Yes, yes yes!! I totally get that. I'm the same way. That's probably my secret reason why I hate parties... I'm totally convinced no one would come. :grouphug:

Aimee what a beautiful baby blanket.

:iagree: But I'm not a medical professional so I was afraid to speak up.

God bless you for doing such a difficult and "out of your comfort zone" thing. I especially agree with what I've bolded.

I think putting "no gifts please" is very helpful and not presumptuous at all. Otherwise I would wonder "should I bring a gift???" One idea would be to call your friend and tell her that you're not in a place to afford a party like this. Thank her profusely for thinking about this, but that you're rather uncomfortable with the whole thing anyway. Maybe she'll say she was planning to give this to you as a gift - or maybe not. But at least you'll be honest and upfront with her. :grouphug: I hate parties and I would be totally stressed out about something like this. Shoot- I gave a tea party and I couldn't sleep for days beforehand I was so stressed about 10 ladies coming over for tea!

What??!! Is THAT why it's changing? I had no idea either. Where's the "dislike" button?!

I dislike the new changes too. Why, oh why, do so many websites feel the need to constantly change things???

Lord have mercy! Prayers for a full and speedy recovery.

I was thinking the same thing... perhaps they should have picked a better name for this practice. And I agree with others who said there doesn't seem to be much reason for having a modeling photo session other than to stroke someone's ego. I guess I'm just going to caulk it up to another example of our FaceBook nation where everyone craves attention of some kind.

Wow! You have been productive AND creative Lab1. Great work.

' yeah, so much for the US being in a ressession. :confused: I don't understand the connection between the pictures of brides in their dresses after the wedding and "trashing" the dress. Are they really destroying the dress?

Melissa, Please post pictures. I'm sure it's quite lovely. Also, I do have one recommendation. A stick blender! It has revolutionized my soaping. I can get my soap to trace in 5-8 mins! It's wonderful. I usually go back and forth between the stick blender and a wisk - otherwise it would trace in about 3 min. and that's WAY too fast for me. I don't know about Australia, but here in the US I can buy one for about $20.

I do hospice visits and many of my patients have dementia. Yes, they are not themselves, but I think that there is always a little sliver of them in there somewhere. For instance. I have one pt. who is in end-stage Alzheimers. She is bedridden and sleeps most of the day. She never talks. I noticed during one visit that she had a hymnal on her dresser, so I picked it up and started singing a few hymns. She IMMEDIATELY opened her eyes. This past week she opened her eyes and looked straight at me the whole time I sang. As soon as I stopped she closed her eyes. When I asked her if she wanted me to sing she said very quietly "uh huh". One week she hummed along very briefly. So, I really do think they are there - somewhere and very hidden. But, this particular patient isn't in pain or anxious - I've seen that too. It can be very upsetting- even for me and I don't know them outside of this situation. It's hard, but I've been taught that you have to respect people where they are. You can only gently suggest but then it's really up to them. It may not be where YOU are. I have a high tolerance dealing with end of life stuff (obviously), but I rarely go to visit my FIL who is 101 and slowly coming to the close of his life (my husband tries to go weekly). It's really not because of him, it's because his wife is so difficult. Perhaps your family members are using it as an excuse, but perhaps its more than just the illness they're avoiding. :grouphug:

I guess I'll post here too. I made soap last month (and yesterday too!). Here's a photo of the two batches from April: I got a new project on my loom for this month. I seriously thought I'd be done with it in a few days, but since the move my loom has been relegated to the basement. At the old house it was in our family room. It's just not the same and I'm trying to figure out where it will fit upstairs.

congratulations.

I really like it

Yes. The brown is a vanilla/sandlewood (vanilla turns the soap brown) and the blue is a fragrance called 'Soapy Clean" which I like to use a lot.

I wrote in a previous thread how much I hated our Electrolux dishwasher. http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=369976 About a week after I wrote that thread it really went on the blink. I couldn't even get it to run the water through the dishwasher. I was able to find a very nice unopened Bosch dishwasher for 1/2 the retail price and hubby put it in for me YAY! Anyway, I can't sell the old dishwasher for $500 as I had planned since it isn't even working, but it's only 3 yrs old. It could very well be an easy fix for someone who knows what they're doing. Should I sell it "As is" or for "parts"? And, if so, how much should I ask for something like this? According to my research its an $1100 dishwasher - so I would imagine the parts might be worth something... but then - maybe not. :confused: I just looked a bit on craigslist and someone is selling a dw for parts for $200!! That seems high to me, but perhaps all those electronics are worth something. Any advice would be appreciated.

I haven't BTDT, but I am so excited for you.

I made some soap last week. I really like the way the blue turned out. The brown didn't exactly come out as I envisioned it, but it will still be a very nice soap.

no you are not the only one. I'm actually the type of person who needs to mull and wrestle over things privately. I don't like to "talk it out." My husband always wants to talk about it and I just need some space. After that I'm usually fine.

\ how wonderful for you! I'm so happy you're finally going to be together and the house is just beautiful.

I've had three of my six go to school. For my middle daughter it was because she was almost 13 and could barely read (even after a couple of years of tutoring AND of course all that mommy time beforehand). She was dx with severe dyslexia. My choice was between putting the younger kids in school so I could concentrate on her needs or finding a school that would meet her specific needs. I live in a metro area so there were some good school options. We found a school that specifically treated LD kids who didn't have behavioral problems. Long story short- she received GREAT education and tools to deal with the dyslexia and was able to be "mainstreamed" to a Catholic high school. I will also add that this vastly improved our relationship. School was always a battle with her because it was so hard. Next dd (child #5) also had dyslexia but we dx it earlier. Tutoring made a HUGE difference for her too and she really wanted to go to school. We made a plan to send her to high school (I wanted to do it earlier but she just wasn't ready). By this time I was getting pretty burnt out on homeschooling too. My youngest son is our caboose :D. She's 5 1/2 years younger dd. Since dd was already planning to go to private high school I thought he was going to be way too lonely at home. I was also burnt out and I'm not "fun" mommy either. He was constantly complaining about being bored and lonely. So we thought it would be best to send him to school too. Unfortunately, he ALSO has dyslexia and he didn't get into the same school as my dd. We found a WONDERFUL Montessori elementary school and he went to reading tutors after school last year (this year they have a tutor coming to the school). Montessori has been a great transition for him from homeschooling to "regular" school. I do miss my kids from time to time, but I don't miss homeschooling. It was the right time for me to retire. I'm sure I wouldn't have done a very good job with my last 2 if I had kept it up - actually, I'm sure I wouldn't because I was already letting things go. So, I've graduated 3 from homeschool and will graduate 3 from private school.

Agreeing with the highlighted part.

Yeah, this is what I was thinking. My doctor doesn't do it that way. I can refuse to go get the blood drawn, but my doctor decides which tests need to be done. :confused: