In many cases, I suspect it is narcissism. Perhaps not to the extent of having the actual PD, but that is one of the hallmarks.

Oh, and I forgot my actual point about the books: I suck at making lines. Which is why I write in script. ;) it gets better.

Heh heh. I love those books! Mine is naturally somewhere between Spencer & Palmer. It's almost indistinguishable from my grandmother's so... 1930s Catholic school method, whatever that was.

:iagree: But it does feel like some sort of Smackdown From the Universe for upsetting the status quo, doesn't it? :grouphug:

Technologically speaking, I would suggest something more global than browser settings. We use OpenDNS (free) and have locked out adult sites for our router. Any computer on our wifi is therefore adult-site free, regardless of browsers or settings. It works better (fewer false positives) than Verizon parental controls on the DSL, and I am the only person in the house with the password to the online dashboard.

In MD, you send in a Notice of Intent form the first time, then notify then annually that you're continuing (I think the HS coordinators prefer email; that's their preferred venue for my umbrella enrollment roster, anyway). When you fill out the form, you select whether you'd like to be reviewed a) by the local school system reviewer or b) enroll with an umbrella program. Either route, the reviewer is reviewing YOU (not the children) for evidence of "regular and thorough instruction" (samples of work). Standardized testing is optional. We are not required to keep grades or hours.

That's our style, too. Though through experience, I have learned to fear the cut, live wires the previous owners just walled over more than be concerned about any showing. :blink: We don't have central anything, so the fans stay, but we've ripped out the paneling, including the tongue & groove oak flooring applied horizontally to the walls and ceiling - but not the floor! - of the bathroom. Seriously. It was like a Doug room.

I used disposables with my first (pre-Internet, had no idea where one would even find cloth/covers), and cloth full time with the three youngers. We used prefolds and Bummis or wool covers.

Yes, this is an important stipulation. I found my boys scrubbing the sink with my face loofah. :ack2:

Ugh. I tried that as "natural consequences" for not flushing the toilet. Now, they don't flush AND they fight over who "gets" to clean the toilet. :lol: A friend of mine has her kids wash walls. The trick for her is that it's tedious and takes a long time. When mine can't control themselves, I have them move firewood, rake, etc.

:lol: I love the user pictures. :lol:

I do the same, including the $5 minimum. Here, minimum wage for waitstaff is significantly lower than standard minimum wage ($2.01/hr when I worked in restaurants, when the std was $5.75 or higher) and they are taxed on that plus 10% of their ring. And, as mentioned, they are also tipping out a percentage of their tips to the bartender and bus staff. So, yeah, that one $20 check that they receive no tip puts them in the hole.

Use rope caulk for your windows an unused doors. For doors that are used, consider installing a curtain rod above the trim and a "thermal curtain" (ours is an old comforter that I covered in neutral fabric) that will cover the entire door. If you want to get fancy, you can make a swing rod out of plumbing supplies. Eta: we also vent our dryer indoors so, when we use it in the winter, it helps warm an humidify the house.

Oh yeah. Love that. Especially when the doc says something clever like "well, at your age, everything's kind of a moving target." (it's a good thing he really is clever, or there would have been words.)

Nope. Edith says she ran into the wife, that their last farmhand had been drafted, that she volunteered to drive the tractor.

You can also watch it on PBS.org the day after it airs. Ok, Mary is striking me as rather narcissistic this go 'round. I dunno, but the games she plays are way too young for her. OTOH, I do so love Carson and it was his advice that she should say something. And I think Matthew totally got her meaning. No idea why she would even entertain the idea of marrying Captain Smarmy. Blech. Edith and Thomas: so deeply, completely evil that I hope we get to see them each meet a nasty demise worthy of the way they've conducted themselves. Sybil. Just lovely. And, I think, would be well paired with Branson, despite class differences. Anna and Bates... I sincerely hope Lord Grantham hunts Bates down and gets rid of the wife, now that he knows what Bates did to protect him and his family. Am I the only one who got teary when Anna was explaining to Mosely and Mary the completeness of her love?

I've had that pinchy mittelschmerz feeling when I've ganked (yes, I've decided that's the technical term) a lower abdominal muscle or some other area connective tissue. I was definitely not ovulating at the time. (I'm enjoying the number of times mittelschmerz - an excellent word - is being used in this conversation.)

Nope. :D I bet I'm the only one who accidentally brought her 13yo to a head shop to buy cheese.

Yup. And I was thinking the same thing the other day.

On behalf of the mid-Atlantic region dwellers with drafty houses, I would like to thank you for buying the kids sleds for Christmas. :D Man, Boo is getting so big! Has it already been 2 months?

I do, as well. It's probably the reason I tend to replay every conversation I have throughout the day over and over in my head, analyzing my choice of words, trying to figure out if I said something that might have been hurtful to someone... I was reading the list from Harpy's Child to my husband a few weeks ago and had to stop short at one item; I had done something similar with him a few months ago. I had to apologize. He was very understanding about why I wigged out it the first place, but also pointed out that recognizing my own actions in that list is probably a sign that I'm not a narcissist. But still, there's a part of me that wonders, if he says I was justified, will I see it in the future? Or will I just justify for myself?

I don't necessarily agree with that. I think that most understand that it is difficult to live with someone struggling with unregulated bipolar disorder or OCD (or BE someone struggling with bipolar disorder or OCD). (Speaking only to NPD because I don't have experience with BPD) NPD family members victimize people. Us. They victimize us. And when we protest, they launch a campaign of wrath so thorough that - once we've gotten beyond the gaslighting - it's absurd. I understand sociopaths/psychopaths lack the mechanism for empathy. I still have no sympathy for them when surveying the swath of destruction they leave in their wake, either. I realize some people find that unfair, uncharitable, etc.

No, you're not. My (obviously informal, uncontrolled, small group) data seems to indicate that people who do not care for licorice detect bitterness in stevia. People who like (or don't dislike) licorice do not. I think it's a specific compound that turns people off to licorice if they can detect it, also found in stevia. But that is just conjecture on my part.

I would start by planning meals that are naturally gluten free: chili with rice, soup & salad, baked chicken, potatoes, that sort of thing. There are easy tweaks for favorites with flour as a thickener or coating, so that's a good place to start. Roasted potatoes were a favorite in place of croutons on salads here before being gf. I would then look for gf subs for non-bread/bakery staples: find a gf pasta you like (I think the brown rice pastas are categorically inedible, but quinoa and corn pastas work well... except long noodles. I haven't found long noodles that work yet... or egg noodles), switch out any condiments and pantry items -soy sauce, salad dressings, etc - for their gf cousins, gf cereals, oatmeals, etc. Then, you can start tweaking breads, desserts, etc. I've posted my gf pizza crust recipe and biscuit recipe here recently. I'm not a mix person so about the most I get into that territory is flour mixes. I like Bob's Red Mill gf all-purpose, Gluten Free Mama's Almond Blend, and Pamela's baking mix for different things and keep those, and tapioca starch and corn starch, on hand pretty much all the time. There have been so many gf threads recently... I wonder if we should just have a social group.