Flylady convinced me to get dressed everyday (though I am haphazard with the shoes). It really does make me think better and make me feel more like doing stuff. I have the flu today but I had a shower and got dressed and felt better straight away, even though I am just lazing around. Last night, however, I felt so rotten I wore my day clothes to bed.

I don't have problem with entitlements for older kids. Seems natural to me. My 2 are close in age so most of the time we have been able to treat them fairly equally- but I remember dd did get more pocket money than ds for the first few years they received it. When they got older at some time they started getting the same. I think it depends on the context- its not black and white and many parents do stupid things (usually with good intentions, or through carelessness) so I wouldn't make it a rule.

Eventually everything in this life is taken from us and i don't think thats very personal. Its just the way its set up. This realm is temporary. I think you were vulnerable and he played on a tiny bit of guilt and doubt in your mind, that somehow you had done something to "deserve" the death of your baby. That it might have been your fault. Perhaps he came into your life to help you realise how unloving towards yourself, that thought is. It is my experience that divine messages are usually a lot more subtle than how that man behaved and what he said.

The article I posted seems to be quoting far more recent information than March. The article itself is dated June 17. I think because it is a slow radiation poisoning that, although apparently many more babies are dying than normal, for most people it might take years to get the cancer....it is easy to dismiss. If it was visible, there would be a huge outcry. (Thats if it is true. Seems likely to me, but I am not a scientist on the ground there taking measurements. Its hard to find real information nowadays.) theintelhub.com/2011/06/17/nuclear-doom-hot-particles-slow-death-and-cancer/

Yes, I read that last week. It seems to me..the situation is too big for any government to actually handle.

11 here too. Actually the physical signs were way behind the emotional ones.

We tend to have always made the time one way or another. Probably less while we were in the thick of homeschooling- but when the kids were young we used to go to movies without them. Now they are older we go out to lunch once or twice a week. Over summer we went to the beach regularly in the mornings. Dh works from home, and works evenings mainly, so that has always given us that flexiblity. I like having my evenings to myself, too.

I am at home- no longer homeschooling- but the ways money leaks have been 2 main ones- one, when we go out of the house. Petrol, and just stopping by to pick up something to eat, or anything like that. If I am home all day, there is nowhere to spend money. If we are out, it seems so easy to spend a remarkable lot. The other way is to spend money online. But thats my vice.....it used to be homeschooling curricula. Nowadays its other stuff, but it still a leak. I would consider the overall emotional health of your family as much as your financial situation. Its true that financial stress (such as when in debt) can cause emotional problems. Its also true that busting a gut to pay off debt while trying to keep so many balls in the air at once- homeschooling, working, trying to have a happy healthy marriage and family life....might lead to more stress and therefore emotional issues which might lead to more financial debt in health costs etc.

Here is another article on it: theintelhub.com/2011/06/17/nuclear-doom-hot-particles-slow-death-and-cancer/ I can't verify it. Its just for your information- it cam into my inbox last week. This article is banned on Facebook. They are blocking it. I got it up there eventually and this morning it was blocked again.

Well, I am concerned for you in the States. I am probably in the safest place. I didn't put this up before...not sure it can help you much. Nor can I confirm its validity. BTW, this link is deliberately blocked on Facebook. Facebook doesn't want you to know this. theintelhub.com/2011/06/17/nuclear-doom-hot-particles-slow-death-and-cancer/

I love his sense of humour! Let us know your revenge.

We are in the upper end and it's enough. Cost of living is high here though. Basically we live up to our limit and its ok, but we cant afford to buy a house anywhere near where we live, to live in- we rent and have a couple of investment properties out in the country. The median house price is half a million in our city and well over that where we live. We recognise that even though times have been tougher than normal lately, we have it really, really good compared to the other 99% of the world's population. We are also not in much debt- just the investment properties which have rental income, and now some college debt for dd. We never borrow for cars etc and have no other debt. We live well because we are cheapskates and love to buy bargains and 2nd hand.

Agreeing with the others.....I also have chronic low energy. I recently had a blood screening for Vitamin D, thyroid, etc I had low Vitamin D (bottom of medically normal range which is well below optimal), thyroid antibodies (which means my immune system is out of whack- auto immune disease), and low ferritin. Get your iron checked, thyroid checked, Vitamin D. Then I had a bowel culture screening to see if I had anything going on in my digestive system and found that is pretty out of balance, so I am now on digestive enzymes and mega probiotics etc to bring that into balance. It may be why I don't absorb iron well. Meanwhile I have also started taking a multi vitamin which I had in the cupboard and that actually has made more difference than anything. I think the bowel flora being disturbed means that I am not absorbing/creating Vitamin B very well, so i feel that its probably the vitamin Bs I needed. Its sort of a big experiment :) Get whatever tests your doctor will do that might be relevant. Supplement. See what works. Meanwhile I now have the flu which is giving me a great excuse to do very little at all and take really good care of myself. I tend to feel that when women get older, especially into their 40s, taking care of themselves no longer becomes optional when they have enough time. It becomes mandatory. So its a good time to get your diet in order and find out what might be out of balance. Not a good time to drink more caffeine jsut to get through the day :) There are herbs you can try too- siberian ginseng is a good herbal tonic to build stamina. But it wont replace a good diet etc

Yes, I am enjoying being "only" 44 and getting my life back and looking forward to doing other things in my life, not focused around child rearing. I am soooo happy I homeschooled and was so involved in those intense parenting years- no regrets- but its also nice to feel like an older woman who has something else to contribute beyond my kids, as well. And...if I was an older mother with little kids now, I would find something positive about that, too....such as how much more mature I am, and i think I would really enjoy kids even more now, even though I might be exhausted!

The MIL acted with poor manners and very bad taste. She is a nasty piece of work. The DIL is possibly not innocent of the charges laid against her, either.

I think it is intelligent to consider all options carefully rather than presume the college conveyer belt and massive debt is automatically the best way to go. When something is so ingrained, there will always be contrary movements as people really question- is that really necessary? I think it is a sign of people thinking rather than being sheep. Of course, you can be a sheep no matter what you do- its not about whether or not one goes to college- its about having a good look. We are homeschoolers. We took a step away from mainstream schooling, and people still look at us and think we are weird. Why are homeschoolers so darned conservative and one eyes when it comes to what one does after homeschooling?

Yes, this was our experience. 80-90% of homeschooolers even here are fundamentalist Christian, and we are not even Christian. It was a shock at first and I was wondering how i would make it work for my kids. But, we found others of like mind, or enough of like mind, and learned to get along with those who were different. In the long run, the kids' close friends were other secular folk and also non homeschoolers. But we spent years socialising with the YE people and just politely avoiding certain topics. I have many I consider lovely friends in that community- but my kids found it difficult to make genuine friendships with kids who had strong beliefs, and the belief they needed to share those beliefs. All that to say....find your people, one way or another. Not necessarily poeple who you completely agree with, but at least people who will accept you and your kids for who you are.

Its true. And good to keep an open mind. Its difficult to discern what is fact and what is agenda made to look like fact in this issue, on both sides. If global warming is true, it doesn't make it untrue just because governments want to exploit it for political agendas. It's not clean just because its science- there are so many political agendas. It looks like the conference's agenda is to prove that global warming is untrue. That doesn't sound balanced to me- that sounds like an agenda. Once you have taken a position like that, it is very difficult to objectively observe all the facts as they arise, and stay open. Once you have drawn a conclusion, and defend that conclusion, you are not open any more. I have an environmental scientist friend who I have been doing some work with, and he is on the ground doing the figures. The desert is 200kms closer to the coast than it was a few years ago, and all the ecosystems between the coast and the desert are 200kms closer to the coast. Meaning the quantity of rain the farmers are waiting for, and have been waiting for for 10 years (waiting for the good old days), probably isn't coming. The ecosystems in the wheatbelt here where i live are on the edge of collapse. Salt is rising. The farmers can barely grow one season of wheat and are losing tens of thousands of $ a year trying. Normally it would balance out in the long run, but the long run is getting too long. Towns are dying. But no one is admitting how bad it is except the scientists, and no one is listening to them because the issue is simply too big to deal with, and the government doesn't want to have to deal with it, let alone individuals who have spent their lives investing in their farms. Sorry to hijack- I dont really know much about the conference. I am just confused how anyone can say the climate is not significantly changing when....it is significantly changing. I don't need a scientist to tell me.

I find it old fashioned but kinda sweet, the way you guys are around expecting men to be more considerate and have better manners. It reminds me of 1950s values I see in movies, but it's not really the world I live in nowadays. As long as you have a layer, thats good enough. For me, I have opened the door to the mailman delivering a package many times in my dressing gown, thrown on hastily over not much. I would be self conscious in a top with no bra in summer but I would just cross my arms over my chest, most likely, and carry on a conversation. Or, what the heck, not bother crossing my arms. Their problem (though I really dont like the eyes looking at my chest instead of my eyes nowadays. One of the kids Scout leaders used to do that- ugh, does he think I dont notice? )

I liked having young parents when I was a kid. ANd I still do- my mum had me when she was 21. Dh's mum had him when she was 21 too, but he is 14 years older than me. My mum is still pretty young. But even though I appreciated aspects of it....I cant help but think an older parent brings a different life wisdom to parenting. I know I would if I had another child now, at 44. I look forward to grandkids (if I am so lucky as to have some) because I have learned so much since having my own kids. For one thing, I know those baby years pass so fast, though it seems forever at the time! I think that I would in some ways be a better mum now than I was back in my 20s, although I have few regrets.

I am guessing they are technically, scientifically correct terms, just not ones we commonly use.

How about just focusing on one thing at a time- whatever you are doing, just focus on it, and don't try to do more than one thing at a time. When you finish one thing, move onto the next thing. Stay busy but not manic. If I have emotional stuff going on I tend to clean or declutter, or go for a walk. Guys can be good at compartmentalising but also at shutting out their feelings. And they are just built differently anyway. You can only be yourself.

I cook fast and furious, but I have a certain disaster or at least lightly charred rate which I consider acceptable in the overall long term :) I suspect your husband is more correct in your case, though. But I agree with searing quickly before turning down the heat.

Oh my, that could get addictive.

WW simplifies counting calories because you deal with small numbers instead of big ones, and they have a huge data base to tell you how many points each serving of food will be. You are given a daily amount of points, then a weekly amount of "extra' points to splurge with. And you may eat fruit fairly freely for no points. I was using the old system when it changed over here in Australia and I was pretty close to my goal weight- I did find it hard to lose those last couple of kgs on the new system, as we came into summer fruit here. There was a lot of controversy around it as the changeover happened. It seemed to me that those with the most weight to lose found the new system easier to stay on, and just as effective. Those like me who were right down to their last bit to lose, found it harder. I like WW though and would use it again. For maintenance...I use the nosdiet.com and I am very happy with it.