They both are state of being verbs and, when used in combination like this, indicate the progressive present tense.

I didn't read the responses. My DS' symptoms of Celiac started with him just being small for his age, then he started into chronic strep and ear infections, constipation and stomach upset. We thought the stomach upset was from all the antibiotics and/or constipation but it was really the Celiac. Eventually he started losing weight. The infections were because his immune system was compromised. I am one of those people who will always recommend getting the blood testing done if you think it might be a possibility. A lot of those other symptoms can come about from the lack of nutrients derived from food (due to blunted villi) when you have Celiac disease. Also, my son didn't sleep well because of the frequent infections/stomach pain. Lack of sleep can cause all kinds of crazy symptoms like anxiety, etc. ETA: He was six when he was diagnosed. ETA2: if you are also dealing with anemia, I would really push for the Celiac panel.

You will learn more about this later but "are being" is the progressive present tense. http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/tenses/present_progressive.htm GWTM is the most intense grammar we have ever used, and it greatly ramps up at about week 16. FYI. We had already done FLL 1-4 before we did GWTM.

I wasn't aware there was a green book?? There is a purple book and a red book. Which one are you using? Are you referring to something in the student workbook, or the core instructor book (which is green)?

Oh, I am SO sorry. What a hard road you are on. I wish you all didn't have to carry such a burden. Prayers for you.

I'm so sorry about your dh! Were they able to treat his cancer effectively?

I'm not familiar with the standards for other cancers. Our particular scenario is kidney cancer. They wouldn't have found it at all if it hadn't been for an MRI of his abdomen to find out what was causing pain. They saw something on the kidney and decided to remove it to be safe, and it turned out to be cancer. Kidney cancer is one that doesn't usually show up (symptom-wise) until it is advanced stage. The pain wasn't related to the cancer at all (we still don't know the cause actually). So we were very blessed they found it when they did. Unfortunately that also means we are not in a scenario where CTs are not medically necessary. If they had removed the entire kidney, perhaps, but they didn't think it was cancer so they only removed part of his kidney. The margin wasn't clear, so there is a very small chance that it will come back.

That makes sense. In a few years, I will not need the MRIs anymore. We live in a big city, and the specialists are ordering the MRIs and CTs. 😃 We might be able to postpone the MRIs but cannot cancel them--the condition I have is relatively newly understood and they don't have a lot of clinical data for the first five years. My husband must have the CTs as part of his cancer follow up and to check on his Sarcoidosis. Probably in a couple years both of us will be on a much reduced schedule for these. We just got hit with medical stuff at the same time. 😃

I am so sorry. The meds part is scary to me--for awhile they thought I might have MS and I know some people who have had to fight to get their medication covered for MS. It's tens of thousands of dollars. My husband's autoimmune(s?) don't appear to be active right now. I can't imagine what our bills will be like when they are active. I hope you don't mind me asking--do you bother to itemize your additional medical costs (over and above insurance) on your taxes? I know it has to be over a certain percentage of your gross income. When we looked at it before about five years ago, it didn't seem possible to reach it, but now it sort of does.

My husband sent an email to his boss asking if he realized that the premium employees will be paying for this coming year is 63% higher than the current year. They subcontract out their HR and they used a benefits broker. I am not sure how aware the company leadership is of the change because in the benefits meeting the increase was not mentioned and last year's numbers were not provided for reference. They have lost a number of employees lately for other reasons--I wonder what impact this will have.

I use Ebates but not the app and I don't have the browser add-on enabled (which might be what you mean)? I use Ebates as much as I can, and especially over the holidays. We don't make a ton of cash back, maybe only $200 a year, but it's definitely not a scam and has been worthwhile for us. It's really nice when you are buying things like appliances online because you get great cash back for those large purchases.

Our deductible this year is $7K but next year if we choose the more expensive plan, it will be $8K. =(

here's one--Russia, Ohio is pronounced "Roo-shee"

I was going to mention this one! I haven't figured that one out either!

We sort of feel like we don't have a choice but to do the smaller deductible. I am not sure the other one works better for us from a tax perspective. Less of the total cost is tax deductible because the HSA contribution is capped. I haven't worked it out on paper though. Mostly what is killing us is the yearly MRIs I have to get and my husband's CTs, plus my eldest's Celiac panel. Asthma medication is crazy expensive, but kills you bit by bit instead of all at one time. LOL.