Please take this seriously. The nurse should not have laughed. I had a partial Achilles tear on Cipro (as a young healthy person and many years back before the black box warning came out). Don't hesitate to go to Urgent Treatment or to be pushy to get past the screener on your doctor's phone. Also, I'm guessing it would be a good idea to avoid exercise or any strenuous or quick movements that could encourage a rupture or tear until you can get this resolved.

It is frustrating when kids are grown fast and you wonder if you are purchasing a one time item. For black pants for boys we've had luck year round at Walmart - George brand runs around $10 and you can order them online.

Ditto to the suggestion of the room humidifier. I hope you see improvements soon. I had mine out as a college student and this may sound ridiculous but I found it much more painful than natural childbirth!

Not sure if this will help, but we've found a cooler bag that is insulated that is really slim and and doesn't take up as much room in a backpack. Lunchbox

Ouch! You may have already tried this, but the one thing that worked for us was to have a ready supply of stuff the child could bite (especially new interesting stuff) and to be on alert and quickly interrupt as he's going in for the bite and cheerfully redirect to the alternative. Obviously not full proof as the new object can be used as hurled across the room or used as ammo!

One place to start might be with looking are regional state universities in your state (the "directional" schools - Eastern, Western, etc.) and with small liberal arts colleges. Many small liberal arts colleges are not difficult in terms of admissions and they offer a friendly supportive environment. Frankly, a lot of schools NEED students and they are eager to get your student's application. Often these schools are open to the more "average" B/C sort of student and many are enthusiastic about homeschool candidates as well. The College that Change Lives website is a great place to start reading about liberal arts colleges. Focusing too much on the getting IN part can take away from the more important questions. Once you get out of the realm of the really highly selective colleges, for most families the bigger questions are - How to pay for college? How do we find a college where our student will fit in well socially and academically? How do we get a good value for our college investment? How do we make sure our homeschooler is well prepared to be successful academically and in terms of life skills?

Good idea to check if there is a related forum on Ravelry. That is a thoughtful gift and how frustrating to be shorted on yarn like that. In your situation my first goal would be to try to honor the gift giver by working out a solution that protects them from feeling bad or being aware it was a big hassle. I am wondering when you contacted the company if you feel like you got far up the chain of command and if you feel like you got to a manager with real decision making authority. Ideally they should give you appropriate yardage. If not, while it won't entirely resolve the problem by giving you all the months you deserve, I am wondering if they may be able to honor the total financial value of the gift by giving you fewer months with more yarn. Or, if it might be an option to sell you the supplementary yarn at their cost rather than the sticker value.

A few thoughts... 1. Volunteer Match. Remember a volunteer opportunity doesn't have to be perfect to be meaningful. Even if all she is doing is putting put food in a bag but she's doing it without you - that is still an opportunity to learn, to interact with other adults separate from you and to receive positive feelings from doing good for others. I would try to avoid the tendency to perfection or thinking that this experience should be ideal and hit on all of her needs. Simply getting out of the house and doing something good can be an important step in fighting depression and developing more independence. 2. Paid work in the neighborhood. Babysitting, dog sitting, etc. There are homeschooled kids making quite a lot of money doing dog walking during the day. 3. Part time job if she's old enough. 4. Make your own volunteer work - find an elderly neighbor who could use visits, cookies, walk to be shoveled, etc.

Gray hair. Trendy! Well, trendy last year according to the Internet #grannyhair

"Thank you for your service" is polite and I'd just go with that.

These are common problems for students who go to all types of schools (public, private, homeschooled). Test scores get lost, transcripts get lost, etc. Many colleges will send students a link to an online portal and I always suggest to applicants that they follow up and make sure materials are received.

This may not help his situation, but I will toss it out there just in case. Especially considering his strong test scores many colleges (including some quite good and accredited ones) would still be happy to get his application and consider him for scholarships. That is true even past official deadlines. If he wants to put in more applications this season it is not too late. I personally would never advise a student to go a college without accreditation and the possibility of transferring credits. I've seen students after they've gone down this path and they are left out a lot of money and often so discouraged they will not continue for a real four year degree. I understand it is really frustrating to parents when teens don't take initiative on applications and make it so difficult to get through the process. For what it is worth though, I've observed that this foot dragging reluctance to put in applications is not at all predictive of college readiness or performance. Some kids just need to get through the application process and they do very well once they are actually in college.

Yes, that it is very common for schools to not use textbooks or to only have online access to textbooks.

Ditto to the suggestion to start with the credit union if his college or university has one.

Yes, I'm the parent of a bridge player. Our local bridge club occasionally offers a class for kids/teens. They also offer a beginner adult class which can be appropriate for mature or focused teens. Our experience has been that bridge clubs are often very enthusiastic about bringing in new players. Once your son has down the basics, he should be able to join events easily without having a partner - the group likely has a list of players looking for someone to play with for each event. Especially when playing locally it can be inexpensive activity and they may offer reduced rates for students. Also one more note - our local bridge club sometimes hires kids to "caddy" games and obviously when those happen during weekdays that's a job for homeschoolers. The caddy is basically just a person who runs around and does little tasks for the tournament. That was the first exposure to bridge for our family and it was a nice way for the kid to pick up a little cash.

I want to make sure I understand the question. Are you wondering if she can go ahead and graduate this year and then she'd take a gap year. During that gap year she would put in applications to other colleges and apply for scholarships. If so, yes, that is certainly possible. If she has a scholarship at the four year school, she would likely not be able to hold on to that through a gap year. If she does opt for a gap year she should keep in mind that applications for some schools are due early in the fall. So, if she graduates in May that isn't giving her a lot of time to really build up her testing or academic record. She's probably want to try to get in another ACT or SAT before summer. Also, just in case she hasn't already done this... While deadlines for fall 2016 are past at most schools, but some small private schools especially are still accepting applications. Even if it is past the deadline she may want to contact admissions and see if they are still interested in her application. I've had students get accepted (and in some cases get merit aid) past application deadlines. Good luck - and also please remind her she has until May 1st to make a decision so she should not feel rushed!

Congrats and good luck! My suggestion for students is to always treat the whole day like an interview. Realize that it isn't just when you are in the formal interview portions that matters. Many schools that award just a few full scholarships are really looking for young people who work well in a group and will represent the university well. These major scholarship students may be asked to meet with guest speakers or donors. So, try to be a good overall participant in the day - introduce yourself, smile, good eye contact, handshake, good listening skills. This stuff is more important than having the "right" answer in an interview.

I used the times from this article from hip pressure cooking. The thing I find to be amazing is that even if the eggs are fresh from the grocery store they peel well 100% of the time and that's always been hit and miss for me in the past. You might also be interested in this all in one pot potato salad with eggs recipe. I used a little bit different seasoning but the method of potato and egg cooking together worked for me. Like all potato salad it is better if you make it ahead. For anyone new to the Instant Pot, I'll give you the heads up that the cooking times in the booklet that comes with it often seem really off (tend toward way over cooking stuff). For Facebookers there are several different Instant Pot groups in FB that are helpful for sharing recipes, tips, etc. The cookbooks Mamaraby shared are great too!

It is sweet that you want to be encouraging. I'd just consider the contact the encouragement and mostly just try to share something from your world - a photo, a joke, a funny video or that sort of thing.

A significant portion of sorority and fraternity dues are also going toward insurance for the chapter and social security numbers are often involved in insurance.

We are big Instant Pots fans here. We expected to use it mostly for stuff like beans, soup, curry, chili, etc. and I like it for all that. But we also find that it is a very convenient appliance for other foods I didn't expect. Hardboiled eggs are 6 minutes and they peel 100% of the time even if they are new eggs. Mashed potatoes are a snap. It is great for winter squashes that would take an hour in the oven. We eat a lot of beans and breaking dependency on canned beans has saved us money and it is healthier. I never had consistent results with beans on the stove and I like that the Instant Pot is set it and forget it. I made white bean salad for dinner and with beans soaked overnight it is 10 minute cook time.

Funny! I'm sharing that, thanks.

I agree these are probably pretty lame. It is worth mentioning though that some organizations, churches, school bands, etc. offer the service of birthday cakes as a fundraiser and it can be a great way to raise money. http://college.uchicago.edu/uniquely-chicago/story/fundraising-its-piece-cake

Agree with this 100%. Go early in the day so there is time to go from office to office all day long if necessary. In any college bureaucracy there are always nice people who want to help it is just a matter of finding them and the phone is not the way to do that. There will no-shows and drop outs in the first week in the dorm. They will take someone off the wait list - the key is just to get him to the top of that list. If he gets nowhere with Res Life he might even think about going to advising for his college and ask if they have suggestions. Good luck!

I used to be scared of pressure cooking, but not at all with a modern pressure cooker. It is stand-alone and doesn't use the stove. It doesn't rattle or seems scary like the pressure cooker my mom had back in the day. You can saute right in the pot and then add other ingredients, cover it up, set the timer and you are good to go. For me I find it to be a lot easier for stuff like chili because it cooks so fast and you aren't having to tend to it and stir it. Making beans from dry beans works for every single time where I was hit and miss on the stovetop. What surprised me most about pressure cooking is that we find that a lot of dishes genuinely tastes better than they do cooked on the stovetop - more flavor and faster. The Instant Pot is also good for stuff like making rice, yogurt, pasta, etc. I'm really not a person to be enthusiastic about kitchen appliances, but I'm in love with this thing and I wish we had it during the early years of homeschooling. Good recipes and info on the Hip Pressure Cooking site. http://www.hippressurecooking.com/