Lot of the PP have explained it well, but one thing I've seen done that is different: One of my friends, when she says she's sending positive thoughts out for a person, she does a 'random act of kindness' to literally SEND the positivity out. Sort of a good karma butterfly effect. :) And when she can, the act of kindness is at least related to what the person is facing. My friend is not religious, per se, but this is her way of upholding a person. When *I* say it, I usually say that I'm sending positive &/or praying (and my friends know that whatever else I'm doing, praying *is* part of it). For my friends for whom prayer is not part of their faith journey, they're still OK with it, because they know that there's a lot of positive thoughts involved too (after all, can you honestly pray positivity into a situation and do it w/ negative thoughts? honestly?) Even my most staunch atheist friends "get it" and get a giggle out of my occasional "Halleluia" when things go well. As one gal put it 'right sentiment, wrong house' :) (and yes, I have asked to make sure they are not offended. NOT ONE has been. maybe I'm lucky and have good friends *shrug*)

It might be worth something, but a lot of folks for whom it is targeted are not going to do well navigating the site. It is too distracting, the colours are hard on the eyes, and the typeface/fontspacing issue makes my eyes spin! Overall a very negative presentation to a potentially positive product - makes me question the validity of anything stated thereupon!:confused1:

Impish - No coffee is a *CRIME* of heinous proportions. It should not be done to pregnant women or those w/ littles, and most especially NOT to pregnant women w/ littles. My hubby even got me a Tim Horton's XL (20oz) just before the hospital coffee shop closed (930pm) while I was in labour. The nurse on duty at the time (I was on total monitoring) said it would make me puke. I told her I was in more trouble w/o it! No puking, *and* made an extra hour between pain meds! It was what my body needed, and it really did help the labouring process. It certainly helped me emotionally! :) Moral of story: GROVEL to neighbour/friend until someone goes to a local coffee shop and gets you a fix! Speedy health to Wolf of his creeping crud, and a vanishing cough for you, and sleep for the littles!

I agree w/ Unsinkable. A generator might be worth it. For the phone/computer, I'd say put them on the car charger when you are driving. SO worth it. And if you get power b/f the temps hit about 40, if you do NOT open the freezer at all, you CAN keep much of it safely as it will not start to thaw very quickly. (done this one myself, and kept 90% of the contents as they were still 75%+ frozen, usually the middle section where there's not a bit of room for warm air molecules! and it was about 48-50hrs)

Sounds like there was concern about a molar pregnancy. That is the one type that is monitored for a year afterward and the docs do not want you to get preg during that year, but most especially in the first 6 mo after it. If it is financially feasible & logistically possible, being there for her the first week/10-days or so could be what she needs to get herself through this in a better frame of mind. (Ask her, she may think that the first few days after everything she might be fuzzy enough to not need immediate support, and may wish to have you a few days afterward for the time you can give her. Every situation is different and every m/c is different even for the same family.) The head space after a m/c is rough enough w/o having the extra worries health-wise afterwards. Even if you can not be there, make sure she knows she can call you (collect if need be) 24/7 just to scream & holler if she wants. That's what I needed from my best friend (closer than a sister) when I had my most recent m/c. Praying she gets through this w/ her & her hubby's relationship intact, stronger, and able to move forward.

Seen it, DESPISE it. Same w/ Lost! Could not parse the plot. :confused: Gimme good sci-fi like Star Trek (all incarnations excepting animated that I've not seen), or Star Gate (ditto). Star Wars too. Was not even 3mo old when Star Trek started in 1966, and I was in my sister's arms at a neighbour's place. Apparently it was the ONE hour a week I was calm during a very long colicky phase. :) :) My hubby is quite similar in his tastes as well (I could not, in good conscience, have married someone not a sci-fi fan - or a football/hockey/curling fan). MissB *loves* the intro themes to all the shows mentioned above, often looks like a gopher popping up when the first notes begin :) :) Our home library (close to 3000 books) is over 60% sci-fi/fantasy books (media tie-ins and original stores, both). Geek Momma. And really proud of it, TYVM :001_cool:

First of all, :grouphug: I have been on Effexor for 16 yrs, and have been on various dosages. I was titrated down from my high dose when they added Wellbutrin to the mix as the Effexor wasn't cutting it by itself. In prior instances when they've lowered my dose, I got the hideous side effects (and had beyond hideous side effects when I went on the generic version - it was just different enough). When it was done this last time, it was done properly and I had NO side effects from the reduction in dose. [when I say hideous, I mean unable to rouse from vivid dreams, hallucinations, and the 'electric shock' things. It was worse on the generic than when they tried to titrate me down the first time. Horrific. Just make sure whomever is doing the prescribing knows about doing this one properly. It makes all the difference in the universe.] Best of luck, Effexor gave me my life back.

When I had MissB, they had turned down my epidural by the pushing time (actually, I think the 1dose wore off mostly), and had me do some directed pushing for about 20 minutes, and she did NOT budge. The nurse said for me to relax, drink some juice, and she'd be back in 15 minutes. When she came back (not quite 20 minutes later), I'd been going w/ my body doing what it wanted, and MissB was almost completely crowned, and she's saying "don't push, we're not ready", and I'm like "huh?!" and pushed, and MissB crowned and was delivered through the shoulders in one long push (about a 15count, w/ 2 breaths, 1 at 5, and another at 10, without releasing the muscles). The doctor was leaning on the bed rail w/ gloved hands and he's "There she is" about 5 seconds later when the rest of her slid out. She landed on the bed (I was on my side, not in the stirrups even though I had an epi), eyes wide open, looking around. So I got a lot more done w/ going w/ what I was feeling than when they were directing w/ the contraction according to the monitors. And it was a LOT more comfortable to push the way I eventually did it than when they were directing me.

:lurk5:

Your daughter may have made the biggest impact on someone not even at her table. The boy that sat w/ them, and the one she 'fetched' will each tell their friends that she was nice to them. In places where bullying is not curtailed, or is more subtle, that statement alone can make the difference in a teen's life. In light of what's been on the news of late (another teen committing suicide over the weekend, bullying a major factor), she's the anti-bully in a kind-hearted, savvy teen's body. She may never know, this side of Eternity, the difference she made when she did that. But I'm willing to bet that someone does. (more than just the teacher imho)

:iagree:You broke the barrier, and got THROUGH. It doesn't have to be pretty, or politically correct. It just had to make sense to him. :) That you got a 45 minute conversation out of the deal as well - BONUS! Language *and* Math in one go!

:grouphug: I *so* get this. Our church is not QF by any means, but there are, and have been, larger families. I always felt less than them as we didn't even have a family. I still feel judged at times because we only have the one child. Then I get the 'upside the head God-smack'[1] and Thank Him, because I *HAVE* a child. We never thought we could be blessed that way, and yet just a few days prior to my 42nd b-day, the little line was joined by its friend. W/ *all* the potential issues w/ being an older mom, especially a 1st time carrying beyond 7wks, we are excruciatingly fortunate, our daughter is hearty & hale, though petite. We would *dearly* love a 2nd child, but the reality is, not a lot of 2nd children are born to moms getting preggy at 45+..... I keep reminding myself that God doesn't judge me by the standards of others nor by their opinions of me and my family, and I keep working on releasing that burden to Him, and letting it wash over me like water on a duck's back. It doesn't remove the pain of their words or judgements, but it does ease the sting. [1] I do not use the term irreverently. I literally mean an upside the head smack from God. There's no other way to describe it. (yeah, there's almost always a headache involved).

:grouphug: I've worn similar shoes, and was fortunate that I had no children to be affected by my mother, but my siblings weren't so fortunate. One thing we ALL learned though the process of dealing with my mother (not Alzeheimer's or dementia per se, but psychoses and other psychological/personality issues), was that prayer with each of the affected family members was a vital part of the healing. Each person needed to have their feelings validated and prayed through. Also, my nephew, who was the one who was able to care for her the last few years (from when he was almost 20 till 24.5yrs), had to have someone go through the house with him, praying healing into the different rooms where verbal and psychological abuse toward him had taken place. Her actions in the house toward him had left such a profound affect upon him that he honestly thought he was losing his mind, instead of 'just' suffering aftereffects of the abuse. Nine-and-half years later, he is still dealing with the affects of her abuse toward him, when he was the only one who COULD handle her. I am profoundly proud of you for your actions regarding you and your children's psychological/emotional/spiritual safety. I pray healing for your family unit, and for your DH, as there may be issues that arise from this :( I also pray for your SILs that they do not buy into her abuse and lies, and that it does NOT negatively affect your family's relationships w/ them. Please be at peace with what you have done, and what you had to do. The same with your DH. Everyone's breaking point is different, and everyone copes differently. May peace and gentleness speed your transition through this tough time. :grouphug:

My goodness does this resonate w/ me! I've been very profoundly wounded spiritually by a couple of congregations that threw that in my face, not just about fertility, but other health issues. We are now in a much healthier congregation that supports and loves us *just as we are*! I *so* get how one's beliefs and opinions change through time based on experiences, and that does not negate what we believed at first. It just means that with a bit more life under our belts, our realities have changed. My husband and I had no problem w/ BC at the beginning as I was in grad school and he was finishing his Engineering degree. Once that was all done & over, other things came into play, and even without BC (except for a couple times when I was not *allowed* to get pregnant for significant health reasons), it took us until almost 17yrs into our marriage to get a pregnancy that 'stuck'. I had a m/c the year previous that was just horrid, plus one in grad school which was no picnic either. We had initially wanted 4-5 children (not necessarily a QF, but certainly into extended-mini-van territory). It was a difficult pregnancy for the 1st trimester, as I was bleeding, verging on hemorrhaging, until 14wks, and because of 'advanced maternal age (I was 42)', I had a lot of monitoring, etc. I didn't even really strike me as 'real' until 20-21 weeks and I felt her move. I figured I was just one of those women consigned to not getting a child no matter what. My L&D weren't exactly standard-issue in many ways, but not anything significantly out of the norm until AFTER MissB was born. Losing over 1/2 my blood volume in a non-completely-unexpected problem was a bit rough on hubby who was left in a blood-filled room after they wheeled me off for surgery to remove the placenta. Yeah, I was up & around 24 hours later! I have a habit of bouncing back like rubber. MissB was born just after our 17.5 anniv, and is currently a very inquisitive & energetic 2.5yrs old. We would dearly love to have another child, even knowing what we know and knowing what I've already been through with the first one, and realizing I was fortunate in how well the eventualities were planned for, and enacted. Considering my mother had me at 46yrs4.5mo of age, I do understand a lot of the issues w/ older motherhood. And in our family, late menopause is common, not the exception (my mom was 55 when she finally stopped cycling normally - because of radiation for cancer treatment), the the window of opportunity isn't closed like it has for a few of my friends.

We've had the Hemnes Queen bed since 2002. We have used it w/ and w/o box spring, with the big difference being that the slat portion needs to be lower when you have a box spring on it. It is the only bedframe *I* have had that *I* like, that isn't particle board or super thick wood. Everything locally made is HUGE and our house can't handle HUGE. The Hemnes line is just perfect for us! If we lived closer to IKEA we would have the entirety of both the Hemnes & Leksvik lines. We have the TV stand and 2 side tables in Leksvik, have had them for 5yrs, and they still look like new (minus the crayon colourings that haven't really hurt the surfaces)...

*raises hands waving* Over here... in NB, *SO WANT THAT* p.

Hon, I've been in and around fandom (Star Trek & Stargate franchise entries, primarily) for over 15yrs :ohmy: and there's some *rather prolific* folks out there that should NOT have their stuff available for public consumption (not enough brain bleach on the planet to eradicate the horrors seen :scared: :scared:) and there's others that I've read by 'younger' authors that are awesome. I'm sure that if you were inquiring, her stuff is at least palatable! There are folks out there that produce terrifying (not in a horror genre sense either) stuff that makes the hair on the bottoms of your feet curl. :scared::scared: Your comment about reading some stuff out there in her genre(s) is wise. And check the rigidity/looseness of the ratings moderation! There's some serious wriggle-room in a few places on the differentiation b/w pg-13/nc-17, and places that self-monitor/moderate tend to do a better job rather than those done by 'committee'! I've not found much to take issue with in DW's ratings system and its use. Folks who inadvertently slap the wrong rating on something tend to fix it RATHER quickly upon it being noticed (both up *and* down). Best of luck to the budding authoress :)

Fanfiction.net is good, but... *sigh* :001_unsure: Please read the full disclaimer to the site. NOT all fanfiction sites allow minors to post in categories that *may* also include adult themes. Read the harassment policy, and a few others on both sites before you decide. DW was designed by fanfiction authors who were fed up w/ the constantly changing rules on various sites (notably livejournal) and the EULA/TOS issues that left a person aiming at a moving target. Also, an advantage to Dreamwidth is that it is a journal site as well, and folks won't be trolling for new fic writers to trash. Yes, I do seem very biased, but I've seen a bit too much in several fandoms to be completely comfortable with fanfiction.net: canon bashing, trolling, deliberate author slagging (where you bandy together a bunch of folks and get them to complain about an author to the point the author is removed), falsification of ratings (was worse when they allowed NC-17), and general wholesale plagiarism of the entire contents of an author's repertoire with no penalties being served upon the plagiarist. I do realize things have changed considerably in the last few years there, but the sour taste left in my mouth has more than 'called me off' the site :( /hopping off her apple crate now :) 5LittleMonkeys: Congrats on your daughter writing well enough that it CAN be 'out there' for others to read, and kudos to you mom for being willing to do the footwork for her. :thumbup:

Another option is http://www.dreamwidth.org and is designed specifically for fanfic and other forms of free expression. It fills the needs that are within the gaps of fanfiction.net and other websites out there. "What is Dreamwidth Studios? Dreamwidth Studios is a home for creative artists of all types. Share your writing, your artwork, or your innermost thoughts. Find others who create the sort of things you like to enjoy. Control who can see your creation with our fine-grained privacy controls. Participate in communities for any one of a hundred topics. We are an independent, Open Source, community-centric service, and we support diversity in all its forms. Come dream with us." It does require either $$ or an invite code. I have unused codes that I'm willing to share.

Math-U-See has updated their website, and it is now http://mathusee.com/math_drill.php Just thought I'd update for those of us who have this thread linked for future reference.

Virgin Mobile Canada (though I suspect Virgin Mobile in the US is structured quite similarly). Have had months that I have relied upon it heavily and used a pre-paid plan accordingly. Other months (most of them) it has been for a few calls, a few text messages, and nothing else, and did the pre-paid for those months accordingly. In the 14mo we've been with them we've saved easily $250 from what we'd have paid on our old plan had we continued with it (not Virgin, but certainly one of the larger Cell providers here in Canada). This has made the difference for DH who used to DESPISE the cell phone, and now understands why we have it (baby in family, wifey in car w/ baby, etc), and he's thankful we can get what we need at a price that is reasonable. p.

I used to use paper covers (butcher's paper or old brown paper bags) when I used books provided by the district (when I was in school). When they were my books, I often did the same. The paper afforded me the luxury of personalizing the cover, and made it easier to remove at the end of the borrow time. The problem became when paper binding books would divest themselves of their binding. Case in point, my Wheelock's Latin (3rd ed.). By the time my first semester was done, it was a case of "take the parts you need with you" as it was in several pieces! I was able to have the library at the university repair it, and show me how to do them too. It 'survived' 2 years of university (though it still has the assistance of a large elastic band). Now that I'm teaching a friend's daughter using Wheelock's Latin 6th ed., also in trade paperback, we're both looking at options as this is a 3-4 year course of study for her (ultimately leading to 1.5 semesters of credit at our local university should she decide to test for it). I also have a couple of hardbound Bibles that are duct-taped to keep all portions of the scripture together, but as they have so many notes in them, I'm loathe to part with them or to upgrade to a new one. Those have survived much abuse, and no amount of covering them would have made survival in a knapsack more likely! (Yes, one of them DID live in a Bible case, and it only kept the cover pristine, though little could keep the binding intact!) FWIW, my paperback books that are used for leisure reading often look brand new even when I'm done reading them. The rare exceptions would be novels on my 'mental floss' list that get read at least once per year, and even those don't usually have the spine broken, the Sholan Alliance series by Lisanne Norman being the notable exception. p.

Having come from a somewhat sheltered life myself, I was shocked when I hit dorm my 3rd year university (I lived at home went to local university for 1st 2yrs). Being 2 years older than the standard 1st year dorm student was rough. My roomies were more mature too, 3 of us were 3rd year, and we had a freshman athlete who was either at practice or studying or sleeping. Our room worked well, but the other rooms in our wing were strictly freshmen! It was LOUD, smokey, and the hours were INSANE! We finally worked around the smokey issue (I ended up in the hospital w/ an asthma attack, so they could no longer smoke in the halls - this was before smoke-free dorms). The noise? Earplugs. You can get them in bulk at the local Acklands-Grainger (safety/work related wholesale place). One of the other girls we hung around with was also a 3rd year student in freshman living conditions, and she said her older sisters/brothers prepared her well: At home, they did the summer before as NOISY until 11pm, and quiet till 8am. They played music just a bit louder than they preferred all night long, and she learned to sleep/study through ANYTHING! It was tough on the family, but she said it was really worth it. When it is a roommate that is at issue, the dorm monitor/RA/proctor/whatever should be involved, and potentially a roommate switch is in order. This is something they are accustomed to dealing with every year, so it won't be like this request will shock them. The biggie for the student is to just remain calm and not inflame the situation w/ anger at the roommate. Sometimes things calm after a couple weeks, but other times it just continues till spring exams. *sigh* Just breathe, and let the student know that the rules are to be obeyed, and the one who's breaking them just hasn't learned that yet. Sometimes a few chats w/ the dorm monitor are sufficient to calm the situation to livable proportions, and other times they will just acquiesce to the switch of roomies. And sometimes, when it is significantly different, the quiet student gets a private room when one comes up!! (I did that partway through the year I mentioned above. All 4 of us did. Each to a quiet wing. It was bliss!) :grouphug:

Another option would be what I'm helping a local HS mom with in regards to her dd13: Calligraphy :) She loves it, and even though it has just been a few weeks of dabbling, there is already a marked improvement in the legibility of her handwriting (both print and cursive). Her mom was worried that HWT would be too young for her and possibly hurt her self-esteem. But this has already proven that her fine motor skills just needed to be stretched in a manner she enjoyed :) I've read elsewhere (and Heaven only knows WHERE because I didn't bookmark it) that Calligraphy can be used both as an art form (especialy when one gets to illumination) and a remedial tool for poor penmanship. She is currently using http://www.amazon.com/Calligraphy-Course-Lettering-Maryanne-Grebenstein/dp/0823005534/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251339464&sr=8-5 Calligraphy: A Course in Hand Lettering as it was what I could put in my hands quickly as they left on vacation. I will be using http://www.amazon.com/Speedball-Textbook/dp/B002E54H9E/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1251339597&sr=8-7 Speedball Textbook with her when we resume next week, as I feel it is a far superior product. We will eventually get her onto http://www.amazon.com/Calligraphy-Alphabets-Made-Margaret-Shepherd/dp/0399512578/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1251339427&sr=8-1 Calligraphy Alphabets as her handwriting/calligraphy matures as she needs to define her 'style'. The nice thing about this is that you do NOT need expensive calligraphy supplies to get started! Simple felt-tip colouring markers trimmed to a chisel-tip w/ a sharp blade are more than sufficient! Even cheapie-bin markers at dollar stores/craft shops will suffice for this and are often better than disposable/felt-tipped calligraphy markers. As for the paper, just do not use newsprint type paper, as it will sop up the ink rather alarmingly well! I use wide-ruled yellow pads of paper, like those available at office supply shops. The line height is sufficient for the modified markers, and it is sufficiently sturdy a paper to not sop the ink. Just a thought. p. (who really needs to figure out how to post proper html links here!)