:iagree::iagree: I used both of those books as supplementals while in architecture school. I had absolutely no background in drawing so they were extremely helpful in staying on track with my peers. I still use them for those brief moments when I just want to sketch to clear my mind. I also agree with the nmoira about drawing before moving into CAD. CAD made more sense to me after I learned about drawing, sketching, and learning to read line weights and why they are drawn the way they are drawn.

This is a test of the Emergency Homeschool System. In the event of a real homeschool emergency, you would have been directed to the nearest emergency chocolate stash. Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Having made it through 3 c-sections, my advice is to talk to her and see what she needs. Given your responses back regarding the family situation, reaching out is a great idea. I know after my 1st I thought I could handle much more than I actually could but I didn't realize it until a friend called and rattled off a list of things she thought I might need and hadn't thought about. Also, just having someone hold the baby while I could nap was a huge help. Rolling over and getting out of bed/off the couch was difficult for the first 4 days. I'm a loner but being by myself the first couple of days after coming home from the hospital was scary. Let her know she can call you at any time if she needs help. For me, the simple knowledge of a friend's phone number who would come no matter what time I called was a huge relief for me.

LOVE IT!!!!! Provided a much needed chuckle. Thanks!

We just made our family day trip to Charleston this past Friday. We live 3 hours south of Charleston. I don't think your dd will stick out not being in school. It's a very popular off-season tourist area so you'll see lots of families with children around. We went to the USS Yorktown and there was a large mix of school groups, veterans groups, and families on board the ship. We did pass a Holiday Inn at the base of one of the bridges that was pretty cool because it was round, like the old Capitol Records building in Los Angeles. As we drove Hwy 17 from the interstate, we passed several nice chain hotels, like the Comfort Inn chain, Fairfield Inn chain, etc that looked well-kept from the road and had fairly full parking lots. Most advertised free hot breakfasts, which is a big plus for our family on a budget. Several of them were under $80/night or lower since it's the off-season. When my husband and I went by ourselves, we did the free walking tour supplied by the Historic Charleston Foundation for the historic district downtown. The streets seemed fairly safe during the day and at night. The Aquarium was nice but might be pricey depending on your budget. If you leave during the day, a trip to Drayton Hall on the outskirts of Charleston is fun. It's an old plantation house that is restored as a museum. There are always preservation and restoration craftsmen working on it. I love old buildings so most of our trips are focused on the historic architecture and preservation of Charleston. I know other boardies will have different perspectives to share. Can't wait to hear them!

I had a lady stop me at the grocery store a couple of weeks ago and ask me why my oldest (he's 4) wasn't in preschool and did the school system know he wasn't enrolled? I politely explained that he was only 4, he's getting preschool at home. She was mortified. She changed the subject to couponing since she noticed my grocery list sitting on top of one of the bags still in the grocery cart. She was kind enough to inform me that if I would just put my children in preschool and day care, I could go to all the local grocery stores, use my coupons more effectively, and save my family more money. In her exact words, I was "wasting my family's money by homeschooling since I couldn't take advantage of all the grocery store sales in our area every week". At that point, since I had finished unloading the grocery bags into the van, I sweetly offered her my grocery cart and pushed it over to her, with the bag boy in tow.

We do when the in-laws are here since that's how they primarily schedule their meals due to digestive issues. It actually works really well when we do it since everybody is usually here. During our regularly scheduled programming, it doesn't work since hubby isn't home and I refuse to cook a big meal for the kids, who don't eat much anyway. If hubby was home, I would definitely cook a bigger dinner and lighter supper. I actually sleep better at night when I have eaten less.

I love my front loader! I have a Whirlpool Duet. It's my second one in 10 years due to a maniacal mover taking out my original. An average wash load takes 1 hour, 11 minutes. For heavy duty loads, it takes 1 hour, 32 minutes. This is with the extra rinse. I have hard water so I also use Borax as a supplement to my HE liquid. I have the smell when I first open the basket but after letting it air out, it goes away. I run the bleach/clean-unit-cycle monthly to maintain it, as well. That helps with the smell. I can put 4 sets of twin sheets in a load or my queen-sized comforter, if that helps with imagining the basket size. It also has a soak cycle that I love for letting the kids' dirty clothes soak overnight in soapy water. I typically wash 2x day, one load of clothes, one load of sheets or towels.

California Baby is the only brand my skin will tolerate. I've tried so many other organic and pure brands but they all make me look like I've been hit with an acid attack. My derma recommends nothing over 30 since it's just more chemicals being dumped on your skin and can overload the absorption rate of your skin, defeating the purpose of using an sunscreen.

I did a TNT marathon 10 years ago (has it really been that long?). I think the training is great compared to some of the other programs friends have used. It was a 6 month training regimen that did not have you run the full amount until the day of the race. But I had serious fundraising issues. I was trying for the Honolulu marathon but did the Dallas White Rock instead since it was local. I only had to raise $1000 instead of $4000. I did yard sales with bake sales, sent the letters, everything they advised but just couldn't get the money together. When it came down to committing the money, I had about 65% raised and was able to get a matching gift from Dh's employer for the cash I had on hand so that put me at my limit. If you are interested, start talking to the local group and people who you think (like family) might be interested in supporting you, especially if you are running for someone. The money deadline comes up pretty quick if I remember correctly-maybe 1/2 or even 1/3 of the way through the training. If you are interested in training, I think their training schedule is online for free so you could theoretically do it yourself and donate the money in memory of your FIL to a charity. The group training runs were a big help to me since I am a super slow runner.

When I was in school, "group math experience" was considered cheating. But that was the 70's and 80's ;p. Things are probably different now.

Your explanation makes much more sense than what the teacher was saying. She freaked me out so much I didn't look more into it. I suspected she was adding adjectives to her case.

I've been a big fan of yoga for many years. I have practiced only ashtanga and Bikram yogas, which are focused on the physical aspects of the exercises and the breathing through the poses to get the most benefit from them. The Bikram teacher I had was a Christian and owned the studio. She never brought up religion or had anything spiritual or religious in the studio. The religious aspect of yoga never came up in any of the classes or studios I took from. It wasn't until I moved to our current city where the only yoga classes offered was Kinduli (sp?) that I learned of a religious/spiritual aspect but maybe that was the focus of that particular teacher. I never took classes from her after she explained that I would be releasing my inner dragon to free myself from spiritual bondage during the class. That freaked me out pretty well on a wide variety of levels.

Or West Virginia on a patriotic holiday weekend with the directions to "look for the house with the flag on the flagpole. It's the only one there." It wasn't but the owner sure was nice after he put his shotgun down.

Great advice! When I ran many moons ago with Team in Training, they said the same thing. Never, ever run the 26 miles before your race. One-your body will not be ready for the 2nd 26 miles. Two-You don't get the medal if you don't cross the finish line. Save your 26 for the medal! One more thing they said-a marathon is just your 20 mile training run plus a really tough 10K at the end. Congrats on another marathon!

I resemble those smilies.

I haven't seen it in quite a while so my memory is foggy on the violence. I went to see it in the theaters and all I can remember is thinking that all the violence really wasn't necessary, even if it might have been true. But, that was 16+ years ago when the movie came out and I was in my early 20's.

I had a mother almost exactly like yours. Speaking from experience, I would not make an effort to meet her. In my humble opinion, continue to spend your time with your father and if needed, remind him that you've made peace with this situation and you'd rather continue to make wonderful memories with him while you still have him.

Good luck! I ran my first marathon (and only) 10 years ago-The Dallas White Rock Marathon. It was a life-changing experience. Thankfully, I never got the black and blue toes. I wish you the very best during the next 8 weeks. Yay for you! BTW-Cliff Shots were my very best friend for the last 1/3 of the run. Love them!

:iagree: If you get tomatoes, I've got jalapenos and we can make salsa. And trade books we like. My MIL keeps sending me the Lewis, Blackstock, Kingsbury books and I keep taking them to the Habitat ReStore.

I really hated "The Poisonwood Bible". Someone loaned me a copy when it came out and just raved about it. I maybe got through half of it and gave it back. I also really couldn't stand "Dutch", which surprised me. I LOVE presidential biographies, have since I was a kid. I even have read many of the author's other books but that one just drove me batty. I actually took it back to the store and demanded my money back (all $6 since it was on clearance).

We've stayed several times at the Andrew Pinckney Inn in Charleston. It's not beachfront but it is within the historic district and great for walking around the city. We enjoy it since they have a free rooftop breakfast and are within 2 blocks of the main street. We were able to walk everywhere and keep the car parked in their garage. Also, there is a Harris Teeter within a couple of blocks so we were able to get a few noshables to keep in our room rather than constantly eating out. (I haven't checked prices there lately so I can't speak to how expensive it is this time of year. We go in the off-season so it's cheaper and almost completely deserted).

We don't but my best friend does. She is very disciplined about paying it off every month, no matter what. That includes her husband's business expenses. She puts literally everything that she can on the card. After 2 or 3 years of this disciplined approach, she and her husband celebrated their 10 year anniversary over the summer with a free 7 day trip to Key West at the Waldorf Astoria. Everything at the hotel was paid by their points on their credit cards. Their only expenses were food at local restaurants and their gas from coastal GA to Key West.

Not yet but I got an email telling me to look for it within the week after 9/10/10. Hopefully, it will get here soon.

We can accomodate 2 on the living room sofa, 1 on the playroom sofa, one on the air mattress. We could fit another air mattress in the living room. If you add a couple of sleeping bags in the dining room, add another 2. We have no extra beds. We could fit another 7 uncomfortably if we absolutely needed to. If they had tents and were willing to sleep outside (which can be done here 10 months out of the year), we've got room for at least 8 tents in the front and 3 tents in the backyard. Now, if any of the above mentioned guests want to include bathroom usage, we'd only really have room for about 3 more max, maybe 5 if they were willing to share the bathroom with the others. If no one wants to contain their toiletry paraphenalia, we've only got room for 2 at a time, maybe 3 for a short, short, short visit. This we've learned the hard way.