:lol: Haha! Seriously. Insert Jim Gaffigan (((AWKWARD))) here. Happily we were both virgins when we got married. But man, we sure did know how to kiss really well by the wedding day. :D

Yes and no. He has about 4 part time jobs right now. He has a BA in youth ministry and a ThM as well as certification as a Biblical counselor. He counsels a small portion of the time, grades counseling papers for CCEF, and he works a plumber's assistant/construction dude as well. It's all gap-filling right now. He would love to counsel full time or pastor again (though he needed the break from that)... but he'd really just love any full-time job with benefits. I did not get a degree (and am very happy with that decision) and am a wedding photographer with a fabulous company. It's not full time but I bring in enough to help out and am able to get into the office and edit whenever the hubs is home grading papers, etc. It's an exhausting existence but we are surviving and praying for something more permanent and gainful!

BEST SLIPPERS EVER!! They are like sleeping bags for your feet. I have had mine for years now. They keep my feet (very prone to being extremely cold) nice and toasty and are washable. When we lived in Canada I would walk half a block over ice and snow to check the mail wearing these. They are waterproof on bottom and I've never slipped while wearing them. They might look a little absurd but they are WORTH IT! :D Seriously, I am extremely picky about slippers and these have made me so happy. If you don't want to get them from this Canadian company, Northface has a version also. I think they call theirs tent booties. http://www.mec.ca/AST/ShopMEC/Footwear/SlippersBooties/PRD~5011-597/mec-hut-booties-2-unisex.jsp Oh, yes, here is the Northface version. I can't vouch for these but I'm pretty sure they'd likely be just as awesome. http://www.mountaingear.com/pages/product/product.asp?item=224009&cmpn=70125&N=0&sendroicid=974765b9-e467-4c45-b359-d40d89ae9717&sendroikwd=224009

We both have Virgin Android smart phones. When we signed up the deal was $25 a month for 300 talking minutes and unlimited text and data. This is perfect for us since we are more likely to text each other and just don't talk on the phone that much at all. A few months later they upped their price to $30 (or was it $35?!) a month but even without a contract they have honored the fact that we went in under the $25 plan. Amazing! We are very happy both with the phones themselves and the service. We just make sure that we have our account set to automatic top-up so we don't end up without coverage. It's a fabulous deal and I seriously cannot imagine paying $60-$90 a month for unlimited text/data. Their higher minutes talk plans are still very reasonably priced compared to other companies. Been with them for over 6 months now and no catches. Great phones, great service, great price!

Four boys = $150 total They will be shared gifts. I may grab a few little stocking stuffers but nothing else that adds up to real $. We are barely getting by so this is already quite a stretch.

I feel ya girl!! My husband too has been underemployed for almost two years. It's physically/emotionally/mentally exhausting having 4+ part time jobs (+ me working). I am so ready for my hubby to have a real FT job in his field and one with benefits would knock my socks off. So ready for one of these resumes to come back with a huge nod even if it means moving. I'm ready. Crossing fingers for you!

I think they are lab x pit bull. So so cute!!

If you want it to be the most widely understood, then simple. We have an exchange student from Shanghai whose parents are both successful bankers and stock brokers. They use simple. I treat the issue like I treat which Chinese restaurant to go to... which one do the actual Chinese people I know go to?! :D

I loved The Help. LOVE LOVE LOVE The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. They are addictive. Alexander McCall Smith is a literary genius. Also La's Orchestra, Portuguese Irregular Verbs and series (same author). I also really like The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and sequels. So fun. Also, oldies but goodies are the Mitford books if you didn't read them back in the day. OH and the gem of gems... The Geurnsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. This one will make you laugh and cry and love invisible people. I am just starting The Elegance of the Hedgehog. I've heard from an absolute bibliophile that it is proof that good novels are still written.

In a perfect world where we had either lots of regular employment or insurance, we'd go twice a year. As it is, my husband works several part time jobs and I work one and we have "California Healthy Families". To put it mildly, the dentists on their provider lists look positively frightening. Some don't answer their phones. Others have horrible, horrible Yelp ratings and reviews. ((shivers)) I may bring myself to take them for a cleaning but I don't know that I would trust them even for that, the reviews are so bad.

Yay!! You're all making me very happy. Hello back to you helloers! :tongue_smilie:

I'm a professional wedding photographer and have been both a Nikon and a Canon girl. Last year when I started working for the company I work for now I sold my entire Nikon get up. I had a full-frame Nikon D700 and I really did love it. Before that I had the Nikon D80 and we also had a D90. Way back before digital I had a Canon Rebel which I liked but alas, it wasn't digital. Now, my Nikon was wonderful. I thought I would have a hard time switching to Canon but I wanted to use at home what I was using on the job so I bought a Canon 5D MkII. Now, this is a professional camera and I wouldn't recommend it based solely on the price. However I do believe that the reasons I like it even more than I loved my Nikon would be true across the board for the lower end DSLRs as well. What I love most about the Canon is its intuitive design. Everything just feels right in your hand. The menus are much more accessible (and on a DSLR there are a LOT of things to manage in the menus if you decide to shoot in any other mode than auto -- which I recommend!) and intuitive than the Nikon. The most important thing is to get a great lens. You can get a good camera but a *great* lens makes all the difference. A really good fixed focal length lens is the 50mm f1.8. It takes beautiful pictures and is really affordable. The f1.4 is nicer still but probably not nice enough for the price difference. When looking at zoom lenses, you really want to aim for anything with a low f stop number. Higher f stop lenses will end up being a pain in low light situations especially. (They are generally fine in ideal lighting conditions or when using flash but they do not make the most use of ambient/natural available light). While I have little experience with the full line of Canon DSLRs I am sure you will find one that will suit you well in whatever price range you are looking at (which I realize you didn't mention). Having said all of this, you are bound to be happy going with either Canon or Nikon as they are both wonderful camera brands. You definitely want to hold them in your hands before you buy. You need to like the feel of it and like the "layout" makes sense to you. I recommend buying the camera body separately from the lens and spend your real money on a quality lens. Lenses are an addiction!

Jilly, I think I love you. Those were just the words my itching ears wanted to hear. :D Did you file it before or after giving notice to your charter school? I'm rearin' to go and would just fill it out tonight but I'm not wanting to complicate anything somehow by doing it too soon.

Hello all. I'm sure there has probably been complete turnover since I was last here, it's been so long. At least partial turnover. I used to be just plain nancypants but once upon a time when purposing to disembark from the Good Ship Internet I created a password that I could not crack and it worked. :lol: Anyway, I'm really just here to ask a few questions of California homeschoolers. We moved back to California almost two years ago. Up until now we have been with a public charter school. Until recently I was willing to jump through the various and sundry hoops laid before us in order to get the funding. However they have recently changed the monthly reporting rules and they have become very onerous. I didn't mind compiling a monthly narrative of our school activities but now we must go through and check off a bazillion state standards. I hate those cursed state standards. When they were a "loose guide" I could hang with it. Now that the school is feeling more district/state pressure and passing it on to the parents it has become too onerous and just too many hoops. All of that to say that I need any pearls of wisdom on filing an affidavit. Anything I should be aware of? Anyone who wants to say, "Piece of cake. Fill it out, sign, send. Done. Repeat next year." I would welcome that. :bigear: Thanks in advance!