:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: I'm so sorry.

Thanks! This is great!! :D

My daughter's 13th is this weekend. We're doing chocolate cake, oreo filling and buttercream icing with an edible image of her fave anime on top. Public or Edible Image can make custom images and they are reasonable. Licensed images are not accepted so we stick with either photos or images we are the owners of. Edible Images has many images they have license to use. The Oreo filling is awesome: Oreo Cookies and Cream Filling (6 Cups) 2 1/2 C heavy cream 1/4 C confectioner's sugar (I call it "powdered sugar") 1/2 Tsp pure vanilla extract 20 Oreos (I used double stuffed.) 1. In a bowl, beat cream, sugar, and vanilla until stiff. 2. Gently fold in Oreos. The buttercream is fab too. It is the Wilton Extra-Special Frosting: http://www.wilton.com/recipe/Extra-Special-Buttercream-Icing-1 For the flavoring, I do 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1 teaspoon butter flavor. I use the shortening instead of butter if I'm using an Edible Image (just seems to work better). For the cake, I usually do a modified box mix but for this cake I just used the straight box mix (Duncan Hines Moist). It will work fine.

Yikes! If the model stays the way it is right now, I'd sandbag what I could, grab important documents etc. and head north with the cars while you still have some time. Once it starts, you'll be dealing with clogged roads and gas issues from the folks leaving at that last moment. Keeping you in my thoughts. :001_unsure:

We're in Tampa Bay. So far out of the cone now but will get a lot of rain from the feeder bands and flooding because the ground is already so saturated. Our house should be ok because we're not in a flood zone. The high winds may be a problem but we've moved anything that can go flying. I think Tampa Bay gets lucky yet again! :001_smile:

I just read her post and to be honest, she sounds self-absorbed and lazy at the same time. Can't help it, it was my impression. It sounds like she opted for hsing because nothing else worked but as we all know, hsing is WORK. You just don't decide to homeschool and then sit around and blog about how you are hopeless at it. 'Badhomeschooler' blogs about how she would begin the 'perfect' school but she "isn't that kind of person." Well, she made a choice to create the perfect school when she took the child out of ps to homeschool. It was at that time her responsibility to get her act together and make the best effort possible. The tone of the blog does not communicate this to me. Another point, she knew you would be reading the blog. She knows you are a serious homeschooler. The blog, IMO, seems VERY passive-aggressive. I think she is annoyed that there are people that can manage to homeschool successfully and blogging this is extremely disrespectful to you (the op) and belittles what constitutes a huge part of you and your family's life. It is a cowardly way to vent her misdirected anger. She should be exposing the dangers of being a slacker homeschooler. JMHO. I could not be around her after reading that. It is clear she doesn't want to discuss it so that would be it. Contact - over and out!

This is the one we are using: http://catalog.flatworldknowledge.com/catalog/editions/67 Free too!! We are using it to prepare for the CLEP. Hope this helps!

We're in FL too. This is spot on. Sometimes I think I take being so close to the beach for granted and try to get out but we still have work, school etc. so it isn't like being on vacation. :)

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: This was me last year. It was so hard to have ds away at college. But he was able to come home often so that helped. This year it was easier. Always going to be hard but it does get a little easier as time goes on. Texting and phone calls and Skype can help a lot. :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

Oh NO NO NO! Most predators are people who systematically gain the confidence of their young victims in just this sort of manner. Trust your instinct and I'd strongly advise you to report this behavior to whoever is in charge of the volunteers. This has creepy written ALL over it!

I worked for Dept of Social Services and based on what I know of the general training of CPS workers, I would NEVER consent to allowing them in my home without a search warrant and I would have legal representation ASAP. I've seen too much to have any confidence in that agency. JMHO based on my own observations from working with the agency.

So cute!!! Great photo!! :)

:iagree:

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: If I was closer I'd help. :grouphug::grouphug:

:D Love Doctor Who!

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: keeping you all in my thoughts.

LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!!! Makes me so nostalgic for the days when mine were younger and I decorated more. Seeing your classroom made me miss those days. Your classroom is awesome!:thumbup:

Well your post excited me! I thought I was a crazy cat lady for having 5. My first thought was I could easily get 5 more now-lol! I'm a sucker for a stray or abandoned cat. Our newest member is a little black kitten who was part of a feral family in our neighbors yard. The feral family left him behind and he is living with us and his 4 new cat buddies and a dog. He is a sweetie! I'm seriously planning on ordering litter and food online because going to Petco and seeing the kitties up for adoption is killing me. I want to take them all home. As for maintenance, I think the pooper-scoop is an extension of my arm now. I have some very finicky ones who require pristine boxes. They are all indoor and also spend time on our screened patio. They are super spoiled. All are fixed or spayed. All but one are rescues. I watch animal hoarders too and feel bad for many of those folks-they just get in over their heads and even with the good intentions, end up making things worse for the animals. As for your question about where to draw the line-I think the time to draw the line is when you can't guarantee food, shelter, vet care, emergency care or whatever else they need to be safe and happy. There are also local zoning laws to consider as some do have caps on how many pets are allowed. I think that is something that the folks on Hoarders don't really think about though. They have so many other complicating emotional issues that contribute to the hoarding.

I have those litter boxes. Not entirely happy with them though. They seemed to work great for a couple of days and I was happily rotating and removing clumps in the drawer UNTIL I realized that the bottom of the box was not getting clean. It could have been our litter (Tidy Cat Clumping)-maybe it isn't the clumpiest. Not sure but ended up taking out the slotted tray and using it as a regular litter box. I do like that the large size is good for my jumbo ragdoll. I'm in the process of trying out that litter but haven't formed any opinions yet. It is supposed to be very good and low on dust. I am finding the Tidy Cat we get is dusty so hoping this new stuff is better. Will know more in a few days.

Ragdolls are great cats! We have one and he is so mellow and loveable. We have had allergy issues with him though. There are no truly hypo-allergenic cats, but allergy can be minimized. I give my ragdoll a LION CUT in the summer to lessen shedding and dander. Any long hair cat can have a lion cut. Whether they will let you do it is another story. I have gjiven them to my ragdoll since he was a kitten. He just goes to sleep during the shaving. He loves his cut especially in the hot summer months. Do a Google of LION CUT FOR CATS and you can see pictures. Btw, if you are looking into this breed, there are ragdoll rescues that periodically have them.

I personally would not have an outdoor cat. Mine are strictly indoor with lanai rights. If you allow them to roam the neighborhood, they are at risk for picking up parasites/illnesses and bringing them home. They also will bring home more allergy producing material on their fur. Kittens can be easily trained to be indoor cats with no problems. I would NOT let a cat be outdoor to avoid litter box duties-that's a good way to make your neighbors angry. Scoopable litter makes it easier to clean the boxes. There are automatic litter boxes too that make clean up even easer. Two cats is not necessary as long as a solitary cat has enough human play and stimulation. :)

My girls are obsessed with it. They set up their own server and play together.

We've spent many years in martial arts and her reaction sounds very extreme. I wonder if more is going on that she hasn't communicated to you. Maybe she is being picked on by the other children or they are too rough? I've seen many children bullied and the instructors will tell them to 'suck it up' without addressing the excessive use of force. That can be a real problem. I've also seen many dojo's that place great emphasis on speeding through belts and this leaves the children feeling confused and not prepared for more complicated forms. I think that making her go back at this point may be beyond useful since she has already been pushed over the edge. I would let her take a break and if she wants to go back then perhaps look at other dojos that will be more compatible or plan on sitting in on her classes if she goes back to the one she is now attending. You'd be surprised at what goes on in some of those classes. Especially when the instructors are distracted.

That sounds like what happened to ours. I'll never buy another Dyson.

ITA! :iagree::iagree: I'd be so angry! Someone would be hearing about this! :glare: