That's exciting, Katie! My kids were always thrilled to have a new baby brother or sister. I hope it all works out well for you and your family.

No, I didn't think that was funny either.

I must have boring Facebook friends because I only heard about the Starbucks cup thing here. Also, I wanted to point out that the name Starbucks is very Christmasy already because star=Bethlehem star and buck=male deer, like Rudolph.

I am so sorry you have been through this heart-wrenching experience, but glad for the good news that the paperwork was processed quickly. I've been thinking about you all day and wondering. I hope the next update will be further good news!

So sorry you are going through this. Praying for all of you!

I like to cook but I do not like getting cooking related gifts. It all started when my husband and I were dating. I told him I had never made a pie (I didn't cook much back then) and he gave me a Fanny Farmer pie cookbook for my birthday. Ugh, really? I laughed about it instead of getting angry. I cook all the time now but I rarely bake pies. I vote getting her something else as a gift, something she will enjoy.

My ds wants a video camera. Experience gifts are nice...tickets to a concert, play, museum. Movie tickets are always appreciated in my family.

Yes! Babies truly require very little in the way of material things. They can sleep in bed with you or almost anywhere. If you have another baby, you can look for things at a garage sale or thrift stores, and people will probably want to give you baby gifts.

But if the current baby barely used it, why does he think any future baby might? A good friend of ours surprised us with a homemade wooden cradle when we had baby #5. It was beautiful but we only used it a little bit for three or four months. When that baby was a year old we moved and gave the cradle to someone else who was having a baby. It was a gorgeous gift but not very practical. I know that sounds heartless. I truly did appreciate the thoughtfulness and craftsmanship of that cradle...but we rarely used it. Maybe that sounds heartless but we couldn't see the point of keeping it.

I think dealing with other people's stuff is the hardest part of decluttering! My dh likes to keep stuff "just in case" too, but he also likes a tidy house. Those two mind sets are not compatible. He also does not like to think about the money spent on whatever I'm getting rid of, but I pointed out that we will not get any of that money back by keeping the stuff! It is called a sunk cost. That money is already gone. So...I keep plugging away. In your case, I would sit down with your dh and daughter and tell them how much stress the boxes and piles of stuff is causing you. It isn't fair for you to have to deal with it all. Can the three of you come up with a solution? Whether it is Marie Kondo's method or FlyLady or just "one box per day" or whatever...can you all be a team working together to make your house a home and not a junk pile? It isn't fair for you to live that way. Does your husband honestly think he will use that stuff? Chances are he will use very very little of it, if any, because he won't be able to find what he needs. It will be too hard to look through all those boxes. Sure, maybe someday something you got rid of will need to be replaced, but probably not much at all. It is a small price to pay to get your house back, to make it a welcoming haven.

We LOVED Mont St. Michel. We had a good tour guide. I'm not sure how many hours it is from Paris though.

Did you rent the earphones and portable game system thing at the Louvre? We did and it was helpful for navigating around. Also, in each room a few pieces were explained via audio. You could choose which ones you wanted to hear. I would do that again, or go on a guided tour.

I think I will talk to dh about the possibility of building a combination wine cellar/fallout shelter/library and y'all can come stay with me during the apocalypse. Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

I don't fold socks or undies the Konmari way. I like being able to see all the t-shirts and pick one, but I don't really care what color my underwear is day to day, kwim? I just fold in half and stack the way I always have. I pair the socks and toss them in the sock drawer.

It's an expensive "hobby" for him. What I would like is for him to stop throwing away his money, and to stop talking on and on about this stuff. I feel like saying, "If these people whose stuff you read are SO SMART, why aren't your finances in better shape now?"

My SIL's mother is like that. Confused about money and about some other things. She is in her 90's and is now in assisted living. The older guy I was talking about in my OP has a decades long history of reading about investments and making bad decisions. He has a knack for listening to the wrong people and for getting excited about striking it rich. Unfortunately it hasn't worked out very well for him. It's like he's always trying to make back what he lost, plus make a lot more. And now his favorite economist is making doomsday predictions.

We loved Montmartre. Yes, there are lots of steps up to Sacre Cœur but the view is fantastic! We took a boat ride on the Seine on the Bateaux Mouches. The Louvre was amazing and so huge you have to pick what areas you want to see. You said you are not a big art fan but last year we went to the Musee d'Orsay and loved it. It's 19th century art so lots of Impressionism. They had a special Van Gogh exhibit when we went. Don't miss Notre Dame! Luxembourg Gardens is a beautiful park where we ate a picnic lunch and walked all around. We also walked down the Champs Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe. Sorry I didn't put this in itinerary form. We spent a few days in Paris last summer (2014) and also this summer.

Well, he reads for hours per day but some of it is about all the technological and medical breakthroughs coming down the pike. I don't know how much time is actually devoted to each of his interests. Trust me, he is not mentally ill. He is just gullible and latches onto certain economists' ideas.

I have to laugh that your blog is called Post Apocalyptic Homeschool!! I clicked on it and saw that you hoard books. Maybe I can tell my friend that's what I'm doing to prepare for the coming collapse of civilization.

Yes, I remember the story about your BIL. My friend does not seem to be mentally ill but he is retired and spends hours per day reading this junk. He is very gullible. I think the next time he brings it up I will just say, "I'm still waiting for the hyperinflation of 2009." If I want to be snarky I could ask him how that International Stem Cell investment is going. Apparently that one was supposed to make him very rich. He had plans to give large sums away to charity. It's really sad.

LOL!

Yes, it is reminiscent of people like..was it Harold Camping (?) who predicted the world would end on a certain date in 2011. With the man I know it is about the economy and not religion, but when I did a Google search I found that some people who follow this particular guru have religious apocalyptic ideas tied up with the economic collapse. And yes, we could have an economic collapse but I don't think it is wise to put so much stock in one person, especially one who predicts a specific date. The economist is Larry Edelson if anyone is interested. There are lots of others like him, it seems. I wonder if they even believe what they are saying or are just cashing in on their newsletter sales. I'm still waiting for the hyperinflation of 2009.

I can't see any evidence. When he recently brought up the subject, he admitted that the economy guru was off concerning the October 7 prediction but "it's still coming." Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

Ah yes. I've heard the gold and silver talk, too. We will HAVE TO go back on the gold standard. Why? Because we HAVE TO is the answer I got. And the price of gold will skyrocket. No matter how much you have, you'll wish you had more. Sigh.

I know. I know I can't persuade him with words. What I'd like to do is have convincing reasons why *I* am not buying it, so he'll know it's useless to bring it up with me.