Very cool. But a little spendy, considering I like the $1.50 type of plunger from Walmart the best. :D I may just try some sort of pot that I can bleach out regularly. Thanks for the link. Jo

What about sunscreen? That stuff has messed up plenty of my shirts, perhaps it messes up towels?

;) If you can't fit a plunger under the sink, and you have extremely low flow toilets that consistently get blocked, and you think it is gross to have to run to the garage and run through the house with a plunger (especially the return trip), what do you do? I don't like looking at them, and the under the sink space is insufficient. Would putting them in a flower pot or some other container work? Does anyone else have a solution? Others MUST deal with this problem....right?

Glad you called. Somebody is shooting off the "big" kind of fireworks in the valley behind my home. There aren't any houses back there and they are exploding at my second story window level. My windows are rattling. :glare: I've considered calling, but our local police are...um...slow. Yikes. They're close. I think I better go.

But I'm out of steam. Independence Day in Hawaii is great. There are so many festivities and my kids have been looking forward to celebrating in some way. They are also looking forward to a break from the unpacking and busy-ness to just have a relaxing, fun day. The problem is that doing something "fun" is exhausting for me. Now I'm sick (a nasty cold) and it is daunting the thought of taking all the kids out by myself (dh is at sea). It doesn't help that I really should have taken some time this past week to get away without the kids. I've been a little snippy and impatient lately- partly because of the cold that is working its way through the family and keeping them, and me, up at night. I'm just whining...don't mind me. I just need some virtual chicken soup. Thanks.

Thanks you both. It helps to have back up- thanks peeps! :001_smile: Jo

I need to sell our 1 1/2 old Whirlpool Duet large capacity/HE Washer and Dryer. We paid around $1600 for them both new. They work perfectly, but our military housing has great large capacity W/D and mine are sitting in the garage. What would you pay? I don't have anything comparable on Craigslist to compare. Lowes.com shows the new Duet models at about $2000 together. Thanks everyone. I never have a good feel for these sorts of things. Jo

I worked with an oncologist for a while. He cried with every patient he ever gave "the bad news." People, including me, thought he was wonderful. If I ever needed an oncologist, I would travel a long way to have him as my doctor. Crying is better than almost getting fired. I once called a local news station to come and do a story on a patient I had who was being deported because he had gotten sick and couldn't attend classes- he was in the U.S. on a student VISA. It was a horrible situation. I tried to tell the reporter- Trace Gallagher who now works for FOX- that I couldn't give my name, but he tracked me down and I got chewed out by the Director of Nursing. She gave me a lecture about not caring so much in the lives of my patients...she was wrong. Keep your heart softened, Pam. I'm proud of you.

How is this sign: --------------------------------------------------- RESTING OR READING... :001_smile: WE WILL BE OUT TO PLAY LATER. PLEASE DON'T RING THE BELL. THANKS. --------------------------------------------------- What do you think? They'll just assume that knocking would be inappropriate too, right? Thanks for all the input. Jo

This would require that people routinely look in my garage- yikes! I can't do that to my neighbors. ;) We refer to the garage as "Man Land" and my *man* hasn't had the time to set it up. I don't think the neighbor kids would get the hint anyway- they are an agressive, summer-bored pack these days. Thanks anyhoo. Jo

I love that we have a neighborhood full of kids, but they come over all day long. That is fine most of the day, but I am militant about nap/rest/quiet time in the afternoon- mostly because I need it, but also to enforce reading time for the older kids during the summer. I would like to put out some sort of sign to prevent the kids from ringing the bell or knocking so that I don't have to get up and down like a kangaroo during my rest time. I would rather not write "nap time" on there because it would probably embarrass my older kids. How have you handled this? Thanks so much. Jo

Commiserating... Denial, denial, denial, denial, denial........ Followed by that subtle, nagging, little voice in the back of my head reminding me that my children need to be educated. I. Must. Start. School! I can't blame the moving- even though the house is still a wreck, I *do* know where the schooling materials are, and I have table surfaces available. I have a "to-do" list that goes to two pages typed. Preparations for the new baby, preps for my dh leaving on deployment, organizing my new home after losing 40% square footage.... There will always be something. I might as well get going. :auto: I'm sure this was no help. But it helped me :tongue_smilie:. Off to accomplish something, Jo [Ruminating: I can do this, I can do this, I can do this, I can do this ;)]

Don't tempt me. Actually, I'm feeling particularly fond of him these days because his hips are starting to give out and all my maternal instincts have risen to the surface. I'm just not a lovey dovey pet owner. I care for them, but I don't adore them, ykwim? But to see him in pain is very distressing. He is at the far end of his life expectancy already, but somehow seeing him deteriorate is much harder than I expected. Maybe excessive dog drool comes with age- or maybe it's just the heat in our new yard. Doesn't matter, we have two big sliding glass doors to deal with whether we like it or not. jo

Windex and paper towels doesn't quite cut it. Do you scrub yours with sponges or scouring pads? I've resisted putting anything abrasive on the doors, but that dried up drool is a bear to clean. Thanks. Jo

Well, I mentioned that it works great for preparing my cervix for labor. It didn't start labor. Having said that my doctors absolutely "forbid" me to start it before 37 wks. It has the same chemical effect as having a teacher-parent conference would, and we know how many docs and mwives suggest that to prepare for labor. ;) I'm sure it is mild, but if you were suspectible to early labor for other reasons this wouldn't be the thing to add to your system, kwim? Jo

The story of my life! The stashing grounds is our master closet too. The secondary stash is in the boys closet where I have literally thrown all clothing that needs to be sorted. I figure I'll just wait until I have enough ground space to make that a day project when my mom arrives before the baby is born. Isn't moving grand? :D:D

Absolutely. But you'll have to help me sort and purge toys. The real challenge, of course, is to do this without the watching eyes of the children. Doesn't your head hurt from the decisions? Mine gets fried by afternoon. Yesterday, I sorted books in piles (which were of course unstacked by the 18 mo in short time). Today I have to pause and pay bills and change our address with a multitude of companies. In the meantime my bathrooms are becoming a health hazard and the laundry keeps piling up. Sound familiar? Jo

And one more thing. What is wrong with Americans, as you put it, is the dance teams, baseball/football/basketball teams, etc. that are tainting so many- including so many who have posted here. When you can't see the difference between money grubbers who want to pass the burden on to neighbors for their personal entertainment and some little kids who are either just learning to earn money with a private lemonade stand in front of their house, or are trying to work to help those in need-------well then you have your answer to what is wrong with *some* Americans. I feel your frustration, and I feel the same. I would like to think under different circumstances, different times of day (weekend), etc. you would have seen the best in your neighbors. Jo

My parents taught me, and my dh's parents taught him to ALWAYS stop at the lemonade stands. It was pounded into us as a civic duty. ;) I don't think I've ever seen my dh pass by a lemonade stand. He will sometimes come back for seconds. There is something very wrong about ignoring children learning to earn money. Having said that, there is a limit. I despise the stands set out in front of Walmart with children shouting at me to give money to their football team or dance squad. Somehow it seems different. I wish I could have driven by your children's stand! Tell them I say, "good for them!" Jo

You are all my heros! This gave me so much to think about and look into. I didn't really know where to start. And Jackie, the idea about a separate bank account sounds wise. Brilliant people! You are brilliant. Thanks. Jo

Although I can't put myself in your shoes- the life of your brother tragically lost is just beyond my comprehension. What I can relate to is the feeling of "I can't do this". And I am a tough person too. I recently reached a new feeling of "I simply can't muster one more inch of gumption"- and it scared me. I'm sure there is an aspect of needing to trust more fully in the Lord's strength and not my own, but it still threw me for a loop. The tasks are right there in front of me, but the necessary level of function isn't...yet. I'm so sorry you are going through this, Karen. I pray now for guidance, wisdom, and strength to be poured out in you. Jo

The government bears the sword. They have the responsibily to maintain justice and order in a society (however faulty they may be in carrying out that responsibility). I think the verse you quote is out of context. Jo

For the cases of child rape or repeat child molesters I would much prefer chemical or physiological castration. I don't think the death penalty would be appropriate in that situation. Jo

your home at a loss? We will be renting our home out at a nearly $11,000/yr loss. It seems to be I heard that renting at a loss can have a tax benefit. Can anyone give me some information? I would appreciate it. Jo I should say that the loss comes from renting at nearly $600 below our mortgage payment--- time to tighten the belt.

They know the correct terms but generally we refer to them as "privates" because I don't want my kids discussing those terms with others- i.e. "he got kicked in the privates" vs "he was kicked in the scrotal area". It just sounds weird to me. I'm a nurse. I know medical terms have their place. But it just sounds odd to me to have little kids using them routinely. Jo