That's great! My 2yo DD loves it too... :)

OP: interesting article... Re: the glass ceiling, I do think it definitely still exists, although progress is (slowly) being made. You only have to look around at the top corporations to see that they're still predominantly being headed up by male leadership. And no, I don't think that's because there are no women who are willing, able and qualified to take the top jobs. I worked in corporate America for 20 years, before deciding to stay home and homeschool (in January 2009). The last 10 of those years, I worked for Intel Corporation. Intel is arguably the #1 semiconductor company in the world and is consistently ranked in the "100 Best Places to Work" list that Fortune Magazine puts out every year. They have fantastic diversity programs that include a strong emphasis on hiring and promoting women. Their work/life balance programs and workplace flexibility (especially for mothers) are outstanding as far as I'm concerned. Some of the larger sites even have onsite daycare. So if any company should have removed the glass ceiling by now, it would be a company like Intel... Even though Intel (to its great credit) is making concerted efforts to level out the playing field and promote more women into the top ranks, when you look at the VP level and above, those positions are still mostly held by men. I worked with many, many super-talented women at Intel and there are plenty of women at that company with the education, background, drive, work ethic and dedication to succeed at the very top. And yet, out of the many top-level positions, only a handful were held by women. I saw this disparity personally as the only female manager on an otherwise all-male staff. One caveat: I never felt that my gender was holding me back in any way - and I know for a fact I was compensated equally to my male peers - but I did see evidence of the glass ceiling all around me. I think what it boils down to is that even though our government and individual companies have tops-down programs that call for gender parity in employment and advancement opportunities, the execution of those programs rests with individual managers and decision makers. And depending on the industry and/or type of position, there are still a lot of preconceived notions at play about the capability of women to be successful in those positions. I'm sure the fact that more women stay home to raise children than men also plays into this on some level - after a certain age, there is likely a lower % of women in the workforce (so you should see that reflected in leadership positions - although that doesn't come close to explaining the size of the gender representation gap as well as compensation gap that still exists).

Another vote here for Yahoo groups and www.meetup.com .... You can also check http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/weblinks/support.htm which has a listing of support groups by state.

Happy Birthday!! And I second the "no cooking on your birthday" rule... Hope you have a fabulous day of being loved and pampered by your family! :D

We are following the WTM pretty closely. Using last year as an example (DS was in 1st grade), we followed the WTM recommendations for all subjects, with the following exceptions: - We started doing our spelling practice verbally instead of in written form (we started the year using "Spelling Workout" as recommended, but handwriting is DS's biggest struggle due to fine-motor issues - so we're doing spelling practice verbally now) - We've pieced together our own science curriculum instead of using one of the recommended ones. Science is DS's favorite subject, and he absorbs the material quickly and then is ready to move on to something else. I've found it works better for us to use the internet, our old college textbooks and library books to delve into his latest interests, rather than following a structured curriculum approach with science. But we're following the WTM process as outlined in all other areas (Language, Writing, Math, History, Religion, Art & Music - plus we add P.E. & German). Latin doesn't start until 3rd grade, so we're not there yet - I haven't decided yet whether we'll pursue Latin...

Try lemons... Here are two methods for using lemon juice: - To exfoliate dead skin and reduce the appearance of freckles and age spots, gently rub a cut lemon and 1/2 teaspoon sugar granules over the skin for a few minutes. Repeat at least once a week until the darkened areas fade. - Or–simply sit with a slice of lemon applied directly to the area for ten minutes. Repeat once a week until spots fade.

Whatever it takes... :) But we really don't spend all that much (I would say we spent less than $500 last year total for one child - but I honestly don't keep track).

I'm sorry. :grouphug: It's a tough situation to deal with (both DH and I have been laid off in the last couple years - from the same company). Hope you find a solution that works for you and your family...

Glad to help! :)

Ideally, it should just be one sentence long. More than that, and it starts to become muddled. You don't have to use the term "mission" in it, but the statement should somehow reflect that what you're describing is your mission, purpose, intent, etc.

Oh, but that IS exciting! :) I love that feeling too... Enjoy!

I've enjoyed your posts about your wanna-be-rocker neighbor, but I feel your pain... Nothing like hearing songs you love totally being butchered... :ohmy: Speaking of songs you love being butchered, I'm going to Karaoke on Friday night with a group of girlfriends. I usually take a bathroom break if it just gets to be too much... ;)

Are you sure that your actual anti-virus program is telling you that you have 265 viruses? The reason I ask is that there's actually a computer virus that poses as anti-virus software (it goes by "Security Tool", "Security 2010" and other names with "Security" in them) and it runs a scan and then keeps popping up, telling you that you have an inordinately high number of viruses on your system. 265 viruses seems awfully high, even if your anti-virus software isn't working properly. I removed this virus from a friend's computer a month ago by doing a System Restore to a restore point several months back (just to be sure it was well before their problems started). That took care of it. Could be legit - again, it just seems really high (which is usually what these fake security tool viruses try to scare you with)... We have McAfee and SpyBot on our home computers and the combination works well for us.

Your mission (assuming this is a personal mission statement vs. a corporate mission statement) is your self-described purpose in life. What you believe you've been put on this earth to accomplish. For example, a teacher might have a personal mission statement along the lines of "My mission is to inspire and educate children, enabling them to achieve their highest potential".

When you wake up (at 3am), how do you feel? Has anything changed in your life and/or your evening routine that may be causing this? A couple things that have helped me (I also tend to wake up in the middle of the night and then have trouble going back to sleep) are occasional Melatonin as well as not drinking any alcohol close to bedtime. I like to have wine with dinner occasionally, but I've found that it always disrupts my sleep. So now I skip it or have it at least 4-5 hours before I go to bed. If you google "sleep hygiene" you'll find all kinds of helpful information on ways to promote better sleep. Might be worth a look...

Welcome! :)

I was going to suggest this as well... My husband was deployed for a year in 2008 and the FRG (Family Resource Group) regularly called and checked in on me to see if we needed help with anything. I would assume there's some type of support like that available to you (for tree trimming and whatever else you might need). Sorry you've had so many major issues all at once! That can be so tough. I hope your 2 year old gets healthy soon, and that you get a break soon too... :grouphug:

I'm sorry you're in such a difficult situation. Based on the specific items quoted above, I would make an appointment to speak with your Human Resources person as soon as possible (or the next level manager, if your company doesn't have an HR person). Making comments to employees about their facial expressions or that they speak with their hands is completely inappropriate IMO, and telling you to keep the problem regarding the illegal/corporate policy issue to yourself is a HUGE problem. She should be thanking you for bringing it to her attention and then take steps to address it promptly - not tell you to keep quiet about it. If it were just a matter of her picking on you regarding your facial expressions and what she calls your "attitude", I would suggest giving her a chance to address these issues first before going to HR. But the matter of the illegal activity is not something you can just work out with her - that's definitely an issue for HR to investigate. If you don't bring it to their attention, you may end up being seen as complicit in this issue. HTH and that you're able to resolve this!

This reflects my views as well... I'm for very limited federal government (if you take a look at the powers the constitution outlines for our federal government, there are actually very few) and I sincerely hope more states begin utilizing their 10th amendment rights to push back on the federal government's intrusion into state-owned issues. I do have some Libertarian leanings and I like the "Libertarian Constitutionalist" moniker that was suggested in this thread...!

Interesting thread! I'm an extrovert but tend to share more IRL vs. post on boards. Go figure... :)

Depends on the kitty's eye color, but I'm thinking a slate blue with grey fur would be quite striking... :D

Too funny (poor grasshoppers though)! We wash rocks and bugs here too... :tongue_smilie:

Close your eyes tight, bite your tongue (being sure to let it protrude from your mouth), clench your butt cheeks and then see what comes to you... If that doesn't work, I got nuthin'... ;)

Does anyone want some Meow Cosmetics mineral eye shadows? My cat prefers to go "au naturel"... Thanks though!

Congratulations!! :)