:iagree: I've been in both Madison and Champaign. I would vote Mad-town. While the Champaign area has a good number of homeschooling resources, it is in the state of Illinois, which is in really, really bad shape. Horrible finance issues, and not looking like it's going to get better. Cutting, slashing, and reducing budgets for too many things that matter around here so that they can keep the money in Chicago. Madison is a little (a lot) liberal for my taste, but I would move to a suburb in a heartbeat.

Cremation. Based on a combination of not wanting my own children to feel 'tied to' or 'responsible for' visiting my grave (oldest already has big, globe trotting plans), and not really having someplace I want to be buried. I would rather be cremated and have them dispose of my ashes someplace neat. They can do some sort of little ceremony for themselves, if they would like. If it matters, we also believe that a funeral is a celebration of a life lived - hopefully to its fullest.

I greatly relate to that post. I have four completely unrelated college degrees, and will earn at least one more before my life is over (at least, that's my plan). My life has taken a direction that I have never imagined, as for the longest time you would have heard me saying 'I'm not the stay-at-home mom type.' Obviously, now I am home and homeschooling. After the first ear of being home I felt like the walls were closing in and my brain was wasting away, as my oldest is at a self-discovery high school level, and the other two are 4 and 2. I have found, though, that I can find intellectual stimulation outside of having a job. I have specifically chosen a few things to do, and I make sure I do them, or I will go batty. For example, right now I am working on an in depth bible study for myself. I am also currently writing a challenging high school level US History course for my oldest to use next year (I could not find anything already created that matched what both she and I want for her). I find that the research that both of those require meet my need for intellectual stimulation. I also have future projects, so that even when the histroy project ends (the bible study may never end) I already know what will follow.

I would not use a realtor that I know (and by know, I mean beyond a casual aquiantance). On the Dave Ramsey website you can find recommendations for realtors. It lays out exactly what they have to do to qualify for a recommendation from him, so you might find some comfort in that.

Just a quick, generic one: http://www.mayflower.com/moving/moving-tips/moving-checklist.htm

I have a Simian crease on both hands. I have no diagnoses that would be the result of a simian crease. My youngest has one Simian crease, with no disorders. My oldest is normal.

Jeremy Kemp Mandisa Selah

Jeremy Kemp Mandisa Selah

1)Sinking Funds: What sinking funds do you keep? For us, that's quite the list: a basic emergency fund, house maintenance, car repair, medical, birthday, Christmas, an activity fund for each child (some fees are monthly, some are every six months), clothing (we don't shop every month, so this builds until we make one big trip, usually 3 - 4 times a year), vacation, curriculum. Where do you keep them- do you separate them? I keep all of those funds in one savings account, I use an excel spreadsheet to track what is in each actual fund. 2) How do you handle variable budget categories? For this spedific example each week gets a specific grocery budget and then there is a 'stockpile' fund for the month. So the weekly groceries come out of the weekly grocery fund, and anything else comes out of the stockpile fund. Any unused stockpile fund is either rolled over to the next month or put into one of the sinking funds. - My grocery bill can vary widely due to buying meat and other items in bulk. 3) How do you keep track- computer? Online? Handwritten? Microsoft Excel. I have multiple pages - one per month, one for savings / sinking, one for planning. 4) Do you separate accounts in anyway? We are considering this as a way to make it easier, tell me how you have your accounts and withdrawals set up. Just a checking and a savings. If there was a problem staying on budget I would either use another checking for grocereis / spending or cash in envelopes. 5) Do you have a system/protocol in place for 'windfall' amounts? If so what is it? The only system we have in place is to discuss it and make decisions. Each year has my husband's bonus going into a different fund, or multiple funds depending on our goals for the year / long term. Hope that helps!

OP- I would spend some time working with story elements, as those tend to be on state testing / leveling tests that your child will see in a b&m school. You can do that using literature, and identifying the story elements within. You don't really need special material, just make sure you understand what they are and then talk about them.

We always share meals at Sunshine Seasons at Epcot. Wolfgang Puck at Downtown Disney is excellent as well.

Thank you! I couldn't for the life of me come up with that phrase! Also, if you ever remember the one in Denver please let me know. Colorado is one of our target states.

ASAP. Get the child looked at and an official diagnosis, then the help that is needed. My husband went diagnosed for 20+ years (his parents never got hime help) and it almost cost our marriage. It wasn't until I put my foot down that he finally got the help he needed, and now has tools to manage it.

So, my husband is going to be looking for a new job. He is a manager at a fortune 50 company currently. So to find a comprable or step up job will not be easy, as they are executive jobs. We had the thought of hiring someone to search for those types of jobs - a recruiter. The problem is, I can only find recruiters that work for companies. We need someone that works for individuals, helping them find a job using the resources that we don't have. Monster.com is just not going to cut it. So, any ideas if this even exists? If it matters, he is looking at a minimum nationally, possibly internationally. NOT locally. Thanks for any help!

Hmm... this may sound contradictory, but a laid out inquiry based science. Something that uses books to learn about topics and lists the materials to give to the students. I would love to do inquiry based, but feel like I don't have the time to adequately plan, research books, etc. Something that gave me a base to do that from would be perfect.

For my daughter's severe acne the only thing that helped was Noxema. The old school, blue jar Noxema. Even Proactiv didn't touch it.

Based on this conversation, I thought I would look up info on BPD and NPD. The two are in the same family, but there are some distinct differences. I found this to be a very interesting difference, especially given previous thoughts in the thread - taken from Psychology Today concerning rage attacks: As you know, people with BPD are emotionally unstable. Nearly all emotions go up and down, but anger is the one that others find most hard to take. Their intense and annihilating anger comes from believing that others don't care about them, are not listening to them, or are not meeting their core needs. Their pain is your punishment. You're still, though, the equal in the relationship. Conventional BPs (self-harming, suicidal, evident low self-worth) may feel shame, embarrassment, and desperation when they calm down and realized they've pushed people away. They may apologize and promise not to do it again. But unless they're in treatment, the underlying issues don't go away. Some conventional BPs do not get angry at all, but hold it in or express it inward through self-harm. The anger of narcissists, on the other hand, can be more demeaning. Their criticism evolves from their conviction that others don't meet their lofty standards--or worse, aren't letting them get their own way. "Narcissistic injuries," or wounds to the ego, often pave the way for narcissistic rages, which can be passive-aggressive or planned out, as well as sudden. They are above you and you have displeased them and probably deserve punishment they will dole out. End quote. So based on that, clearly these two diagnoses should not be completely lumped together / treated the same. BPD people are capable of seeing that they have done something inapropraite and feeling bad for it. NPDs are not. Hopefully that will maybe help some see why those of us dealing with NPDs loose our ability to feel sympathy for them.

Exactly. Which is why people cannot understand or are shocked - the "but she's so sweet..." syndrome. It just keeps us wondering if it's really that bad, or if we're making it too big of a deal. It's not fun second guessing everything.

Audrey - I'm hesitant to jump into this 'discussion' but here goes. If this topic bothers you so much, why are you reading this post? When I see a topic that will bother me, I just skip it... There may have been instances in previous posts where people were saying horrible things about BPD or NPD or any other PD, but I fail to see that here. Somebody asked for examples as a reference, A few examples were provided. Where is anybody 'raging on' their faimly members? No one is going on and on about how horrible anybody is. Why does it bother you so much that people are discussing something that affects them, sometimes horribly?

Based on the location and opera that you are seeing - what I'm hearing is that it is a professional opera house and it should be treated as such. You will see people in furs, etc... You may see people in jeans. It is recommended to dress at a minimum in nice pants and a top.

One paragraph into one article and I'm already saying "Wow!" Thank you again! :D

This is big for us right now. How to forgive (that's hard enough), but not set up for this in the future. I REFUSE to allow her to hurt my youngest (that ship has already sailed with my oldest). Also, she pulled the "honor thy mother" line on DH. Poor guy. So now he's struggling with that as well. We just keep coming back to the idea that he did honor her by not responding / engaging and saying anything awful in return. Thank you so much. It's good to hear from someone that has gone through it. As you know, NPDs are really good at making you feel guilty or like you're the crazy one. :tongue_smilie:

I think you just hit the nail on the head. I'm glad to hear good reports of some schools. But it does happen in other schools. Based on my first hand experience, it was happening. It continued to happen because nothing was done to stop it. Hopefully, at some point in the future, that will change for the school that I no longer work for. In the mean time, it continues to be a place where many students (and some adults) do not feel safe, and have to deal with much more than just getting a school education.

The location of the opera would determine the level of formality for me...

Oh my gosh, thank you. You have just clarified some things for me (and my husband). As being relatively new to dealing with this, it is so good to hear this perspective!