I love Cirque du Soleil but don't like animal acts esp with animals that aren't domestic - dogs and horses are OK, bears and tigers - NO.

I don't think this can be said often enough - exercise is what keeps me going too.

We had one day that had the car in the shop, the computer in the shop, the fridge not working, and there were one or two other things that have slipped my mind now. We sometimes joke that if we wait for a day or two we can get a volume discount from the appliance repair guy (who I actually like - thankfully).

I think most of my friends are experiencing this right now to greater and lesser extents. The best advice I've been given is breathe deeply, don't take it personally and know you'll get way smarter as she gets older. And maybe let her twist her ankle one more time. :) :grouphug::grouphug: take an extra dose of whatever comfort thing you need - it's cider and chips in the company of like suffering "worst" moms here but I've heard that chocolate helps too.

I think you've got most of the important stuff. Taking photos and adding receipts for any insurance claim will make life easier if you actually lose the house. I'd add some paintings and stuff I've collected in my travels and some favourite clothes. Not on the list of "must take things" but if I had time and room, I'd add them. I have family in the area too. Praying for cooler weather and no winds.

Our dentist just told us that he prefered to leave wisdom teeth until kids are in their late teens, unless they are causing problems.

Jean, when you're trying to compare stats that are collected by different groups, that is quite correct. I chose one organization that collects stats which should make it reasonable to compare them. Now I would never guarantee something that I didn't personally do but it should be relatively accurate.

But Canadian per capita expenditures and expenditures as a percentage of GDP are lower than the US - not higher. (sources cited elsewhere in this thread)

But if you go to the WHO stats on deaths under 5, the UK is lower (6 deaths for 1000) than the US (8 per 1000). Presumably they are comparing apples with apples.

but this is an excellent post. Thank you Heather

Absolutely - even without any compassionate grounds, there are compelling economic reasons to make sure that everyone has access to healthcare.

According to the WHO, Canada's system is cheaper than the US and has better results. http://www.who.int/countries/can/en/ http://www.who.int/countries/usa/en/ I didn't want to reproduce all the stats but they say Canada spends per $3672 capita ( 10% of GDP) vs $6714 per capita ( 15% of GDP) with higher life expectancy and lower mortality under 5 years and again between 15 and 60 years old.

:grouphug: And what about all those who made the poor choices of being born with juvenile diabetes, autism, cerebral palsy etc etc? or those who made the poor choice of being hit by a drunk driver, get cancer or any of the other things that can cause catastrophic medical costs. Or God forbid, develop an unattractive mental illness. In our community we have a wonderful charitable organization which unfortunately only wants to help the "attractive" poor - not the schizophrenic.

Bad research obviously. Thanks.

It would take longer that I have to get a meaningful number so I did some fast research. As a general rule, it seems that lower and middle income people are taxed more heavily in the US while higher income families are taxed more heavily in Canada. As a member of the more heavily taxed families, I'm OK with that.

I've never experienced delays for important issues for me or my family. We do have a shortage of doctors in my town but that has more to do with rural/urban issues - there just aren't enough doctors who want to live in rural areas. They mostly want to live in the large cities - which is their right. I did go for an MRI at a private clinic once because I didn't want to wait. However, the MRI was to satisfy my own need for more info - it didn't change anything and truly probably wasn't justifiable. I might have to call a couple of weeks ahead for non - urgent issues - checkups etc. I certainly wouldn't say our system is perfect but I don't think I'd trade it for the system south of the 49th despite the fact that dh's company has good medical benefits. One of the issues that comes up seems to be the fear that the elderly might get poorer care because of their age. I haven't seen any evidence of this. My 85 yo mother was all set for knee replacement surgery until the family decided the risks outweighed the benefits. Another issue that arises is the idea that choice of care providers would be limited. That's never been my experience either with the exception of the issue that I mentioned earlier - doctors want to live in urban areas and thus are in high demand in rural areas. My choice of doctor might not be accepting more patients. While it's pretty easy to find people to complain about the system, they seldom want to junk it - just improve it.

Canada's health care system has been in place for about half a century. During that time, our rights to homeschool have increased not decreased.

We sit down at the end of the year and figure out how much we all made and calculate our givings from that. The kids then pick the charity of their choice and we send the money. It's varied depending on what they're doing some years they're moved to help locally, some years overseas but the choices are always good.

I don't know what variety they are - I didn't plant them. We've had more rain than usual lately so perhaps that's it. Now that I think about it, my cherries aren't as sweet as they usually are. Or perhaps just to be safe, I'll start a new bed in the spring. I love raspberries and it's so disappointing when the taste doesn't measure up to my expectations.

My berries are beautiful looking but not very sweet. Any thoughts as to why that might be??

I love my Prius and my last car was a Diesel Golf which I liked as well. I know several Prius owners and hadn't heard that there were problems emerging with them.

As a former lifeguard and parent to teens who are very strong swimmers, I would have been furious if someone had let my teens into a canoe without a lifejacket. I would be complaining loudly to those in charge of this.

:grouphug::grouphug: Good for you for stepping up to the plate now. I know that I've had days when I believe that I've ruined dd's life. You've got really good advice here esp the part about appreciating who she is and having fun.

We used it when the kids were young and really liked it.

How about plumbing? There seems to be lots of work and it can generally be done anyway.