My best friend from highschool works with Japanese culture (she's a curator for Japaneses exhibits at a local library). She's given my girls some manga over the years. To be honest upfront, I've NOT read all of these, so definitely you'll want to review them. But I've been told that they're pretty friendly for my DD8. ChocoMimi Series (http://www.amazon.com/ChocoMimi-Vol-1-Konami-Sonoda/dp/1421527588). From my look at these, they really play into "fashion crazy" "frills, sparkles, and all things glam" ideology. For my fashion-lover DD who doesn't get a lot of fashion in her world, I'm okay with these. They also do recipes and stuff in the manga. It's not a book with a single long stories; it looks like short little skits throughout the book. DD likes these. Yotsuba&! (http://www.amazon.com/Yotsuba-Vol-1-Kiyohiko-Azuma/dp/0316073873). Silly little girl and her friends/family. She tends to get into ridiculous and goofy predicaments.

I'm an extreme introvert, so I've thought of this quite a few times. For me, I'd have to be cautious not to completely isolate myself. I'd live in a small apartment on the beach/beach area (walking distance). Studio-sized would be fine. No animals, except maybe a few beautiful fish in a perfect tank. I'd love a balcony to grow big pots of herbs. I'd go to the gym at least 5x/week, hire a trainer, and focus on being healthy. I'd do more cooking (because it'd be just for me, and I can cook what I want!). I'd work... maybe in a bookstore? Or a small library? Somewhere small, surrounded by books, mostly quiet. I'd be active in book clubs and other groups (to keep myself from isolating). I'd spent most of my nights alone, drinking a glass of wine and doing crafts while watching television. :) I've been married for 10 years (since I was 22), so it's hard for me to imagine my life like this. That being said, I think pondering the ideal of what a single life could be is a good exercise for me, because it brings me ideas that I can incorporate into my "real life right now" that would be just for me. For example, I can't promise 5 days at the gym, but I can go back to my trainer, do the gym a few days a week, and have the trainer create easy and do-able home workouts. I can't watch TV, drink wine, and do crafts in front of the television every night - but one night a week when I don't work, DH can take off early to do bedtime so I can spend time crafting in front of the TV with a glass of wine...

My 8 and 7 year olds started Spanish this year (they spent a year in a local charter school). We have done Latin since Kindergarten with them ( started with Song School). I'd say not to stress yourself out over it, and it's certainly not ever too late to start a language. If you want to start one with them, maybe pick something gentle and fun for an introduction to a language for the year, and see how it goes.

Etsy. Search "busy bags".

Worth it. It's not a hard process, really. And you can always call Apple Tech Support if you get stuck, and they'll walk you through it. Super basics, but in case you want the steps in front of you when you're doing it: How to create a backup in iTunes or iCloud: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203977 How to restore a backup from iTunes or iCloud: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204184

And nearly all are incredibly competitive (at least nearly all that I've met), so the power plays and whatnot aren't uncommon...

That was my guess, too. DH is in sales; he's fairly normal, but this is the type of thing I have seen happen when there are a few of them in competition for something. Albeit, this seem pretty extreme for a power-play, but I'm guessing that the alcohol contributed to that...

There really aren't any words, but I'm so sorry. How unfair and horrific that you had to endure that. I'm angry for you! My brother is a Catholic priest, and I can say for sure he would have been horrified to see her representing Catholics that way.

That's good to know.

Never had them pickled. Then again, I only get nachos in a few places, so I don't have tons of experience. I think you can probably go either way and be fine.

Seriously. I mean, this is a LOT of effort for a total of, what $20 in payoff? Scary - I'm glad you caught it, though!

I own it and have always wondered the same thing.

Look at GPS that have traffic, and, if possible, include lifetime traffic updates (I know it sounds like wasted money, but eventually you're pretty much forced into updating your maps and/or traffic). :) Good luck with the shopping!

Awesome, thanks!

DH sold commercial GPS for fleets of vehicles, so I know a bit about it. Our stand-alone GPS in our car is Garmin. There are others (Tom-Tom is popular), but DH prefers Garmin. Make sure, if you buy the Garmin, to spend the extra money upfront to buy the one with lifetime maps - it's more pricey up front, but considering how much each map update is as a stand-alone, it pays to get the lifetime maps upfront.

I'm waiting for my LiPS materials to come for DD. Her school was (laboriously) teaching her sight words - it is very, very slow. But OTOH, she's so proud of the three or four words she can sight read. Should I continue trying to go through sight words with her? Or is that going to be counterproductive once we get into the full swing of Barton?

How does that work? I thought that credit cards couldn't be processed if the billing zipcode doesn't match up? That's terrifying...

they added their own address and billing address to your account so they could use their card under your account? Why on earth??

Hard to tease them apart without an evaluation, because there is so much overlap. My second DD (6 years old) has only dyslexia, but it impacts her writing and math also... So, yeah, an evaluation to tease apart what is actually going on is a good place to start. If your insurance or your neuropsych requires a referral, yeah, I'd start at the primary care doctor.

Hard to tease them apart without an evaluation, because there is so much overlap. My second DD (6 years old) has only dyslexia, but it impacts her writing and math also... So, yeah, an evaluation to tease apart what is actually going on is a good place to start. If your insurance or your neuropsych requires a referral, yeah, I'd start at the primary care doctor.

My kids never went for MM. I've tried it quite a few times... they just don't go for it. I wish they did like it, because it's a great curriculum. :(

I wouldn't wear them (they'd look awful on me, my thighs are too thick). But I don't think they're a horrific alternative to yoga pants for someone whom they look nice on. I'm a big fan of knowing what suits you and going with it.

Always Icecream/Clever Dragons, IXL, netflix, amazon streaming, Discovery Education, Mark Kristler online drawing, TenMarks Math, researching topics of interest, emailing my parents, etc. No filter; time limit at my discretion (like, they don't spend all day on it, but I also don't make them turn it off in the middle of an email).

As I'm planning next year, got curious about what everyone else is using... All I know for sure with DD6: - LiPS, then into Barton when she's ready - Ronit Bird (Dot Patterns book, then C-Rods book) Not sure about anything else.... You?

I'm nervous that I won't be able to teach her effectively. Sounds like the LiPS part of the progress can take a while.. that's actually what I was thinking, considering how bad her discrimination abilities are at this point. We're just going to go slowly but steadily... she'll get there. :)