Thank you both! I will get both apps. Congratulations! Breast stroke is my little guy's best stroke at the moment. :) Thanks for the welcome! :) He's only 9 and started meets when he was 8. He seems to swim times similar to the kids in his heats that are similar in age. Thanks for the help on the explanation of times! Still learning all of the shorthand. I think I'm going to get him a swim backpack for Christmas. Any recommendations? Also, he usually swims 4 days per week-sometimes 3 depending on our schedule. I was thinking of having him do some conditioning type stuff on his off days to build some endurance. I want it to be fun stuff he and I can do together. Any ideas on that? He plays rec soccer in the fall and spring so that helps at those times. I'm just thinking 20 minutes at a time of activities that can help with fitness level while building the strength and endurance necessary for swimming.

Ooohhh...I found a couple of great swim parent blogs including this one . I think I understand time standards a little bit now. I will have to check my heat sheet from this meet but I think my little guy got his first B time. :) I would still love any other resources!

Hi Swim Moms! Attended a home meet with my 9 year old this weekend. This is our second season competing. I still know nothing! :lol: I feel like a fish out of water. ;) I've been a speech and debate mom for 7 years and know all the ins and outs of that culture but am still totally lost as far as swim culture goes! He's still in the lowest practice group. I think they have to be 10 to move up with our team. We're with a USA team. I have no idea what A/B times, etc even mean. :lol: He did drop a few seconds on his 50 free this weekend. He aged up to the 12 and under group this meet so had to swim all 50s and did the 100 Free which he hated. Poor guy, he's so used to 25s that he hopped out of the pool after the first length on his 50 Fly today. He was pretty upset but I think I convinced him that all swimmers make mistakes at some point and that it was not that big of a deal. What can I be looking at to become an educated swim mom? Any website recommendations?

I think it can be regional. I'm on the west coast and we have always referred to our PCA pastors as Pastor Firstname.

Thank you! I knew I came to the right place! :)

Hi All~ I thought of a Christmas gift for my mom but I need a little help. :) She was here for Thanksgiving and was talking about how she has game days on Sunday afternoons with her friends where they have snacks and wine. So, I'm going to get a couple of card games, a bottle of wine and some good chocolate. I'm not much of a wine drinker so I don't know what's good. First, red or white with chocolate? Second, what kind of wine? Vineyard and variety? I'd like something in the $20-$25 range. Also, if you have any suggestions for fun games or delicious chocolate, that would be good, too. ;) TIA!

Thank you! Wanted to make sure I wasn't missing a "rule." :)

Here's a question I've been mulling over in my mind: If you noticed a missed call on your cell phone, do you see that as an obligation to return the call? If it is my husband or one of my kids, I always call them back or text them to see if they need me. But, if someone does not leave me a message or follow up with a text asking me to call them, I don't call them back. If someone calls my land line and doesn't leave a message, I don't call them back, either. Is there a proper etiquette on this? What do you do?

Just popping in to say I'm up to 54 books finished for the year. :D I read your recommendations each week and so many of my picks come from them. Last night I finished A House in the Sky by Amanda Lindhout about her experience as a hostage in Somalia. That one will stay with me for a long time.

I've voted several times. :D

The reason it would bother me is because of the state of this county. Everything seems to be divided down party lines from Ebola to Ferguson to every thing else! As I watch tv news, I can't believe the things the media has made political. Asking for a family's political affiliation is just a way to lump them into an opinion on everything going on in the country right now. And, it might not be a correct assumption! Not everyone believes down "party lines" on things that really don't have anything to do with politics. I don't! But, if my kid were to raise his hand saying that his mother is a registered Republican, that would mean others would automatically assume that I hate women, hate people of color, want travel bans from West Africa and quarantines for those coming from there, do not want immigration reform, want the cop in Ferguson to get off, think George Zimmerman was not guilty, want to throw granny off of the cliff, etc. Many of those would be very, very false. My own mother told me a couple of weeks ago that she wishes I wouldn't vote because I'm a registered Republican! She assumes she knows how I'm going to vote on every candidate and every issue because of my affiliation. She's wrong! On our measures, I voted with the dems on some things and the reps on other things. Because of the politcally divisive state of the country at this time, a question like the teacher posed will only serve to further divide. It's sad and that bothers me.

A verb phrase or a phrasal verb? Phrasal verbs seem to primarily be a verb and preposition used together to form the verb such as "stand down," "break up," etc. I'm having a hard time finding it on Cambridge and Oxford. :/ I'm not seeing "stand guard" on lists of phrasal verbs.

But stood is not a transitive verb, is it? I don't think so in this case.

I'm leaning towards Mrs Mungo's explanation. I see it as one of those instances where we've left out a preposition: Peter stood at guard or Peter stood on guard. In that case it would be an adverbial phrase, right? I don't think it can be a direct object because it't not receiving the action. :/

Yes, predicate nominiative. :) I'm writing from the class we're sitting in. The dispute is over the word guard. Some say adverb, some say direct object. It doesn't seem that guard is acting as a noun which should eliminate it from the direct object category, right?

Help me settle a dispute. :) Here is a sentence: George is king, and Peter stood guard. In the first clause George is the subject; is is a linking verb; and king is a predicate adjective. What about the second clause? Peter is the subject but how about stood and guard? Help. :)

I got hooked on nice bags. I have two Coach, one Fossil, and one Kate Spade. My dh bought me the Fossil for Christmas one year. I'm not sure how much he paid for it. I bought my two Coaches and my Kate Spade at outlet malls and did not pay more than $120 for any of them. They were all worth it. They are nice and last a really long time while still looking very nice. None of them are "flashy." :)

This would really make me mad! Everyone knows not to talk religion, money, or politics with others and now you're going to advertise my voting record to my neighbors? No! The country is so politically divisive right now that I just see this as a way to separate us further. My mom actually told me the other day that she wishes I would not vote because I usually vote on conservative issues. I told her I would just cancel her out so she could stay home, too. :p

The west side of Portland, OR! We moved here a little over a year ago and it meets all of your criteria. Fall is gorgeous! Winter is cold but very little snow-a dusting here and there. Spring is amazing. Summer is hot and sunny but not humid and not many days over 90*. People will try to tell you it rains 9 months a year here but that has not been our experience. It rains for a while and is spotted by lovely, sunny days. Of course, Intel is right here. I live in a small town where Intel is about a 20 minute commute. There are lots of small, out of the way places here within an easy 20-30 minute commute from the more concentrated area. Plus, Portland itself is a really cool place! :)

I know it sucks! :D

I had this pain for two solid months last year after a horrific bout with bronchitis. It was unbearable. My symptoms were the same. It was down my left leg all the way to my ankle. I was in tears more times than I could count. I could get some relief if I laid on my stomach propped on my elbows with a pillow under my chest. I tried physical therapy for several weeks and it did nothing! I was new to the area and finally got a referral to a chiro. I love him! Within two visits, I was a good 70% better. Twice a week for 4 weeks and I was 99% better! I still get a twinge every now and then but it's totally bearable and I know I can go to the chiro a couple of times and clear it right up. I hope you get some relief. It was making me so tired and cranky and sad! :group:

Awww..thanks! The photo is to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. :) Thanks for the advice, everyone. I'm feeling OK this morning. We'll see what happens this afternoon. At least I slept pretty well last night. I'll call my dr about the irregular bleeding.

Don't know if I'm perimenopausal. Last time my bloid was checked for that I wasn't. That was 2 or 3 years ago. My mom had a pretty early menopause.

Hi everyone, I apologize in advance for the TMI. :) I have never-meaning my entire life-had a regular cycle. When I do have a period it's normally lite to moderate and lats 3-5 days. Over the spring, I had a crazy heavy (for me) cycle. I was almost afraid to leave the house. It lasted 4 days. Two and a half weeks ago I was across the country taking dd to college and it happened again. It's was so bad I could feel gushing. So sorry. :blush: it lated 4 or 5 days. After several days, it started again. Same thing. Gushing and passing clots. I can't remember exactly which day it started but it's been at least a week now. It's lighter earlier in the day and gets super heavy again in the evening. Last night, out of the blue, I started feeling super achy and feverish. This morning I felt mildly better but still sick. This afternoon, I started feeling really bad again. I've been in bed since 4pm and have a fever of 101. I don't run fevers. I can count on one hand how many I've had in the past 10 years. I'm still really bleeding. I am also achy. I do think I have a slight sore throat and may be starting to feel some chest congestion. I will call my dr about the bleeding. I seem to remember this happening to my mom in her mid 40's (the heavy bleeding, not fever). I'm 45. Would you think the fever and bleeding are related or just co-existing events? What course of action would you take? Any experience to share? TIA

Exactly what I was going to say! These 20 something couples are nuts! They want brand new everything. Perfect paint colors. Real hardwood. Stainless steel everything. Ideal neighborhood. Huge lot. And all for nothing. It's ridiculous. I am becoming ever more thankful for our own experience. We sold our home 18 months ago. We had 8 offers within 5 days and a few of them over our listing price. We had one lowball offer. We sold for $15K over asking with a very clean offer. The buyer asked for nothing except some very minor repairs discovered upon home inspection. Everyone wants something for nothing. :glare: