DH was hoping their car would get stuck in our driveway so he could call the police to have them picked up. The police here would be very happy to come and catch some of these nasties doing the break-ins or at least collect some evidence. Unfortunately, their car made it back out the driveway. As-is, DH left a message on the non-emergency line and they said they will follow up if the nasties come back. My dogs are large and sound terribly fierce and are trained to bark until given a signal to stop, so they are good for looking scary. In reality, they are giant floor pillows that would probably just wag their tails and let someone in (while barking loudly).

My young adults (27-17) are all getting power banks (for charging phones, etc), new charging cables, lip balm and some candy

Last night, DS23 had a really late night theater thing. He wrapped up about 5am and went out to find the inside of his car was trashed - things thrown everywhere. Apparently he had forgotten to lock the doors and someone searched his car. Since he had his wallet with him, he figured they didn't find anything. This morning about 6am, the dogs went totally bonkers - barking and throwing themselves at the inside door to the garage. DH could hear the garage door opening and he let them out. More wild barking and a car reversed rapidly out our driveway. Apparently, they had stolen the garage door opener and registration from DS23's car and had come to break into the house. Here's a pic of my heroic puppers (and a cat). Garage door is unplugged so they can't try again and I will run out later and get a new registration printed for DS23's car. 160 pounds of dogs barking and lights turning on scared them off - hopefully for good.

Wide and well travelled path. i HATE being lost and I HATE scrambling over downed trees and I HATE getting my feet soaked. i leave that sort of fun for other people!

This is how we handled it when DD17 was the Super-Escape-Artist. Baby gate in the door frame so she couldn’t get to the sliding door latch.

The inside of my dishwasher is stainless steel. That seems to help with not getting build up, but the thing that really makes a difference is putting a small container in the top rack filled with about 2 oz of white vinegar. This also helps with the glasses coming out clean.

I have two employees that have declined the employee-insurance because they are still covered under their parents insurance. The parents had a family-plan, so same cost whether the young adults were included or not. This is allowed. They have to make the choice at enrollment time and then it is in effect for the rest of the year unless they have an eligible life event (like turning 26, getting married, etc). I have an employee with VA benefits who opts to not cover himself under our corporate insurance, but does use our for his dependents. That is also allowed.

I had some sessions following pelvic surgery. It was really no more awkward than a gyn visit. We were in a private room and it was all very professional - do this, try that. My sessions included some abdominal massage to loosen some old c-section scars that were pulling. Nothing humiliating or painful. Lots of mental imagery to relax/tighten certain muscles. If you are nervous, I highly recommend calling the therapist and asking (from the safety of the telephone) for them to describe what happens during the sessions. They can help you feel more comfortable before you show up to the office - it is very common for women to be very nervous about this type of PT, so you are in good company!

Smoked salmon (the good stuff) plus cream cheese. Beat in a mixer until smooth. Eat with a large spoon right from the bowl

Often shelters restrict adoptions around holidays. You might need to do an IOU note for a dog under the tree. Check to see if there is a breed rescue for those dogs in your area and talk to them about what you are looking for. Maybe you can fill out all the paperwork in advance?

There’s more good days for flying in Vegas than Des Moines.

Accounting. Knowing where the money went would help tremendously..

My husband and my kids remember my birthday. When my parents were alive, my mother remembered my birthday (dad never remembered anyone's) There is no expectation between my siblings and I that we recognize each other's birthdays since we live far apart. I usually try to send my sister a card (when I remember).

“There There Quill”. Pat pat. Three things. That’s all I could manage in a day after emergency surgery last December. And I had to pick those three things carefully. Sounds like you had five things today! Good work!

There were some interesting Typical Day threads on the General Ed section in the past. You get a real variety - from "Every 15 minute block is laid out and scheduled" to "we wander around in pajamas until noon-ish" One thing about daily schedules is that it really depends on the ages of the children involved. I'm down to just one homeschooler these days and she's a high school senior. She has a very loose schedule she follows at home that works around her out-sourced highschool (music) and college (math/science) classes. At her age, I remind her to spend 3-5 hours a week on any given subject and let her get on with it. When she was younger, it was more like 45 minutes per day on a subject and in elementary grades, usually 30 minutes or less. Hope that help!

Our is just named Roomba, but we added eyes to give him more personality.

Scored gifts for future son-in-law - Oldesf DD sent me a list of games he might like. He is very hard to buy for because he LOVES board games, but usually just buys the ones he wants. I was able to get TWO of the games on his list for less that the price of just one. Yay!!!!

Absolutely! My old iPhone 5 sits on my nightstand. No SIM card installed. I use it for an alarm clock and to listen to my audio books at night. If I turn on the WiFi, I can listen to my Pandora stations. It makes a GREAT bedside device.

And.... now school district will be closed until Dec 10 to assess damages and get schools put back together. DD17s friends are all freaked out about missing school days and because this weekends SAT was cancelled. DHs work is probably at least a month before they can be back in their building, so he is planning to work from home until a remote site is set up. Fun Times Indeed!

DD17 gets a couple of days off from classes since both the Uni and the High School are closed until Wednesday DH will need to work from home mostly likely for a few days as his office is badly damaged. We haven’t heard anything about my office yet, but I would not be surprised to hear them tell us to stay out a least one day while they clean up.

Hi All! Well - that was a fun Ride! I work in a 17 story building that’s on rollers. I was only on the 8th floor, but the building rolled fiercely! Just about made us all seasick. We evacuated the building after the quake due to hazards from falling ceilings and broken glass and sent everyone home. Roads are improving - most traffic lights are back on. Freeways are to be avoided if possible as they need to check every bridge and overpass due to some of the roadway damage and on ramp collapses. Roads both in and out of Anchorage are damaged but expected to be cleared by tomorrow. Fires are under control, water warning in place to boil water for the next day if you are on the city lines. Schools are all ok, but have been dismissed and parents are asked to come get kids as soon as it is safe to do so. Airport is on reduced operations. Shelters are set up and ready for folks who are displaced by broken water lines, gas lines, etc. 7+ is a scary ride. I don’t recommend it. However, we are prepared for earthquakes and bad weather here. I am about to make a pot of chili and we are all staying home for the rest of today watching Hallmark Channel.

Good stuff got donated. Chewed on and damaged got thrown out.

RE: When to tell the kids DS22 was the first. He was in 5th grade and we just told him one day that he didn't have to go back (bad school situation) and scrambled to pull it together. DD17 was next. We told her the week before school started that fall that she was staying home with DS. She was fine with it as long as she got to pick out her own notebooks (she was 7). DD24 was third. She walked in about 2 weeks before school started and told us she wanted to do her senior year at home. We said "Fine. What's your plan?" and she had it all figured out in a couple of days. With little kids, I think it's better to tell them during the summer before school starts.

caveat - both DH and I work for the phone company. Nothing that our kids did on smart phones is really a secret, even if they clear history and delete things - and the kids knew that. Our kids got smart phones about age 13/14 when they started high school and needed to be picked up. For a few years, we read their text messages and surfing history from time to time until they showed they had mastered How Not To Be An Idiot Online. Once they had that down, we stopped monitoring on a regular basis, with the exception of the mandatory What You Do Online Lives Forever lecture that they got every few months. DD17 still gets that lecture on a regular basis. With my older kids, we kept the charging cords for the whole family downstairs and phones got plugged in there at night to prevent temptation by playing games on phones all night. DD17 uses her phone as an alarm clock and to listen to music at night, so she keeps hers upstairs. She really isn't tempted to play on her phone at night so it isn't a problem. We also have our internet to turn off automatically between midnight and 5am, so that helps. It's more about parenting style. We approach it from the "Show mastery and Move On Unless There Is A Problem" view. Other parents are more comfortable with the "Prevent Problems From The Start" view and that's OK too. There are some good parental control apps out there (like K9 and Disney Circle) that can help with that.

Cheap ways to keep warm: layers - thrift stores often have men’s sweaters cheaper than women’s (unfair!) and these are usually loose enough to wear over top of clothes. I am personally fond of merino wool blends. Fleece is good too for layering. Socks, gloves and a hat. I often wear the fingerless light knit gloves around the house. You can usually find these for $1 here. Then when I run outside, I pull on mittens or gloves over top (layers again). Double layers of loose socks work well for hopelessly cold feet. Scarf or buff for your neck. Thrift stores can be your friend again here - cut up an old flannel or fleece shirt to make a warm wrap for your neck. This blocks the cold air from sneaking into your warm jacket. Are you cold when you sleep? Try to go to bed warm or use a hot water bottle for your feet. DD17 swears by her heated mattress pad, but that’s a more costly option.