I'm assuming one that does not involve Jesus since he was big on treating everyone with love and kindness....

Yay! That's great news!!

It's not just about HL. Can you not see how the door has now been opened? What happens when a company owned by Jehovah's Witnesses decides that it wants to exclude blood transfusions from their employees medical coverage? What happens when a company owned by Scientologists decides that it wants to exclude Mental Health coverage?

Does anyone have a good recommendation for a Geography Encyclopedia? I was looking at this one: http://www.amazon.com/The-Kingfisher-Geography-Encyclopedia-2nd/dp/0753465752/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1404736863&sr=8-2&keywords=geography+encyclopedia DS is always asking me questions like "What does Kenya's flag look like" or other very specific questions I can't always answer. We look them up online, but I'd love for him to have a reference book to flip through. He loves the Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia, so I thought this might be a good option. Does anyone have it? I'm also looking at this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1426314035/ref=pd_luc_bxgy_03_02_t_lh?ie=UTF8&psc=1 The National Geographic Kids Atlas. Anyone have this one?

Substitute "disabled" or "black" or "women" or "Christian" and then see how your words read: "So how come a disabled person has the right to put a bakery out of business (effectively, if not directly) if the bakery owner doesn't wish to make a cake for the celebration. At what point should he or she consider that his rights to have a cake *from that business* should not infringe on the baker's not to be a part of his/her celebration? I wish I remembered the exact details, but the way one bakery case was going, the business owner was having to shut down, because he was not going to be allowed not to make cakes for disabled couples. It wasn't just that people would boycott him, it was that the laws or ordinances were going to apply in such a way that to hold his convictions, he would have serve any client who came through his door. In that case, the disabled couple's "rights" were most certainly trumping the bakery owner's. The rights did NOT end where they might infringe on someone else's, although there were certainly other place they could have gotten a cake."

Checking in - Monday is my weigh in day. I lost a pound last week, yay! My goals for this week: plan plan plan. I do best if I have food ready to eat and meals planned out. Last week, I made a quinoa veggie salad and munched off of it all week. I'll make another one this week and roast up some potatoes for a quick snack if I need one. LC's you may want to skip this paragraph. I love potatoes! I get the smaller ones and roast them up in the oven. If I'm feeling a little bit hungry, I'll ask myself if I want a potato. If I am actually hungry, I'll warm one up and eat it, if I'm just feeling snackish, I'll grab a glass of iced tea or something instead. They're like my hunger barometer. Bike path-planning on heading there with DS at least 3 times. We have a good route. He bikes, I jog beside him.

Mine cracked pretty much all at once. I had a little ding from a rock and I was going to call to have it filled when I got home. About 30 seconds after I noticed it, the car in front of me kicked up a rock and it hit right on the ding. Instant crack. My mom's however was partially due to heat. She had one crack from a rock, the on a hot day a second, larger one spidered across the windshield. Yes, I can't tell the difference between my original windshield and the new one. And yes, they seal the windshield up. You won't be able to tell the difference, except the new one will be clearer and be free of little dings, scratches, and wear and tear!

I needed a root canal and was in an incredible amount of pain. It was Thanksgiving weekend and my dentist called in a large-ish prescription of tylenol with codeine and an antibiotic over the phone. They got me into the endodontist the following Monday. At no time did anyone make me feel like a drug addict! I'm sorry for your pain, I know what it feels like and it's terrible. I made it through labor unmedicated, didn't use anything but advil after my emergency c section and the tooth pain made all of that feel like a walk in the park! Feel better soon and I hope they're able to get you in for an emergency appointment tomorrow.

We go through lots of windshields here. I have a subaru forester and just had to have mine replaced, it was just over $400. I have windshield insurance, but there is a $500 deductible so I had to pay out of pocket. I will say, I've noticed about every 5th car in VT has a cracked windshield at any given time - we just fix ours before inspection time. :laugh: Mine cracked the day before my inspection, so I had to replace it ASAP, but my mom's had a crack across her windshield for about 6 months now and will get it fixed in August when her inspection sticker is up. I used Safelite as well for my glass. They will also come out and fill any dings for you before they turn into cracks for less than $20.

Yes. Our Straight Talk phones use the Verizon towers which is the best coverage in my area. Other phones use either AT&T or Sprint (I forget which). I have Verizon coverage with my Samsung, which is great.

Our district is the same - the K teacher was very clear at screening that she firmly believed in play based learning for K. They did have learning stations and reading groups, but most of the day was play. She also made a point to get the Kers extra recesses, daily yoga, rest time and a number of extra outside activities like hiking and snowshoeing. I kept up with the K blog over the year to see if they were reading a book I hadn't heard of or doing something that would be helpful to me in our homeschool. The expectations were very reasonable - learn the alphabet, learn some basic sight words, learn to count and recognize numbers up to 20. She just retired at the end of this school year and I'm curious what changes the incoming teacher will implement.

In addition to Vince Flynn, he would most likely like William Coughlin - Shadow of a Doubt is the first one I think. They're legal thrillers based in Michigan. http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Doubt-William-J-Coughlin/dp/B000N34B2M/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1404652210&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=william+coughlin+shadow+of+a+doubt I really enjoyed 11/22/63 by Stephen King too. A bit intense for me at times (I'm a wimp with anything graphic or disturbing) but it was well worth the read.

I've been happy with straight talk for the most part. The service is great - we live in a tough service area for most carriers. The phones we bought are Samsung, and they run on the verizon network here. I love having no contract. Their customer service is terrible, so if you have any problems, it's most unpleasant. I will say, my phone is a beast. I have one of the cheaper Samsung Galaxies and it has fallen more times than I can count. Generally it falls from the counter to the tile floor. Once it went flying as I was taking it out of my pocket and bounced on the concrete. It has two small cracks on the display, but aside from that it still works great.

This is me too. When I visit my dad, one of his showers is the rain shower type and I can never get all of the shampoo and conditioner out of my hair. I prefer a more violent shower experience. :-)

what about a gofundme.com site?

I finished my degree in elementary ed and got my teaching certificate. But then I didn't pursue a teaching position. I kept my cushy job at a tech company that made more money. A few years and a move to a different state later, I wanted to go back to my degree, so I took a job as a para-educator in a local elementary school hoping it would lead to a full time teaching position. I learned a lot about how public schools work now and I left at the end of the year knowing that I wanted no part in public schools. Then we had DS, who is bright. I had home schooling in the back of my head because my dad would tell me every chance he got that I couldn't put my kid into school because they wouldn't know what to do with him. I had friends with kids in public schools who complained ad nauseum about the system. We visited the local private school and decided that it didn't fit our schooling plans (very unschooly). We thought about sending him to the public school anyway because he has a bit of social anxiety and we thought that public school might help. Then we realized that the bus comes at 7:45 am and doesn't drop off until almost 5pm daily. An insanely long day for a 5 year old. So public school was off the table. I love homeschooling and hope to find some more local homeschoolers to work with this year. Part of me wishes that there was a great school with normal school hours close by with a great curriculum. Alas, there's not, so we'll continue with our homeschooling journey. :-)

If she's a good reader, I'd stop the reading lessons. DS was reading well (fluently) by the start of K and we started with AAS 1 and FLL 1. There is a lot of repetition in FLL, but I was able to modify/skip lessons. He really enjoyed the poem memorization and I like the story narration piece. So we were able to work with it pretty well. I held off on WWE last year and will start it this year - his writing was more typical K and I didn't want to push the writing piece too much.

I like HH too and HHI even better. I will say watching HH has made me NOT want all of the things on buyers wish lists. I want an older home with character, good bones. I would like rooms, not an open floor plan. I'm good with some carpet. I don't want a cookie cutter house that looks like every other house on the block. We watched one show on there about buying an island. That was entertaining. I can't imagine buying an island. There was a really cool house hunters remote places - the people were looking to buy a treehouse in Costa Rica. Made me want to go live in a treehouse!

Thanks Nan! I gave the portfolio to DH to proofread and he actually got a little emotional looking through it. He said "it's like watching James (ds) grow up over a year all in one document!" I can't wait to see the progression over a few years. I was able to send it to the two grandparents that are excited about homeschooling and they loved it too! Yesterday, I sent out the packet for the 2014-2015 school year! In VT, we have to send in a minimum course of study describing everything we're going to be doing over the year and how we plan to do it. So I sent in that, the portfolio and the required forms and it feels great to be done!! Assuming that I sent in enough for the state to be happy that is. VT is one of the stricter states for home study, but so far it hasn't been too cumbersome and the women who work in the home study office are helpful and supportive.

Awesome update! I'm so glad you're getting answers and help! And yum on butterscotch pudding!!

Ugh, have to come in to confess - I ate a handful of mini reeses cups yesterday. I have my period and had some gnarly cramps yesterday and they were just sitting on my mom's desk when DS and I went to visit her at work. I wasn't even thinking, just picked a few up and ate them and then had a few more. Which, like it always does, led to over eating at dinner last night and now I'm mad at myself. I haven't gained any weight, so that's good at least. I washed and sliced up a bowl of strawberries and added blueberries and cherries to it and left it front and center in the fridge. So if I get a sweet or snacky craving today, I have a plan in place. I also washed and spun a head of lettuce and it's waiting to be made into a salad at lunch. I find that if I plan well, I eat well. And I'm not going to my mom's work today, so I don't have to worry about eating chocolates!

I'm 37 and my job prior to my current part time one was coaching gymnastics. That required me to be on my feet for long stretches, spotting, and also spending hours on a balance beam. :-) I would say 5-6 hrs before I need/want a break of some kind.

Thanks for starting this! I'd like to lose 4 lbs in July. My other goal is to survive my MIL's visit mid month without stress eating. The last few times she's been in town, I've found myself eating everything in sight and I need to be more mindful of this. I have DH on the job too - I asked him to say something to me if he sees my head in a bag of chips or something. :-)

I have an Oster and love it. It wasn't too expensive, makes great smoothies, sauces, etc.

I"m very happy with my Canon Pixma. I have this one: http://www.amazon.com/Canon-MG2220-Printer-Scanner-Copier/dp/B008FYGKA2/ref=sr_1_30?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1404066920&sr=1-30&keywords=canon+pixma And I love it! I had HPs for two printers in a row before this one and hated them both, so the Canon is a refreshing change. Paper never jams, the ink lasts a long time. I printed out 2 full years of Math Mammoth this past year along with a lot of other school printing and I printed out about 50 pages a week for my work as well. I think I went through 3-4 black ink cartridges and 2 color all year.