When we had this issue we would go to the local bookstore that had coffee. We'd sit down with our yummy flavored coffee (favorite time was Christmas when they have gingerbread coffee!) and discuss the book. We both really enjoyed it. Afterwards, we'd usually scan the titles for a new book to read, and usually buy another one.

Once I would have said no way. However, we now have a family member who ended up on the registry. He was 20 and girlfriend was 19 (so everyone thought). She lied to him, to his family and friends, on facebook, etc. She sent him pictures unfortunately. Her dad didn't say anything until 5 months into the relationship. Final outcome: The young man is on the registry for 15 years, the girl is still out there lying about her age on facebook, etc. She had NO ramifications for lying and so she is still doing it. Unfortunately, more young people are ending up on the registry lately, I've noticed. So I would say it depends on the situation.

I second grain free and tree tea oil. I wonder if it could be fungal. One of our rescue dogs came to us with a fungal skin infection and itched like crazy until it was diagnosed. She was on a oral anti fungal for a bit until it went away. Hope the pup feels better soon.

We are dealing with an expensive treatment for our dog right now. She has a rare infection and at a local pharmacy the medicine is $900/month and she will need to be on it for 2-3 months. She had this last summer and we treated her then. She was cured, but now she has it again. Thankfully we found Pet Health Pharmacy. They compound the medicines and it is significantly cheaper. The cost for her medicine is $200/month. Still a lot, but nowhere near what we were facing. Their number is 1-800-742-0516. Another pet pharmacy is Dr. Foster & Smith. You might try either one and see how the price compares to what you would otherwise pay. I understand. If we had to pay the $900/month there is no way we could do it this year.

The other day, dd18, got her eyebrows waxed. Some of her skin came with it! She went back and complained, and they gave her her money back without a problem.

If he was already on Iams, switching him quickly might give him diarrhea. If you decide to switch, do it slowly over a period of a couple weeks. That way he can adjust to the new food. I would try a puppy food or at least a small breed food so his teeth can chew it easier. You can also soften the food with water. One thing I have heard is that some regular foods have too much protein for puppies, so you do have to be careful of that. I would consider changing to a different food anyway. We used to feed Iams, but the recipe has changed over the years, and is not too good anymore. One of the sites I like is for reviewing dog food is: http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/brand/ I feed Taste of the Wild to my dogs, but since my budget is tight right now I mix in Kirkland, which is less expensive.

I am so sorry you are dealing with this. You probably already have heard of this site, but just in case: http://www.attach-china.org/

We do a modified approach here, too. We use cc but pay them off every month. And I do a budget, but give ourselves a little more wriggle room. We did just refinance to a 15 year mortgage and hope to get it paid off quicker though.

I didn't know about Oreo - sorry. I have a rabbit outside but today he is an inside bunny. I have dogs and cats so he has to be in a closed room in the basement, but it is air conditioned. Usually I have a fan going, and the bunny gets ice water bottles, also, but this heat is just too much. At a farm a friend owns, she has all the barn fans going, and all the animals stand in front - they are not dumb!

Dh lost his job back at the beginning of the recession in 2008. He was an engineer in land development and the construction area got hit early. He found another, better job that has more security so it worked out. I lost my part time job of 20 years in March. I just found another part time job, so I hope it works out. My best friend's husband lost his job back in March and hasn't found anything and her hours have been cut. The unemployment in Northern Virginia is supposed to be fairly low, but I know a lot of people out of work. Both teens are looking for jobs and ds has applied to over 35 jobs with no luck. It is really frustrating!

Our shepherds met at Petsmart for the first time. Once we decided to bring the 2nd shep home, we brought our shepherd with us and they rode home together in the car. We had a 3rd dog at the time, and we all met at the park behind our house. We then walked them all home together. No problems at all. The older cat took a little bit more time accepting the youngster, and even now she just puts up with her.

We had a similar year last year with ds. We ended up going with NARS to get his diploma. We could have gone the summer school route, but ds had a very good paying job lined up, and we felt the responsibility was better for him. Ds had more than enough credits - 27 or so - to graduate from NARS.

If the parents were sitting there I would say something to the parents, especially if it was a younger child. I'm not excusing the behavior, because I think it's awful, but it is possible the child has a problem - mentally or emotionally.

We've taken care of friends' chickens, rabbits, horses, etc, and in return they've taken care of our animals and gardens. My dc were involved in 4-H and we met a lot of other families that way.

I'm sorry. We had a dog that suddenly started having seizures at 8. After each seizure she tried to attack someone or something. She tore about the garage after one seizure and tried to come after my dad - who she loved. We had to put her to sleep since this was just too dangerous. I know it's hard.

I use flea and tick collars on 2 of my dogs. We've had tick problems since we have alot of deer. I used to buy frontline but I've heard recently that it doesn't work so well anymore, and it is expensive. My vet prefers the flea/tick collars over the topical medicine. On my older dog, who is 14, we use a natural flea and tick collar. It smells wonderful and works well for him, but he only goes outside for a few minutes at a time.

Do you know where he is in various subjects? For math I might start him in Lial's Basic College Math. It is remedial math for community college. It starts at the very beginning - addition, etc and progresses through pre-algebra. You can give him post-tests in each chapter if you're not sure where he belongs. Then once he struggles with an area, you know where to start him. The book is set up for the older learner, and the word problems reflect that. You should be able to find it used on Amazon or one of those sites very inexpensively. You don't need a teacher's guide - odd answers are in the back. Once he goes through that you could have him do Math Relief for Algebra I or http://www.amazon.com/Algebra-Survival-Kit-Conversational-Thoroughly/dp/0965911357/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267818019&sr=8-2. If you think he is at the logic stage for most things, I would use the history recommendations in the Well Trained Mind for that stage. You could read aloud some of the great books - such as The Iliad or others that would engage boys. See some of Nan in Mass' to get some ideas. Pacworks, as someone else suggested, would be good for language arts and science. The series is made for children who have struggled or are behind.

American history might be a good place to start - both SL 100 and Notgrass American history are interesting. Another possibility is Sonlight core 200 which is church history, though there isn't just one spine. Our favorite Sonlight core was probably core 300 - 20th century - but I would wait for 10th or 11th grade for that one. Another possibility is to go with your child's interests. For instance, if he likes music, you could design a history course around the development of music throughout history. Or you could do the same thing with science if that appeals to him more. You'd still be hitting the important parts in history, but from a different perspective, which might make it more interesting.

I was involved a lot, particularly the first couple of years of high school. But ultimately the goal was for her to learn time management and learn to do more on her own. As dd went into 11th, we still had discussions but she set her own schedule and did most of her own work with me just checking. By 12th she scheduled everything on her own. We still discussed lit and history but that was it. This semester she's taking all community college courses, but she still likes to read me her papers to get my opinion first.

I wouldn't be thrilled with it, but I wouldn't cut off support. He could just as easily get involved with someone not living in the apartment. Now if he said he was actually living with someone and having a relationship with her, I would say no more $$ from me.

I kept looking for an all inclusive language arts program I liked, and didn't find one. Plus dd's needs and strength's varied from year to year. For 8th grade you might want to look at Rod and Staff, at least for grammar and maybe writing. But that won't carry you through high school. We ended up mixing and matching somewhat, which worried me but worked well. For 9th we used Literary Lessons of Lord of the Rings which was excellent and included grammar. We used a workbook for grammar (can't remember what). Dd took Bravewriter classes for writing. 10th - IEW for writing and Analytical grammar for 10th and 11th 11th - Continued Analytical grammar and Bravewriter course 12th - Lots of writing and now taking college composition course For reading I used a combination of Sonlight and The Well Trained Mind/The Well Educated Mind. If you didn't like BJU, you might try Abeka. My son liked the Abeka Grammar but we didn't use their literature.

My dd did MR Algebra I and II. It worked well for her. Mr. Firebaugh is a very good teacher.

We got about 32" over the weekend and another 6-8" today. We didn't see a snowplow on our road until today. But it got stuck right before it got to our house. It might be awhile before we get out.

I'm sorry. I wish I had words of wisdom after we went through it. I hope there is no retaliation.

We had a similar incident involving my son. It was also a racial incident (my son is adopted internationally). He took steps and so did we, but it was never really resolved. We were warned quietly by some that there might be some retaliation by the teacher and there was. Everyone felt oh so bad, but no one could do anything about it. As it was a required class to graduate, we yanked him out at the very end and he finished at home. He didn't help his cause as he gave up and ended up pretty depressed. This particular teacher has a history of doing this, and actually bragged about it to others. We didn't want others to go through the same thing, and were told don't worry she is retiring. Guess who's back this year?! I knew they didn't take it seriously when the school sent me a schedule this year (since they didn't have in their records that he graduated at home through NARS). They scheduled him for the same teacher! He had some great teachers in ps, too so I'm not public school bashing. But there are some that have some sort of agenda, and you do have to be careful.