Thank you both! I've found that my computer time is spent on the website, versus here 😞 I've also been sewing - branching out from quilts to garments! I made two tank tops, and one boxy shirt. The shirt I wore the other day to a church fundraiser and someone asked me where I bought it, as they were looking for a shirt like that - I couldn't stop grinning! I also have made DD a dress, a shirt, a pair of shorts, and another dress - this one for Easter. Now I'm staring at fabric trying to figure out what to make for ME to wear for Easter. Hmm..maybe I'll post something about that!

I'm hardly famous, but thank you! Aww, too sweet!

SO...today is DH's first day of his new job. For a while it looked like he was going to just do his own business, but it's not ideal to start that with no plan in place already, some credit card debt, etc etc. So for now he will be working as a pre-sales engineer for a cyber-security company. It's remote, without much travel, so that's all good. Salary is not as good as we'd like, but not bad, and hopefully with bonuses will be the same or better as he had before. Mom had a test find low level rejection again, and had to return to Duke for another round of Rabbit Antithymocyte Globulin treatment. She then had a case of serum sickness afterward, and is still having bad back pain from the fractures in her vetebrae due to osteoporosis. Prayers for her are appreciated - because of the treatment she had we can't see her for a while - I HATE that they moved here and we still don't get to see them! Also, many of you provided input and comisserated with me when I complained about my church's website. DH, while out of work, spent MANY hours creating a new one, and it is up! SOOOO much better! (if you didn't see the old one, a comment someone I know made when looking at it was, "is the church haunted? It looks haunted.") DH found the branding info for the denomination so was able to use the proper colors, etc for it. Meanwhile, I used Canva to create lots of images, created events, wrote basic blog posts, and I created an Outreach and Social Justice page as we had NOTHING for that before. Many of pages still need significant work - rewording to make them more concise if nothing else - but we wanted to get SOMETHING up before Holy Week so just copy/pasted a lot of the text. (I DID fix a few grammatical errors that were making me twitchy though...like apostrophes for plurals - that HAS to be a sin, lol) But, anyway, here is is! www.fccwp.org We also have been working on the livestream/video archive. Due to a long term contract we are stuck with the service the church is currently using, and updates need to be made to some equipment, but at least now videos ARE going up on Youtube! They are not streamed there directly - yet- have to go to our church website for the live stream. BUT Sunday afternoon/evening DH downloads it, edits out the 15 minutes of people just walking in, adjust the audio the best he can, and adds front/end card, and uploads it to YouTube. And then I add in chapters with timestamps. We also are creating a playlist of just sermons. https://www.youtube.com/@fccwp So, good stuff. DH is not thrilled about this job, but I'm praying it works out better than he is hoping. I think he will realize how good he is at it and that will bolster his spirits. Mom hopefully will continue to improve. And we may be flying to Ohio in a few weeks to visit family and see the eclipse!

I've been off meds for the most part for a month or more now. No idea, as time is one thing i can't track off meds. It is...not ideal. I'm off my diet as well, as my impusivness is also manifested in impulsive eating. It's awful. A friend had some meds because they didn't work for her kid that I'm rationing for days I really need to think. I am usually on Vyvanse. But with DH losing his job (he has a new one, starts on monday!) we don't have insurance for this month, until that job starts. Vyanse without insurance is $425!!!! So I asked doctor to call in Adderall instead, as that would be cheaper. Yeah, they don't have any adderall, and have no idea when they will as the last several orders were not filled. Now, best case is they get adderall in, but likely I'm waiting until we have insurance again, and then asking doctor to switch it again to vyvanse (hoping they don't think I'm drug seeking with the changes) and then hoping that I can GET vyvanse, which will cost at likely $90 a month for brand name (no one can get generic anywhere around here). It is insanity. I miss meds SO much, and I'm yelling at my kids more, which I KNOW is from being off meds. Best benefit of meds is I don't lose my temper.

Same. And as others said, if there was truly a valid, logical reason for not having one AND the person was able to get where they wanted to go without relying on this new person they just met, that would be different. Say they had a vision issue and already had a system to get to where they need to go - be that public transportation, or a budget for Lyft, or had an apartment close to stores/restaurants/work/etc to make it feasible, that would be fine. But it generally is guys that haven't budgeted for a car and are not in a place financially or otherwise to be a good partner in a relationship.

This! and as far as health, I'd just be eating the cheesecake for breakfast - at least you added in the bagel! (I love to eat cream cheese on graham crackers, so I'm not judging at all)

yes, exactly! This is also a suspicion, and we are pursuing testing.

Today her big complain, with lots of feeling, was that "If I do something I shouldn't, you say something to me, and then I don't do it anymore." This was said as a complaint, because somehow I'm forcing her to be good and she really wants to be rebellious and bad?

I'm definitely staring perimenopause - the insomnia, anxiety, etc. Last time I had a 13 year old I also had a 2 yr old and was pregnant, so that was worse, lol.

I love my daughter. She'a. great kid. But dear heavens has she become full of teenage angst lately - ALL of which is directed at me. ALL of it. I am the bad person. I am the problem. I am the one that makes her anxious. y'all I try very very hard to be a good parent. But it seems I'm the enemy. And I KNOW this is normal. But heavens. I'm going to drink a High Noon Tequila Seltzer and try very hard to be grateful she is comfortable enough with me to come to me with all her big feelngs - even when they are about me. Edit - there is also some physical stuff going on - she's anemic and low vitamin D so we just found out that and are addressing it, that should help. And we are waiting on celiac test results which I'm sure is stressing her out (she is going to be very upset if positve, and I don't blame her one bit) and may also be causing anxiety if she has it - her brother gets neuropsychiatric symptoms when he gets glutened (he has celiac)

I know this is old, but just saw this. I'd dismissed Funda Funda because I thought it was a play on the word "Fundamentalist" and would be conservative religious stuff, lol. I seem to be wrong. So, thank you for this.

He is SO adorable! But of course, he will just keep getting cuter and cuter - so no worries about him getting bigger 🙂

Ah, my primary care copay is $25, Urgent Care is $40, ER is $200 I think, maybe $250.

This is why I was thrilled that our new house was 3 minutes from a well run and very clean urgent care. It's just easier. That said, our new primary office has an ARNP who sees just sick visits several days a week, so maybe I could get it fast now. Oh, and when i went there the first time I was super nice to the receptionist, and complimented how well they ran things. She ended up giving me the number for her direct line so I could call her to schedule directly, rather than the main system for the bigger practice! Score!

Well, today hit a new low for the website/social media/communications! I was really disappointed my church didn't have an Ash Wednesday service, and spent over an hour last night and today trying to find another church that had one that worked timewise and that I would feel comfortable going to. I eventually posted on our members only facebook group that I was looking for an Ash wednesday service, and might be going to the service at the church down the street. A few hours later the education director sent me a text - she saw my post and told me our church DOES have an Ash Wednesday service - but someone NO ONE had put that information ANYWHERE. So she thanked me for bringing it up, and she had put the info on Facebook on the member page and the outward facing page. I had even checked the church calendar - nothing, and NOTHING was said about it last Sunday during announcements, NOTHING was in the bulliten about it OR the newletter that goes out monthly. NOTHING. So, we may be the only ones there tonight, lol. YIKES!

I think it was over the line and bad sportsmanship for him to get in his coach's face because he was mad about being taken out of a play. Poor sportsmanship. AND Any Reid is the reason they won and were in that game in the first place - he knows what he is doing! I don't think it means he's an abuser, but it does show a lack of self discipline and the best players have self discipline. And it was ego centric which again - bad sportsmanship. it's a TEAM sport.

Yes. I had to get off Reddit the other day after reading about someone who refused to watch her neighbor's kids for an hour while the woman went to the hospital. She said the people in the apartment complex all would hang out in the courtyard while kids played together, including her kids. She'd been there a year, knew this next door neighbor for a year. But when the neighbor knocked on her door at 3am in a panic because she was in very active/advanced labor and her sister couldn't get there to watch her kids for another hour, this woman refused to watch the laboring woman's kids for that hour. And many if not most comments supported her decision, saying it "wasn't her problem". For a "Christian nation" we sure seem to have skipped over the story about the Good Samaritan. (not to mention in this particular case about the innkeeper NOT being the hero of the story when he says there is no room in the inn!) it made me so sad/angry I just got off social media for the night. Read a nice book about a serial killer since at least that was fiction. (and I know, often posts on Reddit are fiction as well...but at least some of those commenting were likely serious)

What kind of monsters do you associate with that no one wanted to eat the buffalo dip? My ONLY concern with it is sometimes it is too spicy for me, but it is so yummy!

Oh, I get that - people who are doing well and enjoying their job don't have to go on to Reddit to complain. You only see the negatives. All this!!!!!! I did comment on Reddit about a kindergarten assignment, where they had to write down 10 things that started with the letter F that they could find in their home. A parent had posted about it, wondering if it was okay that the kid spelled words wrong (because hello, a 5 year old can't spell Fridge even if it was a real word). I said that hey, maybe it would be more developmentally appropriate to have kids who are still learning the alphabet/basic phonics to just draw a picture of objects, or dictate the words to an adult. I was told no, that it was very important to have kids that age writing. I am apparently insane for thinking requiring writing should come AFTER knowing both how to form letters and spell a decent number of words. Years ago DS24 decided to try public highschool, for 9th. He got into a "Scholars Academy" program. The writing "instruction" consisted of going to the computer lab and writing short essay responses to various questions to practice for the end of year standardized writing test. There was ZERO instruction. Worse, when they were done, they were told to just delete their answers. No one actually GRADED or reviewed or corrected or critiqued it. Somehow, they were expected to get good at writing by just....writing, with no feedback at all nor any instruction. My DS was so annoyed that he hacked into the system to save and email himself one of his responses that he was particularly proud of. But seriously, how do you expect kids to care about their writing when no one will ever read it???? Yes, it's again about age appropriate levels. In early years, kids are learning to read, so they need to be doing that with instruction in class, with someone there to check if they are getting it. But later, they are reading to learn, so doing reading outside of class lets them then discuss the reading IN class. If class time is for reading, there isn't time to discuss.

Well, we have last week's service up on YouTube now...he cut out the 10 minutes of people filing in, added an intro/outro slide (although I'm going to see what other voice we can use - I don't like the AI voice he picked - or have Rev. Shawn record one), and I added in chapters! I added the chapters just copying from the bulletin and then I learned that the format of Bible chapter:verse looks like a timestamp to youtube, lol. So had to take the specific reading title out, but that's fine, he says it and it is in the bulletin. Took my a WHILE to figure out why the timestamps i put in were not working right!!!!! The video quality is still TERRIBLE. DH went by the church on Friday for a while and traced all the cables/wires/equipment and tested the internet speed. They are NOT getting what they should for uploading speed, and the admin asked him to come back on Monday when the internet provider is going to be there so they can figure that issue out. He's going to work on the website this weekend. He is hoping, but not promising, to have a new website and the youtube channel all ready to go for a big reveal at our church's 140th "Birthday" celebration on the 17th. (and...when I checked the date just now realized I'm double booked - kids have a homeschool dance from 4-7, "birthday celebration" is from 5:30-8pm, AND DH is going to be driving home from 3.5 hours away that day as he is doing a conference talk or something the day before in Miami. Huh. Maybe he will go to that, and I'll take kids to the dance, then leave dance early to join back up with him. Or maybe kids would rather church thing...they will have glow in the dark mini golf, yummy food, and a chocolate fountain. Crap, chocolate fountain isn't going to be safe for a celiac kid anyway. I will have to ask ahead for some chocolate to be set aside in a bowl if we plan on going. I'm an introvert who wants to sit home and read all day - how did life get so complicated? Video linked below

Amen!!!! Now, intervention specialists for kids with dyslexia, dyscalcula, dysgraphia, etc - THOSE people need advanced training, absolutely. Some kind of specialized training specifically in methods that work with these kids. But it would be WAY fewer kids that need tutoring and one on one intervention if the class as a whole was being taught clearly and step by step, with a solid curriculum that the teachers felt confident in using. When the teachers are being given problematic educations themselves, then handed a problematic new curriculum every year or two, that they never get into a groove with, or worse, no curriculum resources at all, with no tracking of students so a huge range of abilities, it is no wonder they can't even figure out who needs remediation and who is just confused by the curriculum or needs actual regular practice to cement the idea. Also an amen to whoever said basic math and phonics take repetition! I keep telling my 6 yr old, when she kind of side eyes me, that "repetition is the mother of learning". She's heard it a WHOLE lot. And sure, you can do fun stuff with that repetition - but you gotta do it. And you odn't have TIME to practice phonics and math facts if kids are having to do full on literary analysis in kindergarten and write sentences or paragraphs in math class about how to solve each problem. (yes, that's a real thing)

I'm glad to hear Quilted Northern works - I got scared during the TP shortage of 2020 - good to have a second brand I can fall back on! I'll try it if I ever can't find Charmin Strong!

I don't know if it is rigorous enough for a really mathy kid, but Dennison math is a huge hit here. Very well done, very clear, absolutely NO frustration with anything as far as videos/solutions/etc. It's designed to be VERY predictable - There is a short video lesson where the concept is taught and then he works out sample problems. The sample problems are in the student notebook - it is always a 2 page spread, and always EXACTLY what is on the screen. They work them out along with the teacher. Then they work a problem out and see if they get it right (pausing the video). Then they see the solution. Then the actual assignment is also always a 2 page spread. That predictability seems silly, but it really helps math anxious kids feel confident - they don't waste brain power wondering how long the lesson is, they can just focus on the math. Every single problem is worked out in the solution manual PLUS there is a solution video for every lesson - where every problem is worked out on the video. Every test has a review first, and practice test. Then each test has a second version - if they don't do well on the first try they can retake it using the "version B" which is same format but different numbers/problems. Again, relieves anxiety knowing there is a do-over which frees them up to just focus on math. Sounds like your kid doesn't need that - but wanted to mention it in case.

YUP. And giving them extra time, or more practice, if they don't understand the concepts that were foundational, won't help. you HAVE to fix the foundation first. I don't know, I really don't think it should take a specialized degree to teach basic arithmetic. Sure, it would be nice, but it is totally possible to teach most children who don't have dyscalcula basic addition/subtraction/multiplication/division (including basic operations with fractions/decimals/percents) without a degree in math. Or it should be! I think the real problem is poor curricula more than anything (see post below) THIS!!!!! Almost anyone can teach math using say, CLE math light units. For crying out loud, they were developed so a single non college graduate could teach multiple grade levels in a one room school house if need be. Obviously a secular curriculum would be needed, but something similar would be cheap and easy to implement - a few minutes teaching the lesson, demonstrate things using manipulatives, then kids who "get it" can get to work independently and the ones who need more help the teacher can focus on helping. If need be the "I can do it" section could be done at home and it is simple enough that parents can actually help the students. Plus practice with flash cards a few times a day - say to start off the day, after or before lunch, before leaving for the day. Have more challenging problems on hand for kids that finish fast and find math easy - a daily math challenge problem or whatever. Or let THAT be the time they go online and do an app! Something like that would have kids leaving elementary school with at least the ability to do basic math! I sometimes lurk on the teacher subreddit and I was blown away by how many teachers said most everything was done in groups. How do you know which students are grasping the material if they don't turn in individual work? Or answer questions indivdually in a discussion? Yes! Not everyone is great at everything and asking them to be is a good way to get a lot of kids who are good at not much.

Bonus is that Charming Ultra STRONG doesn’t leave lint on my girly bits- at least I think that is why every time I switch to something different I start getting either a yeast infection or a UTI. I now stick with Charming Strong and no infections.