Yup. Northern Michigan University Threatens to Punish Students for Discussing Suicidal Thoughts from the article: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

Sounds to me like your dh is just plain clueless and possibly stressed. Not that he's trying to be mean or an @ss, but he's lost in some fantasy world. Allowing him to continue in his little dream world (that he contributes only minimally and his wife makes sure the house is pleasant to look at and listen to) helps absolutely no one. Your trying to make his dream world a reality will likely not work...because it is not real. I agree with some pp that finding some ways to help address his stress levels would be helpful. But I think that it would be helpful to separate those two things: stress vs the condition of the house. If he's stressed, then he should be looking at ways of dealing and coping with stress: exercise, diet, meditation, etc. You could also consider setting some boundaries for yourself and making them clear to your dh. Gently explain what you can and cannot (or will not) do and then release any expectations or guilt for things beyond that. If he continues to live in his dream world, you should not feel guilty because, again, it is not real. Do what you reasonably can and release what you can't. I have been down this road. My dh just did not get it, either. Now that he is working from home, and has been for nearly a year, he has finally started to understand the reality of what it takes to do my job. Sometimes, there's just no better teacher than experience. But even if you can't facilitate that experience, that doesn't mean you should enable his fantasy beliefs. :grouphug:

This is a complete misinterpretation of the ruling and the events, as Pam explained, so I won't rehash that. However, I have seen enough to know that it is absolutely foolish and delusional to believe that just following the orders of the police ("stop, put your hands up, and let the police quickly do their jobs") will result in a quick and impartial stop. Yes, follow orders. Doing otherwise might get you killed. (Of course, even following orders doesn't guarantee you won't be killed.) Keep your mouth shut. And if things escalate, pray that you will have the money to defend yourself, because innocent until proven guilty does. not. exist. in. America. And the police are not simply protectors of the peace. They have shown that they can also be thugs and criminals themselves. Believing that they are only one or the other will never improve anything.

IMO, if you hate the color, now that it's on the walls & dried...then if at all possible, definitely repaint! The hassle of repainting is nothing compared to living in a place where you hate the walls. It would be a constant source of subtle stress: the kind that you try to shake off and dismiss but just never can really. It's so much better to have a room you love. Work out the dynamics of repainting however fits your relationship. If your dh is the one that prefers to do the painting (or prefers that you didn't LOL), then let him know you appreciate it and make it up to him in other ways.

I generally like Lee jeans...but for some reason, they seem to stretch out and sag horribly after wearing them for about an hour! And it's weird, because I swear the size 12 doesn't do it as bad as the size 14. I used to wear the curvy bootcut in Lee. And no problems! But the 14 turns to a 16 about an hour after wearing them. But if I wear the 12, they don't stretch as much and stay too tight. UGH. I know, I know. I need to just lose weight and move back to the size 12, but it's the principle of the matter. I *should* be able to find what I want in a size 14!

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

Yeah, I don't have much luck w/ maxi skirts, either. They're always too long. The selection available in petite/short lengths are very limited. And even though I'm wearing a maxi skirt right now, sometimes I just want to wear jeans. I'm just asking for ONE pair of jeans. I moved up one size, and now I can't find anything. *sigh* I did not have any luck at the thrift stores. Or at Kohls. Or any Gap brand stores---those seemed to be aptly named because every pair I tried gapped big time in the back. Or at Penney's, Sears, Belks, Macys, Maurices, Ross, Marshalls, Target, Walmart, and I know there's a couple other stores that I visited that I can't remember the name. I found that IF the pants fit okay, the pockets were too small. Women with a size 14 butt do not need small pockets. The three things I looked for: no-gap (or at least minimal gap) waist short bootcut--I thought bootcut was a more classic look (NOT classic jean styling, but classic in style, KWIM) but it was amazing how FEW choices there were in bootcut, and when you need short length, there were even less. pockets that did not make my butt look ridiculously large (which small and/or high pockets do that) Maurices were the closest, but strangely, the rise in the front was higher than in the back and cut into my waist. They looked good, but turned out to be very uncomfortable. So they went back to the store. I'm moving into online shopping now. And upping my budget.

So those of you who have recommended stores (most of which, of course, are not in my area) do you actually LIKE your jeans...or are they just "the best" that you could find?

How is it that even plus-sized models avoid muffin tops??? Do they live in shapewear? Where are the real women?

What do you do??? I have looked and looked at jeans, and I just cannot find any that 1) do not give me a muffin top 2) don't sag 3) aren't mom jeans (or worse!). I'm ready to toss the jeans altogether and move to....what? I'm going shopping tomorrow. Please give me some direction to look! I'm 5'3", size 14-ish (you know, depends on the cut, brand, etc.), and I have real curves, dang it all! I know that I need bootcut or something to balance out proportions. But I'm self-conscious, and I don't like thin material that shows every line/curve/fold in my butt, either. Last week, I went shopping and tried on over 20 pairs of jeans. Finally found one that I thought would work. I'm returning those tomorrow because after wearing them for an hour, the waistband stretched out another 3 inches. :svengo: I just want to look nice. In pants. Not frumpy. Not super-model. (Not that I could, anyway, LOL) Is that too much to ask? :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

Wow. Also wondering where you live. I've never had that kind of problem. The longest waits are for specialists...or the dentist...but if someone needed to be seen soon for like a UTI, the most I've had to wait is until the next day, no matter what insurance/doctor I've had.

I like SKL's letter. Gets the point across simply and without complaining. But I also agree with happysmileylady that it's not likely to make one bit of difference. At this point, unless the manager is new and willing to learning, he's not likely to change unless forced to from higher up.

I don't really have advice, just more questions/musings. IMO, people who think like that won't change unless they WANT to. The more they feel like they have to fight, the more they will reinforce their beliefs in their own minds. CPS involvement could make things worse for the kids. And/or, it could show the kids that their parents are not normal and that they have options...which may make a difference as they get older. I know. That's not advice. That's just thoughts. Good luck.

Well, peppermint oil is generally contraindicated during pregnancy. It is pretty strong. PERSONALLY, I have used it during pregnancy, just not topically. Only through diffusers or sachet-type stuff. If you have any concerns, I would definitely avoid it. The worry alone is not worth it.

You should watch this: The Magic Coffee Table :lol:

Go to Kroger and look in the frozen bakery section. They carry gluten free cakes. Also, rice krispie treats are gf, and you can add sprinkles to make them more birthday-ish.

I don't have much time, but when I was a kid, I moved from homeschool to small Christian school (VERY small---5 kids in my grade including me) and then moved to a different state and I ended up in public school. I will say that as far as the public school being larger, for me, a quiet homeschooled person, it was really not that big of a deal. I got used to the size in just the first couple of weeks, and the larger school meant it was easier for me to "disappear" in the crowd and there was actually less demand for personal interaction or expectations than it was in the small Christian school. The difference in size was a bigger impact because of the teachers. The smaller school meant that the teachers expected me to interact with everyone, and I didn't always want to do that. (I would have rather sat and read a book.) The teachers in the larger public schools had a greater pool to draw from, so not as much was expected of me.

I should add, that at the time, my kids ranged from 3 to 16. And so did the visiting family. Their youngest child and oldest child lined up very closely to mine. I had all boys in one room. All girls in another room. And the adult got a room alone. I expected clashes between the kids, so I didn't get upset when it happened. I was already prepared to deal with it. And really, the kids got along pretty well. There was only one clash between the teen boys...which I knew would happen sooner or later...and we dealt with and moved on. I think because I expected and planned for it, I was able to deal with them without any anger, which helped them to get through their disagreement without holding grudges. Hate to put so much on you, but your attitude will make a big difference in how well everything goes.

There was a time when we had family stay with us for similar reasons. It was difficult, but we had a family discussion before they even arrived about expectations and the fact that the visiting family was coming from a difficult situation and we (dh & I) expected everyone to extend some grace. I let things slide when I could. For sleep issues, though, I was very clear that no one should be waking anyone else up. This went both ways. I've had to operate with way too little sleep too often, and I am very aware of the havoc it plays with emotions when people do not get adequate sleep. It makes everything worse. I would have a very frank conversation with everyone and set very clear boundaries on not disturbing others sleep. I also made arrangements for white noise for everyone so that on the occasion that someone does something louder than intended, it doesn't necessarily wake everyone up. Every bedroom got a fan. No lights on if someone is sleeping. That kind of thing. It's going to happen that someone shuts a door louder than intended, etc, so you've got to plan for that as well as making it clear that everyone should be compassionate towards the sleeping individuals. It wasn't that big of a deal in my house. The main person who would be up at all hours was the adult, who was pretty good about keeping things quiet. But if there had been a problem with any of the younger kids, I would have moved all night people into one room and told them (nicely but firmly) to play only in that room when the rest of the house was asleep. Any older ones, I'd be firm about being quiet and show them how to use the headphones for the TV. I would also be prepared to get up myself and redirect people as necessary until everyone learned how to make it through the night without disturbing the whole house! (And in return, I'd probably make sure to take naps myself, because I know how I get when I don't get enough sleep, and I would want to be able to deal with situations appropriately.) Also, I tried to be sympathetic to my kids, but I would not tolerate any kind of attitude about them being inconvenienced. If their only issue was that things were done differently or they had to extend a little more energy, then I was very clear that they were the ones needing the attitude change. This was not a permanent arrangement, and they could afford a few inconveniences in the name of compassion. I did, however, make sure to listen to their concerns and if there was a real problem (say, with visiting relative doing something destructive, etc.), I tried to address that. And I did not expect my kids to entertain or even play with the visiting kids. I expected them to be nice. If they wanted to retreat in their device or book or whatever, that was fine. They didn't have to interact. They just needed to be polite and compassionate. And it required having some time without the other family around. We went on a trip while the family was visiting. It gave the visiting family some time to themselves, and us some time to ourselves. It was a nice break. I'd suggest that taking little afternoon/day trips to the park with just your family would be a good thing, especially if a several day or a week trip was out of the question.

My dd wants to know if the buyer has been high for 3.5 years? She also said OP should drive to the buyers house and dump the thing in her yard. (Dd was being snarky, btw.)

Take it back. After working at customer service for a grocery store, I no longer hesitate to return any food item I have an issue with. If it was so bad you had to throw it away, save the packaging and return that with an explanation. I used to think that if you bought food and didn't like it, for whatever reason, you were out of luck. Live and learn. Not anymore. In fact, I will be returning grapes I just bought. Got home, and they were so sour!

IMO, the view of modesty by this school and many other conservative Christian organizations in my area are nothing short of creepy. But, it's a private school, and I knew that going it. I also know that down here in the Bible Belt, traditional views like this are slow to change....but they are changing! I'm not interested in trying to get anyone to run before they're ready to walk. The specific inseam is "creepy," yes, but it leaves less room for pettiness or varying degrees of "how short is too short." And the whole modesty thing is, again, IMO, already creepy. The dress code is split into two, well, four. Separate codes for girls & boys. Separate codes for elementary & junior/high school. It's a matter of trying to move forward in the best manner possible, understanding that there is not going to be a total overhaul of the dress code and views on modesty in one year.

Yes, it is a Christian school and has been historically very conservative (and patriarchal). In recent years, they have been moving more moderate. This is another step toward that.

There is the option of dresses and skirts, to the knee, of course.

Answer to all dress code issues!