I totally just stole this to show my son.

You can use it to sop up blood from the floor. Or beer.

This thread is so timely for me. I just had another discussion with my son about the realities of how many hours a day he needs to get his school work done. He has great difficulty with the fact that his little sister is done so much earlier then him. It does not matter that she does the same amount of work he did at her age. Having never been a teenage boy his attitudes and behavior boggle my mind. My dh says the brain fog and having to repeat myself and break things down into simple steps is perfectly normal.

Ugh, that drives me nuts. I no longer plan anything after being burnt a few times. I have a small group of friends that we do stuff with. Even planning amongst ourselves can be a bit like herding cats between everyones schedules.

There was a time when I had a nice nest egg to get through hard times. Then the hard times came and lasted much longer then we thought they could. We are back to square one to building up our nest egg again. It is painfully slow and I hope and pray the hard times do not return before we get it built up again.

We have been here for 15 years. We expected to be here for 5-7 years. We bought this house knowing that if things did not go as planned we could live here happily for 30 years. Needless to say things did not go as planned. Loss of employment, bad economy, bad decisions.

I am so sorry for your loss. My thoughts and prayers will be with you. Do not beat yourself up with hindsight and revisionist history. You did what you thought was for the best at the time with the information you had. There is no guilt in that.

I have to hijack and brag for a moment with my fellow swim moms. Not only is my boy going to states for the first time, tonight he was awarded his varsity letter for the high school swim team. After all I went through to get my homeschooler on the high school team it felt pretty darn good to see him get that letter as a freshman.

Yes, I think her many varied activities contributed towards her business success. She may have been successful anyway but it may have taken longer to get there.

I think you are being taken advantage of. The going rate here for 2 kids for someone who drives them places is $15 per hour. Since she is historically late-payment in advance for the upcoming week. No payment, no watching. Cash only.

I only like audio books when I am driving.

I find it kind of strange. I couldn't wait until I was old enough to drive. Same for my friends. I think it is kind of strange when the teens don't have any interest. As for my kids, I am excited and scared for when they are old enough to get their learners permit. When they are of age I will be signing them up for drivers ed.

I just got the news that my oldest is going to States this weekend. This is a first for our house. Very exciting.

We don't do sleepovers often. They were not allowed until they were 10 years old. Once they were allowed it was only with close friends. This year we put a ban on sleepovers during the school year (during breaks are ok0 because they wanted sleepovers every other weekend.

Yes, you are correct, the country itself can not eat meat. Horse is not uncommon as a source of nutrition for people who live in countries that are not the United States. My point was and still it-horse in the meatballs is not a big deal unless it was not labeled as such. Happy now?

We love it, too! Glad you are having a positive experience. Now go get a swim taxi and a swim mom magnet for your car.

Other countries eat horse without a second thought. I just don't see it as that big of a deal unless they are claiming they are beef.

I hate trophies! Hate, hate, hate them! They are vicous dust collectors. I don't mind the medals. I can do without all of them. When my kids did karate earning the next belt was your trophy. The reward for a job well done. I believe in that philosophy. You don't need a trophy for every single thing. I will get off my soapbox now and tell you my kids did enjoy the towel from summer swim team, the t-shirts, and the book bag.

I know what you mean. I also feel spread too thin but I had to make a change. Our school day starts later and ends later then I would like but I had to do it before I started having serious health issues. It was time to take control and do something for me. As for the plastic surgery-I wouldn't mind a boob lift but I don't want to go under the knife. I will just continue to flash my dh by lifting the hem of my skirt and accept the wrinkles and all the other stuff that comes with aging. Except for the grey hair-I color and highlight. OP-get a new hair stylist and a cut and color you like.

Sing it sister. I am working on the weight loss. I woke up recently and took a good hard look in the mirror. It was time to admit that I was no longer overweight but bordering on obese. I have been tracking my food and exercising at least 5 times a week. I can't say the weight is droppin goff fast but I have lost inches and I feel so much more energetic. But what I wouldn't do for a pill.

My ds was seriously toying with the idea of going back to ps for high school because all of his friends were telling him to go (misery loves company). I told him if his reason for going was just because his friends wanted him to the answer is no. He would need to write a research paper describing the benefits of going vs. continuing to homeschool and then his father and I would seriously consider it. I also told him if he wants to go then we will do school at home for a few weeks. He had to be up by 6:30 and get his chores done and be ready to walk to school by 7:45 because we live walking distance and I am not driving him. Then I made him walk around outside for 20 minutes with his backpack. I set the timer for each period. I talked behind him during lectures and kicked his chair during class. In between classes I shoved him around the house (our hs hallways are very crowded) and high fived him when he saw his friends. He had to get a pass to go to the bathroom and if he took too long he got extra homework. I gave him detention for passing notes. When he said I passed it to him I told him that was true but I didn't get caught-he did. After 2 weeks of this he decided he wanted to continue to homeschool because he was tired of getting up so early for school. Sleeping in is way better then getting up at the crack of dawn.

On netflix I have been watching Weeds. It is a trainwreck but an enjoybale one.

Will it eventually do away them-perhaps. I don't think it will happen in my lifetime. I certainly don't want it to happen. I rail against the attack on libraries. The people who think they are not needed anymore are the ones who need libraries the most.

If my dd does not have a pocket I have her bring a purse.

Whew, then I am doing it correctly.