DP

I didn't read the other replies, but if this is the case I would just leave one of our cell phones with the sitter (assuming he/she didn't have their own phone) while we are gone. That is what we do with DS when we go somewhere and he stays home. Just tell the sitter which number to answer (your other cell number) and to ignore all others. We used to always have a land line, but no one other than telemarketers would call us, and half the time it didn't work with the one we had at the house we live at now, so we just got rid of it. We haven't had a problem without it at all, nor do we miss it. We get free nation wide long distance on our cell phones, though.

Our cat can't eat treats otherwise she will vomit, and she doesn't play with toys at all, so we don't buy her anything. We'll probably get our farm dog a nice big bone, and for our little indoor dog probably some rawhide chewies and a baby (stuffed animal). <3

If they aren't bothering her, I would just put her on whatever pill worked and just deal with the periods every 3 weeks. That's how I was when I was on BC pills (I also had breakthrough bleeding almost all month long), it's very common, and as far as I know it won't hurt her to do that. Will she not have a Gyn examine her b/c she is embarrassed? I don't see why they would need to, but she should start getting pap smears, and they will have to examine her then. What will the poor girl do once she starts having babies? :/ I was SUPER embarrassed to go to the Gyn when I was younger, so I refused to go until after high school. I didn't even have my own Ob/Gyn when I got pregnant with DS when I was 20 years old. I'm 35 and still super embarrassed about it, but not nearly as bad as I was. Once I started going, though, it wasn't as bad as I had built it up in my mind.

I'm sorry, but I totally agree with this. Why on earth do they think that just b/c the sick person is in an upstairs bedroom that the lower floor will be safe from germs?? It won't be, the germs will still be there, and they could still get sick from them, regardless if the child is upstairs or not. I understand that this person's spouse has cancer. It sucks, I get that, but simply asking a sick person to go to an upper floor while the cancer affilicted person's family is there, in order to prevent the spread of disease, is ridiculous. Just by the sick person stepping foot onto the property could spread the illness. Why do you think that in hospitals, they put on gowns, and foot coverings, and masks, and all that? Because you need all that to prevent the spread of illness, even in an otherwise healthy person. There are a TON of diseases that spread even before a person shows symptoms, so even if they had the grandchild sit upstairs, the other people in the room could possibly be sick but not showing symptoms at that very second, so the cancer patients family could STILL be spreading illness. I know that the cancer patient requested that the family go to these peoples' house, but why on earth would they even do that? If it were me, I would want to spend it with my family member that may not be there for the same holiday the next year...and yes, I do see it as the grandparents picking friends over family. I may be a little sensitive to this, b/c I am a CNA (so I know about spread of disease), and my parents have spent my whole life picking their friends over their family, and playing second fiddle to my parents' friends and even my sister's friends.

I had a similar experience. I quite liked it, but I prefer a simple read and I like books that others call "sloppily written". :blushing: I have no interest in literary works of genius or heavy reads. I also didn't care that it didn't line up with the bible, but I will keep my opinions on that to myself.

Other: Freddy's

Everyone has different tastes. I happen to think that unbrined turkeys are flavorless. As I said before, we always brine our turkey and it never tasted salty or processed, nor do we over cook it b/c we don't stuff it so it is able to cook from the inside as well as the outside. We hosted Thanksgiving at our house multiple years in a row b/c everyone preferred our turkey, and we are the only ones we know that brine it first.

Once it dries, you shouldn't smell the vinegar smell anymore. I mix half vinegar, half water, and a big squirt of scented dish soap, and that seems to help with the odor. You also get used to it. My husband used to hate it, but doesn't mind it anymore.

Hey, I know you from DS! LOL I already answered, but I'll do it again. ;) I burned a batch of toffee I made another batch that wasn't burnt, but I didn't cook it hot enough so it is less toffee and more of a stiff caramel. lol I washed the dishes I did two loads of laundry I scooped the litter box

I'm so sorry. I get it also. I had a fall out with my parents and sister (the issue involved all of them, my whole immediate family) about 2 months ago, and this will be the first year that we won't be spending the holidays with them, and while it was my decision, I am also sad. It's strange to feel relief that we won't have to deal with them b/c they make the holidays so stressful, but I'm sad at the same time. Yep, totally get that. It was the same with my family. I feel bad that my son has nothing to do with this, and he loves his grandparents, but he has to suffer the consequenses of what happened as well as I do. I just hope they can look past what is going on between us, and at least send him gifts for Christmas, b/c it will break his heart if they don't, even though he is old enough to understand what is going on.

Whenever we did Thanksgiving, we bought 1lb of bird for every person there (no ham), and we usually had plenty of leftovers.

As long as he is feeling better, I would let him go. I would let my DS go. There will always be what ifs...but what if he goes and has a great time and comes back in one piece? ;)

- Paint the kitchen cabinets - Install a backsplash in kitchen - Put new flooring in the living room and bedrooms. I would prefer wood, but DH doesn't like it so it would probably be carpet. - Paint cabinets and walls in master bath - Buy new kitchen appliances - Get and instal a new shower door in the master bath - List and sell our house in one day so we can move (HA!)

This is what we use when we make a turkey, and EVERYONE (I really do mean everyone) always comments that our turkey tastes wonderful and is the best they have ever had. Definitely not at all too salty, nor does it have weird texture. It is just juicy and delicious. I don't like turkeys that aren't brined now, b/c I find them way to dry and they lack any kind of flavor.

When I was growing up, we opened our gifts at my grandparents' on Christmas Eve, then after we opened our gifts at our own house we went back over there. With DS, we have always done Christmas with my parents on Christmas Eve, but we have always gone over to DH's parents' house on Christmas morning. Before we moved to a different state, we would go over there around 8am, but now we stay there when we are in town so we are already there. So, anyway....yes, we went over to grandma and grandpa's house on Christmas morning. ;)

I would just keep them in, personally. We live in the country, in the middle of nowhere, and shortly after we moved here a family of cats found us (a younger mom, two older kittens who I think were siblings of the mom, and 6 babies)...all but two of them were killed by the coyotes in the area. If you let your cats outside, it is almost like guaranteeing a death sentence. Just keep them inside.

The organizing would make me really mad, but I wouldn't say anything. The other stuff wouldn't bother me so much, b/c it isn't going to last forever and their schedules will get back to normal. Eating a couple hours late isn't going to hurt them at all (there have been many days over the past 13 years that we have eaten late, especially if our routine is off like it is for you, and it never harmed DS at all), and I agree with the poster that said it sound more like a bug than overeating. You are in an unusual circumstance, so I would just go with it for now, and then get them back to normal once you can. They will be fine.

Our dishwasher took its last breath over a year ago, and we never bought a new one. I actually prefer to hand wash them, b/c I think they are cleaner in the end that way.

Well, my son is 13, and we still have to tell him on a daily basis to leave the animals alone. He does the same things you describe. He has yet to grow out of it...

*I* would, b/c my labor with DS was almost 24 hours, and I didn't get to the hospital for nearly two hours after my water broke, and I still had to be induced the next morning (water broke at 9pm). If you really don't want to go, though, you have a good excuse not to.

I agree about getting solid wood. When we moved here 18 months ago, we bought a brand new solid wood table and 6 chairs. It has been heavily used on a daily basis since we moved in, and it is what we use to do our school work now, and it just has a couple scratches that are hardly noticeable. We don't use a tablecloth or place mats or anything.

My dog LOVES his chicken flavored toothpaste!! The vet gave us a kit that came with a two sided brush (one side has a big brush, the other side is small) a tube of toothpaste, and a finger brush. I bathe him every week, then brush his teeth afterward, and he is really good with it b/c he loves the toothpaste. ;)

I'm a bit different, but we tried for over 12 years to have a second child before we finally decided to stop recently. I will ALWAYS wish we had more children, but I wasn't able to. I will always regret that our son is an only child, but again I didn't have control over that. I wanted a large family, but it just wasn't in the plans for us. We just decided that since our son will be graduated from high school in 4.5 years, and we really don't want to start all over again at this point. Once DS goes to college and/or moves out, we will be free to travel and do other things we have had plans to do once we are child free, and if we have another child at this point it will be at least another 18-20 years before we are able to do that. It seems like a selfish choice, but in reality the choice was made for us. I likely would never be able to have another child, no matter how long we tried. Our choice to stop helped our relationship A TON. We are much closer, and we enjoy each other a lot more. When I was obsessed for so many years with having another child, it really put a strain on our relationship that is no longer there.

I'm so sorry!! :grouphug: