:iagree:

Exactly. :iagree:

What do you do when the politicians refuse to listen to you? How do you get your point across? People are angry, afraid, and frustrated. You have Pelosi labeling anyone who disagrees with this bill "an angry mobster". You have the liberals discounting our voices publicly. Where was the outrage when Code Pink was protesting? Most of the people protesting at these town hall meetings have never protested in their lives. Conservatives are generally letter-writers. If our behavior seems uncouth, it's because we've learned it from watching 8 years of liberal protests and civil unrest. I'm sorry, but politicians are no better than any other tax-paying citizen. In fact, I'd say on average, politicians are a step below the regular American. They've done nothing to earn such respect. We should respect them because they're wealthy enough to run to office? Obama took six months to decide on a dog for his kids. And he expects us to get on board with his healthcare plan in 6 weeks. I think he's being unrealistic.

This is as far as I've read in this thread. Melissa, I'm in Florida, and I couldn't agree more with you! I email our rep at least once a week and all I ever get from him is a standard reply letter. I loathe Crist with the heat of a thousand suns! I wish Jeb was back in office. :(

My second cousin was brutally murdered. They did an autopsy on her, and the funeral home did a good job of not only concealing the autopsy, but the damage that was done to her body as well. She was almost 3y/o when she was killed, so the makeup looked a little 'off' on her. But as far as the trauma goes, you really couldn't tell unless you were really looking. ETA: I'm sorry for your loss. :( Your family will be in my prayers.

We're in the south. Believe it or not, we're actually lower than some of our competition, and on par with everyone else. We don't charge travel fees, we don't charge per mile, and we don't charge if we can't fix the problem. We are certified, and we pay annual subscriptions to various manufacturers for high-level tech support should we ever need help (Microsoft, Citrix, Cisco, etc.). We also offer "Contract Rates" to our clients. Contract rates are for those who need us on a consistent basis. For example, a client wants us on site every Wednesday from 3-5pm. They pay $85/hour. Another clients wants us on site Mondays and Thursdays for four hours a day. They pay $65/hour. Web rates are a completely different animal though. We charge $150 for the first 2 unique pages, then $85 per page after that. However, we also do sites for significantly less depending on the project. We take 10% off the quote for all non-profit and church sites. That's not a hard-fast rule though. We've done a few sites that we would have normally charged $1500 for $199 just to have some work. Anyway, I didn't want to get into too much of our pricing structure. I just wanted to make sure your son didn't short-change his ability, and more importantly, to make sure he's reporting his income to the IRS (over $500).

The only coffee I drink is Starbucks and McDonald's Iced Mochas. I'm addicted. I can't drink hot coffee though. My dh prefers Maxwell House "Masterblend", if that helps. :)

My boys LOVE to play in my jewelry drawers! They especially love my bracelet drawer. They play pirate and need treasure! Apparently, I have the only treasure in the house. LOL What I did was allow them to go into that drawer only. All of the other drawers are off limits. I keep my not-to-nice stuff in the bracelet drawer, they still get to play with it, and my nice stuff is left alone. As long as they have one drawer to play in, they tend to leave the other stuff alone. My really nice stuff (or sentimental to me) is kept in a lock box.

I bought my eMachine about 3 years ago. Best PC I think we've ever purchased. It was around $300. I have my boys using some refurbished Dells. So far, they've worked great. That said, I still prefer Mac. The only reason I still use PC is because I need it for my Quickbooks software. I understand they make a Mac version, but until I can afford a new Mac, I'll keep using the PC for that reason alone.

We own a computer/web design company. Our rates are $115/hour for computer service, and variable for web services. That said, we work mostly with just businesses. We will work for home users, but they pay the same rate. Any work that is done in the evening, over the weekend, or on holidays is at time and a half. That said, our 17y/o DD works for our business as well. Her rates run anywhere from $20 - $40 an hour. The main things your DS needs to do are: -keep track of all of his business expenses. This includes: mileage to and from the client's site, gas, any tools he buys for working, and any spare parts he uses. If he is ever meeting a client for lunch/dinner, that is a business expense. If he is playing golf with a client, that is a business expense. If he has to purchase business attire (polo shirts, for example), that is a business expense. A portion of his car payment (if he has one) is a business expense. A portion of his auto insurance...business expense. Anything he uses or does to promote his business is an expense of doing business. -He will need to pay taxes on his income. Anything over $500 (though this may have changed) requires a 1099. -You should check into the laws for your city and state regarding licensing. Find out if he needs to file a license to do business for the city, county, and state he is working in. If he is going to be selling any parts, he will also have to obtain a resale certificate. -If he is replacing parts in someone's computer, and he supplies the parts, he will have to tax the ENTIRE bill (parts and labor), and he will have to pay those taxes to the state. If no parts are involved, then the invoice to the client does not have to be taxed. Only if there is a tangible item on the invoice. Web sites are the exception to this rule. While he will be giving the client a tangible item (the web design) the law does not include that as a taxable item at this time. That's all I can think of off the top of my head. I think it's awesome that your DS is doing this. He has a special gift (computer knowledge) that many people do not have. Tell him not to sell himself short. If I were you (as his mother), I would encourage him not to go below $20/hour. If he has to spend a lot of money on travel charges, increase it to $30/hour. Trust me, most businesses already know what a good computer repair person charges. Don't let him get taken advantage of. Also, those businesses are looking for business expenses too, so don't feel badly about charging them what his time is worth. HTH. :)

We're doing the BJU Online learning. So my plan is to work one-on-one with one child as the other is watching his lesson online. I'll let you know how that goes in a couple of weeks. LOL

I will be tearing them out as well (K5 & 1st grade).

I've never tried either one of those. However, I recently "splurged" on some New Balance walking shoes that are bar-none the most comfortable pair of shoes I've ever owned.

Like others have stated, it's the halter that is off-putting. I'm not a fan of dolls that do stuff (read: make noises), so I probably wouldn't have bought it for that reason.

We have 9. My boys are 5 & 6. You can see our workboxes on my blog (in my siggy).

That's amazing!!! A HUGE congrats to your DD! Just imagine the life experience she will get from this! What was the play she did?

Another vote for Mac! Apple's motto should be, "It just works". You can also find good deals on Macs on Craigslist.

Sometimes that's the way it happens - they choose you. LOL She's gorgeous. She's going to get pretty big. I had a friend that had two Great Pyrs (Miss Ellie and Jock), and they were beautiful, friendly dogs. Take lots of pics while she's little. They grow so fast. :)

Awwwwww! So adorable! :) How old is she?

Your kids are young enough, that you could have 'nap time' for an hour. Or you could do 'quiet time' for your older child by allowing him/her to play quietly in their room. I'm not big on playdates either. Never have been. However, my kids interact with other kids almost all week simply because of their outside activities (AWANAs, Hockey two times a week, Sunday school, playing with cousins, etc.). Do you have your children involved in any outside activities? WRT an introverted parents support group - who would come to the meetings? LOL ;)

I think my DD was around 13 when she started reading them. I'm a HUGE Dekker fan and own everything he's ever written. I didn't find them particularly violent. It's a modern day take on the Bible, so if you feel the Bible's too violent, then the Circle Trilogy probably isn't for you. Another GREAT Christian fiction author is Robert Liparulo. He's just released a teen series (Dreamhouse Kings) that is fabulous. They remind me a bit of those old Goosebumps books...but with a different spin.

That's a great idea! I did that for my DD for Christmas one year. I gave her gift cards from Home Depot (for the paint), and Walmart (for the bedding). She loved it.

I had a surprise party for my DD at her place of employment. She was working at one of those franchise indoor bouncehouse places (Pump it Up). Dh coordinated it with her boss. She was scheduled to work on her birthday, and she was really irritated about it. Meanwhile, I was in email contact with one of her good friends. I enlisted her help to spread the word to her other friends. I baked her a four-tier "topsy turvy" cake. Each layer was a different flavor: orange, strawberry, lemon, and white. She and her friends LOVED it. They said it was like eating Trix cereal. LOL My Dh was to bring her to "work" that evening. I was already there, and we were all hiding in one of the arenas. When she walked in, her boss gave her the stink-eye and said, "you're late!" DD felt horrible. But within seconds we all jumped out and yelled, "SURPRISE!" We pulled it off beautifully, and everyone had a great time. The gift we gave her was an electric guitar signed by Barlow Girl and an amp to go with it. She LOVED it. My SIL is a photographer, and she had taken DD out on a photo shoot under the guise of SIL testing some new equipment. At her party, she had a photo board display that all her friends signed.

Has he been checked for Alzheimer's? The anger could be the onset of Alzheimer's. WRT the rest of your post, I don't really have much advice. If it were me, I'd probably avoid him at all costs, but be civil when I couldn't avoid him. That's probably the best type of 'honor' you could give him at this point.

I have tried really, REALLY hard to ignore this thread. LOL I think the idea of a revolution is closer than 10-15 years away. The public at large is restless, bitter, and anxious. Now, what that revolution actually looks like, is anyone's guess. I don't imagine folks will take up arms and storm Washington (Americans have lost their will for physical fighting), but I do think there will be a shakeup of massive proportions coming. Washington has lost sight of who their employers are: The People. They work for US, we don't work for THEM. I am generally a conservative Republican, but the more red becomes purple, the more I feel pushed toward a libertarian POV. This country NEEDS differing POVs.