Absolutely prefer non-fiction but am enjoying reading The Lord of the Rings trilogy right now. Other than that, on my nightstand are: 5 Conversations You Must Have With Your Son by Vicki Courtney 5 Conversations You Must Have With Your Daughter by Courtney Money, Possesions and Eternity by Randy Alcorn Next in line is Team of Rivals.

My ds 13 is a competitive freestyle skier and soccer player. He has been skiing since age 3; soccer since age 6. This spring soccer season was the first time he has ever complained about soccer games because they are on Saturday when the mountain still has snow on it :). So we decided, mutually, that this clarified what his passion is and will be dropping soccer (well, spring soccer...he will still do fall soccer as it doesn't interfere). I agree with a pp that waiting until around 13/14 is a good time to see where their real passion lies and then focus on that. If that is what they were created to do and what their sphere of influence will be in, then i don't see any reason to not put the lion's share of their energy there.

Easiest salmon ever: Pour a bottle of French dressing over; cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 350 for 50-60 min. Delicious :)

Had it with first pg then learned how to eat for diabetes. When we got pregnant second time, did exactly what you did (I weigh 128 lbs and walk/run as well), immediately started eating for diabetes and did not develop it! The biggest concern is that now your chances of developing adult inset diabetes, if you don't prevent it with diet, go up significantly with each pregnancy that you have gd. I know eat as if I am a diabetic (almost no carbs although I get them from lots of veggies, no cane or fructose sugar although I do use Just Like Sugar, erythritol, and xylitol in limited amounts) and I feel great, keep the weight off. Keep doing what you are doing...you are doing exactly what you need to be doing. :)

I agree with the pp about Gary Taubes Why We Get Fat and What To Do About It. It will change your life. Also, Maria Emmerich's The Art of Healthy Eating and The Secrets to a Healthy Metabolism. They are all excellent and, be forwarned, exactly opposite of everything you are doing! But it sounds like what you are doing isn't working so I would definitely get your hands on these books...they will change your life.

Martha Stewart Living .com has The Best Mac and Cheese recipe. She says you have to make a roux first in order to keep the cheese from separating and to keep it creamy. At any rate, it's excellent.

I agree. The really crazy thing is, I found her blog post to be as bigoted as the bigotry she was railing about. I felt physically ill after reading it. So, whose bigotry gets to be right, kwim?

Boyfriend is the best if you like amber-y, warm, spicy fragrances. It is like peppery vanilla. If you like straight vanilla-y scents, most of the Comptoir Sud Pacifique line are great: lemon vanilla, coco vanilla, jasmine vanilla, all kinds of mixed vanilla scents.

You've gotten all the info on the benefits so I would suggest switching to a little half and half or heavy cream: coffee has a tendency to leach calcium so that counteracts it and it makes it sooo creamy and yummy :)

I LIVE in shorts in the summer. Cut-offs, Bermudas, lots of styles from Athleta. I would love to figure out how to wear the athletic skirts and dresses from Athleta but haven't put much energy into that yet.

We had them for about 5 years before selling them. They still looked brand new and we never had an issue with them.

Love the Ghiradelli brownies too. Read that the Truffle Brownie Mix from Trader Joe's won Best Brownie award in Consumers Report so decided to try it. It must be true (I didn't try them as I rarely eat sugar) because I took them to a meeting and it is the first time ever that people actually commented on and asked for the recipe. Someone even posted the next day on a local chat group about them. My dh commented on them. It was weird.

I agree. I hear what the OP is saying and do agree that we are our dc best teacher in that we should be the first person speaking into their lives, deciding when to teach reading, paying attention to the cues that a non-parent teacher won't be invested in looking for. However, I do think there is great value in what dh and I call "echoes"...those people who have similar values, beliefs and goals for their dc and who we would love to have "echo" what we are saying to our kids...bc sometimes, they will HEAR it from them, even if we are saying the EXACT same thing. I have stopped being exasperated by this and we actually look for these "echoes" now. I do understand that these people are different than impersonal, uninvolved "others" that OP is referring to but wanted to agree with swellmomma that it can be a positive thing to have those "echoes"..

He is risen, indeed!!!! Hallelujah! There is hope!

Ooh, those are so cute!

Yes. I have bought and then taken back enough $6 and $9 shoes from the thrift store to have bought several pairs of really nice shoes so I have finally started just buying fewer, really nice, shoes. Much better use of our money. NAOT wedges/platforms are super cute and so comfortable. I bought their Valencia platform in metal leather and will probably never buy another summer shoe (aside from flip flops). They are so cute, go with everything..jeans, certain shorts, dresses, skirts, capris, everything. Can wear all day, no problem. Every body comments in them. Best shoe investment I have ever made.

I love sparrow's TS Eliot quote: "...my very soul is wedded to it and if I were a bird, I would fly about the earth seeking successive autumns...". Because that is what I would do, too, if I could :)

I would recommend Have a New Kid By Friday by Kevin Leman. It is a behaviour modification approach so I would use it initially to get the behaviour under control. Once your role as parent has been re-established (for lack of a better term), you can start looking at the heart issues.

I had a bottom pull-out freezer, one door fridge in our old house and i loved, loved, loved it. So when we moved into our new house (new owners specifically wanted us to leave the fridge in the house deal or it would have come with us), i decided to upgrade a bit and get a bottom pull-out freezer, French door fridge. When it dies, I am going back to the cheaper, one door model. We do have the door popping open problem regularly; thank goodness there is a door alarm to alert us or we would never keep it closed. But the most annoying part to me is there is this long meat and cheese drawer on the bottom that runs the full length of the fridge and to get into it, you have to open both doors and prop the left hand side open or it will slam into the open drawer...very awkward to be trying to open both doors, hold the left door open, open the meat drawer and pull out what I need, all in one motion. Wish they would have split it so that you could get into whichever side you want without having to open both doors. At any rate, if I had a recommendation, definitely go with the pull out bottom freezer, single door fridge. They are perfect.

I think it depends so much on the time of the trip. We have taken it a couple of times to my in-laws and it requires that we get on it at 9:00 at night and travel through the night until 7:30 am. I hate it. Absolutely hate it. Unless you have a sleeper car, you will have to deal with lights on in the cabins, loud and sometimes obnoxious people, stops so intermittent that even supposing you can get to sleep with the aforementioned issues, just about the time you would want to doze off, you will stop, lots of lights at the stop, more noise, people getting off and on. Occasionally someone so drunk, they will throw up on themselves and have to be escorted off by the police. Or have the guy who runs the breakfast kiosk chase your dh down and yell at him in front of everyone in the car for stealing a cell phone, which happens to be your dh's own phone that he left at the kiosk and went back to retrieve it. If you are traveling with kids, you get all this fun plus the anxiety of knowing that they are also not able to sleep with all the goings on. I have told my husband I would rather ride a bike carrying all of our luggage and kids before I will step foot on an Amtrak again. A least, for the trip to my in-laws. If we could travel during the day or have a sleeper car, I think it might be ok. But never, ever, ever will I ride in the coach cars for a through-the-night trip. I don't even know if I responded to your query..I saw Amtrak and I had this immediate, visceral response. Aye-yi-yi. I think I might have some PTSD I need to look at :).

On it...I am sorry (group hug)

Thank you for this...I have been trying to figure out my baseline ketone cycle and for some reason, how you explained that was very helpful :)

Yeah, the chapter on exercise blew my mind. Completely shifted my attitude from weight loss to overall health. I walk now instead of run because a) I really enjoy walking and b) why kill my joints? and c) it's good for my heart, stress levels and I get my Vit. D and d) I really enjoy walking!

I know, right?! I am only on week 12 so I am still transitioning to more weights but i do have two days of "jello legs and arms"! It is so motivating to watch my stomach get flatter and arms and thighs get toned... Dropping 4 pant sizes...that is fantastic! You go, girl :)