One of our favorite pass-times is laughing at horrifically spelled Craigslist ads. (Dh restores old tractors, so he's on there a lot)

My parents divorced when I was 3. They probably never should have married in the first place. I was their only child. My mom and step-dad had a very tumultuous 15 year marriage before she passed away. While I'm thankful he hung around for us (me and my half-brother), they probably would have been better off apart too. My mom was hard to live with, to say the least. My dad remarried when I was 20, and they have a son the same age as my oldest child. They are still married. A fun fact for ya...I don't know of a single person other than my grandparents and myself on my mom's side of the family that did NOT get divorced at least once. Many had multiple marriages and divorces. I came pretty darn close to it myself. (We actually had filed all the paper-work and were just waiting on the court date when we decided to get back together) Dh's family on the other hand, is mostly non-divorced. There are a few here and there, but it is a pretty rare thing. And it is a HUGE family. Dh's parents are still married.

We'll be throwing our annual, ever-growing, July 4th party. Last year we had 125+ in the rain. I expect more this year, especially if it isn't raining. No porta-potties ;) I've already started buying the food. We've put out our porch bunting. (Which kind of cracks me up now, because it seems to signal to our entire valley that party time is near!) I've been trying to get my flower garden weeded, and trying to keep my plants looking nice during this little dry spell we've had. We will have ribs, pulled pork, BBQ chicken, brisket, and hot dogs. Dh will make gobs of homemade ice cream. Everyone that comes brings a dish to share, so I don't have to worry about sides.

I'm sorry :(

I love the young women my girls have become. I actually am looking forward to them all being independent adults, and the relationship that will develop. My oldest has already become more of a friend than a parent/child relationship. Also, it is also wonderful to see them on the cusp of beginning their adult lives. While I do sometimes miss the little girls I once had, I don't really feel the pang of wanting them to be small again. It has shifted to looking forward to grandchildren someday.

One maybe every few years? Not often. Less now that the kids are older.

I've met a few here IRL. I don't really mind if someone IRL figures out who I am. (I've only recently moved to a more anonymous signature and name, so I wasn't really all that hard to figure out before...lol)

One of my girls has two written (one general, and one specifically tailored to a scholarship she wants to win). The other hasn't even begun...lol.

It is truly heart-wrenching to hear about the families that have had their loved ones ripped from them :( My dd has a trans friend that we have feared for greatly over the past 3-4 years. We live in a very unfriendly area for the LGBTQ community. My daughter walked with her friend every day from the library to where they volunteered because her friend's mother feared an attack. They were still verbally harassed on occasion. This is small town USA. I'm sickened by how many skipped respect for the dead and their families, skipped mourning as a nation, and went straight into politics and agenda pushing. Hugs and much love to all who are hurting. :grouphug: :grouphug:

For us, test prep was the key. You can get practice tests for free. I had mine take them at home, timed. I then went through the tests and wrote down the areas they needed to work on. We also used "Up Your Score" for the ACT, which gave a lot of test taking tips, and a Barron's ACT book. One of my dds went pretty meticulously through the books for about 4-5 weeks before her 2nd test. Her score went from a 24 to a 30. Her main issue was less about knowledge, but more about understanding what they were asking and knowing what type of answer they were looking for.

We used to have an automatic ice maker, but it died. My fridge will. not. die. Even though I want to replace it and dh won't get on board as long as we have a functioning one. Anyway, now it is ice trays (when we remember to fill them) and bagged ice from the store. Actually, recently, we have been leaning more towards the bagged ice.

Turned 40 in April, as my teens like to remind me pretty much every. single. day.

If money were just falling out of my ears or something, I would have started a free private school for classical education and the arts. It is kind of a foreign concept here in rural TN, and most kids here don't have any kind of exposure to those kinds of things. So yeah, private school, but on my terms.

My daughters and I enjoyed them. There are a few love scene type things, but I think it isn't too bad from what I remember. I can't even remember if they ever actually do anything in the book? (It was very much implied in the movie) I wouldn't have really had an issue with my girls reading them at 12 or so.

:lol: :lol: :lol: How long did he lie there, waiting to use that line? :lol:

We have a couple of these (well, similar...ours are OLD) and they work very well for the extra teens that tend to show up here. https://www.amazon.com/Sleeper-Folding-Foldable-Density-Pounds/dp/B00G2RYF4C/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1465584831&sr=8-6&keywords=chair+bed We also have two twin mattresses that we keep under the girls' beds. They get pulled out for guests too. I keep a fitted sheet on them, and change it before use. They slide right under their beds.

My dd is planning to CLEP four courses this year before she graduates. Does anyone have any recommendations on which study guides work best? Amazon had some mixed reviews. She'll be doing: College Algebra US History or US Government (haven't decided for sure) Biology English Lit.

I don't feel obligated to fix it. For one, I'm relatively healthy. Blood work all checks out a-ok. I'm not going to take a pill for something that is probably my body's natural progression. All the things function properly, and there are no physical issues. It is enjoyable when it happens. It is just that I'd rather do just about anything else. I'm married to a man that lives in constant pain. His drive isn't that great either. And he pays a price when it does happen. So, really, I'm not all gung-ho to get it revved up. Our marriage just isn't one that the bedroom plays a large role in. I'm really, really, ok with that.

Lipton or Luzianne are my favorites for traditional Southern style iced tea.

I've had peri-menopausal symptoms for several years now, including the ever-declining sex drive. Personally? I don't even want to want to have a drive! lol. I feel kind of bad for my dh about my lack of interest, but yeah...I would be a-ok to become celibate at this point. Bleh. So yeah, those commercials are annoying. Not all of us have the desire to be all sex-crazed again.

Oh, I had the She-Ra sheets! I had the unicorn too. But I really liked He-Man and Tigra (?). And Star-Wars figures.

I understand. My dog is going to be a mess when dd moves out next year. And dd was hugging her the other day after our college visit, almost in tears, saying she was going to miss our dog SO much.

It is going to vary greatly by library. The one my dd works at only requires that you are at least working towards a degree. Only a few of the librarians there actually have a library science degree. My dd is a sophomore in college, but had volunteered there for years, then worked as a page, and then moved up to part-time librarian. I have to say though, at this teeny library, she'll never be able to go full time because it isn't in the budget. If she wanted to move to a library in one of the neighboring counties that has an actual library system, then she'd likely have to have a degree in something to get a full time librarian position.

My dd is a librarian at our very small town library. She loves it. She works with a bunch of loons, just like her.

Also, as a DE student, it is easier to maintain freshman status should he decide to go to a university after high school. DE at our CC is not any different than any other student attending. In fact, only admissions really knows that you are DE, and you can take any class that you meet the pre-reqs for.