Be prepared for chaos. 🙂 LAX is always so busy, even at midnight. Right now, there are often lanes closed around the international terminal, and traffic gets quite backed up. My husband tried to pick me up (at midnight) recently, and it took an hour for him to make the loop around the terminals. The easiest thing for you is to follow the signs to the Ride Share Shuttle locations. These shuttles are frequent, so the wait isn't long. And these shuttles are like special traffic monsters that seem to cut through the chaos. They will take you to an off-site Uber/Lyft location that is much easier to navigate. I use Uber when I get there and the app automatically knows my location under a particular sign/row. It usually only takes about 5 minutes to snag a ride. Not too expensive - I travel further, about 30 miles, and it costs me about $35.

Thank you for the encouragement and book reference - I'll take a look!

Had to try! 😊

Los Angeles region? 😀

Thanks! It is nice to hear that it isn't too late. I hope! We have a friend that might have a suitable small dog. The problem is that a lot of the people we know have dogs that have issues too, sigh. We are scheduled to chat with a private trainer this afternoon, so hopefully there is a way we can socialize Ponyo. The minute she had her 3rd vax, I started taking her out and about to at least see other dogs. This week we attempted to just sit next to a dog park. Just sit at a bench and watch the other dogs play. She was on high alert, for sure. I did see a smaller enclosure at the park, like mentioned above, but a group of people were using it for their large huskies. 😬 We walk twice daily in the neighborhood, she has been to pet stores, joined us for outdoor dining, and has even attended a beach party. Is she nervous in general? I don't know. She seemed pretty happy-go-lucky and looooooved people. Until Week 14. She then started barking when someone in our family suddenly walked into a room (doesn't really do that anymore), barks/growls at sounds of people walking by or to our house, barks at people outside. Doesn't bark as much at dogs, but does sometimes, and lunges to get away. It was like a switch flipped in her personality. I have no idea what happened and can't recall any traumatic event. However, I think the walks are helping to desensitize her??? Or am I overwhelming her? It seems like every house in our neighborhood has dogs outside that bark when we walk by. She is getting to the point that she can walk loose-leash past those houses, mostly, unless one really startles her. She did yelp once yesterday. I've been having her meet people on our walks as well. She'll bark, but then be excited to meet them. She was nervous around two small girls that were eager to meet her, but then ate treats out of their hands. She plopped down and rolled over for a belly rub to one nice gentleman today. And how does one get a harness on a dog without a battle? We don't want a battle. We would feed her a spoon of pumpkin while putting the harness on, and she was okay, but that didn't work today. And now she is skittish and won't approach me today. I'm sorry, I'm rambling. I just don't know what we are doing wrong to make her such a scared puppy. It almost, as much as we love her, makes me want to return her before we ruin her.

Hello! I've been reading these forums forever, but don't post much. I know there are some knowledgeable dog folks on this board, and I have learned a lot about puppies from some previous threads. Due to your advice, our little girl potty-trained and crate-trained quickly and well. Thank you!! But we desperately need help. Any advice you can give would be so appreciated! We are brand new, first time, dog parents, and are the proud owners of a 4.5 month old Bichon/Shih Tzu mix named Ponyo. In many ways, she is a wonderful dog. Cuddly, playful, smart, potty-trained, and crate-trained, eager to learn and please. But she failed puppy kindergarten. 😢😢 She was so. scared. of the other puppies. I can't tell you how disheartening that was. All the other puppies were so happy to meet and play, but Ponyo panicked and shrieked her head off. We stopped attending after the 2nd class because we didn't want to overwhelm her. I wonder if we've messed up big time. We had her meet 50+ people in her first 14 weeks of life, but didn't have the opportunity to meet other dogs. The puppy class wanted full vaccinations and we didn't take her on walks either until vaxxed. Did we miss our chance? One thing is the puppy class was on-leash and I don't know if that was good. Since then, I did find someone with a gentle dog that allowed us to come over. Ponyo stopped barking and worked up the nerve to try to play with the big dog's tail for 2 whole seconds. We'll be meeting with them again. But is there hope??? I don't want poor Ponyo to be a nervous and reactive dog for the next 16 years. How did we mess up so quickly? Any advice on getting her socialized? Or what to do with a nervous dog? What did we do to make her so nervous? Thanks so much!

Sorry, I don't know how to quote yet. Thank you for the book recommendation, Spycar! And I'm sorry if I scared you, Gardenmom5. I certainly hope it's not MS. I have to agree with a previous poster - the not knowing is hard.

Hey! I don't post here often, but read frequently. So, I am in the middle of dealing with weird symptoms too and a potential Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis. What you are describing kinda sounds like an "MS Hug". Has a doctor ever looked that direction?

Well, this is just anecdotal, but best friend's sister just died of the flu. 😞 She was only 43, began symptoms on Wednesday night, and was gone by Saturday morning. The coroner spoke at length with my friend and confirmed this is the worst year he has seen in a long time.

I don't have any advice regarding MM, but I just wanted to say that my daughter went straight from R&S 6 to pre-algebra. She is taking an online class that uses the Lial text and is having a great year!

We are actually in Okracoke right now! We love it - so beautiful, with quiet beaches, and we can bike everywhere. We enjoy and recommend Edwards of Okracoke. It is not on the water, but has easy access to everything. The rooms are pretty standard, but have various options of bed arrangements, depending on family size. What we particularly like is that our room has its own private screened porch and faces a courtyard....I think it is the "bungalow" area of the hotel...

Oh, these are good things to know. Thanks! And yes, our class is a full year as well. I'm hoping that would make BCM more manageable?

Hello again! I'm still trying to figure out math for next year, wanting my DD to be ready for pre-algebra in 7th. DD is wrapping up her 5th-grade year, finishing off in Singapore 5A. There is a local opportunity for her to take a live class in Lial's Basic College Mathematics next year, her 6th-grade year. My question is: Would she be ready/be able to handle Lial's BCM after finishing Singapore 5A? Thanks for your help!

A thousand times, YES! One thousand pages of rambling misery.

Thanks!