I guess it's possible I might. But I don't think so. We have had a very rich and unusual life together. How could anybody ever understand who I really am without having insights into what I have lived--insights that could only be gained by living a very similar life? And that's not common. Then take the comfortable level of our relationship we have built and worked on for so many years. It seems like anything after that would seem pretty shallow. I don't think my kids would handle it well; they are older, so that's not a concern; they'd want me to be happy and not lonely--but I just think that inside, it would hurt them.

I'm sorry you've got to fight this fight. I am praying for courage and strength for you--and victory!

Oh my goodness! We are 58 and 59, and yes, we certainly still do. TMI, maybe, but really! It's not as often as in our 30s, but it's still good.

Yes, I think men are generally quicker to remarry. I've been married to a wonderful man for many years. Yet, I doubt seriously that I would remarry. It would pretty much have to happen with no effort on my part, lol. And even then I'd have to think about it long and hard. However, I think he would. My reasons for not wanting to are something I haven't quite thought through. But there are threads of not wanting to start over (of making the effort to learn how to live with someone new, etc.), of not wanting to bring a different someone into our large family's dynamic, of wanting the freedom to decide where to live, and so on. It just seems like it would complicate life at a time when I'd rather move more toward simplifying life. (My feelings on this have changed in the past five years, so in my case, age definitely has something to do with this.)

Missing our hugs emoji. I'm already grieving my senior's probable move several states away next year. And he's my fifth, so I know the drill. It's always hard for me, but on the other hand, I'm happy for my young adults. Hugs to you, mama.

I heard a speaker talking about one of her adult children recently. She came to this point (above). When she was struggling with it, she felt like God was telling her, "Either I can handle it, or you can, but not both of us. So if you want me to handle it, you need to leave her in my hands and trust me." Now, by the way, they have a beautiful relationship, but it took a long time, because the daughter was very strong-willed and entrenched in a bad lifestyle. The mom had plenty of practice trusting God with her daughter, because it didn't look so promising from the outside. I know both the mom and the daughter. Pretty amazing situation; different from yours in some ways, but not so different in many others. ((((fairfarmhand))))

This is not real little, but my kids, both sons and daughters, have always enjoyed having a soft, cozy throw handy, especially in the wintertime.

Oldest dd was always interested in medicine. She did morph a bit from wanting to be a doctor to becoming a pediatric icu nurse. She loves it, and is now working on a nurse practitioner's degree in pediatric critical care. Her special preparation involved watching many, many surgery shows, drawing wounds on her sisters with red pens and then treating those wounds, cutting open her stuffed animals for surgery and putting rocks in them, then sewing them back up, etc. She also did some shadowing of actual medical doctors. In her actual training, she did an internship at Mayo while in nursing school, worked for two years at a children's hospital that was the hub for children's care for a large area, did travel nursing for a couple of contracts to determine if she wanted to move to a very large city, where she then took a permanent job. She is very, very good at what she does. Our other children meandered a bit before they settled on their majors. It remains to be seen what happens with the youngers.

I don't remember, but I don't think we bothered. The smell fades. We didn't wash them every day. I had four young kids, and just didn't have time! I did wash them often.

After shower, rinse with vinegar (leaving it in) and comb with a comb like this: https://www.amazon.com/Nit-Free-Terminator-Lice-Comb/dp/B000HIBPV8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1537445332&sr=8-3&keywords=steel%2Bcomb%2Bfor%2Blice&th=1 Do this every night until you see a difference in the numbers, then every other night, then every third night--you get the idea. Was the only thing that worked when my dd was little and ended up with a horrible case. Ds had had a case (we were overseas and it was rampant at times), and the treatment I used on him actually started burning his skin. He started screaming, and when I rinsed it, the chemical had eaten through his skin. ? It was horrible, and I determined I would never use that again. Her skin was even more sensitive, so I didn't dare use it on her. It wasn't as effective as the vinegar and comb, either. Those little plastic combs in the kits don't do anything compared to a steel comb. A hairdresser told me the protocol. It was time-consuming (dd had very thick red hair, so I didn't realize she had them until they were well entrenched). But it was effective.

No. It undermines a relationship. We choose to start with the basis of trust. If one of our kids violates or abuses that, then we take appropriate steps from there. But if you start with the basis of mistrust, it seems to me that the kid (or anyone) begins to feel that it doesn't matter what they do, they won't be trusted--so they might as well rebel. If, as a parent, you have a child who is putting themselves in danger and the reins need to be tightened for their safety, that is different. But you don't start out with that assumption without just cause to suspect it.

My mother has had one for as long as I can remember (that's a long time). But I've never had one. However, as I get older, I am having more trouble opening cans manually, and am wondering if I need to get one. I'd rather not, but it might make things a little easier.

Ah, I love names. I tend to lean classic: Katherine, Stephanie, Sophia, Margaret (Meg), Natalie, Louisa, Annie, and maybe not as classic, but Jeannie and Molly Isaac, Gregory, Joseph, Gabriel, Steven

I choose impressed! ?

We had gas logs in the house we just moved from. They were great. We found we used them a lot more than we would have used an actual fireplace, because we could turn them on for a little while without having to worry about leaving--just turn them off if you have to leave. They were great for taking the chill off in the mornings, even if we didn't need them all day. Most of the winter, we didn't need any other heat in the house during the day. We didn't mind if the bedrooms were cooler. Overall, our heat (which was also gas) was not very expensive, and I think the logs helped with that. They weren't as "pretty" as a real fire, but were so much less work, I was okay with that!

Thanks! The next challenge is moving. Today. ? I think one reason it didn't look good before was that not only was the paint an ugly color, but they also used the most matte of matte finishes. Using eggshell, it gives it just enough of a sheen to look kind of classy. Well, in my opinion, anyway, lol

We have a large family too, but have traveled a lot because of job. However, we have enjoyed all types, from camping on up (well, not way on up). We have never done Disney; it's not our style. Things that fit our family style the best: a place where we have more space and can cook (simple, easy meals with more prepared foods than at home and NOT keeping lots of kids cooped up in a hotel); natural beauty with relaxed plans--beach, mountains; besides the easy meals, going out a couple of times to a nice restaurant. For your "big" trip, I would highly recommend D.C., though. I went for the first time when I was 13, then in college, then again a couple of years ago. I have always found it such an interesting place. There is a huge variety of things to do, many of them inexpensively, and you can easily combine educational, interesting, and fun. It's so impactful seeing things you have heard and read about all your life, and then, there they really are! When I was 13 and we went, it was the first time I had ever flown, and my mom also made arrangements through our Congressman for us to sit in on a Congress session, and to get White House tour passes. It can be a lot of walking though.

Well, I DID paint over the chair rails with the same paint as the walls, as was previously done, but with a much lighter paint. And it looks just fine. Very nice, in fact. The cat odor is better, but still a little lingering; we'll work on that more when we actually move in. :)

Congratulations on a beautiful little granddaughter!

Reading about your dd1 makes me think of my youngest. He started public school last year in 8th grade. All along, I have had mixed feelings, even though I knew that homeschooling was no longer working well for him. This week, his new school had parents' night. It was so good for dh and me to go. It was very confirming that he is in the right place for him; the classes/teachers seem to be a good fit overall, and there are things that they are saying to him that he would not have accepted from us (me, especially). For example, his computer teacher talks to them about how careful you have to be, internet safety, making sure you don't post stupid stuff on social media, even your posture when sitting at the computer. He is at the point where he will accept that from a young adult he thinks is cool, but not from old mom. Overall, it made me feel so much more peace about his being there. He's a different kid from his older sibs, and this just seems right for him. I hope that either you find that kind of peace (it has taken me a year), or that you have more clarity about whether you should bring her home.

I used something once before in an apartment (for leftover dog smells), and it had such a clean, fresh smell. It took a few swipes, but worked. But I can't remember what it was. Do these smell good?

The cat smells I asked about earlier are not as bad, but we have some places in the garage where we really need to hit it with all we've got. I think we are going to buy a gallon, pull off some of the baseboards (and throw them away), and use the cleaner to try to get into the difficult places. I'm looking at different types online, but so far, they all have mixed reviews, including the "this didn't work" ones. Recos, please?

That's kind of what we're thinking!

We closed on our new house on Friday. Yesterday, we headed over with paint supplies to find two of our new (unknown to us) neighbors mowing the yard for us, front and back! (it was supposed to have been mowed earlier by seller, but wasn't, and we also had a lot of rain this past week.) That's a housewarming gift that was greatly appreciated!

I haven't read the book, which is the reverse of my normal order. I was looking for something on Netflix last weekend, and watched the movie. So I can't compare it to the book, and complain that it didn't live up to it, etc., etc. But as a standalone movie, I loved it, and wanted so badly for it to be a series instead of a book. Now I can't decide whether to read the book or not!