LOL… I was wondering the same thing….and am assuming the same thing.

I like James, but then I've known a bunch of great guys named James. I like Margot too. I love Daphne. Miriam is nice, but I like Margot better. I knew a Marielle, and she was super nice (and Swiss). I like Vita, because it reminds me of Vita Sackville-West….which makes me wonder if you've considered Violet? Having said all that, I really think you need to meet the child before you can name him/her. We've had names planned for kids and then we see the little person and think "nah..no way…that doesn't fit."

Shwarma or falafels in Cairo. Gelato in Rome. Crepes in Paris when I was a student… two favorites…one was with an egg and a piece of ham (pre-Muslim days) and the other had nutella. :) Oh…it may sound weird…but I used to get the best ham sandwiches on a buttered pretzel roll in the German speaking part of Switzerland. There's also this great dosa guy in NYC. There also used to be this street cart in front of the Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn where DH would pick up some "halal" chicken for us. I have no idea what it was…it was chicken, and maybe cauliflower, and some other veggies in this yogurt-y tomato sauce, over yellow rice…and it was addictive.

It can definitely be a self-esteem thing, but often when teeth are misaligned it causes problems with keeping them clean, which can lead to more decay and other issues down the line. In the US, where having braces is pretty normal, I would also think that there might be some job discrimination that goes on for people who do have bad teeth/smiles.

I know that many people help keep their house tidy by having daily and weekly chores that they do. What does yours look like?

I'm sorry. I studied Mandarin back in undergrad, and two of my friends ended up going to Beijing--they both commented on the air quality. One was at BeiDa in the late 80s and commented on how bad the pollution was. The other was there in the early 90s, and told me that there was actually a condition known as "Beijing Lung" because of the horrible air quality. No idea if it's gotten better or worse since then, my guess is worse. I always dread going to Cairo as it has really bad pollution, but nothing compared to Beijing. (They say living in Cairo is like smoking a pack of cigarettes each day.)

I love lemon anything! These sound so yummy. Thanks for sharing!! :D

"You Oughta Know" by Alannis Morissette Not sure if it would work, but I love Carly Simon's "You're So Vain" Bunch of Kelly Clarkson songs "Survivor" by Destiny's Child "Ain't it Funny" by Jennifer Lopez "Leave (Get Out)" by JoJo

Just remembered that my kids do say "Oh barnacles!" (Learned it from Spongebob. LOL )

What are your favorite "alternative" swear words... For example: Oh spit, fudge, kiss my grits (remember "Alice"?), son of a biscuit, shoot, balderdash, crud, etc.

My 10 year old loves walking on our treadmill…while playing on the iPad. DS2 loves to see how fast he can run. It gets super hot here in the summer…and people tend to hibernate inside except for the early a.m. and late afternoon. So, I like having the option of a treadmill if they want to. I think the kid-focused ones look ridiculous to be honest.

Does the irregularity of your periods concern you or do you think you might be pregnant? Honestly, it can take quite awhile for periods to return to a regular schedule postpartum… even if one isn't breastfeeding. (If breastfeeding, it can be even longer.) What was the norm cycle pre-pregnancy may have changed as well. For me, I'd hold off…and if I thought I was pregnant, I'd pick up a test.

My Dad's been in and out of the hospital with leukemia, other bone marrow issues, and related infections. Pretty much every time I had a feeling like you, he was having a rough time. I'm kind of far away, so what I would do is picture him surrounded, enveloped by God's love. God's love all around him, flowing through him, comforting him. I kind of figured if he was going to pass that night, that was the best I could do. I'm sorry about what your family is going through. I will keep you, your Mom and your Dad in my prayers. I agree with asking the oncologist about hospice. People often last longer in hospice than continuing to fight.

This article might help. http://voices.yahoo.com/downloading-movies-internet-legal-the-7641110.html

I think this has a lot to do with Edward Snowden last year….and our perhaps influence in trying to get Glenn Greenwald's partner detained. As to the OP, I'm OK with the research. I'd love to see the results. Should they perhaps farm it out to an independent research company? Yes, but I think then the results would be that whatever the results, people would say…well XYZ Corp has a notoriously liberal/conservative bias or whatever. The standards/quality of news and mass misinformation reported since the Fairness Doctrine was abolished in 1987 as well as the advent of the 24 hour news channel is frightening. So many people believe that if they heard it on a news channel, then it must be unbiased and true. That worries me.

I had definite opinions on Tonya and always viewed her as the better skater, but view her differently personally after reading about her past and her husband's abuse. I honestly never liked Nancy, even during the drama. And of course, my opinion of her sank lower when she had an affair with, and eventually married her much older, already married manager. (Sorry, but I have zero tolerance for women who sleep with other women's husbands.) This was the article on Tonya: http://www.believermag.com/issues/201401/?read=article_marshall

So a lot of people posted about how eliminating gluten made their child's behavior different. I was just curious if anybody has noticed this as an adult? Perhaps they became less likely to get angry, or depressed, or anxious or something when off gluten.

We've never had this discussion, because statistically they're most likely to be abducted by their father (or me) in a bad divorce rather than by a stranger. If we were to divorce or head that way, then I'd tell them if either I or their Dad try to take them out of the country without the other parent knowing, then they're to tell airport security as they are screened and the gate agent…and keep telling until they get help. Same with sexual child abuse, far more likely to be a family member or somebody we know. So, we've talked about how to ask a Mom with children for help…. not to get into anybody's car…. etc. We have a family code word in case of emergencies. We've talked about nobody should touch them in their bathing suit area or in a way that makes them uncomfortable. I suppose we need to have the discussion about fighting back, biting, being noisy should any of this happen, but we haven't yet. I've focused on the more likely scenarios.

While this might be true and I tried that route, I will offer a cautionary tale of my six year old DD searching on sexy girl, because she thought it would have make-up and fashion stuff for girls like her….and instead got hardcore porn. I would assume that searching for sexy food might end up with weird fetish stuff….eating food off of various body parts…etc. So, I think one needs to have that discussion to a certain extent. Of course K9 and OpenDNS are great if you need them. :)

We did not notice any change, but there weren't any behavior issues before.

My Dad has. He has a PICC line, and they've had to give him super duper strong antibiotics quite a few times in fighting infections. (He has leukemia…and the infections are due to a weakened immune system.) (The PICC line goes straight to the heart. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PICC_line ) It sounds freaky…but it's actually quite common. Hugs and prayers to you.

For dessert, Nanaimo bars. :) For a main dish, what about poutine?

Don't forget it's super easy to nuke a baked potato. Takes about 8-10 minutes depending on size. Wash well, prick with a fork…and nuke away! I've topped mine with cottage cheese and scallions, sour cream, yogurt, etc. She could also nuke a package of frozen broccoli w/cheese and put that on top. Not healthy…but adding M&Ms to just nuked popcorn is divine. You can buy Orville Reddenbacher or you can follow Alton Brown's recipe. :) http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/plain-brown-popper-recipe.html Also don't forget you can nuke pasta. http://www.momsbudget.com/microwave/cookspaghettinoodles.html Then if she has a jar of marinara in the fridge, she can just add it and eat.

If you have Play it Again Sports or a similar store, they're great for used kids' golf clubs. You could also ask some pros who run kids clinics. They'd know who had outgrown their little clubs and moved on to a bigger pair. :)

Thanks for posting this, 'cause I didn't know what AMDG meant. :) What does JAWM stand for?? Is it a Jesus something something Mary?