yeah, your second guess. Paramedics never, Never, NEVER say that word when on duty. Unless, of course, we're "cursing" another crew. What can I say...we're a very odd lot! :D

Yes, I'm at work today until (hopefully) 0800 tomorrow morning. And today is traditionally one of my busiest days. Just to state the obvious -- common sense is in indirect proportion to amount of alcohol consumed. And my district is on one of the main routes back from the various lakes. Sigh....

Ummm...ya think? :D That's like saying the "q-" word when I'm on duty. My standard greeting to another crew is "May you have the kind of shift you wish for." Really, it's like actors backstage refusing to actually name The Scottish Play. But, I'm not superstitous or anything.:rolleyes:

I'm on duty today and dh is home with the kids. I'll see everyone when my shift ends tomorrow morning (hopefully 0800, please, just this once?).

Peek, First, I'm so very sorry you and your family is dealing with this. What others have said about what forms, etc you need is good advice. I only have a couple of small thoughts. When my grandparents were nearing the ends of their lives, my mom and uncle (her brother) set up a Trust for my grandparents' assets. All of their assets (house, vehicles, life insurance policies, investments, retirement vehicles, et al) were placed in this trust which significantly decreased the hassle and estate taxes after their deaths. This trust was in addition to their wills. Any estate atty should be able to help you with this. This could be beneficial even with smaller estates. The second thought is that, as momof7 and MaryM suggested, do get a MPOA. The other things you might want to consider are a living will and an out of hospital DNR (Do Not Resusitate). Your fil's doc can help you out with those, in fact his doc will have to sign the DNR. Again, I'm so sorry for your fil and your family. Take care.

I went to high school in the DFW area and that was my first guess as well. I remember the football players received new uniforms every year with their names on the backs of the jerseys in addition to getting them drycleaned after every game. Meanwhile, the varsity girls' soccer team (which I played on) had to wear the boys' soccer team's old uniforms. Talk about your wardrobe malfunctions!:tongue_smilie:

LOL! Erm, yeah, my eldest dd(5) is much more, shall we say, adventurous than my eldest ds(7). Her signature line seems to be "Hey! I've got a great idea..." :001_rolleyes: I absolutely LOVE her spirit; I just wish sometimes I could channel it to more appropriate/slightly safer activities.

:lol: Lone Star mama here, too! The ISD I pay taxes to has one of the highest rates in Texas (Central Texas -- and, no, it's not Austin) even without all the blasted bond packages that pass on a distressingly regular basis. To be fair, I tend to vote in support of those bonds which deal with building schools or buying land to build schools (the population of the ISD is exploding). I do not, however, support bond packages for the enhancing, renovating, or building of *&^%$ football stadiums. A neighbor ISD built what has come to be known as "The Palace on Parmer" and now my ISD has stadium envy. Almost every year we vote on a bond to build a similar palace. Hmmph!

I really depends on what type of ants you're seeing. The pharaoh ants (I'm really sorry if I butchered the spelling; haven't had a chance for my morning hit yet -- spelled just like the ancient egyptian rulers) won't be killed by regular ant bait. The colony simply splits and re-emerges after a couple of weeks worse than before (personal experience speaking here). If you have pharaoh ants, try to find an ant bait that deals specifically with those little buggers (the package will say, usually on the back). Pharaoh ants are tiny and black. Good Luck getting rid of 'em. I think ants would survive a nuclear winter.

:iagree: I used to think one should vote the "lesser of two evils" (or perhaps the "lesser of two incompetents" would be a better description). I don't think that way now. I don't necessarily think the rise of a third party would be a panacea for our current political ills.

Yep, in addition to Wedgits, Legos, Thomas the Tank Engine and paraphenalia, that about sums it up for my family as well. We do limit flashing and loud toys (why are those things so very loud?), but that's mainly for my sanity. My kids also love the various wood/cloth toys they've received. We do what we can.

I am a paramedic and work those crazy 24/48's (24 hours on duty, 48 hours off duty). I do things as I can and my husband (who also works full time) helps. I would say that as far as housekeeping, we split tasks 50-50 with chores being done by whomever notices they need to be done. My kids are younger (7,5,3,1); so, our school day generally lasts under an hour for the 5 yo and 1 1/2 to 2 hours for the 7 yo. We generally follow the precepts as laid out in LCC (Latin Centered Curriculum) adjusted, of course, for our particular family dynamics. As far as housekeeping, well, it's safe to say my house won't be featured on the cover of Southern Living or Better Homes and Gardens any time real soon. :D I don't have a set schedule for cleaning; but, my husband and I each generally clean an area an day so that the house doesn't look like a tornado tore through it. And, of course, the kids help out with age and skill appropriate chores. Laundry, however, is a never ending project. There is always a load cycling. Your dd is 4, right? I agree with Karen. Don't worry about "academics" right now. Read alouds, cuddling on the couch, audio books, coloring, exploring, some basic phonics if she's ready, playing...is really all she needs. Math can be basic counting games. The only reason my 5 yo has any lessons is because she refuses to be left out of anything her older brother does, including "school". I often come home exhausted from a busy shift. My kids know that mama needs some "quiet time"; so, we watch a Magic School Bus video or something like that. I count it as science.;) Good Luck finding your niche. Spend this time reading about all the different learning and teaching styles. And have fun with your dd.

Yeah, I often hanker for a hunk-a cheese, myself. :tongue_smilie: Like others who've replied I tend to have motivational spurts. Then my equilibrium re-establishes itself and I revert to my normal, low energy stasis. However, what others might call "laziness" or "blobiousness", I prefer to term "conserving energy". As far as past philosophers and intellectuals, I don't imagine many thought of themselves as lazy or dropping the ball. Sitting and ruminating over whatever struck their fancy was their work. Or at least part of their work. I would think people had an entirely different view of work and rest centuries ago. Meanwhile, my only sure-fire motivational tool is a quiet house with 4 younger kiddos not in my immediate sight.

The Well Trained Mind was the first book I read about homeschooling and it convinced me that I could and should homeschool. We follow a more traditional classical educational approach with our kids, although I do like the 4-year history rotation. Science is interest led (currently earthquakes and volcanoes). So, I fit somewhere between option 1 and option 2.

We, too, use other cities' libraries as the one in the town closest to where I live just doesn't cut the mustard. Thank goodness for the Tex-Share card!!! And, um, yes, I believe the new central library in Austin will have a wing dedicated to my family....because of the amount of late fees. :blush: And, um, yes, I can renew on-line.

I'm definately not a morning person either. I'm very nice as long as any type of conversation is not required of me until about 1000 or so. But, and it's a big one (the exception, I mean, not my ever expanding posterior), I have 4 children who are (at least at this stage in their lives) morning people. How did this happen?? So, I muddle through as best I can. I recently changed our lesson schedule to a much more fluid one. I have certain subjects that will be completed; but, when they are completed is not set in stone. I generally start w/my youngest school age child first as her lessons last ~45 minutes total (and she only has 3 subjects we work on). I've started waiting until the three youngers lay down for their naps before working with my eldest. His lessons usually last just over an hour (depending on his mood and cooperation level;)) and we're completely finished with our core subjects by 2p or so. History and science are usually done in the late afternoon. We simply don't start anyone's lessons until mama is able to keep both eyes open without the aid of toothpicks (usually 10, but it has been know to be as late as 11 if I've had a rough shift). This will probably change again as the two youngest are folded into "school" and the eldest begins to work more independantly. Anyway, this dissertation is simply to say that a change might be the best for all of you. I don't remember how old your kiddos are, but something similar may work for you. p.s. my partner was just looking over my shoulder and he wants me to admit that my customer service (as opposed to my clinical skills) also declines in direct proportion to the lateness of the hour and the number of calls we've previously had:rolleyes:...his do as well...

but, I freely admit I could probably do more. Things we do: have a nice big garden, compost every thing we can, use cloth diapers most of the time, combine errands when going into town, mend whatever clothes we can (and this is not much as my sewing skills leave a lot to be desired), use only cloth napkins, wash out zip-loc bags, cook from scratch, buy meat on sale, bought front loader washing machine several years ago (the store had a fantastic sale on washers & dryers), line dry clothes weather permitting, bake bread, don't use the heater unless freezing weather is predicted Things we are not so frugal on: use disposable diapers sometimes, use the a/c generously in the summer, probably more but duty calls right now.

We have one and use it a lot, especially in the summer months when we freeze fruit and veg from our garden. We tend to buy meat when it is on sale (i.e. close to its "sell-by" date) and then freeze portions. Once a month or so dh and I make big batches of various soups which we freeze in varying sized portions. We buy the generic bags and haven't had any trouble with either the machine or the bags not sealing enough.

Well, I am jealous, but in an "Oh, my gosh, I'm so happy for you and your family kinda way". My husband and I have dreams of moving to either northern England (Cumbria or Yorkshire areas) or the Highlands of Scotland and opening a B&B after we retire. Have an absolutely awesome time there!!

Dh and I love to travel, especially internationally. I just wish the dollar were stronger. We have friends who live on the Isle of Harris we've visited several times. I absolutely love the starkness, the austerity, the solitude of the Hebrides (can you tell I'm not really a "people person"?:D). Before we had kids we drove over most of France and loved finding small family caves (sorry, I don't speak French and don't know the plural of that word:blushing:) and experiencing the best of French country hospitality (i.e. lifting a glass or several with the owners, usually accompanied with just the right bread and cheese). Dh really wants to take the whisky tour of Scotland some time in the future. Ah, well...we can dream...

And don't forget the various state and local "fees" (NOT taxes, mind you:glare:) add to the cost of living. All of the above applies to the Austin area (Travis and Williamson Counties) as well. I don't live in Austin itself; but, where I live has incredibly high property taxes (one of the highest in the state for the local ISD) and our electricity bill, especially in the "summer months" easily averages $300-$350/month. We don't generally turn on the AC's until the temps hit the 90's, usually mid to late May here. My dh and I both hold full-time jobs; I answered the poll based on our combined income (as I'm a lowly county worker, our income is still under $100K). We are fairly frugal and I think we live comfortably even given the above conditions.

Texas A&M Commerce? Is that the uni formerly known as East Texas State University? My great-grandfather was Dean of Graduate Students there for many, many years. I myself am a Longhorn (following a long family tradition). Hook 'Em!

hopefully, you're no longer at the computer and are either in an ambulance or in an ER (NOT MD's office). This ol' paramedic is agreeing with everyone else. Your recent symptoms (nausea, shortness of breath, etc) are not usually signs of a TIA (the "little" strokes you mentioned), but can be signs of some sort of acute heart problem. I'm not saying you're having a heart attack. I am saying that undiagnosed heart disease is the number 1 killer of women. Please get this looked at today! No, NOW! Remember...time is muscle. Good Luck!

Hmmm...seems like I'm the Minister of Finances and Health. dh is the Minister of Grease. We share all other portfolios and there is no Prime Minister. Or rather, we share that job. Works well for us.

:blink: Uh, I don't think I even want to try and top it.... But that is really funny!