Just remembering, I was in a Pendleton outlet a couple of weeks ago with my mom....when she checked out at the register, they asked if they could put her on their email list and then gave her 30% off for signing up. Not a shabby discount, IMO. I do adore their wool blankets, especially their Nat'l Park line.

:grouphug:

Congratulations! We're having our #4 in March (also a surprise!) and it has been fun to tell people. Glad you are feeling better and can enjoy your pregnancy more!

I keep up with some things very well....laundry, kitchen/dishes, disgusting bathroom disasters. My kids can do basics, like dust/vacuum, put laundry away, unload dishwasher, etc. DH is very helpful when he's home. For the big stuff, I hire someone else to do it. She comes biweekly for a deep clean. I'm home all week with the kids doing school/life stuff, but I work on the weekends....this is a compromise that lets me do all the other things I want/need to do.

I'm so sorry....sleep issues are so difficult! I work weird hours on the weekends and have to sleep during part of the day, which is tough for me. I've used melatonin in the past and it seemed to help. I used to take benadryl to sleep and it left me feeling kind of "hung over" when I woke up. I didn't get that feeling with melatonin. Sorry I'm not more helpful....hope you find something that helps you get back on track soon.

They still sell it....we bought it for BIL/SIL as a wedding gift recently and they love it. It's the same set my parents have (and love.)

Ditto. The 16 hours I spent working in triage this weekend confirm my theory that at least 80% of people in an ER waiting room at any given time do not need to be there.

We got rid of DirecTV almost 2 years ago. We have a Roku thingy and watch netflix and amazon prime. Love it and don't miss the TV bill every month.

INFJ. Only the "N" was a distinct preference, the rest were moderate.

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

My 5 yr old (36 lbs) is in a 5 pt harness, a Radian seat that harnesses/latches up to 65 lbs. He has several inches of growing room left, I anticipate he'll be well over 6 (b-day next April) before we can even think about switching.

I had a similar conversation with a co-worker...we were discussing kindergarten (I HS, her kids are in PS.) She asked how long our work takes. I told her that seatwork took about an hour a day. Her response? "How can that one hour possibly compare to the 6 hours my daughter spends in school?" I then mentioned how one-on-one instruction is very productive, and I wasn't factoring in reading time, arts & crafts, piano lessons, horseback riding, etc. etc. etc. I think she "got it" after that.

What an inspirational thread....I feel motivated to start tossing! Keep up the good work!

Leftovers! The kids even get a choice - lasagna or taco soup. Practically as good as eating out. And I agree....turkey burgers are not lame, they are awesome. :)

$3.79 today.

Ditto to the Unisom/B6 combo....this has been life changing. This is pregnancy #4 and this is the only thing that has ever helped keep things to a manageable level. (I do still take zofran, but that wasn't working on its own.) Otherwise, I avoid sugar, avoid anything carbonated, eat protein, eat frequently, have DH do all the shopping and cooking, and avoid walking into the kitchen whenever possible.

I was a disastrously disorganized child (and have grown up into a marginally disorganized but highly functional adult....) The key for me was having a system that made it easy to put things away. I didn't care if it took longer to get something out, having a simple means of putting things away was more important. Individually labeled anything was too overwhelming, and any rigid system was too difficult for me to maintain for any length of time. Basket for shoes, hamper for laundry, shelves for books, basket for stuffed animals, that was about it. I could not keep any other toys in my room as a kid, it was too much to keep organized. Minimum of clutter (pictures, tchotchkes, etc.) I had most of my clothes on hangers so I wouldn't have stacks of laundry to fold or put away (I still do this.) I firmly believe that the gift of organization is something you are born with (or not, in my case.) Yes, there are habits and skills that can be learned, but the innate ability to keep myself organized has never been there and probably never will be. This is something that I struggle with and have to work VERY hard to maintain.

We, too, are Adirondack fans....it's not that I dislike the beach, I just prefer lakes/mountains/cooler weather. And I hate crowds.

:grouphug: I am so sorry for you and your family. Your mother sounds like a beautiful person.

We did a 3 day trip to Williamsburg last year. We spent the first morning at Jamestown and the rest of our trip at Williamsburg. We bought the "multi-day ticket", essentially a 3 day pass to Williamsburg, and bought tickets to Jamestown separately. Prior to the trip, I felt that the ticket price was steep, however, after the trip I felt we had our money's worth. Our kids were 7, 4, and 1....the older two enjoyed EVERYTHING. Literally, everything we saw, both in Jamestown and Williamsburg. We went through the Governor's mansion I don't know how many times just to see the swords on the walls. I can't imagine not buying a pass....we would have missed out on a lot of our favorite tours and events (like a really great concert we happened to run across.)

We're a "popcorn optional" pack. Our boys pay a $50 fee per year, which covers all awards and activities except for camp. Our pack is sponsored by our local Lions Club and they pay for our rechartering and they pay the Boy's Life subscriptions for each kid. We do have popcorn sales, with several of the "show and sells" outside stores.....we usually just do those and buy a little ourselves. Very low pressure, though our pack does make a decent amount from the fundraising. We've felt very lucky to find the pack we're in...the activities are very high-quality, they offer many extra activities throughout the year (optional, but usually very cool), and they encourage family involvement (as in siblings, too.) It has been a great experience and we've gotten to know a lot of great people in our community that we otherwise probably wouldn't have met.

We were in a similar situation when we sold our last house a few years ago. (Realtor not doing much in the way of marketing, house showed great but nobody saw it, etc.) After a painfully slow 3 months, we fired our realtor, who we found through our relocation company, and hired one that was recommended to us by several people who had sold homes with him. Our new realtor was great and marketed our house like crazy. We had a contract within the month. Good luck, I know that selling a house is stressful!

I have 2 VIKA tabletops.....one of the 48" tables with 4 legs (no storage) that we use for a computer desk and one of the 72" (I think it's that long anyway) tables with 2 legs on one side and one set of drawers on the other. Our 72" table has plenty of room for 2 people to sit and work (me and kiddo.) I love the drawers, we use them for many, many things. I am thinking about buying another identical set and setting them up back to back with one end against the wall (right now the one table is flush against the wall.) That way my 2 HSers can work opposite one another instead of elbowing each other during school. I love IKEA.

This would happen to my brother when he was younger.

I love my cast iron and Le Creuset cookware. I have a set of kitchenaid pans that are just meh. My mom has these from Costco and loves them....we bought them for my BIL as a wedding gift and they love them, too.