:iagree: Gmail, yahoo, juno.... free, "secret" email accounts are easy to set up for anyone who wants one. The fact that you actually have access to his account should set your mind at ease.

Haha!!! I sure should have tried that first <slaps forehead>. Now that I am there, which video am I looking for? I don't see one that is the entire broadcast of last night's show. Am I just missing it? Or does she just get video of the finale performances of each singer? If so, what were the three songs each sang last night? Were there repeats from earlier in the season (looks like Movin' Out was something Philip sang on an earlier show?)? Sorry to be so befuddled, I do appreciate the website suggestion!

I don't know what your husband's feelings imply, but I can tell you my own dh was thrilled when we finally separated accounts. His stuff was always getting buried in my home school loop emails, curriculum offers, meeting announcements, yada yada. Of course, now if I get something of importance, I forward him a copy because he always seems to miss big church and family news!

Free Firth, not to be missed! Thanks! So now I'm wondering when I have time to squeeze in a Mr. Darcy/Mr. Darcy film fest...(that would be P&P and Bridget Jones' Diary back to back).

It really depends on where I'm going. Some places I go in the city it's actually better not to stand out, iykwim, frumpy can be safer. I always go makeup free to the gym. I definitely wear some to church and work, simple but polished. Same if I know I am going anywhere I am going to be seen by friends of my kids - heaven knows the price of embarrassing a teen child!!! Date nights I do the full treatment.

I know not all of you post on the general board, but I started a thread over there to list this year's home school graduates. Thought it might encourage some of the moms deep in the trenches with younger students. Please check out that thread and add your success story. :D

There are several threads on the high school and college boards celebrating our graduates. I thought it would be fun and maybe encouraging to the moms of little ones to start a thread here, since they may not browse the other boards yet. Sort of a light at the end of the tunnel, kwim? And yeah, I confess, it's an opportunity for a little mommish bragging... So here goes. DS17 has completed high school! Home schooled all the way (parent-directed with cc at the end). He has been accepted into the Honors College at his first choice university, where he will pursue a degree in Biology. He has been awarded merit scholarships to cover tuition, fees and books. Dad and I are very happy! Please add your graduate, with whatever details you feel comfortable sharing. And congrats all around!

My dds missed it and I sure would gain some brownie points if I could fix up a surprise viewing before tonight's results show.

Take a look at God's World News. They offer different versions for different age ranges. It is unabashedly Christian, but it does cover current events, as well as special features. My kids love it (all across the age range).

I have heard reports just like your dd's coming out of our local Blue Ribbon school district. Knowing some of the students, I believe it. One mom told me how many times her child was allowed to retake the same test - after three tries he finally earned :glare: that A. It wouldn't bother me EXCEPT that those who teach and create a transcript with academic challenge and integrity find their students' stats in competition with the inflated ones at our state universities. Scholarship programs have point systems for gpa, class rank, etc and it's not fair that those aren't truly equitable stats. The good thing is that our kids, who tend to be more rigorously educated, usually outperform the others on nationally normed tests such as the PSAT, SAT and ACT.

:iagree: My thoughts exactly. Why do you feel the need to make a "statement" of any sort? Just allow that relationship to slip away. My kids do not have a close relationship with my mom. Long story. Other senior adults have come into their lives and MORE than made up the difference. The kids wonder, but as they have grown, they can see the truth; there's no need for me to elaborate. If there's anything at all you need to say to your kids, keep it simple and just be sure to include that it's not them, it's her. "I don't fully understand it myself, but some people find it difficult to keep up long distance relationships, even with people they love."

Can you try something like this... Put the 7yo to bed with a book at 8:00 pm. Lights out 8:20pm. Meantime, 11yo has quiet reading in favorite cozy spot outside of his bedroom til 8:45pm, at which time he stealthily crawls into bed for the night. Hopefully 7yo will already be asleep. This arrangement worked for me under similar circumstances. However, once they were used to this, we didn't do it every night, just about 70% of the time. That evening talk time was so important to their relationship - I didn't want to completely do away with it. But yeah, they could stretch out that pillow talk!

Hmm. The businesses give me pause. If you ever think you'll need to sell it, be prepared for that to take a while. If you plan to live there forever maybe it wouldn't matter. You personally may not mind the current businesses, but if those properties are zoned commercial or industrial, some other business may takeover. What if something comes in that is even more highly objectionable - a tannery? I dunno, just my mind going for extremes. But I think you understand what I mean. I would want to talk to someone very knowledgeable about the real estate history and potential for that area.

In many a Protestant church, a pastor would want to discuss this decision with her prior to baptizing her. Do you know if this has occurred, or has she mentioned it? During this conversation, the pastor would ascertain whether or not she understood what she was doing. FWIW, I know many 15yos whom I believe capable of understanding their faith well enough to request baptism. So I don't think you can just take her chronological age and say she's too young. It varies from person to person. She may be ready, maybe not. Has she shared with you why she feels led to be baptized at this time?

Oh Sarah, that is too funny! You have to come back and report on this!:lol:

That was not only discourteous of the showing realtor, but unprofessional. She should have called you. Please tell your realtor what happened. You might want to add more showing instructions to your listing such as, "Please call the home owner if you are running ahead or behind schedule."

Oh, fwiw, I have taken to include the following in my CL listings: "Cash only, please! Local sales only; purchaser is responsible for transportation."

Sad but true. :lol: Hmm...Windex?!! :lol: I don't like those corner critters, either. I send my kids off with the vacuum cleaner - Mighty Spider Slayers they are.

IIRC, there's more to it. Something about the check they will send is supposed to cover the mover's fee, but in the meantime you are supposed to pay the movers up front and consider the check payment reimbursement... seems like that's one way I've heard the scam works. In any case, you are right to smell a scam and not reply. If possible you should also report their emails/addresses to CL administrators.

Haha! Leave it to Mariann, queen of the smilie icons!!! Thanks, Jean, I have heard about that and been fascinated by it, but didn't know it was actually about to happen. I may have to take an idea from kidshappen and see if we can get to a local observatory. Not sure if our weather will cooperate for today's eclipse but we will be trying. Nice to know the computer is an option.

Pay off everything. Set up college funds for my kids, my nieces and nephews, and any other young person I know that I just think is a neat kid. Fully furnish a hospital run by a friend deep in the African jungle. Fund a building project in Haiti in which another friend is involved. Buy that beach house, who cares now what the hurricane insurance premiums run?!! Hire a personal trainer. Eat quality food. Organic, drug-free, etc, etc. Travel, travel, travel - for service, education and leisure. And I would never set foot in WalMart again.

Haha! I was going to pass over this thread, thinking that I did not need another recipe for a breakfast casserole or fancy pancakes. But then I realized it was JANN posting and I knew it would be a beautiful cake. Another work of art, Jann! I know your friend greatly appreciates you, your time and your talent. And we really love to see the pictures!

I agree with radiobrain. If you subtract the height of the platform from the height of the heel, you can see the actual rise from toe to heel isn't as great as it appears. For this reason, the shoes can actually be more comfortable than, say, pointy-toed high heeled pumps. What I actually have to ask myself is, what does my 50yo self actually look like sporting a pair of those? Do I really have the right style of wardrobe to match? Will I look like a mama trying to dress down to her dd's age level? I just tend to look at such wearables, on myself, with a more critical eye. We went to our first graduation of the season and all the girls were wearing fun, colorful, funky shoes below their somber dark gowns. So cute! But the moms who went shoe-shopping with their daughters... well, not all of them could pull off the look. The shoes in the linked pic, I like. Monochrome. I once had a pair similar to those in dark brown, just about a half inch platform. Wish I still had them.

Any updates, Jean?

That is so funny! I've had D3 supplement regimen (50KIU weekly for 12 weeks). I can't say I've noticed a dramatic difference, but I've never said it - that's like calling the emperor nekkid! Truly, I believe it increases my immunity, so while I don't get a Vit D high, I do feel better overall and don't get sick easily. I feel better when I see the numbers go up on my lab work. :D FWIW, my allergist prefers to see a level of around 50, which is higher than many doctors accept.