Due to somewhat odd circumstances with dh and I, our parents didn't find out we were married until we had to tell them I was pregnant with ds. My mother actually guessed I was pregnant before we had planned to say anything (we were waiting for Christmas).

I watch a LOT of tv but I've never seen DD. I have no desire to see it, it holds no appeal at all based on what little I know if it. I'm actually not a fan of "reality" tv of any kind, except maybe cooking (non competitive) or King of the Nerds. (off topic- are game shows now considered reality tv?)

I probably watch more tv than the majority of people here (judging by previous posts) and I find references to church or a character going to a church when confused not at all unusual. I did have to laugh at the Simpsons in the list of shows with religious characters (forgot to mention God occasionally makes an appearance - he's the only character with 5 fingers :p ) I had to double check on Bones after a previous comment about it being cancelled, because the last episode was a total cliff hanger. It is returning for at least one more season. :hurray: And Law and Order:SVU returns in September. :D I live in an area that is primarily Catholic, with Jewish and Atheist (or None) close behind. I just did a search of my local cable companies religious channels (not programs, entire channels). There are 3 Catholic stations, 1 Jewish station, and bunch of other Christian stations showing things like 700 Club and Billy Graham (not counting ones like Hallmark and Uplifting which really do show a TON of Christian themed movies). But, I definitely don't hear Christian music in stores except a little bit at Christmas time, nobody asks what church you attend as a default, and schools always have Christmas off but it's a toss-up whether they'll have Rosh Hoshanah, Ramadan or Good Friday off - varies from town to town. And I've worked for one large company that had a lot of employees from India and did not designate any holidays. Employees could choose what holidays they wanted off. I think I better never move.

Cool! I pledged Alpha Xi at Texas Wesleyan in 1987.

My daughter didn't pledge until the Spring of her sophomore year and that is common on her campus. In thinking about it, I'm not positive she didn't need something filled out. She went to high school with two of the older girls in her sorority and after being on campus for almost two years, she certainly knew enough people that she probably would have gotten her own "references" without ever saying anything to me about it.

No, but I was in my mid-30's and divorced with a child when dh and I got engaged. It would have been truly absurd. My ex did speak to my mother before we got engaged. I was somewhat estranged from my dad (parents are divorced and have been for a very very long time). I was young - just 20 years old - but I still found it odd. Maybe it should have been a clue...

I agree, either sisters that she's met on campus or maybe professors. I was an Alpha Xi Delta in college and my oldest just pledged Tri-Sigma. Neither of us had to get letters but I would recommend she learn as much as she can about each sorority, try to meet some of the girls, and narrow down which ones she would like to belong to based on how comfortable she feels with more information. Different sororities can have different cultures and I don't think she should determine where she wants to try for a bid based on which one she can get recommendation letters for. They require these letters prior to Rush?

I would hate it. I guess if all the guests were really close friends and family of the couple AND the couple were talking marriage so the answer was pretty assured AND they were both the type to like a very public moment - it would be okay. I'd prefer something like that to the proposals that happen at ball games in front of a million strangers. Dh proposed first thing in the morning Labor Day weekend down at the campground his family had a trailer at. We had our first **ahem** "serious" date there and it was a special occasion in that a lot of his family and long-time friends were there. He did the actual proposal in private though. Dd was there and was the first to know. We had talked marriage and I kept telling dh that I wanted to take things slow (since I was divorced and had a daughter. I was a little gun-shy). We met in 2003, started dating June 5, 2004, engaged September 5, 2004, married October 26, 2004 - so not exactly slow. :lol: Our wedding ended up being just me, dh, dd, and two witnesses. We were married by the mayor of the town we live in very quietly because we were planning a bigger wedding in May 2005. We wanted to get married because dd and I were moving in with dh (we told her we weren't telling everyone but never told her she couldn't tell, I didn't want to make it awkward for her but she did end up keeping the secret) and for insurance reasons. I ended up getting pregnant with ds about two weeks after the wedding so that Christmas we ended up telling everyone we were pregnant, and "oh by the way, we're already married". I think it actually was perfect for us and we hit 10 years this October.

I wonder if we're far enough inland/above sea level to make it through the initial rising sea levels. We're not that far from Lancaster so when there's no gas, we can hop on a bike (or a horse) and head over to the farms for food, or head down the hill to fish in the river.

Well, it is just four years of their major courses. So freshman/sophomore year that could be just one or two classes (and they probably change as soon as possible after class), by junior/senior years it's probably the majority of their courses. ;) Dd's university is extremely diverse - a big mix of inner city, urban, suburban and rural, and economically diverse - so some probably need more direction than others.

At my daughters school a few of the majors, fashion merchandising and some of the business majors, are required to wear business attire to their major subject courses. DD's roommate last year was a fashion major and struggled with the business attire especially for 8am classes. They mentioned it during the orientation tour - starting as freshman gives them four years to learn the do's and don'ts's and get more comfortable in business attire. ETA: She attends a mid-size state university.

LOL, I knew my name would be mentioned at least once. :lol: I actually could see Dorothy coming back. It's a name everyone knows - between Wizard of Oz, Elmo's Fish and the Wiggles Dinosaur - but is not common at all. It's not hideous like some of the really old fashioned sounding names, and lends itself to good nicknames (and really bad jokes but that's okay).

I've never had a job do drug testing once hired. I've had a few - both white and blue collar/retail jobs - that did drug testing for hiring. When I worked at Sam's Club, if you were injured on the job you had to go for a drug test within 24 hours or you were automatically fired.

I'm answering without reading the other responses so if the conversation has shifted this may make no sense. IF it's a state where use is legal and IF they said a positive result "for illegal use" would result in termination - I don't think it would be a fireable offence. No different than if the person was out drinking on Friday or Saturday night. IMO.

My mother got this call a few days ago saying it was their grandson needing bail money in Canada. The only grandson they see/talk to regularly is 8 years old. I don't think so.

My daughter works for Target. She was also offered positions at Deb, Victoria's Secret, Michael's, and one other smaller mall shop. Only Target was able to give her the flexibility she needed with school. A larger store will be much easier to get days off, most of the smaller stores would only give days off if you find your own coverage.

This is going to sound silly, but it never occurred to me that the "sink" doesn't have to be "the sink". Part of what's been holding me up on returning to Flylady is the idea that the shiny sink is most important. But, doing the dishes is one of the few things dh has started doing since I returned to work. He always did all the cooking, but now he does the dishes too. Problem is, he does them first thing in the morning. So, I can't really shine the sink at night without doing the dishes. And I already do the laundry and all the other cleaning, I'd like to leave him doing the dishes. But, I think cleaning the bathroom would be a good "sink shining" for our household. Hmmmm. LOL, that is certainly a good point. I think I'm going to revisit Flylady (but not sign up for the notifications because they annoyed me) AND Sidetracked Home Executives (I actually have the cards already made up) and maybe combine the ideas, using the index cards along with some notes/reminders in my bullet journal (which I just started). :laugh: How's that for hopping on all the trends at once? :coolgleamA:

Motivated Moms website is evidently down for maintenance. I'm a Flylady failure. Now that I'm back working full time, I really need to find something that will work. I hate having to spend the weekend cleaning or being too busy on the weekend and things not getting done. I might need to revisit the Sidetracked Home Executives. But they don't have an app. I like the idea of an App since I always have my phone handy. The Flylady app looks like it does too much - I don't need the whole calendar thing but maybe it's not bad to use without that stuff?

I met my husband through our work bowling league. :laugh: And the guys I dated before him - one was through work, one was a neighbor. I agree with a lot of what duckens said, especially the safety suggestions. It's VERY important to be very aware of safety when meeting with strangers. I did marry my husband two years after my divorce. I had NO desire to get remarried or even get serious, so he had to work at it. We were friends/acquaintances (at bowling weekly) for a year before we started dating, then first date was June, engaged September, married October (pregnant by November). We've been married 10 years this October.

First, :grouphug: . Second, I agree with the bolded above. If you really are concerned about living in the city, parts of NJ are less than an hour away, either driving (depending on traffic of course) or train. I live in a very suburban/rural part of NJ and can be in the city in 45 minutes on a Mid-Town Direct train.

You could always live across the river in NJ. We have NO homeschool requirements at all and there's a very active community in Essex County (GECHO). it's not a bad commute especially if you just hop the train. As expensive as NJ is, it's usually still cheaper than living in the city.

We do at the dentist and use fluoride toothpaste. But there is no fluoride in our water (well) and the kids don't take any supplements with fluoride so their exposure is very limited.

When we interview people through a recruiter the usual agreement is that we can not interview them, for any position, without using the recruiter, for 6 months after. Did the recruiter offer him any feedback after the interview? Did he explain to her that it seemed he was interviewing for a different position? Ask her about putting him in for the new position?

That one would be awkward "One hundred fifty three and six thousand one hundred twenty three ten thousandths"? I say "point" for the decimal. Much clearer IMO. What do you do with a repeating decimal.... I have a zero in the middle of my area code. I say "oh".

So, do you only photograph marriages for Christians who have weddings in a church that believes the same way you do about it? No secular weddings at the town hall, no Jewish weddings, no liberal denominations, etc.? I'm wondering if it's that important to you, can you avoid advertising to the general public and just offer your services to those you know agree with you, such as the members of your church?