I, too, am impressed!

The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord! I am blessed by your testimony in this. :grouphug:

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

Awww... We miss you too!!! And Otis. We miss him lots! :D

That made me laugh! Thank you. :D

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Update on #42 I know it sounds stupid and whiney. I do. But I see moms all over whose kids have severe food allergies and it is so hard on them and their kids and I don't want to be that mom. I'm sorry. I don't. I don't want my kid to be that kid. It is so hard on them. Took ds to the allergist today and they did allergy testing on the "usual suspects"... eggs, peanuts, milk, wheat, etc. We will get the results tomorrow or Thursday. Doctor seems pretty sure about the peanuts. Part of me will be relieved to know what is causing all these horrible symptoms but part of me is throwing a tantrum on the inside because I don't want this to be my life. I don't want this to be my son's life. We live in the WRONG place to have a peanut allergy. There are no peanut free places here. I feel for all of you moms who have been dealing with this for years. Maybe I will feel better once we get the official news and we have time to get use to the idea. I don't know. But right now I am definitely having a pity party. :glare: .

My ds is having private speech therapy via a video conferencing software with a therapist in Arizona. It is 30 minutes a week for $50 per session.

Oh great. Since last spring my ds has been getting random itchy skin rashes/hives. Elbows, knees mostly. We figured it was eczema. But we live in a tropical environment which is supposed to be the BEST environment for helping eczema. Also, the eczema flare-ups seemed really random. We couldn't find any particular triggers. It seemed to just come and go at will. In the last two weeks it has been getting worse and has spread to his arms, trunk, neck, face and ears. And he has had frequent bouts of diarrhea in the last two weeks. It also doesn't really look like like eczema. It looks like hives. So DH and I were talking about what has changed and we realized the one dietary thing that has changed was a sudden increase in peanut butter consumption (we got rid of sugary cereals and snacks and our ds has been requesting peanut butter sandwiches every morning for breakfast). Also, the hives will not be there in the morning but will show up later in the day then they will go away again over night (plus we have been giving him benadryl) then they will reappear again the next day. The poor kid is miserable. OK, no peanut butter until we have him tested. Should he get a full battery of allergy testing? Or just test him for the usual suspects? I admit that the idea of a full testing on him makes me nauseous. .

UPDATE #27 How old was he/she when you realized it? I have suspicions that my 8yo ds has a peanut allergy (not the life-threatening kind... The hives all over kind). But if it is true I was wondering if it is odd that it is just now showing up at 8 years old?

Exactly. A party at Chuck E Cheese? That's one thing. But an expensive, overnight party at a hotel? No way. I would be double checking just to make sure I have enough beds for everyone! This is all on the party mom. .

No. I just ignore them. My mom has fibromyalgia and the problem is so many people don't think it is even REAL. :glare: I have chronic migraines and chronic insomnia. No one cares unless you have cancer. I have a terrible headache literally almost every day of my life and I haven't had a full night's sleep in almost a decade. I don't even talk about it anymore because I either get unhelpful advice (you just need to drink more water! Ohhhhhh, is that all??? Gee, I wish someone would have told me that 15 years ago!) or they don't believe you like you are a hypochondriac. So I just suffer in silence... And take meds. .

Yep. The kid is a real jerk and I am just amazed the mom went along with it. If that were MY kid? I would tell him, "Look, I am sorry I invited that boy without asking you. But the fact is he is here now so get over it. He showed up, gave you a gift and you will get your butt out there and be a gracious host or you will NEVER have a party again!" Several months later the boy tried to befriend my ds again and my ds said no thanks. .

Something similar happened to us. A friend of ds was having a bday party that consisted of bowling and then a sleepover. The mom saw me at school and invited our whole family to bowling and mentioned the sleepover afterward. So we show up for bowling. Everything was fine. When it was over, all the boys went back to their house for the sleepover. A little while later, ds calls us to come pick him up because the friend said he could only have a certain number of friends stay for the sleepover and ds was not one of them. :glare: Come to find out, the boy never wanted ds there in the first place. His mom invited us without asking her son if he wanted ds there or not. She just assumed. So we show up for bowling, give an expensive gift and then ds is asked to LEAVE??? Yeah, that mom got an earful from me she will not long forget. Nice parenting. So it is definitely a strong possibility that the mom invited your dd but her own dd didn't. Nobody plans an overnight party at a hotel without confirming the guests. .

:iagree: Yep. Speaking of my undergrad years, I partied A LOT, racked up a mountain of student loans, etc. I had a great time, don't get me wrong. But it wasn't this life-changing experience. I got my degree, started working, got my grad degree so I could get better pay. Nothing fabulous about it. That was all in the early 90s. Last year I finished my second masters degree which I did online. It was a much better experience educationally speaking. I am more mature and studying for a different reason (yes, it was a "just because I want to" degree). But I am practical person anyways and not really the type to wax philosophical about it. .

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

Shoe shopping!!!! I'd love to see where you buy all your pointy-toed witch shoes. They are all the rage. :tongue_smilie: And no worries... I have newt eyes in spades. Those critters are everywhere here. Just last night I walked into the bathroom and one scurried across the wall and scared me. I nearly peed myself. I went to bed and am just amazed this thread didn't get locked while I slept. I always miss everything. So here is my contribution: I was raised a Christian, then walked away from the church for 15 years for a lot of the same reasons that other people have posted. So I totally get what everyone is saying. I came back to the church because it was the right thing for me. But I have no interest in berating people into believing what I believe. Conversion is God's job, not mine. I may believe in God with my entire being but others are just as sincere about not believing. They aren't angry or malicious about it. They aren't doing it just to aggravate christians. And it doesn't make them sub-human. Sheesh. :glare: .

Must... Resist.....

Ok, it is one in the morning here, I have insomnia, and I probably have no business posting at this moment because I am not playing very nicely. BE NICE LADIES... For all we know she was frozen back in 1952 and just thawed out and truely is shocked at all these shenanigans! There I go again... Where's the Unisom?

And homeschools. :tongue_smilie:

I just choked on my food.... :lol::lol::lol:

shhhhhh..... Don't let the secret out! :tongue_smilie:

I can see you are new here. Yes, Audrey is a witch. What more is there to understand? 2 mamas and 3 babies... Means two women in a relationship raising 3 children. exactly what it says. No trickery or Tom-foolery. I promise. :tongue_smilie: We have all kinds here. We are one big family that argues a lot but also loves a lot. If you are looking for homogenous, you are in the wrong place. .

I am a Christian and this happened to me as well and I was VERY offended. I had gotten into an argument with my boyfriend, was driving home and crying, got pulled over for speeding. The cop put me in the back of his cop car and lectured me for 45 minutes about how if I gave my life to Christ I wouldn't be so upset about a fight with my boyfriend. I was crying too hard to even explain to him that I already WAS a Christian. When my parents found out they blew a gasket, marched up to the police station, and filed a complaint against the officer for using his position of authority in such a manner. It was awful. .

It depends on how rural you want. Asheville is awesome but it is big and busy. Black Mountain is nearby and a beautiful place to live. We lived in Nebo which is a small town about an hour east of there. We love WNC!!! I do know, though, that several people had to move due to job loss. So as long as you have secure employment you will love it. And make sure you eat at the Magic Mushroom Pizza place. Best pizza ever!!!