Not only do letters and numbers have colors, but months of the year have a definite position (December is top, January is below and to the left, etc. summer months across the bottom) in my mind. And many names have colors. You know, Sam is maroon and David is sort of a clear green. Kathy is a clear yellow, whereas Karen is a richer gold-yellow color. Alice is turquiose. John is just a bit bluer than navy and Peter is red. Pure red. Rob is purple. It's always a pain when a book author has the nerve to create two characters that have the same color name. I remember reading "Are you there God, it's Me Margaret" and Janie and Nancy both are that light denim blue and as I read that book as a preteen, I was always having to figure out which denim blue character the author was talking about. Drove me nuts. I was sort of surprised that to learn that not everyone has this...

Each family has their financial threshhold. About a month ago, we lost a seven month old rat to heart failure. We could've pursued keeping her alive a little longer (rats should last 2.5 - 3 years) with a cocktail of carefully balanced heart meds and lots of vet visits that include lab draws, but that would be really tough both financially and timewise. So, we kept her comfortable and when she started to struggle, we made an appointment to put her down, which was really hard since she was so young. She died on the way to the vet. I remind myself that when it comes to animals, it's about quality not quantity. The animals are not keeping track of time. They don't think, "Oh, Spot only lived 4 years but his breed should live to 15 or more; what a shame!" They don't think, "I'm sick and dying but I'm only 2 years old." They don't seem to fear dying. We people get upset because we know we'll be saying goodbye, but the dying pet's animal buddies seem to just think, "Fluffy isn't well, so we'll groom her and sleep next to her and keep her company." When an animal is suffering and can't get better with a reasonable amount of care, it's time to say goodbye because the animal is done living, but not yet finished dying. Helping the animal finish dying quickly is indeed a gift.

:iagree: almost. Well, I like a few board games, but I absolutely love Ticket to Ride. We play it just about every Sunday. Yesterday, we played the Asia version (last Christmas' addition to our collection). This year, Santa better bring me the Africa board. We have the Europe (our first), America (bought it when we evacuated the fire and were stuck inside because of smoky air in the house we evacuated to), Germany (not my favorite but still fun), Switzerland (tons of fun), and Asia... It is also online...

Our family really never talked much about "another baby." When we had a nearly-7, just-turned-5, and not-quite-3 year old, the 5 yo (a girl) told us in the van one day, "Last night I said a prayer." That's all she said, so I asked, "And what did you pray about?" "I asked God to give us a new baby girl." I thought, slim chance. We were NOT trying to add to the family. More accurately, we were trying to NOT add to the family. And, she said this at the end of what had been a quite non-romantic month. First, oldest dd had pneumonia badly enough to be on oxygen. Then, as she recovered, dh, who is never sick, got pneumonia and was in bed (sleeping and coughing...) for a good week or so. I think I sipped tea just once between these illnesses, and I sipped it very carefully. About three weeks after dd told us that she said this prayer, I was reading the girls a quiet time book and suddenly felt very green and thought, "I need a bite of that leftover pizza in the frig." And I knew... And, yes, we welcomed a new daughter to our family early the next year.

DB, 58, has stage four cancer. And he's a newlywed. His DW is suffering migraines. DD11 is sportin' a 'tude these days and is very self-centered. And I feel "tight" as if my asthma is going to act up soon. My friend C is having an incredibly tough year.

\ Yup, if you're going to do this, please keep them home so that they are not passing it to other airline passengers, churchgoers, etc. They will be contagious before they break out, before you know if it "took." They can spread the disease to an adult who never got it, to a baby too young for immunizations, etc. It can be quite the serious disease to someone very old, very young, or otherwise not so healthy. We need to do what we can to protect those folks. I won't flame your decision, but since not everyone can easily cope with CP, please keep them at home through the incubation period. No church, scouts, travel, etc. Yes, it's "out in the community" but since you KNOW that there is a good chance that they'll come down with it, consider the incubation time a time to isolate your family (except those who already had it). So, look up the incubation period and find out the contagious period. Thanks!

My mom used to vote (think she still does...) in my elementary school in Florida. Our school had sidewalks (they called them "ramps") instead of inside halls and you could see quite a ways when you walked to lunch or PE or art. Mom would figure out when I'd be heading to lunch with my class and would show up and walk down that sidewalk leading to the library with the voting booths. I was always proud to wave at her! Anyway, they would vote in the library in these huge booths that reminded me of port-a-pots (now they use those little tabletop dividers) and they never had quite enough so they'd have a line out the door. I was voting at a nearby school but now have registered as mail in only. So, I vote in my pajamas and fuzzy slippers and either mail it in or drop it in one of the dozen or so drop boxes in town. There is one on the way to the grocery store so I save my two stamps (big envelope).

I only read the OP and none of the other posts. Anyway, I'm a month away from 48. So, a little ahead of the game compared to OP When I feel that way (and I do!) here are some thoughts that help me gain perspective: 1) My old tired body has birthed four kids, it's allowed to sag and be a bit squishy. Small price to pay. DH doesn't have to worry about other men looking at me. 2) I think of the alternative to growing old and don't like it. We all know someone that's died young. Accident, illness, or whatever. Those people never will know hot flashes, gray hairs, sagging parts, squishy parts, aches and pains. 3) I love my friends who are growing old and don't look 25 anymore. I am not the least bit put off by the fact that they don't look awesome like someone 20 years younger. 4) I look around church and see some amazing old ladies. They are just awesome and I hope to be like them one day. And, many of them are physically beautiful too. Not Miss America beautiful, but a peaceful, pretty eyed beautiful. Something to aspire to. Oh, and I dye my hair too.

My good friend runs this animal rescue http://www.kritterkaravan.org/Kritter_Karavan/About_Us....html and always has a bunch of hedgies. She also has rats. The hedgies are great for her to take to schools and prisons when she does her outreach/education programs but she told me, "I can never imagine being without rats." We love our rats but admit hedgies are so much cuter. I prefer rats but I know a lot of people love hedgies!

Frozen is frozen. So, if anything is frozen it's good! One thing we do is keep something in the freezer to indicate how thawed things got, if the power comes back on before we're aware of it. You know, sometimes you go on vacation for a week and come back and the lights are flashing on the digital clocks and you know the power went out, but don't know how long. Check the ice cream, popsicles, or ice cubes. If they are out of shape, ask your neighbors about how bad things really were... When the fire came through this summer, we returned to flashing clocks but were elated to see our ice cubes all separate. Neighbors had their power out for days and their freezer thawed and leaked and ruined their floor! We were confident that our food was okay; we've now eaten a lot of it and are fine.

Yes. A wonderful mom, no longer in our co-op, made it happen for us. The first phone call she tried, she got a no, but she persisted and got a yes. She persisted because our state's big Christian group (CHEC) and our local big support group are all collecting boxtops. So, she knew it was possible. If they tell you no, try calling again and you'll probably get another operator. The lady collecting and sending in labels now told me a week or two ago that they do stick to the rules. The boxtops must be trimmed and must not be expired. We've used our Boxtop money to buy a few gifts for our host church and also for people with deaths in the family or new babies or groceries if things are tight.

would this work? http://www.google.com/imgres?q=electoral+college+blackline+map&hl=en&sa=X&rlz=1T4TSNP_enUS461US461&biw=1093&bih=471&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=JmrS5sV-rRyd7M:&imgrefurl=http://irregulartimes.com/index.php/archives/2010/12/22/free-color-me-in-2012-electoral-college-map/&docid=NczaoVYbBUm9PM&imgurl=http://irregulartimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/electoralcollegemap2012thumb.jpg&w=256&h=199&ei=7fiRUMuVNKGCyQGsvICIDQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=516&vpy=159&dur=1104&hovh=159&hovw=204&tx=140&ty=78&sig=116713228220261385464&page=1&tbnh=123&tbnw=158&start=0&ndsp=10&ved=1t:429,i:77 Wow, what a long link!

We handed out candy and cider and not everyone took the cider. We went through over 100 foam cups (sorry, environment, really I am) so we probably had 200 kids (and adults -- the parents often were happy to have the cider...) We live in a neighborhood that has a lot of interconnected streets. My friend who lives on a cul de sac road (maybe 7 houses?) never gets any TOTers because their little road is sort of in the middle of nowhere. It was a perfect night -- when we shut down at 8:30 or so, the thermometer said 50. And it got up to 72 here. Beautiful...

DD18 was diagnosed with hashimoto's at 15. The pediatrician wouldn't prescribe it due to office policy; "We let the pediatric endocrinologist handle it." Sounds all well and good except that the endo is in town one day a week and the next opening was about 5 mos. out! So, I asked my GP if she's take her on as her main doctor and if she was comfortable prescribing Synthroid. She was fine with that as long as there weren't complications and if there were, she knows an endo in town who also would see a teen -- and wouldn't take 5 mos. to get in with. Yes, the "normal" range is not normal for everyone. You'll learn your normal. So find a doctor that can start you on Synthroid NOW. You can still see an endo in December, but that's too long to wait with the symptoms you're having. If you go with natural thyroid such as Armour realize that sometimes there are shortages of it and it's not carried at all pharmacies. We decided to go with Synthroid. We learned that if you should request name brand Synthroid. There are a lot of different generics out there, all with the same active ingredient, with the same amount... BUT, they all use different fillers and binders (the inactive stuff) and they seem to release the medicine at different rates. You might start off on a generic and feel terrific, but in the future the pharmacy might start getting generics from a different manufacturer and, even though it's the same strength, you might feel not so great. Or, you could change pharmacies... Or the generic manufacturer might change their formula. If you stick with Synthroid, you will be able to find a strength that works for you and it should stay the same -- they won't be tinkering with the formula and you don't have to worry about the pharmacy not having it as all pharmacies have name brand Synthroid. For other medicines, like antibiotics or pain killers, generics are the way to go, but ask for namebrand Synthroid. Take your Synthroid with a full glass of water when you first get up and wait 30 to 60 minutes before eating.

Let 'em go. My teens (one is 18 - gasp!) is TorTing tonight with other teens from church and little siblings. They designed and made their own costumes, including a trip to the thrift store on Saturday and digging out long-abandoned paints and other craft supplies. None of the costumes are scary and they are great at including the little kids in their fun. Last year they all went as the characters from Clue! game. This year it's a mix of Avengers, a Christmas tree, and some sort of robot from Minecraft. I'll have five gallons of cider ready for neighbors and two chilis (one red, one white) in crock pots. For us, it's a fun teenaged open-house (and open neighborhood). And, the kids gathering at our house are just some of the teens that will be out tonight.