He is risen, indeed!!!!! Whoo-hoooo! Happy Easter

I'm very sorry for your loss. I just lost someone close and it was unexpected and even though I know all is well... it's just so hard to reconcile not seeing someone again. Hugs to you.

Because most people don't marry thinking, "Great, we are going to become miserable and divorced and I won't know how to support myself!", I teach my daughters that they need a lifelong passion and goal that is their very own and that they should be prepared to take care of themselves and their children if need be. You never know what life is going to throw at you and what circumstance you might find yourself in. I was a SAHM and I think my children (now ages 13-22) respect that choice and appreciate their childhood with me... Now they are all looking at their college choices and occupational goals and the struggle to pay for education/career training and get on their feet is HUGE. So, I am choosing to take classes and establish myself in a career for two reasons: 1) Myself... I want something to do for myself that I enjoy and that benefits others. I will go into the medical field. I will not do office work or filing or be at a desk on a phone, though! 2) My kids. If within the next two years I am able to have an established career and pay check, I can help my children as they are getting on their feet. I am not motivated by money, but, money is what colleges want in exchange for classes... and the store wants money for the camera that is required for my college daughter's photo-journalism class... I will be so excited to make more money and help with things like that.

I found that I, personally, get bored if the schedule is the same... What worked for me was to make rotating schedules... Also, over the years the day's expectations and demands were much higher and involved and appointments really threw us off track. So, to deal with that I would start the next day where we had left off the previous day and that helped me to get through more science and art (those would tend to get less of my time because I would focus on Math and Language Arts all the time). Don't know if either of those ideas help... :)

I've had melanoma twice and I try to stay out of the sun and it is my goal to never, ever get a burn... I do go out before 10 or 11am and work in the yard... or after 3pm... I try to not be out for long periods of time. If I need a sunscreen, I will use the Neutrogena, as mentioned, or the one from Trader Joe's with the zinc in it.

Ok... So, any news on when the pictures will not take longer than 10 minutes to come up on the screen?? I'd love to see my grandparents' names...

What are you looking for? I brought up a city/state enumeration district, but it just showed population, not people's names.... ???

This past week I heard from a class instructor who was teaching about our skin system that people in our country have such a deficiency in vitamin D because we no longer spend time outdoors... 15 minutes of direct sunlight a day is recommended for vitamin D. Then teaching turns to skin cancer and avoiding sunlight! So, what are people to do? For me, I don't mind having sun on my head and not having sunscreen while I take a walk (under 15 minutes) before 10 or after 3pm... I will often pull weeds with a hat on, shading my face and let sunshine hit my legs (in shorts) while I work... What says the hive?? Should we take vitamin D and ignore sunshine benefits? Should we get some sunlight during less intense sun ray time of the day?

Well... now I am curious... I am an American of European descent. My children are all Americans of European descent. My grandchildren, however, have one parent that is Hispanic (I do not know of what country they descend... although I suspect they are from Mexico, but I could be wrong... it's never been discussed...). So, my grandson is American... of European and Hispanic descent?? Or is he of Eurpoean and Mexican descent? I'll tell you what he is... he is darned cute!!

Breakfast? Lunch? Dinner? Breakfast: Leftover tri-tip and coffee... lol Lunch: Granola bar, water, orange, wheat thins and triangle of soft swiss cheese (to go with the wheat thins) Dinner: Sloppy Joe's (homemade), Roasted cauliflower and either soft, warm bread from the store... or homemade rolls... depends on how busy the afternoon gets... What are you doing today? Taking a daughter to a specialist for eating disorders... her first step in addiction recovery. Other things to do: 1 load laundry, dust one "thing" in bedroom, call on price of a cake with a photo on it... call school counselor, research a skin disease and read for Bible study tomorrow. What kind of a car do you have? My husband uses a small civic to commute and about 60% of the time uses a truck from his work. I drive a Chevy Tahoe, which I like for the roominess and because it is white... but, I hate the gas mileage... would have insisted on purchasing something else if I had known the gas mileage... But... my dh likes Chevys... grrr.

There will be 6 boys, ages 12-19, two adults, one daughter... And when my other daughter arrives, two more adults and the grandson!!! (He's too young to play, though...) So... 9-11 of us at random times over the weekend...

In thinking about Easter and goodies and gifts... I thought I could get a game for everyone to enjoy instead of gifts for each one... and then make some goodies and color eggs and buy a few treats. What is a fun game that lots of us could play? In the past we played bunco... we play dice sometimes... we can have a ping pong tournament... I want to make the teens keep electronics and systems off for a solid 24-36 hour period... Thanks for some ideas!

I"ve had melanoma... twice. Clark's level 4. Systemic (reach my circulation system). It is a big deal. I've tried to stay out of the sun for years. I did not grow up using sunscreen. I got melanoma at about 26 years of age. I did burn easily as a child. My children burn easily. They cannot use sunscreen and not burn, they are THAT easily burned... so they have to limit their sun exposure. I cannot advise someone else if they should or should not use sunscreen, I can only do my own research (I haven't researched the recent information). To wrap it up... melanoma is serious. I was given 3-5 years to live in 1999. I will only wear sunscreen from trader joe's that has zinc in it... the other popular sunscreens have never kept me or my kids from burning... Please research... follow reliable links...

So, I've ignored that the date is coming... particularly because I'll have a houseful of kiddos and I get caught up in fearing that what I do for them (monetarily) isn't "good enough". They aren't rude kiddos for the most part... but a couple of them don't have very good filters and I never feel like I met their expectations... So, I simply ignored the holiday. Then today I saw a cute little chocolate bunny (Peter Rabbit) and I knew my youngest would love it. He loves holidays. And I figure I need to do something for them.... Now my goal is to keep this low cost... I thought of t-shirts that run about $10 a piece... but that would run me $60 right away... I can made some cute cardstock baskets (small-ish) to put some treats into... and would like to buy candy in bulk to save... and am thinking of home-made treats instead of buying candy... These are all teens!!!! Which is why I have pretended like Easter isn't going to happen this year.... Any ideas? Thanks....

Today I am doing rather well.... hopeful... at peace... My favorite cookie is homemade chocolate chip cookies... chewy, not crunchy... warm out of the oven... or room temperature with icy cold milk. Yummmmm. On this day and particular to this day I am thankful for.... bills paid.... job opportunities/employment.... moments shared with loved ones....

My kids grew up in Alaska and I homeschooled them there... We KNEW that if it was -10 degrees that it was 10 BELOW zero. If temperature dropped another 10 degrees, it was -20 degrees. Since we lived this, it was not difficult to understand. -2 and (+) another -2 meant that the temperature just dropped another couple of degrees and it was -4. -2 and +2 meant zero, of course, because we just go a couple of degrees HIGHER in temperature. I moved from Alaska and NEVER looked back... but now I am glad that at least it gave us a solid and working knowledge of negatives and positives as far as numbers went.... Don't know if this helps any, though...

Um... I'm sorry, but I did not follow politics AT ALL for many, many years... and I am not sure what Jane did that is considered traitorous. Can someone please bring me up to speed? I am guessing that she spoke out against a war... But, there must be more to it than that because lots of people don't like war and they are not considered traitorous. Thanks. (Honestly, I would like to learn more... but don't want to google it and wade through all the links.)

Yeah... from my 3rd baby on I started to show within a couple weeks of finding out that we were expecting. Sheesh!! And each time I actually had lost all weight gain and was the same weight each time that I found out I was expecting. I just kept saying, ""Well, my body knows it's pregnant and is saying, 'Hey! I know what to do! Bring on the baby belly!!'" And that's the way it went....

So, I put off getting the thing out... I have never had stones show up on ultrasound... haven't had it checked in many years. I just know when I get painful pressure under my right ribs that it's the gallbladder (previous experience and testing). Anyway, I am hurting again... hurts to lay on my sides, but not on my back, hurts to sit down, but not to stand. I will call the Dr. in the morning. In the meantime... do you know of anything that will help with the discomfort? (I know to avoid fat in foods) Is there anything otc or to eat that will help relieve the pain for sleep, sitting, etc? Thanks :)

Whoa! Whoa! CUT!!! (Waving arms and raising voice just a tad......) I, yes, me.... am.... the self-proclaimed..... Queen of Dots! Have been for years..... But.... those of you who caught on and followed suit.... are in great company, right? Here is your official welcome into my court..... (lol)(I'm SO not interested in relinquishing my crown... Do not attempt to overthrow me....)

Yep... I keep going right back to this and really appreciate your sharing. Sometimes life events bring this little part of me out, too... but, I have never been brave enough to share! :grouphug:

I've had two kinds.... initially, I was wakened with extreme sharp pain. Really, it made me scream a bit and I have a fairly good pain tolerance. I had to go to the Er at 4am. I had to take pain killers and had to go back for a scope to look around and also do another test that determined my gallbladder was at 30% functioning rate. During those weeks, I learned to detect gallbladder discomfort. I never did have it removed, I just changed my diet, focused on health and didn't have recurring problems. However, every few years, I do get some discomfort and I know exactly what it is. I get a great deal of pressure right under my right ribs and I feel queasy after eating something with fat content.

Oh, sheesh, I am SO out of it... Mine are listed on scraps of paper. However, I do file them in my personal file and look at them! I suddenly seem so old fashioned and out of place with technology...

Oh, my! Honestly, I rarely laugh OUT LOUD, but this one did it!

My daughter and I were just talking about this today... We love the ready to eat edamame and the greek yogurt.