I have multiple 'originals' of our birth certificates. It did cost, but I ordered them thru our health department or whoever that was. All look just alike and have the official stamp/seal. I did the same with our marriage license. Copies are at different places in case I lose one to fire or something along those lines. As far as the SSN#, with the right google search, you can find anyone's SS#. I don't carry anyone elses with me so I never put it on forms. But then I have also never been denied care because of it.

:iagree: Best place ever! Take time to read the pre and post op forums now. Fantastic advice.

We offered that much below a couple of times ourselves. Sometimes it took that much to get the house in our approved budget/preapproved mortgage. Sometimes it wasn't our favorite house, but it had other qualities we liked so we didn't give our best offer. Interestingly, of all the houses we really low offered on, 2 years later all are still for sale. And, food for thought, I heard a realtor say that the first offer is often the best offer. I don't know how true that is, but the longer it is on the market, the lower people want the price to go.

Stopped by a favorite thrift store today because they often have knitting needles for 50cents a pair. I couldn't find any and made a comment to the lady behind the counter. "We no longer sell knitting needles here for fear that they can be used as a weapon. This store isn't in the best neighborhood you know." Then, I go to the kitchen area and they have *3 shoeboxes* FULL of old kitchen & steak knives just sitting there, in the open, marked for sale. You could just reach in and grab one. Really??? Like those couldn't be used as a weapon as well??? :001_huh: :blink:

Can you talk to some of the other clients of the PM? Ask them what they like and don't like abomut working with him. Can you talk to renters and ask what their side of the experience was like? As a renter we once had a horrible time with a PM. The owner was in another state and I honestly don't think he was being informed of all that was wrong. The repair men sent in by the PM were cheap, iffy workers who were always very condensending towards me. I hated dealing with them. When we moved out because the eaves were so rotten that animals were living in the attic, the PM didn't blink an eye. Renting is not for the faint at heart. The PM is going to receive over $2000 this year for renting out the property. Then, when you do sell the house, because it has been a rental, you will have to pay property gains on the sale. I would check with an accountant. You may lose more renting it than you would by dropping the price by $20K.

Another one - don't use toilet tissue to blow your nose when the kleenex box is sitting right next to the sink. Put trash in the trash. I have neighbor kids who just throw whatever it is down where ever they are. Hello! There are multiple places for trash - the grass is not included!

My mom hit on one of my big ones today. When you send an email, take time to add capital letters and punctuation! My mother is highly intelligent but seems to think that emails don't require any attention to detail (or at least her emails to me that is.) This is what I received today and it just drives me crazy! ARGH! And to think this is the woman who is so OCD that her house looks like a museum and can't be touched. If I were to send her an email like that, she would call me and ask for more respect. UGH!

The pediatricians here can't force you to vaccinate, but they often will not allow anyone to be their patient who has not vaccinated.

I also freeze mine in 2 cup batches for later use. It makes it so much better. I only soak mine an hour or so, or just plan on cooking mine longer. Ok, thanks! although I was hoping to learn some new, cool technique :D

If she is out of money, go thru the process to apply for food stamps and all that. In our state there is an Adult Services that is similar to child services where social workers try to match services to adult clients.

What is weeking? Also, OP, if they were cooked with tomato products before they were fully cooked, then the tomato can also change the texture of the beans.

White beans here are usually cooked for a good 3 hours. At least an hour of that is a boil or heavy simmer.

I don't know. My gut after reading all this tells me that he DID want to hurt her. She was smart enough to keep her distance and to keep moving. Had she stopped, or decided to move closer to help him, I fear the worst. His conversation seemed to be such to try to calm her, put her at ease.

I read some Nancy Drew, but my favorite by far were the Hardy Boys. Those books had more edge and adventure. And then, when the TV show came on, I could dream about Shaun and Parker as I read the books.... LOL.

http://www.nutcracker.com/ The Moscow Ballet is who she will be dancing with. Moscow Ballet soloist and Audition Director Olga Aru is who conducted the auditions for us. She will be here another 3 days or so to work with the older girls. The other dances will be performed by Olga and videotaped by our director so the girls can watch to learn their choreography. The snowflakes do have a pretty easy, repetitive routine so even if they mess up, I think they will still be cute. I love to knit, and often knit during regular classes so I can at least fit in there LOL. Another mom was telling us about her experience last year. No cameras, no make up on any of the young children - not even mascara or lip gloss for fear it will get on costumes, only water... They also have dressers but I have been given strict instructions on how my daughter's hair is to be styled before we arrive. She said the hardest part for her son and daughter were watching the ballerinas smoking. Apparently many of them puffed almost nonstop between their time on stage. She also told us to start looking for a Nutcracker to present with flowers after the performance. She didn't know about that tradition last year and had to send her dh out during dress rehearsal, last minute, to find one. I am hoping that by starting to look now I can find a nice one on sale. Sharon, check with your director about audition attire. For the little ones here they were not very strict, but for the older ones they were very particular about the color of leotard and tights, and the tights couldn't even have runs in them. For the actual performance I have been told to purchase a white or beige leotard, pink tights, and shoes must be cleaned to look new. As far as the early rehearsals, I don't think they will be much different from those in the spring preparing for recital. They will be with her regular teacher, about an hour at a time, unless the girls need more. I admit though I am concerned as to how well my daughter will make it thru the dress rehearsal and performance day.

Thanks, Diane! It was well publicized but I think having the audition on a holiday weekend, and a Sunday afternoon, must have effected turnout. I know several girls from our studio didn't come for that reason. Plus, the performance this year is the Sunday after Thanksgiving. I know our director said that was always a bad day for a performance. I saw several studios represented on the sign in sheet and I heard it was advertized in several papers, including the largest state one. You could tell which moms were seasoned. They didn't just bring a magazine, they brought several newspapers, large notebooks, huge knitting bags... you name it. And then, when they would finish whatever they had, they would go out to the car and switch for an equally large bag of to do items LOL.

The audition was 2 hours long, for the little girls. I understand now why her teacher wanted her to come. Very, very few girls came to audition for youngest parts. Everyone who tried out for snowflake became a snowflake. Some were even offered a second role as well (as the French children, etc). Even with that, they had to ask a couple of older (but small in stature) girls to be snowflakes as well. There were an abundance of much older girls for the older parts but we didn't stay to see how those all ended. My daughter did ok, and is absolutely thrilled to be a snowflake. The ballerina from the Ballet complemented her on her positive attitude and enthusiam even though she struggled with keeping up and learning as fast as the other girls. Overall, I think this will be a good experience for my daughter, hopefully a good memory, even if she never does it again. I did sign up to be one of the mom's backstage though so I can keep a close eye on her myself. Rehearsals begin next Saturday, and will be every Saturday until the show (the Sunday after Thanksgiving). Fortunately they are all going to be at our dance studio until performance day so no long distance traveling until show day. The show is about an hour away on a professional stage. That I know will be a very long day as dress rehersals are that morning with the show that afternoon. What surprised me were the number of older girls who were apparently there just to build their resume. One girl, after being given some more important role, had a very upset mother over the rehearsal times. Apparently this child is in competitive gymnastics, competitive dance, and some other specialty dance programs that take up pretty much every evening and all day Saturday. They live 2 hours from our studio and the mom thought our director would either come to her or allow the girl to learn it all on her own and just show up for performance day. Really? The audition information was very clear as to where the practices would be located. Next hurdle - buying tickets. Wow! Those start at $50 per person for nose bleed! I need to make sure the grandparents are coming - so maybe they will pay LOL.

My dad has sold some of his rental properties as lease to own. It can be a great thing as the owner has to save that set amount each month so it can be put towards your closing costs. Make sure you have a good contract, even take time to have an attorney look at it first. Some landlords in our area are notorious for writing LTO contracts that are no win for the buyer.

$120 an hour at the private center I take my dd for therapy. They do work with parents though if they can't pay that amount. And, not all kids need a full hour a week. The therapist only receives a portion of that, the rest goes to the center. Because of that, a friend of mine asked a speech therapist she knows if she would be willing to do therapy at home. She was willing and they pay much, much less.

First chedk with your insurance agent to see if there are any waivers or requirements about them on your homeowners policy. The company my dh works for wants them behind locked fences and they must have pads and the tall safety nets. Without those they will cancel the policy.

If the mom that was being talked about was someone I knew and respected, I would definately let her know what was being said. Then, after that, I would definately distance myself from the entire group. And, yeah, when I was a working mom, I met more than my fair share of those moms who would chose to invite or not based on clothes and weight. My mom is almost one of those herself, except she calls it 'setting standards'.

30 minutes is my standard, but sometimes that depends on what ds is doing. About the most I will allow is 1 hour.

Thank you. Her teacher did call me back and is very insistant that she wants dd to come to the audition. When I shared the above concerns, she said to not worry about it. She has worked with this ballet for 10 years and they have even had 4 yr olds be snowflakes. She also said that my dd was so wonderful and enthusiastic with last years recital that her age won't be a problem (and is why she wants her to come), and that she will always be with her in the practices. Ok, I know, my dd LOVES being on stage and does have a great stage presence even if she isn't the best dancer. I don't know how many are trying out, but we will go. I have just told dd that she gets to dance with a real ballerina today. At least she can think that today is special for that reason. No need for her to know it is an audition or that this could lead to her dancing on stage. And, this will give me a no pressure glimpse into what will happen in the future. I never took dance as a child so this is all new territory for me.

:iagree:

Start boxing up some of your least favorites. If you haven't wanted or needed them in a predetermined amount of time, then most likely you should donate them. I purged, and purged, and purged with my last move almost 2 years ago. A few weeks ago I found 3 boxes of books in the garage. I found I was not nearly as attached to them as I had thought. I did keep a handful, but the rest I donated to the library for their sale. Some of the really good ones, I donated to the librarian so they could be added to circulation.