Growing up, I thought feminists were all of the stereotypical, bra-burning variety. Then I got to college, talked to some older women, and realized that it wasn't so long ago that all the things I was doing and taking for granted would have been unavailable to me 40 years earlier. Going to college, being able to get a job besides teacher, having my own credit cards, having my own bank account...the list went on and on. At this point, I realized that I pretty much had to be a feminist by default. And I'm okay with that. :D I do not identify as feminist, however, principally because I am pro-life. I also disagree with major feminist organizations over birth control and sexual behavior (I don't think birth control is the panacea it's presented as, and I think that promiscuity can be harmful for your health and your heart). According to the major feminist organizations, these things make me anti-woman. I think this is preposterous..but they are much more able to define the word "feminist" than I am.

And after we do that, can we watch more Gilmore Girls??? :D (LOVE Gilmore Girls. Own all the seasons - thanks, Amazon, Half Price, Mom, and Grandma. ;))

You should absolutely copy this letter to the principal. The reason for the huge amount of homework may be partially school, district, or even *state* policy, and not just the responsibility of the individual teachers, depending on the state. So the higher up the chain you send it, the better, IMHO. I agree with some pp's - college was much less stressful and even less time-consuming than high school in regards to the assignments required outside of class. Not to mention, college takes up a lot less time *in* class!! The assignments you do have in college are higher stakes, though.

Finished my first book! Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster. Thought-provoking, to be sure. Now I'm working on 7 Habits by Covey, and The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan. Mostly the latter.

Here's another review, by an atheist: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2011/12/24/grace-and-mark-driscoll-write-a-how-not-to-book-on-marriage/

I would just like to add that, to qualify for the EIC without kids, you have to be 26. DH and I would have received it last year, but we weren't old enough. I just found that to be very interesting.

I'm new to the challenge this year - I'm hoping it motivates me to read more often! I currently have eight (..yeah) books on my "Currently Reading" list, but the two I have been actively reading recently are Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster and The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey.

:grouphug: My post wasn't directed at you or anyone specific - it was intended a general statement. I'm sorry if you found it offensive - that wasn't my intent. (I also have trouble sometimes remembering who's posted what, so it's quite possible you're the only person my post could have been seen as replying to, and I just didn't realize it....)

I think they added that feature as an update to the basic game after they made it a feature in Sims 3 Late Night.

All of these have happened to me since being pregnant with dd. She's almost 11mos and it's still happening. Woo mommy brain...

I have a Kindle Keyboard with a Bible on it - and if you want to do a lot of flipping around, you'll be better off with a paper Bible. This actually goes for ebooks vs paper books in general. Kindle Bibles would be great for reading through front to back. They are not good for navigating as one often navigates a Bible. I think you can get Kindle Bibles where they've tried to make it possible to navigate to a specific verse, but those are not the norm. So, navigating places in a Kindle Bible takes a while.

I've found that most of the horrible things in the Bible are a) justified/make more sense in context (the cultures of the OT were *collectivist* so an entire family being punished for one person's sin would not be so shocking; child sacrifice was common, so God *rejecting* Abraham's sacrifice was the shocking thing, not that he was told to sacrifice Isaac in the first place), b) not condoned but simply recorded (Jephthah's daughter - which also falls into the "debated meanings"), or c) have debated meanings (e.g. forcing a woman to marry her rapist - other translations use the word "seduced" which implies that the woman was consenting). Context is *EXTREMELY* important when reading a book that is 2000-3000+ years old. If one reads it straight from today's worldview, without any allowances for different cultural norms and ways of viewing the world, it does both the person reading it and the book itself a disservice. This also goes for old books in general, not just for the Bible. ;) After getting the context, if one wants to reject the Bible/the god it represents/or whatever else (or if one wants to reject the Bible before learning the context, for that matter), that is their prerogative and they should feel free to do that. :)

That sounds like an issue which you would have to talk to the app makers about, not to Apple. Hopefully the app makers have something in place where you can regain your paid material even if you delete the app.

I love the Sims games! The thing about Sims is that the *player* controls large amounts of the world. It is possible to make bad decisions in-game - for instance, one career path is that of a thief - but you choose that. Sims are shown kissing, and "woo-hoo" shows the bed shaking and the Sims under the covers. Skimpy clothes are available, but can be not chosen. Romantic interactions can easily be rebuffed or not initiated by the player character. I would absolutely let a 14 year old play it. It could spawn all sorts of conversations. If played in accordance with other house rules (e.g. no you can't play a thief, perhaps) and supervised if you so wish, it shouldn't be an issue, IMHO. But if you don't like it, by all means take it and exchange it. I believe they actually have Sims-like games which are targeted to a younger group, and wouldn't have the objectionable content, if she thinks the game sounds interesting.

I am really going to do this this year!! (...or try at least...)

I think this would end up amounting to the same thing as getting rid of Daylight Savings. ;) Either way, no time changes!

DH and I were high school sweethearts - though we were only dating and both in high school for 3 weeks. ;) Married almost 3 years later.

I have a post-it flag for each bill. I put it in my planner on the due date (or a month from the previous due date). I used to write bill due dates down in the planner itself, but I got tired of all the writing. ;) When I get a bill in the mailbox, I open it and check the due date. I adjust my post-it flag accordingly. Then I put the bill in my "inbox," which is a paper tray on my desk. I should go through this and put all those papers where they belong more often than I do... Every week, I look at the next week and see what bills need to be paid. Once I pay them, I move the post-it to the next due date. If I was writing the bill due date down in the planner itself, I would cross it off and write the date it was paid. I then write the date I paid the bill on the bill and file the bill in the appropriate folder. I get rid of those every year or two. I like to write down the totals for things like gas and electricity, so that I can average them and use that to budget. HTH! (Most of my bills are paperless, which means I get emails instead of physical mail, and I pay all of my bills online, which means that once it's paid, it's paid - no worries about the check getting lost in the mail. I find that helpful and it cuts down on paper!! But if it doesn't work for you, that's okay. :D )

I journal sporadically. I have journal software, but I actually prefer paper - there's something about the act of writing... Journaling on the computer simply isn't the same. I'm using the journal software to type up old paper entries so that I have them in another format, though. In some cases I've gotten rid of the journals after that. I'm also keeping two five-year diaries - one for me, and one for DD. Hers starts with her day of birth - mine starts in July 2011, when I purchased them. I write in both every night. I've really been enjoying that..and I have a VERY detailed record of DD's first year ;)

Do you mean waiter at a sit-down restaurant when you say wait staff? If so, please know that there are about two states in the US where waiters are paid minimum wage. My waiter hubby gets $2.13/hr - all the rest comes from his tips. It is expected that one will tip at a sit-down restaurant, and anything less than 15% of the bill means to them that you didn't like the service you received. To the OP, I either don't see the persons you listed or don't use their services. I will give bigger than usual tips to my waiter at a restaurant around Christmas - 25% instead of 15%-20%. If I had a regular babysitter, I would give them some extra at Christmas.

IIRC, it was the other way around in the late 1800s - pink was for boys, and blue was for girls. I think I read this in a Little House book or something similar, but can't recall now.

So happy for you! And what lovely pictures. :)

I bought Mind Organization for Moms and have also read Getting Things Done. MOM was really helpful to me, but I also felt like it was a bit overpriced.

Amy Knapp's Family Organizer perhaps? If you have one near you, Barnes and Noble has a lot of planners which would give you what you need.

Agreed. Carseats usually stay in parked cars...in the sun...and you can bake cookies in parked cars during the summer, at least in TX. My siblings did it at least twice this past year - and not even at the height of summer. I like the idea of cutting/removing the straps and using the old carseat as a child seat inside the house after it's expired. :)