Lol! That is much nicer than *my* choice names for the bratty ones. They are generally referred to something similar to "little brother trucker." To the OP, I would stick with Jezebel. Lots of nickname potential there, and you would have the pleasure of knowing who he is named for. My head roo is named Banjo, because he didn't so much crow as twanged. He is a good guy and takes excellent care of everybody. He is also completely petrified of me, because one day I attempted to catch him and came up empty-handed, with the exception of a handful of the short, curly feathers that surround the vent. So if you ever need to take the upper hand with a rooster, I recommend grabbing a handful of his short and curlies! Works like a charm, lol.

My child has some pretty complicated medical issues. She gets to have medicaid coverage until she is of age, per my adoption agreement with the state. However, it is likely that she will need medical care beyond that. I was employed full-time between 18-25, and went long periods without insurance. I am very glad that I will be able to keep her on my insurance for much longer, and ensure that she gets the care she requires beyond the major medical and pap smears that school insurance provides. Also, she will always be my kid, no matter how old she is!

I have no idea where the idea that babies smile when they have gas came from. A gassy baby cries. A happy, contented baby will smile, sometimes frequently. It is very difficult to get a young baby to smile by making faces and funny sounds, but they do it when you stroke their heads and when they are milk-drunk and content. Some of the smiliest babies I have ever cared for were, oddly enough, withdrawing from maternal drug use. When they are content and well-medicated for their withdrawal, they can be quite social and smile a lot. I have seen very small premies, like 28-29 weeks smile quite a bit. That is pretty funny :)

I think that you have to come to know that you loved them, you gave them a good life, and you made a mistake. It was an accident. You did not intend for this happen. You do the best that you can, and some days that "best" isn't going to be very good. I recently lost some little Call Ducks because I let them stay out overnight in a fenced back yard. A raccoon family attacked them. I was very upset, because I could imagine the whole scenario and I had the gore staring at me and I only have myself to deal with it. I left them out because they enjoy being out and they can have access to water they wouldn't usually have in the barn all night. It sucks really really bad, because they didn't deserve to have that happen. I made a judgment call, and I was wrong. The intentions were good, but ultimately dangerous to the animals. The only thing that I can change, now, is to resolve to try to make better decisions and not let something like this happen again. It will, though. I will forget to put them back one night when I fall asleep early. I will not close the barn door all the way on accident. I will do something stupid and they will suffer. I will do my best, and still fail them. It is the ultimate heartbreak of owning animals. I am very sorry for your loss :(

Hmm, my box says it contains tripolyphosphates under the "caution" header on the side of the box. I heard about this product from the laundry boards over on gardenweb. They are very serious about their laundry, lol. The other ingredient is sodium carbonate, aka Washing Soda.

Just FYI: White King laundry booster can be used in a dishwasher, and it is basically a phosphorus additive. I buy it in Washington, a phosphorus-banned state, at Fred Meyers/Kroger. Also, a package of Lemon-Ade Kool-ade works the same as Lemi-Shine. It is basically citric acid and will help counter the soap base ph. A homemade version of dish detergent I have used contained 1 part White King, 1 part Washing Soda, I part borax, with some Kool-aid added. For extra dirty dishes, adding some Wal-Mart brand powdered detergent can be helpful. It is cheap and got good consumer reports scores, IIRC. Vinegar wasn't nearly as helpful with the chronic build-up as Kool-Ade or the Lemi-Shine is.

She's probably not getting it in far enough. KY and OB tampons work wonders for making things easier. The Instead cups are nice, but take even more knowledge of the insides to get into good placement. Have her flare out the bottom of the OB and insert it as far as she can, then give a little tug on the string. If it moves, she didn't go up far enough. Also make sure she knows to tuck the string up inside where she can reach it but there won't be any mishaps with the string falling out the side of her swimsuit.

Hmm, I don't really like either of them. Perhaps my expectations are too high after the Letter Factory and Word Factory. My daughter doesn't watch either one very much. If I have to pick, I think the Math Adventures is more engaging than Math Circus. Math Adventures is structured differently, and has Tad and Lily as twins instead of Lily as the middle and Tad the youngest. No Professor Quigley anymore in the "new" Leap Frog videos :( I was hoping Math Adventure would be good, but I still am looking for a decent math video.

Oh, Brenda, you are my soul sister :cheers2: Will you be my BFF? We can be late together and not judge each others messy homes, lol.

Yes, exactly.

I just don't get that upset about these kinds of things. Kids can cause all kinds of reasons for someone to be late, so if meeting someone with kids, then I would pretty much expect it. My family and friends know that I will almost never be on time anywhere. If it bugs them, so be it. They keep it to themselves, just as I keep to myself the many things about them that bug me. I also won't be upset if people that are more uptight about time frames exclude me. I would likely be stressed out by their level of compulsiveness, anyways.

Huh. I'd fit right in with that homeschooling group. There are plenty of things that I have to be "on time" for. I certainly don't lump social events into that category. People who have to be right on time, or worse -early, for every single thing bug me by acting like slaves to the almighty clock. Heck, if a party started at 2:00, that is when I would leave the house.

Pushed, prodded, nagged...yeah, I totally get your last paragraph ;) I recommend this book if you are looking for reading material: http://www.amazon.com/Four-Witnesses-Early-Church-Words/dp/0898708478/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274814768&sr=1-1

Well, I was protestant ->agnostic -> Catholic. For me, I found that there were large parts of the theology I grew up with that was logically inconsistent and missing. My frustration with the pick-and-choose aspect among the various protestant faiths, eventually led to me becoming agnostic. I explored numerous religious paths, including some that were pagan, but ended up further from all things religion. I discovered Catholicism about 4 years ago. I was very anti-Catholic initially, but became more accepting as I discovered the truths in the Catholic theology, and not just what I thought Catholics believed. Eventually, I felt that God was asking me to make the commitment of fully embracing and living the Catholic faith. I gave Him a challenge, which He not only met, but went above and beyond what I asked, lol. So, I eventually joined. I had to wait until the next RCIA session, but I spent time reading about the early Church and early Church Fathers. The more that I read, the more I became convinced that the CC was THE CHURCH that Christ, Himself established, built upon Peter, and promised that "the gates of hell would not prevail" against Her.

New Syllabus Math replaces Primary Math. It is the most challenging program for elementary grades. Of course, this is according to the website I linked.

Singapore has been using it since 2001. They have a couple of different maths available that can be used depending on the ability of the child. One of them seemed more geared to use in a classroom/group setting. I didn't check out the upper level maths. These programs aren't available from the singaporemath website.

I'll try and remember to update once I've read through it. The website that I linked shipped the order within hours!

Has anyone seen or used the newer versions of Singapore Math? I just ordered primary 4-6 of the New Syllabus Math, plus a teaching handbook that covers all of the grades. My daughter is technically a K-er, and I am in no hurry to rush her. I mainly ordered these materials for self-study, as I would like to be proficient in teaching Singapore Math and would like to study some of the higher math levels, as well. https://www.sgbox.com/p1nspm.html This website has the various Singapore products and descriptions.

I'm an RN. I work in a neonatal ICU in a hospital, and have been a nurse for 10 years, now. I am definitely an introvert. I don't think that any one personality trait makes you better or less suited for a nursing career. There are so many different areas to work in, that pretty much any and all personality types are represented. The one thing that is helpful, is the ability to be somewhat flexible. Sometimes you are asked to work outside of your "home" floor or unit, or you may have to change patient assignments, or do something totally different from what you were planning that day. This can be a challenge for those who have a more difficult time making transitions. The cons to this job are many. It can be physically demanding. It is definitely emotionally demanding. It is heartbreaking. It is completely disgusting, sometimes. You find yourself doing things that you never in a million years imagined yourself ever doing. You are often treated very horribly by patients, visitors, doctors, coworkers, managers, and hospital administrators. You will be yelled at. You will give up holidays and birthdays with your family. It is not a career I recommend to many. On the plus side, you often have flexible schedules, which is great for families. You can make a pretty decent income with an associates degree. You learn new things all of the time. You meet some of the most courageous and amazing people faced with impossible medical odds. You see heroes in action on a daily basis. You forge lasting friendships with your co-workers who are "in the trenches" with you. You learn which docs to avoid and which to recommend to your family. You develop a thicker skin and learn how to become a strong patient advocate, as well as advocating for yourself. You are employable in all 50 states and in many other parts of the world. You are in one of the most respected fields. You have room to grow and expand in numerous areas of teaching, higher practice, research, etc. as the field of nursing continues to grow and expand. In my own field of neonatal nursing, I provide care to preterm and sick babies, as well as babies withdrawing from maternal drug use. I have also worked in mother/baby/postpartum as well as labor&delivery. Debra

My only side effect has been terrible, nasty reflux. I take 100mg daily for migraines. I initially had the weird inability to "feel" carbonation in sodas, but that resolved within a few weeks. Unfortunately, I didn't experience any weight loss. It did great things for migraine prevention, though!

Take a Zyrtec before bed. My mother's doctor told her it helps about 80% of women with hot flashes. It works for my mother. She told me about it to pass on to the gals I work with who have similar issues. It's certainly worth a try!

That is a good deal! The reference to 20 is about how many reams of paper you get total, as each box has 10 reams.

When I saw your quilt I thought about the color 'Silver Tinsel' from Behr Premium Paint + Primer line. I would pull out the plum color in the quilt for window treatments and accessories. You wouldn't even have to match the plum exactly, just close enough. http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Stephano-Rod-Pocket-Panel-108-in./3320033/product.html The sapphire blue is also a pretty color to pull out. That would be gorgeous against the silvery-gray wall color, as well. I think you can meet your need for color without having the wall color compete against that great quilt.

Heck, I'd print him out the post about the boot camp and have him read it. I think that he has got it pretty good!

Dwarf Nigies are small and pretty easy to care for. Definitely have two, as they are very social creatures. They can be bred at any time of the year, and often have twins and triplets, even quads. They need less space and less feed than full-size goats. Their milk is high in butterfat. Proper handling of the milk makes all the difference in whether or not it is safe to drink raw. I would never drink raw milk that came from somewhere I didn't know and trust. My own goaties? Sure, why not? As long as I made sure everything was cleaned properly, the milk cooled promptly, and the goats in good health, I don't have any problems with it. Pasteurization is a good thing for prolonging shelf life and when adequate facilities aren't available. It is definitely a benefit in the mass-production market, when you can't know or guarantee the health of your milk source. Nigies need some sort of shelter, which really doesn't have to be much. Some people provide dog houses, lol. Good fencing is a must. They like to play and jump, so some "toys" are nice to provide. They need regular hoof care, shots, and worming. You can learn these things yourself, or find someone to do them for you. Having a vet around that is experienced in caprine health/care is a big plus, especially during kidding. They need lots of good roughage, usually in the form of quality hay. They love to eat branches and twigs and leaves, and can strip an overgrown area pretty quickly. Don't put them by any landscaping that you like ;) They are related to giraffes, so they tend to "eat up" into trees, versus "eating down" like sheep. As a result, they aren't really grazers, but they will if there isn't any good browsing to be had. Mine especially love my peach trees, and have even stripped the bark off of them, the little beasts. They think a cardboard box or a piece of paper is a luxury treat. I think it is a goat form of highly processed snack foods, lol, as they were, in fact, trees at some point until they were processed into "goat snacks." Try to find some from someone who will let you bring them back for breeding. That way, you don't have to worry about having a buck around.