Every office asks, but I refuse to give it out. And, honestly, no office has ever had a problem with it. Some receptionists aren't used to people saying "no" and are a bit surprised, but that's it. We've never had a problem.

About weight loss: I am one who NEVER loses weight as a symptom of too much thyroid hormone. Jitters - yes. Hair loss- yes. insomnia- yes. Living life on fast forward- yes. Weight loss- sorry, no. :glare: I feel gypped. *However*, I will say that I have had weight loss when I had too little thyroid hormone. Not as a result of it, mind you, but as a result of a concerted effort to lose weight. I had no idea my numbers were off, but had lost 10 lbs. My Dr. was impressed when she saw my TSH numbers and noticed the weight loss. :) It *is* possible to lose weight when your TSH numbers are high. It just won't happen on its own.

:iagree: My doctor and pharmacist would agree. I struggled for a couple of years trying to maintain good levels on a generic thyroid medicine. I switched doctors when I moved who informed me of the variances between generic and brand-name. He switched me to Synthroid and I've been balanced for over 3 years! No more see-sawing!! :)

I agree with the others in that using the knife wasn't inappropriate, however *waving* it around was. However, the bigger issue for me as a parent would be that you asked him to wait for you, and he did not. He disobeyed you. It would be *this* that delayed my child from enjoying the Slim Jim (I'd take it away), not so much the using of the knife.

OK. Not educational at all, but ..... ...eat at Mo's in Newport and at Kyllo's if you're going through Lincoln City! :D

We're new to the area, and are about an hour from a large city. I called the local school district, and they said most teachers take classes online, or out-of-town over the summer. The out-of-town part is not possible for me. But I can apparently take credits from any accredited online college. So, where do you get your credits? Thanks!

It would be a deal-breaker for me. :glare:

We love them here! We steam them (about a half an hour or so. Leaves pull off easily when done.) and dip the ends you eat in melted butter! When you get to the pale and flimsy, teeny leaves in the middle, you pull them off and scrape off the "fuzzy" part of the artichoke, leaving the heart and the stem. We dip the heart in butter and eat that (it's the best part!!) but not the stringy stem. Really, the artichoke leaves are just spoons for getting the butter into our mouths. :D

LOL! I used to say that with the parents of my students! "I'll believe only half of what I hear about you, if you believe only half of what you hear about me!" :) I thought I was the only one. :lol:

:iagree: Mmm hmm.

(Kindly, but firmly) I am glad your dh finally came home, but why are you still on this forum updating the thread continually? You have seven children, and a husband who has behaved questionably this weekend, and a marriage with some serious issues right now. You need to be talking with him or, at the very least, engaging with the children who have *surely* picked up that something is very, very wrong, not hanging out on the computer updating this thread and asking for pm's. Please consider logging off for a while and working through this .

Look, don't think "abridged" or "unabridged." Think "read the book" or "watch the movie." Watch the movie The FOTF CD's are NOT abridged books. They are radio THEATER. They dramatize the books. And they are wonderful, if you like radio shows. As I said, we love the FOTF CDs, but my boys have also read and re-read the books for themselves. They follow the storyline, and do use lots of lines from the books, but they are NOT abridged versions any more than movies are abridged versions of books. Read the book BUT, if you want your children to hear Lewis' words, but don't want to read it to them yourself (I'm assuming your dc are too young to read the books independently), then, by all means, get the audiobooks. The BBC version is wonderfully done! We don't own a set (though I see they've lowered the price and we'll probably get one now!), but we've gotten them from the library often and have enjoyed them. They're very well done! But it's not a decision between abridged/unabridged. That would be like comparing apples and oranges. It's just two different ways to experience Narnia.

Well, it hasn't ever bothered us, but we like radio theater. It's not a *reading* of the books, even abridged. It's a dramatization. (Very well done, might I add, though Aslan's voice is a little goofy:D) Our boys have all read the series as well, so they've enjoyed hearing it dramatized. They've been very popular in our house for years.

I am very interested in this, and would love to hear from more parents of college kids in this thread. My oldest is only a freshman in high school, but in talking with hsed kids returning home for college vacation, here's what I've picked up: 1. The hsed kids comment on class participation. Ps'd kids tend to sit, not raise hands, not volunteer information or answers, etc. The hsed kids at first participated a LOT, but then felt they needed to scale back in order to blend a bit. 2. A couple of hsed kids commented on how often information was repeated: due dates, guidelines, assignment details, etc. That was frustrating to them, feeling that a lot of time was wasted on this.

OK, I do like Fox News - but ONLY the news. It has been my experience that the NEWS portion of Fox News is as balanced as anything else out there. In some cases, more so. (Fox News had fewer stories than CNN on Trump, Obama's birth certificate controversy, and birthers over the past several weeks, for example.) HOWEVER, I do not like the opinion shows or commentators on FOX. For the record, I also don't like or watch the commentators on CNN or other news networks. If you're looking for balanced opinion shows or commentaries, you're not going to find any. But if you're looking for a presentation of the day's stories, FOX is fine. Well, just as fine as CNN, NPR, etc.

I'm trying to remember Basic...... I'm going to hazard a guess and say "I don't think so." I don't remember being able to do that. What I usually did was double up on that lesson one day, or catch up on a Saturday. HTH!

Skype is free. You'd just need a webcam/microphone on your computer. We've used it when dh worked out of town, and it was a free download.

I would say that you could choose to use it as a spelling program, but it isn't one. It's strictly vocabulary and usage in the book. However, each lesson has a list of words to study, and you could certainly make those spelling words. As far as it being advanced, I guess I'm not certain how to answer that. How old is your child? We began using it in 7th/8th grade, and I suppose it was a little advanced, in that several of the vocabulary words he had not knowingly run across before. However, after having used it for 2-3 years it does NOT seem advanced. As ds' reading material has become more challenging, his vocabulary has also increased, making the Vocab...Roots words more familiar. Start with book A, and work your way through, and you should be fine. :D

My ds did Apologia Biology in 8th grade and Chemistry this year. It was definitely doable, but he's a science-y guy. :001_smile: The most challenging aspect of it was the math. If your dd has completed Algebra 1, she *should* be fine, but there were still some aspects of the math that were a bit tricky. FWIW, we're choosing to go on to AP Biology in 10th grade, so that ds can complete Algebra 2 before tackling AP Chemistry. There are a few of the higher level science courses that don't have the math prerequisite. They may be an option if you wanted to wait a year.

We are hosting a debate tournament this week, and need to be able to send periodic text message "blasts" to parents there. I am DREADING the idea of manually entering each phone # each time. Surely there must be an easy way to do this. Does anyone know? Is there a program or a site I can do this from? Thanks!

She says she uses the phrase "brown people," but when referring to ALL people with darker skin tones, not just African-Americans.

It's been my experience that the VAST majority of people think it is better for a child 0-4 to be home with a parent instead of daycare. HOWEVER, almost everyone follows that with an acknowledgment that they don't think every parent can afford to do that, so daycare is a good second choice.

My sister-in-law is African-American (though she hates when I say that. "Just call me black. I'm black." is what she tells me.:001_smile:) and I asked her about this. She says that Negro isn't offensive, but "It's something my grandmother would say."

I don't know that that second one is considered unacceptable. Many older African-Americans still prefer that term. It's still seen on the Census documents as a choice. When concerns were brought up about it, *many* people pointed out the generational preference for that term. Certainly it's not mainstream, but what about the Amish is? :tongue_smilie: But I don't know that it's considered offensive, just archaic. Thanks for the heads-up about the chapter! It's surprising to me that it's in the book, but the end of 5th grade is probably an appropriate time to discuss these issues, if not earlier.

:lol: