If you are getting your own finances in order, make a MASTER LIST of what and where your assets are. Loverboy has a friend from grad school who did not get along with is dad; never did. Friend's dad passed away unexpectedly, but fortunately, he had shown friend where the Master List was of these assets. Friend says that it "saved his bacon!!!" Things on the list: -Bank accounts and location -Investments (stocks, bonds, CDs) -Investments for minor children (bank accounts, 529s for college, etc) -Life insurance policies (you must file a claim; the company isn't going to contact you and volunteer the $$$ for your family; if no one knows you have the policy, the $$$ is lost) -Pension or retirement information (for surviving spouse). I'm thinking of the military here. -Deeds to all properties -Current bills: mortgage, garbage, utilities, car payments: who gets paid and how much? When will the bill be paid off? I'd also make a list or file of important documents: -SS cards/numbers -bills -photocopy of driver's license -marriage license -children's birth certificates -insurance policies (health, home, auto) -master list of assets In times of evacuation/emergency, grab the file and get out of the house! You will need these to piece together your life later. Just ask anyone after Hurricane Katrina! We need to do this, too. Thanks for bringing it up!

Here is a tv-linked magnifier that we have in our home. It is $59. Our 3yo uses it easily. http://www.toystogrowon.com/sku722 If you look around, there are others that have several levels of magnification. We usually use ours to look at things from the yard. (Everyone has the assignment to find 2 things from the yard). We also look at the carpet, toys, money, parts of our body (skin, tongue, hair), and Grandpa's yucky toe!

We're also very used to weather reports available 24hours/day online, and several times a day on tv. We can know days in advance whether it will be sunny, rainy, cold, or hot. If the weather is expected to be bad, we can run to the grocery store early to make sure that we have enough bread and milk. There is also the ribbon of cancellations/delays along the bottom of the tv screen that occur in the hours before a big storm is fully upon us. In recent flooding in our town, the city website gets an A+ from me because they posted and updated often which roads were flooded out. If one had to leave the house, one could plan one's route...or just cancel appointments (because we knew we COULDN'T get out). Due to several broken watermains, the website also posted a boil-water alert and regular press notices within a couple of hours. Those who were at risk for flooding received automated phone calls from the city in the middle of the night to pack up and move out within the hour. Due to instantaneous communications and a well-coordinated emergency system (police/fire/ambulance/hospital), we did not see any of the tragedy that occurred simultaneously in Pakistan. Weather forecasts, instantaneous communication, mass media (the news), and modern roads/snowplows have made extreme weather manageable.

Marinate and cook under the broiler. Marinade (this is also good for shishkabob meat!): Mix honey and soy sauce in equal portions. Sprinkle a generous amount of garlic powder and onion powder into your marinade. Add meat. For London Broil, after broiling, cut the meat very thinly on the diagonal.

You might be a homeschooling mama if "chocolate, LOTS of chocolate" is on your school supply list.

Nova Nature Big Bang Theory (Hey, we're a family of nerds!!!!)

You might be a homeschooler if, in the course of a year, you have a minimum of 18 "field trips" to the zoo or science center.

Egads. Can you leave town until after her flight leaves?

Country club manager? That's a tough job on SOOOO many levels!!! duckens who has worked at two country clubs but is also jealous that you are done working and she has six more weeks

Finger weaving!!! http://www.wikihow.com/Finger-Weave

You might be a homeschooler if a "snow day" means you have to shovel the driveway....and it does not mean that you get the day off from schoolwork. You might be a homeschooler if you are taking six subjects... but they are spread among three different grades: 3rd grade math, 2nd grade spelling, 4th grade reading, all for one student. I think we need a spin off: You might be a homeschooling mama if you purchase elmer's glue in the gallon jug. You might be a homeschooling mama if you buy "bug cups" in bulk (25 at a time)!

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

btdt Oh, and be prepared: Once you behave in a healthy manner with your boundaries, the first lies she will tell you are, "You know, you have really bad boundaries!" I wish for you strength and wisdom in this situation. And many, many hugs! :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

Where's the video??? :D:D:D

"Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story" There was a thread about this a few weeks ago, and I finally got to watch this. I hope that I can be even HALF the mother his mom was! There was also lots of discussion with dd throughout the movie about how much Ben studied and how hard he worked.

A net nanny program was my first thought, but I don't know whether those work for anti-gambling sites or not. Good luck to you.

My kids are much younger. (Dd is 3.5; C, whom I used to babysit, just turned 4; M is 1). I hit a point a year ago when I felt that I was yelling at the kids wayyyyyy too much. Then I realized that I would yell after asking them to do something (or stop doing something) numerous times. I started saying, "Dd, I've already asked you two times to do X." That gave either of the two older children a heads up that I meant business, and it was time to do some listening. (The youngest one has just recently started to get time-outs at 20m). This has cut down on my yelling. It's not that I don't yell anymore* but this gives the kids an opportunity to do their part in making good choices with their own behavior. *tired and hungry mama is also a problem

Well, it IS a physics textbook. Is it possible that it has transferred to another dimension? :D Isn't there a Schrodinger's cat problem for physics with a similar issue? I can't remember, and my physics book disappeared, too!

Are you allowed 10minutes leeway for every child that you have? :D:D:D For example: 4 kids means that you can show up for church 40 minutes past starting time, and still not be considered "late"? --duckens who telephones even if she is going to be on time (for non-professional commitments)

Thanks, Pamela! *going to the farmers' market this weekend*

I'm on a smoothie kick, too! I've been making them to sip in the morning as breakfast as I start a busy day. Unfortunately (or fortunately, because they are so healthy!), M1 has also discovered smoothies, so she demands them as soon as she comes in the door or anytime she sees the stainless steel blender cup! So I have to sit down and SHARE with her. Try this one: 1c frozen green grapes + 1c kiwi + 1c white grape juice + a generous handful of spinach -------------------------- I love kale, but have never put it in a smoothie. Do I need to cook the kale first, as I do when I eat it for supper?

:grouphug:

Ooooo! Can I play??? Dd said she wanted to make a pie. I asked her what kind. "Cherry Chip!" No recipes online, so I made an ice cream pie: Chocolate graham crust (purchased). Mix 1/4c cherry chips + 1/4c mini chocolate chips. Sprinkle on bottom of crust. Spoon Cherry nut ice cream into the crust until it is mounded. Be generous. Wait until it gets "soft and melty" but not melted. Spread with a knife to even out the holes. Place in freezer to re-freeze. Cut 4-5 marachino cherries in half. Save for decorating. Cover with chocolate frosting. Press cherries into the frosting. Pipe leaves of the "cherry flowers" with green frosting. Refreeze. Loverboy has already asked me to make a second one, and we just finished the first!!!

Consider two people that owed me $$$ for babysitting that I have dealt with in the past year. Person #1 hadn't paid anything in over 8months. Sometimes I'd get busy and forget to telephone her, but when I did, it would be once every 2-3 weeks to ask her to bring me a $20 payment. I always called during business hours, and I asked which day was good for her (for her paycheck or child support to come in). She would promise, then blow me off. It may be inappropriate, but I eventually told her that she HAD to bring me $20, or I'd call her exFIL for another solution. I implied that the child support she receives is supposed to meet her son's needs, and if she is not doing that, there is a problem. She responded by yelling, swearing, and threatening to call the cops on me for harassing her with all the phone calls!!!! I'm not surprised, because she has behaved this way before. This story ends with that as the last straw. I told her that all future communications would be taped, and if I needed to call her exFIL, I would, just as if she felt she needed to call the cops, then she needed to also...although I didn't recommend it. She paid me the balance in a little more than an hour.:D Person #2 pays me $20/week, every Friday. If she cannot, SHE calls ME first thing Monday morning. She has an explanation, and a PLAN to pay me double the following Friday...and she is good for it. So is Kelly more like #1 or #2? You be the judge.

No. You are not being too harsh. Especially if there was a written agreement/contract about what the expectations are. As well as financial expectations, you expect her to be an ethical person. If an ethical person was in financial straits, they would contact you and explain the situation and HAVE A PLAN. They would not rent a place that is more than they could afford. They would not wait for three months before contacting you if they were having problems paying. It is not your problem that she has car payments or trouble with her inlaws. This tells me that you are more than willing to work out a compromise or payment plan. A big thumbs up to you. This tells me that she is taking you for a ride. Get her out of there sooner than later. She is not keeping up her part of the bargain.