Uh, amen. Really? She took the time to call the airline and discuss flights on various dates, then call you with her cards out, then leave the pertinent numbers, etc., on your answering machine? Really? Wow. That is entirely too much effort to get someone to serve me. If I were your MIL, I would totally be finding a new family to visit. :D

I think there are a number of cell phone numbers that are former landline numbers, and they have not yet fallen off the call rosters purchased from other companies. However, it is illegal for telemarketers to knowingly call a cell phone. If you answer and tell them it's a cell phone, they have to stop calling. Caller ID can say anything the person who "owns" the number wants it to. My husband has a co-worker whose number comes up as a fictitious name because they're a little more, uh, fastidious about personal security than most. I finally had to block a number from the "Police Protection Fund", which comes up as a person's name and is, in fact, incredibly rude telemarketers. They are a "charity"* so they do not have to acknowledge your repeated requests to stop calling, like other telemarketing firms do. (* I put "charity" in quotes because no police department that I know of has heard of / benefitted from this organization, and it has been under fraud investigation in MD.) On my mobile, I don't get solicitation calls, but I think the exchange is only for cell phones, so easily identifiable. I did, however, get repeated calls from a recording informing me that an inmate in LA County was trying to reach me, but my carrier does not have an agreement with LA County Corrections and that I should call 1-800-whatever to allow this call to go through. :001_huh:

{fingers in ears} I can't hear you, lalalalalalalalalalalalala...:willy_nilly:

:iagree: Is it not enough that I am wearing stretchy pants? Do I have to be forced to test the limits of spandex? (she types one-handed, as she drops parchment liners into the cupcake tins)

My point, exactly. :D Me, too. It's not people whose views I necessarily would disagree with (it is these people from whom I tend to learn the most); it's the people who only seem to feel the need to hop onto a civil discussion and post something snide or outright mean just to do it.

Oh. Bummer. I forgot about the shipping. We order in 25lb bags. :blush: Sam's is so bizarre. We have a local coffee company that Sam's used to carry a good variety from - then it dwindled to, well, some sort of flavored decaf, I think. I wonder what that's about? Amazon has various brands / sizes that are eligible for Prime (or supersaver) shipping. (Is it weird that I seem to have developed a personal interest in you getting the coffee you want? :D)

Yes, anything you have on cd or can play through iTunes should work fine on your mp3 player. My 8 y.o. has her Latin and French audio on hers, and we've loaded audiobooks that we have on cd so she could listen to them on long car rides.

I found the SOTW activity book to be more to my liking - History Odyssey (elementary level) seemed a little too project-y for my tastes. I think it's a great program, just not my personal style, so you may find it's exactly what you're looking for. (I do plan to revisit when we hit the level 2 round of history, though, because I think that level will be good in our house.)

We used the end of 1, 2, and are now getting toward the end of 3. My daughter retains the information well. HOWEVER (because there is always a "but"), she is still in the process of learning to compile original thought and put it on paper in a readable format. (She's 8) That is a skill that develops with practice, at a later age. So, like a number of kids I know IRL, she does not yet transfer her ability to spell, properly punctuate, etc. to the process of writing narrations, for instance. So we are learning to edit after getting the thoughts on paper. ;) That's a whole 'nother skill set.

Pears are usually soft enough when cut into chunks, as are peaches, plums, mango, etc. Any stone fruits and berries, really. My kids liked oranges, but I would break up the sections so they were just clumps of juice pods. Steamed carrots are good warm or cold, too. Cauliflower, sweet potatoes, squash, can all be steamed or roasted in quantity and stashed in the fridge. Muffins are easy to break into chunks and you can stash a lot of good stuff in them. Noodles are easy. Once my kids started finger foods (and they really never ate pureed foods), we mostly just gave them smaller pieces of what we were eating. With the exception of salad, they did just fine. (Salad greens are way too flat and pliable to manage with gums, it seems)

I think both approaches have their merits, but can be taken too far. The "two paragraph disclaimer" as Rosie put it, can be helpful in verbalising what, exactly, a poster is looking for, particularly when starting a thread with a hot topic theme that they would not like to degenerate into a heated argument of the merits of A vs B. I'm thinking here of people who have asked for thoughts on a specific situation, such as what is the best next step in a courtship situation, without wanting the discussion to devolve into an argument over whether courtship is a valid approach to seeking a spouse. The ignore list appears to be a helpful tool for cutting posters who are habitually less than civil when replying to threads, when you would like to read discussions of varying outlooks without getting bogged down in personal attacks. I can see where both can be insular, when one seeks to only interact with the few posters who agree with one's own worldview in its entirety. I would suspect, though, that people who go to such lengths are really not interested in open dialogue, anyway. Know what I mean?

Here is what I look for in a coffee maker - your wants list may be different: Automatic timer, insulated stainless carafe, removable water tank, easy cleaning. My favorite coffee maker, ever, has been the Capresso CoffeeTEC (I had a previous model). That died after several years of use including traveling with me on business and vacation, and it was totally my fault for not cleaning it properly. :crying: We've been through a few coffee makers since, and have had our current Cuisinart (similar to Melinda's, sans grinder) for about a year and a half and like it very much. The only thing it doesn't have from my wish list is the removable water tank. I get hours of hot, unburnt coffee, that's ready for me when I wake up. When this one goes, we will probably return to the Capresso, but I am happy with the Cuisinart for as long as it chugs along.

When my kids were younger, my Maya Wraps. Until recently with the boys, our Mountain Buggy - truly the best stroller I could possibly imagine, though, in retrospect, a bright orange double stroller is not the best thing to push around unless you want to answer the "twin questions" every five feet. Ditto the Skip-Hop Duo diaper bag. In the kitchen, I love my Kitchen Aid mixer. And I am nearly criminally envious of my friend's pot filler. Short moms who cook should not have to drag vats of water across the kitchen. (Also, I am very fond of my step stools, so I can reach stuff in the cabinets and stir the bottom of the stock pot) Google Calendar - I can see mine and my husband's at the same time, color-coded, and it interfaces with my Blackberry. Oh! My Blackberry! I thought it was overkill for a stay-at-home mom, but it's GREAT! Among other things, I use it to email piano assignments to a friends whose girls come to piano with us, right from the lesson. And I love my Bluetooth ear piece - I can get a lot done on the phone if I'm hands-free. Water in the door has saved me untold hours of drink fetching. Don't get me started on my washer and dryer. (Oh, dear, do I have a gadget fetish or what? No, wait. They're TOOLS! :tongue_smilie:)

My initial mental response was "Yes, in most municipaities, but some people still have private well and septic." :D Yes, interfacing adds body. Does it say the weight of interfacing? What kind of fabric is the costume? What sort of collar is it? You can probably do fine with a piece of stiffer fabric for a costume. It is, as you said, a costume after all.

I would also recommend California Baby or Rainbow Research's De-Tangler for Kids (I prefer the smell of this one).

Yes, and also practice stifling reflexive, hysterical laughter. You'll need that skill when your pondering is through, the understanding of the myth has set in, and you begin to be floored by the irony of the question even being posed, a la It can be awkward to find yourself laughing along with the "joke" and then come to the realization it was a real question. Seriously, though, it really is a myth. I can attest to the ability of the children at our co-op - from toddlers through highschool aged - to join in a group learning experience. The difference in socialization that I have found is that these kids join as participants, not as a captive audience, and even the most competitive kids are willing to offer help when their classmates need or request it.

Oh, Joanne! :grouphug:

The rhino skin helps. I also confine myself to the curriculum board when I need a break from hot topics making me crazy. I rather enjoy a heated debate, but only when it is intelligent discourse pursued passionately. Once the mud slinging starts, I lose interest. I am fortunate to have a wonderful, educationally diverse homeschooling community in real life. I honestly can't imagine not having live humans to bounce some of this crazy off, and everyone, from School-in-a-Box-Mom, to Radical-Unschooler-Mom seem to genuinely enjoy hearing about each other's points of view and learning from one another's experiences. Everyone seems to "get" that homeschooling is not a one-size-fits-all affair. My board experience is similar to your IRL experience: I used to post quite a bit on a natural parenting board that has a homeschooling forum. There was a large unschooling population there who would make nasty, sweeping generalizations about anyone who used curriculum, or even dared to "coerce" their children by suggesting topics that may be of interest. And, yes, the slamming did interfere with what could have been good conversation. The nice thing here is that you do have the option of utilizing an "ignore" list, if you notice that it is a couple of posters in particular that are the ones whose comments bother you. :001_smile:

:iagree: But, I don't know... there's still that "ick factor", you know?

Yep, me too. And it makes me hyper. Delightful. (Zyrtec worked well for me in the past, both managing the allergies and not producing the weird side effects) Also, if I take anything with pseudoephedrine or guaifenesin, I get that yucky weird scalp feeling, sometimes all over my body (especially with the long-acting ones). :ack2:

No, I would guess that, if nose hair trimmers are verboten, a large cement block would set off some questioning. :D If you found a box, why don't you just post it ahead of your departure, with instructions to them not to open it?

Ooh, thanks! (Interestingly, I clicked on one of the "b" student books that indicate they need a password, and it opened right up. What's up with that?:confused:)

Everything Barbie said, including the offer to send our policies, etc., if you want a bunch to look at. (And, thanks, Barbie, for that link!)

Ew. EW, EW, EW, EW!!!!!! Good acting on that instinct! And good for your husband. This guy really needs to learn some manners, at the very least.

When you return and commence to waxing poetic about MEP once more, would you be so kind to tell us how one goes about getting the passwords? (I feel like a terrible impostor emailing for such things when their language is very schooly)