoline during the run and then doing the hula for 6-10 min. I do strength building exercises every day too. I added jumping jacks and a new exercise from elementary school where you squat down, extend your body into a push up position, then jump back into the squat and stand up. Well, I could definitely feel my belly fat all bunched up when I was down in the squat position. I am trying so hard to lose this weight because I'm in serious jeopardy of becoming complacent about it. I tend to feel like I'm fine, it's only when I see a picture or look at my clothing size that I realize how big I've gotten. I'm now a tight 14, comfortable 16. That's not at all acceptable to me, I'm 173 lbs. at 5'7". Somehow I gained 15 lbs. this Christmas. I guess I can't eat sweets like I used to. :) The final straw was my Wii calling me overweight. Now it's official. Anyway, I keep seeing these ads online for the acai berry that's supposed to "melt belly fat" away. I know that can't be true....but I kinda hope maybe it is. Anyone ever tried it? Or perhaps have a suggestion for a super fat buring exercise? I have another question. Why is it so much easier to run on the trampoline....I don't feel out of breath at all. But I can hardly run on a flat surface for more than 30 seconds.

The account of Jesus walking through walls, ascending into the sky, angels appearing explaining what had happened....to me, those are so concrete, it either happened or it didn't. There's no making it appear to have happened or that someone thought it might be so.

This is a new one to me. I'm wondering if anyone has ever read it and what do you know about it. I'm not good about reading my Bible, I probably should do that first. But I'm curious about it. Thanks!

Ooh...I like, I like!! I might just buy it myself. That looks too good to pass up. I also like skirts but don't have the time to shop. To sew them at home...wow!

I try to work on a room or area for only 5 minutes at a time. I remind myself of this whenever I walk into a particularly disasterous space. Only 5 minutes...and usually I stay longer and get much more done. But it is amazing how much one can get done in that amount of time. This is a variation of Flylady's 15 minute rule. I started it during one of my pregnancies....15 minutes was out of the question but I could handle 5 minutes. Hope that's helpful. :)

That's wonderful! Congratulations!!:grouphug:

We're using Saxon 8/7 and he tends to get some answers correct but gets there in this mixed up way, following his explanation is like being in a maze. I've been having him write the problem in an equation and then solving it. He's having a VERY difficult time doing this. He can explain how he got the answer but when he needs to write in down in a logical, step by step manner, he flounders. I don't know if it's because he doesn't know how to use the concept that the book is teaching and so thinks of the answer using easier concepts or what. I'm confused and wondering if I should continue making him follow through on the steps or should I let him work it out in his head and as long as the answer is correct, let it be. I hope this makes sense because I'm getting confused just explaining it!

For the past few days, I've had some strange bites on my arms in the morning that I am assuming are flea bites from our kittens. They've escaped outside a few times & my dh had procrastinated putting on their flea meds. I've noticed them scratching lately. So for the past week, I've been waking up w/ a few more bites. Then 2 nights ago I started getting some on my legs. Now I have this HUGE welt on one leg and it's kind of warm. It must be something like 3-4 inches in diameter. Is this something I should call the doctor about?

I was talking to my best friend today, who btw is also a homeschooler, and we had the same old argument that we always have about how she perceives spelling bees to be unfair and that homeschoolers should only compete against other homeschoolers. I totally disagree and it just makes it me crazy. I guess it also feels like she downplays my daughters success, she came in 5th place in the regional bee this week. I am so incredibly proud of her. It just angers me to hear my friend go on and on about how unfair it is for the non-hs kids and then she tells me that her cousin, a teacher, says that spelling well isn't necessarily a sign of intelligence! That was such a slap in the face. My friend was quick to say that she feels my kids are smart, etc. etc., but something about that statement still is making my blood boil. Is it my pride....I'm TOO proud of dd? I know that part of the issue is that her kids really struggle w/spelling but they're also talented musically, should I tell her that it's utterly unfair that her son participate in any competitions that include ps kids? Honestly, I'm very tempted. I'm just so mad, I can't think straight.

A close friend from my senior year in high school emailed me awhile ago. She went on and on about this person and that person, people that I guess I should remember. I couldn't remember 90% of who or what she was talking about. It seemed weird to me at the time, I wondered what was wrong w/my memory. Now I just think, well, it has been 20 years! And those years were incredibly stressful to me. I do think I remenber the people who were important to me.

Ds had a friend attend a youth group activity w/him and sleep over this weekend. We've been questioning whether this is a good friendship to continue and talking it over w/ds for awhile now. This friend is perfect in our company, but swears like a sailor, tries to get ds to watch R rated movies, gets into porn on the computer at his house, and is generally pretty wild elsewhere. Ds has expressed frustration with this but also feels like this friend has some good qualities as well. We've been trying to leave this decision about the friendship up to ds since he's now 13. We don't encourage ds to go to his house but rather welcome this friend to our home. The problem is they are in the same boy scout patrol and this friends father is the leader. I'm questioning this fathers judgement right now concerning the boys. Ds went to this friends house yesterday for the afternoon to cut down some trees (working on a campsite, they have a lot of land) and to go on a hike w/their family. The boys decided they didn't want to go so his parents left the 2 boys home alone. We are extremely uncomfortable w/this because the boys don't tend to make great decisions together. I discussed this w/them and the father was saying that he totally trusts his son, that his son has proven that he is trustworthy, and that the boys need more space as they are growing up or they're going to end up doing something "scary". I told them about an incident the previous night where the boys had taken off down to a pond and his son had been riding a bike on the pond!! So, don't tell me, they're fine together! The father feels we are way too overprotective and generally has completely different parening philosophies from us. However, this family is really pursuing a friendship w/us and we're not sure how to keep our distance w/out being rude. We have to have contact w/them, we've known them for years, and I'm not saying we want to cut off contact. But obviously this isn't a friendship that I think will be positive for ds as he gets older. As another friend asked me, "do I want them to be in a car together in 3 years?" We're joining a Classical Conversations group next year, between that and church, I am hoping ds will make some new friendships. Right now, this friend is basically ds's only friend. I'm not being too harsh right? Any advice on how to proceed??

Until about 6 months ago, dh always said that he was fine having as many children as I wanted. After we had #5, he was definitely feeling older and feeling like we had our hands full. He was pretty adamant that he didn't want another baby, he wanted the youngest in college when he turned 60, and he wanted to make sure he could provide for our family. All good reasons. For some reason, I've just never felt like we were done though. I would kinda kid around once inawhile and say we should have another. And he was absolutely positive we should be done. Ok. So a few weeks ago, I was praying and I just left it in God's hands, I said that if He wanted us to have another one, He'd have to talk to dh. And I was fine w/that. I let it go. So, this past Sat. night, dh comes home and asks me if I really want another and that he thinks it would be fine! I couldn't believe it! Now I'm a little nervous. I'd like another but we have a small house and we'd need to get another van, ours is only a 7-seater. I know I need to trust God will provide. I'm just wondering how much to see my dh's change of mind as a sign from God. I'm not really doubting, I'm just trying to think this through. One of the major hurdles to my feeling comfortable w/ a new baby is the thought of homeschooling w/pregnancy and an infant. But we're putting the kids in Classical Conversations next year and I think that will really help w/keeping us on track since I won't be able to slack off. So that aspect seems taken care of as well. What do you guys think????

Yes, dh put a ladder up the tree and rescued those poor guys yesterday afternoon. It's a good thing too, it's snowing like crazy out there now! As soon as he put the ladder up, they started skidding down the tree to get to him. I was amazed at how high they were, about 30 feet up and at the top of the tree, swaying with the branches in the wind. It was scary!

I am currently homeschooling my 3 oldest dc and trying to manage the 2 youngest...and not doing a very good job with either. Trying to also keep up w/the house, cooking healthfully, and running a few errands a week is just not working. My 10 yo dd asked if she could go back to school because she likes how they are on a schedule and she knows exactly when everything is going to happen. Here, we always start w/Bible and math first but then it's a hodge podge of when we get everything else done. Basically when it all fits in. I can understand what she's saying but I'm not sure how to put together a schedule w/ a completely unpredictable 2yo boy who runs around destroying everything he can get his hands on or trying to climb over gates to escape whatever room we're in. I have a bunch of ideas of what to do w/him from blanket training him like Michelle Duggar does to rotating toys to waiting until he is napping. But the last week or so, I've had a horrible stomach bug and I usually need a long nap in the afternoon, just to function-so schooling in the afternoon is out. I just need some ideas to work with, I'm too tired to come up w/my own, to be honest. Any help??? Please????

I have 2 kittens who got out of the house today and are stuck way up in one of our trees. They've been out there all day and now it's 10pm and raining and they're still up there. What do I do?? They're going to freeze to death...we're in northern VT. They're lucky it's "warm" enough to rain right now but I don't know how long it's going to last! It's certainly not a warm rain, it must be about 40 degrees out there and I know they're soaked.

I have someone who gave me a dozen duck eggs for eating. Can you eat them like chicken eggs? They're huge looking, I'm a little intimidated by them. I'm not very good at trying new things but if someone has a good idea or recipe to share, I'm game. Thanks!

:lol: I'll have to pass that one on~

These are really great ideas!! Thanks for sharing!:)

We were hoping to take him to Boston for the weekend but it looks like we're not really going to be able to afford that trip. It's a 4 hour drive and we were going to stay w/friends but after the museum, gas, food, it's just too much right now. I really want to do something special for ds for this birthday though...I feel like it's one of those milestones. He doesn't have very many friends so a big party is out. His birthday is Mar. 15th. I would so appreciate any and all ideas! Thanks!!

When I witness something like this, I pray for them and the parents. Prayer is powerful.