To be honest...I think it was pretty tacky of your sister to demand to the point of a fight to be in the wedding! Asking to be a part, fine, but fighting with the groom/bride about, not my idea of proper. Now...if you were a part of the argument, then yeah, you need to be in it even if it is expensive, but it sounds like you were the collateral damage part of this war, lol. So, I would call and tell them that you are honored that she asked you to be a bridesmaid (keeping your cool about it being a forced asking) but that given your pregnancy right now and the fact that the fittings have to be done while you're obviously a different size than you will be.....and that driving 3 hours to do this is probably not wise at this time.....you'd like to find another way to be a participant in their happy day. Frankly I'd use the pregnancy as the excuse instead of the $$.....since it sounds like bride didn't really want you there anyway, it will give them a nice way to accept your decline and you don't have to get into the whole "too expensive, inappropriate party" mess. I'm guessing that at this point the bride (and maybe your brother) are going to be quite sensitive to ANY critisicm from family after your sisters stunt. Then tell them the ideas you have for participating.....a reading sounds wonderful.....some weddings I have been to lately seem to also have select people stand up and tell a story about the couple, usually funny though not overly embarassing, often more of an extolling of their wonderfulness. Some have been wonderful, some a bit tacky, but it appears to be a new trend. Perhaps you could participate behind the scenes, making favors or centerpieces for the reception. My niece recently got married and I offered to handle the details of the reception....especially all the little things AT the actual reception. Typically that's either the bride herself or her mom that deals with it all, but it can also be rather stressful for them already and add any little problem with the caterer, hall, decorations, music, etc....well, it dampens their enjoyment of the big day. I'm a decent organizer so I did all the calling a couple weeks ahead to confirm everything, work out details about times for access to the hall, etc, stopped by the hall on the way to the wedding to be sure it was moving along in a timely fashion (something neither mom nor bride could possibly do, so it's left to chance and the little details aren't fixed until the guests are already there). Etc. etc. I hope that you can find a way to celebrate with your brother and his bride that honors them and works better for you! Congrats on the impending baby!:grouphug:

I have lost 117 pounds (took me over 2 years, but I haven't gained it back). And I have a myriad of health issues plus painful joints, bad back from carrying all that weight so long, bad knees, etc. Below is the program that I started with (MORE REHAB)....I've since moved up to her Basic Plus, but not until I'd lost most of the weight. For me it required a combination of sensible eating and exercise....doing just one or the other didn't work, I stalled out. But the exercise didn't have to be a marathon which amazed me....just had to be moving "smart". There are samples of her Basic Plus online to try before you buy, so you may want to see if those will work for you since you sound like you may be in slightly better shape than I was when I started out (I had the couch part down pat, but not the 5k, lol....never hiked in my life, drove everywhere including to the other end of the mall....had enough kids around to fetch stuff so I stayed in my chair most of the day, etc). If the Basic is too much right now, start with this instead: https://store.t-tapp.com/products/T%252dTapp-MORE-Rehab-Program-DVD.html If you buy before Valentine's Day you can use the code love214 and get 14% off. As for eating....I tried them all, low carb/high protein in many variations, weight watchers, lots of the fad diets and on and on and on. The one that works best and has been easiest to stick to is just plain sensible eating....it takes time to retrain your thought process about food, but once you do it's just so logical that you look back and wonder what you were thinking before! The smaller plate is definitely a good way to do portion control.....eating at a table without a book or tv to distract is another important one for me....and that smaller plate has to be half filled with vegetables or fruit before meat or anything else is put on. And ALWAYS a green salad with more veggies and instead of pouring dressing on, I put a bit in a condiment cup and dip my fork into the dressing before spearing the salad....this means I typically use less than 1/2 a single serving of dressing (and means I can splurge and keep my beloved blue cheese!). My family had to come along with me on the major weight loss journey because having crackers, cookies and other junk in the house meant I would eat them. Now, they don't interest me much, but it was a long process to eliminate their seductive calling of my name. Have healthy snacks on hand and ready to go at all times, so you aren't tempted to grab something else because it's quick.....there are always grapes pulled from the vine, rinsed, patted dry and waiting for me in the fridge...sweet, filling easy to grab a handful and go. When I cook chicken I always cook extra (but without any sauce, etc) and slice it into strips.....so there is always serious protein available to grab and nibble. I got a strainer for yogurt to make "yocheese" and now add a couple spoons of this to flavored yogurt for an extremely filling and long lasting breakfast for less than 100 calories....and I'm not hungry again for hours. I substitute plain yogurt for sour cream on potatoes, in tacos, and most other things that I used to buy a 3 pound tub of sour cream a week for! I weaned myself off sugary soda to diet soda, then off that because it made me crave salty things to go with it, which are almost always high calorie junk. Now I drink water only (something I never drank the first half of my life, lol).....usually plain, but a squeeze of citrus is wonderful too (orange, tangerine, lemon, lime, all great). It does take some time to get used to water only......but it's well worth the effort. I forced myself to drink 8 ounces before every meal....cuts down on food consumption and makes water a part of each meal and eventually I was refilling the glass to drink WITH the meal too. Lots of experts think our "hunger" is partly dehydration and recommend you drink 1/2 your weight in ounces of water....in other words if you weigh 200 pounds, you should be drinking 100 ounces of water a day. Prepare to stop at the bathroom more until your body adjusts, lol. Ok, you get the idea.....good luck!

Anyone see the line about several other publishers are considering delaying the sales on ebooks for a short time so they protect the hardback sales? That could annoy me just as much as the video folks putting out a movie on DVD and then a month or two later putting out the "extended version" of the same movie with the extra DVD that should have been in the first release! I no longer buy movies when they first come out, because I'm tired of having to re-buy them for the extras which my kids enjoy sometimes as much as the movie itself. It actually works wonderfully for me, because by the time I decide that they aren't going to release a bigger version the DVD is no longer the latest and greatest and so it's bargain priced, lol. Someday the big business folk are going to realize that some consumers have caught on to their crapola and will just start doing business honestly. Ok, maybe in my fantasy world, but I prefer living there. So...if you have a ebook reader, you want to remember to wait before assuming it's not coming out on ebook and don't give in to buying the hardback first!

This sentence in your original post says it all to me. This does not bode well for you personally, for your marriage or your family. A resentful mom/wife is not pleasant to be, or be around. While I do believe that BOTH parents should be willing to sacrifice their personal wants/needs for the better of the children and the family as a whole, it isn't fair for one to do it all alone. And that seems to be what is happening in your situation. Your husband doesn't want to work, but he also doesn't want to take over the household/children responsibilities so that you can work. It might be different if your DH was enjoying his time home.....after years/decades of taking on the burden of supporting the family, I wouldn't think it unfair for him to think you should shoulder a little of that....IF, and it's a great big IF....he were then willing to take over YOUR duties at home. And if your kids have been homeschooled all this time then that is part of the bargain. That would be like you deciding that he should go back to work, the kids should go to school so that you could have peace and quiet in the house to eat your bon bons and watch your soaps. I'm sure none of us would feel that was fair (maybe a great fantasy, but not fair). The choice to not work and not have the kids around simply isn't an option. If the kids were to go back to school would that motivate him to go back to work....or is his real motivation for them to be in school so that he has the bonbon/soap opera time (or whatever it is he does with his day of course). OR......Is it likely that the Aspergers caused him to quit those years ago, and its influence is what is making him unable to return? If so, then treatment for that might be a priority. I think 2 1/2 years to decide what a parent wants to do with their life is way too long. Might be fine for a single guy, or even a newly married person, but he has a family, and needs to do what is necessary for them over his own needs. Again, though, this would be rather typical behavior for Aspergers. But as a parent, he needs to seek help whether he likes it or not. I personally would recommend that you and he get some marriage counseling, because your line above sounds like if things continue the way they are that your marriage will be in serious trouble, if it isn't already. The double help will be that a marriage counselor will likely be able to see if there are signs of depression or other medical needs in your DH and hopefully convince him to seek more help. If he is truly Aspergers there is medication that can help him with that as well...not a cure all of course, but perhaps if it can tone down some of the anxiety he feels it would make returning to work easier for him. And frankly, it sounds like he'd be happier away from the children for the better part of the day.....perhaps finding a job where he is rather autonomous and not having to deal with others any more than necessary would be the relief he needs. A job counselor might be able to help narrow down some of the types of jobs where he could use his skills/knowledge but limit his personal interactions. :grouphug: None of this is going to be easy on you, of course, but I hope that you are able to resolve this so that you do not end up resenting everything, and so that whatever is truly best for your family can happen.

I'm glad to read that your daughter is encouraged! And frankly, even more relieved to read that they were being much more responsible than it had originally sounded. I agree with the posters above who spoke of some (stress some, obviously they aren't all this way) schools who were in it for the money more than for the safety of the children or the love of the dance. I really feared your daughter's school was one of "those". Now your daughter will have these older girls to watch and look up to and I hope that they are a source of encouragement for your daughter to continue to work hard so that she too can earn her shoes!

:iagree:

Except in this case, the guy in jail is the same one that the girl slept with to conceive the child. So if she's going to judge KidsHappen for having a child in jail, she'd have to judge herself about getting involved with him in the first place. And, from what KidsHappen says the girl doesn't exactly have a squeakly clean past, so she's not likely to look down her nose at someone in jail. I'd also like to add (and I'm guessing Garga feels the same way so please don't think I'm picking on you)....just because a child runs into the wrong side of the law doesn't mean that the mother failed in raising that child. KidsHappen has other kids that apparently aren't in jail or in trouble in any way. I know we mothers tend to think every bump our kids go through is because we failed somehow (and maybe more so when we homeschool!) but the fact is that some kids just make bad choices in life no matter how they were raised. For that matter, look at the news headlines.....apparently being a successful person for decades of your life doesn't prevent you from screwing up royally! And conversely.....sometimes moms can be royal screwups but her kids can actually turn out really well! My DH's mother was an alcoholic that left him alone at home with no food in the cupboards for weeks at a time when she went on a bender...starting when his dad left her when DH was 7 years old! The other things she did while supposedly raising him would lead one to read her life story and assume that her kid was either dead or so messed up now as an adult that he'd be pretty low on the society totem pole. But my DH gained strength from his need to raise himself...and saw what drugs/alcohol and other bad behavior did to a person and turned the other way around. He's a 1* in the Air Force....not an easy thing to accomplish no matter what your background. We moms can only do our best and the rest is up to the child.

People who have drug problems (past or present) and other run ins with the law tend to not want to go to the governement for financial help on the fear that they will be "caught" if they're still using. And a lot of people that have had such negative experience with the police, etc, fear that if they don't have a way to support the baby then the baby will be taken away. Hence the reasons she may not have told the truth about the baby's father living with them when he obviously is not. It sounds like if she were receiving welfare/food stamps/housing/WIC that she might do much better. Since she is either reluctant/scared or clueless about how to apply for these things, perhaps you could arrange to go to her area to go along (read: take her) to the appointments to get the paperwork started. Lots of reassurance that they aren't going to take the baby away or arrest her (so long as she's not obviously high when she goes of course). This should take care of food for her, formula for the baby and enough money to perhaps get a 1 bedroom studio until the welfare housing becomes available (in most states there is a waiting list so it may be a few months). This will also go a long way towards helping her see that you are someone she can trust, that you want what's best for her and the baby. Then later you can broach the subject that you'd be able to take the baby for a short time if she wants to get a job to get off welfare and get herself ready to take the baby back again. The other possibility would be for you to tell your son your concerns....you want to help out with the baby, but you don't want your young children influenced by her lifestyle on a daily basis. Hopefully you can speak more frankly to him than you may want to do with the girl you hardly know. Then perhaps your son can suggest to her that Grandma take the baby for a couple months until she gets a job and a place to live and etc etc etc. It may be a lot easier for her to take coming from him since it sounds like their relationship is still good. From you she may think you're trying to take the baby away forever....from him she may realize that you're willing to help out but accept that the baby is hers not yours. While the former lawyer in me agrees with the other posters about legal documentation.....remember that this can then affect the amount of welfare and other services the mother may receive. If you have legal papers giving YOU custody, as opposed to "I'm just babysitting", then if she continues to accept welfare money and other services based on "mother and infant" that could lead to fraud charges against her. Not something you want to risk with someone already to close to the line between good and bad behavior. Besides, your intent IS to let her have the baby back when she's back on her feet right.....not to judge whether her idea of on her feet is up to your standards. It will be difficult to return the baby anyways....but if she's found an apartment in a not-so-great neighborhood will you refuse? If your concern is she'll start using again if she's on her own, realize that there are remedies if she shows up at the door demanding her baby and she's flying high. The threat of a call to the police over concern of the baby will send her running, of course, so if that's the only concern I'd not do the legal documentation just for that single reason that you wouldn't give the baby back. If there are other circumstances that you won't return the baby, then you will need to figure out if you'd have legal legs to stand on....her housing choices won't work in most cases, for example. :grouphug:

The libraries around us have a 3 week check out period. You can also renew IF no one else has put a hold on the book. I use several libraries that are 30-50 minutes away....but I only go there once every 3 weeks. I combine that with some other things in those areas so that the longer drive isn't just for library books. Perhaps if you planned to do the same thing for the awesome library an hour away then you could make that library work more effectively, and just use the closer library weekly in between. And if you decide to try the hour drive, remember to check out some audio books to help the kids with that long drive! We listened to sooo many great books that way. Still do! I typically chose the longer stories so that the kids would really get into the story and by the time we arrived home they'd be asking when we were going somewhere again so they could listen to the rest of the story. I really believe this helped make them the champions of long distance travel that they are....I know most children get antsy on long drives, but mine can do 6 to 8 hours with only a couple of potty/food breaks so long as the story is compelling (and I don't mess up on the CD count and run out of story before we run out of freeway!).

10 or 11 is too young to be on pointe....her foot is not developed enough and it's doubtful that her strength would be on par either. The bone tissue in the feet MUST be finished growing or permanent damage can occur. While obviously some girls may complete this earlier than others, short of a doctor examining each girl, they typically use age as a determination. I'm sure that there are exceptions, but most dancers aren't on pointe that young, because it's considered dangerous to do so even in "prodigy" type students. (By the way, if you want to look up more information about foot development, the term you want to start your research is ossification). Perhaps you could privately talk to the AD and/or teacher and find out specifically what your daughter should be doing in addition to the classes and practice at home to prepare for pointe so that once she reaches the correct age she will have also reached the other prep requirements. Perhaps if she were to know that it was her age not her skills she would not feel so discouraged. You also need to warn her about the very serious and very real consequences if she decides to try to dance en pointe without the proper shoes (which commonly is tried at home practice because most teachers would mete out serious punishment if they see it in class). I know it's hard not to want to 'try' but she needs to realize that it only takes a moment for a break or other injury to occur and her ballet career would be ended forever.

I didn't find OP to be whiny....I read it as someone having to make a decision that they're not sure which direction to take and hoping for some perspective from those us who have been there done that but aren't so close to it that we can't see the forest for the trees. I think it's a common lot in life to not love every job you have.....or everywhere that you have to live. My family has endured a lot of moves due to the military.....we have had some that we were very excited about taking only to find we were just as happy to be leaving there, lol. Sometimes it was really about getting your head set on this is where you will be living for a while, so our choice was to make the most of it and be happy or refuse to accept it and be miserable. If you find that you just can't make the best of it work for your family, there is no reason that you shouldn't look elsewhere for greener pastures (or snowy meadows whichever fits you, lol). As for the resume....obviously in the military your resume isn't quite the same as the rest of the world....but requesting transfers does tend to put red flags up for some commanders. They don't want to take on members who can't be happy in the duty assigned (or requested). In our case, my hsuband made it clear that he was requesting transfers for the challenge that each new mission would offer him.....he wasn't and still isn't, one to be able to work on mundane or "same" type tasks. For some commanders this was a great thing and they worked to get him in on their next mission...for others they saw an overly ambitious officer who might not work well with his current team. We knew his ambition wasn't always a good thing, but it is who he is, so we had to go with that so that he could continue to be happy in his work, which in turn continued to make us happy at home. I would think that employers would be of both sides as well....some may see his looking for another job after only a short time on the previous job as dangerous for their company, and not want to invest the time and effort into training him only to see him do it again. On the other hand, some employers may see that as a man who is willing to do what it takes to reach his goals.....and that employer may ask him very pointedly about those goals if they hire him.....and find that ambition is a highly prized skill for that particular employer. Some employers want worker-bees....some want the ones looking to shake up the hive a little with new ideas. Think about some of the high profile CEO jobs that change rapidly with the ups and downs of the economy.....some companies have fired CEOs of many many years because they need something other than the status quo. And some stick with the tried and true. If your husband's field is one in which upward mobility and ambition can be a good thing, the short stays at companies may be seen as a positive. If he job skills are for worker-bees, then yes, jumping ship too often can be a negative. Maybe it's time for him to shake up the hive, lol.

Homeschooling is NOT for everyone. Obviously none of us know enough about your situation to make that decision, but if no one is learning, then either something drastic needs to change at home, or the best interests of your children MIGHT be better served at school. But before you make that decision, think long and hard about why it's not working at home, and whether their being in school will improve that or make it worse! Sometimes when homeschooling isn't working it's a matter of the kids being bored or feeling frustrated, even "stupid" when they don't get it. That doesn't always mean that mom is a horrible teacher or the kids aren't smart. Sometimes it means that the approach at home isn't working for anyone. Some people try to bring school into the home...sit at the desk for x number of hours going through this workbook or that workbook and now you get 10 minutes to run around in the backyard and then back in the chair for more workbooks. And the kids hate it....and mom hates it because the kids rebel. Of course there is also the opposite end....mom's style of teaching is to drag the unwilling kids to every historical monument in the state and proceed to lecture them (or have the monument folks do the lecture) for hours about the history and significance of this monument....then pile back in the car for several hours of driving to the next monument. Two extremes of course, but the point is the same....perhaps it's not "school" that your children hate....perhaps it's how the information is being presented to them that needs to change. Sometimes it can be about learning style...the workbooks would absolutely kill my children, they hate filling in blanks....other children love and need the orderliness of workbooks. My children love to travel to learn about the state we're living in now (we're military so we move a lot!)...but we've tried taking friends with us and it hasn't always worked out. Obviously what you're doing now isn't working very well. Perhaps you are too close, and too frustrated, to see what changes might improve the situation....in which case, try to find a trusted friend who perhaps is doing better in their homeschool adventure, and ask them to come to your home for a day to see what changes might work best. Or do some research into learning styles....I know that subject can be controversial here, but honestly, your average 5 year old should be absolutely chomping at the bit to learn about everything in the world. This board often laments about the public school taking all the joy of learning out of their kids....but a 5 year old should not be there yet! Another thing to look at is whether you are doing too much or not enough for your child's needs. An overwhelmed child will of course "hate" everything......and a bored child will not be happy having to do that same style of workbook page over and over. Personally, I think that's why so many seemingly smart kids have so much behavior problems at school...they're bored, they're ready to move on but the rest of the class is still learning and so they have to plod along with them. I learned early in my homeschool days to forget about the curriculum lesson plans.....they are seldom a good fit for my children. Some books that claim to be a full year of lessons takes us a couple of months.....other books that same year takes us two years because we enjoy it so much. Examples....Apologia science is supposedly a year long per book...we whizzed through them a couple of months EACH, finishing all 3 of the elementary Zoology books plus the Astronomy is a year.....but Story of the World....Volume 1 took us 2 1/2 years our first time through it....we went off on so many bunny trails...any time the kids truly loved a person/place/event we stayed on it until there was nothing more to read in the library! That's not to say that Apologia was a bad curriculum...we learned a great deal from each volume, but my kids simply didn't want to drag each chapter out for two weeks....they wanted to do science all day sometimes, so we'd literally finish a chapter meant to take 2 weeks in a day or two. It takes time, patience and a lot of effort to find the best way for YOUR family to learn. I know of many people who thought we were nuts to "still" be studying the same subject months later....their family would have been bored to tears but we were still excited, so we kept going. When the excitement started waning, I'd start planning for the next subject matter, so when it stopped being interesting we moved on. Do not think yourself a failure if you ultimately decide homeschooling isn't for you....but if on those days when you can put aside the frustrations and feel that homeschooling despite it's imperfections are the best thing for your family....then make the effort to make changes to improve it. But if no amount of change is going to make your children thrive and enjoy at home, then it's time to consider that the change that is right for YOUR family, might be into the school system. You might want to see if your community has charter schools that cater to your children's specific interests....I'm seeing more "speciality" charter schools popping up lately....the charters that focus on science, or engineering, or performing arts, etc. If your child has a deep seated love that needs to be nutured, these types of schools might be a better fit than a typical public schools that simply goes for academics and doesn't mold their lessons to the specific child's needs like the specialities do. Not all children, of course, have figured out their niche in life yet....so a general education is perfect for them. Good luck!:grouphug:

Well, moving is a way of life for my family so that part of it wouldn't bother me as much as it might some. But, yes, if it meant the difference between my family "making it" or not, I'd take just about any job that would pay enough to keep us going. If it meant that you'd be working full time and still not making it, then no I'd probably not upheavel my family to go under somewhere else, but I'd be looking hard at my budget to figure out exactly where my minimum needs end. As for looking for another job at the same time, yes, I'd have no qualms about that. Of course that's also why some people are having trouble finding "anything"....because their skill set/resume are quite high above the position they are seeking and the employer knows that they'll leave as soon as something better comes along. But....there is absolutely nothing wrong with continuing to try to better your employment situation. Ask yourself this....if you had enough income to sustain your family and be a little comfortable, would you not still seek out better? In other words, look back and year or two when life was a little easier.....if the right opportuity came along would you not have taken it? Were you not keeping your eyes and ears open for that better opportunity? You have not changed in your need for advancement/improvement.....you just have perhaps grown more content to simply HAVE a job right now. Do what you must to survive, but always look to improve yourself. That's not always about money, though...sometimes it's about finding the job that makes you happy in life even if it means a little less in the bank.

Everyone with a public school near them that teaches kids one-on-one please raise your hand. Hmmm, thought so. Of course, I only had one-on-one time with my eldest for 11 months....after that she had to share me with her baby sister. So I guess I didn't technically have a one-on-one environment to teach reading either....but we muddled through....well, ok, with the first one...but her sister nosed around so much that she taught herself to read just by listening to big sissy. Naughty naughty child. She always has been the troublemaker. :tongue_smilie:

Obviously their mama's must have interfered and tried to help them at home ruining the child for all eternity.

21 states, 6 countries. (Raised military, married military, lol) Longest stay...2 years 4 months and counting..... Shortest stay...3 weeks between transfers, stayed in base housing with possessions in storage. Ack...ok, sorry didn't realize you wanted list...... ARMY (military brat): Presidio Monterey, California Fort Benning, Georgia Fort Richardson, Alaska Fort Hood & Fort Bliss Texas (different years) Fort Drum, New York Fort Bragg, North Carolina Fort Leavenworth, Kansas Fort Sill Oklahoma AIR FORCE (with husband): Travis AFB, California (yeah, duplicate state, in final count only once) MacDill AFB, Florida Great Lakes AFB, Illinois Nellis AFB, Nevada Langley AFB, Virginia New London AFB, Connecticut Little Rock AFB, Arkansas Andrews AFB, Maryland Hickam AFB, Hawaii McChord AFB, Washington Kirtland AFB, New Mexico Keesler AFB, Mississippi (2 different years, in between overseas) Tinker, Oklahoma (duplicate state again) Malmstrom AFB, Montana Luke AFB, Arizona (current) OVERSEAS ARMY (military brat): Germany Japan AIR FORCE: Italy Spain Turkey Suffolk (United Kingdom) Japan Oh yeah…and after my dad retired but before got married I lived in: Pharr Texas (duplicate state) Maumee, Ohio (so that makes 22 states) Traveled for a year in: China and Hong Kong, Thailand, and Indonesia…not sure if that actually counts though as I didn’t officially live there, but spent months in each country on a year long trip after I graduated law school.

They are hiding inside the socks that are missing from the laundry....but the socks are hiding underneath the paperwork that you can't find...and we all know what happened to that!

You can still sortof get them, if you're willing to work for it. Figaro Fries was made with french fries, cheese sauce, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and ranch dressing. You can order the fries with the cheese sauce and ask for a side of ranch dressing....but then you have to walk over to Cosmic Rays for the lettuce and tomatoes. Bacon is sometimes at Cosmic, but not everytime we've gone and asking they simply say "if it's not out, we don't have it today". A lot of work for a decadent snack, but hey addicts will go out of their way for what they need.

If I'm coming into the pizza parlor....I go to the cashier and pay and wait for them to hand me the pizza to drive home myself.....I don't tip. But I consider that the same as going to McDonalds (or other fast food) ordering, paying and waiting for them to call my number....don't tip there either. I'm curious what you mean by "I think you get better overall service that way." when talking about takeout. Not being snarky, just totally curious.....by the time I arrive and am paying for the pizza it's typically already ready for me (or close to it), so what kind of better service would they even be able to do? Or are you saying you tip when you come in to order the pizza (instead of ordering by phone or Internet)? And what kind of better service do you get then? Hmmm, I'd pay an extra buck if they'd load it up with a few more toppings....seems that's how they're making up for those falling prices by counting every slice of pepperoni, lol. Ahhh the good old days when you could barely see the cheese. Now...delivery, where someone else drives that pizza to my house....yes I do tip...and I'll tell you that when I take the pizza and hand it to the kids if it's HOT....they get the extra dollar that is in my pocket. If it's just warm, they get the couple dollars I had ready for them. I think the kid who typically delivers this neighborhood has figured me out, because my pizzas have been HOT HOT lately, lol. I hate cold pizza.

Magic Kingdom: Casey's Hot Dogs are exceptionally delicious Village Haus has good food at reasonable prices (and portions tend to be large enough for sharing) You can also sit and watch the boarding of It's A Small World. Columbia Harbor House...really good food and again large portions. Love the fried fish or the tuna sandwich here. Hint: Go upstairs to sit and you can look out over Fantsyland or the Haunted House area. El Pirata y el Perico (The Pirate and the Parrot): It's only open "seasonally" but when it is open it's our 2nd favorite place (after Caseys). Tacos, including vegetarian and they're delicious. Cosmic Rays is good food and the entertainment while you eat is always fun. Animal Kingdom: Flame Tree BBQ is pretty good food Yak and Yeti (they have both a Table Service and a Counter Service) serves decent American style asian food. Hollywood Studios: Studio Catering Company has really good pulled pork sandwiches or Grilled chicken with black beans and rice. Most of the rest of the Counter Service places serve the same boring stuff. ABC Catering has some different selections but the quality of food seems to go up and down each time we visit. If you're planning to see Fantasmic, there is a counter service in the theatre....hot dogs, soft pretzels, popcorn etc....but like eating at a ball game there is something extra delicious about eating here and watching the show. EPCOT There are so many great places in World Showcase: United Kingdom: Yorkshire Fish Company, all that's missing is the newspaper wrapping. France: Boulangerie Patisserie....this could go under lunch or under snacks! There is always a long line for this place, but it's worth the wait. Many people assume it's all desserts, but they have croissant sandwiches that are amazing. Japan: Yakatori House...love their udon and sushi (they also have a good teriyaki, but I make that at home, lol) Tangierine Cafe in Morroco....love the Shawarma and their hummus and Tabouleh! The Cantina in Mexico is hit and miss....but love their churros (oops, that goes in snacks!) Lotus Blossom in China is truly awful....not even good Americanized Chinese. :tongue_smilie: Sunshine Seasons in The Land has the largest selection and pretty decent prices. Downtown Disney: Earl of Sandwich....really unusual selections, big and filling. If you're going to be checking out any of the resorts, POP Century is good fun food and a fun place for the kids to wander around and look at all the super HUGE decorations. Great photo ops! Caribbean Beach and Coronado Springs also have food courts worth stopping by. Snacks: Gotta have a Mickey Head ice cream, no matter what the weather....I think it may be a law (or should be, lol). You can find these in all the parks at multiple locations. Dole Whip....Magic Kingdom Adventureland Pineapple Juice and soft serve ice cream blended together...yummmmm Funnel Cakes in the America Pavillion at ECPOT. School Bread at Kringla Bakeri in Norway at EPCOT Churros in Mexico

Only once or twice.....a day. Tomorrow is a new chance to mess up all over again!:grouphug:

Peter and the Starcatchers (it's the first in a series) Kingdom Keepers (also a series)

RR used to sell them for $25.99, so saving 99 cents for the risk of buying from a stranger wasn't worth it to ME....saving $5 would probably be at the hairy edge of worth the risk for me. It's the folks that list them for $30 because the publisher price is $40 that I don't get. I guess it makes sense if they overpaid they may not realize that it's available at a discount. Just for the record, I have never written to a seller telling them their prices were too high....I just move on. The closest I've come to that would be writing and saying if I buy "all this" would you be willing to discount or ship free. I figure that I'm saving them time and money by buying several items...dealing with only one buyer and then cheaper to ship a larger package than 3 or 4 or more small ones, so I'd like to share that savings. I've never had a seller seem upset, some have accepted some don't. Of course, I am seldom hard pressed to come up with the $150 minimum for free shipping because we have a group that meets regularly and whenever someone is placing an order we do a group buy to save the shipping. But that's me....for some saving a dollar is worth it. I guess I'm a nervous nellie when it comes to buying used....I've only been burned twice in the probably 10 years that I've been buying used online, but whereas "back then" it was extremely rare to hear about a bad experience....seems like there are a lot more of them happening "now a days". I'd rather explain to my DH that I overpaid $5 than explain that I lost $25 to a dishonest seller. :eek: The other one I've been reading lately is people asking you to do Paypal as a "personal" transaction instead of a purchase, thereby the seller doesn't have to pay the fees to Paypal. Recently I've read about buyers being burned by doing this to save the seller a couple dollars....because apparently on "personal" transactions you don't have the buyer protection if the item doesn't arrive or isn't as described. I've read conflicting reports about this, some saying that's not true and of course others saying their disputes were rejected by Paypal. So just a heads up that if you're going to mark it "personal" to save the seller the fees, research whether you're giving up your protection. I'd rather share the fees with the seller than give up that layer of protection.

I've had good success selling the few things I've posted here....and compared to most of the swap boards on other forums it gets a lot of traffic. So...price your items wisely and you'll likely get most of it sold. The biggest problem I see when looking to buy is people pricing too high....as an example (and I'm not pointing fingers just this is probably the most common example I saw when I spent several months last year looking for this for use next year)....Apologia science.....many people were selling it for around $25postage paid.....well, considering that you can buy them brand new from several places for around $26 (plus shipping if you don't have a larger order) I can't see buying it used and taking the risk of a bad seller to save only the shipping cost and a buck. It took some patience on my part but I finally found a seller pricing it for $19ppd and snapped it up fast...while the same book for $26+ was reposted several times. If you have a lot to sell consider posting separate posts for subjects or publishers, not just "lots to sell". Folks tend to skim the subject line looking for something a little more descriptive...if you can't get us to open your post you won't sell much. I know a lot of people prefer to do one post because it's easier for them to keep track of.......so if you decide to post it all in one thread, categorize it there rather than just listing row after row of items in their post.....if I'm only looking for science, I'd like to find that section in your hundreds of items and look only there....if it's a popular brand like Apologia then sub-sorting may make sense. THe easier you make it for me to find what I'm specifically looking for, the better chance I'll stick around to read your post....if it's all hodge podge I typically move on. Some people post pictures....not really necessary unless it's an unusal item...we all know what Singapore math books look like, lol. But if it's unusal a well sized photo might be helpful in making me understand what you're selling. And the last thing I really appreciate....people who edit their post to REMOVE the items that sold (or at least to mark them sold) IN THE ORIGINAL post....I don't want to read 10 responses you post to see what all has sold or not. So I guess for me....the quicker I can peruse for what I want, the more likely I'll look. Let me know when you post....ya never know what I might need.:tongue_smilie:

Never mind....the video answered my stupid question.