Hot! I hate the cold. There is truth to the statement that you can always add another layer of clothing when it's cold, but I still prefer the heat. We put on our swimsuits and head for the pool or the beach. We're at the beach at the moment, and I'm loving every minute. I love the sun and the heat and the summer! :D

Left 34% most dominant: linear; least dominant: logical Right 66% most dominant: random; least dominant: non-verbal

Dh is 21 months older than I.

I'm sure it was a huge shock. :( You're in my thoughts and prayers. Hugs!

I did relate, and enjoyed the article very much. Thanks!

Definitely *not* a whine!! I agree with Mrs Mungo's advice to beg a repairman to come out. I was successful in getting a furnace repairman to show up in 2 hours during a record cold spell, when the wait should've been 3 or 4 days, by appealing to their sense of compassion and letting them know I had a 4 month old infant in the house. I'm so sorry this is happening! Please try to get someone out. You really need your washer in tip top shape right now. Hugs!!

I didn't know any of this. It absolutely places things in a different light altogether. I obviously am guilty of misinterpreting quite a lot. Which, in a way, brings me 'round full circle. How much have I misinterpreted? How much has the Bible been misinterpreted? How to get to "truth"? Is that even possible? Thanks for explaining it. So, when you wrote "There is no sin in terms of salvation," would you be willing to elaborate? I'm understanding you to mean that salvation isn't part of the Jewish faith, am I correct?

This was very interesting. I hadn't even considered many of the points you covered, so I'm glad you responded. This is why I love coming here...I'm always learning, and seeing areas that I had completely missed. I will be looking in the box. :)

This was great advice...thank you. I took, or tried to take, the quiz you linked to. I even had trouble taking that because there were questions that had no answer close to my beliefs. Good grief, am I hopeless. :D Nevertheless, I finished it, but I don't think the result I got really matches my beliefs. I will try not to give up on the forest. :)

It's equally irritating when people do RSVP with an affirmative, and then don't show up. We had 50 'yes' responses for dd's baby shower. I bought and prepared food accordingly. Only 20 people actually came. It was still a lovely shower, but wow did we have too much food!

My mom says both of these. Also: Go pound sand. And, if I wanted something I wasn't going to get, she'd say: People in hell want ice water. She has so many little phrases. Many of which aren't particularly nice. I wasn't trying to go off topic. I suppose that last phrase would be applicable if he ever said he wanted to reconcile with Nigella. What a horrible man. She deserves so much more. I hope she finds it somewhere far, far from him.

The tripod grip was the only acceptable grip in ps when I attended...oh, approximately 1,000 years ago. I tried for years to get my older three children to use the tripod grip. No way were they having any part of that. All use the quadrophonic grip. My girls have nice penmanship. My older son has his father's chicken scratches (although dh uses the tripod grip). My youngest alternates between the two, depending upon the writing instrument he's using at the time. His pen,a ship is acceptable for his age. All that to say I don't know what's "acceptable," but if what a child is doing works and doesn't seem to be causing pain or difficulty or undue slowness in writing, I tend to leave well enough alone. That's not to say you should do the same. :) Only to state what works for us. I do have specialized grips, which the boys like mainly because they cushion the pencil, but mine are rather adept at forcing the pencil grip to accept their choice of finger grip. As always, YMMV.

I can't do hotdogs...I've an aversion to them. It's a taste and texture thing. :( ETA: I meant to add, thought, that since this is a virtual cookout, I will give the hotdogs another go and top with something spicy...ummm,...maybe a horseradish/mayo mix and cheese. :) Before we came down with this virus yuck, we finished transforming dd20's room into a mini-apartment for our soon to arrive granddaughter and her. It has a sleeping area for dd, one for baby, and a little area with a rocker for nursing. She has a mini-fridge for water, etc. the walls are mostly pale blue, with a stripe of white separating the blue from a band of gray at the top. Her bedding is white and that very pale shabby chic pink. baby has a gorgeous white bassinet, and dd painted large wooden letters to make baby's monogram which hangs on the wall above the bassinet. The other accessories are white and pale gray. It's very cute, if I do say so myself. ;) I know it's frowned upon, and I've really tried to like the organic and all natural brands of toothpaste, but I just don't. My favorite brand, in spite of yucky ingredients, is Crest 3D White. It makes my teeth pretty, and I suppose at times I can be shallow like that.

I think it's an interesting concept, and I'd like to read the book. What really spoke to me was his mention that goal setting can make one less likely to achieve the goal. That's true for me. The experts always say to tell others about one's goals, and I've tried that many times. Every time I do it? I fail. I finally learned to shut up and just do it. That's what works for me. So, does that make me a negative thinker? Maybe. I'm not sure. I only know that what he said in the trailer resonated with me. Positive thinking doesn't really work for me. I almost always prepare for the worst outcome. Yet, overall, I'm a pretty positive person. It sounds like a contradiction, but for me, it's how I seem to be wired.

JenniferB: Thank you for your reply. I'll show it to dd, and read the links you provided. I appreciated the encouragement to look at the historical aspects in particular. :) Our search is stalled at the moment. Dd came back from California with a nasty virus that she lovingly shared with the rest of us. Dd and dh spent Friday at the doctor's office, and we spent most of Saturday in the emergency room with ds7 who was so ill he was dehydrated and needed some care to get back on the road to health. We're all a bunch of stickies at the moment. I don't think either of us is ready to turn our backs on Christianity at this point. We are doing some reading about other beliefs and keeping our minds open to all possibilities. I think, though, that what has struck us both, is that we don't really "fit" anywhere in terms of a church or a group of believers...I'm not sure how to describe it really. We feel like outcasts or misfits or....I don't know the term I'm looking for. I don't mean to imply that we've been treated poorly, because that's not at all the case. The misfit thing is something we feel. So we'll continue on. Please excuse me if absolutely nothing I typed made any sense. I have a fever, so for all I know I'm incoherent. Anyway, thank you for the information and for checking on us as we search.

Forgot to add: even though the seats are tapered, figure the measurement as if it were square, because you need to work with the widest measurement to ensure you have enough. Also, when you get to the corners, I typically just do a hospital corner (like making a bed), but if the fabric is particularly bulky, you may need to trim it, or it might not sit back in the chair frame properly. That's seldom an issue, though.

Stretch might make it a bit more tricky because you have to pull the fabric taught before stapling. The more stretch, the easier to get wrinkling and other wonky stuff. I always take the fabric off of the seat first for three reasons. One, I can accurately measure how much fabric I need for each chair. Two, the old fabric serves as a template when I'm cutting the new fabric. Three, I don't like to cover the old fabric, because it can make the seat look bulky. Once you have at least one piece of fabric off, use that as your guide to determine how much fabric you'll need. Different fabrics come in different widths, such as 54", 60", etc. you can use that measurement to determine how many covers you can get out of the width of the fabric. Then, a yard of fabric is, of course, 36". So, you use that measurement along with the width of the fabric to determine how many yards you will need, based on how much fabric you'll need for each seat. Clear as mud? Once you're ready to start stapling, be sure to pull tight and staple opposing sides. Always check to be sure you're not distorting the pattern, if there is one, by pulling too tight or leaving wrinkles by not pulling tight enough. It really is an easy process, and I love changing the fabric on chair seats. It's a quick DIY project that gives impressive results. Oh, and if you're in doubt about your fabric calculations, you can always double check with the person at the fabric counter. They're very helpful. Good luck! I know the chairs will look fabulous! :)

Ugh. Black widows are so nasty! They adore our garage and shed, and we have to be vigilant about spraying, although that doesn't eliminate them. They hang out in the sneakiness of places, too, so we're always having to look before grabbing ladders, etc. In spite of that, I've never had one on me before. :shudder: That's awful!! I feel for you. And here I get icked out when an earwig ends up on me. Guess I should count my blessings, eh?

Honestly, if people want to continue discussing various aspects of various topics related to religions and faiths, it won't bother me. I won't consider the thread derailed. If anything, I can learn from "listening in," even if I'm no longer really capable of intelligently contributing. I'll chime in if I have a question or comment, but don't let me put a damper on things. :)

KarenNC suggested it might be time for me to weigh in regarding my question. My original question was pretty much just as I stated it when I started this thread. Now, countless new questions have arisen. I need time to read, research, think about, and discuss the many resources that have been suggested here, as well as ones that I'm sure I will discover along the way. I think the second question I had was regarding how one would go about determining the truth of a particular faith. Each claims to be right, but all can't be. It's becoming very confusing to me. Because I'm in such a place as this, I don't think I can clearly articulate my questions. It's not that I'm tring to avoid the conversation. It's more that my mind is shooting off into a thousand different directions, and the questions are coming faster than I can write them down. Not that any of you would be interested in devoting hours of your time trying to answer them -- nor would I dream of asking that of any of you. So, I'm afraid that I am pretty useless at clarifying much of anything at this point. I'm re-reading responses. I've made a list of the links and books provided so that I can systematically go through them. Indeed, I've already begun the process. If I can clarify something, please let me know. I'll certainly do my best. I do sincerely thank you all.

Yay! So happy for you! Congratulations!!

I don't have any great ideas for wilted kale, but you can make it crisp again and go from there to use it in a salad or whatever. Just take a vase or mason jar or whatever you have and put some ice water in it. Cut off a good inch or so of each stalk of kale then place it in the water. Leave it there for at least 30 minutes...maybe longer. You may end up with a stubborn stalk or so that refuses to re-crisp, but most of it should do nicely. Sorry I don't have a wonderful recipe though.

I'm only at the very beginning of this journey, and I can already see that it seems to be morphing into a Gordian knot of sorts. I have my work cut out for me. Honestly, I am amazed how each attempt at research simply unearths a wealth of new questions. I asked for it, though, didn't I? It does promise to be an interesting, if enormously challenging, search.

I had no idea it still existed. Of course, I hadn't thought about it either, but if I had, I would've assumed it was history.

In no particular order: Our garden is overflowing with tomatoes, strawberries, and blackberries at the moment. Dd17, although graduated, is participating in her last FBLA National competition in California, got to go to Disneyland, and is having a blast. So glad she has this opportunity before heading to university in the fall. We are anticipating our first grandbaby in late July/earlynAugust, courtesy of dd20. Ds14 is having modest success with his fledgling lawn care business. Ds7 is happy as can be every day, and his reading is coming along nicely. I had the best bloodwork and physical I've had in a decade. We're headed to the beach in just a few weeks. I'm sure there's more, but those are the highlights. I hope your crummy news situation gets resolved soon.