My dh pounded on a neighbor's door in the middle of the night and ran into something similar...the dog owner had apparently been fast asleep. (The barking had gone on for several nights before dh went over there). HOW could she not have heard the barking when it woke us up from 3 doors down?

Thanks for the feedback. As mom, *I* think it's a great schedule for an artsy student. We aren't neglecting academics - her English at Torrey Academy is considered honors-level, her math and science are at the CC, and her AP Art History - well, the only way to judge the level of that will be when we get the test results! But we are letting her explore her interests at the same time. She plans to major in photography, so the CC classes she is taking meet the lower-division prerequisites for the photography programs she is interested in. I was very frustrated Saturday night with some pushback she had given me as to whether she should have to do any homework on a weekend. I am seeing more clearly this morning. :D I am going to take the advice from Cedarmom and have a scheduling meeting with dd this morning, now that we know her spring semester schedule. A couple of you had questioned whether the schedule is heavy ENOUGH, much less too heavy. She did a 3-credit math course at the CC last semester, which is considered 1-yr of high school credit by the high schools in CA. She had already completed Alg 1, Geometry, and Alg 2, so this was her 4th math credit. She is taking a 4-credit science course at the CC this semester - again, considered 1-yr of high school science credit. She has already completed through high school French 3. She has completed 2 years of history and will take a third her senior year. No, you didn't sound negative, and Yes, I think so, too! This year she will have completed the equivalent of 7 year-long classes: English, Math, Science, AP Art history, 2 college fine-arts classes (photography and drawing), and PE (forgot to mention dance classes and gym membership). But by using the community college for some of her classes, we have essentially set it up in block scheduling where she is only taking 4 classes at a time (3 academic and 1 art). The schools with which I am familiar in CA either have 7 periods a day, or block scheduling with 4 classes per semester. So either way she's fine if we are just looking at crossing the public school bar.

I bought an LG frontloader in September. I hate it, hate it, hate it. I had heard the hype for years about energy savings and better clothes care which is why we decided to switch. I am counting the days (years) when I can get another traditional top loader. Pros: 1. It saves on utility costs because of the lower water amounts used. Also the clothes are more dry when they come out of the washer, so I'm sure I'm saving on utility costs for drying. Cons: 1. The loads take much longer. There's no such thing as a short load. I'm sure my old washer could do a quick load in 40 minutes. The fastest one on my new washer is 53 minutes, and some are as long as 1:27. 2. It's louder - the spin cycle sounds like an airplane taking off in my upstairs laundry room. 3. The clothes don't get as clean!!! My family is not very dirty (no kids playing in mud or anything) but I have noticed our clothes are now visibly stained or have noticeable odors left in them. For example, I had spaghetti sauce splatter onto a dish towel last week. My old washer would have gotten this ou, no worries, in my normal hot-water-and-bleach for whites load. But I knew the front-loader wouldn't. So I carefully rinsed and scrubbed the dish towel in my kitchen sink by hand. Then sent it up to the laundry room. Guess what? A hot-water-and-bleach load did NOT get the remnants of the orange stain out. My shirts all come out with white deodorant residue. I really think that water is necessary for the proper cleaning of clothes - what a concept! 4. I'm so paranoid about the mold/odor issue that I have to wipe out the washer with an old towel when I'm done with laundry for the day. Then leave the door open. I live in fear that a family member will close the door, and we'll be stuck with mold/mildew forever. Rant over. Anybody else?

I honestly feel ridiculous asking this question on a homeschooling board which promotes such a rigorous education style. But I am getting so much push-back from my 11th grader that I wanted to do a sanity check to make sure my thinking is reasonable. She is taking: 1. A year-long grade level English course which takes up about 10 hours/week - 3 hours in class, and 7-8 hours of outside reading and writing. 2. An AP art history prep course that I created by using suggestions from this board - she didn't start this until late November, so only about 6 months to get ready for the test. I think she should be spending about 7 hrs/week on this. 3. At the CC - a 3-credit "applied" art class. Last semester she took photography (her passion), and this semester she is getting ready to take beginning drawing. It means 6 hours in class per week, but not much work outside of class. 4. Also at the CC - last semester she took Liberal Arts Mathematics - her final math class which will transfer to any college she is considering - and so easy it was a joke. This semester she is taking Oceanography on-line - I think it will be a little more time-consuming than the math, but no more than 6 hours a week. So I add that up to about 30 hours a week of class time and schoolwork. And ALL of it is stuff she has at least some interest in (I let her choose the Liberal Arts math over pre-calc, and Oceanography over another physical science such as chemistry). Other than that - she is in musical theater which usually takes 4-6 hours a week. During show weeks it's much more, but that's only 2 weeks a semester. She also spends a lot of time on her photography. She is not over-burdened with chores. I am so frustrated with her arguing ("WHY do I have to take this class??" whenever she's reminded to do her homework) that I just told her she can keep up with her schoolwork, or no spring show for her. The current show is going into performances next week, and then auditions for the next show are in about 5 weeks. Is her schedule OK or am I a mean mom?

No, it doesn't. Say, "Please don't touch my hair" and back away. Ask if they have donated a kidney recently? Anybody who keeps both kidneys for herself is selfish!!

I know one. They didn't want their kids in the PS, but the mom has way too many hobbies of her own to bother with homeschooling. When asked how homeschooling is going, she frankly says, "They're on their own." The father seems to care more, and works with the kids in the evenings sometimes.

We got ours just before Christmas. So far we are enjoying Sports (golf & bowling), Smash Mario Brawl something or other, and Rock Band (2 and Beatles). We've ordered Mario Kart, Resort Sports, Super Mario, and Rock Band Country. :) We have a controller for each of us - total of 4. My kids are teens - this is what all their friends like to play, too.

My 16yo dd qualifies for the honors program at our local CC. It has the "proven track" for 4yr college transfer mentioned in the article. However, I was not impressed when I looked at one course - honors English composition - and noticed their texts were graphic novels (comic books). And most of the honors sections are for GE requirements which are also offered online. We don't want her to spend more time on campus than necessary, so we have chosen the online option when available. She had a great experience with online math last semester, and is registered for online oceanography this semester.

I am really puzzled you are getting those responses. We live in SoCal, and I don't know anybody who would say that. Our friends are very aware of the bad economy, high cost of living, crowded urban space, etc. Many of them would jump at the chance to leave, and in fact, I can think of 7 families we've met since we moved to SoCal 4 years ago who have moved out of state. If my hubby could keep his job and we could move to Colorado or Texas...we'd do it in a California minute! Somebody mentioned parochialism...maybe it is more prevalent in Sacramento than Orange County.

I only go a couple of times a year. Usually to see something that's best on the Big Screen - LOTR, Narnia, etc.. My kids go a little more often now that they're teens. But frankly, there's just not a lot that Hollywood puts out that is worth anybody in our family seeing, so the kids only go about 4 or 5 times a year. This was a Sandra Bullock year for me; the only movies I can recall seeing in the theater in 2009 were The Proposal (on a date night with hubby), and Blind Side (with the whole family). The only extra ones I can remember taking the kids to were Up and A Christmas Carol. They saw Up in the theater (instead of waiting for video) because I wanted to go shopping alone. :) And Christmas Carol was a group event they attended. We have a theater near us with $5 shows before noon, for first run movies! So that's our theater of choice. Otherwise we use Costco $7.50 tickets.

My hubby and 13yo ds play games like you've described - "1st person shooter" games with M ratings. Ds has been playing them for around 3 years. Maybe I'm naive but I don't believe it has had any harmful effects on him. He is a very sweet kid who wouldn't hurt a fly in real life. (well, he does kill spiders for me). The only rule we've had to implement is that I make sure to check with other parents before friends play the games with him, since other families don't allow the same thing.

I don't think this could be cheaper. But maybe there's some break point based on minutes used that would do that. You can see all the plans at the ATT website to compare. If I added an iPhone to my current account, it would only be a minimum $40/month extra. ($10 for phone minutes, $30 for data). To open a new account would be a minimum of $70/month ($40 min phone plan, $30 for data).

I wanted to turn it off halfway through, too. But I kept watching and ended up liking it. Then I watched it again...and loved it. :) I think this one grows on you.

Thanks for the reminder. I'll go eat some cookies now. :D

I try to always keep a baggie of cookies on a table in our entryway during the holidays. So if we see mailman/UPS/Fedex man coming, we can hand it to him as he leaves our packages. (they usually ring the doorbell, but are gone so fast that if we don't hear or see them drive up, we miss them). They always seem very appreciative for the goodies.

I guess I don't have a very fun life. :) My favorite apps are useful...I haven't really found any games I like. These are my most-used apps, and they are free: USAA online banking - I can deposit checks at home by taking a photo! Starbucks - to find the nearest location Shazam - it can identify songs playing on the radio or elsewhere. My son wanted to know what the music is on the Dennis Prager show - Shazam identified it for us as a theme from Gladiator. (we knew it sounded like the "Pirates" theme - sure enough, Hans Zimmer composed both scores) Amazon - buy something you see in the store, for cheaper at Amazon Yelp - to find restaurants

Wow, your Christmas sounds great. But I have to ask...What happens to your cutlery???

I like getting letters, but I've never gotten any of the bragging ones. I guess my friends and family don't have enough achievements to fill up a braggy letter. :)

Well, I *so* wanted to ask him for it last night! But after I posted I came back and saw that the overwhelming consensus was to wait. So I am practicing my surprised look. I love all the stories about kids who can't keep a secret. One of our dc is affectionately nicknamed "cheap suitcase" for the inability to keep a secret. He's 13 now and definitely improved, but he used to get so excited he opened up like a cheap suitcase! The charge was from a jeweler in Hawaii. I don't know exactly what's in the box under the tree, but my best guess is the flip-flop necklace. We were in Hawaii over the summer for our 20th anniversary, and I did a lot of oohing and ahhing over the jewelery ads in the tourist magazines. I guess he was listening!

I am actually thrilled about the present, but I'm SO disappointed that I found out. I pay all of our family's bills, and was just getting everything paid and up-to-date before we leave town for Christmas. I opened my hubby's credit card statement, and there it was! It's very obvious from the vendor name what it is. So do I fess up and tell him I want it RIGHT NOW? (cuz I do...) Or wait until Christmas and act surprised?

I would like to mark up my license somehow to prevent retailer's from getting the data, but I bet it's illegal. ("defacing" your license). The latest for me is that when I buy a gift card at the grocery store using a credit card, they ask for my ID. They want to type in my dl #, but I hold on tight with my thumb obscuring the #and say, "You do not have my permission to record the number." At Ralph's the employee can type in his/her employee # instead, verifying that they have seen the license.

That's so creepy. I have a 16yo dd and would be freaked out, too. First thing I would do: change my home phone number, and dd's cell phone #. Then I would be VERY careful with her for the next few weeks, as in waiting with her at the bus stop or driving her to/from school myself. I just don't see how it could be an honest mistake. It sounds too weird.

Did you really? Are you certain the Dew did it?

No, no, no...what you must do is add the peppermint schnapps to some very chocolate-y hot chocolate. And then add a shot or two of espresso. Top with whipped cream. But honestly, it tastes better without the espresso - it's called a Peppermint Patty when you just add the schnapps to hot chocolate. It's a tree-decorating favorite for me. :)

We didn't watch a lot of TV until this summer when I discovered The Office. Then I stayed tuned for 30 Rock...then I added Parks & Recreation. When Community premiered, I tried to watch it a couple of times. But 2 hours of sitcoms is too much for me, and I like it the least of the 4 shows. (An old, fat, Chevy Chase kind of grosses me out). So I dropped it.