If you think you may be suffering from OCD, I highly recommend the book, "Brain Lock: Free Yourself from Obsessive Compulsive Behavior," by Jeffrey Schwartz. That book and the supplement NAC were game-changers for me. I highly recommend reevaluating your relationship with your manager and setting some healthy boundaries. Her attitude about God and mental illness is very damaging and hurtful for someone dealing with mental health issues, and I find her overall behavior towards you to be odd. I understand that she's been a close friend, but it may be time to evaluate the health of your relationship. I'm sorry for your struggles, and I hope you find the support you need. It sounds like you need someone to help you establish healthy habits without becoming obsessive. This can be hard to navigate. Please don't let anyone make you feel shame or guilt about having these issues. God should be a source of hope and grace, not shame. If you're dealing with feelings of shame, I cannot recommend Brene Brown's books enough.

If you need something really thorough, I recommend "ACT Math: The Guide: Skip the Prep Courses." My daughter is currently working through it. It's very comprehensive.

Unfortunately, even the best tests are very expensive and not very accurate. It's best to go to a Lyme Literate Doctor and discuss the possibility of a Lyme diagnosis and go from there. The doctor may order tests but will also consider symptoms.

We stayed at a beach house in Surfside once. The beach is much nicer than Galveston.

Please send me an invite. My oldest kids are 20 and 17. Thanks!

I've just been looking into this myself. It appears that you should be hired as a household employee, so your employer should pay the "nanny tax." I encourage you to look into this because it will benefit you tax-wise. Plus, it would be illegal for them to hire you as an independent contractor since you'll be working in their home and making more that $2100. I would recommend checking Wyzant.com to see what tutors with your experience charge in your local area. Personally, I offer a deep discount on my rates for homeschoolers who hire me for a lot of hours a week (6+). It's hard to find students during the day, and I'm too busy in the afternoon to tutor. I like tutoring, and I would much prefer to work with one or even a few homeschooling families than to have a revolving door of students after school. So it's worth it to me to offer a discount. Tutoring prices vary a lot depending on where you live, which is why you really need to check your local rates to come up with a fair price. You definitely need to have a discussion about curriculum, educational philosophy, what subjects you will be covering, if you'll be assigning homework, etc. Personally I would set a certain time every day instead of making that flexible. It will help you and the kids to have consistency. I would not pay for curriculum or supplies. They need to know upfront that this is part of the cost of homeschooling. I'm writing up an outline of curriculum and supplies I recommend, and when I meet with the family, we'll decide together. Since you're going three times a week, I think I would call myself a tutor who is supporting their homeschool and not say that I'm homeschooling them. That's a lot of pressure and responsibility to put on yourself. I would be concerned about the family following through with homework if they feel like you have it all covered and the responsibility is on you. In my situation, I'll probably charge hourly with payment being made weekly. There are a lot of things that could go awry, and I'd rather have the flexibility to walk away than to have set up a long-term commitment. I believe a lot of laws about nannies apply in this situation because you're a household employ like a nanny. Knowing this can help you search for information and ideas of how to set this up.

It gets easier each time you do it because you can select items from your past orders. However, I don't think it saves time for me personally. It takes awhile for me to sift through my orders and decide what I need. Ordering online helps me buy exactly what I need, though, because I can check my kitchen. I also have my kids add items to the cart, so I'm getting more of what people want. I also like that I can build my order online before I go to bed and then pick it up in the morning. Also, my store is constantly being reorganized, so this saves me a lot of frustration since I no longer have to hunt things down!

In the future you could try rover.com for dog sitting. We're going to use it next week. I looked into doggie daycares, but I think our dog will like being in a home better than a facility.

I love lavender oil for anxiety! I use Nature's Way CalmAid. I take one in the morning and one at night. I noticed a difference very quickly (within days), but it can take a few weeks for some people to notice a difference.

STEM, the school district, and the sheriff's department all need to be investigated. I have firsthand experience with this school, and it's had issues from the beginning. The school district has failed to hold the school accountable time and time again. If it is found that this was yet another issue that was swept under the rug, then people need to be held accountable, and sweeping changes need to be made.

I would recommend researching adrenal fatigue and see if that fits your symptoms. Other culprits could be low iron, low vitamin d, or thyroid issues.

I just finished a heavy metal detox for mercury under the direction of my doctor (a chiropractic internist). I've done the ionic foot bath many times. (I don't know the brand, as I used the one at my doctor's office.) Saunas are required for pulling it out of the fat, though, where a lot of heavy metals are stored. After you do the sauna, you need to take binders to pull it out of your body, since all the metals released from your fat don't get out through your sweat. I took glutathione and chlorella to bind to the loose mercury, both when I was doing the foot baths and when I was actively doing saunas. My doctor had me start with the foot baths to pull the mercury from my organs before moving on to doing saunas. Stirring up mercury can exacerbate candida issues, as candida loves mercury (and I assume other heavy metals). This can cause stomach bloating and upset. If this happens, you need to take something to combat the candida, and you need to eat a very clean diet. I had to eat less carbs as well, as carbs can feed candida. Detoxing can also exacerbate infections, such as Lyme, for the same reason. This Facebook group has more info about detoxing: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Saunadetox/. Check out the files section. Also research Dr. Ron Hubbard and Dr. Yu. I've done a lot of research about saunas, and this review lists 3 that are the safest available: https://cleverleverage.com/certified-saunas/. If you take niacin at least 80 minutes before you do the sauna, it can help release the heavy metals from your fat. (I believe Dr. Yu has a YouTube video about this.) Some people take huge doses, but I never had to go above 200 mg. It's important to replace lost electrolytes, minerals, etc. when doing saunas. I used Ultima electrolyte powder. I also take a powerful multivitamin. You could also look at Anthony William's heavy metal detox protocol.

I did a lot of research online to find providers. It took quite a while to sort through providers to find ones who were holistically minded, accepted insurance, and who were accepting new patients. My psychiatrist doesn't treat children, so I had to start over when my daughter needed a provider.

You might want to see if you can find a holistic psychiatrist. They can be terribly expensive, but I have been able to find some great providers who take insurance. A holisitic psychiatrist can better recommend supplements for your daughter's specific issues. I was so resistant to going to a psychiatrist because I thought it meant meds, but my psychiatrist and my daughter's psychiatrist changed our lives with supplements.

It's getting harder to find innerspring mattresses. Furniture Row has a good selection, though. I just bought my son the Arapahoe Euro Top Mattress. I would look for a mattress that's Certipur certified.