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MyThreeSons

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Everything posted by MyThreeSons

  1. I use Google Maps for my general navigation. And I have my banks', library system's, and local news stations apps installed. The local news app can be both helpful and annoying. Helpful when it gives me useful alerts, such as weather warnings, traffic delays and major breaking stories. Annoying when it alerts me that they have set the kickoff time for the local football game, or what they have named the new baby princess. I love the games Flow Free, 1010 and 2048, but they can be addicting. I also have a suite of Logic Games that I adore.
  2. This is one of the books that my son has studied this semester in the gap year program he is attending. The following is excerpted from the message we parents received about that unit: "The purpose of the trip is to challenge students to wrestle through how the Church should practically seek to comfort, love, meet the needs, and advocate for the poor, widows, the hungry, those sex trafficked, orphans, and those abused and alone. Students will be thinking through questions like: How do we seek justice where there is injustice, mercy where there is guilt, and love where there is shame?, Who are my neighbors that Jesus is calling me to love?, If God is good, how could he allow some of these tragic issues to exist?, There are so many needs, and it seems overwhelming, where do I start and how do properly engage so I don’t burn out or hurt those I’m trying to help? Each day here, we are learning about new issues and how to practically work towards the transformation of people, cultures, and systems for the glory of God. For example, in the mornings we will discuss a topic like orphans, then later we will be preparing and packing meals or writing notes to them, all the while we learn about our adoption as children of God into His family and the implications this has for how we live out the Gospel. Another day, we will learn about the injustices of hunger and then later serve with and learn from organizations who address this injustice every day."
  3. UPDATE: So, while I pondered exactly what I should say in the letter to the Elder Board, they went ahead and released us from our membership at the church. I received a letter from the pastor telling me they had done this. Fine. The letter indicated that there may be some outstanding issues that have not been resolved. This is true. However, I am disappointed, although not surprised, that instead of asking me to sit down and discuss the issues, I was simply instructed to forgive. Which is a big part of the overriding unresolved issue I have with the leadership at this church: when someone has an issue, the counsel is universally that the person who has been offended is at fault for being offended. I get that, as Christians, we are called to forgive. But at this church, I can forgive and forgive, while the offending party is never called out about the original offense. And the hurtful words and actions continue, while the hurt are told they are "too sensitive" and must forgive, although no apology is offered nor is forgiveness asked for. On one level, I am relieved to have been released from this vicious cycle. On another level, I am still so frustrated that they cannot see that something ought to change.
  4. I have no idea. I'm hoping that my vegan-eating son and his girlfriend will be here. He will have to let me know what to fix. He was vegetarian for a few years before he left home, but vegan for only a short while, so I'm not up to speed with all that.
  5. Oh, man. It looks some of yours are too young to expect to make it to the bathroom on time. And even if they could, with so many, it could well be occupied. That's the record in one house as far as I've ever heard of. The all-time worst I've known of, though, involved a bus load of high schoolers returning from a Missions Trip to Mexico. They literally hosed down some of the kids as they got off the bus, and were headed off to do the same to the inside of the bus itself. My son somehow managed to not get sick until we picked him up at the church.
  6. I am extremely grateful that my son will be catching a ride home with a fellow student.
  7. Every year around the holidays, our State Attorney General publishes his annual Scrooges and Angels list of charitable organizations operating in our state. It lets us know how organizations do as far as percentage of donated money actually going to do the advertised work.
  8. I read a suggestion one time that I thought was great, but I haven't followed up on it much: Keep an eye out for casserole dishes and such at yard sales, and use those when taking mercy meals to someone. Be sure to tell them to keep the dish or pass it along.
  9. I often go to one of two B&Ns in our area to sit and grade papers while waiting for ds. One of them is always quiet. The other is mostly quiet, but if I pull into a fuller than usual parking lot, I know that they are holding a special event. This particular store is very involved in the community, and will hold book fairs and other fundraisers for local schools, allow a dancing school to do a presentation, the community group does a promo for their upcoming production, etc. When kids are involved, it can get a little chaotic. These seem to happen about once a month or so. A couple of weeks ago, I walked in to find that they had some tech/geek stuff set up. There was a company that had a couple of 3D printers going, along with lots of samples and other material. It was fascinating!
  10. Actually, the opposite is true: this one Elder was very much open to listening to what I had to say. What he was saying was that there was no use in talking to the other Elders about any of it.
  11. I don't know that closure is possible. I had a 45-minute phone conversation with an Elder from the old church as I summarized my grievances. He had called me to check on us as we hadn't attended the church in many weeks. He listened well and we had a good discussion. I then offered to meet with the Elder Board to discuss the issues and answer any questions. He said that he didn't believe that would be a good idea. And *that* is part of the problem. I can no longer bear to sit under leadership who aren't humble enough to want to understand the heart of the problems that would lead such a long-time member to leave.
  12. After 17-1/2 years, I verbally resigned membership from our church today. I plan to follow up with a written letter to the Elders. I'm experiencing a weird combination of grief, relief, sadness, and excitement about what is in store for us. Soon after the phone call from an Elder at the old church, I had an hour-long meeting with the pastor of the new church we have been attending. It went well. Updated in a post below.
  13. Thank you. It was a long day, but we made it. My sister in law and I cooked and set up pretty much all day, as most everyone else had to work yesterday. We had aimed for eating at 6:00, but the turkey took longer than planned (doesn't it always?) and we ate at 6:30. We only had about 25 for dinner. Six of Granny's seven children were able to be there, but we didn't have most of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren -- she just wasn't up to that. A few stopped by earlier in the day, and more will be there throughout the weekend, I expect.
  14. My plans for today got a last-minute change yesterday. My sister in law called to say that the doctor said my mother in law is going downhill quickly and may not make it through the holidays. We had originally planned to have a small Thanksgiving dinner tonight at mother in law's house -- just eight of us -- so that sister in law's kids could be with her tonight and then with their in-laws tomorrow. Now, everyone is coming to mother-in-law's tonight. Which means that I am headed over there now to help sister in law fix dinner for the crowd -- which could be upwards of 60 or 70 people, depending on how many can work it in at the last minute.
  15. Well, the thing about email is that you have a record of exactly what you communicated, whereas if it's done verbally, there can be disagreement about what was said.
  16. I get that. I just thought it was the "right" thing to do, and that one deals with the skin and hair issues as a consequence of swimming.
  17. I posted a reply on the Edmodo site that started with "For those of you who do not live in the M____ home, .....". :laugh:
  18. I teach Physics at our homeschool Co-op. I have established a class Edmodo discussion board where students may discuss homework problems with each other and I can chime in to help out. This afternoon, one of my students posted a question about a problem she was struggling with. Her brother, who is also in the class, replied, "I'm downstairs in the living room. I can show you."
  19. I haven't read the other thread, but these two statements jumped out at me. I've always been taught that one should rinse off all lotions and such before entering a pool.
  20. No, but I can point you to a conservative Presbyterian pastor friend of mine who I think would probably agree with your pastor.
  21. We went 15 years with zero coverage for me. We simply couldn't afford it. Our sons had Medicaid for several years, but when dh retired, we became ineligible, so we went a few years with no coverage for anyone except dh, who has both Medicare and VA coverage. The first year of the ACA, I enrolled in the cheapest possible plan for me, but only used it to cover a few prescriptions, written by our family doctor who was not in the plan. Youngest ds was caught in the gap because of his age -- the feds said he needed to be on the state medicaid plan, but the state said he didn't qualify. He aged out of the state plan before any appeal to them could be processed, This year, we have been very pleased with the plan we have for the two of us, and I planned to continue it for next year. My early research is showing that our portion of the subsidized premiums will go up almost 50%, while our deductibles will double. It is likely that we will still go with this plan, although it will be tough. I am still paying off several medical bills from this year.
  22. My Co-op students often use a technique of folding the corners of their papers to "fasten" them together. It may work well for them, but when I have a big stack of papers, it doesn't help me much.
  23. I have somewhere in the neighborhood of 7000 messages in my inbox. Periodically, I will purge them. I do this by sorting by sender, and then click-scroll-shift-click to delete a bunch at a time. One of the worst offenders is a homeschool group I belong to that overlaps with another group, so I often receive double messages that I don't bother reading. I will sometimes go in and click on the "unsub" link to try to stop receiving messages from someone I don't want to hear from.
  24. I have wondered about this product myself. I have seen it for much less (like about $9, I think) in one of the Science supply catalogs I receive.
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