No, but I have always wanted to see them. I asked my DS if he has them where he is in NC and he didn't know what I was talking about.

I hope you all recover quickly and get as much rest as possible.

I would think the husband has no claim and is just trying to scare her into signing it over. I am not a lawyer, but I would advise her to talk to one right away to find out if the husband has a legitimate claim or is just trying to bully/bluff.

DD took: Logic, Dance (ballet, tap, lyrical, jazz), Art (drawing, pen & ink, charcoal, figure drawing), Drama, Health, Musical Theatre, Bible, Speech, Economics Older DS took: Logic, Bible, Fine Arts (figure painting, music appreciation, drawing), Statistics, Personal Finance, Economics, Health, Marine Biology Youngest is taking: Logic, Bible, Health, Career Exploration, Financial Literacy, Journalism, Drawing, Economics, Speech, Marine Biology, Astronomy I am sure I am forgetting some classes. Some of the electives, like personal finance/financial literacy, were things I wanted them to learn regardless of their career path in the future, other things were based on their interests at the time. I never really worried too much about college application worthiness, although maybe I should have. I tried to make sure that they had enough courses to make them able to get into any of our state colleges/universities, which any of them could. DD had no problems when she applied to colleges.

I think I would have a sit down talk with my child. I would likely pull up pictures of children around that age who have died from allergic reactions, nothing gruesome to be clear. Talk about how they have done nothing to bring this on themselves, and if they could wave a magic wand and be cured they would be, but they can't. I would try to explain that they have to live with this every day of their lives. Look at every label of every thing they eat. Skip eating things at most parties and gathering. Have to eat separate treats, which makes them feel socially isolated. So, the words she used probably really hurt the other children a lot. I would explain that it is okay to be frustrated. It is okay to be angry. It is not ever okay to take it out on other people the way she did. My youngest has life threatening allergies. At that age if someone had said that to him at an activity, he would likely have refused to go back. As much as I have compassion for kids who can't have their chosen favorite food of the day, it is hard for me to really have much sympathy for them taking it out on their classmates/playmates. I get it is the age, and it is big feelings and they are hard to control sometimes. No matter how we parent, kids will act out at times because they do have big feelings and don't know how to express them appropriately.

Sorry for your loss.

My kids have been taught fire safety since they were pretty young due to being in/around scouting. So they were taught how to be safe with outdoor fires first, so if we did things indoors we just translated that to an indoor environment. All of the books we used for science emphasized safety precautions when dealing with chemicals and flame. When they were elementary/young middle school age, I was usually right there with them, but wanted them to be hands on doing the experiments, so unless I thought that they couldn't handle it I let them do it with heavy supervision. By the time they were high school age, they were pretty much doing everything on their own. All chemistry experiments that used the Bunsen burner were done in the kitchen on the counter away from things that were flammable, with the exception of one that needed a dark room where we used an interior bathroom and I helped because they needed a second person anyway. I kept an eye from a distance to make sure they didn't do something stupid, and would have stepped in if they had, but otherwise, I left it up to them. It is a gradual process of them learning to do it on their own, like most things in parenting. I remember high school chemistry in public school with kids turning on the Bunsen burners with the flames licking the ceiling and blowing up glass beakers with sodium in water. Fun times. Our teacher was a first year and had no control over the class. Poor guy quit teaching and went to work in a lab. Anyway, I tell my kids these stories (and more), we chuckle, and then I tell them to never ever do them themselves.

If it is a friend of your child's, maybe get your child to talk to them about options on a peer level would help. Give your kids some ideas to talk through with them. My DD often will ask me for suggestions for advice to give to her friends. A lot of times it goes over better if it is peer-to-peer advice. I mean it is a tough situation. I think just in general talking about different programs around the person may be enough to pique their interest in something. I don't know how much subtle hints like that would work vs trying to be a bit more blunt and outright offering college class schedules or something. My DD was able to hold down part time job while living at home and fully pay for two years at a community college where she got her AA degree, so at least around here that is doable. Community colleges, at least in my experience, are really good about helping students to work through the programs they have for financial assistance and helping with career and/or planning for vocational careers. You may be able to help them set up an appointment to meet with a counselor at the local community college to discuss options, if they are open to that. Also, no idea if it is something you feel comfortable suggesting or feel is appropriate, but military is also an option or things like job corps might also be something to look into.

I am so sorry. I am praying for you all, and hope it goes as smoothly as possible.

I don't think most people understand how much time most, or really all, ministry positions take. I remember years ago going to an annual church meeting and hearing people complain about how much they were paying the youth interns that worked during the summer. The church had currently been staffing one full time youth intern for the summer, and the board wanted to add another part-time youth intern. The position was to help the youth pastor over the summer with programming. Most of the congregation didn't realize how much work the youth pastor and intern did over the course of the summer. They put on a full summer camp for over 150 youth from scratch, plus several youth retreats, weekly meeting, monthly excursions, etc. Most people just saw it as college age adults having fun all summer with the youth group and getting paid. DH did this job for 3 summers and I saw how much work he put into it. One summer the full time youth pastor had him track his hours, along with what he was doing for that time, to try to help justify spending the money. He put in more than 40 hours most weeks, especially the couple weeks leading up to and including summer camp. Some jobs are just unknowable unless you have been there or know someone close who has been there. DH and I spent many years as tent-making youth workers running youth programs for churches that couldn't afford to pay a youth pastor. It only worked because I was a stay-at-home-wife/mom and could do a lot of the programing stuff during the day while DH was at work. We did it because that is what we were called to do. It stung when people didn't seem to understand the sacrifices we made and the amount of time we put into it. It is really hard when you are giving it your all and people complain but don't want to help. At some point you have to decide is it worth it, and if it is you continue on regardless of acknowledgement of your time and effort. It may help to track your hours and show them to the board, but be ready for them to give you "helpful" advice on how to do things "better". You could try cutting back on what you do. Tell them that it is taking up too much of your time, so you need to limit your volunteerism to x part of the children's ministry at this time. Or just decide that it is what you want to devote your time to regardless of acknowledgement and dive in, hoping you don't burn out. Pray about it. Look around you at church and see who is good with children. Sometimes there are older teens who make wonderful helpers, and some even need volunteer hours.

All of our local pharmacies are having staffing problems as far as I can tell. At least one has had to close down completely, most have gone to shorter hours and closed at odd/unexpected times because of no pharmacist on duty. Our pharmacy drive-thru is often closed and you have to go inside due to staffing shortage, which I don't like because I am trying to avoid sick people. The couple years it has been taking much longer than it should have to get prescriptions filled. Sometimes things like antibiotics, that should be done the same day, are taking three or four days. I have had to call to nudge them to get it done. I try to be very polite and understanding, but I need my meds. Last time I ordered my migraine medication early to try to make sure it was ready on time, and they were still late so I had to go without for a few days which was not good to do with that particular medication. When I called to talk to them, they asked if I needed it that day. When I told them that I did, they said they could have it ready by end of day, but that there were over 1,000 prescriptions in front of it. I am not sure if they were exaggerating or not but it was ready by end of day.

July 15, 1998 - How the Irish Save Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe and Exploring Church History. Both were likely birthday presents for DH. That year I also ordered a number of books on infertility.

We have done three trips since covid and only got sick once. The first two we stayed in Airbnbs, took our own food to cook and only did curbside pick up a few times. Wore masks in public spaces, even outdoors when people were around. We did outdoor recreation activities and didn't get sick. Our last trip, I got sick. I never tested positive for covid, so it could have just been a bad cold, but I was pretty sick. I only did at home tests. DH also got sick, but neither of our boys caught it. We took a lot of precautions, but due to budget constraints we stayed in hotels. We just couldn't afford to do Airbnb for one night stays with all the cleaning fees and such. It is much easier to handle when it is a week long stay, but we were on a road trip. We did drive-thru or curbside dining only. Wore masks indoors, and did as little indoors as possible. Our biggest exposure was at DS's graduation on the military base. It was all outdoors, but there was a large crowd. I did mess up and didn't have a mask with me when we decided to see the museum on base, I convinced myself that staying away from the crowds would be enough, but that was likely where I was exposed. The other likely spot was in the crowded bleachers outside for the graduation ceremony. I was going to wear a mask like DH and DS did but I had sunburned my face the day before and it hurt to wear the mask. Any future trips are back to being much more cautious.

It depends on how much you want to switch out. If you just want to drop the writing assignments, that wouldn't be too hard. However, keeping the literature is pretty important as it follows along with the history period that you are doing. I tweaked the writing assignments for my middle child who wasn't ready for papers yet, and it worked pretty well for him.

Most places seemed to acknowledge it the same as all the federal holidays, and more so than some. Stores were open, but many businesses, banks, government offices, and such were closed. I am sure schools would have taken it off if they hadn't already been out for the summer. DH had the day off. My middle kid had a four day weekend.

You could look to see if they have an FAQ on their website about it. We have mechanical arm collection, so our collectors rarely get out of their trucks. If the bags aren't in the bins ready to go, they don't get collected.

For almost all of our dating and married time, DH drives if we go somewhere together, that has only changed in the last year. For some reason I have developed anxiety while riding as a passenger, and so I have taken on driving more often, but I am trying very hard to work through it. Our long road trip recently we took turns driving.

Thanks for all the thoughts. It will give me a lot to mull over this weekend. I might talk DH into going to a couple flooring/home improvement stores to look around if they aren't too crowded.

I like both, but prefer the one that is fresher and crisper. I usually go with Fuji, because of price. Although, if we are having it with caramel dip we have granny smith. And for applesauce or pies, transparent apples from my parent's apple tree.

Thanks. I have, but DH doesn't want "fake wood". It doesn't help that our current laminate flooring looks pretty fake and hasn't lasted well. It was already in the house when we moved in, but is only about 8 years old. He is pretty set that it has to be hardwood or engineered hardwood. I will be lucky to talk him into something different in the kitchen, if I can find a way to convince it it won't look awkward.

We are going to be replacing the flooring in at least the downstairs of our house, and potentially the stairs, upstairs landing, and master bedroom if we can fit it in the budget. We currently have laminate, but it was installed poorly and is buckling. The stairs and upstairs are carpet that we would like replaced due to allergies. I would like to do hardwood floors but that is out of our budget, so we are looking into engineered hardwood right now. However, I am concerned about having wood flooring in the kitchen because of water issues. Would it look odd to have a different type of flooring in the kitchen of a mostly open floor plan house? My brother suggested we could do vinyl in the kitchen, but I do not want vinyl floors for a number of reasons. I am not sure what I would want though. I fear tile floors would be a lot of upkeep and potentially expensive. If you have different flooring in your kitchen that is open floor plan, how do you get it to flow smoothly? If you have wood flooring in your kitchen has it been a problem with water damage?

I am sorry. That must be so hard. I don't know of any churches around here who are masking, and many that weren't even when there were mandates. I was pleasantly surprised to get an email from the summer camp where youngest will be staffing that they are going to be requiring masking indoors and testing upon arrival. Most of the camp activities will take place outside, but it is comforting to know that there are mask mandates indoors, with the only exception being staff cabins.

We got a beautiful Christmas ornament from friends of the family. I love taking it out every year and hanging it on our tree.

Cows in Action series by Steve Cole The Wormling Series by Jerry B. Jenkins The Time-Traveling Cat books by Julia Jarman

I have PCOS and have had times like this and sadly a lot of doctors do not take it seriously and a lot of doctors do not believe me when I tell them how much I am bleeding. After two months of heavy bleeding and large clots, ended up getting DH to take me to an urgent care. The doctor there put me on some very heavy birth control pills. It has been years ago, before I had kids, so I can't remember very well exactly, but I think it was double the normal dose or something like that. It took a couple days, but the bleeding did stop. About four years ago I went in to urgent care because I couldn't get in to see my regular doctor. I had been bleeding through my cup every hour all night. The doctor in urgent care didn't believe me, though she did run a blood count which were terribly low. I was lightheaded and dizzy, with terrible cramping too. I got a nexplannon almost three years ago that pretty much stopped all my bleeding, and it has been so wonderful. I hope you daughter is feeling better soon.