I collect Corelle dishes with the Crazy Daisy pattern and vintage Pyrex. I also have a rather nice collection of vintage tins that are really just part of our farmhouse decor. They just find their way to our house. One of my daughters collects cameras. She has a nice stash thanks to her grandfather's penchant for yard sales and auctions. One collects record albums. My oldest collects collections. She has a hat collection, a book collection, a map collection, a flying things collection (see where I'm going with this one?) My husband is trying to collect antique tractors. The full sized ones. :glare:

It is a tough choice, for sure. Financial stress is very hard on a marriage, even if loving family is nearby. Also, no matter how you remember life back home, it will be very different if you move back. This has been the case for us both times we have lived far away from family and moved back. Our last move was back home so we could be near dh's family. While I'm glad we are here to help with aging parents, it has also been very stressful. I'm not sure I would make the same choice if I had it to do over.

It can be done more easily with some kids than others. I thought my oldest was ready to skip 8th. However, she ended up needing that extra year to really get through Algebra. Also, her maturity just wasn't on par with graduating early. So we ended up taking two years for 9th grade..lol. On the other hand, my twins skipped 8th with no trouble so far and are doing very well. They are very mature for their age, and really fit in better with their slightly older friends. They are still set to graduate a year early.

No one in this house gets dressed in regular clothes unless we are leaving or expecting company. Even dh, who works from home, wears PJ pants and a t shirt most days. Those clothes are comfortable to us, so why not?

Thank you!

I cut my own hair, but I have curly hair that professionals just don't seem to know how to deal with. (Very curly in the back, wavy in the front, almost straight in one small section at the crown) So my chopping on it for free looks better than what I've paid people for..lol. I have also colored my own in the past, but never had quite as nice results as when I went and had someone else do it.

Not gross. Unless it is a glass used for milk. Sharing milk or milk covered items is gross. Don't ask me why. The irrational part of my brain insists this is true.

I came down with the flu on December 15th. I'm still not 100%. I did end up with secondary infections and went through two rounds of antibiotics. My teens got it around the same time and are still coughing a little.

Reading through this thread has been interesting to say the least. Not all Community Colleges offer a sub par education. The one where I am currently enrolled, along with my oldest dd, works very hard to offer university parallel courses. In fact, many CC in our state work with a Pathways program that ensures equivalent and transferable courses with many Universities throughout our state. Also, while most everyone with a diploma or GED can get in, they do require testing and placement. You'd better believe that if you aren't up to par, you will be taking remedial classes until you CAN take college level courses. They also have a ton of programs that prepare you to enter the workforce at the end of your two years, which is kind of the point of this whole thing anyway. As far as it hurting four year Universities, I just don't think it will. The students that have a desire to attend a university will likely go there regardless. I know in our family, in spite of the fact that my kids DO get two free years of CC, I have one student that will likely head straight to a four year. Why? They don't really offer any transfer or degree programs at the CC level that would transfer without having a lot of credits that would not count towards her major. Plus, she just wants the experience of going to a four year school. The two that will be going to CC would have chosen CC regardless of the TN Promise bill, simply because they aren't interested in a four year school.

This is a wonderful thing! My three girls and I are all within about a half size of one another. Our shoe wardrobe is awesome now! Lol. We all share, especially boots.

The most successful dances my girls have gone to have been very organized, with activites to engage the kids. They have gone to barn dances out in the middle of nowhere in which the kids were taught how to square dance and such. They have gone to ballroom dances where they were taught how to waltz and foxtrot, and dances at co-op were they learn line dances and such. There have been varying amounts of adult chaperones, but there are usually enough to keep an eye on all areas at the dance location. The key has been teaching them appropriate dancing, keeping them engaged in appropriate activities, and having clear behavior expectations. The free for all, less guided, dances have almost always been a fail in our experience.

My oldest satisfied the 4th math credit by taking Statistics as a DE student. (Alg. I, Geometry, Alg. II, Statistics). One of my twins will do the same, the other will take a pre-calc/trig course as she is headed into a STEM major in college. The third lab science is also very flexible. My oldest did Anatomy. One dd is doing Marine Biology. The other is doing Forensic Science.

My oldest is one of the first walking through this grand experiment. First, TN Promise is funded through the state lottery. So, obviously a federal program will have to be funded differently. Second, although it promises access for ALL residents, there are restrictions. There are minimum GPAs, community service requirements, mandatory mentoring and a lot of deadlines and such. It is only available to apply for the year you graduate high school, beginning in 2015. Miss a deadline and you are out. Third, it fills in after all other grants, etc. I'm thrilled the program is in place here in TN, as it has potential and was in place on a small scale for years before it was implemented state-wide. (In Knoxville) I have a lot of questions about what a federal program would look like. I do NOT want the content of the education federally controlled. What I find sad and frustrating is reading comments on news sources and such that are so unbelievably hateful and ignorant about the whole thing. (Not here, the general public) People are already freaking out about it, and he hasn't even said anything specific. I'm not a fan of the current government, but I am at least going to reserve judgement until I find out what the facts are.

We are in our final semester with my oldest, but she's basically down to two DE classes at CC, so I'm not really homeschooling her any more. My younger two will be DE students next year, most likely, and taking things like Chemistry and such at our co-op. They only have 2 years left before graduation. Other than English, I'm kind of done homeschooling them too after this semester. They already work mostly independently. It just struck me this past fall how close to the END we were. So, I registered for college and start in 1.5 weeks :hurray:

I agree with trying full fat canned coconut milk. I was using that for a while, but got burned out on coconut milk! lol. The Silk soy creamer isn't bad if you don't mind the taste. I found that the So Delicious creamers just aren't creamy enough.

Are you also cooking any sort of greens with it? I have found that chard, kale and spinach all react with the cast iron. I wonder if it is your pans? I do have one dutch oven that everything I've cooked in it has a metallic taste. It is newer than my skillets.

I have one big skillet that I cook a lot of acidic things in. I use it almost daily and usually just heat it well with oil in it before coking. I don't use this pan for delicate things like eggs, because they will stick. I have smaller skillets that I use more for non acidic things that hold the seasoning very well. Not even eggs stick.

38 here and have been having symptoms for a couple of years. (My mother began it early too). I have horrid mood swings, irritability, night sweats, no libido, hot flashes, etc. My skin is changing (suddenly looking thin and old) My periods are still pretty regular, but the duration and heaviness have been fluctuating like crazy. In fact my last period lasted almost 2 weeks. Yay...not.

Mine stays running unless it has to restart for an update. I have it set to sleep after an hour or so of inactivity.

We call those "Dad-facts". Dh was flabbergasted when dd(14) called him out on it the other day. "Dad, you CAN'T know everything. I'm right, I just learned about this" lol. In his defense, I think he forgets what is actual fact and what is something he thought up. He can be very convincing :lol:

Oh yes! I did get that a lot when they were young. I had dark curly hair with green eyes and they all had very blonde straight hair with blue eyes. I love going out with my girls and my nieces now. They are 14-19 years in age, and 4 of them look A LOT alike. You can see people counting.

I could write pages of these from my MIL alone, not to mention the rest of the family. I've learned to let it roll off my back. After 22 years, I've gotten pretty good at it...lol. Some non-family ones: "Are you their babysitter?" referring to my three kids who were all under 5 years old. "No, I'm their mom." "Oh...well!" (said in a huffy voice). "You can't possibly be older than 17!" Lady, I was 20 when the first one was born. Or the cashier that looked at my preschooler, and my 8 months-pregnant-with-twins belly and loudly said "Girl, don't you know what causes that?!" Or the people that ask me if I'm sure my girls aren't triplets? (back when they were like 6 and 3) Oh, yes...one was just born 3 years early and I forgot.

According to our CC financial aid office, and what I have read online, you cannot count DE students as college students. I didn't have to do FAFSA for my DE student, just myself (full time student). I'm in TN though. We have a grant/Hope program for DE students that require a different aid form.

I've gotten a flu shot once, years ago, and we all came down with the flu within the month. I had the flu this year for only the second time in my life. I still won't get the vax. I'm not convinced of their effectiveness enough to want to get vaccinated.

We didn't get tested, but I'm 99% sure we all had the flu. Fever, severe aches, dizziness, coughing like mad (thought I'd busted out a hernia at one point), congestion, nausea and the general feeling of being run over by a truck. 2 adults, and three teens. Two of my teens were sick with it for about 4 days, with a lingering cough. One teen felt better after about 5 days, but ended up with a sinus infection. I have been sick since the 15th of Dec. The past week has been dealing with sinus/ear infections and lingering cough. Dh just started coming down with it 2 days ago. He's congested and feverish. (he never gets cold/flu stuff!)