That went quickly! ❤️ What a blessing that he is doing well.

He's adorable. OCD drugs have been tested on mice. Some researchers decided that mice's tendency to bury things must be due to anxiety or OCD. Laboratory mice had marbles placed in their cages on top of their wood chip bedding. The OCD drugs were considered effective when they decreased marble burying behavior in the mice. Other researchers disagreed with the conclusions, saying that if marbles made mice anxious, they would simply avoid them. (I agree.) I think mice just like collecting and tidying things. 🙂 I had some as pets when I was a child. So curious and sweet!

I was an idiot and refused her help. Untreated OCD, lack of sleep, lack of experience. Wish I could do that over again!

I love this so much. 💕 One of my favorite childhood books was basically the same story, only with a pancake as the main character! I love picture books and preschoolers and and all the fun activities that go along with them.

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Do you use tretinoin over your whole face? Around your eyes? DD switched to a different strength for her acne and I'm tempted to try her leftover low concentration cream for my wrinkles and age spots.

Lots of swimming at the public pool in the summer. Plenty of playing outside after school and during vacation. Occasional bicycle riding, roller skating, jump roping. We had PE in school but I didn't enjoy it at all.

Age 11, 1985. Middle class single income family. Breakfast: dry cereal, milk, orange or grape juice Lunch at school: either a school lunch (sandwich/pizza/main dish, canned fruit, canned or jarred vegetables, pudding/cookie/ice cream, milk) OR a sack lunch (peanut butter sandwich, apple, chips, cookies, milk) Snack: cookies or ice cream with juice or milk Dinner: homemade casserole/pork chops/meatloaf, homemade muffins or sliced store-bought bread, plain cooked vegetables and/or potatoes, applesauce/raw carrots/tossed salad, cookies or sometimes a special homemade dessert Snack: bowl of dry cereal with milk Ate out perhaps once a month at Arby's or Ponderosa Steakhouse. Went to A&W Restaurant for fries or a sweet roll and a soft drink on Friday afternoons to celebrate the weekend. 🙂

@Dmmetler Oh! But there are different calendars--purple, yellow, pink, and green (Disney) and they all look to contain different things!

From an Amazon review: "My only complaint is that it shows pictures of everything that is in the calendar, so you know what you’re going to be getting."

I switched to Tide powder so at least I'm not using as much plastic. Haven't tried the sheets.

I'm glad I have OCD so that I can understand others who have similar disorders. Mental illness is NOT a matter of lack of willpower / lack of faith / lack of character / lack of essential oils. 😉

Thanks so much, all! We don't know when her birth certificate was filed. We'll find out, and if we find that a corrected copy of her birth certificate won't help matters, we'll use the info in Amira's link and go from there.

A older relative was born into an Amish family and remained Amish into early adulthood. She was not in possession of a birth certificate until fairly recently. A year or two ago, she drove to the city of her birth and obtained an official birth certificate there. This original birth certificate was mailed in with her passport application a few weeks ago. This is the response received: "The evidence of U.S. citizenship or nationality you submitted is not acceptable for passport purposes for the following reason(s): The certificate does not show the date your birth was filed." My relative very much needs her passport for a long-anticipated vacation. Does anyone know what our next steps should be?

One of my dogs had severe food and environmental allergies. He chewed on his paws continually and had yeast and bacterial infections all over his body, poor thing. It helped tremendously to have blood testing done and then do desensitization shots. He was allergic to dust mites and several kinds of grasses, as I recall. It's pretty much impossible to avoid dust mites and grass! The blood testing also told us which foods he was (likely) allergic to, and he was greatly helped by never, ever having those particular foods. It's been a long time ago now, but I think he was allergic to most standard sources of protein (beef, chicken, etc.) as well as corn. If I had it to do over, I'd do the blood testing right away. Diet trials are long, difficult, and hard to correctly analyze when the dog also has environmental allergies. We didn't do skin testing because of the severity of my dog's allergic reactions. The derm thought it would be very hard on him. Washing paws after coming inside from the outdoors helped, as did frequent baths and frequent washing of bedding.

I'm so sorry, Jann.

Make sure you're specific about what types of scrap materials you want. Is it just for arts and crafts, or are you going to include things like building or woodworking supplies? If I saw an advertisement for a "scrap exchange" (without other details/context) I'm not sure I'd know what you meant. Definitely do the "departments" on different tables. It will look better and be much easier for people to find what they're looking for. Beading/jewelry supplies, yarn, fabric, paints, wood scraps, etc. I love this idea! Good for the neighborhood, good for the earth. If it were me, I wouldn't bother with the make it and take it Valentines. I would figure I had enough to do with the exchange, and if I were coming, I'd be interested in the supplies rather than making something right then.

Just in case anyone is wondering, I didn't care for the Wet Brush folding brush. As I recall, it kept collapsing when I tried to brush my hair with it. The one with the travel case ended up being too big for my purse! I still am using squished mini Wet Brushes with only half their bristles intact. 😞 1st world problems!

Hugs, Terabith. Our standards here are 7-Up or Sprite (not diet; you want the sugar) and saltines. Sip slowly and eat tiny bits (but only if you feel like it). Ginger ale is great for upset tummies but ginger can worsen diarrhea if that's a problem. Eventually we move onto toast, broths, and noodle soups. Hope you feel better soon. 💐

If it's going to be your center, I think it needs a resident ghost!

What a wonderful form of play. ❤️ My parents use very deep bookshelves with doors to store the many pieces of their vintage Little People town. It works very well. I'm okay with a play area in which the buildings and rooms stay set up, as long as it's kept fairly neat with extra accessories put away.

DO IT. Your space, time, and energy are all worth more than stuff.

Wish I could! I LOVE cleaning out other people's stuff. My own, not as much. 🙂