You go girl! I am so impressed with your story, especially because you were doing it in the Florida heat. I am such a pansy, always using the weather as an excuse to not get outside and walk. Too hot, too cold, too cloudy - what if it rains??, etc. :) Thanks for sharing this with us. I am going to check out this program.

I need to go shopping today...where can I look for an elf? (I don't really want a set with a book). Target, Walmart, ToysRUS?

Scarlett, I have the minimum AT&T iPhone plan which is $40 voice plus $30 data. I also have a $5 text plan (for 200 messages). With taxes, I think I pay a total of $78/month. I love it and now couldn't live without it. For years I carried a $10/month phone that was basically for emergencies only. It was such a splurge to get the iPhone. But it almost takes the place of a laptop which I used to carry with me at almost all times. I take my kids to so many classes & events at which I have to sit and wait, and I used to have to find a Starbucks or library to get online and do anything. Now, with my phone, I can: read & send e-mail do online banking (I have apps for USAA and BofA; with USAA I can even take a picture of a check and upload it - they will instantly credit my account!) take pictures read & update Facebook surf the internet (although not as easily as with a laptop, of course) get directions and check traffic get a weather update watch movies listen to music play games (almost never) create/update a shopping list buy stuff from Amazon And of course, make phone calls. :001_smile:

Well, that is just adorable! I clicked on your link to Wikipedia and then followed a link to flickr pics of butter lambs. I especially like one wearing a Krispy Kreme cap (although I'm not sure of the connection between butter lambs and Krispy Kreme...) I may have to ask for a lamb mold for Christmas. :001_smile:

I use iTunes because it's easier - seamless upload to my iPod. But if you have kids/husband who are tech savvy, they can figure out how to get anything on the iPod. My teens helped me get my music from old CDs on it. And when I download something from a site other than iTunes (such as Amazon MP3 files - got some of those for free recently thanks to a link here!) - the kids have to help me get it into my iTunes library. I used to think I was smart but I just can't keep up with the technology.:tongue_smilie:

I voted "NO", and I do what you do...I pass it along to my dd or to someone else. I love BBW stuff, but really like to pick my own scents. So I'd love a gift card from BBW. :) Sometimes friends who are Mary Kay reps give their stuff as gifts. I guess their intentions are good, but to me it seems more like a promotion than a gift.

We sponsor children through Dalit Freedom Network. DFN builds schools in villages in India, and the sponsorship helps pay for the children to attend the schools. Every quarter we get a packet which includes detailed school news for the schools "our" children attend. (for example, if the school is expanding grades, or they moved into a permanent building, or graduated a class from 8th grade). We also get a letter from the children. I believe they are doing very good work based on first-hand accounts we've heard from pastors and church members of a church in our area who take trips to India at least 2x/year. Sponsorship info

I did something silly like that once, too...I watched The Panic Room while dh was out of town. It was years ago, but to this day when he travels and I have to go potty in the middle of the night...I won't flush. Flushing in the middle of the night can get you killed; just ask Jodie Foster!

Yikes! It should be gorgeous at those prices. I went to their website and clicked on the first "pretty" thing I saw...the Vintage Flounce Skirt. $329!

Thank you! But...if you could smell my dog today, you'd know why he must be bathed before my sis gets here tomorrow! She's not even a dog person; she's a cat person. So even if the house may not be perfect, the dog WILL get a bath tomorrow!

I don't like Coldwater Creek or Chico's...they both seem too "old lady" for me. Maybe I just hit them at the wrong time? (for example, sometimes I love the Gap and want everything in the store...but other times I can't find a single item I even bother trying on). My favorite for dresses or blouses/skirts is Macy's I.N.C. brand. Lots of the I.N.C. stuff is really low cut, made for gals who want to show off their booKs. I don't want to display my cleavage, so I have to really pick through the racks. But I have found some real winners there. Pricey, but I usually start with the sale rack, and I don't think I've paid full price for much.

I don't get my news from TMZ or the Enquirer. But I was listening to the radio with my 13yo ds when the accident was first reported, and we agreed, "That doesn't sound right; there is more to this story." Tiger drove away in a huge SUV and hit a fire hydrant and tree (before gathering any speed) hard enough to cut and bruise his face and knock him unconscious so that his wife had to break out a back window with a golf club? Really? It didn't seem possible when I heard it on the radio, so in my mind I guessed alcohol was involved. When I heard "the other woman" angle, that seemed plausible, too. We might never know what happened (yes, they do have their right to privacy), but this was not just a simple back-out-of-the-driveway accident.

Jean, I thought of that already...wondering what she can do. All I came up with was blow-dry the dog. But I guess we will find things as they come up. I'm sure she'll be able to do some food prep, especially if she can sit at the table and do it. And, I did read the thread you posted also! I know I can do all things through CHRIST who strengthens me. But I'm not sure if He meant cleaning bathrooms?? :)

I don't usually stress over the holidays. We take some time off from school if we have to, and, with two teenagers, I am now lucky enough to have 2 great helpers with the cleaning, cooking, and baking. (can I be honest? My younger, male, helper still needs some training and supervision). So...company arrives tomorrow for a visit...my dh' company party at our house next week...another party a few days after that...and this afternoon, my #1 helper sprained her ankle. Gah! I am taking a break from cleaning bathrooms to post this, in the hope that getting it off my chest will reduce my panic! I don't even want to talk to my family about it - I certainly don't blame my dd, so I don't want her to think I do - my hubby works long hours so can't really help - I don't want to "dump" too much on my poor ds. Again...Gah!

Candy-Cane Joe Joe brownies, and an orange-cranberry cheesecake. Ginger-lemon cookies going in the oven tonight. I broke down and got store-bought rolls today, as I know I won't have time for homemade!

changed my mind

That was my son's point...the value of the Harvard MBA (its prestige) can't be mimicked by a video course, even if that video course taught you MORE than you'd learn as a Harvard student. As to your point about Enron, etc...it's too bad getting an MBA, from anywhere, doesn't automatically confer ethics on someone!

I won't order anything from them because I don't want to support them. We still get their catalog, although I haven't ordered anything in years. They do have some cool boy toys, so when my son sees something he "must have", I try to source it somewhere else or he goes without. My son (who is 13) thinks it's hilarious to read about the reading & video materials they sell. He can recognize the fallacies in many of their claims just by reading their catalog. His latest source of amusement was the "Harvard MBA" they claim to offer. It's a training package that purports to provide the viewer with an education equivalent to a Harvard MBA. But, as my son pointed out, at the end of it YOU DON'T HAVE A HARVARD MBA! Try taking that to your job interview. You can find plenty of info on them if you search "doug phillips controversy" or similar terms. Here's one site with some links. links

I got an e-mail from our homeschool group about a field trip we'd like to attend. I sent an RSVP to the field trip coordinator and asked her to let me know if she needed anything else. She sent me a reply telling me how busy she is getting ready for the holidays, and that I should: "Check out the field trip announcement again and it will tell you everything I need." HELLO? If I had understood the announcement, I wouldn't have ASKED if my response was complete! And if she's so dang busy, wouldn't it have been easier for her to send a one-line reply saying, "I also need XX info"? I don't even know how to reply to her. I have read the announcement again and still am not sure what I need to send her. I guess the kids will miss this field trip as their mom can't figure out how to attend.

Crossbows and dart guns with suction-cup "darts". This was a big hit when my ds was 11 - he's 13 now, and he and his friends still love them. Get at least 2 so he can play with a friend...and get extra darts, of course. one vendor (I think I've seen these new from storefronts on eBay, too) http://www.outdoorsuperstore.com/product.asp?prod=456386

I agree...get the biggest one you can. My son got a "big" set at around age 8 or 9. He is 13 now and still pulls it out occasionally. So we have gotten good use from it.

I am loving these pictures. Here's mine. (he's standing in front of our house, getting ready to go out and shoot poor helpless rabbits...)

This is my mini-me. People say we look like sisters, which I love but she hates. But she has learned to be gracious. :) (point of interest: she edited this self-portrait using Pioneer Woman's 70s action set for Photoshop)

For the most part, this has been true for my dc's friends. But I have been surprised by some things I've seen from a few teens on Facebook that don't match up with IRL behaviors. It has me wondering if the "true" teen is the one who talks to me or the one I see on FB screaming stuff like "i hate schoooollll!!!" Maybe somewhere in between? I know teens need to blow off steam - don't we all? But if my kids were writing some of the over-the-top blowing-off-steam stuff I see other kids write, I'd have a talk with them. In our homeschooling crowd, many of the kids are "friends" with the parents on FB - and friends with each other - so everything you write is pretty public. If you wouldn't use the word "sux" in front of a mom, why would you write in on FB?