:iagree: it's funny too, that even today, my friends parents remain Mr/Mrs. LastName and I'm 45! It's how we were taught to respect elders. I introduce my children to adults using Mr/Mrs. LastName and I do prefer being called Mrs. LastName since I am not their friend. Friends can use my first name or my nickname, not my kids friends.

We carry full coverage as long as the value of the car far exceeds the premium payment for the coverage; otherwise a total loss would cost much more than the premium does for the years remaining we'll drive the car. For example, when DH's Trooper was long before paid off, the premium to continue full coverage (collision and comprehensive, not liability) was $400 a year of the total we paid for the premium. When someone drove into it, while it was parked, and totaled it, I was certainly glad we decided to continue coverage, the insurance company cut us a check for $7800, what the Trooper was worth when it was totaled, which we used to buy another car with some of our savings. If we hadn't had coverage, we'd have had to finance a new car rather than pay it in full because we wouldn't have had enough money to buy a new used car at that point in time.

With DS7, I was out and about the day he was due, a few hours before my weekly OB appointment that day. Yup, heard from a couple of people they thought I was nuts being out doing things the day I was due....I wasn't in labor, so why stay home? At the OB appointment I was sent over to the hospital since my fluid levels were low, induced and still waited and waited - when that didn't work, I had a c-section two days later. With DS1, I was out and about the day I was scheduled for my c-section (three days before his due date) and again, some thought I was nuts to be out and about and actually doing things. Again, I wasn't in labor, so why stay home, my surgery wasn't until late in the morning and I felt fine!

Camping stores or online sites, or Amazon.com.

Wikitravel Arezzo

The entire Tuscany region is breath-taking and beautiful....I was in residence there for about two months a few years ago and seriously tried to come up with a way to stay, it was that amazing. Florence itself is, IMO, a great city to live in, I spent the majority of my time in a rented apartment there (two blocks from the Duomo), so lived like a local and loved it. Outside of Florence my favorites were Arezzo and Sienna, although the smaller towns were wonderful too! Livorno, on the coast, is also really nice if you want to hit the coast (Pisa is very touristy).

Swim team and martial arts, alternating days all week (swim team M-W-F, martial arts T-TH), worked like magic with my crazy-active 7yo...tuckers him out and definitely helps him burn off his energy effectively! On weekends DH does a lot of active things with him too - open mat for martial arts on Saturday they do together, then on Sunday's they'll go hiking, biking or swimming for fun together.

Italy, somewhere just outside Florence.

Can you soak them in ice water to keep them cold? Ice water also helps the yolks stay yellow and not turn that weird green around the yolk!

While lifestyles have changed somewhat, I don't think it's that everyone expects the fancy house, car or heaps of electronics that necessitates two incomes for many a family - but that wages are not what they used to be in terms of real dollars. Growing up my mother didn't work, my dad was a mechanic (very blue collar) for a large city fleet of buses and yet we didn't want for anything. My parents rented and saved to buy their first home and paid cash when they did (the first house cost the equivalent of 50% of my dad's salary and it took my parents seven years to save that up). Since we lived in a rural area, we had two cars and my dad commuted an hour each way to work since that was less than living closer to the city he worked. Like another poster, we didn't get cable wiring laid until I was in high school, but once it was available, we had it; we also had a VCR earlier than many and a host of other electronics. Interestingly, my parents did not have any credit cards other than my mom having a Macy's card she got before she married my dad.....they got their first credit card when they traveled for their 25th anniversary to Europe and needed it to rent a car! We took vacations each year - nothing fancy or outrageously expensive, but definitely memorable and usually other family tagged along too (cousins, aunts, uncles) wherever we were all going - Jersey shore, Cape Cod, etc. Everyone pitched in to rent a house since that was more cost effective than going to hotels. Paternal Grandparents My dad's parents had 12 kids, so my grandmother didn't work. My grandfather was a master baker and while they often struggled, they did manage with one income. Only after all their kids were out of the house did my grandmother go to work part-time, to relieve boredom! She called her earnings her "pin money" - my grandfather's income still paid all the bills, hers was hers to with what she wished and he would not tolerate her money being used for household expenses. Maternal Grandparents My grandfather was a postal carrier and my grandparents lived on his salary. My grandmother didn't work and never wanted to; heck, she didn't want to be a mom either and they abandon my mother when she was six weeks old, leaving her to be raised by my grandmother's mother (my great-grandmother). Paternal Great-Grandparents They never came to the US, but from what my grandparents told me, both sets were well off in Germany and it was coming to the US where they, my grandparents, found it more difficult to get established and make it - but they did. I don't know for sure, but it did not sound like my great-grandmothers on my dad's side worked, but I don't know for sure since they may have, it wasn't' explicit in conversations I had with my grandparents growing up. Maternal Great-Grandparents My mother's dad's parents both died before he was 10, his dad right after his younger brother was born. His mother lived on money they saved before he died and then she died and my grandfather went to live with his aunt (his mother's sister) with his brother. She didn't work, only her husband did. My mother's mother's parents raised her after my grandparents abandon her six weeks after she was born. My great-grandfather had recently "retired" due to illness and was on a small pension of some sort, but my great-grandmother went back to work and she worked full-time as a corseteer (sic?) and was the breadwinner with my great-grandfather staying home with my mother (imagine that in the 40's!). They lived basically on her salary since, as my great-grandmother recounted when she was older, my great-grandfather pissed his away in the bars (me thinks he was an alcoholic, but no one would come out and just say that). ----------------- I don't think today it absolutely takes two salaries to manage, but I do acknowledge that things are different. Often it really doesn't make sense for a spouse to work since their income takes the family into a higher tax bracket and the cost of working adds even more of a financial burden than it resolves. I consider myself very lucky that DH is an MD and we can manage nicely on just his salary - but we also managed when he made significantly less money (like 75% less) in a very high cost of living area. In that situation it took a lot of planning and juggling, but we managed because it was important for us that I stay home, so I did it and managed. Now we're in a different financial situation, but I still plan and budget and don't waste money - neither of us do because neither of us grew up in homes where money wasn't an issue at times and we saw our parents scrimp and save and budget, so we learned to do that too.

I'm more classic clothes and when I need to shop, I like: Talbot's Nordstrom (when they have a good sale) J Crew Jones New York LL Bean Eddie Bauer

If you have him take the tax deductions, that means you lose the tax credits and the personal deduction per child. Personally, if the kids lived with me, I'd be the one to take the deduction since they live with me, I'm managing everything for them, and I'm likely the one arranging and paying for childcare.

I'm not a tax person, but I think it comes down to who has custody and pays for the majority of things related to the kids. Do you or he pay for childcare? By that, I don't mean paying child support, but who pays the childcare provider. If he's paying child support, that doesn't necessarily mean he gets to take the tax deduction for the kids if they live with you and you have primary or sole custody. I do think this is something you should talk to a tax adviser about since there are many scenarios that come into play - like who takes care of most things, where the kids live most of the time, who pays for childcare, who pays for the majority of their living expenses (like clothing, food, etc.).

This may sound blunt, but parent is an adult, married and not under your care, so really whether they stay home - even against medical advice - really isn't for you to decide for them. It really doesn't matter if you think their life choices are bad, detrimental or risky - what matters is what they and their spouse have decided and are doing together. You don't have to agree, you don't have to like it, but there is really not much you can do to prevent the natural consequences they'll face in their decision for parent to stay home. It is their decision and their consequences - stay out of it and wish them the best.

DH is an MD

I wear my engagement ring, but rarely my wedding band. DH doesn't wear his wedding band daily, only on some occasions, due to his work and constant washing of his hands.

Whole life does indeed last your lifetime, however you pay a huge premium for that term of coverage. For us at least, the question was, how long do we really need to have a lot of money if DH dies? What amount would protect us if something happened? The way the policies are stacked now, we have maximum coverage until DH is 60, then one policy terminates. At that point, the house will be paid off, so the larger sum to pay the mortgage is no longer an issue for me and the boys. The next policy terminates when DH is 70. The third when he is 80 and the last when he is 90. If he lives longer than 90, and I'm still around too, when he dies in his 90's, nope, I'll get nothing. But really, what would I need at that point? ykwim? You can buy a term policy with length of term to whatever you need. We opted to stack four different policies based on our needs now and what we feel we'll need in the future. You can do one large policy for 40 years (or longer) or do a bunch of smaller policies that "stack" and provide coverage that's higher now and slowly diminishes with time as you age and need less if something were to happen because your mortgage is paid, your kids are on their own, etc.

A friend of mine was recently in such a position where she had to consider selling stuff while in the middle of a divorce. My advice to her was that if it could be replaced, it could be sold immediately - once back on her feet, she could buy it again or choose something better - but getting over the hump was more important than the stuff. She sold her jewelry, most of her furniture, a ton of clothes, and lots of knick-nacks.....says it was the best thing she did, it purged her of things she didn't need (that at the time she thought she did) and really gave her the financial boost she needed to start again.

Personally I think the asking price is still too high; the retail is $4,192....private party is $2,500-3,200, with the highest amount being for a cream-puff.....trade-in is between $1,800-$2,300, again highest amount is for a cream-puff. In my experience, the low to mid end of private party is usually pretty fair for the price you want to pay since it's close to the trade-in value, but still more than trade-in, so the person selling is still doing better than at a dealer with trading the car in. The only way I'd ever pay the high end for private party is if the car really was a total cream-puff, had all service records, new tires and had already had the 60,000 mile tune up (since it's close and if it's not done, you'll need to do it yourself). In this case too, I'd want to know that belts, hoses and other things that deteriorate with time or mileage are also either new or in excellent shape since the mileage is low, but the age of the car means they're older than mileage means. You also need the VIN to see if it's really second owner and if the car has ever been in an accident!

Butt cheek - alternate when you change it, and keep it below the panty line at your waist so it doesn't get rubbed by the waist of your panties (also be sure the leg of your panties isn't rubbing it either).

As long as no one is allergic to either, it should be fine!

We'll actually wrap up everything I'd planned for in mid-May, but our school year officially ends June 30th. We'll go to a lighter schedule mid-May, continue with just reading and math, then start with the new school year's plan July 1, but a light load until mid-August. We just keep going, on to the next thing, once we finish up something, since we do school year round.

DS7 is a second grader and we do more than an hour a day, just break it up. Phonics 30 min daily Reading 30 min x 2 times in a day daily Handwriting 15 min daily Spelling 30 min 2x a week Grammar 30 min 3x a week Reading/Listening Comprehension 15 min 2x a week Writing 15 min 3x a week Basically 2 hours a day!

A Beka Book Displays If you input your zip code on the above linked page, it'll return dates and times where an A Beka rep will be displaying books that you can go and look at before buying.

I planned we'd do two levels this year (7yo 2nd grader) and we're now in AAS3. You'll definitely be able to do two levels, maybe three, maybe even four....I'd say plan three, then if you don't get to the third level, you have extra money for next year!