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.

I'm surprised this was even suggested. It makes me wonder if this person really understands OCD. I would focus on retraining her brain. Have you read "Brain Lock," by Jeffrey Schwartz? I found his 4-step method to be incredibly helpful for managing OCD. Here's a summary of the method: https://www.harleytherapy.co.uk/counselling/managing-obsessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd.htm. The phrase, "It's not me, it's my OCD," is a really helpful mantra and helped me to retrain my brain. Taking NAC also helps. I didn't realized the grip OCD had on my brain until I started taking this. NAC makes it so the obsessions just don't stick in my brain like they use to. NAC combined with the 4-step method has been a powerful combination. I take Source Natural N-Acetyl Cysteine 600 mg 2 times a day, but my daughter takes it 3 times a day. (My daughter's psychiatrist is the one who recommended it.) Meditating also helps. There are so many different ways to meditate, but a good place to start is the Calm app. You can get it for free as a homeschooler. https://www.calm.com/schools#teacher-form Also, eating well, exercising, and getting outside all help. Yoga is good too. I also take inositol if I'm having a hard day and need something that works fast. It calms down my brain. I would look for a therapist who better understands OCD and who can help your daughter retrain her brain.

I'm going to use History of Our World Ancient World as a spine: https://www.rainbowresource.com/product/sku/034795 I like that it's easy to read. I think it will work great as a basic spine that can be combined with other resources.

I developed raging tinnitus about a year ago. Now, I don't always notice it during the day because it's so quiet. I take gingko biloba (Nature's Bounty 120 mg 2x /day), vinpocetine (Life Extension 10 mg, 3x/day), and Newton Labs Homeopathics Ear Ringing (sometimes I use sporadically, but lately 2x/day because it also helps with my noise sensitivity which has been aggravated lately). I also did sound therapy. The key is to teach your brain that the sound is not important. Getting upset about it and focusing on it makes it worse. I constantly listened to ocean sounds. This one was my favorite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACrDH5iXNM8&list=PLIgiBWHIMtGQyeOgIweYwOKZ_Uc44-1Hv&index=2&t=0s I no longer need to listen to it during the day, but I still listen to ocean sounds while I'm sleeping. There are things that aggravate it. For instance, when I got the flu, it was worse, so I had to pull out the ocean sounds and remind myself not to get upset. Taking Fenu-Thyme helped to keep my ears clear of fluid, which relieved pressure and helped the tinnitus to get better. I also have hyperacusis, so loud noises can make my tinnitus worse. I went to an ENT when it first came on, and they checked for hearing loss and made sure that my ears were healthy. (Thankfully everything was okay on that end.) Then I saw an audiologist who specializes in tinnitus, and she tried to sell me some very expensive ear pieces that played ocean sounds. That wasn't necessary for me because I could just play the sounds on my phone or computer. Doctors often prescribe antidepressants or anxiety meds because anxiety makes tinnitus worse. I used supplements instead, such as CBD oil. Also check out motivationaldoc on youtube. He has some great videos about tinnitus. Tension in the head and neck definitely makes tinnitus worse. I have to constantly work on releasing tension, and I wear a mouth guard, which helps my TMJ. I use a hot pad at night to help my muscles relax.

It's important to understand the difference between an emotional support animal and a service animal. An emotional support animal does not have the same access rights as a service animal. This article details the differences: https://www.servicedogcertifications.org/the-difference-between-a-psychiatric-service-dog-and-an-emotional-support-animal/ Emotional support animals may live in places with "no pets" policies, and they may fly on airplanes. Those are the only special rights they have. In order to have public access rights, you need a service animal who performs tasks. As others said, there is no official certification process, so you're correct that they're all basically scams. Here's another article with more information: https://adata.org/publication/service-animals-booklet.

I suggest trying some of the techniques by motivationaldoc on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/motivationaldoc. Search for ones about ears. Also, I use a product called Fenu-Thyme to clear out fluid in the ears. When my son was little, he failed his hearing test because his ears were completely blocked. I put him on Fenu-Thyme, and his ears cleared up, and he passed his hearing test.

Lookout Mountain, Lair o' the Bear Park, and Red Rocks Amphitheatre aren't too far from downtown. If you go to the ampitheatre, you should call first to make sure it's open.

It sounds like he would have been on an IEP had he attended public school. Students on an IEP do graduate from high school. My son attends a public high school, and he will receive a diploma. His core classes are called "Life Skills English," "Life Skills Math," "Life Skills Social Studies," and "Life Skills Science." He also takes adaptive electives, such as "Adaptive Physical Education" and "Adaptive Art." These classes are all specifically tailored to his abilities. He has IEP goals that he works on instead of following a set curriculum for many of his classes. The science and social studies classes are completely nontraditional. They're all about life skills. For instance, he did a program about nutrition and health. He goes on field trips, and he learns about money. He has specific jobs, such as selling brownies that he makes in class. He learns about community safety and job skills. There's no reason you can't graduate your son from high school. It appears that Florida has a Special Diploma option, which your son would qualify for because he is deaf. However, I don't know if homeschoolers need to use this option. In your case, I would be inclined to say that you can give a standard high school diploma, especially since he was able to pass most of the GED. I would start by putting together a transcript. I would also search for groups specifically for homeschoolers in Florida. You can probably find a group on facebook. You can ask them for information specific to the state in which you homeschooled. You may also be able to graduate him from Washington if that's easier, depending on when you moved and when you want to say he completed high school. If he's been working on the GED recently, then you could say you have continued homeschooling and include that work on his transcript.

I always pick kids who ask for art supplies from the angel tree because my own kids love art so much. I would get Crayola 64 count crayons, Crayola washable super tips markers (pack of 20 is a good size), and either a Melissa & Doug Drawing Pad or an eeBoo Sketch Book. You want to make sure the paper is thick enough for markers. I would also get some broad line Crayola markers or some pipsqueaks. Just make sure they're washable. If you want to get colored pencils, I would go with Prismacolors. They're a good price on amazon: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00006IEEU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. Also look for Prismacolor Premier Pencil Sharpener. If you want to get a coloring book, look for Melissa and Doug Jumbo Coloring Pads. If you want to get general art supplies, you can get construction paper, scissors, stickers, glue sticks, white glue, pom poms, and pipe cleaners. Dollar Tree has most of these items. They also have some fun coloring sets. I always buy Fiskars scissors, though. You could also get a storage clipboard or a tote to put the supplies in. I recently bought a nice art tote for $5 at Michaels: https://www.michaels.com/artist's-loft-fundamentals-tote-bag/10159772.html?cm_mmc=PLASearch-_-google-_-MICH_National_PLA_Shopping_Null_Null_Tier+1_General-_-All+Tier+1+Products&&cm_mmc=PLASearch-_-google-_-MICH_National_PLA_Shopping_Null_Null_Tier+1_General-_-All+Tier+1+Products&gclid=Cj0KCQiArqPgBRCRARIsAPwlHoW0MrLJjftRKbWSEOz2FoEF0L1FQwvm15Qc9FsLW08wUgV0eWJgF-8aAslNEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds. Dollar Tree also has some fun totes.

Wyzant.com is a good place to look for tutors. Many tutors have user reviews, and they have info about their experience and background.

My daughters use Surface Pros for drawing. They use FireAlpaca, which is free.