Yay - congratulations!!! That's amazing news!

Southern New Hampshire University has rolling admissions, has a combo of online and in-person options, and I believe, admits people pretty quickly. My graduate program was through SNHU, and they let me know really fast (like within a week) that I had been accepted.

I just finished A Duet for Home, which is one of our upcoming Golden Dome nominees for next year. Middle grade fiction - our librarian gives book loving teachers sneak peeks at the upcoming year's nominations and lets us read them over the summer! This one is a good one - adjusting to living in a homeless shelter and kids working together for good is the main theme. I enjoyed it - perfect summer read!

Yay! Happy anniversary!!

Back up over 150 already today. The sun is trying to shine but it's very smoky out.

Oh it's gorgeous!! And sounds perfect - I'm on #teampool too. I really would love one and if I lived south, it would be on my must have list too. Good luck - I hope they accept your offer!!

WTMA has a US Government class with Mr. Caro for the fall. He's currently my son's all-time favorite teacher there. May be worth a look!

roasted (or grilled if it's too hot to run the oven) cauliflower and a salad?

Hmm - just looked it up. I don't think so? Nothing that I've heard about in family history. I'm mostly Irish and Scandinavian.

You're amazing, thank you! I didn't realize we had a total limit- I just thought the boards had decided to limit all file sizes and was amazed that everyone was able to attach pictures that were only 8kb. Here's the view from our smoky backyard on Sunday!

It's ok today - the other day is was in the 200s and the smoke was low. We've had a few bad days so far this summer and it looks like it'll continue off and on all summer. I tried to attach a picture but I'm having the hardest time attaching them recently. The file sizes are always too big - how is everyone getting pictures to embed into their posts these days?

I don't see ferritin in the panel results. When I was pregnant with DS, I remember I had low iron and had to be monitored pretty regularly. I haven't had any issues since then.

I've clearly made it to summer break because I have all the questions today! I just got my pre-physical blood work back and everything looks like it's in the normal range except my mch, mcv and mchc levels, which are all a bit low. My hemoglobin is normal (in the green on the graph) at 12.4. Dr. Google tells me it may be iron deficiency? Does that sound right?

Rainy and soupy again. I think I may be molding.

What a sweetie!! I love the little white paws!

Our Salvation Army is silly picky - I tried to donate some of DS's gently used toys and clothes there once and they picked through my boxes like I was offering my trash, took the matchbox cars and told me to throw everything else out. Thankfully, I was able to find a family that could use them! I should have taken the matchbox cars back, but I was too surprised at the time. Just checked the animal shelter, they are specifically asking people NOT to donate pillows/blankets. I can double check on the towels though- that's a good idea. @MEmama we have the "leave it on the curb and they shall come" thing here too. Our house is tucked up on a tiny side street 2 streets off the main road. People only drive down it to deliver things or if they live here. I could see about using a friend's curb though. When we lived in Montpelier, it was great. We could put anything on the sidewalk and it would be gone within an hour.

Most things I know what to do to dispose of them - recycle, thrift store, garbage, etc. But - what about stuff like pillows, old, ratty towels or older blankets/sheets? Old pots and pans that have outlived their usefulness? Stuff like that.

That can backfire - when we were in the middle of gutting our last house (this would have been in 2006), we opened a wall and found a mouse mansion inside. Ugh. We were so exhausted, we brought the cat over and left to go out to dinner. When we came back, she had made friends with the mice. She was a terrible hunter. We are in Vermont, which is pretty rural and mice are common. We have Orkin come out every other month and they do a good job making sure we never have to see creatures!

Soupy in Vermont - the smoke was crazy thick yesterday too. It was only about 77 today but everything feels wet and the air is heavy. Off and on showers and hardly any breeze. Ugh. I'll take 10 degrees and driving snow over this any day.

I work in a middle school and can confidently say that kids' brains kind of fall out in 7th grade and they start to come back midway through 8th.

My favorite set right now are from Boll and Branch. We have these - one of my friend's downsized from a king to a queen and gave them to us, barely used. They are my favorite sheets ever.

Oh, I'm so sorry! It's been a week at school, and I totally forgot about this. I just asked him, though. He said it's probably easier to explain with videos. These are the ones he sends to potential clients. He said, for him, the first couple of sessions are generally a lot of talking - assessing whether the client is a good fit for EMDR. He says the EMDRIA channel on YouTube is a good one and sends these two videos to clients before they start: Hope this helps!

Agree with all of this, and the bolded is what I was trying to say in my last post.

Strongly agree. My feelings are my own and I choose who to share them with or not share them with. Depending on who you are speaking to, sharing feelings can be like giving away power to a person.

I wonder if this question is viewed differently depending on where you live. In New England (in my experience), asking where someone goes to church would be met with raised eyebrows. It just isn't something we ask. I have heard that it's quite common in other parts of the country though, so it would be less unexpected in those places.