The patch yesterday introduced all the destruction - I didn't spend a lot of time checking things out last night, but some of my guild members were, and were making comments at how different everything was. It will definitely be interesting!

Currently, I have only a female cat, and she pees where she's supposed to :) In the past, I've had other cats (1 other female, 2 males, different time periods), and had issues with both male cats peeing on stuff. The first one we got from a pet adoption and we ended up taking him back because he would not use his box. The second one we had for about 10 years, and his issues seemed to be off and on (or maybe I just didn't always find out), but we finally ended up taking him out to my fil's acerage because he started pooping outside his box too (we tried a bigger box, multiple boxes, confining him to a small area to retrain, etc.)

The best place I've found for the litterbox is next to the toilet in our bathroom. When my dc were little, they weren't ever in there by themselves, and when we had dogs, they weren't usually bothering with the box there, either. It's also very easy to scoop out the waste and flush it right down the toilet. We use wood pellets for litter, and besides the solid waste (which gets flushed right away), there's really not much odor (and I'm sensitive to smells). I have boarded my cats in the past when a sitter wasn't available, but it's much easier to leave them at home (for one or two days, I don't get a sitter), and have someone come and feed and check in on them.

Congrats!!! :hurray: My ds is also on a FLL team, but the local competition isn't until 12/4. He's really hoping they are able to make it to state!

We don't have mandatory recycling, nor do we have curbside recycling. We have to take all our recyclables to a drop off bin somewhere in town. So we have several garbage cans in the garage, along with several boxes, that we separate the plastics, cans, and paper into (corrugated cardboard just gets thrown into the garage) and then once every few months (when it starts to get out of control), we load it up and take it to a drop off bin. For garbage, our town recently converted to city owned garbage cans for each residence, so their new trucks could pick them up and dump them as they drive by. Most weeks we have just a tiny amount of garbage at the bottom of this huge can.

Dh and I use this, too, but I make my own from magnesium chloride flakes and water.

I'm in Idaho, but we have a similar program (although I can't find the website now) that a friend of mine participates in. She can use the money for any homeschool related expense that's not religious. I checked into it several years ago, because although buying curriculum itself isn't an issue, we don't have the money for outside lessons (like martial arts, music, etc). But I didn't like all the oversight and hoops I'd have to jump through to get the funds. I can see where it's quite a lure to get homeschoolers under state regulations. However, I don't know what effects the program is having on homeschooling as a whole in Idaho. We have a couple of charter schools in my town, as well as the virtual public school, and I've always thought the more options available, the better. Maybe that's misguided on my part. . .

I don't get cold sores, but I know that lysine is supposed to work against them. You'd have to Google the dosage and how to supplement with it.

We had to change insurance companies last year to avoid ours going up to $10,000 per person (which is the plan we could afford). It's at $5,000 per person, with absolutely no coverage for anything before that (the other plan had some minor coverage for office visits and prescriptions).

Thanks ladies! I'm going to have my mom look at some of these and see if any are what my grandma is looking for.

No, they're really fine, see-thru netting material (and I don't know even if netting is the right word). My grandma always had these and then the plastic ones for when it rained.

I'm not even sure what they're called, so I'm not finding anything when I Google them. It's the hair net/scarf thing that many elderly women wear (or maybe they don't anymore - but one of my grandmas always did, and my other grandma is trying to find them and can't locally). They're made out of a fine net - not mesh with large holes - and tie under the chin. Anyone know what they are or where they can be found? I don't live in the same town as my grandma, so if I could find them online and have them sent to her, that would be great :) Thanks!!

I don't know if it's common, but I did notice what seemed like a lot of positions on our ballot with only one candidate. I didn't count, but I think there was at least 10. . .

I agree - you don't need the Student Manuals except for the Practice books (which they write in). So that's really the only book they couldn't share, unless you had them write the sentence on another piece of paper.

Congrats!!! :)

Or check into just a roll of wire fencing like they sell at Home Depot or Lowe's. Our house backs up to a small canal, and although we split the cost of vinyl fence on the north side of our lot, we couldn't afford to fence the rest of the yard. I really wanted some barrier along the back, especially when my dc were younger, and so we got a 100' roll of wire fencing and some green metal posts for the 80' of yard along the back. I believe it was under $100 (maybe under $150). We just pounded the posts into the ground and hooked the fence onto them - it's not pretty, but it serves as a boundary.

That's how I learned, too. In junior high and high school, I made most of my own shorts, since I could make them fit better than what I could buy. My mom usually made my prom dresses, but I didn't try anything that difficult til later. I've made dress clothes, skirts, children's clothes, quilts, stuffed animals, drapes, etc. Because of my sewing ability, I got a job working in a drapery shop for a summer before college (I went back to college 4 years after high school), and then worked in a different shop doing clothing alterations during college. I don't know what my finest achievement is, but I just finished making dh a pirate coat and hat for Halloween - the project itself wasn't too bad, but because he's larger than the XL size, I had to make a test bodice and then make a number of alterations to the pattern pieces to make it fit him well (and it turned out great! :) ) Here's the coat - it's the red one (and I used a red/black brocade): http://www.simplicity.com/p-5402-mens-costumes.aspx

I'm not as small a size as you, but have always had the issue of the big gap in the waistband trying to find jeans that fit my hips, but then had this huge gap in the waist. . .I used to wear Lee jeans with the tapered legs, but as I'm approaching 40 and have put on a little weight, the tapered legs just aren't as flattering on me. I stumbled across some jeans at a thrift store (Levis) and only after getting them home, realized they were men's jeans! I'm not sure why, but Levis 569 fit me great - no gapping in the waist, no really low waistband - and dh really likes them on me, too. So although it seems counterintuitive for men's jeans to fit well in the waist and hips, it might be worth a try. I buy them at Kohl's online because none of the stores around here carry the size I need, but if you have a local Kohl's, you can return things (and if you get free shipping, you're not out anything).

It doesn't warrant negative feedback if he clearly stated the price for shipping. It's up to the buyer to make sure they understand the charges and once you agree to buy the item, you agree to pay for the shipping charges that are stated. If you think he's unfairly padding his price, you can contact the site itself and report him and then it will be up to them to decide if they think he's unfairly charging shipping.

The Cappuccino Truffle Torte and the Peppermint Patty look the best to me - I like dark chocolate cakes or something with coffee. But I never buy stuff like that - I make my own, so I have no idea on price. . .

I wouldn't use pressure treated lumber for gardening - although they've changed the formula so that it's less toxic now, I wouldn't want it around my veggies. I use just regular lumber, and although it does degrade over time, it lasts for a number of years before it does (I have some that I haven't replaced that's 8+ years old).

My dh's best friend is an appliance repair man. This last spring, I was taking care of our neighbor's house and their fridge died - he said if it would have been the compressor, it wouldn't be worth fixing because of the cost. It turned out it wasn't - I can't remember what the part was - but it was only about $50. But his advice was if the compressor goes, to just buy a new fridge.

My kids hated the grammar books - the storylines drove them crazy and I don't think they learned a lot. My 11 yo ds even begged me to go back to R&S because he said he actually learned something with that curriculum. None of us liked the writing assignments - they were too open ended and didn't have enough instruction for my child who doesn't like writing. However, we still are using the Practice books - I like the 4 level analysis better than traditional diagramming. And I'm still trying out the poetry book and CE1 (only because I've paid for them and I figure I should at least give them a shot).

I agree - I tried to start training my 2 dc at about that age, but they were not ready. They both were easily trained when they were closer to 3.

Ginormous made the dictionary in 2007 - my ds was thrilled: http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/2007-07-10-dictionary-new-words_N.htm