We were buying our house 9 years ago when lenders began getting very tight on loan requirements. Our lender's underwriters had some sort of delay, and we were told several days before closing that it would be delayed by a week. Our realtor informed the sellers' realtor. We showed up for the final walkthrough, which was one day before the original closing date. The seller, who'd bought this house as an investment right before the housing crash 2 years prior, lived across the street and showed up--in the house--during our walkthrough. Her realtor had not yet told them that the closing was delayed. The seller began talking with us, and her realtor literally took her arm and steered her out of the house. I don't know when he fnally told them the closing was delayed. It was crazy. I've seen many deceitful realtors; it makes me so mad. When the sellers sold their own house a year or two later, their realtor bought it. So now the sketchy realtor is my neighbor. (Pleasant guy with a nice family though.)

Dr. Jay Wile posted this over the past week. It's not new, but it might be the article you're thinking of. http://midlifeblogger.com/homeschool-graduates-in-college/

I saw this post earlier in the week on my phone but I don't know my login. We used to experience this. The arguing, rushed mornings, leaving the house late, everyone grumpy, bickering and short tempers in the car. By the time we got to church (an hour away), it was hard to make that transition into being happy. I finally realized satan was having his way with our family. Once we were aware of that, it changed our perspective, and things eased up. It didn't change overnight, but the realization was huge for us to see what was really happening. I would encourage you to consider that, and then use some of the suggestions mentioned above--suggestions that promote togetherness in your family, not punishment or separating people. You all are in this together!

My son was desperately waiting earlier this semester for a test grade that would greatly impact his overall grade. While he was initially confident of his work, the more time passed, the more worried he was that he may have failed the test. Ds was reluctant to ask the prof, feeling he might be graded lower just for asking. On the very last day that ds could withdraw without penalty, he finally went to the prof to ask about his grade. Prof: "If you'd withdraw over this grade, you have unusually high standards. You got a B, it's just not posted yet." It was a relief but frustrating to wait two weeks for something so important at a critical time.

My husband received a package yesterday. He told me he'd ordered his early birthday present. He opened it today, and it is a large jar of expensive cold cream. I can only imagine what the woman who was expecting her cold cream thought when she opened a bottle of men's cologne.

I am sick at the proximity to Columbine and to Arapahoe High School where a student was killed 4-5 years ago. I'm from this neighborhood. So sad for me to even think about. Thank God no one was killed today is about all I can say.

Great thread, and thank you to those who mentioned $20.19! We're going to a grad party this weekend of very casual friends, and I was concerned because I can't afford a $$$ gift. But $20.19 is just so much more fun than $20!

Shorts and a top. Whatever will be comfortable!

Suzanne, where do you live that you can "just drop in" to the DMV? Actually, that reminds me that dd needs to get her named fixed too. When getting her passport, they added a space into her name. Then the DMV had to change how they had it, even though they knew it was wrong. It makes voting a pain, and it also didn't match when she filed her taxes. Crazy.

I'm loving empty nest meals! No more making loads of food, which used to be meat and a couple of sides. Now we seem to eat breakfast for dinner once a week, like pancakes, or Western sandwiches. We go out a little more, since it's a lot cheaper for two. We have salads, and my husband might add bread. Tacos are a favorite, or we bbq still sometimes. We spatchcock and roast chicken, and I'll make chicken salad with the leftovers. We eat a lot of sandwiches. If he makes something I don't want, I get to make homemade soup (that he doesn't like). We'll still have meat for a main course but just one side. I really like this eating!

When I was in high school, I changed the spelling of my first name--pretend example: born Mary, changed spelling to Merri. My birth certificate says Mary, and because I got my Social Security card when I was 16, it says Merri. (They weren't very picky back then. ) I got married, and everything now has my name as Merri. Only my birth cert says Mary. I'm wondering what hassle this will create in getting a Federal ID, especially since I'll have to send away for a certified marriage certificate. Would it be easier to go to Court and have my name changed to Merri Marriedname, or will that instead be an additional layer of paperwork for the ID? Would a Court order satisfy the Federal ID requirements? Thanks for any thoughts!

Earthpaste. I heard about it here on the boards and have used it for over three years. My teeth feel a lot stronger and look better. I've had no cavities. I order on amazon, seems to be the best price. A little goes a long way. I use a flouride rinse, which is nice, because you can make your own decision.

It looks like GMU is waaaay down on your list, between your earlier comment and the other thread, but I thought I would comment anyway. My dd went to GMU, graduating two years ago. It wasn't her first pick of schools, and she applied because it was a "safety" and she somewhat liked it (after we toured at the same time we toured American University). She applied for and was accepted into the Honors College, and at the time, my husband and I basically told her that was the school we were willing to help pay for. The school turned out to be a great fit. She loved the proximity to DC, which also afforded her an amazing internship opportunity. She had outstanding professors, several prominent in U.S. security and government (her major/minor was Criminology/Intel Analysis). The Honors College curriculum paralleled her academic strengths. We appreciated the campus housing options. Dd also enjoyed the diversity of the students, many of whom were foreign. While our parental contact with the school was minimal (financial aid, emergency housing during a flood situation), they were extremely easy to work with. Considering the location, we also found the school to be relatively conservative (although her field of study had an influence). Overall all, she was very pleased with her choice and her time there. It's an excellent school.

I live in a medium size library district, population 200,000. Every branch I've held books at (depending on convenience) has those holds in a public area under alpha order. One branch has them on carts and a few years ago began turning the spines down so you can't easily see what books are on hold. When I lived in Colorado Springs, the main library had a room full of holds, and all books were shelved by the patron's last name. You'd go in and find your own books. When I lived in a small town, holds were kept behind the circulation desk--mainly because there was room to do so. (And yes, if people were slipping notes into my books, I'd begin having the library hold my books behind the counter.)

Great news, congratulations!!

Emerald, I wanted to let you know that he ended up choosing The Bounty by Walcott. Walcott's writings seem to be right up my son's alley, and we never would have found him without your suggestion. (I think he would love Omeros, but he ended up going with a book of only about 100 pages.) So thank you!

You can click on "Feeling/activity," and then "Watching." It will bring up a search box, and you type in the movie name. If you can't find an obscure movie name, you can even type your own in! You can also use Tag Friends to show who you are with when you use Location or Feeling. :)

When you type your post, the will be a little map pinpoint icon on the same line whe you see the icon to add a photo. (Depending on your browser, it may say Location.) Click on the pinpoint icon. It will open a locate screen, and if your location on your phone is on, it should locate where you are automatically, and you can select it. Otherwise, you can search, and it will bring it up. Hope this helps!

Thank you so much for your kind and helpful responses. You've given me a few things to consider and lessened my uncertainty. It's not a Catholic wedding but sounds like it will be pretty traditional. My husband is going with me, and we're staying in a fancy $$$ hotel downtown (something we never have done!). We'll have several aunts and cousins to hang out with. I haven't visited in about 5 yrs. No one is getting any younger, so this will be especially sweet. And I want to look fantastic!

I'm a guest next month at a wedding that begins at 2pm, cocktails at 5pm, reception at 6pm. It is a church wedding and a country club for cocktails, dinner/ dancing. Can I wear the same dress? What do you think most guests might do? My sister suggested she may wear two different dresses, but I'm coming from out of town and prefer to not change. We'll have downtime between wedding and cocktails, but as the location is about 1/2 hour from our hotel, we're planning to stay close to the reception location (probably in another bar, haha). I'm super excited about going, but the time delay is new for me and I am not quite sure what to expect.

It sounds like your dd already knows her roommates, so perhaps they can discuss the kitchen situation, if they will share dishes/bakeware/utensils, etc or if everyone will have what suits them. My son goes to a very large urban university and wasn't eligible for on campus housing, as he transferred in as a junior after CC. (Chris, we talked about our kids' schools last year, I think I remember where your dd goes.) In my son's case, there are several off campus options owned by private companies but run like dorms--roommate matching, individual leases, etc. He shares a 4bed/4ba with three other guys. It is a bit more expensive than living in school housing, mostly because they have their own bathrooms and a washer/dryer in the apt, and they have very cool amenities (that really no one uses). I would not pay for a meal plan--we bring him frozen food frequently, and he's two blocks from a large chain grocery store, so it's easy for him to prepare his own food. We pieced together what he would need, dishes, glassware, pots/pans, silverware, baking things, coffeemaker, crockpot, from Goodwill, Walmart, and extras we had at home. Like on campus housing, his rent includes bedroom/dining & living room furnishings, all utilities, high speed internet, cable tv, security guard, plus it has all of the key card precautions to enter the building and elevator. It is really a swanky place, and we've told him he can expect to not live in such a nice place again for a long time! He has already signed a lease in the same building with two of his three roommates to live together next year (fourth roommate is graduating). He does not have a car; his building is on the edge of the campus, and he walks about 10 mins to most of his classes. (Cars on campus or in big cities mean paying $$$ for parking, so it wasn't even an option really.) My daughter went to a different school and lived on campus all four years. For the last three years, she lived in apartment style housing on campus, with a full kitchen/living/dining plus individual bedrooms and bathrooms shared by 2 or 4 girls. It was several thousand dollars more than her freshman dorms BUT she was no longer on a meal plan, so we saved $4000 a year by skipping that and instead brought up much prepared food for her and she cooked her own meals. (The meal plan had been a terrible fit for her.) She had all of her own kitchen items (as did everyone else). She never had the same roommates, preferring each year to pair up with a random person and find two other people.

Omeprazole can be bought over the counter, so he could take a higher dose than his script. I don't know all of your dh's specific issues If this is what's causing the kidney damage though, sometimes it comes down to choosing the lesser of two evils, even if one of those may eventually kill you. (I hope I am not sounding flippant; my dh had dealt with his own health problems. He/we have made decisions based on what he can/can't live with now, rather than what may eventually be damaging.)

Check out familytreenow.com website. It will give you current addresses, and while it may not be entirely accurate, it's a great start, far better than spokeo. Long before FB, I was on a large hs email list. One member was sure she was anonymous even though she had an unusual first name. I quickly found her last name, address, and maiden name to show her she wasn't hard to find. She almost left the group, she was so freaked out. Of course now she's on FB with everyone else, maiden names and all. Through my job, we often request the police to locate people. After 3 weeks, the PD reported they'd been unable to locate someone. I began searching on the internet and found specific locate info within 10 mins. (including FB). Sure enough the PD contacted him, and it was the person we needed. The officer told me he uses various official locate programs but not FB.

The new med was definitely topical. I'm not sure what the old one was. It was something specifically potent though.

What I'm watching on Netflix right now: Madmen, with my son when he's home from school. Actually, I've watched it before, and when ds suggested it, I said YES! Life Below Zero. I was expecting more of a documentary, but I'm hooked! Great British Baking. They have one or more seasons now from the earlier years.