I entirely agree.

Which I didn't know until I started reading the book and was all sorts of lost - this after seeing the stage production twice and working backstage at it. Hmmmm - my education was definitely lacking! I would have sworn to you that Marie Antoinette was waiting in the wings - completely wrong time frame for the action in the play.

We have a friend from Liberia and this is his biggest pet peeve. He goes on an hour long rant when someone says they're African. It's really pretty hilarious - 'Really, what country is that? I've never been to the COUNTRY of Africa - now I've been all over the continent, but you'll have to be a little more specific if you want me to believe you are actually from a COUNTRY in Africa!" He gets pretty steamed about it. Of course I got read the royal riot act when I referred to our bus driver in England as English. He explained clearly that he was Scottish and I'd better figure that out if I wanted to actually arrive at my destination.

I just bought a Haan Swift yesterday. It does not have adjustable steam, but got good reviews AND it was only $40! (Check your local Tuesday Morning)

I wouldn't say it was gory at all! Dh and I discussed how impressed we were that even with all the CG available, they didn't turn the barricade into a bloody mess. It is disturbing. I bawled and shared kleenex with the stranger next to me, but Gavroce didn't have a spot of blood after being shot twice. I was very impressed - the visual let the music create the emotion instead of showing you - be horrified now! I was really impressed. Usually it's the song "Bring Him Home" that has me completely wrecked - in this one the song "Empty Chairs" absolutely broke my heart. I had a hard time catching my breath it was so emotional.

Dh and I saw it today and I loved it. I thought Marius was amazing! I have been singing since I got home.

I agree. We had this discussion a lot when a friend lost a child in a freak accident. It was devastating to all of us. But when you look at it from an eternal perspective - it's horrible for the families, but that sweet baby is in heaven. As wonderful as this life can be, there is always sorrow and pain. That's a given. There is none of that with God. I hang on to that when I start to doubt.

I love Bare Minerals and it lasts a long time. Just a quick swipe with the brush and my skin tone is evened out and looks good all day.

I always read books straight through - always. There has never been a book that I had to take a break from until now. Les Mis is the one. I read through the CHAPTERS about Waterloo and had to take a break. I love it. I am enjoying it, but my brain is on the verge of bleeding. Then I got though the chapters about the difference between insurrection/uprising etc and had to stop again. I have to finish it - I promised myself I wouldn't see the movie til I've read it (even though I've seen the play numerous times) and it will only be in theaters so long.....I have to finish it!

I have footprints on the wall - I only have 4 so I got 10x13 canvas at michaels and painted the background different colors. Then dipped their feet and took 'steps' avross the canvas. I have yhem in a square now, but had them walking across the wall at our last house. Maybe you could use smaller canvas and just have them do one foot print?

That made me a little sick. Kinda like the sink where the turkey was soaking to finish defrosting. Gag.

I agree entirely.

That sounds like the pain I had from a herniated disc pressing on my nerve root for my arm. The only relief was putting my arm over my head. I also lost significant strength in that arm due to nerve damage. Face a wall and try to hold ypurself off the wall with one arm then the other. I hadn't realized how much strength I'd lost til I smacked my face on the wall trying that. Good luck and prayers! That was he most excruciating pain I had ever experienced!

This is my MIL - and to some extent dh as well. Only dh comes into MY kitchen and tries to fix whatever it is that I've done wrong, even though he doesn't cook. It's not a ' one right way' of handling it situation. I try to help mil and she gets irritated. I give up and just try to corral the kids while she's cooking and she's angry that I haven't helped. If I react at all to her ugly outbursts then she's pouty and upset because we obviously don't appreciate all she does. Now it's a little different because she is your sister - not mil. If it were my sister I would probably try to make a joke of it. When she's redoing whatever you've just done make a silly comment about how YOUR kitchen manuel says to do it differently. This is how I handle things with dh. He *knows* he's being irrational/ obnoxious and I try to gently point that out without losing my temper myself. Honestly though - I can't remember your kids ages - we don't leave the kids with mil. I know mil loves our kids to death. However her first instinct is to blow up and blame for every little mess. I vividly remember her reaming my 3 yo niece for pooping in her pullup when she was potty training. I don't think she has a real idea of how hateful she sounds but I don't care. I don't want my kids to feel like every mistake or accident is a personal fault. Until they are old enough to deal with that I will protect them from it. Dh does the same thing sometimes- blow up first then actually see if the situation warranted anger of any sort. Like I said, he recognizes his irrationality and promptly apoligizes. He's been working hard on it. And the kids are working hard on not letting the initial reaction define their relationship - but its hard. (((Hugs)))) (emoticons don't work on my phone)

It was quite a shock when we moved here to find that many of the little, bitty country grocery stores over in SC sold gas, diesel, propane and.......yes.......racing fuel.

Oh! I was just getting ready to post this! Www.hischase.org They are supporting children in Rwanda, Ghana - I can't remeber where else. The family that started the foundation are friends of ours from Tx. They lost their son at 36 weeks and started this in his honor. I wish I had words to express how amazing they are and how God has used their sorrow and grief to touch so many. Before they lost their son they were most inspiring people to be around. We worked on VBS together for several years and I treasure the time we worked together. Anyway - check out their website and let me know if you have any questions.

If you like Jane Austen try Fanny Burney. Apparently she was an inspiration for Austen and I enjoyed reading her books. Also search girlebooks - lots of old, free romance novels. I enjoyed Edith Wharton and several of the Thomas Hardy books once I got past Tess of whatever (hated that one).

I use the Hillbilly Housewife brown sugar granola and add lots of nuts. Its crunchy and yummy with yogurt or milk.

I've had my Kirby for 11 years with zero maintenance except for 1 belt. It is heavy but the kids can carry it upstairs now if they need to. You can always find good deals on used ones. Plus, I have the carpet cleaner attachment for it. I love it.

If you order a gift card online and put their address as the return address they wwill have no idea where it came from.

A friend at church told me he thought of me every time he saw Penelope Cruz. I told him he could be my best friend forever if he kept saying things like thay.

Exactly this. I love reading different perspectives on historic personalities and seeing them "fleshed out". Anya Seton wrote a book about Katheryn Swynford that was fantastic. The historical facts of the book were pretty accurate as far as I could determine but the story was given a little life, kwim? It's hard to find first hand accounts of some of these lives so FOR FUN I enjoy the ' imagine it this way' of historical fiction.

Seriously - you never read anything that isn't heavy? Even the Lord Wimsey or fun classics? Georgette Heyer is hilarious but not at all hard. Historical fiction? Nothing just to have fun?

Is it the Michael Jecks series? I love those. Nothing like medieval murder to pass the time!

Bah - double post.