Our church has five services on Christmas Eve. There will be one service on Christmas Day (as opposed to the four we usually have). We will also have only one service on New Year's Day (rather than the four regular services). It does seem odd to me that in order to celebrate a Holy Day the church reduces its services. It seems even more odd that this is also done for New Year's Day.

I can relate. DS has always had trouble sleeping. As a toddler he could manage to stay awake for over 36 hours at a time. DD has never had trouble like this. We tried all of the routines, eating particular foods, avoiding particular foods, plenty of exercise, etc. and nothing worked. One night we were watching Star Wars as a family and he fell asleep. This happened several times and we put a small TV in his room for him to watch videos at night. That has helped so much. He seems to need to be able to be engrossed in something to relax and "turn his mind off." (If he reads a book he starts asking "what if?" and his mind just starts racing.) Also, if he didn't fall asleep, at least others in the household were getting some sleep. DS doesn't need the TV on all night and he doesn't have cable; so he only has access to videos that we have already approved. DD has never asked for a TV to be in her room. I have a cousing with an autistic child and the only way the child will sleep is with a TV on. For her, the TV needs to stay on all night. Speaking of TV watching and anxiety my ds has some minor anxiety issues; he is older than your ds, but one thing that we found has helped is watching the TV show Monk. DS enjoys watching Monk and we have found that it helps when he starts going down certain paths that lead to a lot of anxiety to say "Monk" and he can sometimes back off from his anxiety.

Not all states have alimony.

From a legal standpoint there are major differences. While his income is not guaranteed, he has unemployment benefits that are paid in the case that the is laid off. Unfortunately, SAHM don't get unemployment benefits if their husband decides to fire them. Statistically speaking, it is more likely for someone who has had an income generating job and is laid off to receive another income generating job fairly soon after losing a job than for a SAHM to find another source of income (another spouse) should they find themselves "fired" by their current spouse.

The felt a need because people have been screaming "Why did the government let banks lend money to people who couldn't pay it back?" This has been repeatedly said about mortgages and credit cards during the recent financial crisis.

It seems ironical to me that this thread deals with the difficulty people having addressing an envelope when a woman wants to be addressed by her own name when another thread today is about the difficulty women can have getting a credit card in their own name.

How much marriage is a financial partnership depends on state laws and the way you legally set up financial arrangements (which may be limited by state laws). In Texas, for example, it is almost impossible to have any "separate property." For a SAHM this is often a good situation, but not always. All income and property is 100% owned and controlled by the husband and the wife. Thus if a SAHM's parents give her a monetary gift, her husband can spend 100% of it. As far as the law, there is no statement that a SAHM cannot get a credit card. The law simply states that ability to pay must be considered based upon what the individual can legally control to repay the debt. You can have zero income and the bank can still determine that you are likely to be able to repay the debt if you hold sufficient assets.

My doctor told me about a trick an elderly patient taught him for warm compresses--small, warm potatoes; they fit in the eye socket well and stay warm for much longer than a wet cloth. I would see my eye doctor. I would be concerned that the continuous use of antibiotic drops had compromised my eye's ability to fight off infections naturally.

The federal government does not say that a SAHM has to go to her working spouse to get him to co-sign for a credit card. The federal government is saying that YOUR income should be used when a lender decides whether to extend you credit. Afterall, it is the income to which you have a legal claim which will be used to pay back the debt. If you are in a community property state, your husband's income is legally your income. If you are not in a community property state, your husnband's income may not legally be yours to spend, despite the fact that you and your husband perceive it this way and treat it this way.

Pandemic is a good option if you are looking for a "cooperative" game. Instead of competing against each other, players must work together to prevent the pandemic. It isn't a game that you can just sit down and start playing--it takes a bit to figure out what you are doing, but it is enjoyable for teens and adults.

You and your husband may treat your income as joint income. However, a lender can't depend on that arrangement in getting paid back. In some states, your spouse's income is legally yours. In other states it is not.

Whether you are responsible for the debt your spouse incurs, depends on the community property laws of your state. If you live in a community property state, such as Texas, you can use household income (including your spouse's income) to apply for credit. That is a double-edged sword, however, because your spouse can apply for credit without your knowledge and you are responsible for all the debt that is incurred. Suppose that your husband has run up $100,000 of credit card debt which you were totally unaware of and you divorce. The judge can say in the property settlement that the ex-husband is supposed to pay that credit card bill. However, if the husband fails to do so, you are still legally obligated to pay the debt. The divorce decree does not overule the agreement that was made by the lender. In one of the articles the OP cited there was a sentence that just left me :confused:: "For a new divorcee with limited ability to get credit independently, this raises the prospect of lots of debt and no way to borrow to pay it off."

We ripped out the carpet in a previous house and put in laminate wood floors. We lived with that for about three years with no regrets. My mom did the same and was very glad she did.

I participate in a "heart pillow" ministry where we sew heart shaped pillows for heart surgery patients. Part of the recovery process for the patients includes a lot of coughing which, apparently, can be extremely painful. By holding the pillows firmly against their chest when they cough, the pain is eased somewhat. We have now expanded and also sew pillows for Wounded Warriors at a local military hospital. These aren't necessarily for therapeutic reasons, but just for them to have something to know that they are thought of.

From what it looks like, these graphs are comparing the percent of students taking the AP exams who score a 4 or 5. This can be very misleading. Some schools are very selective about which students are encouraged to take the AP exams; in these districts a large percentage of those taking the exams will get a 4 or 5. Other districts encourage a lot of students to take a lot of AP exams, which will mean that a lower percentage will score a 4 or 5. My local district brags that it is in the top 1% of public schools in the country for students being ready for college. I researched this ranking and found out that the ranking is based on the percentage of students taking the AP exams. If a high percentage takes the exams, then the district is ranked high in this particular study (regardless of what the scores are for the students). The district has played a game of having as many students as possible take as many AP exams as possible so that they are one of the "top schools in the country." So "objective" statistics can be misleading.

Mr. Bob Brown, Ms. Mary Smith-Brown, and Family (or children) or Mr. Bob Brown, Ms. Mary Smith-Brow, and Ann or if she is really the one that is your friend I would go with Ms. Mary Smith-Brown and Family We have this issue in our family--I use my maiden name and our kids have hyphenated names. So we have three different last names. We get a number of letters addressed "The Smith-Brown Family". That way it is listed the way that my kids are called, and includes both my husband's name and my name (but neither one just as we are called). I don't mind when people put my husband's name (or my name) and family, but it does annoy me when people who KNOW intentionally decide that my name should be something else. I also find it particularly irritating when my in-laws send mail to Mr. Bob Brown, Mrs. Mary Smith-Brown, and Ann Brown. The hyphenate my name (which I do not) and refuse to hyphenate our children's names, even though it is their legal name.

My concern would be: does the teacher know how to do this properly? As a finance professor, I have seen a number of instances where this information is taught incorrectly in middle school and high school.

Are boys' basketball shorts allowed? That is what my dd wears when she needs knee-length shorts. She has also bought capris at Academy; they are lightweight and, in some ways, cooler than shorts (we are in Texas, also). We have also been able to find some things, such as basic khaki or navy shorts and skirts, at a "school uniform" store.

Dd's world history teacher told her to study at home by putting her history outline on the window with dry erase markers. In addition to writing it and seeing it herself, the teacher said she would get to review every time someone in the family asked about. It worked well--dd made an "A" on the exam and the entire family learned some history. It all wiped off well without any problems.

Yes, we have school Monday-Wednesday. DD's private school has school through Wednesday, and the universities where dh and I teach have classes through Wednesday. So, ds has school this week also.

I was 13 when I got my ears pierced. About 45 minutes later we were shopping, and I fainted. My family still laughs about it today.

Is there a particular reason why a mid-year transfer would be more difficult? So much at a university is semester by semester, I don't know that it would be more difficult to transfer to the local college now than it would be at the beginning of an academic year.

DD has a deep brown on her walls in her bedroom and bath (with white trim, doors, etc.) We remodeled when she was 12 and that is what she picked. She wanted an Asian theme and has Korean wall hangings on the wall. It isn't what I would have picked, but now that it is up I do like it. She does get a good deal of natural light in the room.

That probably wasn't clear--when I was referring to car seats I meant baby and toddler car seats--not the regular seat in an automobile.

I found that leather seats and car seats didn't go together well. The car seats would slide and dead a lot more damage to leather than to cloth seats (however, from a purely cleaning standpoint I preferred the leather). Car seats have probably improved quite a bit since I was using them.