Just curious: Did he meet this girl before he decided he wanted to join your religion? Could she be his motivating force for converting?

I would have thought that 300 was lots until ds moved to the dorms and most of our conversation became by text. I just checked a nightly light conversation...57 texts in 13 minutes. (Fortunately I can text from the computer; I'm not fast with the phone like kids.) The hour-long conversations we have fly by and are easily 200-300 texts (though I'm not going to count right now). Scarlett, the conversations are just like the ones we old-fogies had on the phone. Texting doesn't mean something bad...just a conversation with new technology

Weeks! It was six weeks for me. My hale hearty teen neighbor who cut our grass and ran track had it a few years ago. Only three weeks for him, but his activity was restricted after. There are some serious complications from mono, so whatever you do, don't push him to do anything until he is ready. Also, sometimes teens aren't good judges of what they can do, and you'll have to put some restrictions on. Mergath is right about the spleen. I don't know if it is a blanket recommendation or if they do it based on the swelling, but it's not a chance I'd want to take. You can't do much to help except make him comfortable. It just has to run its course. When he rousts up, get something to drink in him and a few bites of food or soup. I slept almost solid for two or three weeks and lost a ton of weight. If he's already skinny and this goes on long, you may have to encourage something like protein drinks when he is awake.

I've never seen this before (maybe because my kid is 19yo), but google's Santa Tracker has info on the area that Santa is currently in. It's just from wikipedia, but looks like it would be fun for a young family that is always learning. He is in Christchurch right now. https://santatracker.google.com/tracker.html#stats

Standard poodle. Males tend to be larger. Our male was 60 lbs. in his prime and sounded like a doberman. Definitely scared people off. He's still with us, but at 14 has an old dog bark and is about 55 lbs. now. They are absolutely awesome dogs. If you don't already know, non-shedding dogs have to be groomed. It's not optional. On the other hand, he can look like any kind of dog you want. The standard poodle haircut is not required. Depending on who is doing it around here (and how cold it is), sometimes he looks like a great big terrier mix and sometimes more like a greyhound. If you have talented kids that like Bonsai or Topiary, it can be fun.

A+'s and one A for a 4.24 GPA, in all honors classes! It was a large load for first semester (and SO much stress), but he pulled it off. I'm really proud at how much he's grown in going from an only child homeschooler to a student at a campus of 30,000. I'm glad that he is taking a bit lighter load in the spring, even though it is more hours. This +/- system is a bit odd. I never taught or went to school at a college that had that, so it's weird for me to get used to. I think it makes our little perfectionists even more neurotic. Instead of getting a 90 or 92% for all A's, they are aiming for 97% in everything.

My ds was so close to my mom. She lived with us and cared for him when I was sick. Her death when he was 14 hit him very hard. He said, [it happens] "and you can't imagine how life could possible go on. And then...it just does." He summed it up so clearly for me at that time.

I wouldn't expect to be informed unless I was caring for the child and somehow needed to know. If it would somehow help for me to know, I would expect the parent or guardian to make that call. Some allergies cause a little runny nose or stomach ache and parents chose not to inform group leaders...others need an epi, and it is imperative. I would think mental illness is the same: Sometimes a caregiver needs to know; much of the time, they don't.

Ds loves the building aspect of Little Big Planet and Minecraft. He's also enjoyed things like SIMs. He seems to like the sandbox aspect of these games. I'm wondering if there is anything new on the market that might be in this category. The only thing that I've seen is Super Mario Maker, but I don't know if it is any good. He hasn't asked for anything, but I'd love to surprise him with something super cool. Any ideas or reviews for me?

If you are thinking books of comics, look at Order of the Stick. He may have reas them online, but they are awesome for D&D fans.

Going to college I spoke with the deepest south Georgia/lower Alabama drawl. I learned to tone down my accent and dialect my starting freshman year, for professional reasons and so people could just understand me. I got much better, unless I was tired (or drunk.) But I was in graduate school before I was told "might could" and "might should" were Southerisms. (Obviously, they aren't proper English and I would have never written them!) In grad school in the lab, we had discussions about the actual use and reasons for some of the dialectical phrases from our cultures. As I tried to eliminate the "might" from those phrases, it hit me how rude I sounded, particularly with "should." I felt the "might should" softened the phrase and made it feel more polite. You have to imagine the inflection and tone, but the two following have a different feel: "You should use a crescent wrench there." "You might should use a crescent wrench there." The second has the suggestion that I might be wrong and is less bossy. I tended to use "might could" in the same way as "could" felt softer than "should." (A raised-Southern-polite woman really struggled in a male-dominated field back then!) In the same way that "You might could" was deferential; "I might could" was hesitant...I was putting forth an idea that "might" be right, but is tentative and prepared for argument. It also suggests that I am prepared to defer. None of this makes it proper English, but back in the lab days, we enjoyed figuring out why we said the things we did and what social purpose they served. I thought I'd share my musings.

You do know that the big problem with CO2 and the oceans is acidification, right? http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/co2/story/What+is+Ocean+Acidification%3F Despite the fact that the press focuses on temperature as a metric, the other effects are as or more important.

An extra email account is great. If you have a gmail account, you can also get a google voice number. I give this number to all potential spammers. If you don't list a forwarding number, they can just leave a message. It is transcribed and the audio file is e-mailed to your gmail account. It was a godsend when the colleges were calling, particularly the west coast ones that called late.

“To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.†― Ralph Waldo Emerson There are a large number just here on the board who, like me, are incredibly grateful for your compassion and advice. In your "real" life, I know you have touched thousands. There is an enormous staff at the hospital to help him and your mom. Don't feel bad about taking care of yourself and your family right now.

Picture This Clothing allows kids to order a custom dress with their own coloring design. They can even order one for their doll, too. They are shipping two months out, but if you got the kit for a gift, the sundress would be ready before spring. https://picturethisclothing.com BTW, I saw this on Facebook, so can't really comment to the quality of the product, but it looks cool!

Something like a modified bridge pose from yoga helps, keep your shoulders lower ( https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/ec/be/27/ecbe279fb868b5237f920961fc53fcda.jpg ) Put a pillow under your rear to stay there longer. It's also a good position to adjust things from. Staying that way after adjusting seems to help things stay for a while. Katy Bowman is awesome. Some of her videos are on YouTube.

I just saw this on Facebook (It's full of ads, but some of the decorations are clever): http://diply.com/trendyjoe/article/clever-christmas-decorations-grinch-loves?utm_content=inf_10_3147_2&tse_id=INF_9d081ff0b44411e689f9296dc1312773 What are the coolest yards you've seen? My favorite was a large yard that was decorated with stacked bales of hay for Thanksgiving. After Thanksgiving, the bales were separated and each one had a big wooden sign with a painted name (Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, etc.) It was just so cute and simple.

I know it's been said above, but sudden onset of anxiety may be indicative of a serious medical issue I would get to the doctor as soon as possible. It would also be a good idea to re-evaluate any medications or supplements (have brands changed?) and record pulse, blood pressure, blood sugar, etc. until then. I have both thyroid and heart issues and an overwhelming sense of anxiety or doom is an early sign for me.

Not usually, I pretty much freak out on the rare occasion, and it doesn't happen again. Introverts need time to prepare for company: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/dc/4a/30/dc4a3047e848b0d0552c547892e59410.jpg

It sounds auto-immune, most of us with auto-immune issues suffer some version of the fibro-fog. I wish that I could give you a magic bullet. Resting as much as possible helps, particularly resting the brain and body before someone expects you to be "on." Caffeine helps in the short term when your brain must function, but I think hurts in the long term. Vitamin D has always been recommended, but I haven't noticed any difference. Identifying and treating the autoimmunes would probably help the most. I hope someone here can offer more ideas.

Yes, I was just thinking that it's not possible for me to spend MORE money there!

:grouphug: , I get that, now that we are all former homeschoolers, we have to work to see each other on occasion. Everyone has moved on with their lives, just like after graduating from college. Ds was my best bud, too. Fortunately we still keep in touch each day and he comes home most weekends, but I know that won't last forever so I'm trying to keep up with the few friends I do have, but I can't imagine just calling someone up to go shopping or to a movie with, I haven't had that since my mom died 4 years ago.

No, I only have a few close friendships, all homeschoolers that I met because of ds's groups. I've known them between 8 and 16 years (ds is 19yo).

The most recent episode on hulu has her reading the paper and the reveal, so you don't have to wait forever! I'm not really a student of history, so I don't know how many details they are getting right and which are embellishments, but I'm guessing the historians/consultants they have working on the show are having a ball. I'm really loving this show, though I've become a fan of binge watching and waiting for episodes is annoying, particularly for something so good.

pimento cheese