How do we deal with mean kids? We don't. We have far, far better things to do than deal with impossible people, including children. They abide by our rules while they're in our home and if they don't, they leave. Immediately. I even told my son once that he needed to tell his bully that he had "far better things to do than listen to him lie like that" and walk away.

If her prescription is that strong, I have to wonder if her not wearing them would present a safety issue. I just received a new prescription myself, which didn't change all that much, but required a day or two of adjustment--my eyes were used to the old prescription, but the doctor said one of my eyes got worse. When I was a kid, I didn't want to wear glasses either. Any active, on-the-go kid doesn't want glasses getting in the way. However, it sounds like she does need them, especially if the doctor said she should have had it treated before. Is it possible she could increase the time she wears them every day until she's up to wearing them all the time she is awake? The technician at my doctor's office suggested waiting until the next morning and putting the glasses on as soon as I got out of bed. I don't want to wear my glasses either, but I risk harming myself and other people every time I get behind the wheel or walk the dog or go bike riding with my son--my depth perception is that bad without them. If worse comes to worse, perhaps you could schedule a "follow-up" appointment where the doctor could tell her for sure that she needs to wear them all the time, especially since he kinda started it and all...:glare:

I don't receive support for J and I never will with the way things are going, but I believe in a split. It's because of his affairs and bad example to my son that I had to move out and set up a new secure home anyway, so part of that money would go to maintain the new household. When applicable, the other part would go towards clothes, curriculum, lessons, etc.

As a graduation present, my boyfriend built me a 2' by 6' tabletop garden for my patio. I live in a condo and we can plant our own stuff if we maintain it, but that's for people who want to do their own flowers and landscaping. My table is 3' off the ground and took about $20 worth of lumber. I painted it a pretty green that we had laying around and I stenciled some gardening pictures on it. It's enough for just the kid and me, and comes apart easily when we don't need it anymore. Plus, there's a really cool-looking Bionicle scarecrow keeping the birdies away. :001_smile:

Yes, dude. I had gone through a McDonald's drive through where I ordered, among other things, a Diet Coke. I was given a regular Coke by mistake, and I wouldn't have minded except I am allergic to corn and can't drink it --it's just not pretty. Anyway, I proceeded to tell the boy in the drive-thru what happened, and he took the drink back and said, "Aw, dude--my bad." This was about five years ago, a bit before "my bad" hit the consciousness of rural soccer moms, and the 8 year old in the back seat had been homeschooled all his life and was not yet privy to the vernacular of the modern teenager. My son said, "His bad what, mom?" to which I could only reply, "His grammar, buddy, his bad grammar." I must admit the first thing I did was check to see if I had long hair and if the girls were still under my shirt--at 32, there was no way I didn't look like a midwestern soccer mom, and he still called me 'dude.' Weird.:001_huh:

I have enlisted my 13 year old son to construct a scarecrow for my tabletop garden. Apparently Bionicles are perfect for this application, especially when you give the figurine a fist-in-the-air, "You meddling kids get outta my yard!" crochety old man stance. Not something you'd hear in the gardening magazines...:tongue_smilie: Pictures when available. :biggrinjester:

:rofl: In the town where I grew up, there was a Dairy Queen we frequented after ball games in the summer, and my parents once struck up a conversation with a friend of the owner in the stands. He said that one of the counter girls was behind the register taking orders and the customer asked for a hot fudge sundae with extra hot fudge. You know what's coming, don't you? :001_huh: She said, "I'm sorry sir, but it only comes in one temperature." :confused: Oy.

I have a 13 year old who gets snippy on occasion...he has days where he's really not into being polite or tolerant at all. I've actually made him stand in that same spot and say over and over his reply until he says it halfway pleasantly. After a couple of times he gets the hint and apologizes, saying he doesn't know why he feels that way, he just does. He gets really tired of repeating himself, too. It's kind of like when he was little and I would say something like, "Could you say that again? I can't hear boys who whine." :001_smile:

My mother once was approached by a group of scantily-clad middle school cheerleaders who were begging for money one Saturday in front of Wal-Mart, and she said, "If I donate does that mean you'll go in there and buy clothes that fit? I'd hate to think you all have to cheer in your little sisters' clothes!" They didn't ask her to donate on the way out... What's ironic is, when women dress like that, they catch the kind of men who go for that thing, and they're not usually the settling type. Then when the girls want to settle down with these "men" or the men cheat on them, they wonder why. Not that all men are like that, mind you, just that if you put it out there, that's the kind of man you'll get...:001_huh: I kinda feel sorry for women who are that clueless.

What has helped here is using a cat food that has no fish ingredients whatsoever. It's hard to find because all cat food manufacturers seem to think that they must add it to satisfy their little fuzzy tummies, but it sure doesn't help the litterbox. We've only fed our cats dry food, but I would think that canned food achieves the same result. When this old crochety cat was a kitten we used a brand from Wal-Mart called Maximum Nutrition in a blue and silver bag, but now we use a mix of Cat Chow Indoor and Science Diet Mature Indoor formulas.

A friend of mine used to put Juicy Fruit gum in the ground where they've already dug paths...supposed to kill them somehow, but no clue how it works. :001_huh: Try this: http://www.molesbegone.com/

You're talking to me, I just know it! How many times this weekend have I thought of something else to do on the way to clean out the fridge? Just call me Busted...:001_huh:

Number2.com has free SAT prep online. It has tutorials in each section. I used it last summer for GRE prep, and I brought my math score up 140 points! :001_smile:

We are under a boil water advisory and the waters are going to crest again tonight at 10. So even though the water has gone down today it is expected to rise again later today. And we have more rain coming in. I hope it doesn't get any worse where you are--so many communities around us have sewers backing up and boil orders because of the water. Around here the county roads are still closed...looks like my son will have to stay with his dad an extra day or two. I heard on the news last night that there is a reservoir at Danville that releases its water when it gets too full, and it all flows south to the Wabash here--and they are not under any law to warn us when it will happen-not that we would be surprised about it by now, because it was still raining up there when it stopped here. Like Valerie, I too found myself thinking of Quincy all over again...:sad:

I'm probably about your size--I'm 5'10" and 199 pounds right now, and I too was 50 lbs. lighter in my prime. I don't think it would be too healthy for me to get back to that weight now because back then I was anemic a lot too. When I add my foods and exercise into SparkPeople, I can better keep track of what they recommend for carbs, fats, and protein each day. For example, if I have already met my carb intake by lunch, I can plan to eat more protein and veggies for dinner so I'm not so out of whack. They can also help set goals for weight loss, calorie intake, and exercise.:001_smile:

It's equally irritating when said neighbor's children (ages 3 and 4) are playing unsupervised in the street, and the postman drops a notice in YOUR mailbox about how you should keep your kids away from the mailboxes while the postman is filling them. This happened once to me, and after I picked up the notice in the box (and the check from the insurance company from the middle of the street) I went to the post office to inquire about it. The carrier was behind the counter (really small town) and said, "Well, they were playing in your mailbox--I just figured they were your kids." Needless to say, I got a P.O. box before I left.:glare:

All around us (Terre Haute, Indianapolis, Danville, Springfield, etc.) we have received 5-10" of rain overnight. Here in Terre Haute areas are evacuating nursing homes and apartment complexes due to flash flooding, and churches are canceling their activities and opening their doors to welcome these people. Please also keep the rescue and sandbag crews in your thoughts today, too. Everyone is working so hard...

I have the set that my brother and I had as kids. It was first published in 1938, and there are 10 volumes of classic stories of all kinds. Each volume is dedicated to a particular set of stories: animal stories, myths and legends, hero tales, stories of wonder and magic, stories that never grow old, sport and adventure...they pretty much cover everything. We have used it from read-aloud poems when we were small to an intensive study of myths from around the world. You will definitely not regret this set--I still bring them off the shelf and read them.

We studied it in Introductory Psych--it's called the bystander effect. In 1964 Kitty Genovese was stabbed to death while 38 people looked on... It's unfortunate that this happens so much it has to be named. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitty_Genovese

Sounds like my dog, especially if the stranger was selling meat out of the back of a truck...:D According to my dog, if you have food to share, you are automatically his bestest friend in the whole wide world!

Our dog Fiver is named after the runt rabbit in Watership Down because he was the runt of his litter, too, and my then 5 year old wanted at first to name the cat Viper because he wanted to name it after a car. I talked him into Tucker since then, but the pets are also called different names according to my mood, like Fuzzyboy, Future Pair of Slippers, Girly-Butt Dog (the boyfriend thought that one up),etc. This didn't start with me, of course--Mom and Dad had two yellow littermates. One was named Garfield because he ate and slept all day, and the other was Archie Bunker because he complained a lot, especially after we picked him up from the Kitty Hilton after vacation...

Sounds like fun! Is anyone else reminded of that commercial they used to play on the radio station on WKRP (SUCH a child of the 70's here)... "Red Wigglers, the Cadillac of Worms. We're theeeeeeee Cadillac of Worms!" :tongue_smilie: Thanks for bringing back a funny memory...

My most favoritest quote is from a James Herriot book I read over and over... "Anybody who has traveled a narrow passage a few feet ahead of about a ton of snorting, pounding death will appreciate that I didn't dawdle...I was clad in my oilskin and wellingtons, but I doubt an Olympic sprinter in full running kit would have bettered my time." I guess that's what you get when you stick a bull with a syringe...;)

I started thinking of all the silly lines we use, and I started wondering if we ever have any original thoughts anymore! Actually, there are a few... "Who wants to go kennel?" especially when the dog is acting up (not that it's exclusively for the dog, mind you), and my personal favorite, "Dang. You done flung a cravin' on me."My uncle says this when someone is talking with him about a favorite food or recipe they especially enjoy, or just when he sees a commercial with some food that makes him want to eat, eat, eat... Then there's this gem from Lion King 1 1/2: "Shall we run for our lives? Oh, yes, let's." "I am The Great and Powerful Mom. Pay no attention to the Grandma behind the curtain." (which is especially true since Grandma lives a block away) "Do you want the whole list, or just the top ten?" Of course, we can't forget Forrest Gump: "Well, you ain't got no legs, Lieutenant Dan." Then there was this movie that came out in the early 80's called My Favorite Year with Peter O'Toole, where he said, "Stone, in a few moments, I shall require a diversion." But we usually quote most often from Airplane: "There's a sale at Penney's!!" "And don't call me Shirley." "Roger, Roger! We have clearance, Clarence. What's our vector, Victor?" ...nope, hardly an original thought in the bunch.:001_smile:

I have Verizon phone service, and we recently added DSL to our bill. It adds about $20/month to our bills. It's wonderful, and I could have kicked myself for not adding it a long time ago! My dialup was only about $12/month, and initially I wanted to keep it that way, but every time a professor assigned a .pdf file to read for the next day's classes, it took 1 1/2 hours to download on average. I spent most of the night waiting for the dang document rather than reading it! The first couple of months I was a little shocked by the amount on the phone bill because I couldn't remember that I had added DSL to it...:tongue_smilie: