I don't have any red shoes. But I do have purple! :D

OP, call your agent and ask about the liability and the legality of who is *legally* required to pay what. Reading through this whole thread, apparently there are 101 different ways to view this and 101 different opinions on who is responsible for what. But a call *from* you to *your* agent should clear up who has to do what. If it is something that your insurance will cover and you choose not to have them cover it, then you will have to take that up with her if she is willing to pay. I don't understand all the confusion. :confused: Talking with *your* agent should answer all questions definitively and without bias. If it is her insurance's responsibility, your insurance will contact her company and get that money. You may still be out the deductible, but then again, your insurance might shift that to her insurance and she might have to pay *her* deductible. Call and ask.

No kidding, right? Or camping for 2 months in the middle of absolutely NOWHERE!! :D

:lol: During the last election, one of my mother's crazy friends kept sending me horrid political forwards with no basis in reality. I ignored for a long while and finally sent a Snopes link. She emailed me back, "Oh, why don't you just move to France?!" :001_huh: Whatevs! :glare:

Gag!!! Sorry... I want to lose my lunch. (I am so happily ignorant of the whole Honey Boo Boo thing. I think I will stay that way!)

**OFF TOPIC** This made my day!!! :grouphug:

Hmm, I didn't get the sense the pp was talking about other cancer survivors acting as if she didn't have cancer, but the general population. I doubt anyone who hasn't been through chemo would invalidate the harsh reality of chemo/radiation. Maybe I read her post wrong...

We do. But then again, we are a single income family with 2 to 3 times as many dc as most of the families we know! :lol: It has never been an issue, though. Thank God! Even our friends with money tend to be pretty "low rent" when it comes to recreation! :lol: My mil is the only one who likes to eat out at expensive restaurants and she loves to take all of us (maybe once a year) out for a fun and big meal, her treat. It is always a lot of fun. <3 <3 <3

Oh wow, yes. My mother made sure my sister and I knew every sin of our father, real or perceived. OTOH, my father never said a word against our mother until we were well into adulthood. Needless to say, I am estranged from my mother and very close to my father. He expected me to view my mother as nothing other than my mother, not a sick person (she is!!!!) and she wanted nothing more than to vilify our father to us. :( (Guess that colors my perspective quite a bit... )

In my circle of family and friends, nothing is sold. We pass around what we have with each other. I can't imagine (within my family and dh's) selling anything of "low value" to relatives. Cars, houses, etc, they would be sold, lol. But baby items, children's clothing and toys, basic household small appliances, no, I wouldn't sell anything like that. Is the $40 really important to you? Do you really need it? If your family really needs the cash, sell it, but to someone else. :grouphug:

Oh ugh. :( :grouphug: While the soda would really annoy me and tick me off, the carseat thing is just plain dangerous. I encourage you to check the specific laws of your state and enforce them. My state requires children under a year to be rf'ing, period. I can't even imagine how hard it is to let your grandbaby go off into such an unhealthy situation. :grouphug:

Personally, I think children should *never* be told lies, ever. That said, I also don't believe they are "entitled" to the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. If I were in that situation, I would have to very carefully weigh the benefits of telling them against the pain and angst it could/would cause. WHY am I telling them? WHAT is my anticipated outcome? HOW will it affect them overall? Life is seriously sticky and for the children involved, it can be so hard. I would hate to add anything to that burden without darn good cause, kwim?

We set based on the meal. If no spoons are out and someone decides they need a spoon for their peas, they may get one out of the drawer. I wouldn't really have a problem with unused items being put away, but my dc are GROSS and freak me out, so I wash their stuff regardless since I never know if they licked it and then put it down on the table... :tongue_smilie: I don't think there is a right or wrong answer, just differing comfort levels. :D (Incidentally, I am usually the one who wants a spoon for things which others eat with a fork, so if anyone is going to miss a spoon not being set out, it would be me and I just go get one!)

I believe it is one thing a woman can do to help lower her *risk.* There are no absolutes. A pack a day smoker can live to be 90 while a non-smoker dies in his 50s. Every person assesses their own risks for any given type of disease and works to lower their risk in any way they can. It in no way guarantees they won't die from it. :( But it always feels better to be proactive, yes? Since there are little to no known disadvantages (health wise) to breastfeeding, nothing ventured, nothing gained. No one is taking a risk by breastfeeding. Many swear by drinking a glass of red wine every day for heart health. Others swear by never touching a sip of alcohol for heart health (or overall general health.) It is usually a perceived risk/benefit ratio that prompts people to do one thing and not another. But I don't think anyone really believes that living one way or another guarantees them a long and healthy life free of any disease or cancer.

:( You have my prayers and support. :grouphug: I am so sorry you are facing this. :(

:001_huh: Wow, just totally wow. :confused: Will people never cease to find ways to invalidate and belittle others' experiences and hardships????? I am so sorry. :grouphug:

Well, I got an email from my oldest dd's soccer coach today that he ordered pink wristbands for all the girls and would we all please reimburse him $5 for the wristband donation. It feels like donating at gun point. <sigh> (MY dd won't wear the wristbands because they irritate her no end, from a sensory perspective.) Last year her soccer team did a big deal thing through out October for SGK and every week emails went out with lists of who donated how much. I was so unbelievably uncomfortable with that. :( And for our own personal reasons, we don't support SGK, so it is doubly hard. :-/ I am all for cancer research and awareness and so forth, but the two main cancers that are fought in my family aren't ones you ever hear about or have anyone talk about or raise money for.

If that were the case, it probably wouldn't irritate me. As it is, I feel like it is chic and trendy and "in" to be all about "pink." If awareness truly IS the goal, then why aren't we making young women (early teens on up) aware of the astounding affect breastfeeding has on breast cancer? (Ftr, a very dear *young* friend of mine is a breast cancer survivor and I am *so* in awe of her courageous fight!!! She is a hero! But this whole pink scheme is nothing to do with *her.* :( )

http://www.food.com/recipe/marshmallow-fondant-255227 This is the one we use. Last year we made a ton of it and let the 3 youngest use it like play dough and the older three decorated one large cake and 2 dozen cupcakes with it. (for Halloween) Um, I just re-read that. The older kids did NOT use the same fondant as the little kids. Ew!! The stuff the littles used was eventually thrown away.

I am trying to remember - isn't powdered sugar used to make fondant? If it is, fondant is *fun* for kids to use for play. (We do... :tongue_smilie: )

Dh and dd7 are severely allergic to cats and only mildly allergic to dogs, so we have a dog. But honestly, I will never own a cat. I spent my teen years with a mother who had 13 indoor cats. It was horrific. Cat litter and cat hair and cat snot everywhere. And I was the one who had to clean out and scrub down 5 litter boxes once a week. I think kittens are adorable and cats are hilarious, but after those years, I just can't ever have a cat in my home.

I notice by your siggy that you are the proud new mommy of a wee baby! That will also cause otherwise sane dc to turn feral.... :tongue_smilie: Since mommy has to take care of this little interloper, what on earth can we get away with NOW????? Hang in there. You're doing fine and they will do fine, too. :grouphug: Find your new normal and stick with the consistency. :grouphug:

We got ds18 an iPhone for his 18th birthday. Ddthen11 wanted one for her 12th birthday... No. I don't get the typing thing :confused: but expensive toys need to be earned by maturity. Age can be a factor, but not always. Also, we have a lot of dc with a wide range of ages. Life can be a real pain in the rear for the oldest dc, so sometimes they get things that younger dc don't to compensate for the added responsibility upon them. I grew up with one sibling and she is 11 months older than I am. This never came up for me as a child, so I have no frame of reference for that. I have only a parental frame of reference based on my own family dynamic, kwim?

We got a new phone number when we bought our house last spring. About 6 weeks later, we started getting phone calls from about 8am - 9pm every.single.day. I never answered. After about 2 months of this, I finally answered one. They asked for a Kathleen Porter. :confused: I said they had the wrong number and please not to call again. After that, I answered about one call a day for about a week. It was always someone different but asking for Kathleen Porter - replying to her online request for insurance, collecting a debt, suing her... :001_huh: I have NO idea what the deal is with this woman and why she is using our number, but wowzers! After my brief foray into answering the occasional call, I quit answering again. The calls have seriously declined over the last month or so. Other than this rather bizarre situation, we rarely ever get any calls about anything. (Unlisted, unpublished) Oh! There was the call two weeks ago when our insurance company called me and it was an automated call that after ascertaining I was the appropriate person, put me ON HOLD for the next available operator, "Please hold the line. Your call will be answered in the order in which it was received. Thank you for your patience." I didn't call them!!!! Needless to say, I hung up. :lol:

We buy their organic pasta regularly. We enjoy their frozen gnocchi (there are 2 varieties - marinara and a cheese one????) on occasion. It is a little pricey to feed our whole family so it is a treat. Dh loves their salsas. We buy a lot of produce there. I personally *love* the organic Vanana yogurt. Yummmm.... Our kiddos love the dark and milk chocolate covered pretzels. We live in walking distance and shop there ALL the time.