I'll be dying a very early death.

Thanks. We'll just have to make do, though. The CDC cheerfully informed me that they have a spot for the 3 yr old tomorrow, and the 1 year old on Friday, but that's it. Fortunately, we just moved to this rental at the end of July when we sold our house and we cleared out a ton of stuff at that time. Our rooms really are pretty bare with minimal furniture. We don't have couches, dressers, etc. The kids each have a bed and small bookshelf. Our garage is mostly empty, other than a few things that we're giving away. Hopefully, that will help!

Oh, boy. They're 6, 4, 3, and 1. We don't have daycare or a babysitter and our only friend who is a SAHM is out of town this week. I think I'm going to go pray now.

Thank you everyone! We really can't absorb the cost of feeding a team for four days, so that's out. We'll make sure to get a cooler of waters, though. I have no idea why they're saying it will take 3 days. We don't have a lot of stuff. We have a few big things, like a piano and a safe, but we don't have a lot of knick-knacks. Our kitchen cabinets are all half empty. We got rid of our living room set already. Our closets are pretty sparse, too. I'm ruthless about getting rid of things that don't get used, so I hope it will just be one day and then done.

So, lunch and waters? They're going to be here for three days for packing and one day for moving. That's a lot of food. :( Is that the norm? We're heading from Florida to Virginia. I've gotten the bathroom stuff consolidated, cleared out the laundry room and put our suitcases and bags in there, etc. Good to know about the mattresses. We ordered some air mattresses because I wasn't sure if they would box up the beds in advance. At least we'll have them at our new place until the delivery comes. I have the cleaning supplies set aside and I'll put the vacuum away too until moving day.

Such waste. :(

After almost 11 years of marriage, my husband and I begin our first PCS tomorrow. The movers are supposed to take the 16th-18th to pack and the pickup is scheduled for Monday. The instructions said to make sure things are disconnected, beds are stripped, etc., but what can I expect? We are staying in the house this whole time because there are no nearby hotels that can accommodate us, plus we have pets. When we leave, we'll be hauling some belongings on a trailer. I already have our suitcases packed and separated and a box of toys for the kids. I'll be boxing up other things like kitchen necessities, bathroom things, and so forth, but we're going to need them until we leave, so I can't get them all out of the way now. Any advice? I feel kind of ridiculous as first-timers this late in the game. :blushing:

In HoH, Annabeth says she is 17. I finished it last night. The revelation was a bit of a surprise and I had to put the book down for a couple of days and think about it. In the end, I picked it back up and kept reading and I'm glad I did. It's really a brief portion of the book. The focus later on in the story is the character's sadness and confusion; it doesn't become the main part of the storyline. My kids are way too young to read these books. Our oldest is probably a good 5 or 6 years away from picking up the Lightning Thief. I can't imagine him not being aware of the existence of people who have same-sex attraction by that time, especially since we have family members living the lifestyle. I just hope the character in question continues to be developed as a whole person and not defined by one part of him.

I always imagined that Rosaline's parents breathed a sigh of relief when Romeo moved on to Juliet. :)

We are interested in this, too. My husband hopes to have another 14 years before he retires from the military, then we'd probably take another year to pare down our belongings and practice living in a smaller space. We'd then most likely have a 19 y.o. with special needs and a 16 y.o. with us on the road and two more living independently. We're thinking that 15 years is a good amount of time to save up and buy a nice 5th wheel and something to pull it with. The thought of having nothing except what we can fit in the RV and of traveling to a new place each month is so appealing. This is the first time I've been excited thinking of plans for the future.

I don't have that option. Where is that setting?

Careful with Facebook. He may have you and his mother as acquaintances and can limit what you see. You can check by looking at his friends list. If you can only see mutual friends, you're an acquaintance. If you can see all of his friends, you're a friend.

I thought of another: Cheaper by the Dozen. There's an old version that's good, but the new one was awful.

Apparently so! http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/culture/arts/Visual_Arts/article1099136.ece

Amazingly beautiful. https://soundcloud.com/acornavi/robert-wilson-crickets-audio

Skydrive from Microsoft.

I saw a clip about this organization today. http://www.digdeepwater.org/index.html

You know, propaganda is exactly what I thought of when I read about Carroll. :) If you want to think of Carroll as a devout Catholic, you are more than welcome to do so. I doubt anything anyone says will convince you otherwise. His work means nothing more to me than any other piece of historical fiction.

LOL, how about this: James Carroll is very controversial, not mainstream, not endorsed by the Church, and not run by trained Catholic theologians (even though [he acts] with that pretension). [He is] in bad standing in the Catholic community, and.. enrich[es] [himself] off the [sales of his books.] Anyone who denies the fundamental doctrines of the Catholic Church is not a Catholic.

Seriously. Look at this review: It's like they just kept some of the names and left off, oh I don't know, the entire plot.

The Dark is Rising. I refused to even entertain the notion of watching the movie when I read they'd made Will Stanton an American. The trailer sealed the deal.

Specifically, Carroll is anti-Catholic. He is a professional anti-Catholic. He can say he is a "dissident" Catholic all he wants, but he attacks the Church in all areas. He denies foundational doctrines. He is not a Catholic.

My understanding is that was mainly due to increased demand for exotic spices, cheeses, wines, and beers. As far as things like grains, we're still the largest exporter.

We load up at Panera on bagel Tuesdays and just freeze them ourselves. I miss Jell-O Gelatin pops. Not fudge pops, gelatin pops. I haven't seen those since I was a kid.

This is pretty much where I am. I just don't know anymore. I've been thinking about the conclusion to this series for a while.