And you should set up power of attorney for both of you too.

How many kids do you have and what are their ages? Do they, or will they do activities with lots of gear? And, do you road trip a lot?

Selfie stick already included!!!

Of course it is fine to have different belief systems. As a search in education and anthropology, doesn't it make sense to show kids a variety of ideas? I mean, if you teach them that everyone who believes in a diety is stupid, they won't actually have many friends since the majority of the people walking this round earth actually believe in the unseen. This is quite antagonist, actually. I think a lot of what people think is nonsense, but I would refrain from calling them stupid. Belief in God does not make people stupid. Nor does it mean they are stupid.

You all are amazing!! I will let you know on the houses. And I'll let you know if I find my uncle. I do know his name and date of death. Thanks!

Clearly you all didn't see Pirates of the Caribbean. That one where they sailed off the edge. Disney said it is true! And Captian Jack Sparrow. That rum drinkin' swashbuckler. It could be funny to use that as "evidence" and have a serious convo with a flat earther. "Yeah I know, that's why Disney made that movie..." Ok, but real question. Scientifically, if there is no "air" in space, how IS the flag on the moon waving? Air from the shuttle/rover/lunar modulal? Or is there air/wind? I never thought of that before until I read here that some people think we never went to the moon...because of that flag photo.

UPDATE 7/16/2017: I reached out to my aunt. She found her and her living brother's birth certificate copies. They were both born at the Royal Victoria Hospital. So it is likely the other uncle who died as a newborn was born there too since he came in between my aunt and living uncle. My aunt's record reads that it was from the Cote des Neiges parish in what was called the United Church. I looked online and there is currently no church by that name. However, I know they were non-Catholic and it is likely they went to the Presbyterian Church. I am having trouble locating a site to get to birth/death records for this parish. I have not found anything that leads me to a certain place to contact about old records or a search function. The search function I did find for the parish records only goes up until 1900. Any ideas? UPDATE 6/29/17: The map and street name, were exactly correct! I was able to find a city directory from the 1950s online for Montreal, and my grandfather's name was listed as living on Dalou Ave. (Rue Dalou). I was able to go to Google Maps and zoom down and see the front of the home in which my mom had her first few years. Thank you to all who helped! I am still trying to determine their parish. All birth and death records were kept by the church (Catholic and non-Catholic) parishes. But, the trick is knowing which parish they belonged to. I know they were non-Catholic, however, there are many parishes. I am hoping by finding out where my mom, aunt, and uncle were baptized, I might be able to discover the church and then look up my other uncle from there. Or, if I can locate the hospital where he was born, maybe that will help out. My mom recalls a doctor's name, but we are not sure if he was an OB/GYN, pediatrician, or a GP. Really nothing else from the family tree hangs on this uncle since he passed away as a newborn. But, I want to honor his memory. Sadly, and maybe this was due to the era and the private nature of my grandparents, none of us really know anything about the circumstances of Patrick's birth and death. My mom was 5 when he was born/died. My other uncle was only 2. It might just remain only known to God, but I am going to try! ~~~~~~ I took Spanish. I am trying to figure out something for my family's ancestry (a project my Grandpa and I always discussed, but never did. He passed away in November, and I feel like I should finish this). My mom was born in Montreal, Quebec in 1952. She had a brother, born there, in 1957, who also died in 1957. From family lore from other aunts and uncles, it sounds like he may have died soon after birth, possibly in the hospital. Yes, I realize it is odd that my grandparents never spoke of him to pretty much anybody, which is why no one knows much. But I am trying to give this little guy a place in the family tree. Mom recalls her street name was Daloo or Deloo (English phonetic sound). But since she was 5, she does not know how it was spelled. I would like to have the street name, so I can determine their parish and can then hopefully find birth/death records for my uncle. I learned that those records were kept by parish. Any ideas on how that street name would appear in French? I realize that she could be remembering the sounds slightly off as well, so there may be variations of this I am not thinking of. If you live in Montreal, please chime in too!

Because if you hike or drive to a high mountain (thinking Rocky Mountains), you can visually SEE the curve of the earth. Same with flying on clear days... Because how would it rotate on its axis, interact with the moon to give us high and low tides. Because polar north and south can be demonstrated with lead and magnets...it curves...like the earth. Because the explorers got hot at the Equator, and not at the poles (the Equator being closer to the sun). Because satellites are in orbit and use something like a centrifigal (sp? - sorry, no time to look that up) force to stay in orbit. Because the what's on the underside? And if you got to the edge, how would you get to the underside?

This is exactly what we do. Buy new Keens online at Shoemall for DS1 and DD1. Then those get passed to DS2 and DD2. Then we sell them!

And even if the ticks aren't on the body, they could be on the clothing or backpack. So inspect there before entering the cabin or tent. DHs brother had an imbedded tick in his groin as a kid. So look/feel there too! Also, if he finds a tick crawling, he should kill it, and not just toss it away (it will search to find someone else). Camp fire. Flush it. Or destroy its exoskeleton in some way with a tool.

House shoes = slippers with plastic soles. Here in MN many people travel with socks in their purses during winter. If they happen to be dressed up but enter a home, and remove their shoes, they put on their socks.

Keen for sure! Try Shoemall.com. They have less expensive ones (last seasons colors, or something). Plus they run sales a lot. Free shipping too. Another reason I buy Keen is due to the resale value on Craigslist. They last so they can get resold at a pretty high price.

Please update us once complete! This is so interesting!

Nepotism certainly is an issue. You've mentioned it at least twice that I can recall in this thread. People do like to "keep things in the family" and "blood is thicker than wine" sort of stuff. But everybody always has favorites, right? Even in the dance and the little league teams. If you are "in" you are "in" and sorry if you are on the outside. It goes for kids too on the playground right on up to the executive leadership in companies and government. I am not disagreeing with you. But since it is such human nature to play favorites based on family and friends, across the spectrum of activities and demographics, I guess I do not see how we can effectively battle nepotism. Yes, you could say you cannot hire/refer a relative or a friend, but then you get into how do you define what "is" is. What IS a friend? What IS a family member? What if you are cousins twice removed or something? What is networking if not an euphemism for nepotism? Because let's just be honest, everybody wants Uncle Steve to help their kid, if Uncle Steve is in a position to legally do so and willing to help. Someone would be a fool to not use that "network." So yes, in theory nepotism stinks, but we are all doing it in some degree.

Love it! Check out Old Hickory Sheds. Built to your specs. Delivered premade on a semi. We just had one done. 40' x 14'. Ours has a garage, double barn door, and a garden shed portion at one end. But you get to choose the features and the placement of all the doors and windows. They are built like homes with studs so wiring and insulation is easy. People are using them as tiny homes. They come with windows. And they can have built in shelving or workbenches for $10 a foot! They do lofts inside them as well (great for storage). 50 year siding. Metal roofs. Oh and for $300 they will paint it for you (plus trim), you just have to choose from their colors. We went to their dealer in town. Ordered what we wanted and 3 weeks later it was delivered and placed in the exact place we wanted it. I think 10x10 is tight. Your interior space would be less than that due to wall thickness.

I'm also curious how you all define "rich person." Keep in mind the 1% that we read about of Americans are at the billionaire level. My dad was the first in his family to get a college degree. They were scraping by. I'm not sure how he did it. Architecture. Then he worked his way up at a single company. He retired two years ago as a VP. Along the way, he saved and lived frugally (the millionaire next door). You'd never guess it. Seriously. He drives an older Toyota Camry. But along the way, he learned how to fit in and speak, dine and when needed, dress, the part. There's education. There's experience and there is adaptability. Not everyone can adapt to their audience. I think being able to walk comfortably in a sub-culture is what makes people successful.

This may be trending political now. Just sayin' now that a person in a current governmental office has been called a "yahoo." It's very much on the line. I vote it stays neutral or it gets ended. Fair?

We received word yesterday that our friends of five years since we moved here from out of state are moving out of state at the end of the summer. I had my cry yesterday. Today I told the kids. As I suspected, the news had the greatest impact on DS (my eldest who is a new 7). Their son who is his age, and mine have been pals these past years. The majority of DS's life has been spent knowing this friend. Plus, he's got a tender heart. He cried pretty heartily, which made me cry. I just validated his feelings and asked if he had any questions. Overall it went smoothly. He likes to journal so he may do that (but now he's playing (good)). I'm hoping they can write each other. So tough. It pained me to watch him face this loss. Any advice?

Pretty much everything is doing us in. I just don't pay attention to it anymore as it is everywhere, from the plastics in cars to carpets and even how we're being radiated every day by our homes via the electrical currents running through wires in the walls. I'm a nerd. I got a device to measure it. Even wall outlets, not in use, emit electro magnetic radiation. Simple power line, running to your house above ground = forget it. I'll take one for naïve please!!! So much more peaceful that way!

Being alone in a public eating place and comfortable is a life skill IMHO. Go for it.

Not sure if you all watched the Big Short. (FYI: horrible language in it and some sexual scenes [just disclosing that for some posters]), but it is the run-down of what caused the 2008-2009 crash. Having read on the topic, I think Hollywood did a decent job of portraying exactly what occurred leading up to the event. Anyway, the star of the movie is Christian Bale. He plays Michael Burry, the IRL man who happens to be a physician turned investment banker, who mathematically saw the entire thing coming and looming. To their discredit, numerous people laughed him off - what did he know? He was correct and he gave warning. I say that the U.S. ought to hire the best for the job based on the full resume, not just the job candidate's bottom line or net worth. My Michael Burry example is to demonstrate the point that it is often the people least likely to "get" something who do it the best (in some cases). Basically, for good or bad, we all do tend to surround ourselves with like-minded or like-experienced people. You see it in so many aspects of life. It is the way humans are and I do not think we do it out of meanness or neglect of others. I think we do it out of natural comfort. But it can be to our detriment.

Yes, it is proper to edit any misspelled names and general vocabulary words in a year book even if it is in a personal statement. You can also include a disclaimer at the back of your yearbook, in fine print, that entries may be edited for grammar, punctuation, and/or spelling. Some people are just poor spellers, but would likely be mortified if their errors went to print. It is the duty of the editor to fix the errors. You cannot, however, edit or change someone's thoughts or opinions they may have included. For example, if they included a quote from a source you dislike personally, you cannot edit that out or alter it. Caveat: You could eliminate or edit ANY foul/offensive language or derogatory remarks. But, I would also put that into your disclaimer.

I think there is a quiz you can take online I which you answer a series of questions about your family, and the results are a few dog breeds you may wish to consider. Yes! Found it: http://www.akc.org/find-a-match/#slide1 There are also a bunch more, which may provide different results. The one above is through the American Kennel Club. I agree that a dog's breeding, and therefore heredity characteristics, play a huge rule in whether or not it is a successful match with your family.

I think if they can climb 2-3 rungs at the playground, a bunk with a ladder is no different. Or if they can't yet, then put them both on the bottom full with a head at each end until one is developed enough to climb 3'. It doesn't take long to master a ladder.

Zero. Because closing them makes me feel like I cleaned for the day! Neat and tidy!