i *need* that tshirt (t shirt...tee shirt...T Shirt...gah) :lol:

okay, so in between normal activities i have been doing my best to read up on this bailout and trying to make heads or tails of it. i am getting much of my information from you gals (and guys) and the articles and websites you are generously linking. is my basic understanding correct: the govt. will buy up 700 billion dollars worth of bad consumer debt (the bulk of which is mortgage debt?) and then attempt to sell off said debt to private lenders after negotiating lower interest rates for the consumer. this will free up the original banks from whom the govt. purchased the loans to begin lending again immediately. so, the original 700 billion dollars of bad debt will still exist, plus banks will begin lending again, which will create even more debt, but this debt will be only good debt (meaning that banks will use more stringent guidelines when qualifying applicants). i know i must be missing something. anyone? :bigear: :bigear: :bigear:

LOL, okay, you gals have got me on the capitalization :tongue_smilie: as you said, here on these boards the tone is quite informal. i suppose on the flip side i had several high school teachers who also made this mistakes frequently and it bugged me then as well. i remember one instructor who offered to give me 100% on every test, all year long, if i agreed to proofread the tests ahead of time and correct his grammar/spelling/punctuation.

does this drive you nuts? i know HSing moms who do not know the difference between there/their/they're, your/you're, who's/whose, etc. hat about those who misspell common words like congratulations (i'm thinking of a gal who spells it CONGRADULATIONS), organizer (ORGANIZOR), refrigerator (REGRIDGERATOR), etc. what about those who use the word ain't? i must confess that these all drive me crazy! please tell me i'm not alone...:001_huh:

i don't mind as long as the clothes aren't tight or binding in any way. i hate tight clothes though. so i usually don't like being dressed up actually. i guess i don't mind *in theory* but the fact is most coctail/formal dresses feel like spandex IMO. ick.

i am an introvert. i know it can be intimidating to step up and be involved. i know moms who seem to have it all together and if i'm not cautious they can really. intimidate. me. are they doing so purposefully? i seriously doubt it. i know it is easy for me to perceive it that way though. it helps to remind myself that all eyes are *not* on me. everyone does not think they can do it better than me. the truth is that most everyone is happy to have some help. after becoming close to a few of my now very good friends, i opened up to them about my feelings of shyness and my fear of "not being good enough." and do you know what each of them said? that they never would have guessed i felt that way. that i was so friendly. that i was *good* at organizing. me? really??? because i just don't feel that way. but i make the extra effort, put on a happy face, and put myself out there. i used to tell myself it was for my kids' sake, because i didn't want them to grow up as painfully shy as i did by mimicking my social behaviors. now i realize that i do it as much for my own sake as theirs. there is something very liberating in conquering this fear for me, and it has gotten markedly easier over the last few years. what i'm saying is, give it a try already! :grouphug:

we are in the same position, and have to move in the spring due to dh's job. our home has been on the mkt since aug 1 and we have had NO showings. two years ago when we bought this house it was the least expensive home we could find that suited our needs (recent construction, location) and now nothing in our neighborhood is selling. we upgraded the flooring and landscaped thinking we would recoup that money when we sold. ha! we are just trying to break even but i don't see that happening in this mkt. i just hate the thought of having it rented out and us in another state or country. what a mess.

we are committed through high school. we plan to re-evaluate at that time, on an individual basis. we are 99% sure we'll go all the way (well, i'm totally on board, hubby says 99% though:tongue_smilie:).

this happened to a dear friend of mine as well. they were able to hold their daughter and bury her. i am sure her little boy was comforted by her cuddles and kisses. i am teary-eyed here. thank you so much for sharing.

i would carry the child and we would most likely raise him. i am not totally opposed to the idea of adoption (if it were much later in our marriage, say our mid or late 40s) but i don't know that adoption is something i could go through with. i would certainly have the baby though.

maybe it has just been too long since i read TWTM. can someone please explain the importance of memorization? i don't necessarily mean key figures and dates in history. i mean things like poetry and other varied selections of written work. why the need to memorize? do you think it makes students better orators, better writers?

i have been mostly lurking for quite some time know on these boards and have thoroughly appreciated the discussions/debates i have followed ranging from political to social to religious content. now, i realize many of you are tired of discussing abortion and i understand why. please feel free to ignore this thread if you are in that camp. for those of you who are still willing to explore the topic, i pose the following question: if a fetus is not a human being, a baby, with basic rights, then what about a fetus that is born prematurely either through spontaneous or induced abortion? i.e., if the fetus at 24 weeks gestation still growing inside his mother is not yet a baby, what about the fetus born at 24 weeks? now that he is outside his mother's womb, is he a baby? should he now have rights? if you believe that the former is simply a fetus but the latter a human being, please elaborate. what if the numbers change, the fetus is born at 20 weeks or 28 weeks?

i don't think there is a rule against it as i have seen it discussed in several threads on this board. i bet if you search "abortion" you'll find plenty. the "pay grade" comment has been hashed and rehashed. HTH!

as guests were seated we had "jesu joy of man's desiring." i walked to "canon in D" by pachelbel. our first dance was "wonderful tonight" by eric clapton. we were married in 2002.

i am the same size/build as you and i really love VS hip hugger styles with the lace edging (instead of a "waistband") the lace is so much more flattering because it doesn't dig in and give you "muffin top" lol.

:iagree: what they said. something's gotta give. i just wanted to add that i try not make HSing decision based on simply emotion (i.e. your statement that your daughter doesn't seem as mature as some other children her age). i doubt sending her to school would change that. ya know, i went to PS my whole life and i never had many friends. when i hear people use that as an argument against HSing..."but don't you want them to have lots of friends?" i just laugh inside. there are many children in PS who do not have many friends. there are always children both more and less mature, more or less advanced in a particular area, more or less athletic, etc. regardless of whether your child is HSed or PSed.

reading, sudoku and other puzzles, sewing, yarn (knitting & crochet), sewing, travel, misc. craft projects including card making (i only give hand made cards), fitness, education (taking online classes as time permits), flute.

i really like gap, banana republic, and lerner/new york & co. for clothing, for undergarments i only buy VS. i am sure you can get quality undies in other locations but my dh really likes VS stuff so i buy it for him ; )

yes, it is still quite warm here on the east coast. i'd go w/ light colored or grey slacks, i prefer these perfect trousers from gap http://www.gap.com/browse/category.do?cid=5697 with a halter-style dress top like these http://www.gap.com/browse/category.do?cid=34608. halters look really good on broad shoulders! and a pretty dress shoe, maybe a slingback or open toe sandal if you have them.

if you go to the handwriting without tears website you can order a whole case of them inexpensively.

i had to make the same decision about a year ago and it was tough at the time, but now i can say with certainty that it was the very best decision i could have made. we can't be everything to everyone, and when we are raising little ones and homeschooling it is pretty much a full-time job. i was miserable the whole time i was in school. i would care for the children all day until 8 pm when they went to bed, then spend a few hours with my husband before he went to bed, then stay up until 2 or 3 am doing my school work. it was exhausting. so no, if you choose to put school off you are not a loser, you are a wise individual IMO and an unselfish one to boot. i felt like i was putting a dream on hold when i quit, but when i realized i was putting that dream on hold to fulfill *this* dream i found a great sense of peace. HTH!

generally i would agree that a good 'scope would cost you around that much, but i see mine is only 200.00 and it is great! it is two years old, i know my dh paid more for it when he bought it than it lists for on the site i linked...anyway, just my 0.02 on the model i own and love!

i snap off the stem ends, wash them, and pop them in the steamer for just a few minutes with a generous sprinkling of minced onion (the dehydrated kind). as soon as the color turns to a bright green i take them out, toss w/ a bit of butter, pepper, and real bacon bits if i have some on hand. yum!

http://www.opticsale.com/galileo-reflectors-1100x102-fs-102dx2-catadioptric-telescopes.html we have this telescope and love it, we have been able to observe the rings of saturn with this model. there are some other nice ones at the bottom of this page as well. galileo is a good brand. not sure where hubby bought mine though.

no question, we absolutely will provide braces for our children if/when they need them (considering we both had them as teens i'm guessing that at least one kid will need them, though so far their pediatric dentist has said the first two won't...) i would take on part time work to pay for it if i had to, but we will pay for it one way or another. i think braces are best addressed during adolescence, when the jawbone is still growing.