Amber in SJ
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Posts posted by Amber in SJ
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Berries of all kinds including strawberries. All those little seeds? No way. Everyone in my family eats strawberries. I make an amazing fresh strawberry pie but I never touch the stuff.
Tomatoes, raw or cooked, but I don't mind tomato sauce for pasta or pizza as long as there are absolutely no chunks.
Watermelon. Grainy texture is icky.
I like the taste of peaches but not the fuzzy skin; peeled peaches are OK. Same for apricots.
Kale. Smells like a dirty diaper. Any recipe that requires kale I will substitute spinach.
Amber in SJ
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Does anyone have this .pdf saved anywhere? It is no longer on their website. I am specifically looking for how the maps work with Hakim's History of US. I am really hoping someone here has it & I don't have to reinvent the wheel.
Thanks in advance
Amber in SJ
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Yay for it not being Cancer! Continued prayers that the doctors will figure it out soon.
Amber in SJ
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My sister and I got marred in the same year 2 months apart (don't ask, I am still irritated 27 years later.) My mom wore the same neutral dress to both with a green scarf to my sister's wedding & a blue scarf to my wedding to match our colors and no one has ever said one negative thing about it. It didn't make me feel less important, so I say if your MIL has something lovely then she should wear it. If you want to add something special choose something that doesn't require trying on like a brooch, scarf or hat.
Also Prince Harry wears the same yellow waistcoat to every wedding he attends that he is not a part of the wedding party. I'd post a pic but I think it is against the rules but you can google. I'd say that's good enough for me :)
Amber in SJ
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Never be afraid to ask for prayers here. We will send prayers, vibes, positive thoughts, healing energy and all the other things for comfort.
Amber in SJ
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"Tut, tut looks like rain." Winnie-the-pooh
"Someone pasted Piglet to my window! Pooh, too!"
"If you were a number you would be zero. If you were a food you'd be a raisin. Zero is nothing and raisins taste like dirt." Julius, Baby of the World
"Chrysanthemum, Chrysanthemum, Chrysanthemum..."
So many things from the Frances books
"Things are not very good around here anymore." This is what is said when someone asks me for something that they didn't tell me we were out of.
"What I am is tired of jam!"
From Tikki-tikki-tembo...
"My beloved son, heir to all I posess."
Entire Sandra Boynton books like Moo, Baa, La La La
Or Skippy-John Jones
My kids had a Winnie the Pook book that had a row of buttons on the side that made sound effects one of them was Eeyore who would say in a doleful voice, "This is fun."
Amber in SJ
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My mom passed away at 69 last year from cancer after living with diabetes for almost 20 years.
Her mom is 92 lives on her own with her only other child nearby. She uses a cane occasionally but that is it. She recently put some photos of herself & my niece (her great granddaughter) on snapchat :)
When people tell Dh that he is doing something that will take years off he life he is known to say, "But those years at the end suck anyway."
Amber in SJ
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Interesting. I also have bad gums thanks to genetics. I have sensitive teeth and gums too. My dentist recommended a Waterpik that has the pocket pik (allowing you to get in deep pockets of gums) and the Sonicare electric toothbrush that has a sensitive setting. I wonder if the difference is because of my sensitivity.
I was already using the sonicare toothbrush with the sensitive setting & the waterpik, but the waterpik didn't do the trick. I really saw the reversals with the airflosser. I had to get used to it. The toothbrush made me gag when we first got it, but eventually I got used to it.
Amber in SJ
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We have no fluoride in our water and I never gave them the baby fluoride drops, but we also have weak enamel and the fluoride rinse when used correctly with fluoride toothpaste & correct flossing has made a huge difference in the # of dental cavities.
And as a PSA, I have terrible gums (yay genetics) and the dentist recommended the sonicare airflosser. I use it with a fluoride mouthwash and it has reversed some of my pockets and I have avoided 2 root canals.
Amber in SJ
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Prayers and calming vibes from us as well.
Amber in SJ
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My mom was cremated last year and it was "direct" meaning they came and picked her body up from the hospital and transported her. We were then able to meet them and my sisters & I along with other beloved women of our faith were able to dress her in her religious clothing before cremation. My dad received her ashes along with her wedding ring and a sterling silver ring that my little brother gave her when he was about 7 yo. He bought it at a school holiday fair and she wore it every day for the next 30 years.
We had a memorial and my dad bought a plot where he & mom can have their ashes interred, but he hasn't done it yet. The work is about finished on a memorial dog park with her name on it in my hometown. I think the opening of the park this Fall will also be the time my dad has her ashes interred.
About 4 months after my mom died, dh's uncle also died unexpectedly. This was my Mil's only sibling and the only surviving member of her family of origin. Due to health reasons she couldn't attend. My Dh attended and I picked out a floral arrangement. For my MIL I sent her a mini version of the floral arrangement so she could feel connected in some way. I wish I had thought of a way for her to hear the music as well, but I was being crushed under the weight of my own grief and barely functioning.
I do want to say the kindest thing to do is to make your plans clear. If you don't want an open casket, fancy casket, expensive flowers or meal, make that clear. Funeral planning is all the pain of wedding planning with none of the happiness. I would know because my dd got married 3 months after my mom died. I kept wondering if anyone would notice if I re-used some of the things from my mom's funeral for dd's reception, or if I could get some kind of discount for making bulk orders. Don't worry I didn't, but I was in such a fog and I know I don't want my kids to be trying to figure out what I wanted.
Amber in SJ
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Where I grew up they were two different things. I am from rural Northern California. Tadpoles are the little swimmers with or without legs that are the larval form of little frogs and toads like peepers or tree frogs. Pollywogs are the bigger larval form of bullfrogs and have big squishy heads *shudder.* Because of their size pollywogs are easier to find and catch in creeks. I can't tell you how many hours I spent sitting with my feet in the creek (crick) reading while my siblings & all the neighbor kids caught tadpoles and pollywogs in pickle jars. I never wanted to touch them but my mom chucked me outside with the rest of the kids and made them take me along.
Amber in SJ
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I also tell my very young kids that people change their minds about what they want to be all the time.
Otherwise there would be many more ballerinas & astronauts in the world.
People even change their minds as adults. This isn't selling out. This is life.
Amber in SJ
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No one knows what is ahead of them and no learning is ever wasted so I counsel my kids to get an education that includes marketable skills beyond burger flipping no matter what their passion is.
Kid passionate about art? Awesome. Consider including classes in small business management because if you plan on having a studio, showing & selling your work, you are going to need some practical skills. Same for future dance majors.
Kid going to be the next JK Rowling? Great! Research those careers that will allow you time to practice your craft. An English teaching degree could fit the bill.
Kid going to play video games for a living? Of course you can! As a computer programmer you can design your own video game or app.
Kid going to be a doctor, but has physical limitations that make the kind of stamina necessary to get through the years and years of medical school & medical internship necessary? Let us discuss what makes that career so attractive to you and then research careers that you will find rewarding.
These are all examples of how I have counseled my kids. It is a fine line to walk between supporting their dreams and being practical so they can support themselves and a family.
We also try to teach them that happiness doesn't come from one source in life and there are many ways to be happy in one's family life, work life and individual life.
Amber in SJ
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I have very little interest in sports. I enjoy ice hockey, but I couldn't even tell you the rules for football, basketball, baseball, golf, rugby, soccer, bowling or......well, you get the idea.
Dh played football, swam & was on the diving team in high school and part of college (hello, football injury) Picked up ice hockey at 24 and still plays at 47.
With our first 2 dds we tried one season each of soccer and t-ball. Neither of them were interested and we weren't interested in the candy sales & volunteer requirements & crazy sideline parents.
We also tried tumbling & dance, again, to no one's interest. Dd#2 discovered TKD and received her black belt before she left for college. Dd #1 never found a physical activity she is passionate about. She exercises to stay healthy, but that is it.
Dd #3 fell in love with ballet (and lyrical, and jazz, and contemporary but mostly ballet) she also does TKD, but is there for the social life :)
But Ds is another story. We tried baseball and while he is good enough to have teams lining up for his participation, he just isn't interested enough to put in the work to be really great. It frustrates the heck out of coaches. We as parents are also not interested in pushing him, or letting a sport that he is lukewarm about eat our lives. We also have other restrictions like not playing on Sunday that limits us. He participates in an 8 week flag football "season" in the fall and an 8 week basketball "season in the winter. This seems to give him the chance to become familiar with the sports enough to not be ostracized by other young men. He also does TKD and received his first black belt last year. He will probably be the only one to go on to receive other levels of black belt.
I know that parents who love team sports want to tell you about all the things kids learn through team sports and I am not saying kids don't learn things, but beauty pageant moms say the same thing and here on the homeschooling boards we know there is more than one way to learn something.
Amber in SJ
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I need to do this because we have had some crazy new bills that we didn't see coming & we seem to be hemorrhaging money.
This might sound silly but online shopping is my downfall. If we are in a spending freeze I do two things. 1. Anything I think I "need" must absolutely stay in my cart for 48 hours, minimum. Usually I find another way or talk myself out of the item. 2. If the item is in my cart and it is still necessary, I use cash to purchase an Amazon gift card and then use that. For some reason parting with cash is painful and if I have to go to the extra step of getting a gift card at the store then it is not nearly as convenient.
Unfortunately I have 2 birthdays, Father's Day, dance performances, 3 college children home for long visits and scout camp in June. All of which require cash outlay. My hope is to do as little damage as possible and try to recover in July/ August.
Amber in SJ
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I am so very sorry.
Amber in SJ
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Once at the aquarium I was told that the world was overpopulated & I was being irresponsible for having so many children and didn't I know about limited resources, etc, etc.
I told her I wasn't trying to overpopulate the world; I was just trying to outnumber the stupid people.
I thought about having it put on a t-shirt (maternity t-shirt?)
Amber in SJ
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I have an acquaintance who says the strangest things at park day.
When her oldest son turned 12 she said it was going to be so difficult now that he couldn't invite his friends over to their house because she knows that all the adolescent boys are looking at her lustfully and it just isn't right to put temptation in front of them like that.
Another time she said that the talks at church were so boring on Sunday that she amused herself by looking around at the men in the congregation and figuring out with whom she'd be sexually compatible. She said,
"I could totally be married to M- (my Dh) because he looks like he is fun and a little bit naughty. Is he naughty, Amber?" What on earth?
But the very best was when we were taking about when your kids pretend they can't find things when they really don't want to look, or when your spouse pretends he can't hear the baby because he really wants to sleep and she said,
"Oooh! You know what I can't stand? When you are asleep and you wake up and your husband is already "doing it" and you have to say, Babe! I've got a tampon in."
Most of us were stunned into silence. That was so much more information than I wanted to know about the both of them.
One friend whose baby was a barely a month old said, "If I am finally getting some sleep and Dh decides to get frisky, he'd better hope I stay asleep."
Amber in SJ
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Pregnancy seems to remove people's filters, too.
When I was pregnant with #4 who, was due in Feb., Dh & I went to vote early one November morning. Our polling place was the super swanky retirement home around the corner. I am pretty sure the volunteers all lived there. The elderly Chinese woman checking names asked me when I was due. When I told her February, she said, "Really!?!?!? You so big!" Out of the corner of my eye I could see dh peeping over the top of the voting booth thing to see if I was going to lose my mind, but I calmly smiled & took my ballot and walked away. Whereupon she yelled,
"You having boy. You big from this side, too!"
It took me a few seconds to compose myself in the little voting booth. It didn't help that I could hear dh trying not to laugh in the next booth.
I had another encounter with a different Chinese woman while I was pregnant who told me she knew I was having a girl because girls steal their mother's beauty. Pretty sure she was calling me ugly. :)
Amber in SJ
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People often jump to conclusions about me because of my hair, and say weird things.
Once when I was with my big kids at the bank the security person said, "It's good to see a mixed sister represent!" My college age kid explained what that meant.
A woman I met at a TKD tournament said, "Your husband must be white, because your kids have white people hair and you don't."
At Walmart I was buying a paddle brush for my youngest dd who has sensory issues and will only tolerate a certain brush and the cashier said, "I didn't think you could use a brush like that on hair like your people."
I complimented a little girl at the movie theater on her curly hair (I try to always do this because I despised my curly hair when I was little) she told me her hair was curly because her daddy was black and then she asked me if my daddy was black. I told her he wasn't but he also has curly hair and she looked at me with a squinched up face and said, "Are you sure your daddy ain't black?"
Amber in SJ
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I have a good one!
While manning the punch table at my youngest brother's outdoor wedding reception in sweltering hot Bakersfield, CA, the pastor who had performed the ceremony approached me for a little chit-chat. We had not met before, the bride's mother was a member of his congregation. We were not even of the same faith. He asked me which children were mine. I pointed out the four of them running around. He then asked me if I was planning to have more.
I used to get this question frequently because 4 kids seems to be the sweet spot where people will either tell you they think you are crazy for overpopulating the planet, or people will tell you they think "giant" families like yours are great and you should have more.
Steeling myself for the usual comments I decided to go with the highly intelligent "I dunno," and add an eloquent shrug.
And he said......
"You should have more, because you have perfect Aryan children. Our country needs more children like them for what is coming."
I wish I could say I said something intelligent, but I was speechless. Who says crazy stuff like that? Who thinks a stranger is going to share his horrifying, racist beliefs just because her children are blond?
He went on to ask me to point out my husband. I couldn't help myself. I pointed to the only African American man I knew at the reception, who happened to be my brother's best man. Now it was his turn to be speechless. He turned and stared at me for a few long moments. I have very kinky, coily curly hair and he proceeded to tell me that people shouldn't be able to adopt outside their race. And then he left.
My other SIL was standing next to me and she couldn't stop laughing.
Good times.
Amber in SJ
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Our closest high school is less than 0.5 miles away. That is not in our district, though, because we are on the very, very far edge of the boundary between the two main districts in San Jose. Our assigned school is 2.7 miles away but in a very scary area. And it is a dangerous school.
Apparently San Jose has 66 public high schools (including public charter schools), 18 private schools & enrollment runs from 13-3,000 students. There are also multiple continuation high schools & 2 (2!?!?!?) high schools connected with the Juvenile Hall detention center.
Amber in SJ
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I'll admit it. When I got my "Did You Forget Anything?" coupon I went back for the mystery bundle. I wanted the Teaching Astronomy Through Art and the coupon made my purchase $4.95. Totally worth it, even if I don't like anything else in the bundle. :)
Now I am practically biting my nails to stay away. I don't "need" anything else!
Amber in SJ
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Just for fun - what food do you hate that it seems like everybody else loves?
in The Chat Board
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Beverages are their own category
No soda of any kind. Carbonation makes me feel like I am drinking acid. I can feel my tongue burning with the first sip.
No coffee. Smells heavenly; tastes like dirty water.
No tea. Tastes like bitter wet oats.
No alcohol. Beer tastes like carbonated bitter urine. Wine tastes acidic and mixed drinks taste like they have dish soap in them.
No smoothies or shakes with protein powder in them because they smell like powdered milk which smells like poverty & despair (my childhood.)
As you can see I am a blast at parties.
Cranberry juice please.
Amber in SJ