You guys are making me want to buy a fountain pen! I've never written with one before and now I feel like I've been missing out all these years! Do they work well for left handed people? I have a problem with ink smearing on occasion. Back in high school, the outside of my hand was almost always blue or black stained from writing.

Love Gilmore Girls!

I'm a pretty quick reader - not sure of my reading speed though. I don't move my mouth or hear words in my head unless I'm reading something especially meaty and purposely slow myself down. Off to google reading speed tests now...

Not sure about that - we get some delicious sweet, tender corn in chilly VT! :-) I'm counting down the days until it's ready!! When we go back to RI, I frequently bring back Portuguese sweet rolls, coffee syrup (to put in milk), frozen stuffed quahogs and, if I could, I'd bring back Dell's frozen lemonade.

We did MM because my kid's a workbook lover, but we played a ton of games too. Cuisinaire rods - one of his favorites was to pick a rod, say the 7 rod and figure out how many different combinations he could make to get to 7. (5+2, 5+1+1, etc) Yahtzee Zeus on the Loose He loves taking a ruler and measuring everything he can get his hands on Fill up the sink with water and put in measuring spoons, cups and jars. See how many teaspoons in a cup, etc. Math catch! Throw a ball back and forth. The thrower calls out a math problem, the catcher answers it and then becomes the thrower. We've done addition, subtraction, skip counting and doubles so far. I'm planning on using that a lot for times tables Baking - especially doubling or halving a recipe

Winnie the Pooh and the House at Pooh Corner were favorites last year (and still). DS also loved The Cricket in Times Square, Pippi Longstocking, The Boxcar Children, A Sick Day for Amos McGee, George and Marha, Stuart Little, The Mouse and the Motorcycle and Runaway Ralph. I think I'm forgetting some. Love all the suggestions here!

We've had this one for a few years: http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-USA-Floor-Puzzle/dp/B000GKAU1I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405857527&sr=8-1&keywords=united+states+puzzle It's not wood, but it's held up nicely. I think DS was 2 when he got it and he'll still bring it out on occasion.

There's no pain like tooth pain! Poor DH. I left my dentist over a similar situation. I went in with tooth pain, he said the tooth looked fine and it was probably a sinus infection (top back tooth) that was causing the pain. Went to the regular Dr.who said that she didn't think it was a sinus thing, but prescribed antibiotics just in case. Pain went nuts over Thanksgiving weekend and finally called a friend's dentist who she highly recommended. They got me in first thing Monday morning, and got me a next day appointment with the endodontist and gave me a prescription for pain reliever. Your DH can alternate tylenol and advil every 3 hours - that's what my dentist recommended for tooth pain. Also, clove oil can help. Hope he feels better soon!

My mom just ordered that one yesterday - cool! We share an amazon account and I saw it pop up on my kindle. I'll have to tell her it's someone I "know" from a message board's aunt! :-) Will make sure to leave a review too.

We've been getting a lot of scammers and telemarketers calling recently. It's annoying. For a few years after the donotcall list started, we didn't get any, but they've definitely been ramping up. I like the put the phone down until they get bored idea! I may try that next time. :-)

I love coffee. I really really love it. :-) Here's the kind I buy (they ship!) and I do half decaf and half medium roast. Mix together and you will have half caf. http://www.vermontcoffeecompany.com/Vermont_Coffee_Company/buy_vermont_organic_fair_trade_coffee.html

Well they're out of Medium, so I ordered a large and paid $5 for the quick shipping. That way if it doesn't fit, I can figure out an alternate plan. Also ordered a Navy cardigan to wear with it. Thankfully, everyone there will be wearing flip flops, so shoes will be an easy choice!

Thank you! And Iron Ethel Flint, just reading your list made me smile. I'm going to reread and implement some of these suggestions over the weekend as I have a few difficult days ahead of me. I'm going to pull my Beany Malone books off of the bookshelf to reread - they're super light and fluffy 50's teenage books. I love Dr. Who and DH and I just started rewatching on Netflix so I'll be sure to remember that! I also may hunt for some fun light comedies, Frasier is always a soothing watch. I'm having lunch today with a good friend and breakfast with a different friend on Sunday. One of my stressors was lifted after having a good discussion with my boss this morning, so that is helping. DS came and crawled into bed with me for a good snuggle this morning, which is always a good way to start the day! He usually just comes in and tucks his panda into bed with us (so panda won't be lonely) and then goes downstairs to play for a bit until I get up. Once we get through MIL's impending visit, I can relax a bit again. We're having some major stress with her and she said some very hurtful things on her last visit. DH and I are trying to work out how to address the situation with her and it's tough. I feel like I lost a good friend in her and it's not a good feeling.

Thank you!! OK, I think I'll go ahead and purchase it with a navy cardigan. Now I have to figure out what size. I'm short, so I'll get petite and I'm somewhere between a 12 and 14. The medium is 10-12 and the large is 14-16. Probably the large? I have a larger chest and don't want to look like I'm bursting the seams. But I also don't want it to looks like a tent. Any jewelry suggestions? I'm terrible with this stuff!

I'm heading to a baby shower in 2 1/2 weeks and need a dress to wear. I'm losing weight and my dresses from last summer are too big. (a happy problem for sure!) I don't want to spend too much, since I still have more weight to lose and would rather not waste money on a dress that can only be worn a couple of times before it's too big. And I live in an area of the country where if you're wearing anything dressier than jeans and a flannel shirt or yoga pants and a hoodie people ask you where you're going all dressed up. I was thinking of this dress in cactus flower print: http://www.landsend.com/products/womens-sleeveless-pattern-cotton-modal-fit-and-flare-dress/id_237136?sku_0=::K6J The party will be upscale beachy if that makes sense. I can guarantee that at least half of the attendees will be wearing some combo of navy, white and chevron stripe. Bonus cool points if they wear all three in combination. I don't want to look like a lemming, but I also don't want to look like the country bumpkin coming to the rich beach area. Any suggestions for me? I'm somewhere between a size 12 and 14 and considering my slow but downward trajectory, I'm guessing I'll only lose a pound or maybe 2 by then so about the same size. Thanks!!

Legal pads!

Happy birthday Ellie! Hope you have a wonderful day!!

I make myself a list of bigger projects or deeper cleaning stuff. Then I give myself a deadline to finish the list. Earlier in the summer, I made myself a list of 10 projects I wanted to finish before the end of summer. Some were smaller - cleaning out my nightstand, and some were larger, clean out the big closet behind the kitchen and reorganize (its' our only storage here so it's a big project). Then I posted the list on the fridge so it's in my face! So far it's working out pretty well - I've checked off 4 things. :-)

Thank you for all the great replies! It's just a combinations of things weighing on me and causing anxiety, which is making me unhappy. I had a cup of tea and worked on a fun knitting project for a bit, then e-mailed a friend. :-)

I had been babysitting pretty regularly by 12 and I had a weekly job at a neighbors house. I would have had a hard time with three straight 10 hr days though. Is there anywhere for her to take the kids? Nearby park, bike path, etc? DS would go very stir crazy not leaving the property for 3 straight days. I'd be upset that the mom changed the babysitting plan like that, especially without offering a higher hourly rate.

I'm in a funk today. This is not usual for me and I'm not in the mood to deal with my bad mood! What are your favorite ways to jolly yourself out of a mood? My usual method involves ice cream or a glass of wine and neither is going to be an option tonight. DH is working the night shift, so I'm in for the night. Our lawnmower broke and our lawn is especially, um, luxurious at the moment which is giving the bugs a field day, so I'm not going outside to read (another favorite activity). Feel free to send me your best tricks! :-)

Ballet, gymnastics, yoga or piano lessons would help. My piano teacher's posture lessons have been ingrained in me for so long, I don't think I'll ever slouch again. Also, when I coached gymnastics, I would work on posture and body shaping constantly with the girls. I can only hope that they'll hear my voice in their head for many years to come and have good posture and core control!

Gettysburg would be a great trip - I went to college there my freshman year and my mom and aunts loved driving down from RI to visit me because they liked the town so much!

I don't have any suggestions for you, but I have to let you know what I thought of when I saw TTY and your grandmother! I'm a former gymnastics coach and still a lover of the sport and a TTY is a Triple Twisting Yurchenko in gymnastics lingo which looks like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQ3RUzJ9l44&feature=youtu.be&utm_content=buffer5e4a2&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer And for a moment, I was attempting to imagine why on earth your grandma would be learning one!! :-)

I'm making Asian Lettuce Cups for dinner tonight. Cook crumbled tofu until brown and crispy, dice and saute onion, garlic, mushrooms, water chestnuts, bell pepper, scallion. Mix in hoisin sauce and serve in lettuce cups alone or with rice.