One income. My dh has a Masters in Finance/Acctg. Currently a fed employee, working in Washington DC, as a mgr in CFO's office. for a legislative agency. I work part time to defray our son's private school tuition.

Our daughter is a counselor and suggested this for a beginning point: http://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/mental-health-anxiety-disorders Hope this is helpful...I certainly learned somethings by reading this.

We LOVE our awning as our deck is in the FULL sun and summers in VA can be significant. We've had it for 10 years....we 'baby' it when there is high wind and roll it in. I love that it is heavy duty and makes the deck liveable. It is 13'X16' and cost approx....$2K. It has been well worth it and we highly recommend the company: http://www.aaawnings.com/.

See if you can get into the Crystal Ballroom....it has one of the only 'bouncy' floors' on the west coast and maybe one of the last ones in the country.....it's a beautiful art-deco venue that is still used today....and my son works there! Also, the Hawthorne district is great for restaurants- SOO many to choose from!

I'm so sorry you were inconvenienced and worried. BTDT so many times so we had to institute some rules. I haven't read any of your other answers but these are things we have done. The guy MUST come to the door and meet Dad/Mom/family or whomever is around....parents are a requirement. He doesn't come to the door, he doesn't get to take the dd out. Period. Doesn't matter if someone is insecure. They have to get over it. Role play it, if she's nervous. Have the teen brother act as the 'dad' and Dad as the 'date'. Laughing thru it should ease her mind. The date needs accountability to your family so, we think it's important for there to be eye contact and a shake of the hands between men. One time at our house, a certain teenage brother 'happened' to be coming down the stairs with his rifle when said date arrived. If looks could kill, he'd be a gonner- sis was peeved! We all busted up laughing after they left...and date was cool about it all.... The phone MUST be on all the time. If there is a show/movie/quiet event where it will be turned off, then it must be turned back ON afterwards. Maturity must be exercised. Forgetting is not an option. The date can even remind her to do this. One of ours was good about this, one was not. Wash, rinse, repeat, repeat, repeat. Oh- and if the parents needed to text (we refrained from this as much as possible)- we expect an answer. If there wasn't an answer in a reasonable amount of time, then we would call. If we didn't get an answer, our next step would be to call the establishment- restaurant, theater, friends' house. To avoid this embarrasment, the child would be sure to return the call. Ask me how we know all this. :glare: If she knows the protocol, she'll step up and respond. An agreed upon curfew/return time must be figured out before they leave. Ours were required to call if that time needed to change ie: bad traffic,bad weather, dinner was served late, unexpected events. As they got older, the guys would sometimes choose to spend the night at their buddy's house. No problem....just needed to TEXT us so when we wake up in the morning and see that their car is not in the driveway, we know WHY. Otherwise, Mom's over-active brain starts imagining the WORST and she'll want to call the State Patrol. Hello. I don't mean to sound harsh....we have 5 kids and have done this with 4 of them. #5 is just 15 and we'll go thru it again....with a lot less stress and sleepless nights. :tongue_smilie:

:iagree: Ditto....I used 2 of these for YEARS...for the weekly trip to the library, co-op and then to Classical Conversations. They are GREAT. I also took them to the homeschool convention each year to haul my loot that I'd bought. I also have my scrapbook stuff in one. They collapse and can be stored easily.

:My bad." Good grief!

Yup. She's right. :iagree:

Having just traveled back home to Seattle last week for a visit, I can only say that if doom and gloom weather would bother you, you best go and live in eastern WA. We love Wenatchee. There are lots of homeschoolers there, too. Seattle and the coast are beautiful, in terms of geography but I can't take the grey and constant drizzle. You should really visit and stay a few days in each place so you can get a good feel for the area.

I'm so happy for you both....hope this will bring good and prosperous things for your family. Will you be closer/farther away from your parents?

If my dh pulled this on me, without our mutual consent, we'd have a VERY serious boundaries discussion. Yours must be a young.....and an inexperienced hubby. After he understood just how disrespectful he had been, he'd know that he had better step up and be completely involved with the prep, cooking and entertaining of his family. It should not all fall on your shoulders- especially since you are newly pg and not feeling well. I'd tell him that this will never happen again. It can be a pleasant visit, with planning, and I hope it will. :grouphug: to you!

:grouphug::grouphug: Bless you. I help my friend out once a week as she cares for her disabled dad....it is oh-so draining and I'm watching her recede into fatigue and loneliness. I admire what she is doing....he is doing better at her house than he was at the nursing home but the burden and consequences are GREAT. She can't manage her house and family w/o help....good thing her dh is VERY successful and there is $ to pay her friends to help her. Her dad's $ is just about gone. Just make sure you and your dh are on the same page and re-connect regularly as your dad's status may change and the expectations may need to be altered. Schedule and follow-through with time alone for yourself and your marriage....otherwise you may suffer a loss in those relationships as my friend is currently doing... it is hard. But, the knowledge that she has done the very best for her dad is a consolation. Above all, get the support of your friends, family and church. God can give you the extra strength you will need. I'll be praying for you.

Praying from VA....I'm so sorry.

We were given this cookbook for a wedding present and it's one of my favorites! We've liked: Baked Lentils with Cheese Honey Baked Lentils Onion Cheese Loaf Whole Wheat Pineapple Muffins (but I use applesauce- made them tonight, actually!) Quick Chop Suey Poek Sausage Casserole I HIGHLY recommend this cookbook.

There is also a multi-generation Kennedy mindset that the rules don't apply to them. How hard would it be to check out with the nurses' station? Their arrogance often lands them in trouble- or dead, like his brother, Michael, from a ski accident. I frankly don't have much sympathy for this guy, however, it also looks like the nurse(s) over-reacted. :glare: Bad, all around.

I LIKE clean- but it isn't always that way. I also had boys who could have cared less- or so I thought! I'll never forget the time when I dropped son #3 off at a friends for the afternoon..... he said "ewww- dirty door". I was shocked he would have noticed. :lol:

I'll recommend this to my Jane Austen book club....we just met last night to discuss P&P. Great timing!

Maybe I'm a sap, but I haven't liked ANY of Nicholas Sparks' books....I've read 2 or 3...they always end SAD. 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez .....blech....read it in both English and Spanish....awful in both....such despair, no hope. My book club is GREAT !! We're only reading Austen and it's been so much fun. I've never been in a book club before so I'm jazzed. So far, we've read and discussed : Persuasion, S &S and Mansfield Park (that was the hardest to slog thru). This month, we're doing P&P. Can't wait.

We were helped by the Hallowell books: Driven to Distraction Delivered from Distraction His website has good articles and resources. We appreciate the ones on marriage: http://www.drhallowell.com/add-adhd/

Bump :001_smile:

I'm seeking advice about this procedure....I have a 3" uterine fibroid that's causing heavy peri0ds and this is one of my options- the other is a hysterectomy. If you've had this procedure or know something about it, can you share your experience? I have an appt. with a vascular radiologist next week to talk specifics but I'm still weighing the pros and cons. Thanks in advance for your input. :)

Sorry to say, but narcissists RARELY change. They don't think they are/have the problem- it's the rest of the world that's wrong. Believe me, it's not worth the energy to try to reason with her or change her. We finally had to cut all contact with the SIL im our life who has NPD....we aren't real popular with the rest of the family but then they all enabled her. Very sad. I'm sorry you don't think you can go out with your friends....couldn't someone come and stay with your mom while you're gone...someone she's comfortable with or a someone with medical experience that could put your mom at ease. I'm sorry she's feeling crummy- it's no fun. Ignore your sister and eliviate at least that stressor from your lives. Stop expecting or hoping she'll grow up. She probably won't. :grouphug:

When we have that situation come up, I will serve: Soup, grilled cheese sandwiches, dinner salad (put some kind of protein in it- tuna, boiled eggs, cut up deli meat, cheese etc...) or breakfast dinner - pancakes, omelettes, waffles

Thank you kck...I'm in my early 50s and done with babies.....wow it sounds like you endured a lot. I've had twins and can't imagine part of that (my) huge belly being a fibroid and not a baby- bless your heart. I'm so glad it didn't effect your fertility. I'm not very symptomatic- just some pressure in places and heavy periods....maybe watching it will be worthwhile....I do have a consult with a vascular radiologist who does embolizations pretty regularly. We'll see what he says. Thank you for your advice and caring attitude. Don't you love this board?

Thank you so much, house of kids/pets- I'm so very happy the biopsy came back benign that I see it as downhill from here on..... I'm not very symptomatic and grateful I have options. You're so sweet to care. Thank you!