I hope it goes well and that it turns out to be a good fit for you.

Hugs and prayers.

Ideally, I would say that finishing high school, or at least getting a GED would be a non-negotiable term for continuing to live in your house. In a real world, I know that ultimatums don't always work the way we'd like. Still, I think I'd stick with that. Give him a reasonable amount of time to get it done, and then follow through on consequences if he doesn't.

Editing as a profession - anyone do this? Only in my mind. ?

When we remodeled our house, we left a brick fireplace exposed behind one of the bathroom sinks. I love the way it looks. I hate the way it cleans. I'd NEVER do it in a kitchen. Sorry.

I've tried "natural" weed killers such as this, and they only seem to work for a short while. They kill the weed that's there, but I need to do it again in a couple of weeks. In addition to the boiling water one, I've used this: one gallon white vinegar, two cups Epsom salts (some people just use table salt and say it works fine) and 1/4 cup of Dawn dish soap. Put it in a pressure sprayer and spray. Most weeds will die in a few hours, but some of the bigger, tougher weeds, such as thistles might need to be sprayed again. Apparently, if you do this often enough, the vinegar kills anything that's there and the salt leaches into the soil and makes it sterile over time. I've done it around the perimeter of my garden at least six times though, and the weeds still come back.

What kind of options do you have for physical exercise during the cold months? Is there a Y nearby with a swimming pool? Swimming always seems to tire my kids out. Or maybe there's just an open gym that they can run around in. If you can get them out somewhere to run around several times a week, it might make them less rambunctious the rest of the time. Maybe you have access to other organized activities during the cold months? Libraries? Sports teams? Field trips? Science museum? It might cost less to get a yearly pass to a science museum than it would cost to build something at your house. I know that I'd rather stay home and curl up with a book when it's cold out, but for the sake of my kids, we make an effort to get out of the house.

Praying.

Praying for the best for you, and hugs.

Hmmmm, I use Republic, but I pay $25/month for what someone else is paying about $15/month. It works ok at our house, but there are areas where I know I won't get reception. I'm thinking of switching.

You know that they say the definition of a dysfunctional family is 'one that has more than one person in it'. No offense intended to families who are really struggling, but sometimes it does help to remember that many people are just able to hide the struggles, and comparison steals joy.

I'm sorry. That is exhausting. I agree with the quote in your signature line, but I know that even if you agree with it, it doesn't erase the 'hard'.

Oh no! Painful, frustrating and discouraging. If I knew where you lived, I'd bring you a meal. ?

The only thing that popped into my mind was Bunco. You can find instructions and score cards on-line. We played it at a large gathering of teens, and it was a good ice breaker and required them to move from group to group. Oh! More things popping into my head..... An old one -- give everyone a label to put on their back. The labels have to be a certain category, such as animals, celebrities, book title, movie titles, popular songs, etc. Kids need to go around and ask other people questions to try to guess what their label says. You can make up different rules for this -- allow only one question per person, only allow 30 seconds per person and then ring a bell and everyone has to switch people, only allow yes and no questions, etc. Play charades. We did a game once with a large group where one person had a cooking pan and a wooden spoon. She'd do a certain number of 'beats' on the pan and you had to get yourself into a group with that many people. If she did 6 beats, a group of 6 people, etc. If you didn't find a group, you were out and had to stand along the wall. You need to keep this game moving quickly, and repeat it a few times so that the people who get out immediately get another chance to play.

I would agree that all of us are narcisstic to an extent, and it might be helpful to differentiate between leaning more toward narcissism and an actual personality disorder.

Well, I've certainly considered the possibility that I could have been wrong. ? Even if it had been a one time event, I'd still see red flags. I asked politely if I had misunderstood something or if she could explain it to me, and that unleashed a tirade which included calling me crazy and bringing up something my teen had said five years ago. The lack of empathy and self-centeredness has been an ongoing pattern though. It had never been as blatant as this, but I'd never even slightly challenged her before, if you can call that a challenge.

This was not a one-time event with this person. Over the years, I have distanced myself more and more, but situations throw us together. This is her MO: if she's irritated about something, she talks non-stop, throwing in lots of 'Christianese" to validate herself, and doesn't wait for a response. She surrounds herself with needy people, who she can 'save'. She continually talks about how busy she is, and how wonderful her children are. By the way, the "offense" that she brought up in our current conversation was something one of my kids said. Five years ago. When he was about 13.

That was a rhetorical question, by the way. If you really think that I'm the terrible one, I don't need to know. ?

Are you the only one who thinks that she's a truly terrible person? See, I don't think that I'm arrogant enough to believe that I, alone, am the only one who sees through this charade. So, am I actually the one who is the terrible person?

This is actually a spin-off of two different threads: the thread about 'having a difficult conversation' and the MIL thread. I was amazed at how many people here have really difficult people in their lives, and it made me wonder how prevalent NPD is. Then I was lying awake last night, rehashing a volley of conversations that I had with someone yesterday, and my head exploded. (well, not literally. :)This person displayed all the characteristics of NPD. When I brought up something that bothered me, I received a tirade in the form of a lengthy explanation about why it was my fault and not hers. She hinted at a previous offense without specifying what it was, and was so deeply offended (please insert massive sarcasm here) that I could ever think ill of her. And, I'm lying in bed last night wondering why I seem to be the only one who thinks this person is a total horse's back end, and seriously, is this all actually my fault? So, to all of you who have had to deal with this on a regular basis, (((hugs))))

I will verify what Teachaheart said. The CRC does ordain women in all of those roles. While it would be perfectly common to pray for political leaders, it would be in generalities, and NEVER specifically promoting a particular candidate. Although, once someone has been elected to office, it would be common to pray for that person by name even if the particular church did not agree with their political views.

The Christian Reformed Church split from the Reformed Church maybe close to 100 years ago for sundry reasons. They would still agree on many points of theology. Worship style and the content of the preaching could vary widely between churches within either of those denominations, so it would be hard to say if you might find it similar to the church you are familiar with. I agree that the CRC would emphasize exegetical preaching, so it's not at all unusual to talk about Christ's birth or resurrection at any point during the year. The CRC is a fairly small, close-knit denomination, so even though I'm no longer CRC, my first thought was, "Hey, I wonder if she met anyone I know." Yea. Seriously.

What about Samaritan's Purse? Or Habitat for Humanity?

Are bed bugs a possibility?

Perfect. Good job. You did the right thing.