As someone who IS religious but still has to try to figure this out when invited to a co-op at a church, etc, I totally get this. We have stuff in various places that gets to most of this, but perhaps should be more centralized in one place. And honestly, we don't have anything about how we are not going to say you are going to hell, not directly....not sure how we could say that, but am open to suggestions! We are very very much about following the teachings of Jesus as far as helping others, serving others, etc - pretty much exclusively. We do not focus on personal salvation, or personal sin. But again, not sure how to say that - maybe that is where having sermons available, and some clips of the pastor talking, would be helpfu. At the top of the website we have that we are open and affirming. In other places we have the following - When you walk through the doors at First Congregational Church, you’ll find a community of people that warmly and genuinely welcome all, regardless of religious tradition, sexual orientation, marital situation, financial or social status. This is a church that abundantly welcomes everyone around the table. On the bulletin cover it says : “a traditional and nurturing church celebrating God’s grace through reason, education, diversity, inclusion, and social justice” And then the description for the men's group says, "The Spirit Keepers invites all men to join together in building strong relationships within our church. We are an open and affirming and non-judgmental group that honors diversity and freedom of conscience among its members wherever they are on their spiritual journey."

Just saw this today, about that very thing. https://www.facebook.com/reel/1094953598371621

What if you owe in a container first thing, put it under the sink, then after coffee get up the nerve to test it?

I think it really was a matter of, in an hour they could have my blood, and only my blood, as when I was done I had to stay laying in that chair for the next 45 minutes. OR get blood from multiple people during that hour, using that same chair.

For me it is blood draws. Not shots, I'm fine for those, but my body does NOT want to let go of any of its blood! I cannot donate blood - I'm find until the end and then when they take the needle out everything goes to tunnel vision and all I hear is static. Last time I did it, many years ago (after having gatorade and a big meal in an attempt to not have this happen) they asked me to please not come back. They won't let me get up until my color comes back (my lips were white/blue I guess) so in the 45 minutes I'm sitting there hogging they chair they could have gotten a bunch more blood from other people. So, I don't go anymore, lol.

THIS is the reason I'm considering it. Also, the font on every digital entry is the same, where as if I handwrite it, I may do all caps, or underline it, or draw an arrow, etc.

The floor is always an option for sitting. Better to sit on the floor than fall to the floor - and your body WILL take you to the floor to get your head/brain down however it needs to.

This is what I'm wondering. And I'm glad to see someone actually keeps both - I think digital is needed for me so it can pop up with a reminder, and so that DH can see what is going on, I can enter things right away, etc. But paper is better for "figuring things out" for lack of a better term. I know in school, I'd take notes and then during a test i could visualize that part of the paper the information was on from my notes. You lose that with digital. Of course, digital is WAY easier to shift things around, but with erasable pens/highlighters/etc PLUS sticky notes, etc that seems less of an issue than years ago.

yeah, that's what we do now. But the paper one LOOKS like it would work...just...I need it to sync to the cloud, lol. Our Dakboard looks nice, but every month I create a new background, upload files for the "stickers", add those individually, etc. This is an example screen shot, it is displayed on a TV we use as a monitor mounted to the kitchen wall. I'm going to keep that up, because DH's calendar syncs to it for travel, etc. And the kids can see what is coming up, we can see the weather, etc. Was just wondering if paper instead of my phone would work better for me when I'm not staring at my kitchen wall, lol.

I had a nurse once tell me, as I was about to faint from a vagal reaction, to cough. It worked! Something about it stimulates the vagal nerve or increases blood pressure in the brain or something. Worth trying!

Lol, I make the appointment while I'm there for the same reason! I also tell them I'm sorry, but I can't walk away from the desk until I have the appointment in my calendar on my phone. And I read it back to them after I enter it in, to be sure I've got it right.

Sounds like it may be time for a pacemaker/internal defribrillator. My ex had one, truly is an easy procedure to recover from.

I've thought the whole "more money for better schools, less money for poorer schools" to be absolutely backwards for a long time. Seems you want to put more money and effort into the ones that need the most work. But hey, what do I know?? I still think phonics should be taught, and math facts memorized, and that asking kindergarteners who can't read yet to do research papers is bordering on child abuse.

Love the idea of a virtual tour of the new site!

Oh man, been there! That said, you CAN get healthier WHILE pregnant. I've done it. I mean, if you are having hyperemisis or whatever, that's different, but I was way healthier at 9 months pregnant with my last than I am now! I was walking, doing exercise videos, and even going to Zumba!! The zumba instructor was flabbergasted, lol and hugged me to congratulate me on being so fit. I only remember because it was a REALLY sweaty hug! But, I bet you aren't. I mean, sperm only live 5 days, generally, at most, and then you would test positive 2 weeks after that at the latest usually. Most newer tests are super accurate even 12 days post ovulation, and many pick up before that with a faint positive.

Back when dinosaurs roamed and I went to youth events, we had it separated out. There was a youth Bible study, which was at someone's home with dinner, which was attended by a smaller group of youth. Then there was the big youth night that was a big group with music, games, etc. I think there was always a short message and prayer, but otherwise mostly fun. Man, that was a long time ago! I really only remember a few things, like having a crush on one of the older boys, lol.

But, let's say you are at the doctor's office, and they want to schedule your next appointment. You don't have your wall calendar at the office, obviously, so what do you do. Do you just...remember it? And then remember to write it on the wall calendar when you get home? Because honestly, that sounds like black magic, lol.

Ah..yeah. We are a family with ADHD. We don't remember stuff, lol.

Ok, so you would put things in your paper calendar and on the wall calendar? I'd guess that's about the same as putting something in your paper calendar and in a digital one, since our "wall calendar" is monitor showing digital calendar.

These seem amazing to me! The week pages are shorter, so you can see the week AND the month at the same time, plus have a spot for monthly notes. Maybe this has been done before and I'm late to the party, but this seems revolutionary to me! They also sell sticky notes that fit exactly in the different boxes, washi tape with checkboxes, etc etc. But it is the planner layout itself that seems SO smart to me! (Oh, and they have a Catholic one too! It is sold here.) I love looking at these, and even spent time watching a few bits of their youtube videos. BUT....to keep track of stuff for the whole family I need to have things in the digital calendar so everyone can see what is going on. If you use a paper planner, do you also input everything into a digital calendar like google or ical or whatever? Right now I pay for Artful Agenda, which is a pretty version of a digital planner that syncs with google/apple/etc calendars, and we have a big dakboard display on the wall that syncs to google etc, so everyone can look at it and see what is going on. If you use paper, do you once a week or whatever make sure that stuff in the digital calander makes it to paper and vice versa? Do you miss stuff that way? I'll probably stick with digital because it sounds hard, but I HAD to share for all the paper planner people!

Amen. As someone said, speculation isn't news. Fine for the dinner table, not for a "news" source.

i heard a live version of Chapman singing it at some point - I think maybe NPR did it. She was at some big festival, and was scheduled to play on one of the small stages as an opening/side act, which she did. But then someone canceled or was sick or something happened, I forget what, and they asked her to go sing on the main big stage in front of the whole big festival. And she did, and was a pro and acted like she'd been doing it all her life. Was amazing.

So, on top of being on the comittee working to get our parish's congregation's website/social media updated (a lifetime spent in Episcopal and Catholic churches means I will NEVER not say parish as my first instinct!), I am on the education board. I help out at some youth activities, help with set up clean up and brainstorming, and may be a chaperone on this summer's social justice youth trip. I think the youth director would like to see me more involved in the middle school youth stuff, but for various reasons with my mom's health and stuff that hasn't happened. (me not being able to be reliable, basically) I LOVE some of the things our youth group does - or more broadly, love WHO they are. It's not huge, probably 20 kids is a big night. But they come from all over the metro area - we drive 30 minutes and we are not the only ones. Not more than 2 kids from any given school. So it isn't cliquish. These kids are amazing people. Some are SO mature beyond their years...others are um....not. But I adore those kids too - they are good, but some have a lot of energy, lol. We also have several LGBTQ kids, and it is a safe, fun place where they feel fully welcome. My DD has made some close friends there, even though they all go to different schools and only see each other at church events (although now they get together for mall hang out time and such too). We have an amazing Our Whole Lives program and run 1-2 age groups each year. This year it is 5th-7th and 10th-12th. Every other year we do confirmation classes for kids in 7th and 8th. Right now the 10th-12th are in OWL for part of youth group time, and on confirmation years many of the middle schoolers are in confirmation during much of youth group time (but not the 6th graders or kids not doing confirmation). We overlap because frankly, when people are driving 20-30 minutes each way, having too many activities is just not feasible - especially if they have kids in sports and such. They do great youth group lock ins, retreats for kids in confirmation, retreat for older kids doing OWL, a retreat once a year or so that is for all UCC churche in our geographic area a few hours away, and every other year a road trip/pilgrimage type thing. What I think is maybe lacking is more structure/fun/anything at just regular youth group meetings. These are twice a month usually, from 5pm to 7pm. Parents take turns bringing dinner, and the kids all eat together (grades 6-12) then the 10-12th graders who have OWL go upstairs for that, and we are left with the other ones. Mostly the middle schoolers, I don't know if we even have 9th graders right now. We do something that usually feels a bit thrown together - last time we walked over to the college associated with the church and walked around there, and they play manhunt or sardines or whatever, then the older ones come back downstairs and we have a time where we all stand in a circle holding hands and each person says something they want to pray for (or can skip) and then we say our group prayer before leaving. Honestly, kids were BORED last time. It's not "fun" other than the games they do which are never planned in advance anyway, and they spend as much time arguing over which game to play as actually playing it. And I don't feel they are getting much spiritually out of it. I DO feel they are making friends, and that they feel the adults are trusted people in their lives, which are our main goals. But...I think we need to move beyond that and our education director and one volunteer (who is a mom of a toddler) just do not have the bandwith to do much more this year. Part of the issue is being a very progressive church the normal stuff doesn't often work - need to be careful of this. But I know there IS stuff I can find/use, but it's been so long since I was IN youth group I don't remember what it looks like, lol. My thoughts right now are to play some music in the background or something to add to the fun, to PLAN games (I was googling and found "extreme spoons" which they will LOVE), and to have something more for in between. Maybe adapting some sunday school resources, or finding some videos, or having a service project they can work on, or???

Wait, I could have waited until Candlemas?!?! I thought i had to do it on Epiphany!

yes, I've heard a lot of stories of this. We definitely are concerned that people will have been hurt too many times before to trust easily. Some of the stories I heard while volunteering at our booth at the Pride event made me cry (and they cried while telling them). Right now, when new members are asked why they chose our church the most common reason is that we are LGBTQ affirming.