Obviously this bothers you and there's nothing wrong with that...but instead of placing the blame on the parents, this is how i look at this situation. Your daughter is your daughter. She knows your rules and so i would have thought, that since she knew this would bother you, she should have called you when the parents left and number one...told you they left...and number two...asked you if you wanted to come pick her up.

oopps!

I absolutely detest it when someone uses the word...hubby! I think that word is SO dumb!

are any of you like me....whenever, WHENEVER i read about someone having to put their pets down, no matter if i'm at work or at home, i cry. I mean, i don't know the people who are writing but it just makes me so sad. My girls and I have large animals and we've had small animals, and it doesn't matter how big or small they are, they are such a part of our family, i guess that's why i cry when i read others having to do it. it is just so, so sad.

Just know, that if she could, she would thank you. you have given her a wonderful life but it sounds like she's ready. I am so sorry.

my 17 year old suffers terribly from cramps, especially on the second and third day of her cycle. So much so that she stays home from school and work. She gets white as a ghost, chills and generally just is down for the count. Are there any natural alternatives that she can try? She takes apple cider vinegar to help but hates the way it feels on her teeth. She got her "thing" today and has to work tomorrow at a pizza shop from 11-8. She won't call in sick because, number one she has never done that and doesn't to and number two, it's Super Bowl Sunday so everyone has to work. I am willing to talk to her boss but she doesn't want me to and she's afraid to talk to him because he's a young guy and it's embarrassing. She also has tachycardia so we have to be careful. Something like magnesium wouldn't be good. Any ideas? Anyon actually use anything that actually works? Thanks

when someone says "we are pregnant"?

i want to read the story but i'm at work and i don't want to cry which i know i will. so i'll wait until i get home!

Pattyjoanna....she had to read the book Catcher in the Rye and then watch the movie Casablanca and write an essay stating whether she thought the main character in the book would like the characters in the movie (I think!)!

That is a fantastic idea. She actually has a list (a really good list going) but she is so literal that she just can't really begin to imagine (I can't even explain what i'm trying to say). She is one of those people that #1, doesn't like to watch television or movies and #2 when she does watch movies, i have to explain everything to her! She is also so hard on herself that she gets so stressed out to the point of not being able to be still and just think. I told her she needs to be quiet and just let herself settle and be still and then just think. I don't know if she can do it. She is way too hard on herself and thinks that she needs to ace everything and an 80% to her is a failing grade.

My daughter has to write a persuasive essay about whether or not Holden Caulfield from Catcher in the Rye would like the movie Casablanca. She is not very good at pulling detail from movies, especially old ones, and could really use some help. Her teacher assigned it today and it's due Thursday. Thank you!

as for going through the back end....it's not something i would do (with anything other than my arm) our equine vet does this himself with his horses and it has always worked for him. If i were you, i would try to get as much poo out of him as you can, check to see if it's dry and crumbly or wet and moist. If he has a bowel movement that is a great thing but that doesn't necessarily mean that you are out of the woods. our mare colicked this past summer (first for her). she pooped early on and i almost got on my knees in thanks, but she was FAR from out of the woods. Her colic was so bad (had the vet out twice in one night) that we almost had to put her down. I mention the treats for this reason. The vet was on his way out to euthanize her and we were giving her treats becasue at that po int we thought, what could it hurt...she wouldn't touch her hay during the colic and endless hours of walking her, but when we gave her some peppermints and apples and molassas grain, she ate it right up and immediatly stood up and was almost normal (we, to this day, believe it was a miracle)(and when the vet got there he was amazed as well). I believe that the sweets somehow moved something in her intestines (after 8 hours) and made her better. i'm concerned because your horse has been "off" for a couple of days and i'm thinking if it were colic then he would have had other symptoms by now. I'm wondering if there might be a tumor involved...i don't mean to scare you, i don't, but it's something to think about. i work at a kennel and there was a dog in there last year who wouldn't eat, didn't want to move and turned out he had a huge tumor...i won't scare you with the details but it wasn't good....it's just something else to think about. please find a vet, your horse needs medical attention and though there are people on this board who can try to help you, he needs more than that. keep us posted we are all concerned for him.

If you don't want to go the "back route" and honestly, i don't blame you, try giving him mineral oil in a syringe in his mouth. Will he eat anything at all? treats, peppermints? I know you don't want to stick a hose back there but can you put your hand up there? Is he pooping? Is he trying to bite his sides? If he has gut sounds (there are 3 to listen for (on both sides), maybe you have a stethescope?) and he's not rolling, or trying to bite at his sides or kicking at his sides, it might not be colic as those are the main symptoms besides rolling which you said he wasn't doing. I would try the mineral oil orally and if you're brave enough try to stick you hand up his butt (sorry) just a little way up to see if you can feel and pull out any poop that might be there, helping him to move it. Poor guy, let us know how he's doing.

This is scary. i googled my name, not very common and there were all kinds of things that came up about me. no pictures thank goodness but where i live, where i've lived, my hobbies, the prices of my houses that i've lived in, my religious choices....yikes. i do not like this one single bit.

I'm surprised that you have to have certain documentation. When my rider daughter was homeschooled, we just wrote on our thing (I can't even remember what it's called anymore!) that she rides at least 5 times per week. As for the USEF program you're talking about...i called about that recently and i was under the impression that the shows had to be USEF rated and there were other more strict qualifications that needed to be followed. i wonder if it's the same program. I'll have to check again! Thanks!

He acutally just e-mailed me and was very nice. i was surprised. we have a large boarding barn next door and he has become very good friends with the people who run that barn. i love, LOVE these people. They have a barn full of horses that pretty much get along (no one shows, they are all just pleasure riders) and they do things differently than i would in some things like turnout. He goes by what they do and i bet if i told them my situation they would agree with me but i am not going to ask them as i don't want to step on toes or cause friction. He has agreed to keep things as they are and i have agreed to slowly introduce my horses to the others to see how it goes, ONLY when we are at the barn. even if it takes 6 months to figure this out, i am wiling to try...maybe. but he is okay with that. as for the hay nets, i have a big bale buddy which is a huge "plastic bag" sort of thing that fits over the hay bale to keep the waste at a very, very minimum!

we did actually put everyone together the other night for about a half hour. we put hay out (it was turn in time and they were all hungry) so they all went to a flake for a minute. my gelding and the other tb mare (not ours) had their issues but they were just bothering each other, chasing each other around, no real connects. when my daughter and the bo were watching them (I was cleaning) i heard my daughter say that the draft kicked our gelding. she said he connected, BO said he didn't. i don't think he did but just one kick from that large hoof could do damage, this draft was just gelded in August so still has some issues, not much but he had been a stallion for 15 years. my gelding still thinks he's a stallion and has testosoterone issues, in other words, it's likely they will not get along but i could be wrong. as for the round bales. they have the round bale all day long and then their flakes in the evening. the other horses get two flakes am and pm which is normal around here. i just want mine to have hay all of the time. also, yes, you would think we would be worth our weight in gold to this guy but he's one of those who thinks he knows everything, so i have just sat back and watched him figure things out by himself, but now that it concerns MY horses, i need to start saying something. it would be very difficult if we had to leave but the Lord has always provided for us before with these horses so i have to believe that He will continue, if it comes to that. Ottakee...he is planning on building a shelter (but i doubt that will happen) and that was one of the things we told him. he said it will be huge but then we said that it is doubtful that all of them will go in there at once, not that i would want them to, and someone is going to be left out. this BO, while he is a nice guy, is very hard headed and thinks he knows everything. he has learned alot of what he "knows" from reading, but reading and real life are two different things.

i'll try to make this short and sweet and to include all details. We board our two horses and have been there for a year. mare (permanently retired, 13 years old) and gelding (my daughter's show horse, 11 years old, both Thoroughbreds). We board at a very small private back yard boarding barn (7 stalls). We started boarding here before the place was even open (I answered an ad on CL to rent the whole barn but that plan feel through so we became boarders). Barn owner (BO) knew N.O.T.H.I.N.G. about horses when we came there. Place hadn't been used for horses for years before we got there so we and the BO got it horse ready...fencing, stalls etc. The deal was that if we (my daughters and I) found boarders then our board would be free (we only had one horse at the time) or if we got a second horse, very inexpensive. We found boarders and filled the barn up and BO is giving us a VERY reasonable board fee 2 for 1 deal BUT.....we clean stalls every day (except his horse's stall) and we grain and turn in each night and we do both feedings on the weekends. It's tough, hard work but truly i love it so no complaints there. Since day one my horses have always been turned out together, by themselves. We have a QH small mare, a mustang small mare, a TB mare (young and dumb) and a draft that was rescued from the auction this past summer and was gelded in August (he is probably about 18 years old, he is BO's horse). So....my two "crazy" TB's are known (by the other boarders) as the trouble makers, so it's good that they're turned out together...if they are going to hurt anyone, it's going to be each other and since we own both of them, it's fine (even though they have never done real damage to each other). Anyway, the BO wants to put ALL of the horses toghther now. Now, the TB, draft and mustang are together and they do fine. The QH is by herself at her owner's request (i might also add that only the QH and my daughter's gelding are show horses, the others are just trail ridden or ring ridden). I have an issue with my horses being turned out with everyone else and here are the reasons why, please tell me if i am wrong or selfish or anything.... 1.) my gelding rips blankets...he has ripped ALL of my mare's blankets 2.) i buy a round bale for my two so that they always have hay in front of them, good quality hay (BO says he will also pitch in to buy round bales (all of the boarders will) but it won't be the good quality that i buy (we don't have alot of pasture for these horses any time of the year) 3.) my gelding is very much like a bratty ADD little 8 year old boy. He picks, picks, picks at my mare all.day.long. She gives him warnings but has never really hurt him 4.) We already have and are paying board on one permanently lame horse, I cannot afford to have him get injured because of his bothersome personality (if he picks at the other horses, chances are, one of them is really going to get mad and give it to him) 5.) I don't want him hurting any of the horses because he cannot keep to himself...it would be my responsibility to pay any vet bills for damage that he or she causes and i don't have the money to be replacing blankets that he may rip. My BO says that the chance of him being hurt is slim and he may be right but I cannot take that slim chance and take the risk of him being permanently injured or put on stall rest for any amount of time (show season is coming up). My BO has this idea that a big herd is great for horses and i partly agree with him but we don't live out on the plains on a 2,000 acre ranch. There are 7 horses at this barn who have been separated into two horses per paddock so that is what they know. My daughter used the adage, why fix it if it ain't broke and i think she's right. The BO has no real reason for putting them all together except for the herd mentality thing and that for some stupid reason he want's a "medical pasture", for what i have no idea and that he wants to preserve what grass we do have (or will have when the weather gets better). I even suggested cutting my pasture in half and i will continue to buy a round bale year round. I'm frustrated because I do not want my horses in with the others even if there is a minute chance of something happening. We have had the arrangement that we have since we got there, why should i be the one to have to change it now especially when there is no real good reason to do so and i feel like i have several good reasons not to do so? So...am i being unreasonable?

I have two older Jack Russell Terriers, so take this for what it's worth (JRT's are weird to begin with). They are both females in good health. The older one (probably around 14) spends much, and i do mean much of her day licking. She was literally raised in a barn and she would spend HOURS licking the walls. When we go for car rides they both lick the windows and they do.not.stop. I don't think it's anything to worry about (unless your dog has recently started doing this and is showing other symptoms). Like i said, both of my dogs do it and they are both in good health.

absolutely and utterly amazingly beautiful. i LOVE these birds and cannot believe you got those pictures!

I am a tried and true lllloooonnnnnggggg time Steelers fan but man can that boy throw a football!

but what about all of the stories we hear about parents who homeschool and murder their kids? Is that to assume that all or most homeschoolers beat or murder their kids? No. As we all know *$&* happens and it happens in some schools but not all. I happen to know that i live in an area where there are several high schools in several towns close by and i do not hear any such thing as what the OP was talking about...and as i've said before, i have a child currently in public school. People, it's not going to go away. It's not going to get better, what we have to do as parents is teach our children right from wrong and then not worry so much about it.

my daughter is in 11th grade in a large, middle/upper middle class high school. She has never, ever come home with stories like this. Yes, there are two girls in her school who are pregnant and there are scores of kids who drink and do drugs....but not on school time or property....that she has seen. like some others said, this stuff happens....good grief it's 2012 in America, we cannot, cannot, CANNOT keep this kind of behavior from our children unless we never, ever let them out of the house and believe me, it doesn't just happen in public schools. We all want to shelter our children and to keep the ugliness away from them, but we simply cannot. I want my daughters to be aware that this stuff happens but that they do not have to be a part of the behavior. If they are raised right (and mine are) they will want NOTHING to do with those crowds but if they are never exposed to it, then what in the world are they going to do when the grow up? It sucks, it really does, but it isn't going to stop. I believe that if we teach them well, and keep them as close to us as we can for as long as we can, and if we listen (not just hear) but listen to them, they will know...and do....right from wrong.

i have to agree with livingnlearning (or whatever the user name is)...so it's a poo in the house once a week. just clean it up. if the dog is real member of your family what is the big deal. you also mentioned in your original post that you feel bad that the dog had to sleep in the barn...but won't you feel bad if you take her to the pound where they are definately going to euthanize an adult rottweiler? Seriously, feed her earlier in the evening or late afternoon, don't give her any water after a certain hour and put her in her crate (if you don't have a small enough crate then advertise for a free on on Craigslist)(or call your local pound, i'm sure they have one they can give you, ours does that for us). Please don't give up on your dog just because your husband doesn't want to clean up a poop pile once a week or because your son gets tired of her howling. That's not fair.

I totally agree with "ereksmom". I have two daughters and they have never, praise the Lord, acted like that in any situation. I would have their heads if they did, and they know that. I know I am blessed and I am very thankful and grateful that my girls are so well behaved. The most I ever get (and it's usually from the 17 year old) is a snotty attitude and it is always around "that time of the month" but it's quick and it's over with even quicker so I don't get too upset. I guess I'm a strict parent...one example...they are not allowed to wear their IPods into the store or in public. I think it's rude and they know it, so they don't do it. OP, i'm sorry you're having a struggle with your son, it will get better don't worry!