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Everything posted by Tap

  1. 2 but I heard it changed a long time ago. I just haven't tried to change.
  2. I like farmers markets so I can talk to the people who actually work the farms, grow the food and live on the same earth. I find that a lot of farmers can't claim organic standards but are working towards it or are at least growing in sustainable, responsible ways. I like to support farmers who are farmers by passion not only of they crops and yields, but of the health of the plants and the earth. It is usually pretty easy to find who is at the market for just profit, and who is there because it is their passion. One of my favorite memories is of a little old lady, in a simple house dress, handing me a pair sample, and when I said it was one of the best I had ever tasted, her face lit up and said...."I think so too". Nothing prophetic, just a little lady and her prized pears. It is nice to support a person, and not a business. We have fruit/veg stands all around us, but often they buy produce from growers who aren't local to have a variety. You have to really know what crops are local and in season sometimes to make sure what you are buying is truly local.
  3. On Sunday for big shopping usually. It is my only day off of carpool, school and work, so if I need to do a good bit of shopping, it is my only real choice. I do smaller trips often. I stop on the way home from work for a few items or while the kids are in classes.
  4. Here in Portland, Oregon/Vancouver, Wa I would say between about 60-70,000 to meet all the requirements and what I consider 'good' living. Not great, but good. But I don't like car loans so I would expect to be actively saving towards another car, even if I don't have a payment now. I would expect to be able to afford to clothe myself and children from new stores (whether I chose to or not) not second hand stores. I would expect to not have to coupon shop. I would expect to put 20% away into savings and retirement, and 10% to tithe if I chose to. My children would have music lessons and at least one sport a year. I would expect a decent school district (affects home prices here) of choice for my family, (whether I chose to use it or not). In our area a 2,000 sq ft house on a 6000 sq ft, city lot would cost 250,000+, any house with property would be double that. So, a new mortgage alone would be over 2,000 per month.
  5. I would brush up on Computer Applications type information. Learn what Microsoft Office really does (or what ever you are using). Learn hot keys for typing editing text. Brush up on your typing skills if they are rusty. MS office really is an amazing program, if you know how to use it. Take a class or just get a book, you can learn a lot just by doing silly little projects at home. Use Excel to create spread sheets/ charts and how to insert/link them into a paper. Learn the tricks of Power Point, most presentations are in digital format now. Learn how to back up data to a hard drive an transfer files between a memory stick, back up drive, current PC and/or any other storage deice you may use. Learn how to save in different versions of MS-or again what ever you use (not every computer you use may have the same version of MS as you), and what the different file types are and what they are for. Learn what current technology students are using, like what an mp3 player is and how to use it for more than just music. Become best friends with your computer, know it inside and out. Set restore points, do basic maintenance like defrag, and did I mention learn how to keep a back. up. file!
  6. To me it sounds like you need times when you and the children are the only priority. You (and/or the kids) need to be top of the list, the only thing on the list. You want to feel like you get some of his quality time. The time when he is at his best, and not tired from a long day. Time when he is thoroughly engaged in you and your family. It sounds like he is an active and exciting guy. Like he really likes to live hard and fast. Slowing down to a child's pace is hard for someone like this. I would encourage you to ask him to schedule time to include you (and the kids). Whether it is 1 hour a week or half a day on Sunday....whatever you feel you can start with and put it on the calendar. Try to look forward to whatever time you can arrange and be ready to fully engage him and kids at that time. Don't rush around doing laundry at the last minute or take time for something else. Plan a specific activity (and have a planned back up) and be ready to go at the time you set. Fully engage everyone for the scheduled time. Let dh know that you expect him to choose to prioritize the family during this time. Dh does better when I remind him of time in a numbers way... if he works 50hrs per week that equals 2600 hrs per year play time 10 hrs per week equals 520 hrs per year family time at 2 engaged hrs per week equals 104 hrs a year. 2600 + 520= 3120 hrs away vs 104 hrs engaged with family. That is the equivalent of what he spends at work in 2 weeks....in this scenario, that is all the family gets...for a year. The one thing that people usually say the value the most, it often the one thing they also take the most for granted. I hope you are able to figure it out, dh can be a work-a-holic. In fact he worked 60-70-80hr weeks this Dec/Jan (and I work 3 days too), so I have unfortunately been where you are in the past and we are currently trying to recover again. The problem with dh is that he enjoys his work, so to him spending the time isn't a bad thing....he enjoys it. I just have to remind him that we want him to be with us as a family, in an active role, not just a warm body behind the glow of a computer, or asleep on the couch. I think that dh hears us moving around the house, the kids laughing, me cooking etc, and even though he is engaged in work, he gets his 'fill' of us (in a good way) passively. He forgets that we don't get this from him, if he is just sitting in front of a computer doing work. He thinks that it is a two-way-street scenario, he can just be in the house and we 'feel' like he is here. But it doesn't work that way when the person isn't engaged in the situation. If their attention, or priority is on something else, it is really like they aren't there at all. That is why I made a emphasis up above in this post of 'engaged' in the activity.
  7. Have you tried using a credit card to slip the lock? Most house locks are fairly easy to get into. Don't ask why I know that :D
  8. Just to clarify, I don't agree that everything organic is better than non-organic just because of labeling. I do agree that most produce is better if organic. Even you agree about local vine ripe vs shipped from around the world organic. What I am thinking of here is a box of quick serve oatmeal that is labeled 'organic'. Just because it is 'organic' doesn't mean that the other ingredients are quality nor that they are healthy. A box of traditional oats, organic or not, cooked and sweetened naturally will be more nutritious in my book. If you go down the frozen food and canned/boxed aisles in the store, you will find all kinds of chemical laden, preservative laced...'organic' food.
  9. I don't save hardly anything. A few little things each year, for mementos, and that is it. Ds14 is in highschool, and I do plan to save his time log, just in case. It has the work we did at home logged in it, and the outside classes. It is a state requirement to maintain one during the year and it will be simple to store, just in case :001_smile: I am only keeping it because it is highschool, I wouldn't do it if it was anything less. I used to save more throughout the year, and then toss but now I don't even do that. I know what we used, if anyone wants to ask, I will show them a syllabus. If they have a question about if my child has completed a grade....then I guess they will have to assume they passed first grade if they are doing 4th grade work. If they want to test them...test them. I don't mind, the kids like tests, and it would be easier than keeping track of it all. We do state testing most years, so the do have a basic bench mark to look at. I don't know what having a spelling workbook that my dd completed in 2nd grade would tell anyone anyways. Again, if they want to know if dd can spell....test her. :tongue_smilie:
  10. I say 'as much as I can afford' but, it is more than that. There are certain foods I prioritize, and certain foods that I don't. I don't buy organic or non-organic produce items, if they are from out of the country except for a few foods that are not possible to buy locally. I would rather buy a local, vine ripened, non-organic zucchini that and organic one shipped in from Chile. I do watch where food originates and priories that more than organic. I also watch the ingredients. Organic food isn't necessarily healthier, so the fact that something is 'organic' in labeling, really isn't enough for me.
  11. dd10- Finishing the Bunnicula Series ds14- Moby Dick (his choice-not assigned)
  12. It seems like the less we have the better the 2yo behaves. Has anyone else noticed the same trend?
  13. I am the most picky about fabrics. My clothes and dh's come predominately from Eddie Bauer. Ds is Gap and Quicksilver, dd10 is eclectic and likes second hand stores, and dd2 lives in Gymboree. Sheets must be high thread counts, over 400 for all beds. Towels must be quality cotton. I like brand name diapers and Kirkland wipes. I like new socks, no holes, stains better be light or out they go! I like quality chocolate, amber beer (Ropewalk is my new fave), and quality tea. I like Tillamook brand cheese. I don't eat fake 'anything' food. mashed potatoes, mac and cheese etc. Ill stop there because there are getting to be too many to list :tongue_smilie:
  14. If your going to make it whitty, just make it short please. I won't leave messages if I have to wait for 3 minutes to listen to someones push 1 for..., push 2 for.... or a child's singing of a song, reciting a poem or banter between people. I also won't leave messages for people who try to trick people into thinking they are answering, but really aren't. It would have to be really important for me to bother, if the person is purposefully being annoying to the caller I figure it is their passive aggressive way to discourage people from calling in the first place :glare: I have to call people for work all the time so I guess I am ultra sensitive to answering machines because I deal with them more than the normal person.
  15. Girl characters I can think of Goldie locks (I don't know how to spell that) Cinderella Little Red Riding Hood Sleeping Beauty Snow White ...a dwarf Peter Pan Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz may count depend on how literal you mean for fairy tale. Rapunzel ETA here is a list of fairy tales...maybe it will stir something in you http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fairy_tales
  16. Well you can scan the documents on a scanner and email them to the receiver, but they will be an email not a fax. They can't be transmitted directly to a fax machine. If you want to send them as a fax, you can print the documents and send them via fax (if they are already an email). If you have an all in one printer/scanner/fax, and if you are connected to a phone line you can scan/fax them. You can print them and take them to a store to fax them if you don't have a fax at home. A document can be sent directly from your computer. If it is currently an email, you can save the attachments as documents in your computer. Then if your connected to a phone line, fax them with certain programs.
  17. The absolute best thing is to stop talking, and yes whispering is the worst. Gargle with salt water, take a anti-inflammatory like ibuprofen, drink warm drinks, no singing-talking-humming-grunting-whispering.
  18. ds14 has done TT alg 1, TT alg 2 and is half way through Geometry. He takes state assesment testing twice-three times a year (different types of tests). He always tests out in the advanced category for test results. It is working for us. We are happy with TT and plan to continue using it.
  19. ds14 9th Geometry (already finished algebra 1&2) English 9 (includes reading and reporting on 8 AP tested classics per year) Social Studies 9 Computer Applications Spanish 2 Biology academics=30 hours per week PE (accredited class with progress monitoring and documentation) Swim team=25 hours a week Youth group at church and bible reading daily.
  20. I would leave half plain and then put coconut pecan frosting, cooked chocolate fudge frosting, or your drizzle of white on the other.
  21. call Fed-ex and ask if they know what time to expect it. If it is during the time you will be gone then either stay home or ask if they will hold delivery for a day
  22. The kids love them but i only buy a pack or two a year. I think that they are probably less nutritious than just eating potato chips for lunch...hence we call them potato chip soup. In fact since plain lays are just potatoes, salt and oil....chips are probably much healthier :001_smile:
  23. The toddlers pjs are usually under $8 a pair, for Carters brand, at Costco or the like. DD10 likes flannel pants and a tank top for a shirt. Hers run under $10 a pair for the bottoms. I buy the x-small women's for her and can usually find them on a good sale. Ds14 wears men's medium sized flannel pants and no shirt. I buy them at Costco when they are on sale for about $10 a pair or less. In the summer the kids often sleep in cotton shorts. I will buy a couple of cute outfits for the girls but shorts are the most common. DD10 loves pjs and cares more about the details/characters on her pjs than her daytime clothes. I just pick up whatever shorts are cheap somewhere. :0) They each have 5-7 pair of pjs. I don't mind if they wear them twice, but my kids sleep hot, so they are stinky if they wear them a third time. I don't mind buying extra pjs because once the kids are in for the night, they usually switch into pjs and stay in them until it is time to go out the next day. They wear them more like an evening outfit :0)
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