Yes. It's been a tradition in my family for at least four generations. Reader's Digest is great in there. I also like to read while taking a bath. I generally avoid library books while in the tub, but not always.

Just curious: Did you do anything special to celebrate your 25th anniversary? Two years ago, or last year? :laugh:

I put in several hours trying to find a doctor that is "fluent" in the particular issues my son is facing is in our insurance network is taking new patients is not a pediatrics doctor (at 19yo, some peds doctors will still see him, but at 6'5", most peds offices don't "fit" him well) I finally found one, but the first appointment she has available is July 8th. I grabbed that one, but asked if we could be put on a waiting list in case something opens up before then. The gal on the phone said "Sure!", and I could hear her talking to herself as she wrote something down or put it into the computer. When she was done, she told me "You should call back every few days to see if someone has canceled an appointment." :confused1: Ummm .... I thought that's what the waiting list was for. I thought that when they got a cancellation, they would check with the first person on the waiting list to see whether they wanted that slot. If not, they'd go down the list. Do they really want people calling every few days to check? And then, does the first person to call get the slot rather than the person at the top of the list? What's the purpose of the list?

When I was a class officer in high school, I had to sell tickets for some event. The staff member who was handing out the tickets to us was going by the serial numbers printed on the tickets, which started with some not-round number; let's say it was 768. He was supposed to be giving us each 10 tickets, so he gave the first person 768 through 778, then next person would get 779 through 789, then 790 through 800, etc. He looked at the starting number for each group, and added 10 to it. I pointed out that he was actually giving everyone 11 tickets, not 10. He said no, do the math. Everyone looked at me like I was an idiot. Eventually, I got everyone to count their tickets and they agreed that they had 11. He argued with us. I finally got him to understand when I took it back down to two tickets: start with ticket number 768 and give me two tickets. What's my upper number? 769. What's 769 - 768? One. So if he wanted to give us 10 tickets, he needed to add nine to the starting number in the group.

Yeah, that makes sense. I just remember camping out at my grandparents' cabin near Boulder Creek and waking up to find a banana slug had joined us overnight. Ewwww.....

I totally don't understand how there's any confusion about this. Is the OP's husband also confused about how old he is? ETA: I had forgotten about the custom in some Asian countries where a person is considered "one" on their birthdate. Maybe the OP's dh has something like that in mind. ETA, again: No, that explanation doesn't make sense, because if that were the case, the OP's dh would be saying they're celebrating 28 years this year, not 26 as he's claiming Sigh .....

How about a banana slug? Those are always exciting to stumble across while hiking through the redwoods.

No such luck. The editor has been identified. For the record, reporters do not typically write the headlines, because they have no idea where on the page the article is going to appear, how many columns wide it will be, whether it's the most important story on the page, etc. There is actually quite a craft to coming up with appropriate, succinct headlines. Sometimes they have to add, delete or change words to make it fit. And sometimes there are big fails, like this one.

It's a shame that the reporter's name is associated with the article, while the editor who wrote the headline may be able to remain anonymous.

True, but there is also something to be said for a teen driving a minivan: he's much less likely to do foolish things in a minivan. No racing, no acting the fool to impress the girls, etc.

I am done homeschooling, although I still teach at a homeschool co-op. I still come here for chatting and occasionally for curriculum advice for the classes I teach. I like that I can ask a question about my take on an issue and get lots of responses from people of various political and religious persuasions. My FB friends tend be pretty much of one mind.

I'm with you on this. I dare say that when I speak, unless it's a prepared speech, I don't always put together complete sentences. And I'm sure my subjects and verbs aren't always in agreement. My thought processes don't always flow logically from one point to the next. And when I'm emotionally invested in what I'm speaking about, even if I have made notes, I tend to ramble more. So I wouldn't assume that there were lies behind the disjointed answers.

When I was in college, the school had an early-release-to-school agreement with the state department of corrections. It wasn't well known, but we had paroled felons of several varieties on campus. It became well known when, in short order, one of the guys was arrested for murder, and another for raping two little girls. If I remember correctly, they didn't bring in any new participants after that, and phased out the program. I only knew about the program because I worked with one of the other guys in the program (a convicted murderer -- drug deal gone bad). He introduced me to one of his buddies, who was in the program, with neither of them being completely honest with me about why the buddy had been in prison. That season of my life took some bizarre twists and turns, to say the least.

I have tutored many homeschool math students over the years. Because many of them read their textbooks rather than having a classroom or video teacher, I have heard some interesting pronunciations. I tried to not laugh, and then gently use the correct pronunciation so that they wouldn't be embarrassed when they got to college. Some of the words (e.g. parabola, hyperbola, Phythagorean) are not words that come up in everyday conversation. But some, such as inventory, really surprised me. And one brilliant young lady seemed to have a British influence in her pronunciations, although she, her parents and her grandparents all grew up here in the Carolinas.

When I have seen someone on FB correct "wa-la" (that's the misspelling I see most often) the person being corrected has never said "I knew that -- it was just a joke." They are always surprised to find out that what they thought they were saying is actually spelled "voila".

I think some of these other examples might fall under the category of an "eggcorn". Check out this database of eggcorns: http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/

But the molestation incidents, police report and "forced" counseling all happened before the TV show started, right? So they were still very sheltered at that time.

The one time I had a seriously lost child, I was freaking out, and I couldn't remember much to describe the kid to the mall security guard. I was wracking my brain to remember what he was wearing, etc. My oldest son -- a whole 8yo at the time -- calmly said, "Show him the picture we took at Sears." In a bag in my hand were the proofs of the portraits we had just had made, LOL.

Here's my scoliosis story: Throughout my upper elementary and junior high school years, I had frequent bouts of bronchitis that developed into pneumonia. When the radiologist was reading the follow-up x-ray after one such episode, he noticed a curvature in my spine. He was able to go back and pull several other x-rays and see that the curve was indeed getting worse rather rapidly. He alerted the pediatrician, who called us in. The pediatrician knew of an orthopedic surgeon in our town who was very well known for working with scoliosis. He had several patients who flew up from the southern California and even from other Western states to see him. Of course, that's who we wanted to see. When my Mom called to get an appointment, she was told that he was no longer accepting new patients. Not one to be deterred, my Mom asked if he would take a patient who was a family member of an existing patient. The nurse said that yes, he would. So my Mom told her that Dr. A had treated her for a broken ankle when she was a little girl -- like 30 years earlier. The nurse counted that, and I got in. I loved that Dr! He was such a kind, gentle man. At that time, bracing and / or surgery were the standard treatments for scoliosis. But Dr. A was a little ahead of his time, I guess. My treatment primarily consisted of Physical Therapy. Looking back, I think it was mainly what would be called core-strengthening exercises. I did wear a soft figure-eight brace that pulled my shoulders back to help with my kyphosis for a few years, but I never had any other brace or surgery. I do still have a mild curve, and occasional back pain, but nothing severe.

Thanks, everyone. It went really well. I had the same tech who worked with my son a few weeks ago and she sort of remembered me. I got to wear a hospital gown with the opening in the front, so I didn't feel terribly exposed. It wasn't painful, but it was more uncomfortable than I had imagined. Lots of pressure in sensitive places. It took about one-third of the time as ds's echo, which I believe is a good sign. The tech couldn't really say anything, but I got the impression that she thought things looked good. I am well past child-bearing years, so that isn't a concern for me. It would have been nice, though, to have been screened before I did go through three births.

My son had an "abnormal EKG", many outward signs of Marfan, and a family history of Marfan, and it still took 10 days to get his echocardiogram done and another 5 days to get the results.

So there was something else on Thursday night? I knew about Wednesday -- I watched that -- and coming up tonight with the girls, but I hadn't heard anything about Thursday night. Is it available to watch online?

I really thought I was okay with this, but I woke up feeling nervous this morning. I am having an echocardiogram this afternoon. I don't have any obvious symptoms of anything going wrong, but 30 years ago my Dad was diagnosed with Marfan Syndrome, and last month my youngest son was also diagnosed with it. The probability of me not having it is pretty low -- like one in 40,000. A lot has become known about this condition in the last few decades. Family doctors years ago ruled out both me and my son having it, based on a now-outdated set of criteria. I do have many markers for the condition, although they are all presenting mildly right now. They will be looking for leaking valves and an enlarged aortic root. Ds has the enlarged aortic root, and will be monitored as it continues to enlarge. When it reaches a certain size, they will do preventative surgery so that it doesn't rupture. An optimal outcome for me today would be that there aren't any issues with my valves or aorta. Short of that, I really don't want to find that I need surgery anytime soon. The enlarged aortic root doesn't present outward symptoms until it starts to dissect, and then it becomes a life-threatening emergency and immediate surgery is needed. I observed ds's echo last month, so I know what to expect. It's not painful or anything, although I will have to lie on a table half naked while a stranger prods my chest. I hope I get the same tech who did my son's scan -- I liked her. I also know that the cardiologist reads the scan herself, so I will have to wait until next week to get the results. I expect the waiting to be the hardest part. Thanks for reading this far. Prayers appreciated, if you are so inclined.

One legal site I consulted (as I was disagreeing with an IRL friend about Christian counseling) said that even if the counseling is court-ordered, there is some leeway in choosing the counselor. The site specifically mentioned Christians seeking Christian counselors, saying that the court might have to approve the particular counselor. The site also mentioned that a vegetarian might want to find a counselor who, even if not a vegetarian himself, would at least be understanding and supportive of the client's chosen lifestyle. :laugh:

Well, evidently it is rather expensive right now. From an article in the San Jose Mercury-News: Desalinated water typically costs about $2,000 an acre foot -- roughly the amount of water a family of five uses in a year. The cost is about double that of water obtained from building a new reservoir or recycling wastewater, according to a 2013 study from the state Department of Water Resources. Here's the full article about what is in process, though: http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_25859513/nations-largest-ocean-desalination-plant-goes-up-near