Thank you! I am going to have dh read it with me.

Thank you! Maybe I will try to put a bug in their ear that a written plan is necessary.

Agreed! Come to my neck of the woods too. Michigan has a ton of this crap everywhere and very dangerous militia to back it up.

He is! Today is his birthday. He was doing well until she kept calling him by his brother's name all day long. She should not be alone at these medical appointments, but the offices say they cannot do anything about it.

She won't allow anyone with her at her appointments, and she refuses to sign a POA. We have been trying to get paperwork in order for years in case something happens, and she simply digs her heels in. I might call hospice and see if they have someone I could talk to about it in general. Without more specifics, my guess is they won't be able to tell me much, but at least they could tell us about what they will do when the time comes.

Thank you! I really appreciate that!

I don't think two people not dating and going as just friends owe each other flowers or dinner. They should go dutch, or at most, maybe because she invited him she could cover dinner. No way should he be obliged to bring flowers to her. Dutch is always best in my book because it takes all the obligation feelings out of it.

So MIL has chronic kidney disease. This had been going on for years, each year losing a bit more function because she refuses to treat it or watch her diet in any way. She got it from a drug she took quite a long while back that was eventually recalled. It caused the beginning kidney damage. She is literally unwilling to do anything about dietary control. She refused to see a nephrologist for years. She is now stage 3b (GR of 36), and says when she hits stage 4 she will not do dialysis and allow nature to take its course. Three months ago two toes on her right foot turned a bit dusky. At first she refused to do anything about it, then she finally went to her GP who ordered an ultrasound, and then for three weeks she refused to make an appointment with the GP to find out the results. We finally goaded her into going, he referred her to a vascular surgeon who did some sort of treadmill test, and P.A.D. was the diagnosis. He put her on aspirin. She just now has an appointment for the first time with a nephrologist. The big issue here is she is stubborn as a mule about "change", and 75% percent deaf even with hearing aids. She refuses to allow anyone to go with her to her appointments, and given how bizarre conversations are with her because she misses so much, we are darn certain she just nods her head and goes along making them think she has heard what they say when she really doesn't. For all we know the surgeon said, " Holy Bonkers! You need surgery ASAP!" And she just nodded and left. And when I say she refuses to have anyone along, she literally pitches a fit if someone suggests it. So dementia or at least altered mental status could be at play here. She has refused a P.O.A. for years, and because of HIPPA her docs cannot talk to dh or his brother because she refuses to put anyone on the list. Therefore, our assumption is that she is doing to kill herself by inaction. We have no idea what to expect, and are helpless to stop it. What are the last few months with these conditions like? Should we be making funeral arrangements now, talking to her about hospice, if she goes to stage 4 CKD and doesn't do dialysis, can she be cared for at home, is death fairly quick, is the pain bad? P.a.d. from what I have read can cause massive stroke or coronary. So that could be the thing which might be preferable to suffering with the kidneys. We both feel very much in the dark and unprepared. I had lunch with her today and watched chow down on scalloped potatoes, baked beans slathered in molasses, huge hunks of ham, and a large glass of orange juice and all of that is bad bad bad for someone with renal disease so I feel like she is a ticking time bomb. Sigh. She is 84.5. I totally respect her right to choose no treatment though I do feel something is very wrong with her since there have been, well, not personality changes per season, but personality on steroids explosion if that makes sense. I just would like to feel more prepared.

100% agreed! My sister used to bring home the world history text from the high school she was teaching at in Caen, France. She would find sections that she really wanted our sons to know about, translate it, and send to me in email attachments. The boys were always so amazed at how brutally honest they were about their own history, the insights were vital. When we spent time in Egypt, we tried to have open discussions - well, we just did a lot of listening - about history and current events. It was pretty amazing to hear the other side, to understand what the US, Russia, etc. have been up to in the region. It isn't pretty. I sourced college texts for high school, and tried as much as possible to get them out of Oxford, Cambridge, etc. Pearson and friends produce propaganda. And don't start me on Christian curricula like A.C.E., Bob Jones, Veritas Press, etc. which teach that Columbus came to the Americas solely to spread the gospel and did a lot of good, that Native American souls were saved on the Trail of Tears because god works all things for good, and that most slave owners were wonderfully benevolent and the slave/owner relationship was beneficial. If this is going to be a nation that bans children from hearing crap, this is exactly the place to begin!

Here, they actually sputter that they don't care who dies from lack of healthcare access or affordability, and education is for communists. They simply see no value in kids learning much more than basic reading and numeracy, and think just everything the high school attempts to do is a waste of their hard earned tax dollars. It is so damn pathetic when the local business owners go to higher young people and then complain that they don't know anything, yet cannot seem to themselves connect the dots between fighting against quality education to employees not being employable! The cognitive dissonance is profound. Mostly it is about change. How dare anything change. How dare anyone have a question. How dare anyone try to improve anything.

In terms of biology, our local district's biology text both regular and AP are very evolutionary based and not just a chapter, but permeating which makes the YE folks in the area very angry. LOL, but despite the anger the two YE religious schools have been facing declining enrollment every year for the last decade.

I can't say, "Yes, most." I have not seen any reliable statistics on this. However what I can say about my local region, local county is yes. We have county commissioners who actually had a little ceremony with one of their little resolutions honoring a student for wining an essay contest they sponsored on the topic, "Why America is the greatest country on earth." And there was big applause from the 25 or so other adults at the commissioner meeting. Many letters to the editor of the local newspaper are always "America best, America first, no one else in the world matters." It is a strong mindset here, and their knowledge of world history or actual, real American history instead of propaganda is woefully limited. So I can't speak for all the other areas of the USA, but in my little corner of its for dang sure they thing America's poo doesn't stink.

Propaganda. People used to worry so much during the cold war about Russian propaganda produced by their government while not paying attention to what was happening at home. We have had a massive propaganda machine here for a very very long time. I think it is precisely so that the atrocities of our past do not have to be addressed. American History textbooks rival anything Russia or China has ever produced for brainwashing their citizens.

Not a clue. I need to go read about it.

This is my brother all over again. But it is in all areas of his life, not just finances. So it is a constant woe is me and always about nothing. As my sister says, "If he isn't whining, he isn't breathing!" And he is entirely callused to any of the real challenges anyone else faces. So we don't spend time with him. I text my brother about six times per year, and though we live two blocks apart, we can go months without seeing each other. I refuse to socialize with him, haven't spent a holiday in each other's presence in four years. Sorry, OP. I hope you can find ways to limit time spent with her.

Someone said falafel. Sigh. I haven't had any in a long time. Falafel, hummus, and Greek yogurt. I could live on it!

Hey, you have your altras, and I have my Brooks Cascadias! Right there with you! I think we need to at the least demand that women get at wing tips. I have always been jealous of my husband's privilege of buying a good pair of wing tips and wearing them every day never experiencing foot problems. Meanwhile for women......... I also agree some of the newer polys are definitely better. But if those are still a problem, I am pretty certain JJill has some linen tops in neutral colors that could be accessorized to look really nice. I do love linen for summer. My favorite right now is a linen sun dress that is really pretty and when I play a summer gig that is not formal, I just toss a really lightweight shrug/wrap on, and it looks great. I am so comfy, and get a lot of compliments on the outfit. With a nice necklace and my very dressy, flat sandals, it really works.

Bwahahahahahahahahahaha 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

This. I am all for different approaches, multi faceted approaches, age appropriate approaches, so let us get down to business and figure out how to teach and discuss these topics so we can make a difference for this generation of young people and work towards racial equality. But, when the actual topics are out right banned, then how the heck can anything be done to make this better?

Wonderful, Quill!!! Yes, every parent and student needs to know that standardized tests do not define their future or who they become. It is just a blip in life.

Sigh. I think I need to get my family to our new house, hunker down, shun the rest of the planet. Ugh.

Agreed. I am tired of policy being legislated by the outliers thus tying everyone's hands to do good. And the thing is so don't know if this student's allegations are spot on or not. The point is no one knows because it was not adjudicated, there isn't any forth coming information from which I can form a conclusion at this time. Therefore it should not be test case/evidence of bad policy across the bad board, bad class, etc nor an indictment against CRT.

I don't know if they can. It is an issue because they are extremely limited due to privacy issues with minors. The local school district could not actually say that the reason that a former football player did not graduate was because he was convicted of domestic terrorism even though the whole county knew he was convicted of it, and because he was tried as an adult, it was in the newspaper here. But administrators and teachers could not actually say that. So when it was asked at a school board meeting if he would be given a diploma since he had enough credits to actually graduate, all they could say was no comment. So many times they cannot comment on this stuff which makes it appear that the school or teacher or whatever is always guilty when in fact they might not be.

I think that sounds lovely.

Well, I have never done it but I do like cashews. So maybe try that 🤔.