This isn't the first stray he has brought home (as I posted earlier we have adopted some of them). Thanks for this idea.

In fact, the lap dog we presently have was rescued last year (you might remember me posting about finding this dog in a parking lot, dodging traffic). We brought her home and kept her. The dog he brought home last night just isn't a match for us. It is too small. I run. My dh is an avid walker. We need an athletic dog (of course our Bernese Mountain dog is more of a couch potato than athletic dog but she CAN run and walk). Other than our first dogs dh and I had before kids, every dog we have had was an adult in need of a home. And they've all been great family members.

Except I'm afraid that he'll bring home a new critter every night!

I spent yesterday digging through my son's room (he's 13). It was so far gone, in terms of neatness, that I decided I would organize it for him so he had a new starting point for keeping it tidy. So last night and went into his room to check out my handiwork (he was already in there for the night) and to say good night. He looked and acted a little suspicious (like he was hiding something from me). Yeah. He was. A dog. A tiny, tiny, tiny (like under 5 lb tiny) dog. A small scream escaped my mouth. (It was shockingly small.) "Oh mom he's been following me all day and my friend told me he escaped from the animal shelter. Mom, mom, he needs a home." Did I mention we have two dogs already and plan on getting a dog next spring from my nephew who is breeding chocolate labs. Of course I told him we couldn't keep it and felt like such a heel giving him the "we can't save every animal" speech. And did I mention this is the same child I posted about last month, who brought home a stray cat. My dh told me last night that my ds is an animal whisperer. He always has strays following him.

:iagree:

I decided something had to be wrong with the scale after all I was working out and eating healthy. I made my dh weigh himself. The first day he stepped on the scale he jumped off and said he had to loose a few pounds. Two days later (okay maybe that's a slight exaggeration) he dropped ten pounds. Boy was I furious! :001_smile: It always seems to work that way. It takes me forever to drop a few pounds . . .he decides to loose weight and it drops off overnight! lol!

I also run regularly but this past half a year or so have been unable to make that darn needle on the scale move. I have always known that weight training is important but did not relish the idea of actually doing it. Well a month ago I decided enough was enough and began a weight program 3 times a week. This morning my scale showed a drop. Hopefully I've broken the plateau. Anyway, I use the weight program outlined in The Abs Diet for Women.

And my son will be pleased too because he thinks spending more than fifty cents on any writing implement is a waste of money. After all, I could be putting the funds towards his professional biking career :).

Thanks for the suggestion.

And what's the best fountain pen to buy? Okay, let me add a qualifier . . . a reasonably priced fountain pen. Thanks.

One of the biggest discoveries I made after I crossed over :) was that scripture is meant to be read in context from Genesis to Revelations. I grew up in a church that generally picked scriptures to suit topics. Once I understood this it made a huge difference on how I read and understood the bible. And like you Romans, particularly Romans 8, hit it home for me. (In fact this year I'm memorizing Romans 8 . . . okay I'm old . . .it'll take me a year!) Even though I grew up in a Christian home, with godly parents, when I embraced reformed teaching it was like a new start to my Christian walk and definitely changed, for the positive, how I viewed God. I agree with the other posters, Sproul is excellent. John Piper and his ministry at Desiring God http://www.desiringgod.org/ also has a wealth of information. Our ladies small group also watched a short series called Amazing Grace http://www.monergismbooks.com/Amazing-Grace-The-History-Theology-of-Calvinism-DVD-p-16342.html Enjoy the journey!

That's our plan. In September the two older kids will be in Grade 8 and our youngest will be in Grade 7 (although he does mostly the same work as the older two).

I became the mom of two teens in the last month. For the most part I'm enjoying them primarily because I love to talk and so do they! Enjoy the celebration!

Grapes of Wrath is this weeks selection.

Like I said, kids are unbelievable.

He's playing on my weak spot and I'm sure he knows it! But I'll tell him he's got people on his side . . .:001_smile:

My eldest son has such a compassion for animals, as do I. Of course, as an adult I recognize my limitations. Presently we have two dogs . . one we found roaming around in a parking lot. In fact, in all my years of dog owning we have only never had a new puppy choosing instead to adopt older dogs who needed homes. I'm an animal lover and am willing to extend my love to rescuing dogs. But, we can't have cats. My dd is extremely allergic (asthmatic) to cats. So, last night my son sees in the local paper a story about two litters of kittens people abandoned. Sad story. I would like to help but cats are out of the question. This morning my son is still begging me to help but of course we can't. So at around 10 this morning he heads over to visit at my brother's house where my brother has a stray cat boarding in his carport. What does my son do? Brings the cat here and tells me we have to help it. So of course I tell him he has to take it back . . . which makes me feel bad . . . Kids!!

I began suffering from this about two years ago at around 42. I hate them so I'm willing to try this route.

My child's asthma is linked to dust and dog allergies. The doctor told us to get rid of our dogs. My kids were beside themselves, crying every night. So we decided to try and reduce the dander by removing carpeting and installing air purifiers. This allowed us to keep our dogs. She was young when she was diagnosed. Then we went a couple of years where she didn't even need her inhalers but just this past few months her asthma's become reactive again so we're using flovent twice a day and flonaise (nasal spray) every day. We think she's allergic to a new trigger but haven't isolated it.

I read the headlines on the internet (I mean the very basic headlines) and other than that I figure just living in a community will make me aware of anything of vital importance. I was/am sick of living in a state of anxiety. I believe in being prepared and using common sense but beyond that my confidence is God, not the economy.

We don good winter tires by the end of October until the end of April and have had no troubles whatsoever. Previously we had a Ford awd van that drove wonderfully in snow but honestly, I don't notice any difference driving our Sienna. I think the tires play an important role. BTW our Sienna is probably the best vehicle we've ever owned. Love, love, love it. We bought it slightly used (1 year old) and have no problems with it three years later.

I guess we might both be wrong.

Our town is fairly young . . . aprox. 55 yrs old. In all those years there have only been two altercations with humans. Both times it was a black bear and both times there were extenuating circumstances (i.e. mother with cubs). Neither resulted in death. So the reality is if you use common sense you're not likely to get in trouble with bears. I will admit that grizzlies in town is relatively new . . . only the last few years. They do unnerve me much more than a black bear but moving to avoid them isn't an option. People are good about identifying where the bears are hanging out and so we avoid riding our bikes or running in those areas. I posted in another post that my kids and I did an safety course last month with the local search and rescue group. They told us that deer in rut kill more people than bears do.

Both would get me in trouble with a grizzly. The small one thinks she's a big dog and would probably try and go after the bear and the giant one (a Bernese Mountain dog) is a big chicken and would probably jump into my arms. :001_smile: Yes grizzlies are a whole different story and they do unnerve me much more than a black bear. It's interesting because the place we saw the bear today is along a route my friend and I regularly run. I e-mailed her tonight and said our route would not include that area for awhile. At least until the berries are out in full supply and the river is full of fish . . . that might make us look less appetizing! :001_smile:

I live in bear country and we frequently see black bears, in fact, regularly have them in our yard. In recent years grizzly bears have moved into the valley (they've always been in the region, just never in town). Well today we had the pleasure (pleasure because I was in my car and not on foot) of watching a grizzly grazing in the bush off the side of the road. As we passed a cyclist was riding going in the direction of the bear, on the same side of the road. We were unable to warn the guy who was only less than 100 ft away from it when we saw him. He would have passed the bear who was only a couple of feet off the road. Yikes. I wonder how he felt after driving past a brown bear . . . I know how I would have felt.