I had something similar happen. Unfortunately, I think that doctors want to get paid, need to get paid, so if insurance wants to ask questions that they should.not.be.privy.to, some docs will violate doctor/patient confidentiality and tell. As a result, my current doc and nurse practitioner have a hard time with me because I am VERY private which kind of doesn't help them out, but I am also very aware that anything I say in there can be used against me later causing major problems in the future. Not a good thing. But, it is what it is.

Hallucinating that cauliflower is in fact, dark chocolate or something? I don't know...it's just wrong, and there really should be a law to protect the rest of us. If not a law, some sort of alert sign like, "Warning: This site contains the most detestable baking ideas centering around cauliflower or sweet potatoes. Do not enter if you are under 18, have heart trouble, high blood pressure, nausea, strong gag reflex, sensitive colon, sensitive stomach, common sense, or are human. Aliens welcome."

Yes, this exactly. Thank you!

THIS! Seriously people, it's cauliflower. It is not a replacement for the fine tastes of all other good things. If you ruin my mashed potatoes with it, there is going to be trouble! :eek:

And even unsubsidized Stafford loans are considered "aid". So if you think your student will be taking out the $5500.00 freshman loan, you have to fill out FASFA to qualify even though you aren't eligible for anything else.

Ah, I see you have spent some time in Detroit! :auto:

:hurray: :hurray: :hurray: :hurray: :hurray:

I liked because I agree and believe that the denial thing is really bad for everyone. I don't "like" your situation though. I get exactly where you are coming from.

We had homecoming, back in the day. But it was a casual event. Small parade with the marching band, a nice half time show. But if you weren't on the cheerleading squad, on the team, or in the band, you were in jeans, likely a school sweatshirt, and a hat since it is nearly always cold here homecoming night. The court usually had on nice dresses, and the guys might be in dress pants, button downs, and a tie, not evening gowns, and definitely not really expensive stuff. People didn't have the money to blow on that in my school district. If there was a dance, it couldn't have been anything too extravagant. I do agree it has gotten crazy. When my brother had his stroke and was hospitalized, my niece was elected to court and was required - yes, school requirement - to wear an evening gown. She owned nothing, and we only had one week to shop. She is 5'1" and only 90 lbs so none of the consignment shops had anything, most stores didn't have anything off rack. I ended up at David's bridal buying a gown. $200.00. I tried not to think about it. She was going through a really bad time, so scared about her dad, and her parents were going to end up having some terrible medical bills to pay. I would have sewn a gown if there had been enough time, but there wasn't. So we sucked it up, and dealt because we didn't want to make her feel bad about it. I would prefer, in a reasonable world, that these things be just "nice clothes" or casual so there isn't financial pressure on everyone. Sometimes I do not think the schools give a care about the kids who don't come from upper middle class or well to do homes.

We have these. Thankfully though we have never had to use them so I have no customer review to give you. http://www.hammacher.com/Product/78110?cm_cat=ProductSEM&cm_pla=AdWordsPLA&source=PRODSEM&gclid=Cj0KCQjw95vPBRDVARIsAKvPd3LpYMU8VQAMem_ed8RYPYa6ekbJNMvjpZK-45R-0qgHPunCPYXbqjsaAv6SEALw_wcB

Beginning Christmas music 24/7 on the radio prior to Thanksgiving. I would ban my sons from asking "What's for dinner?" the minute I walk through the door. They are bottomless pits and never gain weight. Apparently food goes through them and never sticks to their ribs. Perfume next to me, as in the woman last Friday night at the DSO who had apparently rolled in square footage of perfume before coming to the concert. I would make it legal to power wash such perfume users right there on the spot. I would broadcast, "A little goes a long way" on the radio and tv, put it on billboards. And then I would ban perfume from sitting next to me at concerts! Leaf raking. Just let it die folks. No one needs grass. Lawns don't sequester much CO2, and are unnecessary. If they die from the leaves, LET IT GO! And if you are a raker, do not give me a dirty look for being a non-raker. Commercials. No more commercials. They are annoying. So yes, in my world I would use the executive pen to outlaw perfume near me, leaf raking, and commercials plus the dreaded two months of Christmas music following Halloween in which I only get one day of "Monster Mash" which is such a pity.

That really wouldn't do any good really. If you can't prove they are having sex, then it isn't illegal. Law enforcement and Social Services is not there to enforce morality, only legality.

Quill, this is when you start "snoring" so loud that they can't visit over top of you. Insert some nasal whistling as well, and stay close to their feet so you can drop some drool. That last one is probably the real kicker that will send them running for the door. :biggrinjester:

:lol: :lol: :lol: Poor Uber. Poor poor Uber. If they don't have that clause now, they better have a mass training session, watch the movie, and get it in there ASAP!

Well, it seemed like it from the way he told mom. But I'm hoping that she misunderstood and he did indeed do what he felt was necessary, or my cousin's had something to say. Really not sure. I am, unfortunately, not close with my oousins. They are fairly aloof, and kind of always have been.

LOL, Quill this community is so conservative that if I put "cocktails" on an invitation, we'd be instantly branded as wild alcoholics! I don't blame you for avoiding that wording.

Quill, if you are trying to do something elegant, you could rent a couple of roaster pans on stands with those pretty stainless lids that always look so nice at expensive weddings. They cost around $7.50 each to rent locally for a weekend. You could move soups to roasters as well to make it look nicer than crock pots, or you can use colored foil, sometimes available at the holidays, to surround the crock pot sides, and then tie with a metallic ribbon bow. It's festive and looks like a big effort was made even when serving simple foods.

Moxie, Tibbie is right! With your board name, if you can't do it NO ONE CAN! :lurk5:

It is very much okay to spell it out. That isn't offensive or uncouth in any way. It is a good thing. If you want to do something yummy and simple, you could do a baked potato bar. I have done them before. I borrow my mom's roasting pan, get a bunch of nice potatoes, pierce them, wrap them in foil, and then let them roast all day. I do a crockpot of broccoli soup and one of turkey and wild rice out, sour cream, finely diced veggies like red and yellow peppers, diced ham, bacon bits, vegan sour cream and butter for those that prefer this, plus regular sour cream and butter - all clearly marked - salsa, lots of nice toppings that will cover a variety of diets. It is mealish, but without the trappings and distress of cooking a lot of heavy food for a large group. Usually I also put a really nice chef salad out with two cream based dressings, and two vinegarette based ones. I did that once for 45 people at a 4H event. No complaints. The roasting pan was so nice because it kept the potatoes warm and moist for the entire two hours, and the crock pots just needed to be stirred once in a while. I used cups for the soups instead of bowls so I would not have to keep huge amounts of soup back in the kitchen for constantly refilling the pots. It gave me less to babysit so that I could talk with people.

The biggest issue is they are holding classes Wednesday morning and ds has two. The only ride possibilities he has been able to scare up do not have Wednesday morning classes so with campus closing at noon are taking off the night before. These are 3000 level classes, not freshman electives, so ds can't afford to miss, and one prof is giving an exam that morning. So ouch. If he could have left the night before, I could have made an early supper, and left my high school aged niece with mom. I would have gotten home around 1 or 2 am, but it would have worked. The train does run to a town 35 minutes from here. BUT, two things. One is that Amtrak on this end usually ends up being wildly late so you can spend two hours sitting at the station waiting. Two, it is a once per day run, and doesn't leave until 7 p.m. in Kzoo. He has no where to go for seven hours after campus closes. He asked some friends who live in the area but they all had plans for the evening, or out of town guests to entertain, etc. no one could offer to let him crash for that time with them.I hate to make him sit in a train station for seven hours! I am going to call my uncle. Maybe if I explain to my cousins that she really only needs someone with her just in case but doesn't require any true physical care, they won't think I am asking too much. If not that, my next idea is to ask one of the bridesmaids from mom's wedding who recently retire and moved back to the area. She is in excellent health, and called a couple weeks ago and said she wanted to set up a time to visit. I hate to say, "Hey, mom is on a walker with limited weight bearing so do you mind sitting with her for eight hours?" But maybe she won't think I'm a ridiculous person for asking. They used to be very, very close.

I'd give him the vehicle, but dh's company expect him to drive because while he'll be off work longer, that is cheaper than flying AND car rental since it is only a one day drive there or back. GRRRR..... I should call my uncle, my mom's widowed brother in law. He WANTS to be needed, and is coming down from his home up north for Thanksgiving with his kids the next day. I wonder if he would come one day sooner and stay with mom while I'm gone. At that point, he'll only need to fetch her lunch and water, walk beside her to the bathroom but not go in, and be around in case she falls and to keep her company. I can be back by dinner time with some take out food. I should do it. I don't want to take advantage of him, but he is very lonely and he does drive down once in a while to visit her, and to putter around the house doing things for her. He needs the conversation and to be needed, and so it might be a win win for both of them. I just need to get over my flutters about worrying that my cousin's might be overstepping.

Oh I love it! Yes, Johnny Depp as the gardener. That is a good role for him. We can't have him as activities director because wild things might happen. :D

Hoggirl, I get what you mean about that being waited on thing. Oh my word! My father figure........ Life skills is an important thing to address before it becomes a problem. Dh's aunt was widowed at 55 and had lived since the age of 17 with a very domineering husband. She had never been to a bank. She had never driven. She did not know even where her husband banked, and if they had money or not. She had never grocery shopped without him, you name it. She was like a young child in terms of independence. So dh's dad retired early - which was just barely affordable because MIL was still a nursing professor making decent money, bringing home health insurance, and such with a paid off house - and began training his sister in law to be an adult. If any of you think you've got someone on your hands in the future that is used to not "doing for self", you may want to consider how to approach that. A sudden death is bad enough without the one left behind being unable to manage even the simplest of tasks while perfectly physically possible. FIL taught her to drive, rifled through all their files and found the insurance paperwork, social security numbers (she didn't even know her own much less his), taught her to grocery shop, bank, balance a checkbook, make doctor's office appointments, you name it. It took him a year to get her on his feet. I don't know what would have happened to her if he had not been able to retire to devote that time to her. So definitely think about that. Some elders might be able to live independently, but don't know how. I don't think it's common, but from the early baby boomer generation in which gender roles were sometimes REALLY traditionally observed, there may be some out there that do not know how to manage the stuff that the spouse once did.

This. Some threads need a spin off in order to discuss a specific aspect without derailing the discussion in the original thread.

Do it either 2-4 p.m. or 7-9 p.m. which should be a signal not to expect a meal. You could also say, desserts, coffee, tea, and hot spiced cider provided or whatever. If you keep it to a cheese ball and crackers, celery and carrot sticks with some dip, and some cakes and brownies or cookies and brownies, it will be a LOT more manageable. At 9 p.m., if you have guests milling about, you say something rather loudly with a smile along the lines of, "Thanks so much everyone for coming. DH and I need to begin the clean up work so we can get to bed at a decent hour. We sure are glad you came, but if you could let yourselves out we would really appreciate it." Anyone with a plate or cup still in hand, go get it. "Could I have your plate please? Thanks!" Bring the garbage bag into the living room and start picking up, don't be chatty. Refrain from being chatty. You and yours begin SERIOUSLY cleaning. Usually most people will take the hint. Then at 9:20, assign bouncer duty to dh where he simply goes up to people and brings them their coats. As you an see, having done the event planning thing for a few years, I've learned some tricks! The coat thing always tends to work. We started that 5 minutes before the absolute stop time when the venues expected us to begin packing up decorations.