"Beam me up, Scotty"

This thread brought back a memory of when I was working at a retail clothing store in the mall nearly 20 years ago. It brings pain to my heart and tears to my eyes whenever I remember. I was working the cash register when a customer came up with her purchases. She had children with her - a few girls and one boy who was the youngest. He looked about 7 years old. He was doing nothing wrong, just standing by her the whole time. Yet she was verbally abusing this child like I have never seen before. It was awful. I can't remember all that she was saying, but I was so shocked that I felt myself go numb and my mind was racing to figure out what I should say or do. She was ridiculing him in front of everyone, expressing how much she hated him being with her. The one thing I remember her saying was that he should be ashamed that he was out shopping with GIRLS, and then called him GIRL. He was beautiful with a sad, sullen expression that made me think this ridicule and abuse was not new to him. I looked directly at him and said something kind to him and he looked up at me with a smile that was both happy and surprised that someone thought he was a good and handsome boy. Then the mother started at him again and his countenance fell again. They left and all I could think of was running after him and grabbing him and taking him to the police. I knew that wouldn't fly. Would my manager be upset if I left my register and followed them? (Yes.) So then I tried to grab the corner of the check that I put into the cash register so I could get their address but I couldn't reach it. What would I do with it anyway? Did I have grounds to report her? Questions ran through my mind while more customers came to my register. I was numb and fighting back tears and I never did anything. I still pray for that boy whenever I think of him. I know he's a man now. I hope he grew up safely. I still cry over the fact that I wasn't able to help that little boy.

My dd is a classical ballet student who attends summer programs and will begin auditioning again in January for the summer of 2009. Pointe Magazine is a good resource for finding summer programs, but I prefer the Ballet Talk For Dancers website. There is a specific forum just for summer programs which lists them in alphabetical order and has reviews from parents and dancers who have attended. You have to register to see all the forums, but it is well worth it. There's more information there than you ever thought you needed to know. http://dancers.invisionzone.com/index.php? p.s. I remember reading a thread there recently regarding gymnastics and ballet. It was very informative.

My husband and I normally buy just a couple small gifts for each other at Christmastime, but our tv just blew up so we purchased a 52" flat screen tv!!! Big splurge for us. That's our Christmas, birthday and anniversary present for the next five years. Maybe ten. :)

We used this one last year and are revisiting it this year. http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/Xmas/calendar/

I read "The Child's Story Bible" by Catherine Vos to my 7-year-old. I think it would be fine for a 10-year-old to read by himself. I love this book. You can find it on Amazon or CBD. My son also uses the Contemporary English Version of the Bible when he wants to read scripture verses. This is a very easy to read/understand version that is suitable for children, even early teens.

I went out at 5 am two years ago to pick up a particular item at Target. Last year I shopped online at Staples and got a good deal on a laptop right before they all sold out. I probably won't go out this year but will check out the online sales again. For those interested, there's a website that shows the Black Friday ads. You can get a head start on your game plan. :001_smile: http://bfads.net/

One of the BEST places (IMHO) for information on cameras: http://www.steves-digicams.com/

Yup. I did the same thing. :)

FYI - If you want the real thing, it must be marked Parmigiano Reggiano, which is made only in a certain part of Italy. If it is marked parmesan, it is a generic grated cheese.

I'm Italian from New England and I still say "gravy" when talking about red sauce over pasta.:001_smile:

Oops. You posted just before I did. I think the pain in the front may be indicating that it is traveling out. Drink lots of water!

I've had kidney stones on and off for over 15 years. When I get kidney stones it's usually my lower back on the right or left that is in pain. The pain is from the kidney swelling due to the stone causing a blockage and urine not exiting the kidney. When the stone is traveling, I have sometimes felt a bit of sharp pain in the front. The actual passing of the stone has not been painful to me. It's the swelling kidney that's a killer. Has your doctor asked for a urine sample from you? They can test for blood in the urine (even if you cannot see it) which can be a good indication you have a stone - of course, after ruling out other medical reasons for blood in the urine.

Biscotti Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Cherry Winks Hershey Kiss Peanut Butter Cookies Butter Balls Thumbprints Ricotta Cheese Cookies Spritz

My sister-in-law bakes tons of cookies for Christmas. I remember her storing them in cookie tins in an unheated room (sort of like an enclosed porch or mud room) where they kept nicely.

My dd had the classic bulls eye on her leg when she was a toddler. It looked like someone took a red marker and drew a circle. Because she was so young her doctor immediately put her on antibiotics without even testing. He said this is how he would treat her if she was his own dd. The second time, at 7 years old, she was very sick with a high fever for a couple weeks. Her doctor (different one) said it was a virus and it would run its course. Then we noticed round rings on her entire body that were expanding by the hour. Back to the doctor - we were told it was hives. I immediately took her to another doctor who did a titer and said the results were sky high for Lyme. She was put on antibiotics for three weeks. At 13 she got very sick again for a long time (this time it was viral) but we had her tested every three months for Lyme. Each time we tested she tested negative for an active case, but positive for a past infection, and each time the numbers went lower and lower for the past infection. Not sure what that all totally means, but I guess that if you've had it in the past you will always show that. But they were able to tell that it wasn't an active virus. My dd is fine now. Very active and healthy.

Walmart has some online specials right now for the DS lite. Last night I bought a bundle - the DS lite, 2 games, and an accessory all for $149 ($163 with tax and shipping). That bundle may have sold out, but they are offering other bundles as well.

We're in the northeast. Dd has had Lyme disease twice. We've never seen a tick on her. :confused1:

I never bought the Aquadoodle, but the large Magna Doodle was a HUGE, HUGE hit with my ds. He used it daily and we went through several of them from when he was about 3 to 6 years old. He also used the smaller Magna Doodle which was great for keeping in the car or for sitting quietly in church.

I so much appreciate all your posts. I'm glad to know that other students find they need to spend a lot of time studying biology and it's not just my dd. Adding more hours per week might be difficult since her plate is so full. I'll talk to her about the option of covering it in two years. Biology I and Biology II is a nice idea. Thank you all so much for your encouragement.

My 10th grade dd is using Bob Jones biology. She loves this program and is learning a lot. The problem is that it takes her so long to complete a chapter. (At this rate, she'll only be through 1/3 of the course by the end of the school year.) She spends 4 hours per week on it and has only finished two chapters in two months. She says she cannot read any faster because the information is so complex that she needs to read it all slowly and take time to understand it and assimilate it. (She naturally reads very slowly anyway.) She also writes down vocabulary words into a notebook and she feels she needs to continue to do this because it helps her learn and do well on the tests. I've told her that she doesn't need such a rigorous program since she is not intending a career in which she would need to delve this deeply into biology. But she loves to learn, to be challenged, and loves this program. But at this point, I feel like I need to step in (against her wishes) and make a change. I thought about getting a DIVE cd for BJU Biology, but when I looked at their reading chart, they want the student to read a chapter a week. She would never be able to do that with this textbook. Any suggestions for me? Should I completely switch her to a different biology course? Is the answer to increase her science time to 1.5 hours per day, 5 days a week? That seems like I lot for a kid who will not be in a medical field.

That was pretty awesome. Thanks for sharing. I'm also passing it along.

Very few good memories. My mom was sick (MS) and my dad put her in a far-away nursing home when I was 9 and then left me to be raised by neighbors and various family members. Anyway.... my good memories still surround my dad. The two of us traveling in his RV, sleepovers in his boat then fishing in the ocean, walking miles in the woods with his metal detector looking for a lost village and picking mushrooms along the way, going to the beach most summer weekends with my aunt.

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I thought I'd pass along this info just in case someone here uses these science kits. Here's a couple of links: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09011.html http://www.hometrainingtools.com/faq_categories/3-products/faqs/1451-important-information-about-our-3-alnico-bar-magnet-recall