E-meals has the option to choose a grocery store, and they make the menu based on sales, but they don't offer the stores in my area. I haven't noticed any savings for the same reasons Sparkly listed.

Lanny, I understand that Epson is a good brand with which to use a CISS. We were using an HP C7250, which obviously worked well. We're looking at the HP 8600 now, only because it's significantly on sale today and because I hope to use our leftover CISS ink in it. :) A laser printer would be nice, though I do like color. (It's the printer nerd in me!)

Thanks! CISS - Continuous Ink Supply System. It's a device you put outside of you printer, that supplies ink. I learned about them at a homeschooling conference, and this little nugget of info is the best homeschooling advice I've ever received at a conference! No more buying cartridges. They can be a pain to install, and they will void the warranty on the printer. But the savings in ink is out of this world. Highly recommend them for people who print a lot.

I will ask DH to forward me some info on his groups, so I can pm it to you. :) Has your father had any dna testing done? That might answer some questions quickly, though he may not want to do it. Not everyone does. My own father didn't want to do it, though I'm not sure exactly why. There are plenty of unofficial adoptions on his side of the family, I think, so the results would have been interesting.

Our trusty printer died while printing stuff for the upcoming school year. Did you all hear the screams of frustration reverberate around the world? Why, oh why, did it die now??? Now it's time to shop for a new one. The last thing I wanted to do right now, because I'd much prefer to spend money on books. But here goes... Printer recommendations, anyone? I prefer to use a CISS with our printers, as the savings on ink is astounding, and I do a ton of printing. Bought the CISS for our last printer in 2010 and only had to buy replacement ink once. So something compatible with a good CISS is key.

What a bummer that people are not sharing. We got so much info - it was overwhelming. Interspersed with stories and family histories, and ... just too much to process, really. I wonder if there's someone else you can contact? On the surname, doesn't that usually follow the y chromosome, so your brother (if you have one) might find those matches, or your father, but not you? That was my understanding. Do you know if you might have adoptions in your history? That might affect your ancestry info, too. And, of course, there's the "who's the birthfather" stuff that happens. :) We haven't tried the Ged Match site, I think DH ended up feeling overwhelmed by all the info, in fact, he still gets so much info, and I'm not sure he reads it all, just sort of looks and thinks, "Oh, there's more!" ... I think this is in part because he did the test to get heritage answers while his adoption was closed. Once he had those answers, then had them confirmed by birthfamily - he sort of had the info he wanted. I might be able to find out what groups he uses, and pm you some info. Maybe some of the Family Tree stuff can be used with your tests. I would imagine so.

DH did it to find out about his heritage, before finding his birthfamily. So almost 10 years ago. He used the best at the time - Family Tree DNA. We did a lot of testing, and he has info on birthmother/fathers' sides. Through it, he's gotten a ton of contacts, and we get almost weekly emails about new matches, along with how closely matched they are. He's in a study of his haplogroup, and several other groups for his surname and other random stuff. All have sent him gobs of info on his heritage, in fact when he met his birthfamily - he is much more informed than they are. :lol: Of course, they have more recent family lore, but as far as the connection to particular famous ancestors, and other info ... DH knew a lot more. Kind of funny. Does Ancestry DNA do any connecting for you? Maybe you could find some studies involving your haplogroup, family, etc, and get involved? It's been fascinating!

I do the same thing. I want to be respectful of other families, and I don't want to undermine other parents. A purely intellectual conversation with an adult is different, or a simple question from a child, but I don't want to offend or create a rift between our families, so I simply stay away from the topic with kids, if possible. My go to answer is the same: "Different people/families believe different things." And then we have cookies and play. :)

UNM is the same. The students are in a little bubble, really. Kids get wrapped up in their on-campus world. There was a lot of violence in ABQ when I was there, too, and we had safety drilled into us. OP, :grouphug: I agree that it sounds like you need to grieve about your plans for a bit, and then you can make plans once you've grieved. (As an aside, Chris in VA, I laughed when I read your post because for many years I was a traveling, self-supporting artist. The only place I was ever robbed: Richmond, VA!)

:grouphug: Your kids handled it well. Good job raising kiddos who think for themselves! And who talk to you.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this yet... Kinsa!!! We all need Kinsa. :) Her shower stall transformation is astounding.

Hey there. :seeya: We moved from ABQ to the DC area many moons ago. I went to UNM, and stayed there for a bit, afterward. :) Yep, DC is going to mean a raise for COLA. And you should have moving expenses thrown in, too. We are in the area, not DC proper. We're in Northern VA. You are more than welcome to pm me to ask any questions. One thing: I would not hesitate to let your rising freshman live in the dorms at UNM. I'm guessing that's the local school? I didn't live in the dorms, always had an off campus apartment - but even doing that, I felt safe, and made a great support system for myself. I moved there for school, without knowing a soul. Personally, I'd get the kiddo settled at school, and move with your DH (or move with your DH and kids, then go back and settle freshman into the dorms). Keeping the marriage together would be a top, top, top priority for me. Not that you couldn't, or wouldn't, I just would miss my DH too much. Homeschooling in VA is easy. DC and MD are not too hard either. Good luck! ETA: bring chile!!!

Smart man. And now we know why you made a cobbler for him!

Well, I'm in VA, too - if you can't finish it, just bring it over and I'll take care of it for you! :drool5: I would refrigerate it.

Glad you posted this. The saddest part of not learning cursive, to me, is that it limits a student's access to primary historical documents. I don't want to do anything that will limit my child, or lock him out of a field or any type of research. Even if one is not going to be a historian, what happens when those kids are adults, and they are going through our attics, after our deaths? And they find letters from great grandma to great grandpa? What if they can't read their own family history? (In our case, we do have these letters, so it would be sad if our children couldn't read them, I imagine many people have letters stashed away.)

Yes, can I come have breakfast at your place, OP? :)

I forgot to add BBQ from NC. We will sometimes take a cooler and stock our freezer. Mmmmm. This thread is making me hungry.

Dory, I'm so, so sorry for your loss.

Roasted green chile from NM. Hatch, of course. It doesn't smell like fall till you smell roasting chile.

Thinking of you...

It does sound that way, though I must admit that it has not been easy. Every adoption has it's own set of issues. We are pro-open adoption and our other child's adoption is fully open, and we have all worked hard to keep it that way. We wanted the same for our DD, but it hasn't worked that way. There has been some animosity from extended birthfamily. I could write a novel about it, but it's better for a pm. Funny, though, our SW said, during our foster parent training, that she's only once seen an infant come into the system with TPR signed and available for adoption - in 30 years. So we did not expect it. At all.

Those are our favorites, too! We also like the black Ticonderogas, but the silver are much better. And more fun.

DS here is 10, and enjoys them. He's been reading them, not listening to the audio, but would probably like the audiobooks. He likes silly books. I can't read them aloud, for reasons stated above. :) Your 10 year old may be different. Hunger Games here would be too traumatic for DS here, too much injustice and death - it would be terribly upsetting. He knows the general story of Hunger Games, and prefers to wait. (Not that I would be opposed to Hunger Games for him, if he could handle it - it's purely that he's on the sensitive end of being 10 years old.)

Oh, yes. We agreed to it! She was a healthy infant. :) No special needs. In our state, after a certain age kids are considered "special needs" for subsidy purposes, even if they don't have medical needs. But in our case - healthy newborn. We were even in the delivery room, and did all of the immediate, rooming in type care while she stayed in the hospital. No complaints here.

I chose 9, because I'd prefer to sleep till (at least) 9. But I generally get up at 8:30, when DH goes to work. He does the kid care till then, to let me sleep in a bit. :001_wub: I generally go to sleep around midnight, but I need more sleep than I used to need, so sleeping in a bit is helpful.