Well, sure. I've lived (and shopped/cooked) in AZ, UT, GA, VA, and WV, and I've never found veggies super pricey. I think it really depends on if you shop in season and where/how you shop. If you follow sales, you can generally find veggies reasonably priced. I mean, artichokes are hard to find here in WV at any reasonable price, and they usually look terrible too. But carrots, cabbage, etc. are generally cheap year round. Also, Sam's (or Costco, but we don't have one here) typically has good prices on veggies. I can get broccoli crowns for around $2/lb year round at Sam's. . . Most groceries run sales regularly with things like BOGO bagged salads, etc, too. I do think shopping carefully goes a long way. When we were on a very tight grocery budget, I was still able to keep our family in veggies using BOGO sales, Sam's, etc. Of course, if you just cruise the market and pick up whatever strikes your fancy, you'll spend more. I buy my beef as a half-a-cow direct from the farmer once a year. I spend about $1000 and get about 180b of beef or something like that. I work out the numbers per finished pound and I am confident it generally runs less than $6/lb (because I often share a little with a friend who has a small family, so we work the numbers and she pays me by the finished pound.) Of course, I have to go to some effort to find the farmer, time the order for the once-a-year harvest, and then I have to have the freezer space. I understand not everyone can do that. If I bought the same beef at the local farmer's market (same farmer), it'd cost me a lot more -- at least 50% more, maybe more, I've never bought it that way. In the supermarket, I can get standard beef less expensive if it's on sale (BOGO, in particular, which is how i buy large quantities of beef if I run out before fall.) Maybe it's a recipe thing, too. I don't know.

Classic Wusthof are awesome. I've had mine for over 20 years, and they are still awesome. We do sharpen them regularly. Cutco are also good. I have a few, and they're nice. Both are expensive. Maybe $500 for a small set of Wustof. But, they last forever. Period. All you *really* need is one good "chef's knife" and a decent ($5-10) paring knife. I use those knives for 90% of my cooking. The other $1000 in knives in my kitchen are more specialty knives and are nice to have, but not critical. If I was wanting to really learn to cook and on a tight budget, I'd buy one nice chef's knife and one decent paring knife. And maybe also a $50 set of other knives (or use your old ones) so "helpers" in the kitchen don't mess with my good knifes for routine stuff. The good chef's knife is 90% of the battle, IMHO. I'd buy: https://www.amazon.com/Wusthof-Classic-8-Inch-Cooks-Knife/dp/B00009ZK08/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468074266&sr=8-1&keywords=wustof+chef+knife I'd probably go for 8" to start. Someday, you might want a longer one, and if you do, you can get a second one, which is great to have if you have a multi cook family (as I do). The 8" will do you fine forever, though. I've had these knives forever, and I've yet to cook in another kitchen (including dozens of very nice homes) whose knives lived up to my standards. Just that one great knife will change your life, lol.

I think that "normal" is so low because few families actually cook real meals anymore. Packaged foods (hamburger helper, noodles and sauce, etc.) rarely require/use substantial amounts of veggies. The other day, I was making home made egg rolls. I made 50 rolls, and I used at least 6-8 quarts of raw vegetables to make them! Homemade egg rolls (good size ones, with maybe 1/3c of filling each) require a huge amount of raw veggies. It was an entire large head of Napa cabbage, two bunches of green onions, an entire head of Bok Choi, a 16oz bag of shredded broccoli slaw (broccoli, red cabbage, carrots), another 20 oz of grated carrots . . . All that cooked down (with a pork chop or two and some ginger and garlic), just to fill those rolls. Well, actually, about 1/5 of it was used raw to make Japanese pancakes. Still at least 6 quarts of the veggies went into the egg rolls. My family of 5 ate 20 that night! I was *amazed* at how much veggies went in there. I had maybe 10% of the filling left over (in the freezer for next time we make fried rice) . . . So, anyway, I was amazed at the huge quantity of veggies consumed in a simple meal of Japanese pancakes and egg rolls. I'd say each of us ate at least a quart of the veggies. When I make soups, I similarly include HUGE quantities of veggies. And, we usually eat (2-3 c each serving) fresh veggie salads with 80% of our dinners . . . Anyway, I'm sure me and my family average MANY more than 3 servings of veggies a day. Probably 6+. The days we don't get many veggies are if we use processed convenience meals, fast food, etc. Breakfast foods and convenience foods (hot pockets anyone? frozen pizza?) rarely require substantial amounts of veggies but do contain large quantities of filling fats and carbs. And, personally, I don't believe that fresh veggies are generally super expensive. I can fix 80% of our meals from scratch with large quantities of veggies, expensive free range meats ($5-6/lb local beef, etc.) and all sorts of healthy foods for under $4/adult FOR SURE, and that's cheaper than most fast food, convenience meals, etc. Most of our meals end up much cheaper.

It could be simple and easy. Or it could be a nightmare. I've removed wallpaper from rooms in under a couple hours total. Other rooms, it was a painstaking process over many days. The worst problems are: 1) if the walls were never properly painted before applying the wallpaper. If this happens, the wallpaper will rip the wallboard paper, and you're talking maybe having to re-wallboard rooms! That's a huge disaster. I experienced that in one house that was partially self-built (not by us) and the owners were lazy and stupid enough not to bother properly painting some rooms before adding the glorious (1980s, I hear you!) wallpaper. Ugh. 2) Wallpaper that has been PAINTED over with semi-gloss or glossy paint. This is the PITS. We had two bedrooms and a hall like this in our first house. We had to score the paper with utility knives into 2" squares and then, with steamers and spray bottles of hot water, saturate the paper via the scored spots . .. and then pry off the paper in tiny pieces using putty knives. Took dh and I probably 30+ work hours per small bedroom. This process only worked because the walls were "real" old fashioned plaster, so they could handle the moisture. Modern drywall would have fallen apart and had to be totally re-done. In general, since I've done SO MUCH wall paper removal (pretty much most of the walls in two houses), I'm not intimidated. I had a foyer in UT that had ELEVEN layers of paper . . . It's an easy DIY 90% of the time. I never needed professional help, and the tools and supplies needed are very cheap. It's satisfying once you are done. In general, so long as it isn't painted, you'll be able to strip it, wash the walls, and have a room ready to paint in just a couple hours. Even the rooms that weren't properly painted underneath the paper just took some extra care and effort, and I was able to salvage all the drywall. Assuming the paper isn't painted: + Get a spray bottle, a 3-4" putty knife, a short step ladder, some old towels, and your patience. :) + Get a spray bottle and fill with very hot tap water. Spritz the surface of the paper in a 4 foot square area. Allow to soak for 2-3 minutes. Respray every 30 seconds or so. Wipe up dripping water at the floor (put old towels all along the floor to protect it). Grab a corner, gently pull. In most cases, it'll easily pull off! Now you can experiment with how little water/time you can get away with. If it's super easy, you'll be done in an hour. (Then wash walls well with TSP to remove all glue residue before painting.) + A "steamer" is another option, but honestly, the very hot tap water in a spray bottle worked BETTER in the worst situations. + You don't need chemicals, but if you're running into trouble, you can try one ("wallpaper remover") + If the paper is painted or very plastic-y, you can score it with a special tool for that purpose (to allow water to penetrate the surface) or even a utility knife, but a knife is gonna' wreck modern drywall, so only do that if it's a very old house with traditional plaster walls. Whatever you do, don't paint over it!! :) Just go in there and try one room at a time. Chances are it will be really easy. I've had some rooms that I de-wallpapered in minutes! Only the painted rooms were true nightmares, and that you can see from the get-go. (And even those I eventually tamed!)

When they get a driver's license (so, age 16), so that they have ready access to emergency services while out in a vehicle, and also so I can use FindMyFriends to know where they are.

By far, the best aides I hired were via hospice and one private pay person (who came personally recommended and had lots of experience). The hospice aides were *fantastic*, so when/if your MIL enters hospice care, I highly advise taking advantage of their bathing aides. Finding a great private duty aide is *really* hard. I went through three agencies in under 2 years, and although a few of the aides I had were good, none were great, and some were really awful. (None were abusive or mean, but some were just dead weight.) The worst part was how *none* of them lasted more than a couple months. It's a terribly low paid industry, so even though I was paying $20/hr, those aides were pretty much making within a dollar or two of minimum wage. That's why the private duty person I found was great. I paid $14/hr (plus paid time off and 3 months promised & delivered severance when my mom passed away) and that was 50% more than she (10+ years experience with same agency . . .) made working for her regular agency job. It was cheaper (a little) for me, and much better for her. So, anyway, if you are willing to offer enough hours (say 15-20/wk at least) to make it "worth their while" you might be able to advertise for and find a great private duty person. You just have to go through the hoops to make it legal (pay taxes, etc.) and pay well enough to make it more lucrative than their day job. (I'd suggest 14-16/hr in most areas to easily surpass going pay rates at agencies.) Anyway, if you have any experience hiring people (I did/do), then that's a great way to go. Other than that, you just have to shop around through all the local agencies . . . There will be plenty . . . most talk a great game. Delivery is not so good. I think having a family member present (and/or security cameras as well) makes it pretty assured you won't have someone being abusive or neglectful, but whether they will be fun/sweet/loving/effective is another ball of wax. You can ask her doctor for recommendations of agencies and/or private duty people . . . So far as a dentist, my family has a long standing relationship with a small dental office and they were great with my mom. Mom wasn't uncooperative, though, just impaired. Another family I know used the local dental school (at our local university) for their parent's care, as they had the resources to deal with the complex issues. Dental pain can be severe, and oral hygiene is a huge issue with dementia. I ramped up Mom's routine exams to every 4 months as her dementia was impairing her oral hygiene, just to keep ahead of issues. I'd ask whoever your FIL now sees who they recommend, as they likely know what resources are available in the area. Noncooperative patients certainly are not rare, with mentally disabled people, etc. Everyone needs dental care . . . The patient can be medicated/sedated, etc. if needed.

(((hugs))) It sounds to me like you are handling things beautifully. I'm sorry things are so stressful!!! Having to let our kids grow up and make their own decisions (and mistakes) is really hard!!!! Could you suggest (gently) a couple months of premarital counseling to better understand each other's perspectives and to work out agreements about money and where to live, etc? That seems to me like a great thing to do no matter how perfect the relationship! And, when there are major things to be worked out (money! where to live! how to deal with inlaws!), then it seems pretty imperative! RE: the shower. Of course you can't host it! That's way bad manners. The mom of the bride is not supposed to host it (check Miss Manners!). You don't host it, and you don't spend for it! You just show up with a big gift and a smile!! The bridesmaids are supposed to host it! I'd totally stay out of it, and of course, if your (other) daughter is hosting it, you can help her fix food or whatever, but I'd totally stay out of it!! Just smile and nod encouragingly and go about your business when the topic comes up! I think you're doing beautifully. Just hang in there and keep being the supportive, loving mom you are!

One thought . . . Distraction is a key management tool for dealing with a distressed or uncooperative person with dementia. The clothing issue probably distracted her from the tooth issue. :) The tooth issue may or may not be actual/continuing. I'd probably try to get a good look at her teeth, and if it comes up again, for sure schedule a dental cleaning to check things out just in case. Continuous untreated dental pain would obviously be terrible. Re: the clothing. This is such a common issue. Some families just insist on changing clothes and deal with the fall out. Some families just go along with it, and suffer the embarrassment of a disheveled family member. I think the least *I'd* live with would be to insist on bathing 3-4 times a week and wash the clothes during the bath time, so at least she was getting clean clothes every other day. This issue may last forever. I don't know of a single magic fix. Fortunately, I never faced this particular challenge with my mom, but I did have to cajole/insist on every-other-day bathing at one point. As soon as she gets out of the dirty clothes, they'd go straight into the washer . . . When she gets out of the bath, the clothes would still be IN the wash (wet/soapy), so I'd say, "Oh, yes, your favorite shirt is still in the wash, so let's wear this pretty new one until your favorite is out of the dryer!" Hopefully, that'd work OK. It's worth a try. You could also buy a new shirt or two that you think she'll like, and wrap them up as presents, and make a production out of the gift giving. That might trigger her "polite" response to approve of the new present. Have them given by whoever is her favorite grandchild/son/etc to maximize the chance that she'll approve. These sorts of battles are really common with dementia. All sorts of tricks *can* help but there isn't one that always works. Sort of like negotiating with a toddler . . . Some times, "Let's get your clothes changed into something clean and pretty so we can go out for ice cream." Or, "After we get on a clean shirt, we can give your son, Bobby, a call on FaceTime!" works like a charm. Sometimes, it doesn't. Ugh. My mom liked having her hair fixed nicely and liked a BATH more than a shower, so I tried to be sure to do the things she liked more than not . . . If you haven't already read a book or two on dementia care, I'd encourage you to do it now. I read dozens. No epiphanies, but some reassurance and some practical helps. Teepa Snow has some *great* videos. Some are on youtube. Super helpful for you. Distraction is a KEY, IMHO. Also, don't *ask*, but *tell* . . . I.e., don't ask, "Would you like to take a bath?" Just say, "It's time for your bath now. After your bath, we'll fix your hair and have ice cream!" . . . Sometimes if they are confused (which happens easily with all those long words and long sentences we use), they say NO . . . So, keep things simple and short and positive. Speak slowly and sweetly. SMILE ALWAYS, because they can understand a smile/hug most times even if words confuse them. If your FIL is doing all the care, at some point, he might agree to hiring a "bathing aide" to come 3x/wk expressly to help MIL get a bath and change clothes. This helped me immensely during my mom's later illness, as having the aide come who was there JUST to give her a bath sort of triggered cooperation, whereas the aides who were there for longer periods . . . she seemed to understand that she could distract THEM, lol. (((hugs))) and bless you for helping your MIL and FIL. This is such a terrible disease, and your help is priceless and precious. Sorry for my rambling. Hope one of these ideas helps.

*Always . . . except when I'm driving a car with backup cameras. Sometimes I still do it out of habit, but the cameras (in my new car) actually give me much better views, so I'm trying to get into the habit of using the cameras instead.

I'm considering a Honda Pilot for our next "big vehicle". I'm really happy with the Subaru Outback I got this year. It's not "big" but the back seat is actually much roomier than any other sedan-size vehicle I've had. Our 3 kids (two adult sized, one small teen) fit fine in the back seat for around town, but for a road trip/etc, I'd want another bigger vehicle, thus the consideration of the Pilot. (Our minivan is being driven away this fall to dd19's college . . . )

I read some quote the other day that said something that was reassuring . . . Something along the lines of . . . Meaning in life is found in generating human potential; doing good in the world is achieved by helping create a better world by helping create better people. I was like, Oh, wait, great!! I've done that!! (((hugs))) and I totally get it. It was so much clearer and simpler when they were small . . .

It boggles my mind how people can be sucked in by advertising to spend $$$ on extremely toxic remedies that most often do not work and are a huge PITA to implement . . . When for a modest $$ at the vet, you can get really effective, easy control that actually works, and works very fast. If every pet in the house is put on Comfortis (or Trifexis), all the fleas will be dead within a day and won't come back, because every one that hatches will find a pet, and then be dead, dead, dead for a full 30 days from a single dose . . . One dose might do it in a minor infestation; two or three (monthly) doses will 100% do it so long as new fleas aren't brought in from another source. (There are other good products at the vet, too, but Comfortis/Trifexis is my fave.)

Amazon is the easiest company ever to work with on returns/warranty/etc. If you just got it for this past Christmas, for sure they'll replace it free. Just call. It's painless!

I don't know. sorry!

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/220967-treatment#d10

I have this conversation once or twice a year . . . http://www.cdc.gov/rabies/medical_care/ general info I strongly advise getting PEP beginning no later than tomorrow. The only way I'd allow my child *not* to have PEP would be if the dog was captured and proven to have been vaccinated OR in a supervised (veterinary facility or Animal Control) 10 day (minimum) quarantine OR was tested (euthanized/then tested -- which would be ideal). Period. End stop. With the quarantine, I'd begin PEP immediately and only cease at the end of a successful quarantine (or testing, in which case I'd also being PEP until test results are available). Health departments and the CDC do $$ calculations on the cost/benefits of PEP for various incidents. I, personally, would not permit my child to take a 1/100,000 risk of dying to save me (or a govt agency) a couple thousand bucks. Not worth the risk, to me. I'd fight until my kid had the PEP. Period. Yes, rabies is way down in dogs in the US because of good vaccination protocols. They still get it. From wildlife. An unprovoked attack, from an unvaccinated dog, with significant to severe bite wounds, raises the chances of that particular bite transmitting rabies up an awful lot from the "near zero" risk from a provoked attack by a vaccinated dog. http://www.cdc.gov/rabies/resources/contacts.html -- state by state contacts I am *well* aware that many health departments and human medical practitioners are *much too* reluctant to initiate PEP. It is a money thing. Truly. Right here in a CDC report (along with lots of other interesting info) . . . To be brutally honest, many/most human medical doctors know diddly shit about rabies and really don't think about it at all. Vets think about it a lot, because they and their patients (and owners of patients) are exposed to it a lot, so they think about it. Rabies is a "zebra" to human doctors; but to vets, rabies is a horse . . . A very, very dangerous horse. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/rr/rr5703.pdf FWIW, vets *routinely* deal with medical staff that are simply uninformed and wrong about rabies risks. Yep, only a couple human cases a year in the US makes it low chance that that one health department is going to hit the rabies jackpot, so why not save some (many) thousands a year by denying PEP to those exposed. Sorry, but it's not a risk worth taking IMHO. (((hugs))) and hope all heals well, with or without PEP.

Don't get stuff from PetsMart. Go to your vet and get the cats on Comfortis. Really. Truly.

Dh is a vet . . . FWIW . . . 1) GO TO A DOCTOR and report the bite. It's probably OK to go tomorrow at this point, but do NOT wait longer than tomorrow. I personally would highly advise a good antibiotic AND doing rabies prophylaxis. If the doctor you see does not recommend those things and get them in motion, I would go to another doctor the same day. 2) The doctor will be legally obligated to report the bite to the health department. Bring the address of the dog and a description of it. Name of owner would be good, too, if you know it. 3) The health department should require the dog (assuming you are right that it is not vaccinated) to be euthanized and the head sent off to a lab to check for rabies. They might allow a quarantine instead, but depending on the locality, this can be very expensive, so the owner might opt for euthanasia. The only way your child can *safely* avoid the rabies prophylaxis is if the dog is euthanized and the head checked promptly. If you prefer the dog dead, then push for that. 4) The dog should be impounded and euthanized (and then checked for rabies) for this attack. Some places don't do that. Some owners fight it. Some localities are better about getting dangerous dogs off the street. IMHO, you have a duty to protect your family and others . . . by reporting this bite . . . 5) Report the bite to the non-emergency line of the local law enforcement. Also Animal Control. Leave messages. Repeat daily until resolution. 6) I believe the health department in many/most (all?) places can/will provide rabies prophylaxis -- not sure if it's free though. Or your insurance might cover it. It is thousands of dollars, so figure that out. Your regular DR (or even ER department) generally don't handle rabies shots. It's a specialized thing. I believe in general only health departments handle it. (Except for PRE exposure vaccines that vets and other at-risk folks often get through their professional associations/vet schools/etc . . . At great expense . . .) 7) If the dog is not vaccinated properly or otherwise proven (head autopsy) not to have rabies, I would NOT REST until my child had the shots. Some places are very crappy about ignoring this small-but-catastrophic risk . . . I would not accept that. Period. 8) Rabies is (pretty much) 100% fatal once symptoms appear. It is more common than you would think. I wouldn't take any risks. 9) There are plenty of other nasty bugs that you can get from dog bites. They aren't as bad as cat bites, but still, if the bites are severe, I would absolutely want to be on good antibiotics. And of course, excellent wound care . . . If the bites are any where near hands or other joints, I would go to an ER NOW. If *any* signs of infection develop at any time, I would go to an ER immediately.

FWIW, my brother, who is in IT, told me not long ago that "Chinese hackers will own your computer within a few minutes of being online w/o solid protection . . ." Makes me nervous, lol. Until you are 100% confident that the computer is "clean", I'd be sure not to use it for anything sensitive. (I..e., don't log in to any sites from it . . .) And, I'd change *all* my PWs everywhere, and I'd re-change them every week or so for a while.

I have no big advice and I adore babies and know plenty of women who had healthy, wonderful babies at your age or even in their early 40s. But I would mention that, as you likely very well know, egg viability decreases a lot as you age, and approaching 40 means many of your eggs are probably not viable. That means that early miscarriage is pretty likely -- those unviable eggs that get popped out and fertilized but can't develop further . . . So, if you decide to proceed, I'd just try to make sure your head and heart are OK with the possibility of one or more additional pregnancy losses (and you may or may not ever get another healthy baby, despite any efforts). That's pretty much the thought process that allowed me to let go of the desire for "one more" after age 40 . . . Even though I wanted another (dh didn't . . .), facing the likelihood of one or more pregnancy losses . . . and then not even being sure I'd *eventually* have another baby . . . just wasn't something I wanted/want to face. For me, I figured that if, say, at my age, my "support systems" (hormones, whatever) are not 100% and also say, 50% of my eggs were not viable, that meant that 1) I might not get pregnant at all. 2) it'd take longer to get pregnant if I could 3) some (large? say half?) of those pregnancies might end before birth because the egg (or environment) was sufficiently damaged not to permit full development and 4) some (smaller? say 1/10?) of those pregnancies might be viable but be a fetus with significant to serious birth defects resulting in late term loss or a severely handicapped child . . . and then, there's the goal . . . 5) the portion of pregnancies that might result in a healthy, wonderful, squishy, soft, sweet baby. What's that # for (5)? Maybe 30-40% on average for your age (with your own eggs)? Is that a high enough # to make it worth the risks? If the potential for (5) is enough to help you face (1-4) then, it's a win, and you just have to work through the potential pregnancy loss(es) en route . . . and hope for (5) . . . and of course do whatever you can to maximize the likelihood of (5) . . . Every pregnancy is a crap shoot and a numbers game . . . But the odds get longer as we age, so, for me, I tried to convince myself that I'd been very lucky to have had my 3 healthy pregnancies and 3 healthy kids . . . and I've now lived long enough to see lots of heartbreak in families who haven't been so lucky . . . and I didn't want to play those odds at this stage of my life. For me, at the end of the day, I realized that even if I could get dh on board, I wasn't willing to accept (1-4) for the hope of (5), so I closed the door and moved on . . . and am a decade or so away from grand babies if my kids cooperate, so I'll just wait for that. ((((hugs)))) and best wishes!!

Another idea . . . If your workplace isn't using a computerized time clock (sounds like it isn't or it's not set up in a helpful manner since you are still manually adding hours), now is a great time to implement one. Our work's time clock is integrated with our practice software, but I know they sell stand-alone computerized time clocks/programs/etc. I'm sure you could get something good for under $200-300, which would pay for itself very quickly in time saved. (We use spreadsheets to track benefits, etc, but our actual hours are tallied by the program . . . It's easy as pie. Computerized time clocks can also dramatically cut down on employee stretching of hours (logging 9AM start time when they're getting in at 9:07, etc.) if they're manually logging their hours . . . If that's the case, then a computerized time clock will pay for itself *very* quickly with just that savings.

ps. Short of Excel, you can/should use an adding machine that PRINTS tapes. That's the method the old-time bookkeepers used, and I still have our staff use it for daily deposits. Having the tape printing out the added column of number and then stapled to the deposit package makes it pretty easy to catch errors. MUCH better than a simple calculator! They're maybe $30 or so and last for ages.

I think you've gotten good advice above. Take responsibility, apologize, and ensure new procedures will prevent this sort of error. My advice is to create an Excel (or similar) spreadsheet for these calculations. That's what I did for our payroll (12-ish employees) years ago, and my office manager is still using them. In fact, whenever we come up with a new benefit/thing that needs calculations regularly, I help her create a spreadsheet that can be recycled (and saved/printed as needed) for each use. Create the sheet right, and it prevents errors such as these. If you aren't comfortable with Excel, then you need to get comfortable with it. No "numbers people" should be without a comfortable working knowledge of spreadsheets! Also, being the numbers lady at our work and supervisor to folks who do it for me . . . Perfection is pretty important in these areas . . . You will need to be super careful and triple check things, improve your systems, etc. Some people are more naturally perfectionist than others. If it doesn't come naturally to you, you've got to force yourself to use double checks, etc from here on out. Some errors can be catastrophic, and some jobs just require more attention to detail. This error wasn't catastrophic, but you need to be "on your game" so it doesn't happen again. Good luck!! And, FWIW, I wouldn't sweat too hard about the apologies to the staff. Not usually a huge big deal to be the receiving end of these sorts of small oops-ies. I know you feel bad, and that's a good thing because you messed up, but errors happen. Just fix it and avoid repeating it, and try to improve the systems to minimize similar sorts of errors. A sincere, brief verbal apology to those impacted would be great, maybe along with buying the team a carton of donuts or something if you really feel you need to do more than simply say to each person, "Wow, I'm sorry I messed that up!! Here's your check!! Won't happen again!!" Also, if any of the errors were in the favor of the employee, it might be wise to just "let them have the overage" which is generally how we've handled those sorts of errors at our family business. This stings a little (or a lot!) for the business owner to eat the loss, but it stings more to upset a staff member by taking away money after they've already deposited (and spent) the overpayment. (If the error was in the favor of the business, then of course, we would make it right with the employee!!) Anyway, you will need to figure out what went wrong, and then let your boss decide what to do about any over-payments if they occurred. The important thing is to make sure your *boss* knows you are mortified and committed to avoiding a repeat. Being new to the job makes it harder for the boss to understand that this is a "one off" and won't be a recurring problem. Don't let anything like this happen again anytime soon, and you should be OK. At least for me, now when my office manager or client services team leader makes a "goof" I don't sweat it *at all* and their mortification and apologies aren't critical (although they are reassuring) because I have a decade of reliable performance with which to balance the occasional goof. If a brand new employee makes that sort of error, it's harder to trust in their work . . .

Absolutely disregard the impact on your employer/church. Do what is best for you and your family. Period. End stop. From what you wrote, it sounds like what is best is to quit the job. If that's right, then that's what you should do. Of course, give them some notice, help them replace you, give up to 30-60 days (ideally reducing hours meanwhile), but leave, for sure, if I'm right in my interpretation of your original post.

I don't have experience with plastic bedcovers except for our home births. For our home births, our midwife advised plastic shower curtains. They work great, even with the potential huge mess of birth. They're super cheap, too. And washable just fine in the machine. Have you considered that?