We are going through a LOT of firewood! I did some baking, cleaning, got caught up on grading, had dinner ready and on the table ON TIME every night, and the kiddos cranked out a good amount of school work. Despite lowering the thermostat and keeping a steady fire going, the heater seems to be going constantly. This month's power bill is going to be horrid....

This isn't exactly what you all are talking about, but my BF shared with me during my first pregnancy that she KNEW I was preggo the minute I got into her car for a girls' day out. I had been charting my cycles very closely and that particular day she was speaking of was literally days from conception, and I didn't even know I was pregnant.

I'm so sorry, Scarlett. 😢

I chatted with a couple who volunteers at a processing location every year and they said they do indeed carefully inspect those packages and all items that aren't able to be shipped over are put to the side for local charities.

Was he the only fish in the tank? We've had fellow fish "clean up" dead fish in the past....

Wow. No. You are NOT being too sensitive. At.all.

In addition to Clarks, I've found quite a bit of Sketchers with Velcro straps (for those of you who are actually looking for a Velcro strap).

I have PF and I love my Clarks (complete with velcro strap)! They are a cute Mary Jane style, but let's be honest......comfort is priority.

We went to the show so she could at least watch some of the classes. English was today and western is tomorrow. She is going to give it another go tomorrow morning and hopefully "Miss Pony" will load and allow my dd to show her! Your stories are great! Great in that they help when I share with my dd, NOT great in what happened. I sincerely appreciate everyone sharing....what I wouldn't give to know what these equines are thinking sometimes. Wish us luck tomorrow! â¤ï¸ðŸ´

Thank you, everyone, for your kind words and stories. They are helping a lot! Creekland.....that is horrid. I'm so sorry that happened to you. Seasider- that is a great question. This particular pony has been to numerous training sessions and has loaded fine each time. We practice loading her throughout the year just to keep it from being a big scary experience. We were trying to load her in the dark (we needed to leave by 6:00) so I'm sure that made the trailer look like a big horrible, ugly monster to her. 😄 Plink- I've done that before.....I'm a horrible procrastinator..... Paula- you are SO right. Working with horses DOES build character! I'm upset for her obviously, but I'm also thankful for this little life experience. And being bucked off when it isn't typical behavior? Sigh. Little stinker! 😎 Yep. Horses are definitely unpredictable. That's what makes it soooooo fun! My daughter wouldn't agree with me though.....ha!

She had been preparing seriously for it with intense training the last month (been working on it since spring) and the pony would.not.load into the trailer. She (the pony) must have known something was up because come to find out our truck (with trailer attached in the middle of our street) completely died. She is devastated. Anyone have a similar story that you can share to help cheer her up? She needs to know this has happened to others as well.

Natural progesterone cream has given me the biggest improvement in my sleep and night sweats. I take d3, magnesium, and other supplements as well, but the progesterone has by FAR helped with the sleeping issues the most.

Another vote for CLE Language Arts- it has been incredibly thorough! ETA- we have been R&S users for many years and finally switched over to CLE this year- my personal opinion is that CLE is just as rigorous, but the format is much, much more conducive to actual learning and retaining of info for my kiddos.

Couldn't like this enough- so TRUE! But wait.... A former colleague insists that I'm not able to adequately "remediate" my dyslexic child because I'm not a "certified" Barton tutor. I am a former teacher who has a master's degree, and yet my efforts with Barton aren't effective because I haven't been officially "certified". Smh. Sorry.....turned into a mini rant. 😎

Am I the only one wondering if we are going to see a similar "support" sign for the male candidate? Life size jock straps anyone? Ha!

GiGi hard wax Works like a charm Available on Amazon 😎

i haven't had this happen but HAD to respond- I JUST had a vivid dream about having this happen to me last night. Funny timing of this thread!

My ds14 is the same exact way. Every single scout camp he attends has been an opportunity for him to purchase yet another "souvenir" knife.

You absolutely did the right thing for him. I'm so sorry for your hurt. 😢

YES! You described it exactly!! Thank you for sharing your experience...I feel better knowing someone has experienced this (though I'm sorry you have). I'm thinking it didn't like the drastic reduction in progesterone either- stopping the cream as well as the natural drop before your period...yikes! I'm definitely contacting my naturopath. Does anyone continue a smaller dose of progesterone through their period?

Thank you, Redsquirrel- Yeah, I think I am going to contact her on Monday. I really want to keep this going because I slept SO WELL on it and of course all the other benefits. But that darn anxiety....and only that one night.....I'm wondering if I taper off this next cycle instead of going from 1/2 tsp daily to bam- nothing. Weird. Just weird. It's the story of my body it seems as of late. Thanks for your thoughts!

I recently completed my first cycle using Emerita Pro-Gest cream. I used 1/8th tsp 2x a day for the first half of my cycle and 1/4 tsp 2x a day during the last half. Everything went GREAT until I stopped using it once my period started. Within 24 hours of completely stopping it, I had what I think was my first cluster of hot flashes, complete with anxiety. I couldn't sleep, felt incredibly anxious, and then had this intense warm/burning sensation up through my neck shoulders and head, followed by my heart beating oh so fast. This was followed by a period of chills and exhaustion. Rinse and repeat that cycle several times and that was what my first night without progesterone was like. I haven't had any symptoms since. So- a couple of questions.... 1- does this sound like hot flashes? 2- would stopping my progesterone cause this? I'm hoping to start up this regimen again in a few days and am REALLY hoping this was a one time experience because that anxiety was awful. Anyone else had this kind of experience? ETA- my progesterone levels are low (from blood work as well as symptoms). I'm also hoping to shrink a uterine polyp. My naturopath has me working on my adrenals to help my body make progesterone more effectively on its own.

My ds14 and I were just talking about this today. We call it " sweatshirt and flip flop weather" Aside from the last few days, the PNW has been exactly that. â¤ï¸

No no no no no mommy guilt hilltopmom. I let my kiddos allergies go for quite some time and I didn't have the health crisis you were experiencing. You are a very good mom- I'm so sorry for your loss and heartache. 😢 Many many hugs to you

I've experienced plenty of doctors shrugging off the need for specialists only to find out later they were wrong. I'm so sorry to come off sounding so rough! 😄 My daughter had her skin test a few months ago (her second one in 5 years....she added a few more allergens- gah!) and it was NOT cheap. We have now met our deductible and I'm planning on getting myself in for an updated allergy test before e end of the year. I hear you on the cost OP! Oh - once you get a plan of action with meds from the allergist, you might be able to continue to see the ped for maintence. That should help cut down on cost for the new insurance year. And if you ARE encouraged to begin immunotherapy for your son, try to start it this year since your deductible is almost met. At least with my insurance, we paid for the entire therapy upfront so that was helpful since our deductible has been met. And agreeing with Katie- there are some amazing OTC nasal sprays. Our allergist before we moved told us that once you take care of the nose, the eyes will take care of themselves. Your son should see some relief with any eye symptoms once he gets the poor nose under control. No fun. I feel ya.... 😄