ACK! I hate that movie. I did not cry at all through the whole thing while everyone around me bawled and all I could think was "You did know the ship sinks, right?" And what woman in her right mind gets OUT of the life boat for a guy she met like 4 minutes ago? I would have said "You're pretty cute and we had some fun but I gotta go." :D Yes, I am SUCH a romantic.:tongue_smilie: But I do like DiCaprio so can we still be friends?

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this explains it perfectly in my mind: http://www.challies.com/christian-living/endless-choice-endless-discontent

Thank you for all the awesome insight!! I need to take all of your answers, condense them into one coherent paragraph, then give it to my dh to read. I honestly think my dh does not "get" introverts so he is afraid that the fact that ds is not only alone a lot of the time but actually LIKES it that way means that there is something wrong with ds. Ds is not depressed. In fact, since we took him back out of school he has been SO MUCH EASIER to get along with. You were all correct...being in a social environment for 8 hours every day drained him to the breaking point so at night we got the worst of him. I think the other thing that bothers dh (and me a little if I am being honest) is that we work at this incredible school with amazing teachers and great students and our ds is not "experiencing" high school at this incredible place. But he doesn't seem bothered by that, so I guess it shouldn't bother us. And the idea mentioned here that groups sometimes MAKE introverts feel alone really got me. That is so true. OK, off to watch that TED talk and look up that book.

Why does introvert seem to automatically equal "lacking social skills" to so many people? My oldest ds is an introvert. Since birth he has been perfectly happy with his own company. He has never sought out nor had a huge number of friends, usually just one or two at a time. He has always enjoyed playing by himself. Now at almost 14yo, he is perfectly content to spend hours by himself on the computer (his thing is making and editing short films with Adobe Aftereffects). He does very well with online courses or subjects on DVD, etc. When we first arrived here we tried a full day of school for him. He was MISERABLE. Then we did a half day of school and it was better but not great. But his preference is at home, by himself, online courses. Now, he does socialize in small doses in things that interest him with people he likes. But he doesn't "need" it and in fact, too much of it and he gets really crabby. Social skills: he is perfectly fine. Yeah, he leans towards quirky but that is just who he is. He has unique interests from mainstream teenage boys (although he can play Call of Duty with the best of them). Ok, my point... Finally... Dh thinks we should put him in school full time next year for high school because he "needs" to be around other teens more. My son's response was "why?" Dh is very social. Everybody loves him and he can make friends with anyone in 5 minutes no matter where we go. I am more like ds. I like people in small doses but deep down I am introvert and like lots of alone time. So dh seems to think introvert means socially inept in some way and we need to "force" ds out of his shell by sending him to school all day. I say ds is who he is and we should let him be who is and there is nothing wrong with being an introvert and we should let him continue to homeschool. What says the hive? .

Anyone who is qualified and interested can email me at hfischer@dalat.org. Obviously the job is in Malaysia. :D We need someone to teach 10th and 12th grade English with writing as a priority. Our SAT and ACT and AP English scores have been stellar and we plan to keep it that way so we need someone who really knows their stuff. Our current teacher has been here a long while but is retiring and leaving a big void. The website is http://www.dalat.org In the meantime I think I will just go drink another cup of coffee and get ready for more interviews. Sigh..... .

We have interviewed so many people and I am shocked at the low quality of some of these "teacher" applicants. We have hired all of our positions except for HS English and a librarian. I am exhausted from interviewing. Admittedly, we are pretty picky. The candidate really needs to be an excellent English teacher especially when it comes to writing. And i need a librarian. Sheesh. It seems like no one gets degrees in library science anymore! But I am SICK of interviewing. AHHHHH!!!!!! Any of you lovely ladies want to come work here and save my sanity? :tongue_smilie:

We used small Rubbermaid containers to freeze individual meals. Ours consisted mostly of rice, chicken, and veggies... Boiled then puréed then frozen. We would typically do one week at a time.

:iagree:

I miss her too. I thought she was a stitch!

So weird... I was just thinking about him too!

Well, it seems pretty cheesy but I did it anyways. :tongue_smilie: My results: 1.*Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (100%) 2.*Eastern Orthodox (95%) 3.*Roman Catholic (95%) Vague at best. Of course I fall into number 1 but that hardly describes anything! I'd like to see it break number one down into actual Protestant denominations because many of them are very different.

As a Christian, I totally agree with this. ;)

This. Believe me, the comfort I have in knowing that I will spend eternity in Heaven only highlights the terror and despair I feel over how many of my friends and family will spend eternity in Hell. There is no smug satisfaction to be found in that scenario. Then, to believe this with all that I am, and yet be told that my efforts to warn them are _________________ (fill in the blank with any number of derogatory words). But if I don't warn them and still quietly hold to my beliefs then I am smug/happy they are going to Hell? Christians get it from all sides as well. We are either weak, anti-intellectuals or we are self-righteous zealots. .

:iagree: For me it means ... No universalism, no annihilationism, no reincarnation, no purgatory, no do-overs. Hebrews 9:27

When we adopted our ds he was 8 months old. He had been living with a foster family from birth. They took care of him and loved him and then had to give him to me. They have done it before with other children and they have done it more since. I cannot fathom how they deal with the loss. But when asked they say this is their ministry. They KNOW it is painful and they said NO it doesn't ever get easier. But they believe it to be worth the pain. We were foster parents to 7 children before we moved here. The first time one of them left us to go back to their bio parents it ripped my heart out. Our organization leaders told us "You'll get used to it." I said "I hope you are wrong." You have been an amazing help to these young parents and their young babies and yes it has caused you grief but would you undo it if you could? Go back in time and not get so attached to the little darlings knowing what you know now? Of course not. You'd do the same thing over again. You have to count the costs in any relationship and love is usually worth the pain. .:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

:iagree: I would do one meal together per day, like dinner, but breakfast and lunch with your own individual family. Separate homes but close together. A community garden, educational co-op and commons area for recreation and worship would be great. The key to this working for me would be like-minded individuals.

well, here it is actually far cheaper to eat out than it is to cook at home so I end up feeling MORE guilty on the nights that I cook "American" meals at home because of the expense!

Dh and I go out to lunch together nearly every day at the restaurant across the street. We eat out as a family for dinner maybe once a week.

...but not by me. :tongue_smilie: But it is such a great story. Good friends of ours that work here with us had two children, a boy and a girl. The girl is now 9 years old. The little boy was born with some serious medical issues and the family moved so he could be treated at St. Jude's and they fought this long battle until he died at age 2. It was devastating to them. The disease is genetic and they were terrified to have another baby for fear of this whole thing happening again. Then they moved here and met us. Then we adopted and they supported us through our process. Well, last fall they asked us if we would help them adopt a baby boy as well...give advice on how to navigate the legal process, etc., and we said of course! THEY JUST LEFT THIS MORNING TO GO PICK UP THEIR NEW BABY BOY!!!!!! He is 3 weeks old and I cannot wait to see him!!! I am so happy for them. Their hearts were so broken and now they are so happy. God is so good! .

You know, I live on a tropical island with a rainforest less than a mile away and there are STILL less mosquitos here than when I lived in Michigan!!!! Michigan Mosquitos are brutal. :grouphug:

:iagree:

:iagree: I was your daughter at age 14. My mom let me make a lot of my own decisions and I fought tooth and nail for the right to make my own decisions ... All the while knowing deep down that the only reason I really wanted to make my own decisions was so I could do things I know my parents wouldn't want me to do... And all the while secretly wishing they would stop me. How's that for confusion. :tongue_smilie: They DID let me make my own decisions, I choose poorly (just as I knew I would), and I STILL resent them for not stepping up as my parents and telling me NO. And yes I parent much differently than my parents because it has stayed with me all these years. .

This week... Started reading: A Skeleton in God's Closet by Paul Maier Still reading: What is the Mission of the Church?: Making Sense of Social Justice, Shalom, and the Great Commission by Kevin DeYoung What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell Completed so far: 11. My Hands Came Away Red 10. The Omnivore's Dilemma 9.Dead Heat 8. Redeeming Love 7. Family Driven Faith: What it Takes to Raise Sons and Daughters Who Walk with God 6. Organized Simplicity 5. Year of Wonders 4. The Holiness of God 3. The Paris Wife 2. The Peach Keeper 1. Relic

I remember Dick and Jane and that's it. I don't even remember what grade it was that I learned. I have exactly 3 memories from kindy and about 6 from first grade and that's all. Maybe I have memory issues?