I don't know what your budget is, but check out Windsor Hills. Lots of people rent here for Orlando vacations. I know they have a great pool area. Other resorts that area well liked are Sheraton Vistana and Bonnet Creek, which is actually on Disney property but not Disney owned. International Drive has many well priced hotels.

Same for me with The Lovely Bones a close second.

I'm almost 49 and someone asked me once if my 12 year old was my granddaughter. Conversely, a 13 year old student of mine recently asked me when I was going to have another baby. :confused1:

Biergarten and Coral Reef are good restaurants in Epcot. We loved the character interaction at Akerhus and Tusker House too. Oh Yak and Yeti is really good, and my daughter loves the 50's Prime Time Cafe. I haven't tried Boma or Sanaa, but I keep hearing great things about these restaurants as well.

Hi, I usually post on other areas of the board. For the last couple of years, my daughter has part-time homeschooled. She homeschooled almost all her 5th grade year, and this year, I got a job as a teacher at a new school, and she has been attending some classes for her 6th grade year. Next year, she wants to go full-time to 7th grade. The school is a good, private school and only goes through the 8th grade. I am fine with her attending full-time for the next two years since I teach there. However, I doubt we will have the money for a the more expensive private high school, so we are probably going to homeschool again in high school. In Florida, she can take electives at public schools, so I plan on her continuing band and maybe an art or computer class. Would you think virtual school would be good for her, or something else. When we homeschool now, we are using a Charlotte Mason type of plan. I would love for her to continue that in high school,but I'm not sure if that would be right for high school.

Wow, I will admit I am not a dog lover, but that animal sounds dangerous. I know that others will vehemently disagree with me, but there is no way I would keep a dog like that. What if he had bit the mail person?

I am a local, and my husband works for Disney. We go often for last minute trips with no Fp's scheduled. It is totally doable except for the following rides/experiences: Anna/Elsa, Toy Story Mania, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Soarin'. If you want to eat at Be Our Guest, you need a FP for breakfast or lunch or an ADR for dinner. While Fp's for Wishes, Fantasmic, Illuminations and the parades are nice, they aren't necessary if you are willing to stake out a place to wait for a while. If you can, take advantage of the single rider lines for Expedition Everest, Rock n Roller Coaster and Test Track. My daughter and I were at AK 3 weeks ago, and we rode Expedition Everest, single ride about 5 times in a row. Don't stress about the fast passes. Go and have a great time!

How can we tell? We can't. We believe through faith which cannot be tested or proved by observable scientific methods. Trying to use scientific law to explain (or explain away God) really is the quintessential argument trying to compare apples to oranges.

I don't think there is proof of God. In fact, faith and Proof seem mutually exclusive to me. It bothers me when some Christians seem to imply that one can prove God exists in with our finite senses in our physical world. I may feel individual proof from various times God has touched my life, but I really disagree that everyone can just look around and know God exists.

I don't see it as works. I see it as keeping the gift. I have the ability, through free will, to give the gift back, throw it away or otherwise reject the gift of grace. Joanne, I so admire the posts I read of yours. I think we would have a lot in common. And I do know what you are saying. Believe me, I am not one of the "blessed" Christians who has everything together. Not at all. In fact, my husband is scrambling at this moment to get a used car because his engine has a blown gasket and would be way more to fix than the car is worth. Because we have poor credit due to life situations and some unfortunate choices we made, we know we will be stuck with a less than desirable car paying a pretty high interest rate. We have been trying to get back on our feet after a year of my husband being very under employed, and it has been a struggle because I have several health issues too. Life is hard! And I will admit that faith in God does not make me feel better. I believe because it is truth to me, and I have accepted his gift because I need it. Not because God is going to make life easier.

My favorite quote about belief in God that sums up how I think as well is from C.S.Lewis, I have to explain that this quote is from the Screwtape Letters and so is supposed to be from the point of view of a demon. "Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do God's will ,looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys." I have had many times in my life when I have questioned the existence of God, and, yet, I've had other times when when God presence was clear to me. I do not pretend to know why God is silent at times. I do know that remaining faithful, even during the worst of times, has brought more peace to my life than when I have screamed and cried at God about his silence and apparent lack of care for me. Moxie, don't give up on God just yet.

We love the Port Orleans resorts-both of them. They are so pretty, and the boat ride to Downtown Disney is nice. It is also nice to be able to share pools because you can use either pool at the Port Orleans Resorts.

I actually disagree that this is easy to do. I think it is incredibly difficult to "put ourselves in others shoes." This is one the main reasons that racism and wars exist. We humans do not, in general, do a good job of understanding others because we all have our own worldview. While I can do my best to "imagine" what it might be like to be a 9 year old African-American girl, I have no way of knowing if my perceptions are even close to being what an actual 9 year old dark skinned girl might really feel and experience. Empathy is a learned skill, but truly understanding the day to day life of someone who is a different race, religion or culture than yours is almost impossible. Sometimes, the best we can do is work to fight injustice where we can and agree to disagree when we don't have the same worldview.

I do like the book, but I disagree that it has anything to do with hyperbole. This book is an extended metaphor about the gut wrenching love between a mother and her child. As someone who also lost a baby, I totally get what the author is trying to say. My daughter loved the book when I read it to her. In fact, even though she is now 12, we still repeat the refrain often to each other.

I'm a high school English teacher, and I teach my student to leave a comma out if you are in doubt of its need. It is far too easy to create comma splices when commas are sprinkled liberally through a paragraph or essay.

No, I'm suggesting that most Christians don't run around with signs claiming "God hates f@#gs" or picket the burial of a fallen soldier.

What they state and what they do are entirely different things.

You absolutely could not be more wrong about this! Westboro Baptist hates people and wants them to go to hell. You would not find attitude to be prevalent among most Christians at all. Having an opinion is one thing; spouting off untruths is another.

I hope it isn't true for your family. I know for my family (me, husband and 12 year old daughter) food expenses have grown quite a bit now that my daughter is adult-sized. We often feed our family for under 600 a month, and that includes paper products and toiletries. This amount does not include the once a week we eat out.

This is not a JAWM post. I really want to know if others have been able to solve this issue. I have a sister who lives about an hour from me. We see each other once or twice a month on average. When we are together in person, she can be the nicest person. We are able to talk enjoy ourselves for the most part. However, when we speak on the phone, which is an average of 2-3 times a week, she will sometimes get just completely nasty if I try to share anything going on in my life. Last night, she called, and we had been getting along for a while. I mentioned a problem at work that I had, and she just went off on me before I could explain the whole situation. Just out of the blue, she seemed angry with me and said that since I've had problems at my last two places of employment, that I must be the one at fault, and I'm just too sensitive. She is right that I have had a difficult time at the last two schools where I have worked, but, before that, I worked for 10 years at one school with minor issues. Just the past year, my sister has been fired from 2 jobs and is on her third since January. She is in sales, and turnover is high, but even I know that her situation is unusual. Honestly, it seems like I am just being used by her. When she wants to talk, I try to listen respectfully and keep my advice to a minimum since I don't know much about her work situation or other troubles she has. When I rarely try to mention an issue in my life, she blows up. I know the smart thing to do would be to never talk about anything related to myself, but then we just have a one-sided, superficial relationship. Since I moved closer to her a year and a half ago, I had hoped we could develop a real friendship. Maybe I'm just mourning the fact that we will never really be close. So, has anyone ever successfully fixed a relationship like this?

We are sort of going through this, and our time we spent in China two years ago has contributed to the trouble my DH has had. Before we went to China, Dh worked for the state of Georgia for 10 years. We knew when we left for China his job was not guaranteed, and so we were not surprised when we returned that a hiring freeze was on in the state of Georgia. I was able to get a job teaching in Florida. Since then, he has tried to get a job with the state of Florida and has had 5 interviews-nothing. He got frustrated with that and fell back on security work like he did in the military. Currently, he works for Disney as an over night security agent. The pay is not great, but the benefits are awesome. Still, he would like to be in a position that affords a more stable lifestyle. He is often working 60-70 hours a week, so we can get ahead a little. I'm glad you posted this. it is good to hear about job counseling. I had honestly not thought about that. Best of luck in your decisions. It is hard. :(

I didn't think it was. You are obviously and intelligent person with well-thought out ideas. Who knows? We may even find something we agree on someday. :)

There is a big difference in respecting a person's beliefs, which, I agree, may not be respect-worthy in my eyes, and in being disresectful to the person as a human being. One of the first things I tried to teach my daughter was not to make fun of other people for any reason.

You have touched on something important to me-common decency. I can certainly argue a point and even vehemently disagree with someone else's point of view without making fun of his or her beliefs. I would hope that making other feel uncomfortable is not your main goal when you respond to posts.

nm Umsamii posted about mosques being destroyed in the CAR. That is a terrible, newsworthy story that probably will get overlooked by American media. But belittling the beliefs of another member of this community only cause hurt and anger. How does that help Umsami get her point across? As grown women, it seems as though we should be able to discuss difficult topics without resorting to attacks on other's worldview.