I paint, as well. In fact DH has been gone for 7 days and I've got new carpet installed, and I've painted 4 rooms in my house. We've (my kids andI) been sleeping on the floor in the living room because all of our beds and furniture is shoved in two rooms because of the carpet. It seemed like the perfect time to paint, you know, while the rooms are empty. Also, I have huge boxes going to Goodwill! Its very cleansing. I haven't gotten much of my own career work done and my kids seem to be doing a lot of fending for themselves. He should know better than to leave. At my last house, I remodeled a bathroom while he was gone. I kept asking him to do it and he kept putting it off. I went to Home Depot and bought a new toilet, lights, toilet, sink, vanity and paint. I also tore out the carpet and texturized our fireplace, and painted our den. When he comes home tonight he will have to sleep on the couch because, like I said, there are no beds. The kids are loving it. Its like a slumber party every night. Usually when he's gone I watch late night TV and old movies. But our TV's are out of commission because....everything is shoved in two rooms. So, I've been going to bed early.

My Walmart sells the frozen posole and hominy.

I'd try to forgive her and give her another chance. After all its AWANA. Maybe she needs more help from you getting her kids back and forth. I wouldn't take her problems so personally. She may be incredibly grateful to you, even if she doesn't show it, in her heart. If we are dealing with people who have issues, I usually take my older kids aside, present the situation and ask them to have a little understanding. Once they can look at the situation from the outside they can overlook others faults. Flaky people pop up everywhere and often they just need a little help. I have a friend who was so flaky and scattered that many times I wanted to "give up" because her issues were so serious and exhausting on me an my family. But I didn't, I did whatever I could for here whenever I could....because remember when we do for others, its like we are doing for Christ. But now, this friend, has settled many of her issues and her son went from someone we dreaded to see into a good friend. She and I actually have a good solid friendship now and I'm glad I didn't give up.

There are books at our homeschool store that address gentlemanly manners. We have our sons open doors for people, and try to anticpate needs of others. Helping an elderly woman put groceries in her car. We do a neighborhood pickup litter, which really just teaches them civil responsibility. My husband is always eager to help neighbors or friends in need and brings along a son when he can.

They are all pretty secular magazines. My daughter who is 10 now, has enjoyed reading our Reminisce magazine for a few years now. In fact I found the November issue, today, in her room, she got it last month before I even knew we had it. It has old photographs submitted by readers with stories and snippets about the "good ol' days." She likes the fashions, to see how much things cost in the past, old advertisements, and the old cartoons. We have a stack of them in the bathroom that all my kids read while they are in there. ???? Its pretty popular, so is Boy's Life, my daughter likes that, too. Oh, and she just got the American Girl magazine. I have no opinion on that yet since I've yet to receive one.

Since the big three are unionized they have a greater overhead then the plants for Toyota and Nissan that are in Alabama and Tennessee, Missouri, etc. Anderson Cooper on CNN (which I never watch but happened to be on late night) had a discussion that said for every GM car, $1600 of the car's price goes to the healthcare of GM workers vs. $200 per car for Honda. There are other examples where the unionized big three are shaken down for things that the foreign manufacturers that make in the US don't have to pay. I'll try to find the link to the footage for a link. This explains a lot. Plus it said that changes on the assembly line or improvements to a car, even, have to be approved by the union before they can be implemented while the Japanese companies just make the change. Perhaps, in this case, the unions are making US cars obsolete....Remember, this same situation happened to the textile workers in the 70's. Unions became so powerful and expensive as well as demanding that textile industry shut down and moved overseas. When was the last time you bought clothing or cloth made in the US? Remeber the commercials "Look for the Union Label", all but forgotten? I'm curious to see what will come out of this. More powerful foreign car makers or the Unions giving up some power to keep their jobs. This may be a cleansing opportunity for the big 3.

I always felt I needed me time, my husband got it every year on his hunting trips or business trips. I resented him a little for that because I felt like one of those bugs where the baby bugs were just always attached. But, over the years I realized I really don't want to vacation without my kids and husband. What I really wanted was about 2 hours a month to maybe go to the OB0GYN by myself or buy a bra without all of my children sitting in the changing room with me....reminds me of chasing one of my kids out of the stall half naked. My first manicure/pedicure was when my youngest child was 5 and I had a few hours while he was in school. Whew. It was my mistake though not to tell my clueless husband that I really needed to buy a bra without kids instead of assuming he could read my mind over the noise of a televised Football Game. Something about TV football blocks all senses, and cognitive ability..... Now, I'm smarter, I don't need "Me time", just time where I am not encumbered by little sticky bodies so that I can get practical tasks completed.....teeth cleaning.....my goodness how many years i went without a teeth cleaning because of my small children....Ack......DMV....what a nightmare with 4 kids.........haircut, once a year by SIL at Christmas...oil changes, tire changes......even picking up dry cleaning having to extricate children from car seats just to spend 30 seconds in the store to pick up cleaning...... No, I guess I just need someone to take care of errands so I can enjoy the "us" time with my kids.

Usborne has an abridged version of "A Tale of Two Cities" that I bought my DS for Christmas. Dickens is difficult reading, as he loved those long sentences that turned into paragraphs.

Pretty much any book by Gary Paulsen. My son actually likes the Nancy Drew books better than the Hardy Boys.

I like my electric mattress pad. The lowest number is even a little warm for me. I like turning it on before I turn down the covers. Then its toasty when we get in. I usually turn it off just before I drift off because it gets too warm.

We have a book titled "The Boy Captives" that I think we picked up at the Alamo or some place around it. It's not well written but its about some young boys that were kidnapped by Commanches and reared until their teens by either Commanches or Apaches. It would be interesting to those 12 and up. It may be to scary for those little ones. I recommend hitting some of the visitor centers or gift shops close by. So many of them carry small press books about the history of Texas. At the Sam Houston memorial, there is a very good gift shop with interesting toys and books. Once we started travelling Texas we discovered that Texas is just oozing with stories and intrigue! There are historical sites all over, and many are really worth seeing....when its not so hot outside.

Check with an agent in your area...... Our city bottomed out last year and we've been on a steady but small increase since the beginning of the year. Its impossible to generalized the entire US's housing situation. Each area is different. CA is very different from CO and TX is different from FL. Different cities in each state also are reacting differently..... My area has increased dramtically since 2007 which is why I'm listing my house next week. I've got my eye on some property that has decreased by more than 25% perhaps more, and now because its empty will stay empty, hopefully until I sell my house. I don't think my house will increase that much more so I'm more interested in taking my profits and finding and purchasing that $300,000 property that once sold for $600,000. This is our retirement strategy. Buying low and selling high. We've done it each time we moved, even after 9/11 we did okay. But, I recommend finding a realtor in your area who gets the weekly or bi weekly stats on home sales in your area. Start hitting open houses yourself and see what it is about your property that can set you apart from other properties. The realtor may tell you that you should wait to sell or that your market has turned up and you're doing okay to sell. THey should be able to show you numbers.

I don't know what state you are in, but, if you are closing on Friday then I would think all of his deadlines that let him out of the deal are over. Here, once the inspection is over repairs have been negotiated (usually a few days after the inspection) then the deadlines pass. Here, if he wants out of the deal, he forfeits his earnest money. And, after all you are offering a home buyers' warranty. Are you using a realtor? Sounds like he has a real good one, one who is willing to pick to get every last thing.

We really try to make Sunday different than any other day. After church we make a large breakfast full of carbs and fat. Then, we either watch our family home movies, or we watch a Jesus movie. Movies or shorts with a religious theme. In the summer and spring we always go on a walk in the mountains. In the winter we sometimes just take a drive and listen to an appropriate book on tape. We also used to watch one episode from the old little house series. We're on season five now. Remember, that show was never afraid to mention God or prayer or thankfulness or doing the right Christian thing. We also have some Sunday type games. Bible trivia, Ten Commandments game. We never shop or go out to eat on Sundays. Its all about the family and not doing activities that make others work, even if we run out of milk! We just go without or prepare the night before. We don't accept childrens invites to parties. We will have people over for the large breakfast after church and engage them in the games and stuff. Its such a blessing! Once you establish the unbreakable rules of Sunday then its the most restful relaxing day that we all anticipate. Its not like any other day of the week! My kids are in the routine and appreciate it as well. No homework, chores, etc. Its truly a day of rest.

We have chemically treated just the areas around the house where the kids play most often, then if we go off into tho woody areas, we just spray each other down. Pets should get that pill that repels ticks and other parasites. You can have the area professionally treated chemically now then in the spring, get thoses chickens or guinea hens going.

January and February and March are usually dependable to see fresh snow. We especially love Sunlight Ski Resort outside of Glenwood Springs. Its smaller but big enough for us. Theres a 2 mile green that's especially nice for leisure long runs with kids. If you ever do this, stay at the Americinn with their great indoor pool and slide. We never made it to the Hot Springs that trip, the hotel was so much fun.

Ummmm, When our kids were young we used to pretend they were dogs for play. We had them all able to sit, shake, speak, stay, fetch (socks and stuff) roll over, and play dead. We also put treats on their nose and made them hold it until we snapped our fingers, just like with our real dog. We'd have them do tricks through a hoola hoop. We did this act many times for family. They stop thinking its fun around age 8.

I stopped watching the view years ago. Joy Behar and Whoopi say the most hateful things on that show. I had WHoopi's book on manners which I thought was cute. BUt, I gave it to Goodwill after I heard a few commenst from her. Manners is not her strong point. I don't know why any woman, any liberated woman, actually watches that show, like those wealthy New York women would have a clue about the real world.

Gypsy here, and lucky my dh puts up with it! Can't wait to move again!

According to our Health Food Store, Lard is a good cooking fat an consiered a good fat. the only problem is that it can go rancid quickly. Keep refrigerated. I use lard when I'm going to make a lot of pie crust. My husband can tell the difference from my Lard piecrusts and my shortening and butter pie crusts. I like a mix of lard and butter for my crusts, I've never used lard in my biscuits but you've made me want to try it. I have made tamale dough and refried beans with lard and well, the flavor is really enhanced.

:iagree: I've already given up on cable stations, they'll play anything anytime. What we don't understand are the crime show commercials, half naked girl beer commercials, male enhancement commercials during sports events. If they want to draw the next generation of viewers why do they do that. During last Superbowl, we spent most commercial breaks with it on pause. Now my dh pauses the commercials, waits few minutes then jumps over them. We rarely watch TV unless its sports and he always gets mad at the commercials. He'd just have a cow if he saw the commercials that come on other channels. In fact, I get so mad at what is being shown that I told my husband the Satellite TV was gone after the NCAA championship. THe blocks don't work!. Half of the really bad shows are NR. Or, they are mature, but my block only address things that are rated (G, PG, R, etc.) No, if it wasn't for football season, the DirectTV would be gone and we'd just stick to NetFlix and things we can borrow from the library. Grrrrr..:ack2::ack2:

If its cheaper than burger, than get it ground into burger, my Safeway will do it for me. I also have a grinder on my mixer.

My DH wouldn't even ask. I've heard too many stories of his single big brother getting him into too much trouble as a teenager..... And a story from another brother, very Christian, very sober, very married being suckered into going to "Mexico" by this single big brother, just recently. My dh has told me about dreams he's had where he gets suckered by this brother to do innocent favors that don't turn out to be so innocent and of course I walk in and misunderstand.... No, I think he would be so stressed the entire time he wouldn't ever bring it up......But then again, my husband is so square, his brother wouldn't even ask him to go along. However, we enjoy Vegas very much as a family.

Sears

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathon Toomey I know you didn't ask for movie suggestions but. Prancer Mr. Kruegers Christmas are hits here