We have a small bathroom to demo. I called our trash company about renting a dumpster. $600 for a week!! Time for a Plan B, I guess.

How do you tell the difference between being totally burnt out and depression that would benefit from medication??

As my oldest goes off to public high school next year, and keeping in mind that I still have a 2yo at home, I've been doing a lot of navel-gazing in the last few weeks. Do you think homeschooling your kids has been good for you as a wife, mother, home keeper, person, citizen, etc.?

I'm not overweight but I have had 5 kids so my stomach skin is shot. I was putting on deodorant and I had my shirt pulled up a bit. My 13yo walked in and was utterly horrified. Like, "Oh my gosh, Mom, what is wrong with your skin" accompanied by a physical shudder. He then asked me if I should "you know, tuck it into your pants or something". Thinking about using his college fund for a tummy tuck.

I am currently using Play Dirty by Sexy Hair on my pixie to give it some texture (I have baby hair). I'd love a cheaper, drugstore option. Any suggestions??

We just got a flyer from them and the prices seem really good. Is there a catch? Also, how do you determine if the hardwood flooring is good quality? I don't know anything about wood floors beyond "oh pretty!".

What are your plans?? I need a yummy romantic dinner idea. And a gift idea. I'm stumped this year. If you think VD is stupid or you have no desire to celebrate, fine, but not the response I'm looking for.

DH and I are watching Peaky Blinders on Netflix. There is a good deal of casual TeA. It makes me wonder, before reliable BC, did people really have casual TeA like that or is it just for TV?? Peaky Blinders, btw, is a great show but you have to have a high tolerance for violence and TeA drinking.

Eek!! We have a large entry that has really cool quatrefoil shaped tiles that are in great shape. Sadly, they are 70's gold which doesn't go with what we want to do to the house. Before we replace them, I'm going to paint them and see what happens. I'm excited!! Has anybody done this? I need to research the best way to help the paint stick. Maybe chalk paint?? Off to research!

My 9yo, sensory-seeking, spectrum-dwelling son wants nothing to do with the guitar lessons his brother takes. He wants drum lessons. Can you start with the drum as your first instrument? How much equipment does it take?

I can't be the only person introducing my children to the genius that is "Get Ur Freak On" today, right??

We're having the master bathroom gutted. I'm trying to convince DH that we should rip out the bedroom carpet and get the tile put down in the bedroom and bathroom. The carpet is in bad shape so it is going eventually. DH is afraid tile will be really cold and noisy. If we went with tile, I'd cover a good portion of the floor with rugs. Thoughts on tile in the bedroom??

Anybody in for February? How did January go?? I did fine on the budget, meal planning was a big fail. I'm going to look through my old eMeals sheets today and see if any of them will work or at least, hopefully, get some dinner ideas.

Why are so many younger people misspelling the names of their children? I have a big family and I'm one of the oldest. Out of all my cousins, I can only think of 2 that have given their kids traditional names. One cousin just had a baby girl and named her Kori. Kori has a sister named Kamryn. Is it an attempt at being kute and klever or do they just want something youneek?? ETA: I'm not bothered as some suggest, just curious why a person picks a name and then changes the traditional spelling.

The old technology thread makes me wonder, what do we have now that our kids and grandkids will not miss? I think medical technology will advance to the point that periods will be optional. I think cash will be rarely used. What do you think?

Ok, not really. My question is, why all the mystery? God speaks to people all through the OT, then Jesus is talking to people in the NT, then 2000 years of radio silence?? Why would God not speak up once in awhile? Why is God ok with all the confusion about the Bible and religion? Why not just speak up and say "This group over here is the right one"??

How has my life gotten to this point?!? I had such promise!! Ugh. Found something strange in a bathroom cabinet today. The previous owners were...unclean...so I'm hoping it was old. Dying inside.

Not one kid in this house will tell me what they want to eat and not one of them will eat what I cook. This is how they should punish criminals.

We bought health insurance through the exchange this year. Today, I got a letter from Health Insurance Marketplace saying I have 60 days to prove that me and my middle child are US citizens. Huh?? Crap on a cracker. I don't have any of the documentation they want for either of us.

Target has a big display of TA dvd's. Any reviews?

My oldest child never was interested in literature beyond reading his SL books so I never looked into it. My 12yo dd would enjoy digging into books, I think. Where do I start? I was a literature major in college a hundred years ago but I'm pretty sure she isn't ready for my Russian lit. collection.

I get San Francisco Bay coffee from Amazon (cheaper, environmentally friendlier, tasty) and my newest box came with a free "Freedom Clip" so you can use generic k-cups in a 2.0. I have the old model so I can't test it to see if it works but I thought I'd share. Reading the paper that came with it and it says the only difference in the new cups is a special ink that the sensor reads to make sure it is a legit k-cup. Pretty shady, Keurig. Pretty sure I won't buy another Keurig when this one dies.

The more I read, the more I'm...dissatisfied? confused? in disagreement with?...the American Christian view of prayer and relationship with God. The words I hear don't match with the reality I see. I am not interested in converting, mostly I'm curious. How do Jewish and Muslim people pray? How do they view a relationship with God?

Hunky pool boy? A pool? Exotic vacation? No. My fantasy is that I am a SAHM with children in school. Ahhh. Time to grocery shop. Time to clean and organize. Time to cook real food. Such luxury.

I'm 38, I've always had large pores and oily skin. I use Paula's Choice so I'm well exfoliated and hydrated. This is probably as good as my skin will get. I'm noticing lately that my fine lines and pores are looking worse after putting foundation on. Does anyone have a favorite liquid foundation they want to share?