I did not mean to make another post.

I just found out about KonMari recently and finished reading the book yesterday. It's a bit overwhelming to think of going through ALL my stuff over the next 6 months or so, and makes me think that I'll give up before then, but I'm eager to go through my clothes and papers, even though I'm pretty sure the papers will take forever. I tried Flylady years ago and the emails were just too much.

I just started reading the new edition of TWEM, and I was wondering this too, as I have the Rutherford translation that I bought several years ago. I read the first 12 chapters or so and then got distracted. What did you decide to do? Anyone have any insight? Also, is anyone else irritated by the fact that the reviews on Amazon are not by translation, but all lumped together? Finding reviews of the translation you're interested in is annoying, and many people do not say which version they are reviewing.

If you ever gave someone who used Square your email address, that's how. You might not have even known they were using Square. They have a choice to send you a receipt through email or not. My farmer at the farmer's market uses Square, although the first time I paid with a credit card I didn't know that. They just asked if I wanted a receipt, and I said sure, so they asked for my email address. That was my "sign up." Then, I've received receipts from a random food place in a mall in a different city, and another random food place downtown here, without ever being asked if I wanted a receipt, because my information was already in there when they ran my card. I actually thought it was kinda neat, because paper receipts drive me crazy, because I'm pretty sure they multiply in my purse.

I remember standing up in the middle of the back of our VW beetle when I was 4, hanging on to the front seats, so I could see out the front window when we were driving. I also remember laying down in the back seat in my pajamas when my parents went to a drive-in movie, and just sleeping that was until we got home. Later on we got an old, used Greenbriar van where the back seat was basically a bench with big cushions on it. No seatbelts. And the seatbelts in the front were just lap belts. I remember wearing seatbelts when we finally got cars that had them, but in the back they were just lap belts in the backseat. And I'd still see plenty of people riding around in the back of pickups. I didn't do prank calls personally, but I remember my friends and I calling boys we liked and then hanging up because we were too scared to actually talk to them, and at least they didn't know who was calling.

Yes, this is what they do at our Stride Rite.

The Stride Rite in our town still does this. I took DS there just because it was so easy, and somehow it was easier for him to just pick a pair from what they selected rather than running all over town trying to find stuff that fit at different places. I still take him there now, to get his feet measured and to try on shoes to see what is comfortable, even if we ultimately don't end up buying from there. Oh, and they also keep a record on index cards of every person and what shoes they buy over the years, with dates. I thought that was interesting. I always wondered if all Stride Rites did this, but I remember walking into one in some mall in a larger city, and they did not.

I want tamales now.

Here's another one that I just saw: Want it Tuesday, Dec. 29? Order within 36 hrs 42 mins and choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Although if you just want Prime shipping, then it'll get there Wednesday next week.

Here's another one that I just saw: Want it Tuesday, Dec. 29? Order within 36 hrs 42 mins and choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Although if you just want Prime shipping, then it'll get there Wednesday next week.

I'm sorry CS yelled at you. My irritation with Amazon Prime lately, is sometimes the delivery date is 3 or 4 or more days out. I was going to order a couple things over the weekend, both stating they were Prime, and one item had a delivery date of Monday (yesterday) and the other a delivery date of Thursday. How is that Prime? I ended up cancelling my order. Another thing I'm looking at right now says Prime, it's "In stock but may require an extra 1-2 days to process." and has an estimated delivery date of Dec. 29. I realize we have a pretty major holiday in there, but I still don't see how a week for shipping is Prime. On the other hand, a few weeks ago, I received some Amazon orders on a couple different Sunday mornings by 11AM. I kinda felt bad for the USPS person who was out delivering on Sunday morning, but I was super happy to get my packages in the morning on a Sunday!

I've never had a desire to be *famous,* and I'm quite happy to be my quiet, introverted self, but I would have *loved* to be an actress. (I did as many school plays as possible!) It still sounds appealing, just for the experience. (I mean, how amazing would it be to have been in something like the Harry Potter movies or Lord of the Rings or even shows on Broadway?) I don't have the looks or talent for it though. :P I remember my parents asking me when I was about 6 if I would be interested in doing commercials, and I think I said yes, but nothing ever came of it. I think I spent a day on Romper Room when I was 5, but that's about it. :laugh:)

I didn't need a dentist or an orthodontist to tell me that DS could use braces. His teeth lined up well in the back, but his top adult teeth were protruding in the front, so much so that he could not close his lips easily (ie without thinking about it and doing it on purpose) as well as he never bit into anything with his front teeth, he always used the sides. (Not to the mention the huge gap, and one of them being rotated, and one of the teeth being higher up.) I could see that myself when he was 7, and so I was just waiting for the proper time. When he was 8 the dentist brought it up, and we had an initial consultation with the orthodontist a few months later, but we had to wait another 9-10 months for one of his front teeth to grow in. He probably could have got braces on last fall, but a few rounds of being sick and vacations and I didn't call again until earlier this year. He was 10 by the time he got them on, and he has spent 8 months this year in Phase 1 of braces (just on top - brackets on the 4 front teeth and connected to a banded adult tooth in back on each side.) He is getting them off next week! However, the orthodontist said that it was up to me... we could have done Phase 1 and then possibly Phase 2 down the road, or we could just wait until he had all his adult teeth and do it then. Honestly, I didn't see any reason to wait. He does tkd and I was always afraid that with his teeth protruding so much that if he ever got hit in the face that it would just not be good. There was huge change in his teeth after just the first appointment or two! As far as cost, insurance paid a little bit, maybe $800? However, the cost of Phase 1 will be applied to the total cost of Phase 2, as long as we go back to the same orthodontist for Phase 2, so it does not cost extra to do a Phase 1. Whether or not he will "need" Phase 2 is still up in the air (he still has 6 baby teeth left, and lots of adult teeth yet to come in) however I'm guessing he will probably need it. But as long as we stay in the same area, I don't see a reason not to do a Phase 2 even if it's "just" cosmetic, especially since we've already paid a good portion toward it. I basically had to beg my parents to get braces when I was a teen, so I'm sensitive to this stuff. I had a big overbite, and I *did* need them (ortho said my lower teeth could cause bone loss in my upper with my bite), but of course my desire was more cosmetic. We didn't have a lot of money, but my parents made it work for me.

It depends on the store and what kind of coupons/deals they normally have. Some places are very predictable, such as Michael's, Ulta, Kohl's, and Bath & Body Works. If you watch the deals and coupons long enough, you'll notice when the better deals come along versus the normal ones (and I never shop at those places without a coupon of some sort, because there's always coupons). If it's some place like Target, for me it depends on the item. If it's something I normally buy and it's only marked down a little, or there's only a 5% or 10% Cartwheel for it, then I buy it anyway because I figure I'll be buying it eventually anyway. If it's something I want but don't need, then a 25% or 30% or more Cartwheel might convince me to buy it. For places like Amazon, it helps to know what something usually costs there, so often I'll keep an eye on things that I want. I'm not bothered by the notices for stuff in my cart going up or down a few cents. Occasionally someone will post a link for something I've been wanting or use that really is a good deal and I'll jump on it. And finally, no matter where I'm shopping, by the time they have stuff marked down for 75% off or more, I have to be honest with myself about whether I really want the item at all, or if I just want to buy it because it's cheap. Usually I don't want actually want that stuff, because it's already picked over and if I wanted it, I probably would have bought it already. So I rarely buy stuff that is on deep discount.

First of all, thank you all for your continued responses and ideas. I'm glad to have this brainstorming session with the Hive Mind. :) I don't think I'm in a Lyme area. I also don't spend a whole lot of time in outdoorsy areas, although I know that doesn't necessarily mean anything. Small update: My legs feel okay today, and they ended up feeling okay later yesterday...I'm going to guess it was because I was feeling extra anxious. But now my back is actually hurting yesterday and today, and yeah my arm is tingling again So, I read websites and Google reviews for different chiropractic places in my area. We have a good amount of pick from, (and I found one that I definitely would NOT go to.) Anyway, I didn't really know what to pick, so I picked the place that uses the Gonstead technique. I don't know if that's good or not but it sounded interesting. It also said that they don't hesitate to refer you to other doctors if they can't help you. So I called them today and I have an appointment for later this afternoon. I'm a little nervous about it, but I'm more nervous that they might not be able to help me. I may also try the idea of getting a massage, but I figure I'd start with this first. If they can't help, I guess I'll be heading back to the regular doctor. I mean, maybe he's right that I could be having some tendonitis going on, but I think it might be something else in addition to that, you know? I'm also not very good with the whole "wait and see" thing, when it doesn't necessarily seem like a wait and see thing. If it had felt like something that would get better with time I wouldn't have gone to the doctor in the first place...because that's how I usually am, and usually I know why something hurts.

Thanks for all the thoughtful comments and stories so far. I'd like to respond to each of you individually, but that seems like a lot of typing, so I'm just going to lump my thoughts all together. I'm going to reread Sadie's post a few times, thank you. I definitely realize I may be in a negative feedback loop. I just don't know how to separate out symptoms that come from that versus what's really going on, especially since I can't do my normal stress relieving activities. As far as how I sleep, normally I sleep on my back and my sides, but since my left arm started hurting I started sleeping more on my back so I could have my arms straight by my sides, because I didn't think I should lay on my left side/arm because it didn't feel good, although I end up spending some time on my side or sides anyway. I don't know if that's the right answer or not. What is the best way to sleep to not hurt my arms? I have not changed my pillow, although I have a Sleep Number bed and if my back ever starts hurting I usually make sure my bed is adjusted to be a little more firm and I have done that. MaeFlowers, I wish I had just changed my pillow because what you described sounds so familiar. A massage sounds great but I've never had a professional one and the thought makes me kinda nervous? DH was massaging my back a little last night and I realized I do have some sore muscles between and around my shoulder blades. I will try a heating pad. I've wondered if I should see a chiropractor, but I've never been to one and DH thinks they are quacks; I don't know what I think. I feel mostly neutral, but I know a lot of people say they help. Although I worry about cost because doesn't that usually require multiple visits? I wouldn't know how to pick one and I don't know anyone who uses one. I guess I can try to look up the directional nonforce thing. I woke up this morning my left leg hurts more and my neck kinda hurts...I can tell I have a lot of tension going on in my neck and shoulders this morning. Most everywhere aches and I'm nervous. My arms are just kinda there...not the worst they've been, not great either. Thanks again for the replies. Edit: Well, a cursory check is showing me that there aren't any directional non force chiropractors in the area, although there are a lot of chiropractors and I can read reviews and look at websites but beyond that don't know how to choose one if I were to go at all.

Okay, before I start, I want to make a couple things clear (and I apologize in advance for the book I'll be writing): 1. I did go to the doctor two days ago. 2. I know that the internet/people online are not a substitute for a doctor, but I really need to talk about this, and I can't talk to DH about it, because DH get seriously stressed and has stomach issues if he's worried that something bad is wrong with me, so I don't want to worry him unnecessarily. I might have a couple friends I could talk to, but while they might listen, I wouldn't get much back from them, and with my parents, again, I don't want to worry them unnecessarily. And frankly, when I have a problem, I always think of all the smart people we have here in the WTM community. So today is Day 14 since I've had nerve pain and tingling/burning start in my left arm. I'm left handed for writing, but other tasks vary for which hand I prefer. When the nerve pain started, I wasn't really doing anything... I had just finished making dinner, and I had sat down to eat. I was pretty sure it originated in my elbow, but it went all down my arm into my wrist and ring finger as well. I've had wrist pain before, maybe once a year or so, but usually from an identifiable source (ie clicking the mouse too much in an online game) so I lay off whatever activity that's causing it and it usually goes away in a couple days. I've even had nerve pain all up and down my arm before into my ring finger, but again, something that usually goes away in a day or less. I *do* use my hands and arms a lot (writing out homeschooling assignments, knitting, coloring in grown-up coloring books the past couple months, bullet journaling, WoW raids) so initially it didn't worry me; I stopped doing most of those activities right away and made a conscious effort to not bend my left arm so much, as it really seemed the ulnar nerve is involved. I couldn't even write because it caused too much pain, so I switched to writing with my right hand for the week. I *thought* it was starting to get a little better 4 days later (last Thursday/Friday) and then resumed a small amount of activity, which was probably a bad idea because last Saturday (a week ago) the pain in my arm returned in full force. Since then it's varied...sometime my elbow hurts and my wrist feels fine, sometimes my wrist hurts while my elbow feels fine, sometimes it tingles or burns or feels cold, sometimes it doesn't. Most of the time trying to grip something like a pen hurts, or leads to hurting later even if all I do is sign my name. I bought a wrist brace...sometimes it feels good, sometimes it feels like it's making my elbow hurt, so I've only worn it a little bit. The muscles in my hand and forearm hurt and also have started to feel weak when I try to do something like write anything. I also had to scrape ice off my car on Tuesday so I'm sure that didn't help matters. Two days ago (Thursday) my arm started to ache more (while still having burning sensations), so besides the muscles in my forearm aching, my upper arm started aching and feeling weak too...kinda like how it feels after you workout and your muscles don't want to do any more and feel weak. Thursday I also went to the doctor. He suggested that I might be getting tendonitis, said I could see how using a wrist brace and icing my arm felt, and gave me an anti-inflammatory to take, and said to continue to limit activity that makes it worse. So this is my third day of taking it, and my arm started to feel a little better yesterday and today (until this evening). What I *haven't* said yet, is that during all this time, I felt like I have had nerve pain and tingling at least 2 or 3 times in my *right* arm as well, but so far it has gone away quickly... until this evening while I was making dinner. I feel like I might have tweaked something in my right elbow last night? It hurts in a particular spot. But tonight when I was making dinner, I started feeling the same nerve pain and tingling in my right arm, that I have been feeling in my left arm, and my muscles also started feeling weak in that arm. So now both arms hurt. Typing does not feel good either, so I probably shouldn't even be writing this. And then I started freaking out. And then I started having pain in the tops of my thighs (still have it as I type this, it's been a few hours now) and then I started freaking out more. And then my shoulders and knees started hurting. I realize I am stressed, and possibly having anxiety? Can that do this? A little more background: So far I have been mostly lucky and have been pretty healthy, although I am somewhat overweight. However, in the last 14 months I have voluntarily gone to the doctor about 7 times for various problems, which is more than I have been to the doctor for non-routine visits in the rest of my life combined. So this is all new to me. By the way, nothing serious came of all the other visits these past 14 months, except for the mention a couple times that I might be having some anxiety. They checked my thyroid earlier this year, and that and whatever else they checked my blood for came back normal. The beginning of all of this seems to coincide with all the health problems my dad was having in the summer and fall of last year - he calls me every Friday and tells me all about his doctor visits and problems in detail - and I think that really stressed me out. His finally got the medication he needed this year, but he has some other health problems that he's been talking about more the past month or two, and I know that I'm feeling stressed over that and his attitude about it all. /end background So, I know that I overuse my left arm which might be why this is happening, and I know I *might* be overcompensating with my right arm, but does it really make sense for me to be having the same symptoms in my right arm now? Why do my legs and shoulders now hurt? Of course I am imagining Really Bad Things, especially with how sudden this all seems. And of course while I am worrying about what Really Bad Things might be wrong with me (also had pain around my right eye and headaches a couple weeks ago - went to eye doctor - everything fine with eyes except some irritation of cornea, got some eye drops), I am also worried that this is not going away and am I ever going to be able to write and do my other hobbies again? I can't do my usual stress-reducing things (knitting, coloring, journaling) so I don't know what to do. I've read more these past two weeks than I have in a while, but it's not always easy to concentrate on reading. Watching tv tends to bore me without knitting in my hands. I feel like I can't exercise either - we have an elliptical but doing that last week hurt my arm too, I have a few dvds like yoga but I don't think I could use my arms for that either. Doing something like taking a walk is not practical because the ground is like a big sheet of ice out there right now and probably won't melt for a while. Apparently even making dinner is not such a great activity for the pain. Any tips or stories about dealing without being able to do things because of pain and trying to heal? I also had plans that I had wanted to do that I don't know if I'll be able to. I wanted to journal more starting in January (some ideas were a a 5 year journal and/or a crafting journal in addition to working in the bullet journal more) but I feel like I'm probably going to have to give up on that idea. I wanted to start reading the books in The Well Educated Mind again (I just got the new edition!) and take notes on them as suggested. I started tracking my habits and things I wanted to improve on or do more often in my bullet journal at the beginning of this month, and now I can't do half of them. It's affecting my mood during homeschooling too. I feel like such a whiner, but it feels good to get it all out of my head, even though I know I am going to pay with pain. Any stories, words of advice, or ideas? Thanks for reading if you made it this far. EDIT: I forgot to add, that as another source of stress, that between my visits, and DH's visits and a couple of expensive tests he had this year, we used up all the money we had in our HSA because we have a high deductible plan, and we've met the deductible this year, so it feels like the end of the year is the deadline for visits. DH said it would be great if we could avoid more visits until we have time to build up more money in the HSA.

Yeah, maybe Friday was part of it. Today was a LOT better. He even did a bit of reading aloud without too much complaining. (I told him that my voice needed a break.)

Oh my goodness, yes, DS is 10.5 too as of a few days ago! Thanks for the perspective and glad my problems could be of help. ;)

I remember that video. I can't remember if I showed him that. I will have to look it up again. It might not work as well for him, but it's worth a try.

You are so right. I need to read this over and over to remind myself that it's okay that I am making him do these things. I've said to him many times, "You don't have to like it, you just have to do it."

Now why didn't I think of that? I will have to try the numbering thing, it does sound helpful. As far as the explaining thing...sigh. He has never been a storyteller, which in some ways I don't understand, because when he played with his toys when he was younger he was pretty imaginative. When we sent him to half-day Zoocamps, or science camps at the museum, it would be like pulling teeth to get him to tell us anything about it. I know that some of it was because he did not want to tell me anything about it. The rest of the time he would say, "I don't remember." You were just there, you don't remember anything that happened? "No." More specific questions such as: Did you get to touch any animals? What was your snack? Which animals did you go see at the zoo? Yeah, he could answer those usually. Tonight he just came home from an activity where they watched a movie at the end. I asked what the movie was about. He said one word, "Aliens." So I said that I meant what was the storyline about. "I don't remember." How can you not remember, you just watched it? "I wasn't paying attention. I was mostly picking through my popcorn to get the cheesy and normal bits out (and avoiding the caramel corn)." Okay then. Once in a great while he'll say something about something that happened with some kid in tae kwon do, or voluntarily retell one of his dreams, so it seems like that skill is in there somewhere. (VENT ahead) But reading aloud? (And some of this extends to explaining as well.) What a pain! He CAN do it just fine, but he does not want to. He'll do things purposefully to irritate me because he doesn't want to do it. He'll read in a monotone, or read really fast, or read in a squeaky voice, etc. I tell him, "Read it in a normal voice," and somehow that really offends him or something. When we did FLL and got to sentences that were supposed to be read with expression? Oh, he hated that. He will not put any sort of inflection in his voice when reading a sentence that ends with a ! or a ? even though he has normal inflections and tones when he's just speaking. He says, "I'm not going to be an actor," or "I don't want to pretend," or "Why do I have to read this out loud?" He would just say them all as if they were statements, not questions or exclamations. If I'm modeling how to explain something and have him repeat it back to me, he'll use a voice that basically sounds like I can't believe you're making me do this, so I'm going to talk in this deep. grumpy voice to let you know I don't like doing this. Sometimes I'd take one sentence (usually a question or exclamation) and have him repeat it until he said it in a normal voice, without whining. Or, well, I'd try. I'd say it for him. I'd tell him, if you just repeat it back the same way I said it, we can be done and move on. Twenty tries later, still no go. If he did actually do it almost right? He'd say it and immediately cry. I'd say, "See? I knew you could do it! Now if you had just done that 10 minutes ago right at the beginning, you would have avoided all this." Maybe I'm wrong, but to me it's important to be able to read or repeat something aloud and sound like at least a halfway-normal person while doing so. It's especially irritating because I know he can do it - he's done it before - and that it's just his attitude creating this problem. Unfortunately this extends to foreign languages as well. We tried Spanish when he was younger. Not wanting to say things in Spanish kinda defeats the purpose. Fine. We don't have to do Spanish. But I am the one who decided to drop it because it was more trouble than it was worth. So we do Latin. He doesn't want to do the chants. I'm at the point where I'm saying, "Tough. You have to do it anyway. You're not remembering your vocab very well without doing them. You should be grateful that right now I am not making you do a language that you actually have to learn to converse in. You will have to in high school though." "I did do it! I was just mumbling them." Sorry kid, mumbling isn't going to work. I have to be able to hear you to know that you are doing them. Am I wrong here? Please tell me if I'm wrong. So one day I had enough. I could not hear that he was doing his chants. I mean, I was sitting 3 feet away from him and couldn't hear him saying anything. So I took away not only screens, but I also took his favorite food away until he agreed to do them at a normal volume. It did not take long for him to agree then! I think I've finally found his "currency." I hate that it's food, but screens alone don't always work, and it's not like he'll starve or anything without it. He'll just sit there and be a giant grump if he can't have his screens, but it doesn't always motivate him to do anything either. I told him later, after everyone had calmed down, that I didn't think I was asking him to do anything unreasonable. This is what everyone does when practicing their vocab in a foreign language...at some point they have to say it out loud, because writing it and reading it isn't always enough. It wasn't like I was asking him to do something that would cause him harm or pain. It wasn't like I was asking him to do something beyond his ability. I was just asking him to do normal things. He seemed to understand and agree that it wasn't unreasonable. Another somewhat-related example: We did SOTW for history for four years, and you know how there's discussion questions in the activity book that they're supposed to answer in complete sentences? Well even after four years of knowing that he's supposed to answer in a complete sentence, he would still give me fragments. I say, "in a complete sentence," and only then would he give a complete sentence. I guess he is looking for verbal shortcuts as well as written shortcuts. So I guess all this is to show that he is resistant to saying almost anything aloud for school that is beyond the scope of a short answer. I know that a LOT of it is attitude so I can't tell if there are other reasons as well. The attitude just kinda casts a shadow on everything. (Vent over.) And as far as RightStart not being a match for him...well, if it's not, it's kinda too late anyway. We've already done RightStart A-E and are now on geometry. I love it, I think Rightstart is genius. I think it generally works pretty well, he's done well with it (aside from the explaining part), he's good at mental math, and after making a couple of pit stops along the way (tried a bit of Singapore early on, and he's also completed 3A-4A in Beast Academy) he much prefers RightStart. I also agree with what it says in Rightstart Geometry (and also in Life of Fred) that students at these ages need to start to learn how to read a math book and learn on their own. He does not usually have that much trouble in Rightstart, it was definitely an off day, and a lot of the problem came from not reading the directions. And, I know it seems that all I'm doing is complaining, but most of the rest of this week was fine. I'd even say good. He was mostly pleasant and compliant earlier in the week. His brain was just off Friday morning. Oh, and another good thing! When we finally got back around to finishing that math lesson, he did at least show all his work without complaining and without me having to remind him. So that's a plus. Okay, I know I got off track there, but I wanted to say thanks to you, I now have a way to deal with multistep problems/directions if he's having a problem with them. Thank you for your thoughtful reply!

Yep, that's what I thought. I just didn't know if I would be being excessively mean by doing so. I feel like "suck it up and deal" is quickly going to become the motto for this year.

Yes, this does sound like him. Except I am still waiting for it to click. Thank you for sharing your experience. It does help.

Thank you for the reminder. I do need to remember this. It's just that DS is incredibly resistant to Phase 2. He hates it when I make him read the directions aloud. Hates. I don't know why. But usually after I force him to read them aloud (and yes I say force, because it is essentially a verbal war to get him to do so), he finally understands what he is supposed to do. Even worse, he hates explaining it. He says he can't explain it. "I'm not a good explainer!" I model. I ask questions. I make him repeat it back. I've been doing this for years. He still does not do it easily. He'd rather me walk him through something (Phase 1) or leave him alone to do it. (Phase 3.) Sometimes it's okay, sometimes he does not pay attention to the directions, and then gets frustrated when I have to correct him later. Sigh.