We're in Cherokee county, so not really Atlanta, but hi anyway :)

She said, in reference to the fried chicken example:

Yes, if that's all one ate in a day. What she was describing was someone eating a bucket of chicken in one meal. Let's say she was exaggerating, and didn't really mean the whole bucket, but maybe 4 pieces of chicken. We're still up to 44 grams of carbs in one meal. And, aside from that, I imagine the breading at KFC is primarily white flour, which isn't on the list of allowed foods of any low carb diet I've ever seen. My point was that anyone who eats a bucket of fried chicken (unless it's homemade fried chicken fried in coconut oil with almond flour breading or something ;)) isn't following a low carb diet as recommended by anyone who recommends low carb diets, so it isn't fair to blame Atkins or Gary Taubes or whoever if someone chooses to do so.

Anyone who's eating a bucket of fried chicken isn't following a low carb diet. A KFC original recipe chicken breast has 11 grams of carbs in it (by comparison, a serving of their mashed potatoes without gravy has only 15). The fact that some people fail to do their research and pretend they're cutting down on carbs when they're actually not isn't really an indictment of true low carb diets.

Since you pay the same amount of money in taxes as you would if your kids went to school, the argument seems kind of silly. You're not homeschooling in order to keep money away from the schools. It seems to me that it would make just as much sense to argue that people who choose not to have kids at all are depriving schools of money. Or people who stop at 2 kids instead of having 8 or 9.

there's not really any doubt in my mind that orange juice is as bad for you as Coke....when I was pregnant with a gestational diabetes diagnosis, 1/4 cup of juice shot my blood sugar up dramatically--and I don't think I really "had" GD; my numbers on the test were all borderline, and my fasting and post-meal numbers were always fabulous...as long as I didn't drink juice. You might as well take a vitamin C tablet and wash it down with a Coke, as far as I'm concerned. Of course, my husband can drink coke and eat pizza all day and his blood sugar will be awesome. We do a lot of homemade blood sugar experiments around here ;)

I love Name Voyager! Those charts are fascinating. My two oldest both have giant steep peeks starting, like, the year after we named them, but are still only in the 400s and 500s. And #3 has a gentle upward rise over the past few years, but is still clearly predominantly an old man name :). Probably this has been mentioned, but I think there's a big difference between trendy names that will inevitably sound dated eventually and classic names that are always or at least often popular. Names that stick around for 100 years usually do so because they're undeniably appealing names. I'd kind of love a Will or an Owen, but I'm not sure I could do it for fear it wouldn't "go" with my older kids' much less popular names (also, DH is committed to keeping me from naming anything but imaginary babies from now on, so it's probably a moot point).

I was sort of shocked with how quickly my sugar cravings went away when I started eating low carb. It was a matter of maybe 3 or 4 days. I still eat a square or two of 85% cocoa dark chocolate occasionally, but I do it because I enjoy it and think it's probably good for me in moderation, not because I want it right now! I also bake some kind of low carb treat once a week (an erythritol/stevia blend is my sweetener of choice at the moment), but, again, it's not a craving thing anymore. so that's my story...the way to stop craving carbs is to stop eating them (much). I stayed away from doing low carb for YEARS after I started feeling like I probably should do it (history of gestational diabetes/strong family history of diabetes) because I didn't feel like I could give up sugar. I still can't get over how easy it was once I actually took the leap.

Another 99 Sienna, and both of our passenger door handles have fallen off. But aside from that, we have no complaints. Nearly 190,000 miles, and no really major problems (a couple of leaks. Oh, and we've replaced the starter twice, but I suspect it wasn't done properly the first time we replaced it). I plan to buy another Sienna whenever this one finally gives out on us.

I just made these molten chocolate lava cakes tonight, and I'm sort of amazed by how good they were. Mine actually weren't gluten-free, since I don't have any buckwheat flour handy (I used whole wheat flour), but there are only 4 teaspoons of flour in the whole recipe, so I can't imagine that what kind of flour makes a big difference, taste-wise. The kids loved them, too, and they've been....less than impressed with my previous attempts at low carb baking. Of course, they had them with ice cream, which I'm sure makes them even yummier. I'm very excited about trying other stuff from this blog....like the oh so seasonal homemade cadbury cream eggs! Anyway, I know there are a few of us doing the low carb thing and lots of gluten-free people, so I thought I'd share. ETA: I guess it's not completely sugar free because of the dark chocolate...but very close!

I put 1-3 acres, but it's pretty much exactly an acre...I think it's 1.01 acres. We're in a small subdivision with all 1-2 acre lots. All heavily wooded.

DS was very similar. I think it was a combo of other kids making comments (not really mean ones, just noticing) and the dentist mentioning it...he decided on his own to stop sucking his thumb when he was 7, and did it without a word of encouragement from us...we didn't realize he'd stopped until it was done. He was very proud of himself (as he should have been!) I never dared do anything to try to get him to stop, because, particularly at that age, he had a lot of anxiety, and whenever one tic went away a new one would pop up to take its place...and we never knew if it would be better or worse than the old one. So far, his teeth are perfect, btw.

Still more than a refurbished one. I'd go that route if I were looking to save money (and I did, but with a Nook)

Atkins or South Beach induction?

Just started it, but so far it's fascinating.

Heh--I just posted in the old thread yesterday...I probably should have just waited for this one. I just finished The View From Saturday today (reading with DS) I'm reading Jesus Wars: How Four Patriarchs, Three Queens, and Two Emperors Decided What Christians Would Believe for the Next 1,500 years now. also listening to audiobooks of Anne Lamott's Grace...Eventually (a re-read) and Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything

Well, it sounds like you pretty much need to decide whether you care more about #2 or #4. Kindle's out with the library book thing. I have a b&w nook Nook, and I've been very happy with it (and I've read tons of library books on it), but, of course, it lacks the reading without a book light thing.

that's right. You can't know. When I'm in that situation, I try to be grateful that I don't have whatever that particular issue is and to remember that the most helpful advice comes from people who HAVE been in the same situation. My kid's been a crappy sleeper since the day he was born. I suppose maybe I screwed him up in the womb...or maybe that's just how he is. At any rate, I've chosen giving him a very low dose of a supplement of something that his body's already making over watching him (and everyone else in our house) suffer through years of perpetual sleep deprivation. Because I know that would be bad for him. No hallucinations or nightmares here. Incidentally, I think it's pretty likely I could get the same kid an ADHD diagnosis if I wanted one (probably not coincidentally), but I choose not to. I can count on one hand, with a few fingers missing, the number of times he's had antibiotics for an illness (and, for that matter, the number of times he's been to the doctor for an illness). I'm pretty good at making decisions because they're the right ones for my family and not because I'm hypnotized by societal norms.

I'm still playing around with it, but I try to stay under 50...most days a good bit lower, like around 30, but I'll go up to 50 or 60 one or two days a week...mostly weekends. I sort of read (skimmed) Protein Power...they suggest something like 12 g per meal, so 36 a day to start with. I don't count anything but carbs, so I have no idea how much protein or fat I'm eating, really.

We have just under 1900 for 5 people, and it feels pretty good...I do like that we have an area in the basement that we can finish when the kids get older if we need to. Depends on how it's laid out, of course...in our house way too much square footage is in bedroom space for our needs, so we use the master bedroom as a schoolroom/playroom.

I can't remember where I left off, as I think I haven't posted in a couple of weeks....I finally finished Endgame, a biography of Bobby Fischer and then went through The Illumination--a novel about, umm, how everyone starts lighting up when they get hurt--pretty quickly. Reviews of those two in my blog; neither one is going to make my favorites list this year, is the short version. I'm very nearly finished reading The View from Saturday along with DS. I'm listening to Anne Lamott's Grace...Eventually (a reread) and about to start an audiobook of Moonwalking with Einstein. and yesterday I started Jesus Wars: How Four Patriarchs, Three Queens, and Two Emperors Decided What Christians Would Believe for the Next 1,500 years. I'm only a few pages in, but I'm completely hooked already. The early church was nuts!

My mom has a brick floor in her kitchen. It looks really nice, and has held up well (she's had it for at least 5 or 6 years now). I'm not the regular cleaner of it, but I've mopped up some accidents when dog sitting, and it seems pretty easy to deal with. It scared the heck out of me when my kids were babies, though! Don't put it in if you might have another baby :)

I have a story like that! :) I was raised Catholic and then Baptist (by my Dad/stepmom after my parents' divorce). Baptist church made me really scared and then really bitter. I can look back on it now with some affection that comes with detachment, but...yeah. Once I went to college, I spent a long time mostly avoiding church (and commiserating with other former evangelicals). I took random classes in the religion department, and I checked out the UU church (where a single rendition of "The Road Not Taken" set to music was enough to convince me it wasn't for me; I was more cynical and less of a Robert Frost fan in college). Really, there was a long wilderness period, where I wasn't ready to go back to church, but I couldn't leave Jesus behind altogether. Finally I had a kid and then 9/11 happened 3 months later (cliche much?), and that was when the ball really got rolling again, spiritually speaking. I read Anne Lamott and Martha Beck and saw a local theater production of Wit while we were on vacation, and someone on a parenting message board I was on posted about the United Church of Christ. It all felt very purposeful. I very much felt that God was showing me how I could go back to church; how it could work for me, and how it didn't have to be like it was before. Well, that's the nutshell version. I have lots and lots of thoughts about everything else...the parts of faith that were/are hardest for me, specific denominations (I've tried them all! well, not really, but lots), etc. I will babble about it endlessly if called upon ;), so feel free to PM if you want.

I've only done Island and Town, but FWIU, Voyage is structured similiarly to Town (that's my disclaimer). I've heard of people doing it both ways...I'd go ahead and start CE along with the grammar, just because there's no reason not to, and you'll have more time that way. Poetry takes less time (IME), so you might wait to add it in just to give yourself more time to get the hang of things. Definitely wait on the practice books until after grammar; they need what they learn in the grammar books to do the practice. I think it sounds more complicated than it really is; if you just keep opening it up and doing the next thing, you can't really mess it up :) The books all coordinate to a certain extent, but not in a way that means you have to be at a particular place in one when you get to a certain lesson in another...just in that the practice book will reinforce the vocabulary by using a vocab word in a sentence--that sort of thing.

I'm kokotg there, too :)