Any update on if anything is working so far?

You are NOT being attacked, you are being disagreed with. The fact that people disagree with each other is not an attack in any way. To compare having people telling you that they don't agree with you to an attack in which 9 people died as "both being forms of attack" is just silly. If you could stop reframing disagreement as attack, that would go a long way towards advancing the discussion. I am now allowed to say that you are attacking me because you've accused me of attacking you? How many times are we allowed to go around in this circle? As for everyone who flies that flag not being a racist, I think we may be talking about different ideas of racism. You seem to think we're talking about "Well whites are better than blacks" sort of racism. That's certainly one blatant form of racism. There are much more subtle forms of racism and prejudice, such as being simply not caring about the harm you are doing to other people because you have classified them as "other", or believing that the smallest of your own desires (like wanting to put some particular decoration you like in public) are more important than things that affect the lives of millions of people. A person does not have to be deliberately and grossly racist to incidentally participate in something racist. It is possible to be a nice person who is misguided about this, but if a person is writing off something that affects millions of African Americans in an extremely negative way simply because they don't care, then that is an inconsiderate action that directly affects one particular race. What is racism if not uncaringly taking part in inconsiderate actions that affect one particular race? And yes, racist actions, particularly of the "plain old inconsiderate" variety, can be directed from people of that race to others of the same race, especially if they have never had to live the affects of it themselves.

I have to add... as a Canadian, I don't get the concept of being a "Proud Southerner" at all. I mean we love our country and I'm thrilled to live here, but to say "I'm so proud to be a British Columbian" or "I'm so proud to live on the East Coast" doesn't really occur to most people. It seems unnecessarily divisive. We tease each other about our differences all the time (a Newfie fishermen as compared to a Whistler weed-smoking ski junkie can make from some interesting jokes, lol), but there's no real competition there. Why not be a proud American? And if people feel that's not quite enough pride for them, lol, why not be a proud Georgian or a proud Texan (although let's face it, I think Texas has that down) or a proud Virginian instead of a proud "Southerner", re-drawing old lines in the sand for no reason at all? It just doesn't make sense to me. Why is the flag of the country AND the flag of the state not enough pride for people? Just how proud are we supposed to be? I genuinely don't get the sentiment.

I have to disagree with this. Consider the history of the flag, they do not have the right to be proud of it, at least not without being considered racists. Think about the comparison you've drawn. They have JUST AS MUCH RIGHT to be proud of a symbol that is rooted in racism and cruelty as African Americans have to be hurt about of the fact that they've had to overcome (and are still fighting to overcome!) centuries of slavery, hatred, and systems designed to keep them "in their place" ? Sure, they have the right to feel however they want, but the rest of us are free to say, "You've GOT to be kidding me, you are SICK" when they do so. For the record, I don't see anyone in this thread (or elsewhere) writing off all Southerners as racist. I see them saying it is racist to support a symbol of racism. No one has said ANYTHING about ALL Southerners. If all Southerners felt that way, there wouldn't be a debate about the issue, as there would be no one in the South challenging the status quo.

I have plenty of faith in prayer. I do not have faith that God desires prayer INSTEAD of physical action in all circumstances. Prayer, fleeing, calling for help all active; so is defense. I can find plenty in the Bible to speak against inciting violence for no reason, but nothing to say that one cannot physically defend themselves against danger. I find many reference to weapons, battle, fighting, etc, many of which are spiritual, many of which are not. I think we're going to have to agree to disagree on this one. I can respect that your position is grounded in how you interpret that Scriptures and that you are willing to abide by that no matter what (thought obviously I disagree with your interpretation), but I admit that it does raise my hackles that someone who has had to fight for their life in the past may hear "you shouldn't have done that, God says you should have died instead" from this rhetoric.

The idea that Christians should never defend themselves and are to sit there completely passive no matter what happens seems completely out of line with, um, everything in the Old Testament. The idea that defending yourself would be wrong and that Christ wants you to sit there and pray while evil things happen to you is just... well, I can't think of any polite word to use here, so I'll just say that I very much disagree. God is certainly a God of prayer and faith, but he is also a God of wisdom, preparation, and appropriate action.

YAAAAY! I am so happy for you guys!

Have you tried duct booster fans? They really helped air circulation to the parts of our house that normally didn't get proper ventilation.

How do you respond when he does this? Have you ever caleld him out on it? "So, you are actually telling me outright that you so badly do not want to hear what I have to say that you will speak over everything I say? You are telling me that you are going to continue to intentionally disrespect me just because you can?" Just wondering if you've called him out on what he's actually doing and if so, how he responded to it. I agree with a PP, I think you need to go back to counselling with him. He's deliberately disrespecting you and refusing to let you have a conversation with your own husband. You guys need outside help to figure out how to communicate with each other effectively. By which I mean he needs a proverbial smack upside the head from a third party, if one from you doesn't work. I actually don't think this is "talking over you". Talking over you is, to me, what some people described above; interrupting and carrying on and not quite realizing that the other person hasn't finished, etc. What you're talking about is deliberately and knowningly railroading a conversation in an attempt to refuse to let other people be heard. That's beyond just talking over someone.

How would your daughter react to you setting fixed times to playing with the kids, when you're able to supervise? Ie, "I know you want to play with the other kids today, so we can do that from 10:15 to 11:30, and then later on from 1:30 to 3:00. I'll be staying with you during that time, but you MUST come with me when I say it's time to go. If you can't obey me about coming home without complaining, that shows me you're not ready to be playing like this, and we'll have to stay home for a few days." That way you can schedule time to do the things you need to do and your daughter still gets some supervised time with her friends. How might she respond to guidelines like that?

I would add a flower bed at ground level all along the front (except for in front of any stairs, obviously, lol). I'd also add some exterior casing around the windows; they're a little thin for the time period and could use some beefing up, Something like this. Just google exterior window casing and a lot will come up. If you're looking at dreaming and the more extreme end of work, I would look at moving the door a little to the right so it's centered in the arch. It could just be the pic angle that makes it look off-centre, though. I second (third?) the idea of adding a porch swing, probably hanging from the arch at the far right end of the porch.

See the world. Ideally I'd like to spend 3 months of every year living in another country, a different coutnry each year, and really get a feel for what the culture is like in different parts of the world.

I'm one of those people who can't remember the names of everyone's kids, so no, I wouldn't be insulted by it, especially since it means she was engaging in conversation with you about the kids in the first place.

Yay! Now I'm just jealous, lol. Congrats, that's an amazing drop!

Excellent, thank you very much guys! I'll give it a shot. Hopefully all the other vitamins I'm supplementing with will help with the indigestion.. we shall see!

I keep reading anecdotal evidence that cinnamon can help lower blood sugar. Has anyone tried this, with or without success? If it helps, as a frame of reference I'm technically pre-diabetic but currently pregnant, so it's being treated as gestational diabetes. I've been able to keep my post-prandial sugars in check with diet & exercise, but my fasting numbers are a little over the gestational targets. Anyone tried this? My OB is okay with me giving it a shot, but I'm a little leery of adding more supplements to my already-extensive vitamin popping regimen, lol.

I was a teen in the 90s. I Get Jiggy With It.

"Why I Defaulted on My Student Loans: Because I didn't want to go through the bother of actually paying them." There, I saved everyone who hasn't read it yet from the trouble of actually reading the article. ;)

I'm pretty sure gardenmom was joking, too. :) We really need to work on getting a universally recognized sarcasm font so that no one confuses sarcasm for genuine commentary anymore. I nominate Comic Sans. No one is tempted to take you seriously when you use Comic Sans. ;)

Well, to start with, your A1c is BARELY pre-diabetic. 5.7 is the lowest number considered pre-diabetic. And as someone with an A1C os 6.2, lol, I can tell you that for the most part at this stage they don't medicate, they try to control it with diet and exercise. This is completely unscientific, but in my experience the things you become most sensitive with your blood sugars are the treats you indulge in most often. Chocolate is, for a lot of people (myself included) a big trigger for high blood sugar, even in small amounts. Could you switch up your M&Ms for something else for a while? Exercise would also help a lot, but it sounds like the adrenal fatigue is making that a horrible experience for you. I don't know anything about adrenal fatigue so I can't offer much advice there, but it looks like there may be some vitamins/supplements that can help? Sad to say, but I would exercise anyway. :/ You've already done nearly everything you can with your diet, and you just need to get that A1c number down by one point. Are you able to exercise right before bed so that when that "Ugh, I am SO DONE" feeling hits you can fall right into bed?

Yes, I did! We went for a walk last night before bedtime, then I had a boiled egg. This morning my blood sugar was (just barely) within range at 94. I went for a quick walk right after testing (probably 5 minutes) because our house was stuffy, and it dropped down to 91. So it's promising so far! I spoke to my doctor this afternoon and she's fine with me trying this out for a week without insulin so that we can see what happens. I'll be checking my sugars a lot (right after waking, right after a morning walk, half an hour after a walk) to see what effect the exercise has as well.

I test every morning before I eat anything (fasting levels) and then an hour after meals. I wouldn't start by trying to cut out carbs entirely. You can see the discussion on that on the other thread, but that's certainly not easy, and generally not necessary if you're just starting out with this. Overall, you don't have to cut carbs out entirely, but you'll want to cut BACK, and pay careful attention to how many carbs you're eating. Then, test an hour after you eat and see what your levels are; that will start to give you an idea of how many carbs you can handle, and what type of carbs/food are more likely to affect your blood sugar. Get used to building your diet on protein and health fats instead of carbs/sugar.

Actually, that's one of my questions, if anyone has any insight. My blood sugar levels are generally fine after meals, even if I have dessert. However, my morning levels are just a smidge high. Right now I'm on insulin (Humulin N) because I'm pregnant and they want to get my numbers just those few points down. My gasting blood sugar is normally around 100, and I need to get it to under 95. I would REALLY like to be able to do this without insulin, as if I can get off the insulin and control this with diet only, I can use midwives instead of an OB for this birth. (I have some trauma related to OB-supervised births and will do everything I can to avoid this.) Does anyone have any suggestions for how to bring fasting blood sugar down naturally?

I can't imagine how they COULDN'T feel at risk, not just from their brothers but from all men. Within the home, their doors are kept locked at nights to protect them from boys. They're not allowed to play hide and seek with their brothers, to protect them from boys. Outside of the home, they can't be babysat by boys, to protect them. They can't wear their own choice of clothing, to protect them from men who might not be able to control themselves. They can't have a personal, private conversation with a boy lest the boy suddenly have urges he can't stop. How could a girl grow up receiving all those messages and NOT live in fear and mistrust of men? To hear all that... and then suddenly have to flip a switch and be in love with a man, have sex with him, and submit your entire life to him as though he were your moral superior? I can't imagine what those kind of mind games would do to those girls.

I tried to see the FB page and it tells me it's no longer available. Has it been taken down?