:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: I love kitchen stuff for Christmas, as long as it is high end. I tend to buy the low price option when I buy stuff for myself so when dh gets super nice cutting boards, or saute pans for me I really love them. I cook every day so nice cookware makes me happy. I could care less about perfume, jewelry, etc. I had to finally tell one of his aunts to stop correcting him when he bought nice houseware for me. :lol: :lol:

Stopped: Watching television - I don't miss it at all. Also stopped attending a church that drained my joy. Stopped worrying about keeping a perfect house. Started: Taking classes in things I was interested in. Started working a small seasonal job that was completely different from anything I had done before.

Stopped: Watching television - I don't miss it at all.

She is not unusual. It is an open secret around college campuses that senior citizens will sell their meds for cash.

I am an oldschooler I guess. My girls are both grown and out of the house now. We homeschooled from K through High School (with Dual Enrollment). We were unschoolish, I think it was called eclectic back then. I did a lot of reading and planning what material to cover but we allowed the lesson plans themselves to develop naturally around what we were doing. The big turning point for me came from reading Alfie Kohn's "Punished by Rewards". I was not planning to respond to this thread until I saw your mention of the peril of praise. :001_smile:

I like infused vinegars and oils but oils can be super tricky. There is a high botulism risk for home canning so it is better to store in the refrigerator and use quickly.

Yes I would and I have.

I hope you get some good ideas. I have been wanting to try this myself.

I pop in and out of following the boards. My youngest children is now in grad school. ha ha ha

I love sudoku! My favorite "author " is Will Shortz. I will do multiple pages every night and fall into a puzzle zone. Ha

White fox by Gary Paulsen. Actually most books by Paulsen.

I had an eighties hair band flashback when I saw the title of the thread. Ha sorry I have no idea how they were organized ( Google van Halen or def leopard )

I just want to look, I don't need any more yarn.

What? Wait, wait they are supposed to listen to me? Are you sure?

That last one. ..yep

Stay home with your children, you can always go back to work. I am very glad I stayed home and home schooled them. But I wish I had planned career reentry better (or planned at all). :)

I agree with the "no live news" also absolutely no Fox news. One good source is the AllSides website. They aggregate news from left, center and right sources and show stories side by side. I also do a lot of volunteer work, and the world seems less hopeless when you feel involved. I pray and study the bible. Finally, I read a lot of history for perspective . This is no where near the worst of times . No where NEAR it.

Ben Folds

Yes, this is what I was talking about. I have warned my girls to avoid people who make a pattern of saying deliberately hurtful things and then blaming the hearer for being hurt by things 'I didn't really mean."

Most of my relationships are easy going, supportive and not given to arguments or angry words, so this does not come up very often. But when it does, I believe that when people allow strong emotion to override their normal filters and the things they are say are closer to the truth than they would normally admit. They might normally phrase it differently or moderate it with a few qualifiers but I think words in anger are usually what they really feel. I have zero patience for people who say horrid things and then claim they did not mean it they were just angry. Nope, dude, it came from somewhere. I have wished I could tell myself to ignore those things but they linger. eta: I am not talking about people being stressed and snappy. I understand a lack of tact. I have said things that later I wished I had phrased differently. I am talking about people who say hurtful things and then think they can erase it all with 'I was angry". I have warned my girls that friends (or boyfriends) who make a pattern of doing this are borderline abusive and it is best to let them go. (I am not talking about a normally kind person having a bad day)

I got married at 19 (dh was 21), but waited to finish college, begin careers and get established. We were not in any rush. We had our first daughter (Opera Girl) when I was 32 and our second daughter (Art Girl) at 34. My mother was 30 when I was born and my grandmother was 30 when my mom was born. Long generations just seemed natural.

Green Cove Springs in Clay County. Close to Jacksonville. Still a rural agriculture area. Small town, the park next to Town Hall has a spring fed swimming pool that runs off into the St Johns river. County seat for Clay County.

The first movie my dh and I saw while we were dating was Taxi Driver. We saw it at a drive-in. All we remember was that we didn't like the movie very much and spent the whole time talking and eating popcorn. :)

I would suggest an embroidery kit or sewing kit. Not the toy like ones you see in Walmart. Joann's has some nice starter kits that include instructions and the basic supplies and tools for knitting or embroidery.

I find the national political system depressing. I do feel some inspiration from local issues and have decided to focus my interests there.