Add me to the atheist, ghost believer list. I dont believe in gods. I do believe in the soul as the core of our being, and I have no clue what happens to it after death. I do believe in ghosts after a few experiences, but I haven't taken much time to ponder the why's and wherefores. I don't believe I'm going to run into my loved ones in spirit form anytime though.

I grew up in Wellington, NZ where earthquakes were a regular occurrence. Many had a rumbling sound that came before them. Not necessarily safer, in fact if the area liquifies it can be incredibly dangerous. It's been drilled into my head never to go outside in an earthquake and in Christchurch you really saw how bad the liquifaction can get.

Same in NZ, but there is certainly strong implication that your child will have it done and in the case of one particular vaccinatio there was very strong emotive language to persuade you to get it for your kids.

:iagree: We are the same, but it goes both ways, neither of us would spend money outside of our allowances and day to day expenses without discussing it with the other.

Based on the fact that his crime was to a child that he was in a position of trust with, I very much doubt that he is the type who will snatch a kid off the street. He would try to build a relationship with the child and the family. Groom you all, in other words. Knowledge is power. You know that your children are safe from this person as long as they understand he is not to be trusted and they don't form a friendship with him. That means never going to that persons house etc. But it wouldn't stop me allowing them to play on the street together. It's the ones I don't know about that bother me.

Mulch is essential, a nice thick layer right up to each plant. I use straw, it binds together well and is pale so doesn't attract heat. Shade cloth will make a big difference. I'm planning to put up some structures to hold it on the hot spells this coming summer (I'm busy planning my spring garden) Water deeply every couple of days rather than a shallow water daily. And lastly, feed well, something like liquid seaweeed fertilizer.

My 17yo is in a select entry school. I don't know what the US equivalent of that is, but if you wiki it, it will explain. It's a public school that behaves like a private school and the fees are double that of pretty much any other public high school. Its a very good school though and I do not begrudge the fees at all. So the fees for him are not representative, in my (limited) experience school fees are around $1000 for high school and $200-400 for primary. The book costs I have given are very representative, and IMHO are completely nuts. NZ schools loan the textbooks to kids who pay if they don't give them back at year end. Aussie textbook manufacturers must LOVE the system here! Each subject needs a textbooks, and new costs range from $60-80 per item. No, there are no charter schools or anything. It does pay to remember though that we do not support our schools through property tax, the central and state govts fund schools. So our property taxes are much lower than yours in general. And when kids get to higher education, it's substantially cheaper. I am looking at a diploma in photography and it will cost me $200/year. If my son does an engineering degree, it will cost us $6000 a year, at a good school. The government subsidises higher education quite heavily, how much depends on how much the qualification is seen as needed in the economy. And yes, the govt provides per student funding to private schools, which includes but is not restricted to religious schools. I don't know how much though. in my area, at high school level, a Catholic school will cost $6-10,000/year. A non catholic private school would cost $15-30,000 a year, that's just fees and textbooks etc are all on top.

We are the same Deb. Only in Australia HSers don't get paid and our fees and books are much more expensive. Grade 11 Fees $2000, books $700 (we have to buy textbooks for every subject, even 2nd hand, they are very expensive) uniform $600 and that was with substantial 2nd hand items, so just school is $3300 but we also need to pay for the train to get there $500 and a student exchange $500 and probably more I can't think of. HSing is much cheaper! Gr7 is much the same. Except, due to diffferent school the fees are likely to be halved, but we will need to pay for camp. Gr 2, fees $400? Still waiting for the bill. Uniform $200 books $200 constant demands for money for this nd that $300 Total $900/year plus uniform, yep HSing is cheaper.

I'm not from the US but when we have visited, we've loved pretty much everywhere we have been. The standouts: Washington state, we drove the Cascade Loop, it was really stunning. New England in the fall, including the covered bridges and little stores. Niagara Falls, I wouldn't go again, but for a oncer it was fairly amazing. Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater. What a stunning piece of architecture! NYC was all I expected and I'd go and spend more time in a heartbeat. You all are probably used to lake resorts, but for me Deep Creek Lake in Md was just gorgeous, we don't have places like that here, and staying in a house in the woods by the lake and seeing bears and deer was magic! And of course, Disneyland. Where dreams come true. Next time we visit, I'd really like to drive from LA to Colorado, in particular I want to see the National Parks in Southern Utah, and the Grand Canyon.

You may be right, but here where there is no financial incentive for the hospital to do unnecessary tests, as in I don't pay for it, you still get a CT for a suspected stone.

We have a boxer puppy, she is 6 months old and a bundle of cheekiness. She is very loving and tolerant with the kids, and likes to be around us. She adores kids. We are having some issues with being able to go out and leave her, and she has some training issues but nothing a manners class wont cure. Toilet training has been pretty good except that she doesnt ask to go out, she just gets naughty, then stands at the door and waits for someone to notice and if they dont notice she pees on the floor. If we put her out at the naughty stage she is fine. She has a high activity level, so we are doing lots of walking which is really enjoyable as the weather improves but surprisingly pleasant even on cold days and i'm really getting to know the neighbourhood. She doesn't shed at all. There have been times when I've wondered what on earth we have got ourselves in to, but mostly she is fabulous.

They probably think north and south America are the northern and southern states of the USA.

Yanno, yu win the lottery. You pay off your house or buy a new one, your husband quits his jo for more family time, you buy some new clothes or something. Whats the dream, the big ing uthat you would just love to do if money was no object? For me, it's to live a year in NYC. I've only been there once and it was everything I expected and miore' Id love to live there again, in a nice bluestone with a stoop. Just for a year, to see the city in all seasons. As long as it snows in winter, if it doesn't, I might have to stay 2 years :lol: And excuse the typing I've recently exchanged my laptop (read, it fell off a high place and broke in a most impressive way) for an iPad and I haven't got the hang of the onscreen keyboard yet!

Oh man! You poor thing!! I've had orbital cellulitis before and it is NOT nice!! I hope your healing is straightforward now.

Add me in here. I just took DD for her first day of school today. Only difference is that we are 5/8th of the way through our school year. I'm still homeschooling one until the end of the year, and then he will go to school too while I study. I've already decided that I just can't let go and after schooling is the only way I'll cope with this.

Yes, definitely. Starting from an original house is soooo much easier than fixing someone elses poor renovation! I'd aim to live there though, it will be a bit of a nightmare (btdt) but you will get it done quicker if you are on site all the time, plus there will be more money for the renovation instead of paying for somewhere else to live.

That is very common. I encountered it over and over in my travels, and overwhelmingly it was folks from the US. Europeans seem to have a decent grasp on NZ's location We also get that it is part of Australia and oddly, that you drive over the Sydney Harbour Bridge to get to it. Then of course there is the idea that NZ is some kind of cultural and technological backwater, although that's usually Aussies who don't realise that NZ gets most technologies and advances in systems before they do. Still, I sort of understand because your maps centred on the US don't generally show NZ very well.

I don't know who Nancy Grace is, but I would have thought that any interviewer should know who they are interviewing, regardless of the interviewee's job. It sounds like lack of proper research before the interview, rather than a reason for every civilian to be educated.

Why do they need to know that stuff? I don't get it. So what if they don't know the different uniforms. I guess I'm missing the point here. As long as they know what a military is for, well that's good enough for me. Perhaps it's because I'm not from the US, perhaps it's a US thing.

I voted other, that means maybe. Homeschooling is a year at a time, so I daresay we will homeschool some of the highschool years, no idea which ones. Highschool is gr 7-12 here.

Education choices for our children are a year by year, child by child propositon. I pulled two of them from school, and DD has been homeschooled from the start. This year I am HSing two and have one in school. Next year I am studying full time for a year, so all 3 will be in school. The year after will depend on the children, the school and my plans. They may stay at school, come home or part time, I really don't know.

I was told that that could happen with a full dose, so to start with a half dose. That half dose was enough to knock her out in under 15 mins.

I have been the same size since I was 17. I still fit my wedding dress. I did gain a significant amont of weight with each child, but I lost it again each time within a year.

Hows the view up there from your high horse? I thought the same, even with one child under 5 and NOT by themselves. One small child can make a lot of people on a flight, not just those travelling with them very miserable indeed. Try enduring that for 12 hours whether it's your kid or not and see if you still think that it should never be done. Yeah, me too. And yanno, I don't feel the slightest bit bad about it. I suspect those who were on the plane with us on that one occasion are fairly appreciative too.

Yes, I've used phenergan to get DD to sleep on a flight, after I had held off the flight before and had the flight from hell. I only needed to do it once though, fortunately, as she never needed it again.