:lol: :lol: :lol: My little JRT has similar longings for squirrels and chipmunks. I think she's jealous of our barn cat's abilities. One day I saw her triumphantly carrying a squirrel carcass across the yard. Upon closer inspection...she'd stolen it from the cat's stash. (the cat leaves us gifts under the porch :glare: )

Ugh. I'm so sorry. My dog absolutely hates other dogs and is not friendly towards them, no matter how "playful" the other dog is. A similar thing would have happened.

Between full time college and part time work, I'm away from home for full time hours (at least..lol). I don't miss it a lot. Except those 75 degree days when the sun is shining and I get the urge to work in the yard..lol. But my kiddos are older, and are hardly ever home.

This is a perk I like as well. I'll be 41 when my youngest two leave for college. I am young enough to start a career and still have a good 25-30 years before I hit retirement age.

Right now I'm working part-time as an assistant to the VPs Administrative Secretary at a community college. I also go to school full-time and try to run this crazy household.

Clean. You are correct.

Food. Followed by vehicles. Our mortgage is actually very, very small compared to most and especially for the house we live in.

Nope. I knew how to cook...things like hamburger helper! lol. My skills evolved over the past 25 years. I'm a pretty darn good cook now, but it took some experimenting and elbow grease.

My dh will be spending about 2.5 weeks in TaiPei/Keelung City next month for work. He'll have some down time on the weekends to explore a little, and was trying to figure out what was worth spending his time doing. He's a semi-adventurous eater too, so food recs are welcomed as well. I've already informed him that if he ever wants to kiss me again, Century Eggs are a no go. Any recommendations?

I'm one of the weirdo silent ones. Clearly visible on an echocardiogram, but no doctors have ever been able to hear it.

Thanks! I did not realize that they would print and send the portfolio. They didn't with my oldest's transcript. I don't particularly like the format of it either, so I'll probably still make up my own supplement.

Other than babysitting: My oldest's first job was teaching circus tricks to school kids at a summer program for under-privileged kids. She loved it, but it was mentally and physically exhausting. She fell in love with those kiddos, and some of them had some pretty rough lives. About two weeks after she got that job, she also got a part-time page position at the library. She put in a lot of hours that summer. She is still working at the library. One of my twins currently is working at her first job at a thrift store. She does everything from running the register to cleaning toilets. My other twin is having a harder time finding a job. She's picky too though, so that doesn't help.

I was 20. Dh was 23. We got married very young though...16 and 18. 20 seemed old by then! lol. His parents were 28-9ish when they had his older brother. My mom was 21, dad was just barely 20 when they had me. I don't think my girls will have kids that young, but they do plan on starting families in their mid to late 20s. My oldest will be 20 in December, and while she's dating a young man, they have no plans for marriage or families just yet. My younger two are pretty set on finishing up college and working a few years first.

I've lived in 4 states (MN, TX, TN, AK) and due to moves and visiting relatives while living in such spread out states, I have at least driven through most of the eastern states. We've also visited NY, D.C., the Carolinas, AL and FL on vacation, so those scooped up a lot of coastal states. Other than briefly being in the Canada side of Niagara back when you didn't need a passport, I've never set foot outside the country, or further west than the middle of TX. Dh has actually worked in all of the continental US states and Puerto Rico. He's also worked in several other countries. Due to his job he's much more well traveled than I.

I worked at Wal-mart for about 2 weeks, but then got engaged and was moving across the state, so I quit. My next job was as a file clerk at a credit union through the high school's co-op program. I ended up staying there for years afterwards and moving up into accounting.

My girls wouldn't have been upset by it, but probably would make some comment to me later. They don't really like being thought of as twins though. It would also depend on the gift. Something like a nail polish set? Fine. Identical baby dolls or shirts? Not so fine.

In TN, a cover school is one of the easiest legal options for homeschooling. It is why many people use it. For us, the guidance counselor aspect isn't even a consideration. I'm dealing with this as we approach college apps this fall. Our cover school (HomeLife) only sends out a very bare bones transcript. I'm working on a transcript supplement to send in with my dds application. It will contain more about her activities and have course descriptions. None of the schools my girls are applying to use the Common App, but there are places on that to beef up the application.

Not if they can help it. At least not around here. One of my dds and I nearly started WWIII over dress pants and job interviews.

I would go in to rule out any serious problems, but I have had most of those symptoms with my MVP. Not all MVP requires surgery, and in some cases can have no real impact on your day to day life. For years they kept trying to medicate me for anxiety :glare: until a doctor finally thought to actually TEST my racing heart. Plus, having your heart do weird things DOES induce anxiety, and it can be a vicious cycle. Anyway, there are varying levels of treatment. I've been on meds twice for it, but am now just dealing with the symptoms because the meds made me feel crappy.

Windows first, if the roof is ok. It will save you a lot of money in the long run. Chimney/roof. That will help with heating bills. While they are working on the roof, make sure your attic is properly insulated. So much heat is lost through the roof. A/C unit. Then the rest as you get to it.

I kept all three of mine together for history for most of their school years. It was just one less thing, you know? (3.5 years apart). With the twins, we broke things up as needed. By high school they were doing most things separately with different curriculum. This year there isn't a single class/subject they'll be doing together. However, I am not teaching them any longer, and haven't been for most of high school. They work independently, or take outside classes. I tried to curb competition as much as possible. It is very hard when they are identical and they don't really like being twins, so they are always trying to prove they aren't a unit! lol. Despite my attempts, we've still had comparison meltdowns, the most recent being over ACT scores. :glare: Anyway, my advice is to combine where feasible, gradually encourage independent learning (especially once they hit middle school), and just try to use what works best for everyone.

Two of mine have jobs, and one is looking. It is rather expected of them, and they want to work so they can earn some money for fun stuff, and save up for the future. They also have to pay for their own gas and clothes once they are working. They started earning a little in their mid-teens from baby sitting. Then my oldest's first job was working with kids in a summer-care program at a public school. Her second, and current job, was at the local library where she started out as a page and is now a part-time librarian. One of my 16 year olds works at a thrift store, and is pulling in a pretty good paycheck this summer (a lot of hours). Dh and I both worked as soon as we could. We've found from personal experience, and from experiences of people around us, that it is much easier to land a job if you've been working from the age of 16-17 than it is if you are 20 and trying to get your first job.

I would have made a fuss. Having worked in banking for years, I would have made a stink on the spot until the fee was taken care of. IMO, the originating bank shouldn't have charged you a second time either, but I'd have made less of a stink over that. I would definitely call the other bank and tell them what happened. I'll warn you though, it may be tough to get them to reimburse you if you do not have an account with them. Cutting a check to a non-customer for a fee refund will require all sorts of red-tape to go through on their end.

My dd's came today. We were happy. She had a goal of raising it at least two points, which she did. She can now apply for the fellows scholarship she wanted to apply for. :hurray:

We don't have alcohol in our house at all any more, so no we haven't let our teens try it. Back when the kids were smaller, and we still drank, they all tried a sip of beer at one time or another. They still recall it as the nastiest thing they've ever tasted..lol. In our family, on both sides, there are some pretty bad addiction issues. Dh and I both stopped drinking because we found it far too easy to use it as an emotional crutch, and relied on it a bit too much. Not to mention that my mother died of liver cancer, so I don't really want to abuse my own liver any more than I have to. We talk a LOT about drugs and alcohol with our kids, and they can see real life examples of how easy it is to become an addict. That said, we don't have an issue with someone having a cocktail occasionally, or drinking a glass of wine with dinner. We've not taught our kids that it is a forbidden fruit. It is just something that they need to be very careful with.