freaking out is totally reasonable. Take care of yourself and give it time to heal.

same at my house - only they're older and they still don't seem to "get it". Like Chris in VA we had everyone help clean, we talked about serving others, going out of your way to do it for MOM. etc. etc. But still they're in the 20's and somehow it hasn't clicked yet. It's a very defeating feeling actually. Dawn, I hope you find a workable solution that you can live with. I'm not the best housekeeper either.

what a wonderful thing and such a blessing. Enjoy yourself.

so sorry. how heartbreaking.

My dh is 8 yrs older than I am.

started Atkins when my youngest was 7 months old. It was not a problem. He seems fine now at 12.

Do a vinegar rinse every once in a while. That should help with the stink. Vinegar is great. btw - it says "sticky" in the thread title... did you mean "sticky" or "stinky" ??

thanks for the update. Continuing to pray.

this makes me wonder about my ds (20) who has been sick since New Years Eve. He was away at a college conference and came home sick. I should find out if anyone from there is sick also. Anyway, my son's symptoms were not that severe - but he didn't feel well - no fever (or not much of one - hard to tell with a 20yr old). But, 2 days ago he started having a painful cough. It's productive - but he says it hurts very badly every time he coughs. Same on/off exhaustion throughout this illness. His younger sister had something very similar before him, but not as long - and she never got the terrible cough. I just assumed he had what she had. I never took him in because one day he'd seem like he was getting better and then the next day he was back feeling miserable.

hmmm.. . that's helpful to know about. I have one child with asthma. This may be the year for her to get it to protect her lungs.

did they get the strain that the flu shot is for or a different one?

sounds like shingles. I thought there was something you can take at the initial outbreak and it greatly reduces it's length and severity,. It may be worth it to do that awful wait, but do some research first. :grouphug:

I've heard its bad in certain parts of the country (TX particularly). I know one person online who say's she's got it, but she also had the flu shot - so it's a different strain. I haven't heard of a single case here in MD amongst all mine and my family's acquaintances & friends. Some of us in the family have been sick this last week, but I'm pretty sure it's a cold - it certainly doesn't seem like the flu (which I've had once and never want again). What's it like where you live? Every year I vacillate between getting the shot or not.

Is it something you want to make yourself? Two that I like - not exactly "comfort" food, but maybe it will fit the bill when you want a snack. dates (the good kind like medjool) spread with almond butter black bean chips: like Beanitos: they don't have a ton of taste by themselves, and I personally think the co. should add more salt... but with salsa or something they're quite good. I think they've come out with other types now too, like chickpea chips. I can get them locally at health food stores.

This brings me to another thought. How is she calculating success? And what is success? Is it only getting into certain colleges? Having certain careers? What about the career mom who gives it all up to raise her kids - is she a failure? What about the career parent who didn't give it up for the family and is estranged from them all because he/she was married to the job? Are they a success anyway? For some families just getting INTO college is a major family first. And for other families just staying away from drugs & alcohol and having a happy marriage is a success. "success" seems like such an arbitrary gauge because many people's definition of success will be different. I don't think some of them are easily measured either (family happiness for instance).

sorry. People can be very insensitive.

Dutch...

praying for you again. If you could send me your son's first name I can put him on our prayer list tomorrow at church.

LOL - me either. I'm just a lazy sloth and I have my family heritage to prove it! ;)

I saw that yesterday and don't know what to make of it. On the face of it from the news story it sounds pretty bad. However, I dislike making that kind of judgement without reading the book or listening to her first and seeing WHY she thinks this. What's her data to back her *theory* up? Anyway, it's not the type of book I'd be inclined to read normally, so I think I'll just have to wait until she's interviewed somewhere like NPR or BookTV.

LOL! I know what you mean. I only have one fiber hobby but I still get antsy when I'm half-way done and start distracting myself with future projects. I think the reason it takes me so long to finish one project is because I'm always distracted by the "pretty, shiny" of the next project.

Mine got a little bad for a while, but the last year (I'm turning 50 this week) got real bad FAST. It was very disconcerting. I would recommending figuring out what strength you need at the local CVS or Rite Aid, and then you can buy others online after that. Believe me, you'll need more than one pair. I have them lying all over the house and still can't find them when I need them.

Along that vein, I have wondered if the popularity of roadside memorials are a result of the prevalence of scattering ashes. With a memorial spot, the family whose loved ones remains were scattered, has a place to go to pay their respects/remember their loved ones. as to the OP. I have mixed feelings. I totally see the desire for this from the family, but we have some that either deteriorate or just stay up so very long. The others I see have become pretty permanent. It's like someone has planted a garden with the person's name and they do keep it up. It seems kind of odd to me. I can see a reasonable time frame for roadside memorials, but who's going to tell a grieving mother to stop?

Ummm. why is that a problem? She's 16 and stealing your stuff and giving it to her friends. If she doesn't learn now, when will she learn - when the cops take her in? If nagging doesn't work perhaps embarrassment will. Honestly, I give you permission to SAY something - that is YOUR new shirt.

Thanks for both the tips. Malory - I checked out viki. It looks like it's mostly Asian movies but still very promising. I've already found several titles that look very promising. My 18 yr old dd is going to love this site too.