I LOVE THIS! Thank you for starting my day off with a good laugh :D Diane

We don't do cable, use Comcast for phone/internet (for discount), go to libraries instead of buying books (I do better at this than DH :D), limit going out to eat, don't do expensive vacations (maybe visit family once every year or so) and we get netflix now instead of buying movies (we have about 75 dvd's from before we started doing this) :glare: Best of luck to you....do things in baby steps. Instead of taking away cable completely, maybe you could get a cheaper package. Sometimes it is easier this way than going cold turkey ;)

Not positive, but I think it could the The Falcon at the Portal. I really enjoy these books! She has a new one out that is set before the romance between Ramses and Nefret starts. I am looking forward to reading it :D

The overnight on the train doesn't sound bad, ds would probably enjoy the time he was awake and be able to sleep though most of the trip so that it wouldn't get too boring. My concern would be the 4 hour bus ride. Ugh, a bus is NOT someplace I would want to travel with a 5 year old by myself. Best Wishes and Good Luck making your decision! Diane

I think that I will be going to see this on Monday by myself. I do have an IRL friend that would go with me, however her family is in town for a month....and I don't think I can wait that long :D If anyone is in the Albuquerque area and wants to see it let me know....BTW I am Team Edward, but if you are Team Jacob, that's ok too ;) Diane

Well, when you describe the croutons like that....it sounds pretty tasty :D I think it would help if you sent samples out to everyone ;) Diane

That is awesome :D I have found walnuts in mine before :tongue_smilie: (I eat oatmeal with blueberries and walnuts every morning and evidently some of the walnuts fell off the spoon ):lol: Diane

Thank you! My 9 year old DS was very excited to see the preview. Can't wait til November we will be there :lurk5:

I like the idea of fresh apricots with a cinnamon whip cream with some kind of cookie on the side? Not too sure about cinnamon croutons. Diane

Going to see star wars at the local movie theatre at North Park mall in Dallas Tx when I was 7 years old. I still love that movie! The sunshine family dolls (they always looked like the perfect family) Wearing a leotards and a skirt to go ice skating in at the local Ice skating rink. The little poison stickers with a face on them saying Yuck (at least I think so...I have a vague memory of this). Backless heeled shoes for girls Really ugly clothes :lol:

I am looking forward to reading the responses on this thread. My oldest just turned 9 and I have been wondering when we should talk to him as well. Diane

My boy was 8 when he started and has read all of the books several times since them (he is 9 now). It is his favorite series to date. Diane

We also like Tin Tin over here. Other ones my 9 year old enjoys is Bone and Akiko. Enjoy! Diane

Just had to come in and say that every time I see the title of this thread it makes me laugh :lol: Thanks for brightening up my day :D Diane

HI! I grew up in a suburb of Dallas (Richardson) and the most difficult part to get used to (especially if you are from the Northeast) will be the heat & humidity. It is truly awful. On the good side though, houses are cheap cheap cheap! Lots of good food (mmhh Tex Mex how I miss it), and great inside things to do (museums, plays, musicals, aquarium). North of Dallas seems to be the fastest growing area right now, though if your DH works in Dallas proper the commute will be a little much. The good school districts (for the most part) are found in areas other than Dallas. If you plan on having your children go to a Dallas school, I would really research it, or have them go private. Jesuit (all male academy), Ursuline (female academy), St. Mark's, Cistercian are all excellent schools. Homeschooling in TX is easy peasy. I am sure that some of the folks living there now can fill you in on that. Best of luck to you! Feel free to pm me if you have any additional questions. Diane

Prayers for you and your DH! Hope the docs will be able to figure out what he has and treat it quickly!:grouphug: Diane

Hmm Good point. We rented our apartment from 07/08-08/09 and have been in our rental house since 08/09. I am not sure what the apartment market is like right now. Our rent is extremely reasonable for our area (1,025 per month for far north east heights) other houses around us typically rent for around $1200-$1600 month. Ours is so cheap because it is very 70's. Ours is definitely the ugly dog on the block :D We are all about location though, so having it be a little ugly is ok for us. Albuquerque is truly one of the most "have and have not" places I have ever lived. So I can definitely see why your landlord decided to rent to military only. Basically if you are not military, an employee of Sandia or UNM you would not be able to afford that kind of rent here in Abq. We are only able to afford it because I telecommute from CO. Salaries there pay a lot better (on average) than what I could hope to make here. Best wishes for you in your apartment hunting! I know how difficult it is to find just the right place! Diane

Hi! I see from your post that you are in Albuquerque. We moved here 2 years ago and have never had those problem renting an apartment or house. We did have to provide copies of 2 of our paycheck stubs to verify employment and how much we made and they ran credit checks on us but no bank statements. Oh, just remembered they did have to run some other report on us because we had just sold our house in CO (this as to verify that we didn't have it foreclosed etc.) Sorry you are having such a difficult time! Diane

I have high cholesterol and my endicrinologist suggested fish oil. Hope that helps! Diane

I have found that keeping a 3 ring notebook is helpful so that the paper clutter doesn't take over the room...I have also gone through with both of my my DS and asked them to choose stuff that they wanted to keep versus stuff they were not really that interested in...this helped to cut down on the paper as well. Good Luck! :D Diane

Don't know the name of the song...but it goes: "And if you leave me a 100 times, 100 times I'll take you back. I'm yours whenever you want me, not too proud to shout it tell the world about it, cause... I love you...this old heart bleeds? breathes? for you :D I love schmaltzy songs..the 50's & 60's had some of the best! Diane

I've been there done that and will keep you in my prayers that THIS IS THE ONE! Diane

Jill, I am a Catholic who is also married to an Agnostic. Right now we have both decided that 2 is what we can financially and emotionally handle. I have really thought and prayed about this and feel that we are doing what is best for our family at this time. If at some future time DH and myself felt led to have other children, we would look at that option. Although Catholicism does teach openness to accept children, I do feel comfortable at this time in taking precautions (BC pills) to keep from getting pregnant. Obviously if those precautions failed we would accept that child into our family and love him/her as much as we love our other 2 children. I am 38, DH is 43 and we are tired :D In fact, when I was in the hospital with my 2nd giving birth I looked over at DH and said "I'm good with two...how about you?" :lol: I think you should be prayerful and mindful of your decision, but I do think not everyone has the financial ability or (or in my particular case) patience to deal with a lot of children. Diane

I will be praying that God opens the doors for your DH with this job! Diane

What a sweet looking little dog! I saw about 3 or 4 I would like to adopt! Hope you have many enjoyable years with your newest family member :001_smile: Diane