Hey, I know Joe! Joe shows up at parties and at work and has even been known to cross packed dance floors, making a beeline for the stool next to mine at the bar so he can tell me all about the theories he had devised that pertain to me (like my limited areas of competence as a woman). Joe also finds my (apparent) "jokes" about him going away and bothering someone else super funny. Oh, the laughs we've had, Joe and I. Joe is an insufferable cad.

I'm meh on marriage as a concept. I'm naturally kind of singular and have to actively remember to consider that he may have opinions/preferences/plans that I may not be aware of. I've gotten better about it over the past 17 years. But I do love my husband and generally enjoy our life together, and the opportunity cost of missing that greatly outweighs the opportunity cost of having it.

Oh! Yeah, that's a difference in trainer focus. I and one of my male colleagues were the ones most comfortable with clients with medical and physical limitations, so one of us would have gotten your request. Most others seem to be more aligned with elite athlete training. I think that's unfortunate because trainers most neighborhood gyms are working more with general population, with all of our wide spectrum of challenges. @Carrie - I think it depends on the instructor and class participants. Our instructor was really not very bright or well-informed. My medical background gave me an advantage over her (abysmally backwards and wrong) lectures on anatomy and physiology. Others did a lot more conscientious book study, and most people in the class had a pretty good handle on fitness anyway, just from personal interest. I did most of my CE through NETA, and acquired additional certifications to teach yoga, Pilates, adult fitness ballet, and general group-ex.

Yes. I went through the WITS certification class at my local college. @Annie - I'm not sure there is really a qualitative difference. If anything, in my experience (myself included), women tend to be... Pushier. We push ourselves and our clients harder than our make colleagues. ;)

Our little town (2,500) has two dark purple taxis with a yellow and black check stripe down the side.

Mine do that when they're about to hit a growth spurt. They're grazers anyway (which is fine, but annoying on days like that), and they have protein with every meal and most snacks. Still, they have my dad's metabolism (like a race horse. I resent them all, deeply) and are athletes; adding the growth spurt energy just pushes them over the edge. Does it help to know that, in a few years, they'll be randomly making themselves tuna melts in the middle of the morning, or eating through hummus and veg like locusts?

Yup. The cute little furry ones are fun to bait out and throw a net over. The ones with the pointy teeth seem to attract more and band together. I wish they'd just find a bridge to crawl under.

Congratulations! I just did that and will be graduating in 3 weeks, then directly on to grad school. Which is to say, you will not be the only geriatric student in your classes. There are plenty of us. ;)

Reported

I was hoping for everyone's best tips for housekeeping. I'm a lousy housekeeper. I tip the cleaners in hotels, though.

Uneven melting. You ARE a microwave!

Someone has tagged this thread with Boobie Butter already, right?

If you shake it long enough, it will warm itself! Or make butter. Mmmmmmm.

#evilthoughts

Still. Double. Posting.

OMG. The screen holes. They... LEAK!

Dear app, Stop double-posting everything. Thanksloveyou!

Right. This falls under the possessed appliance rule. It's a subsection of the possessed house rule, but you don't have to move unless it's a large appliance.

I suspect it's more the "if women have more free time, what will they get up to" fear. You know how uppity we can be with free time.

Apparently, any happy, loving thoughts will do. ;)

Dp

No. And there are also studies that suggest house plants can read and respond to the negative and positive thoughts of the people who handle them. Maybe the microwave water plant was being resented by the researcher. Who knows?

I'm in MD. Reviews are not meant to assess "meaningful education", they're meant to review your documentation that "regular and thorough" education takes place. Your documentation is what is under review, not your children's academic prowess. Documentation can be more difficult to compile for less traditional home educators, like radical unschoolers (simply because one would have to figure out how to demonstrate learning in regular subject areas) but outside of that, it should be pretty straightforward. You also have the option of going with a homeschool umbrella for reviews. We (I run one) also have two reviews mandated per year, but are able to be more flexible (or not) in defining how those reviews are done and what we look for in documentation.

Dp

I bought a tortilla keeper in the Mexican section of the grocery store (like they serve tortillas in in restaurants). I put a wet cloth napkin in and microwave it for a minute, then chuck the tortillas in as they're done. Tortillas, pancakes, and grilled cheese go on the electric griddle. Waffles are still a bugger, though.