Non-fiction is almost all I read; my top choice is a good historical biography, when you learn about a slice of history and culture through the eyes of another. Right now I'm reading Twenty Chickens for a Saddle by Robyn Scott, about a family (from England, I think) growing up in Africa in the 70's and 80's. The children were all homeschooled. Now and then I like a good mystery or a Dickens, though.:)

Is he still puppy-ish? Under one? Our dog didn't start barking until he was around 8 months or so. Then suddenly he "found" his voice.

Thanks for the help, all of you! I really do appreciate it... This is the first time I've sold a computer, so I had no idea what to do. Now I just have to set some time aside this week to do it. That's my goal. I don't believe this computer had much important on it anyway, but you never know. Lisa, I don't really know what to sell it for; I haven't researched it at all yet. If you'd like to PM me with thoughts on that, you certainly can!:)

My daughters had a brand new laptop last year which my daughters used for an online class for one semester. Nobody liked it since it is a Windows and we are a Mac family, and it just sits collecting dust. I want to sell it but am paranoid I am leaving important personal info on it that will pop up in a "cookie" or something like that! How do I make sure everything important is gone, wiped out forever?!

So when it's 2pm in your house, the rest of your town will be at 3pm? Seems way to confusing to me!!

I am in the exact situation, exactly. And our extended family is quite small, so there is no way of avoiding it. We are very cordial, and she is not at all aggressive or outwardly unkind. But there was clearly a day when she turned and rejected our friendship. When I brought it up with her when it first happened, she implied that she would remain cordial for the rest of her life, but it would never go back to where it was. I was completely baffled, and I still am. I do miss the days when we were actually close. (It was 8-10 years ago.) I know she has some rather bizarre personal issues coming from a dysfunctional family, and a very low self-image. If people are whispering near her, she will always assume it's about her -- things like that. She must have misinterpreted things I did or said, but she will not explain it. Other people have had this happen with their friendship with her, too. I still imagine that someday when we're both old, we'll be close again and will be able to look back at this time and roll our eyes. But for now, I don't have the energy to keep trying to fix it, so I'm just cordial as is she. I don't know what else to do. So, sorry! No words of advice, just understanding.

If it were a hot summer day, I wouldn't cook/eat it. But in your case, I think I would.

This pretty much sums it up for me. We all have different priorities in our lives; and in our own minds, I suppose we have justified them. We live in a small home, do not have a big screen TV or cable (we get one channel), we have always had only one computer for the family of 7 to share (plus my laptop:)), had no air-conditioning until two years ago (in an area where EVERYONE has it), we only ever had two bikes to share among five children...in sum, we have lived quite simply. Yet, we travel like crazy, anywhere and everywhere. This is what OUR priority is, and we love it. I'm sure others wonder at the money we put into our travels, although we are as frugal as we can be in our traveling, too. That's the way it goes.

No, we are very careful about not ever using MSG (which I know goes by a lot of names), artificial sweeteners, nitrates, processed foods in general... We eat mostly very pure, natural, organic foods, homemade so we know what's in it, etc.

And if so, how does it affect you? Still working on getting to the bottom of my daughter's chronic migraines... Over the past two years, we have taken turns removing every food from her diet for at least a month, with the exception of eggs. I'm wondering if it's worth it to try taking away eggs as well. And I wonder if that would mean eggs in EVERYTHING?? (She has also done two months of taking away everything at once EXCEPT organic-hormone free eggs, grass fed lamb, a few organic vegetables, and water. But, the eggs have been a constant throughout.)

Maybe he just likes the attention?

My daughter had a mild concussion recently, but she was not told this! On the other hand, her vision was blurry and her thoughts were not real clear anyway, so maybe they knew it wouldn't be an issue. I know that following severe brain damage, they sometimes put you in an induced coma with a breathing tube, to take away every possible job of the brain except staying alive. Everything the brain does takes work, even breathing, and they want the brain to put all of its energy into just staying alive and healing. I suppose it's the same concept for a mild concussion, to a much lesser degree, of course.

We use brown rice (or at least half) and add an egg or two. Often I'll make it the night before, because it's just as good cold.

I'm curious as to whether the young mom ASKED your girls to do all those extras, or whether they just did it all because they're nice girls. Either way, if they were content with the $15 for half/day, I'd explain to the mother that from now on, sorry -- but all they can babysit for is half day. Be very specific about the times. And, tell your daughters to just play with the kids and not worry about everything else. (Although a quick pick-up is always nice!)

My mother is a young breast cancer survivor. Her mother had breast cancer too (and survived). Her grandmother had breast cancer (did not survive). My breasts are extremely lumpy, so new lumps do not stand out. I eat healthy, exercise, and am thin. I have yearly mammograms, as well as yearly MRI's. This gives me a peace of mind.

My classy trench that I had for years (also London Fog) suddenly seemed so bulky and not so classy anymore, and the shoulder pads on it looked huge! I decided that even if a long trench comes into style again, it will look very different. I donated mine. I now have a "car coat" style London Fog, shorter and more fitted. In five years that will probably look dated too. :)

No, we do not homeschool as an act of rebellion. However, we do teach our children to rebel, if necessary. :)

What is the premise of the book? I think a friend gave it to me once but I never read it.

I don't think so, but I'll try and make the best of it, if I do.:)

That's very sad, but great that you are there to help advise her! I don't think it means the end of the world for her though. I'd recommend a gap year, too... She can get a job, earn some money, maybe do some interesting volunteer work, do proper college applications, and have another shot at the ACT. Perhaps she could take some classes at a community college. So far, all of my kids have been pretty laid back about college immediately after high school. They've all taken interesting gap years, taken the SAT two or three times, and then gotten into the college of their choice with good scholarships after that. There are lots of ways of doing it. I don't think it needs to be so stressful and complicated for her. She has time to get on track.

My daughter started to get migraines about that age, although we didn't that's what they were, then. They went away for a few years, and then came back again off and on, until she reached about 16 -- and then they became more consistent. In our family migraines are a strong gene. Since you had them when you were young, I'd consider this a possibility. Migraines can be very different; they aren't all accompanied by nausea. I've heard that a change in sleep schedule can bring them on. As far as the hair thing... I never had migraines, but if I had my ponytail at just the right place (or wrong place!) I would get a bad headache.

We like it, although we can get a lot more variety through their DVD's. When we are streaming onto a computer, it saves your place wherever you left off.

Well I'm partial to Minneapolis, given that I've lived there and spend about two days/week there. I LOVE the Twin Cities. I think it's a gorgeous, super clean, very safe (of course EVERY city has its bad neighborhoods) area. It places high values on family, education, the arts, going green, the outdoors, biking, and of course Minnesota has 10,000 lakes! There are lovely, lovely parks and lake areas throughout the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. The downtown Minneapolis area is quite hip and up and coming, and safe. (Plus they have their skyway system so you don't have to walk outside in the winter.) St. Paul's neighborhoods have more of a small-town feel to them, and tend to be more old-fashioned neighborly, but of course there are neighborhoods like that in Minneapolis too. There is a light rail system in the Twin Cities that is pretty good, and growing. The bus system will take you anywhere you need to go. There are many colleges and universities within the Twin Cities, several of them considered excellent. And a short drive from the Twin Cities will take you to the beautiful areas of Northern Minnesota, which feel like a totally different land.

Not preplanned...does that mean this person is sick and just can't eat? Or what? I know of some churches that have small groups that go on 40-day fasts, where all they do is drink liquids. It is done carefully, and they make sure they get what they need through liquids. I would think that the most important thing is that he really is getting enough liquids, and not becoming dehydrated at all.

Maybe it's time to take a break for a day -- do something very fun and very unexpected. A matinee and ice cream? I found that when we'd get into a cycle when everything seemed negative -- just breaking that cycle with one fun event sometimes really did the trick. It almost seems like cheating and like it's actually not getting to the problem, but really, sometimes it was all we needed! We do this even now, when sometimes we get such heavy hearts with my husband's condition and how it has changed our lives. Everything seems so difficult and hopeless... and then, we do one little thing to change it up a bit that's fun, and suddenly the situation doesn't seem insurmountable anymore, and we have renewed vigor and cheer.