It's kind of hard to find sometimes!!

My husband does fairly professionally. He finds it easier to teach kids (especially kids who know violin) before guitar.

Yes! There should be a little clickable link: Ship to Multiple Addresses. At least for Prime.

I will be happy for you. Congratulations!! So exciting. Please do update us with pictures, ok? :party:

I can't wait! Think about how awesome that baby will be. Did you see the AMA with his daughters Maddy and Holly? They sound so excited, too!

I will say my absolute #1 for that age and issues would be The Wee Free Men and the Other Tiffany Aching books!! Ocean at the End of the Lane, Coraline, I would say the Percy Jackson books (lots of missing and dysfunctional family stuff and both female and male protagonists), anything Judy Blume, Wise Child, The Secret Life of Bees, and Cinder. My teen daughter said Hunger Games, The Rithmatist, Little Women, A Year Down Yonder, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (check for maturity), Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, The Golden Compass (coming of age, parents), Gregor the Overlander (main boy protagonist but lots of girls). She wants to reiterate that Little Women is one of THE best books ever and her first recommendation here. ;) She also agrees with Tiffany Aching books, Coraline, Percy Jackson,

This is amazingly widespread. Dh is diabetic and his tsh was 7-8 for years but they refused to follow the updated guidelines and treat him until he finally found a new doctor. I was borderline with thyroidtoxicosis (a doctor later diagnosed me based on my chart from when I had the occurrence) and the doctors had refused for months to treat my thyroid or look in to it, going so far as to tell me I had lymphoma and remove the lymph nodes in my neck for biopsy. Guess what? They were thyroid nodes and it was my thyroid. Sigh. Always get a second opinion and go to an endocrinologist!

For Neil Gaiman fans, and for charity. :) https://www.humblebundle.com/books

Oh no! I hope it's ok! My teen is going to do an Intro Krav Maga class with me this week. So I'm scared and excited for that. :) I'm trying to decide between trying a Barre, Crossfit, or Aerial Yoga class, too.

Fascinating. It's amazing how much your gut biome can affect everything-immunity, allergies, weight, mental health...

I'm not sure either. It's all so confusing, and seems to be almost an epidemic at this point. I refuse to believe it's just calories when I see the opposite every day with people I'm close to and when I worked in the hospital (and part of my job was recording exact input/output). It's much more complex than just calories for some people, and it can get very frustrating defending yourself when you do what the doctors tell you and you're being accused of lying or being too stupid to know how much you've eaten. KWIM?

Yes, and not every Type 1 has the same metabolism issues. :) That comment was just kind of tacked onto the end in reference to CICO not being the only thing that affects weight. I just need to bottle up whatever makes dh (and his non-diabetic father who is pretty sedentary and never gains a pound which makes me think it's not the diabetes) not gain weight so I can finally eat a meal without feeling bad about myself, even if it's a salad. Heck, dh is type 1 and has hypothyroidism and never gained weight before getting on synthroid. Hopefully our kids inherit his metabolism. ;) Sorry for being confusing, I'm reading all of this and hate using multiquote for 50 different ideas and posts.

But not for everyone. My dh is Type 1 and no matter what he eats, he never ever gets full. It's ridiculous. But he also hasn't gained a single pound in over 20 years. Talk about unfair. :p

I can see that. But look at the current statistics for adults with metabolic disorders. 40% of American adults are diabetic or prediabetic. Does that include the very widespread PCOS? And it certainly doesn't include all thyroid disorders or other conditions. So saying CICO is the gold standard ignores the fact that we have an epidemic of people for whom CICO probably is not the key.

Can I re-join? :) We are kind of temporarily living here, so a lot of my weights and exercise equipment is in storage states away, including (to my horror) my running shoes! I've been using my fitbit, and I might actually have to temporarily join a gym here, so I'm looking at classes and trying to decide what would work. Yesterday I walked for 6 straight hours at the museum/mall, and Saturday it will be cool enough to go jog, so I'm going to try to hunt down some shoes. :)

NYC, San Francisco, and Portland have great public transportation from my experience. I've been less pleased around Chicago, Raleigh, Cincinnati, and St. Louis.

That's a very small sample size and there are so many factors. I do NOT buy processed foods except rarely if we are going on a trip and I need shelf stable foods, or frozen pizzas when we were moving. I buy exclusively whole foods. Yet I am overweight despite trying about everything under the sun, including prolonged very low calorie diets. I'm a foodie and about as snobby about butter, salt, and greens as it is possible to be. My kids even have been known to ask for smoked Hawaiian salt instead when we visit family. I ration out my 21 grain organic bread like the apocalypse is nigh. We buy the organic wild berries and raw nuts in bulk when we go to the "city". But if you judged me off a rare trip to Aldi before a road trip or me buying for a food drive, then yes, you'd see a different view. ;) And let's remember there is an issue with poverty, food selection, and obesity. If you don't have proper cooking supplies or appliances, you are not going to be able to eat as healthy. If you don't have a working refrigerator, or time between your jobs, then maybe you shouldn't be judged for buying convenience foods. I know that I can buy a whole lot more cheap processed food than healthy food. For the price of a package of salad for my family, I can buy 4 meals of mac n cheese with Little Debbies for breakfast for a week. If your budget is super tight, you're going to pick more food over the healthier expensive options. And not everybody is prepared with the life skills needed for preparing healthier food. One feminist view on classism and food. I am not saying this is the ultimate article on the subject, and feel free to add your own, but it's an interesting view, and pretty spot on from just my experience. Maybe less judgment for what's in the cart, and more empathy?

Got it. Thank you! I'm trying to catch up here. We just got done moving all of our things to storage, then driving to live with family two states away (five cats in the car with five kids, don't even get me started), so I've not been reading a lot. I gave up on whatever stressful barely readable book I had been reading and I picked up The 8th Day which is a fun new(ish) kids book. I'm happy to see Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance for this week. I would pick it up to reread, but my copy is packed and in storage!

I would complain directly to the highest authorities in charge of the clinic. As a former phlebotomist, not every blood draw is perfect, but this is a really poor rescue and they probably need some better training.

So we are all immigrants, doesn't that just prove the whole point that it's not Us vs. Them? :iagree:

They're just words. To me it differs if you're using them as an insult or an exclamation. Like I have no problem people calling their TV a POS, but it's inappropriate to call a child one. Does that make sense?

13 :) It's a number relevant in several of my kids' birthdays, old addresses, and I feel a kinship with the much maligned. ;)

I think I have two copies, but I probably need this.

Deal!

:hurray: