1. He's been my husband for an entire three months. Before that we dated about 7 years. 2. He's 9 years older than me and about 6'5" tall...I'm 5'10" and I like not having to slouch next to him. 3. He was an Intelligence Analyst (code breaker) in the Air Force and worked at NSA in the early 80's. After leaving the Air Force he joined the Army National Guard and "learned how to sleep in a moving tank." After the military he worked in various police and security positions in California and Indiana. 4. He digs all kinds of war history, especially from WWII, where his father fought in Anzio and France. 5. He shaves his head, and looks like a cross between Bull Shannon from Night Court and Vin Diesel. :drool5:His nickname is Bull because he used to be a prison guard and the inmates thought that in his dress uniform he looked like Bull Shannon. 6. He has a soft spot for animals, especially dogs and cats, and talks to them like they're people. 7. He has six children...three boys from his first marriage, and three girls from his second. I tell people he has his own Brady Bunch! 8. We have the same twisted sense of humor...and that's rare! 9. His middle name is Marlin...his father liked to fish. 10. No matter how the bedroom furniture is arranged, he always sleeps between me and the door. He also always has a pistol nearby. Whenever we go anywhere together, he's always watching out for our safety, scanning crowds, surreptitiously checking out strangers, and never letting me run errands alone if he can help it. If he can't be there, he's always texting to make sure I made it to where I'm going. Must be a holdover from his police/security days.

1. I got married on May 13 of this year...Friday the 13th. We both had the time off work, and we figured, why not--we got our marriage license on April Fools' Day. 2. I am a Trekkie, and now that Next Generation is available on Netflix I hardly see the light of day. 3. I have a container garden on my 10x10 porch...I live in a condo, and the HOA won't let me dig up the yard. 4. I am allergic to corn, wheat, rye, barley, oats, soy, and mushrooms. I wasn't allergic to anything until I was 30. 5. I am one of the million people who got early access to Pottermore, but I haven't received my welcome letter yet. I keep checking my email, several times a day. :w00t: 6. We have 2 dogs, Plott/Retriever mixes, and 2 cats in our little condo, as well as a Tall Bald Guy and my 16-year-old. My house will never be clean again. 7. I work in a hospital, in the psych unit. Every weekend I work with all kinds of people from all walks of life, with conditions ranging from anxiety disorders and depression to dementia, mental retardation, and schizophrenia. It's like solving a different puzzle every day, and if it's not fun some days, it's certainly never boring. 8. I love my Knifty Knitter and have been making legwarmers for the last couple of years...my classmates in grad school called them "funky" and "retro" and "so 80's!" which makes me feel my age (40) because I was a teenager of the 80's. 9. My first job was at Kids R Us, where I wore a Pound Puppy suit for the Grand Opening. It was fun except for when the kids would step on my paws and pull my tail. 10. My son got my husband and me hooked on a game called Battlefield 1943. My son says that "none of the other moms at school play that stuff" and when I mentioned playing the game during an addictions group at the hospital, a few of the 20-year-olds thought I was kidding. My "handle" is MajorMonkeytoes (after a nickname my husband has for me) because GeneralMonkeytoes had too many letters. I can often be heard shouting, "Fear the Toes!" while playing.

My husband's new addiction is Sons of Anarchy...I'm looking forward to The Big Bang Theory.

Initially I can spot the one they say is different...if I spend too much time on it, they all start looking the same.

H.On the fifteenth (15th) absence, when appropriate, in communication with the student and the parent/guardian, the school may involve Child Protective Services, the Juvenile Justice System, and recommend expulsion. Additionally, driver’s license/permit and work permit may be revoked by the principal after the 15th absence. This is from the Vigo County School Corporation here in Terre Haute. There was a big to-do a year ago where they had a "required" meeting of all "habitually truant" students and their parents. I don't understand why the school can take away driver's licenses and work permits, however.

Oh, no, no, no.... 1. It's AUGUST! 2. He's 5 years old. 3. It's dark or getting dark. 4. Of course he's screaming his head off--it's 9:30 at night and he's exhausted...see #2. Under no circumstances is that acceptable. I agree with the previous poster that said get the license number and call the police.

"As the clock speaks everyone's native language in whatever land it may strike the hour, so church bells are never foreign if our hearts but listen." --Hans Brinker or The Silver Skates by Mary Mapes Dodge

Sure, there are people in this world that are visually attractive, but I'm very happy with what I have at home, so I don't even entertain the idea. Besides, the people around me who are attractive have their own lives--and wives--and thinking about them in that manner is not only disrespectful to my husband, it's disrespectful to their wives as well. In my first marriage, my husband cheated on me with at least 2 women...I know what that feels like, and I wouldn't want to put another woman through that, even by just thinking about their husband.

For a German Shepherd I've always liked Sasha or Misha (Mischa?)...then again, they sound vaguely like Russian names. I still like them, though.

http://www.freshglutenfree.net/Default.asp?Redirected=Y The Silly Yak Bakery sells a mix that is wonderful! Best I've tried yet.

I know you said you all want a summer vacation, but why not do schoolwork during this time? Then when dh is working and the money is there, you can take the time off and have a "vacation" and do all those things you couldn't previously do. Start your "summer" in August or September. A friend of mine did something similar when she knew they wouldn't have the money for Christmas until around February. They put up the tree in mid-January and had their own, albeit postponed, Christmas season. Sounds weird, but I thought I'd just throw it out there.

I grew up in southern Indiana, and they were all "cokes" there, regardless of the manufacturer. When I got to college in Terre Haute, just 100 miles north, I was walking through campus before classes started with my new roommate and we spotted a "coke" machine. She asked me if I wanted a "pop." (She was from the Indianapolis area.) Of course I said, "What did I ever do to you?!?" because a "pop" is what you got when you mouthed off to your mother! :D

Back when my son was 3 years old, I rented a video at the library called "How to Simply Cut Children's Hair." At the time we were living in the country, and going to the hairdresser cost about $5 in gas (even back then!) and a haircut for J was about $7. J's 16 now, and by my calculations, we have saved a couple thousand dollars just by cutting his hair at home. We live in town now, but J still wants me to cut his hair. Also, I asked the Tall Bald Guy to put up an expandable shower curtain rod over the washer and dryer--we live in a condo and they are in a little nook between the kitchen and garage door. I started hanging work clothes there that I didn't want to shrink in the dryer (on the hangers), and when I realized how easy it was, I started hanging them on the actual shower curtain rod in the bathroom too.

I can see how it would remind you all of a pretzel or even a uterus, but all I saw was this:

You may want to teach her some relaxation skills to use at home every day. http://www.innerhealthstudio.com/anxiety-relief-scripts.html This website has free scripts that you can record yourself onto a CD or iPod and play them anytime they're needed. http://www.soundsleeping.com This website has recordings for sale, but also has a free sound generator that provides relaxing sounds such as drums, birds, thunder, bonfire, and a creek to find your own personal streaming relaxation tool. Another thing to use is mantras. I don't mean get all new-age and sit cross-legged in the floor and chant "ohm" (unless it works!) but rather something like: (inhale) I can... (exhale)calm down (inhale) I can... (exhale)relax (inhale) I can... (exhale) do this (inhale) This too... (exhale) shall pass That last one is important if you're in the middle of a panic attack...sometimes you're convinced it's not going to end, and you have to remind yourself it's going to be okay. I tell people it's like giving yourself a pep talk. Also, imagine breathing in relaxation and breathing out tension. It takes a little practice, and feels a little awkward at first, but before long she'll be able to take some of these skills with her and employ them in the moment. I teach relaxation skills to patients every weekend at the hospital, and many of them enjoy imagery...there are many free recordings out there that help people visualize "safe" places. Many UK websites have free recordings; one website that I pull a lot of material from is the Mental Health Foundation. http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/ I hope these resources help you. Many of the patients I work with have used these and need less anxiety medication. Edited to Add: Most anti-anxiety medications have a very short half-life, meaning that it doesn't take long for your body to metabolize them, causing your body to need more and more of the same drug to produce the same effect. They are usually only used on a temporary basis.

...but apparently, you can't take the homeschool out of the mom! This website is just neat. Yep, I'm embracing my inner geek. I'm doing that a lot more often these days, especially since a coworker told me that I remind them of Amy Farrah Fowler from The Big Bang Theory. I figure, why not? http://www.symphonyofscience.com/videos.html

We went through the same thing with our dog several years ago until we found the right food. He's now on Prescription Diet DD-Potato and Duck or Potato and Venison. It seemed like he just couldn't handle any wheat, corn, or beef at all.

I grew up in Evansville, but I haven't been there for about 20 years. I grew up in a quiet neighborhood on the north side called Springhaven, near Central High School and Highland Elementary School. My parents sold their house in 2000 for around 130,000; they purchased it in 1979 for 80,000. Many families lived in Evansville and then drove to work-north to Princeton, where there's a Toyota truck plant, or south to Owensboro and Henderson. There are also other areas like Newburg in Warrick County, about 25 minutes away-Evansville and Newburg used to be separated by lots of farmland, but I hear that lots of malls, industries, and suburbs have filled the gap. There's lots to do there, including museums and the zoo-there's a casino riverboat if that's your thing-plus other things that no doubt sprang up since I've left. When I was a kid there was a large German community, and sports-especially soccer-was just part of being a kid. The "work hard, play hard" philosophy that German families live by was definitely a big part of life. There are several teams there, too-a friend of mine even played for Evansville Express, which was part of the National Women's Football Association for a while. There's also University of Southern Indiana, Ivy Tech (a statewide community college), and University of Evansville. Hope this helps...I still have lots of family and friends in Evansville, so if you have a specific question I can ask them.:001_smile:

:iagree: Usually with role playing games, there is a character you have absolute control over...when you order that character to do something, you see the results immediately. That character does exactly what you want it to do, when you want it to do it. When people are depressed it's easy for them to retreat into a world like that.

I have a container garden at our condo. It's a 10 by 10 concrete porch with a 7 foot brick wall around 3 sides, and it's difficult to get enough sunshine, but we've had moderate success with some things. I've decided to just plant tomatoes, onions, and green beans this year, and I downloaded the Purdue University guide to the planting season. http://www.hort.purdue.edu/hort/ext/Pubs/ho/HO_186.pdf I'm sure these dates are for gardens in the yard...is there a difference when you're planting in containers on the porch?

The same happened to me, but my circumstances were different. I was in a horrible marriage at the time-he had been cheating on me since our son was 2 months old (he was 2 1/2 at the time). All I could think was, "The last thing I need is to have his baby again. I've been stuck here all this time, because J's so little and I need the help, but this will keep me from leaving him all that much longer." I was just getting used to the idea when I miscarried. Not only did my husband accuse me of cheating on him (pot, meet kettle!), but I felt like I received the most beautiful present and then walked right up to God and threw it down and spit in his face. Took me a long time to get over that.

That's great! Enjoy your time there, because there's nothing else like it. I work in a hospital that has an acute care behavioral health unit, and when I'm not there, I get to go to other areas of the hospital to talk with patients who want a counselor or who need to be evaluated for possible cognitive issues. The rehab unit is my favorite! There are people there from all walks of life, dealing with issues like stroke, car accident, general debility and loss of independence, Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome, dementia, etc. There's something different every day, and you get to see them improve just a little each day.

This is dinner for the birds tonite unless we put out some more birdseed!

"The schools took part on the condition that their institutions not be identified." That says it all. I recently graduated from Indiana State University, and it seemed to me that undergraduate studies has become the "new high school." There are students there who have no regard whatsoever for punctuation, grammar, or even completing a thought properly. They also expect to be carried. These kids will Facebook and Twitter and text message their way through their classes (because they're convinced their professors can't see them doing it), flip through MySpace pages full of issues of the "Red Cup Chronices" (where everyone has a red plastic glass and a beery smile), decline to study for tests or even read the assigned chapters for class discussion, and throw together papers that even my dog would cover with red ink. Yet, with 2 weeks left in the semester, they will go to their teacher and beg for extra credit.:glare: I don't know whether they've created this culture or are just perpetuating it, and the first years of Indiana's Twenty-First Century Scholars are just adding to it...I heard one student say, "Oh, I'm not going to get through it, but I'll stay a couple of semesters anyway." You can bet your sweet bippy they don't want to be identified, because they know precisely what's going on.

I agree. His downward spiral was tragic, and current laws do little to help these people. Sure, they're rational in a hospital or group home where their medications are monitored...studies have shown that when placed in a facility with a set routine and daily medications, people with schizophrenia thrive. It's just when they go out on their own and have to maintain their own activities of daily living that it falls apart. It must be hard on families who watch their loved ones reacting to auditory and visual hallucinations, delusions, and all the negative symptoms associated with schizophrenia and not be able to do anything about it until they harm themselves or someone else.