I knew someone had put cameras up in my house, checking up on me throughout the day... Thank you for this encouragement. For so many reasons, I have a very hard time enjoying this phase of child rearing. I guess this why I hang out here, dreaming of the next few years when I can finally read a book aloud for more than 30 seconds without someone whining or peeing on the carpet. Thank you for the reminder that I need to enjoy them today. Right now, my 2-year-old is sleepwalking and grabbing for something in the air that doesn't exist. Sounds like a good cuddle opportunity. :-)

We went through a foreclosure when I was 15. I somewhat trashed the house. I was angry, immature, and depressed. I wrote all over the walls in black marker. I poured the cat's litter box out on the downstairs carpet. Friends and I went back the day after we moved out and threw eggs at the house. When the bank pulled a trailer into the carport to clear out the stuff we couldn't take, we took the Christmas lights off the roof and tied the trailer to the carport beams. I'm sure there's more but I can't remember it. As an adult, I wouldn't do that, but I have so much anxiety due to that experience I'm not sure I'd survive another foreclosure.

I do frozen roasts in the crock pot. Sometimes I crank it up to high for 2-3 hours, then turn it down to low for the rest of the day. Personally, I think it's a bit cleaner and quicker to use a frozen roast. Otherwise I have raw meat that I have to touch and clean up off the counter and sink, and the kids usually wait until I'm elbow deep in animal blood to color the walls or swing from the light fixtures. I cook whole chickens in the crockpot too, but I thaw those first. It's hard to get the bag of innards out when it's a solid bowling ball.

Ours is about the same, minus the renters insurance (but that was close to what we had when we lived in an apartment). Same scenario, two cars, one financed. We have USAA. My brother is 19, has a 1996 or so Jeep, no financing. He pays $127 a month. Ouch. The joys of teen driving.

I was surprised that DS2 had a cavity because his sugar intake is very limited, except diluted juice (3 parts water to 1 part juice), but I had a serious case of bronchitis or something while I was pregnant with him and took azithromycin for the infection. Interesting.

DS2 just had his first filling on Monday. He had a very small, shallow hole on the front of one of his incisors. We used Versed for sedation and very glad we did. No problems, no Novocaine required. He didn't cry at all (normally a very dramatic child) and has no memory of the procedure. The only downside is that the sedation medicine cost $190 out of pocket, as insurance wouldn't cover it. Oh, and carrying a dead-weight 35 lb. toddler to the car in the snow and ice is NOT easy!

Good old Illinois state government - "If you think our problems are bad, you should see our solutions!"

:ohmy:!!! He seems to be enjoying himself, I'm just worried I'll miss some when cleaning up and the 16-month-old will find them after nap time. Next time I'm just going to use cat food. I already have a cleanup crew to help with that.

Are the beans actually supposed to stay in the box? Or in the same room? Is the sound the beans make when falling down the heat vents supposed to be part of the sensory experience? Would an empty kiddie pool contain the mess, or am I just kidding myself?

That's funny, because that's why I never liked playing DH's Strad. I found the valves more difficult to use because I have small, lazy fingers. If she's not comfortable with the other horn, I wouldn't push a switch. She'll know when she's ready to make some adjustments. But, don't let her talk you into a pink trumpet! Yes, we had kids who bought those in high school! :001_smile:

Your BIL sounds like my DH. He's not a people person. After dealing with coworkers, the kids, and me, and he's pretty much spent his people quota for the day. He gets along great with his dad and siblings, and they live close by (20 minutes away, walking distance from my mom who we see at least 2X a week), but they actually don't talk but every couple months. DH actually offended his grandparents by not calling and telling them when our youngest was born. Part of that is because I usually handle all the communications (and I was a bit busy!), partly because he gets nervous and dreads calling anyone, and partly because, "Well, they'll find out in a month at Thanksgiving dinner anyway!" :glare: Having a child is a big deal, but it never occurred to him that it was a big deal outside our own household. Guy thing.

As far as colleges, it didn't happen to me, but that would probably depend on the program or instructor. My trumpet professor in college was very understanding of students' financial situations. It was not an overly competitive department. There were about 20 students in the trumpet studio, five were extremely talented, ten were above average and serious students, the remainder were not so talented at performance but were majoring in education or theory and still had to take the lessons. This would obviously be a different situation at a school with a more competitive music department, especially if the studio is headed up by a principal chair of a major symphony. If you were going on to graduate school in performance, it would be expected that you are preparing to become a professional and should invest in a professional instrument. If she's got access to a Strad and is taking care of the instrument properly and meticulously (no science experiments in the spit valves!), I would recommend playing the Strad. Beginner horns are cheaper because young children (especially those who aren't serious about music yet) will damage them. An expensive horn is more expensive to repair or replace. DH played on a Strad from middle school through college, but I started on a Conn, upgraded to an intermediate Bundy in high school, then purchased a new Yamaha in college (DH did the orchestra thing, I did not). My wonderful trumpet professor nudged me some extra scholarship money so I could buy a new trumpet. You may not notice as much of a difference, but there really is a huge difference when you're blowing through the horn. Trying to play my Bundy after years on a Yamaha felt like I was trying to make a sound out of a lead pipe. I did keep the Bundy, because I have reckless boys and I want them to respect the horn first before they set a finger on my Yamaha, lol. That's a tough one. If she's planning on playing through high school for fun, maybe a community band or orchestra, no desire to do competitive auditions, I wouldn't upgrade unless the funds allowed. If she shows real skill, desire to take private lessons, desire to audition and possibly major in music, I would prepare to upgrade the instrument. Make sure she starts lessons WELL before going to college!!! Both DH and I went through embouchure changes that can take a couple years to get used to and back to the same playing level as before. Not getting that straightened out years before college would have been a disaster. Also, keep in mind that in college, if she is planning on majoring in performance, she will likely start acquiring other trumpets besides the Bb. If she's in orchestra, she may need a C trumpet. If she's in jazz bands, she may want her own flugelhorn. Several of my college classmates owned a piccolo trumpet for solos and pieces like The Messiah. She'll need several mouthpieces, mutes, cases, a trumpet stand for each instrument... waiting until college to buy for a serious performer would put a lot of expenses into a short time period. You can borrow/rent, but it's easier to practice when you have your own.

DH leaves his email open. I take care of all the house stuff, banking, bills, and doctor/dentist appointments, and sometimes that goes to his email instead of mine. I don't open or answer his personal emails, unless he asks me to read something in them or needs me to respond when he can't. That's rare, now that he has an iPhone. 90% of his personal emails are ongoing conversations between him and his coworkers (you know, watercooler stuff). The rest are from a mutual friend who usually sends emails to both of us unless it's too geeky for me. Most of our family contacts us through Facebook or text messages. That being said, his family tends to contact me instead of him in regards to family issues (everything from holiday plans to concerns over someone's mental health), so I doubt they would have a problem with me answering his emails. DH cannot access his personal email on his work computer nor can he give out his work email addresses for personal use.

I was fine until I got here. Earplugs and bright lamps tonight.

Ah, I see. He's not cruel, you just aren't walking gently enough on those eggshells... :ack2:

Clearly the anthem and half-time disasters could have been avoided by employing a trumpet soloist and a marching band.

We've got all sleet and ice, about 0.5" so far. DH is working from home and grilled hot dogs for lunch outside. It's been a half hour since lunch, and the grill is already iced over again. His coworkers on the Illinois side of St. Louis have already had power outages.

:ack2::ack2::ack2: I'll pass on the Listerine Sundae, lol.

People are crazy already. Schools are called off for the day, and nothing has even started. Last night, we stopped at Costco for milk and red wine (storm essentials, you know...). There were no carts, and people were stocking up like mad on things like gallons of mouthwash. What are you gonna do with that, pour it out in the driveway to make the snow minty fresh?

Another Zenni Optical fan here. I wear contacts nearly all my waking hours, so I can't justify spending $250 after insurance on a pair of glasses. Last pair from Zenni was great and I'm still wearing them, even though my then 6-month-old broke them while cosleeping last year. My older child broke my expensive glasses the year before while cosleeping. One of those things no one ever tells you about cosleeping. :glare:

Our taxable income on the W2 does not include health insurance premiums. Those are deducted first and not taxable. Could that be the difference? Box 1 wages are always lower than his gross salary due to this.

His wife has a tongue stud and he can't handle an olive pit?

We're in the Midwest, so grain of salt and all... At one local store, they put out a huge cart of produce markdowns every Saturday morning. Last week, I picked up 5 zucchini for $0.99, 6 bags of fresh cranberries for $1.20, 8 oranges for $0.99, and 3 cucumbers for $0.49. The week before I grabbed 5 lbs. of apples for $1.29. They are quite ripe, but still edible - up to 4 or 5 days later! The kids ate the oranges and cucumbers for snacks. I shredded the zucchini and froze it for spaghetti/marinara sauce. The cranberries were frozen to make sauce later, and the apples were used to make several desserts and side dishes over the course of the week. I can usually tweak my menu to include these items, as side dishes, snacks, or our weekly dessert, and it prevents me from having to buy full-price fresh or frozen/canned veggies and fruit to fill out our menu. We mostly buy produce, dairy and meat, but the things like vinegars and oils and peanut butter and honey add up. Since we started eating every meal at home we're out of that stuff more often. I always think I'm doing good compiling my grocery list, and then I realize we're out of cocoa and sucanat and sesame oil and dry mustard...

I get along with my FIL well. You can tell him and DH are cut from the same cloth, so it's hard not to like the guy. He does try too look and act about half his age, lol. Very amusing. DH's mother died when he was young. I would have put up with any MIL, good or bad, just so my DH could have avoided going through that.

We just had a heat pump installed, so we don't know quite yet the energy savings. Our auxillary heat doesn't kick in until it's 6 degrees below the set temperature. I don't know if that's a setting with the heat pump or with the thermostat (we have a Honeywell, non-programmable). We do the opposite of someone else upthread - we set the thermostat at 66 during the day and turn it UP to 68 at night. That way, the electric furnace will kick on at 62 instead of 60 on cold nights. We have two toddlers that don't always stay wrapped in their blankets, and I get tired of getting up every hour to cover someone up. It's quite a battle, having all electric. We keep getting more insulation, more efficient appliances, lower the thermostat, unplug the computers... and just when we get the monthly bill to go down, they jack our rates up to be even with what we were paying before. If they're determined to charge us $240/month no matter what, then forget this energy savings stuff. I'm putting in a hot tub.