that's wonderful.

you sound exactly like me... I'll be listening in to see what kind of advice you get.

no, I don't underline or highlight. I find it distracting when I go back to re-read that passage. What was important to me once may not be the thing that stands out the next time and the underlining is like a "Look at Me!!" sign.

it does bug me, but not on the same level as other stuff. I just think it's kind of sad when parents laugh at their kids trauma.

My dad loved MASH.. and i enjoyed it so much as a kid. I loved Trapper and never really warmed up to his replacement, Hunnicut. RIP.

oh man.. that is rough. I'm so sorry.

You don't know how comforting it is to come and read the title. I'm feeling pretty sad today and it's nice to know I'm not the only one. Having all my kids together was so nice... now it's just back to life as usual. I've been fighting it off over the last week. The stress of being an introvert with a housefull fought with having a house filled with my kids. I don't know if that makes sense, but that's whati t was like for me. Now it's just the quiet aftermath. I'm not in a good place today.

wow! How wonderful. I haven't spent a whole day reading in...forever?? Probably back when we were first married. We didn't have a TV and I was home dealing with hyper-emesis with my first pregnancy.

I'd be angry and crying too. I'd be frustrated that *someone* suggested a more difficult dinner without offering to make said dinner. I don't blame you for being frustrated. Tell soon-to-be xdh that if he wants fancy ham sandwiches that he can make them himself.

Brussel Sprouts... oh my, these are not your mom's Brussel's sprouts. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/brussels-sprouts-with-pecans-and-cranberries-recipe.html sometimes we don't even put in the pecans and/or cranberries.. it's fine without both. So yummy. My kids all eat this happily.

I'm not sure what that is, but it sounds interesting. I'm more excited for you that your DH is actually cooking some for you tomorrow. That would be Christmas present enough for me :laugh:

:grouphug: sorry your so sad.

OMG!! You're questions are so telling. I never looked back and made the connection between my being INTJ/P (also a mix) and the way I homescooled. I reluctantly did co-ops but I never really seemed to warm up (or no one warmed up to me). I did co-op for the kids, but there were times when I was lonely and looking for friends too. Mostly I was odd-man out. A lot of times it was because either the group had been meeting for a while or most of them went to the same church. Either way I was usually the outsider. I made 2 friends via my kids during that time and we still talk occasionally (very occasionally). Otherwise, I never see or talk to anyone from any of the co-ops I did off and on for nearly 20yrs. I loved it when the kids go old enough to take outside classes - either with homeschool groups or CC. It worked very well with our family. When I first started homechooling I had two friends who were go-getters and outgoing. They would often call me and get me out the door for field-trips or what not. They were good for me in that respect. We started homeschooling together so it was also partly the adventure of doing this new thing together. But, they both moved away. Those years following that were very hard for me.

I hope you got back to sleep too. I didn't sleep well last night and I'm also worried about the vicious cycle of napping-no sleeping-napping.....

I get it. We went from having a relaxing week with just immediate family to several family-wide functions as well as friends inviting us over too. I'm already stressing a bit. I love seeing the family, but it is people overload as we're a big family.

Now I'm going to have to go cry.

We just started River (ep. 2).. and really like it. Very unique and I can't wait to see where they go with it.

I'm just going to pretend you didn't say that. ;) Morse is my absolute favourite character on BritMystery... only replaced slightly by Vera (another curmudgeon detective). I'm such a Morse fan that I get a bit weepy when I hear the theme song. We didn't like Rosemary & Thyme either. don't know why as I like both actresses.

Ugh.. my computer just ate what I wrote 2x. UGh!!!! Deep breathes.... Anyway, Jeremy Brett is considered by many be *the* definitive Sherlock so watching the older ones is definitely worth it. I wouldn't consider Broadchurch "suitable for kids" so I'm a bit stumped as to what you're looking for. We definitely like our more intense and adult BritMysteries (Vera, Luther, Prime Suspect) but we also enjoy many mysteries we could watch with the kids: Morse, Endevour, Inspector Lewis, Unsuitable Job for a Woman, Blue Murder, The Last Detective, Jonathan Creek. There's more, but I can't remember them and I don't want the computer to eat my reply a third time before hitting the post button

Jim Gaffigan always seems pretty safe. We watch Mr. Universe as a family and it was hillarious. I don't remember anything crude or offensive. Secret Life of Walter Mitty (with Ben Stiller) was pretty clean too, IIRC. It's not uproareously funny, but it was cute with a few chuckles. Planes, Trains, & Automobiles was pretty fun. We just watched that recently.

Every family has their own culture and how they "do" life together. Me? I'm more of a slacker-mom, but kudos to you if you can get your little one to do all those things happily with you. With 2 even smaller ones I amazed you have the energy to keep up with this stuff. In looking through the list it looks very similar to the kinds of things preschoolers do at a Montessori school, so clearly it is possible for a 2yr old to set or clean up a table. My son attended a Montessori school in Elemetary and the preschoolers there did stuff like this, I was pretty impressed. edited to add: your family butting their noses into this is just not cool. I'd maybe let one concerned grandparent comment slide, but to continuously harrass you with offensive comments is unacceptable. That is a toxic situation.

I am a direct descendant of one of the original settlers in So.Maryland. According to my MIL, my dh is a descendant (don't know how direct) of Anne Hutchinson .

Whoot!! What a great feeling.

n/m

IIRC Netflix used to have a way to suggest titles that you wanted to see them carry. I haven't looked very hard, but I also can't find it. I have a list of saved DVD's still waiting for an availability date, but that list is old and I can't seem to figure out how to add new titles to the list.