All of ours have a 10:30 curfew, even the 20 year old. As stated in another thread recently, it is impossible to come home without waking everyone up because of the dog, so dh wants them all home by then. Most of the friends of my younger two (kids that range from 16 to 19) have similar curfews. ETA: It is flexible for certain events that they know will run later, and the 20 year old has the instructions to find a friend's house to crash at if she's going to be later. So hers isn't really a curfew, just a "Please don't wake up everyone because you want to stay out late."

The gray I have in my bedroom is "Carriage House" by Valspar. It has an ever so slight brown/green tinge, but I have a lot of brown and tans in the room that is reflecting onto the wall. It is definitely warm without having a pink tinge. The chip online doesn't do it justice at all, it is a rich color: http://m.valsparpaint.com/color-detail.php?id=2416&g=1018

I know it is anecdotal, but my daughters and I all have less fatigue when we supplement Vit. D. We've all been tested, and had rather low levels. When I neglect to take it, I start feeling run down.

WE don't even do those things, so I sure wouldn't be supporting a YA that was able to do them..lol. Yeah, at that point, the help would stop. Actually, the financial help will stop as soon as they are able to pay for rent, car, healthcare, and food. They will always have the option of living with us, however, as long as they are working and paying their own costs.

There are far too many factors to throw out an age. I *hope* that dd20 will be able to pay for most of those things herself within the next year or two, as she becomes employed. She will be welcome to stay on our insurance until 26, unless she snags a job that has a better option. I figure we will pay for the premiums, as it isn't any more for her to be on it than off. After she graduates this spring, we do expect her to find a second job (she works part time at a job she isn't willing to give up) and pay for her own car insurance, medical bills, medications, cell phone, etc. However, she will be living at home for the foreseeable future, saving up a nest egg/house down payment. I figure in this economy, any help we can reasonably give her, we will. It isn't like it was when I was her age, when dh and I could live off of $10 a week for food, and barter for rent.

We used it in 9th to cement grammar rules before moving on. It was the last grammar program I used with them. (We also used R&S, and BJU grammar in earlier grades). It worked well for us.

Other than trying to live as healthy as I could, I think I would also start keeping a video diary. I've lost a lot of people in my life, and this is one thing I would have treasured from any of them.

Educate yourself on the local building/zoning laws. Make sure that you have a lot that drains well, or you will have problems down the road. Sometimes there are grading restrictions, or even things that dictate which way the house is oriented on the lot. We lucked up with finding a builder. A guy dh grew up with built houses with his dad. They were our general contractors. I learned, though, even if you trust your contractor, stay on top of what is going on as much as possible. We caught a lot of mistakes (things we requested that they weren't doing correctly) that would have been costly to fix later. The people our contractors hired to do the work didn't always live up to their promises. And I caught stupid things like the drywall guys smoking INSIDE the house while they were drywalling. They got ripped new ones for that. Not everyone can do this, but we also did as much of the work ourselves as we could. It saved us a TON of money. (You wouldn't believe how much it costs to paint an entire house if you hire it out vs. doing it yourself).

I wouldn't think much about it, unless I had reason to. If it was someone I knew, I might ask how they got it...mostly out of curiosity. I bruise like a peach, as do two of my daughters. We are pretty much always sporting a bruise or two somewhere. About half the time we don't even know how we got them.

Congratulations!! I'm glad it is working well.

We are putting back 10%, and there is a pension. In theory, we could be mostly debt free in 10 years, if we are careful about vehicles. We are behind where we really want to be, for various reasons. We've only been able to put the 10% back for the past few years. Part of our retirement plan involves me going to work full time in a few years...I should be able to get at least 20-25 years in if my health holds out. Dh will probably have to retire early for health reasons, so we are hoping my plan of going back to work pans out well.

"Go do the dishes" also sounds remarkably like "Go use the restroom". Also, "Show your work" here often translated to "Draw elaborate comics in the margins". This reminds me that there are things I don't miss one bit about homeschooling! :lol: :lol:

Dh was ambidextrous until a teacher TAPED his pencil into his right hand and made him use it. (He's still bitter about that) He does every thing else left handed. He still has horrible handwriting...don't know if it is related. I don't see any harm in being able to use both hands.

I have a dd that has a lot of trouble seeing friendships. Up until this year, in fact, she has declared that she doesn't really have any friends. (but now at 16 years old, she finally has a BFF that she considers her actual friend) The truth is, she has had a lot of friends that liked her, but she just never saw that they were her friends. She didn't feel close to them at all, and always assumed that they didn't really like her that much or that they were really just her twin sister's friend. There are probably several people in her life that would have a very different perspective on times they spent together than she does. Personally, I have forgotten large swaths of my childhood. Due to some trauma, I see most of my past through a thick fog..lol. It wouldn't surprise me at all to hear stories of things I did that I have no recollection of.

Thank you, SWB. I hope everyone plays nice. Even though we've been fairly lucky in the insurance department, I think a single payer system is what is needed, with upgrade options for those that wish to pay for it. Providing free basic healthcare for the masses would only benefit the country as a whole. I have relatives that go without very necessary treatment because they cannot afford it. Medications are crazy expensive, and we've often had to weigh my dh's pain management against the cost of it. Or my dd's asthma meds (although we've never considered NOT paying for those because they are a life or death issue) I can't imagine how hard it is for people that have to chose between their next meal or their medical needs. For that reason alone, I'm willing to pay into a system that covers things like that for all. As far as what is going on in the House right now, no matter how you feel about the ACA, they need to tread carefully. These decisions impact the most fragile of our citizens the most. There has to be careful thought put into it, and it isn't something that can be simply gutted without some sort of scaffolding to hold together the things that the poorest and sickest of us need the most.

Tobacco. Not cigarette smoke, but real tobacco. It takes me back to summers of playing with my cousins in my grandparent's tobacco barn.

Yep. There are some things that will only hurt people by being said. There are things I will die without sharing.

I would have yelled at them. I would hope that if my teens were doing something that stupid that someone would yell at them.

I've unfollowed for all of those behaviors. I'm kind of over being constantly annoyed at people. It is FB. If they want a relationship with me, but can't stop sending me that junk, then knock on my door or call me. Our FB relationship is pretty much done..lol.

My ideal would be somewhere ALONE for several days, up to a week. Quiet, but close to good shopping and restaurants. Then I don't want to be asked to do a single thing the entire time. No cleaning, no cooking, no answering questions, no scheduling, no driving other people around, not even having to let the dog out. I want the freedom to do whatever the heck I wanted for a few days...lol. If the place I'm staying at happened to be a fully stocked art studio, then I'd be in hog heaven.

All were likely sick to varying degrees. We had something similar run through here. I was the sickest, spending every 15 minutes running to the bathroom with a bucket and toilet involved, for 24 hours. Felt like death for about 3 days. Dh had diarrhea for about 4 hours. Oldest dd felt run down and not hungry for a day or two. Youngest dd came down with it while on a trip, but was just severely nauseated for about 12 hours. She managed to keep from throwing up. Middle child never felt ill at all.

My dd20, who has been into anime for years, has an owl one. She loves them! She also has a pair of bird feet knee-high socks that she wears with it.

My in-laws do that to us all the time. I double check EVERYTHING they give us now! lol.

We have to have it for dh's job. He works from home and deals with some pretty massive files. He also takes his calls through the internet. Plus, there are 4 other people here that are constantly doing something online. When we had residential, we had to stay off the internet pretty much from 6AM until 6PM so he could work. ETA: Currently on our network there are three laptops (dh's work), two smartphones watching videos (16yo dds), dd20's laptop (probably watching a movie), my Mac, dh's iPad (gotta play Plants vs. Zombies! while not on calls, lol!) and often the TV is on, watching Amazon or Netflix through the PS4. And my speed test was via wifi.

We practically had WWIII with residential Comcast. They are pretty sleazy in their dealings, and it is nearly impossible to talk to people that can actually DO something when you have a problem. Business Comcast is run by a different group entirely, and we've had the best service from them. I can't see why residential can't offer the same customer service, at least.