:lol::lol:

Here is a nice colored print of Luther delivering his speech (scroll down a bit). http://www.boisestate.edu/courses/reformation/reformers/luther.shtml Ginger

Yes, it was hard to find much. Here is a site with at least some of the text of his speech: http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~lyman/english233/Luther-Diet_of_Worms.htm Hope that helps a little. Ginger

For years I have tried to imitate my mom's skills in the kitchen...what a spectacle she would make! I finally decided to be my own homemaker. So now I proudly buy frozen pie crusts instead of scratch ones and also frozen pecan pie that is better than homemade. Last year I used a cooking bag for the turkey and it was so tender and cooked twice as fast. I bought boxes of cornbread Stovetop Stuffing (please don't tell my mother :D) and added my special extras like pecans and chopped apples...very fast. No more homemade rolls...it's brown 'n serve all the way! Provided cookies from refrigerated rolls for the girls to make and decorate, and in less than 3 hours the meal was on the table without much work from me. I have also considered the local grocery stores ready-made meals, but I haven't gotten that brave yet. I would also suggest that, if you can, ponder something that you really, really need/want, and try to buy that special thing for yourself. It can be as simple as a beautiful bottle of body lotion or that wool coat you've been dreaming about for years. Have the kids wrap it for you. You deserve more from a holiday than just kitchen duty. Be blessed this holiday season~ Ginger

...since your dh is not in favor of the wall being a chalkboard, why don't you move in a large piece of wall board, shower board, or plywood in front of that wall space. You could paint that with chalkboard paint and then move (or remove) it if you didn't like the results. Ginger

Sounds yummy!

It defrosted just fine. Just allow for some 'head space' at the top of the jar for expansion. If using glass canning jars, just lay the metal lid on top until frozen, then you can screw the top on. I use plastic freezer containers with colored lids that are even easier than canning jars. Enjoy your applesauce! Ginger

Bless your hearts, all of you who so willingly shared, not only your wisdom, but your pain as well. My heart goes out to you today. Thank you for making me feel stronger and hopeful...

He grew up in an alcoholic family. He was actually the 'black sheep' because he did not drink. He has scars from the memories of all the fussing and fighting to last a lifetime. He also stood by his father's bedside as he gasped his last breath, dying from lung cancer. His dad was a lifelong smoker, too. So I do have these experiences. But dd knows these facts. How could she be led astray by this? Leaves me bewildered. :confused:

We have reason to believe he may have had a drug problem in his past (maybe present?). We know he drinks. I imagine that is where the paycheck goes. She may be joining in to keep the peace? It surely goes outside her character, but now that she acts like a different person, who knows. We are a non-smoking, non-drinking, quiet and plain-vanilla sort of family, so it is surreal to think about. It's just all so sad. I just hurt about it every time I think about her, which is every day. We wanted so much happiness for her. I will keep writing her sweet notes, but she will, most likely, continue to write back with harsh, shameful words. Yes, she does appear to be 'full of shame'. Poor, poor, lost daughter of mine. I love her so.

You ladies just radiate well trained minds. You are so kind and wise. Thank you. It has been exhausting, these last few days. I have indeed tried the loving approach of 'remember we are here, we are a safe place, our door is always open and you can always count on us when times get rough'. She is so raw and emotional all the time now, she took even those statements said with my love as a threat. She raises her voice, screaming she will never leave him...never. I wasn't asking her to. I just desperately need to keep our communication lines open and she wants them closed. She isn't satisfied with my 'how are things down your neck of the woods?' emails or my calls with no real topic. She wants more. She wants us to like him. Respect him. Tell her how wonderful he is. I just can't go that far. I would wretch. So I keep my talking with her *safe* and it just isn't enough to satisfy her. I feel like an awful person who never says the right thing. My mother and sister both gave them warm welcomes into their home after they were married, and kept telling me to 'give him a chance'...I was just quiet then...and now they have washed their hands of them saying how awful it is. I am in pain here that I can't go and rescue her. She doesn't think she needs rescuing. I know all things work together for ultimate good. Right now I can't imagine what that will be. I am embarrassed that I am worrying about myself now, but I am getting old and tired and I have run out of patience. I am pondering all you have advised me. I believe things will get better one day. I have to believe that. Again, a million thanks to you all~

I am reading each post again and again. I started to write another 'book' but I don't need to burden you too much. I guess it just comes down to the pain associated with 'accepting' him. I've tried for a year to just talk to her, about her, and she always wants to bring him up in the conversation. I have had to subconsciously pretend he just wasn't there...to keep from saying 'we told you so'. Last week we had a wonderful talk, and she shared all sorts of things, just like old times. :) I was careful with my every word. He floats from 1 crummy job to another, and she has $25.00 each week for groceries for the 3 of them. Of course he still needs to buy 2 cases of cigarettes each week. She now works nights as a waitress. My mother and sister live near her, and she keeps borrowing money from them. Very embarrassing. She will never be the same. Neither will we. I know we are all products of our choices, and yet the parent inside me can't let go of the grief of her 'unraveling'. All that talent, all that incredible sweetness and giving spirit. Wasted on someone like him. He won't change because he sees himself as incredibly brilliant and strong because of all his life experiences. Sheesh. She had other opportunities with young men at school, but never took them seriously because she told me she was so focused on her studies. She said he 'convinced' her. Frightening. It could have been so different. I keep praying that she will see. We don't want to be 'right'. But everything we warned her of has indeed happened. I just want to stay curled up in my shell and hide. So if she learned anything at home, it was surely faithfulness and tenacity. Now if she can just find the wisdom that goes along with those...Just know how much your thoughts have blessed me today. Now I need to go hug my other 3 daughters~

What do you do? This is a very complicated, messy, unbelievable event in our family that has unfolded over the last 2 years. I am trying to get my mind wrapped around it, still. I know that without details, you cannot possibly know how to advise me, but I am so empty at this point, I would value any bit of wisdom you would care to share. Cliff Notes version: Hubby lost job 2 years ago, found new job in new state. Oldest dd was going into her senior year of college. She stayed behind to finish. She is intelligent, high IQ, full scholarship, talented artist. We were grieving at the separation, she was excited with new-found freedom. She meets man. Awful man. College drop-out. From a terrible, abusive home. He needs dd to take care of him and his 15 year old sister who has been emotionally abused by his alcoholic father. DD lies to us to hide his reputation. She makes up wonderful things about him. We meet him for the first time at dd's graduation. He is awful. Never seen an uglier human, really. He is loud and obnoxious. He is prideful and rude. She hangs on his every narcissistic word. We talk for hours, advising her, warning her. We leave for home. They elope. Now her life is a mess. Poverty, bill collector calls, mental abuse toward our dd, his sister lives with them and they both smoke in dd's face. On and on the mess goes. In spite of it all, she *loves* him and is standing by him while he pulls her farther and farther away from everyone who has known and loved her. She has become paranoid and looks at us as the 'enemy'. She insists she will no longer communicate with us until we fully accept him as our son in law. We stand here, states away, crying at her complete change. She is another person and we do not know her at all. All our words of kindness and encouragement fall to the ground, ignored. I feel as though she has died. I do not know how to continue. We have tried kindness. We have tried loving honesty. We have tried patient waiting. She is our daughter and we love her and care deeply for her wellbeing. She is being torn apart because of her loyalty to him. She is under his control and we fear for her. He hated his parents and blames them for his dreadfully unsuccessful life. Now he has convinced her to do the same. She writes me awful, mean and disrespectful emails. Her calls are short and impatient. She hates us because we despise him and what he has done to our precious daughter. I am completely empty and have no more words to share with her. She has told me she has a *new* family now. It's all a really bad dream and I can't wake up. What can I do now? I guess I feel cheated...I thought this sort of thing never happened to a happy, homeschooling family. Thank you for listening to my scrambled thoughts today. Blessings to all~

what a wacky, well, how do you describe that thing? I didn't notice that when I read the recipe, since I already had 'meatloaf pan' in my mind...Maybe the op is a plastic surgeon?? :D Ginger

I wrote it down to keep for a busy school day. It sounds yummy! Ginger

...and was told by a naturopathic doc to omit nightshades from her diet. Tomatoes, green peppers, eggplant, as well as citrus fruits for a while. You can always reintroduce them and see how your symptoms react. Ginger

Maybe she is developing some *sugar* issues? One of my daughters is so we are really watching the sweets that come into the house because they will go directly into her mouth. ;) Ginger

Is that the one by the Diamonds? I did recently meet a family who went on it together and lost a TON of weight together. Good luck! Ginger

Bless her heart. Wasn't that wonderful that they were reporting about her asking her callers kindly to wait since her son was reading to her just then? :) Ginger

...our hopes for a large garden were in vain. I do have friends with large gardens, though, who all seem to do the same things with their harvest. They plant in waves so they have a continual harvest through the season for regular meals. Then they take a week off school for major canning and do green beans, spaghetti sauce and salsa, peaches, all the things they get a huge harvest from. Veggies they get tons of at a time like zucchini and peppers they chop and dehydrate which is very quick and doesn't need much storage space. Some things like corn can be done in big batches with simple scraping tools and frozen. As far as the weeding, they use the Flylady technique of 'just a little bit each day'. So each morning while it is still cool, they hoe 1 row with one of those horseshoe-shaped scraping hoes...easy and quick. Take care. Ginger

You may feel as though you are falling off the homeschooling map, but you are also beginning to draft a new map. It will take time to fill in those uncharted waters, but your map will be just as useful, just as necessary, just as valuable. Peace~ Ginger

I have been wanting an affordable herbal course for 4 years. Believe me, I have searched. I had finally decided to do a course but just never could get the stomach to spend all that cash (around $300.00 with books and herbs included, but still...). So last fall I started purchasing books like Growing 101 Herbs (great) and the beautiful Family Herbal by Rosemary Gladstar (whose name I am in love with). My 15dd wants to learn about herbs with me, so I was under the gun to find something I could afford and use for a 1 credit elective course for her this year. This should fit the bill. Blessings~ Ginger

Every time I step on it, just KNOWING I will have lost, it's either the same or I have gained. So then I spend days being depressed and angry, blah blah blah, and I just wish I hadn't gotten on the silly scale and instead enjoyed the feeling of success. :001_smile: Positive thinking surely counts for something!

You have an Aunt Flo...and I have a *George*. ;)

Now that's what I call a casual work environment! ;)