I tried that one for a while. I quit using it after more than one person said, "oh, so you work at home?" "Well, yes, but not a business...I'm homeschooling my kids...never mind..." I haven't seen the show, but living in the OC, I've heard & read all about it. The ridiculous thing is that one season they wrote up bios in the newspaper of all the women. NOT ONE that season was a HOUSEWIFE! Half of them weren't married (divorced, at least one of them it happened during the show) - so that takes away the "wife" part. And almost all of them had a full or part time job - which makes them a realtor, or whatever, but not strictly a housewife. Anyway that show makes me gag...I think all but one had had a booK job, all but one had blonde hair (really, we're not all blonde in the OC!)

Costco. I have been to Sam's a few times with a friend, or on a trial membership. I have found several items that are more expensive at Sam's than Costco, but never the other way around. Also, Costco's return policy can't be beat. (they'll blacklist me one day for excessive returns...but until they do...)

Well, they are gone...that was FAST! Oh...edited to say I still see the maintenance message (somehow missed that in my early-morning bleariness). So the groups are completely down; but I do hope they fix the sidebar list as part of the maintenance. :)

She said she & the kids are staying with her mom for those 3 days.

I know...isn't that one ridiculous?

Another update. We are fine. I overreacted - her messages to me didn't have lots of smiley-faces & winky-faces, so I took it as more serious than it was. She was just seeking information...not mad. Next time she heads down here I'm going to hook her up with some guest passes. So it's all good.

Yep! I'm passionate about homeschooling, but have met too many caring teachers over the years to generalize that nobody in the public schools cares anymore.

I think this is why I didn't get offended. It sounded sort of cute & retro. :) And although the majority of posters don't like the term... I was just on my profile (looking at the pesky social group thing) and decided to change my "title" to housewife. :)

What is wrong with people? How did she get so far in life by being such a rude jerk?

I don't like it. I am going to join one or more. It's not that I want them to be secret, but...I don't know, just more private? For example, if someone clicked on my profile they could see them. But not have them listed on every post.

Oh, I forgot about that one. I used to use "stay at home mom" when my kids were younger, especially if I didn't want to get into the homeschool topic. But again it's not appropriate for me now. "I'm a stay at home mom." "Oh, how old are your kids?" "They are 17 and 19, both in college." ha ha.

Update: I've called as MomaHWTK suggested, and left her a voice mail. I hope to hear back from her today. Our on-line messages ended on a pleasant note, but I just want to make sure we are OK. We have been friends for a lot of years.

I just used the word "housewife" in the frump thread, and it reminded me of an experience I had last month. I had to get a security clearance for something - well, that sounds mysterious, doesn't it? ;) When I filled out the online application, there was no category for "homemaker" as an occupation. I had to choose "unemployed" as the best option. When I went in for the interview, the agent (who was under 30) asked if I was married, then when he got down to the the occupation part, he said, "Oh, so you're a housewife" and jotted something down. I laughed and said, "yeah, there wasn't a category for that." I didn't feel patronized by the term, but then wondered later if I should have. ;) (BTW - I've always used "homeschool teacher" as my occupation before, but I don't feel comfortable with that anymore. My youngest is a senior this year, but all of his courses are outsourced. So I'm not doing any of the actual schooling. Maybe I can say I'm "retired"?) What do you think - is housewife bad? Homemaker better? Homeschooler? Retired? Unemployed? What are you?

That's fantastic - I would feel the same way if I had your lifestyle. But I'm a suburban housewife so I need a different "uniform" :) How funny. I *immediately* thought of my MIL when I saw the shirt, but I can see how it would look cute on a young teen, too. :) I agree. She doesn't look "hideous" in the before picture - she looks exactly like *I* look right now, getting ready for some household tasks...pick up dog poop in the yard, and swiffer the floors, before I shower/change.

I agree...I'm not going to dress up at home for that exact reason. I used to follow a blog of a gal who took pix of herself every day - one of her main go-to items was pencil skirts. Although she looked cute, she lost me when she claimed that it's OK to play on the floor with your kids or clean your toilets in your pencil skirt. Ridiculous! I ruined a brand-new top last year by overspraying Clorox Cleanup on the kitchen counter. I can't imagine trying to scrub my shower or clean my toilet wearing nice clothes. Yes, that's one thing I love about her blog, that she'll show us what she wore today, and how she wore one of the same pieces last month, and it looks *completely* different! My clothes tend to look the same every time I wear them.

We haven't heard from the OP since early yesterday afternoon...I really hope it's because she's packed her bags and headed to mom's house. :sad:

This blogger is younger than most of us here, but many of her outfits would look great on us. :) I wish I had her closet! http://whatiwore.tumblr.com/tagged/casual/

I agree, I don't really care for her non-frumpy look. My 75yo MIL died last year and when we went through her closet, she had at least 100 (I exaggerate not) tops that looked like that one. (Mostly from Chico's). I thought my MIL took great care of herself & looked super-cute for a senior citizen, but I don't think it's a great look for a middle-aged mom trying to de-frump.

I posted on FB a while back that I am raising money for a charity. One of my friends, who lives in another city, immediately contributed. A few days later I posted that I was raffling off a membership to a local venue. I posted about it several times over the last 10 days. This morning, after I posted the total $ raised for the raffle and that I had a winner...my out-of-town friend sent me a message wanting to know if she was included in the raffle. Um, no. I wish I had just lied and told her yes. She had really expected to be included: "I LOVE that place". Well. I explained to her that since she had donated before the raffle was announced, and that she lives several hours away, I didn't think she'd intended to be included. Why on earth didn't she let me know at some point during the last 10 days? it would not have bothered me to include her! I think she's truly perplexed that I didn't automatically include her, and I'm truly perplexed that she expected to be automatically included! On our second round of messages I offered to send her some guest passes that she can use whenever she wants. I was so upset that I cried - upset at myself for handling this wrong and offending my generous friend, and at her for being a previously low-maintenance friend who now is not! Did I do this wrong? (BTW - she told me not to send the passes - I'm going to anyway)

Too bad you are not in SoCal. I would do it for $80. :D

And anti-smoking programs. Every time I go to NYC I'm shocked by the amount of smoke I have to endure.

This is why I backed out of marathon training and opted for another half. That said, I'm jealous of my friends who are doing the full this weekend while I do 13.1. And I'm seriously considering signing up for a fall marathon... It's a hard choice, good luck.

We've lived in California for 14 years. It's never been the norm in the circles we move in.

You should find out who gets the delivery fee. It might not be the driver. If it isn't, I'd complain to the establishment before I'd stop tipping the driver.

And several people have told you why. The job is time-consuming, gas-consuming, dangerous, and sometimes pays less than minimum wage. You can choose to tip or not (or to order home delivery or not) but I think the argument has been made that pizza delivery drivers absolutely rely on tips.