Call the judge's office - the judge whose court you are to appear in. Ask if you can speak to his secretary or the person who would handle jury summons excuses. If you can't speak to someone there, call the clerk of court of the court where you got the summons. You may be able to be excused because you have a child of a certain age and you are the primary care provider for that child. You may also want to explain that you home school, but I think the first reason is better. When you ask if you can be excused for this summons, find out if you can be removed from the jury pool until you are no longer the primary child care provider and/or you no longer home school. By the way, even after you get oral approval for being excused, you also need to put it in writing and take that letter (and/or a copy) to both the clerk of court and the judge's office. Good luck!

My mom gave me a Vera Bradley bag for Christmas. It's very pretty, but I don't carry it very often. I prefer my backpack diaper bags. Actually, today (as I sit here in court being productive, can't you tell), I'm carrying a bag that a coworker gave me for Christmas 2 years ago - she said it cost her $5 (she gave one to everyone in the office). I LOVE IT! It's just a simple canvas bag (if you imagine something about twice the size of a paper bag with handles) and has a black and white toile print. I love toile.

Prices ARE going up. There is a grocery store selling groceries on the cheap... they have the BEST looking produce (better than our local Wal-Mart Supercenter, Piggly Wiggly, Ingle's or Publix). The also have excellent prices on meat - although I find their beef a bit chewy despite the cut I get.

Sorry, I haven't yet mastered posting pictures yet.

Here's one. And ugly shoes, too, if you can believe it!

I'm learning, much to my chagrin, that if I do some every day with a big PUSH on the weekends, I can keep on top of it. I do a lot of work after the children have gone to bed - and before my "me" time. However, I'm learning to have my older two (5 and 3 y.o.) to do some simple things - clearing the table, putting away their laundry, cleaning up their toys and rooms). With the exception of laundry (and I only have 3 kids, so I can't imagine how you ladies with more can do it all); Mount Laundry never goes away completely.

Oh yeah! I could easily have a couple of new Coach bags a year given what I spend in books on an annual basis.

Thank you, thank you!

Are these Coach bags with all the Cs arranged in patterns - or, heaven help us, in quilt patterns - not the UGLIEST things around? I know, I may offend some with this, but I'm truly sick of seeing all these bags. And you can't tell me that every Coach bag I see slung over women's shoulders are "real" Coach bags. I was just looking at a friend's bag and I know she didn't pay the $400+ the official Coach website says they retail for. Not only that, but I recently read in Consumer Reports that Coach doesn't sell flawed bags or greatly discounted bags unless they are sold in the Coach outlet. Sorry, just feeling gripey (spell check tells me that's not a real word). :confused:

It seems as though individual seat manufacturers do put expirations dates on their seats and encourage the consumer destroys the seat (rather than resell it) after that expiration date. Here is a link to an article. However, in my brief research, I cannot find any state laws that say you will be fined if you are using a car seat past expiration. It seems as though, beyond the manufacturers' recommendations, it is up to the consumer to heed this advice; not the states to enforce it.

My husband saw Flava-Flav struggling to fold up a stroller in Atlanta a couple of weeks ago. A friend of mine and DH from law school is first cousins with Billy Bob Thornton.

Uniball Vision Exact Micro in blue. Has a grip. It's narrow (I find chunky pens difficult to write with). It has a teeny tiny point (I don't like wide strokes). And I prefer blue because I don't sign anything in black for fear that you won't be able to tell whether or not it's my original signature.

Wow! I admire you ladies who are working, home schooling, and going to school, too! I'm finding it somewhat challenging to work PT and HS. I agree with the previous posts, you just need to master scheduling and you'll probably be fine (tired, but fine)!

I'm dreaming of an Odyssey or Sienna - but only if we have another child (*fingers crossed*).

How long have you been doing your mummy? Are you mixing in any spices along with your "natron" mixture? If you're in the first couple of weeks, you may need to change your natron a bit more often - and mix in some spices (we used cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cloves; strong-smelling spices). If it's been longer - is your natron dry when you change the chicken out? Are you rubbing off your chicken every time you change the natron out? Good luck!

I am an only child, so I envy your constant, close friend - your twin. I would say I have 1 close friend from my childhood (she was 6 and I was 9 when we met). I have a couple of friends from high school who I still call, but we're not very close. Although I didn't move around as a child (my parent still live in the house where I grew up), I always had just a handful of close friends. As an adult, I have made 3 or 4 friends who I would consider to be close friends - former coworkers, friend from law school, and a friend from church. I think you can do what you might to encourage close friendships for your children, but my experience has been that it depends on the individuals to keep it going. People grow apart in time - physically, mentally, socially, and emotionally. I've found that, at times, it is incumbent upon me to contact my friends just to touch base. Encouraging friendships by inviting like-minded people over to your house is a great idea! Perhaps not only will your children find long-lasting friendships, but you may, too!

I'm probably stuck in some era, although, I don't quite know which one. I HATE babydoll shirts (unless I'm pregnant). Have you noticed they look like maternity shirts? Either there are A WHOLE LOT of pg women out there, or they've bought into the hype of the babydoll blouse. I HATE the layering of a long t-shirt with a cropped sweater/jacket/thing. Ugh! Shoot me and take me out of this misery! And the bell-bottoms. I think they're starting to go away. Instead, we're now being faced with the opposite... the skinny leg jean. Equally bad. Finally, skirts. Here's where I'm going to go off... Okay, the style of skirt that is popular is pretty. You know, (I don't know what it's technical name is) the skirt hangs at or just below knee-level, it has a lot of material (in other words, it's not like a straight or pencil skirt). The only problem with these skirts is that ONE type of body can wear them. If you are 5'10" and weigh 105, you can get away with these skirts. Everyone else looks HUGE in them. Now, I am a somewhat small woman - I'm not putting my size or weight, just trust me on this - and I look terrible in those skirts! Please, unless you're built like a twig, don't wear those skirts. Okay, there's my diatribe on today's fashion.

I agree with mentioning the allergies and that you'll be bringing some of your own foods. I have a niece with Celiac disease. My SIL always brings along food to prepare for her child. However, if my MIL is around, she INSISTS that everyone eat the same diet as my niece. While I don't like my MIL forcing the diet on my family, my SIL is always good about saying "no, everyone doesn't have to do that." So, I would think others would be happy that you're willing to provide for yourself and your child.

I'm sorry for your loss. I'll remember your aunt and uncle in my prayers.

One of my dear, dear friends - who posts on this board quite frequently (so don't kill me Michele when you read this) - is ALWAYS telling me about new curriculum. Fortunately for her, she's able to purchase the new stuff she likes. Fortunately for me, she lets me look it over and I can decide whether or not I want to try it. Unfortunately for my wallet, I like a lot of what she chooses!

DH named it Pharaoh Gamen I (a play on "game hen"). PS - I like Tutanclucken.

That is amazing! I'm happy for you and your family!

You know, I just realized, when I go to my User Control Panel (to check out all the AWESOME rep I'm getting... thank you, thank you), I notice that on the left side of the page is my Avatar. On the right side, is my profile picture. I guess you can see it if you (care to) go to my profile page. Cool! Just discovered, thought I'd share!

Seems like a waste of her hard-earned money and gift money. Let her email her buddies instead. Besides, if she needs to communicate with someone so badly, can't she just call them? (If they're not where they can receive a phone call, then they probably shouldn't be texting either, right?)

I believe this is a Dunkin Hines or Betty Crocker recipe... [Quick story behind why I use this recipe: When I was a kid, my grandmother used to buy these amazing double chocolate chip cookies by Nabisco. But Nabisco stopped making them. I searched, as an adult, for a recipe for cookies that tasted like those. Never found it until I stumbled upon this recipe.] 1 package devil's food cake mix 1/2 cup butter, softened 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 eggs 1 (6 ounce) bag semisweet choc chips Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat half of the cake mix, the butter, vanilla, and eggs in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth, or mix with spoon. Stir in remaining cake mix and chocolate chips. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are set (centers will be soft). Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. My addition: Before dropping each cookie on the cookie sheet, I roll it around in granulated sugar. You can also make these as regular chocolate chip cookies with yellow cake mix, but I don't like the way they taste - they taste like flat yellow cake with chocolate chips. Enjoy!