I kind of figured that regarding the medications. I used to be certified when I worked in a group home. We had a referral from a doctor and they tried 3 different agencies. Their next suggestion was talk to medicare. It really opened our eyes though to what will happen when we really need the services. I need to get this figured out now before the time comes when we can't leave her alone.

Good things to think about... Iwa s wondering that about meds...Regarding meds, could they not even hand them a Dixie cup with them in it? Would they be able to watch and point out if any dropped? She was taking them on her own there (someone would set them up) however, when I cleaned out her place, I found a lot of pills on the floor). An issue we have run into, and I have not called and talk to medicare yet, is that any home health places we are trying to get an evaluation from, will not service our area. Not sure if that would play in to someone to stay with her. We are not even really in the boonies, just far enough outside service area I guess.... Kind of sucks....

My MIL lives with us. While she lived completely on her own before we moved her in with us in August, we don't feel comfortable leaving her alone for more than a few hours. Has anyone had someone stay with their loved ones for a weekend? What was the cost? I know it can vary but I am just trying to get a ballpark. I haven't started looking for anyone yet. We do have a neighbor who is willing to help and we are trying that this weekend, however I know what he is willing to accept as payment is much lower than if we had someone else come in. For comparision, 2 full days (36 hours, including overnight). Care that would be needed would be simple meals, meds (already sorted by am/pm), laying out clothes, emptying toilet at night (we have a portable one in her room), collecting her teeth at night, making sure Jeopardy was on, and changing the battery/tip on her electronic cigarette. Aside from that, whoever was here would have free time to watch tv/movies, work on crafts or really whatever they wanted.

Sounds like what my daughter (11)might have had... One Sunday evening complaining of throat hurting. Sniffly and coughing the next day. What set this apart from other illnesses for her was the fact she took two naps (hasn't napped since 2.5) and was in bed from 3 pm until the next morning. As for length, I would say she was back at 75% by Thursday (99.9 temp Tuesday evening). Missed school Tuesday and Wednesday and went Friday (she only goes those three days). She was still coughing and her teacher mentioned she could hear it in her voice. No one else got it however.

Does that price just rental or does it include the dump fee? Here we had to pay like $150 for delivery (20 and 30 yard size) and then like $2 a day. When it was dumped, it was so much $ a ton. We demoed a double wide though so the dump fees would not be comparable. If you have a place to store the demo, there are people/companies that will haul stuff for you. Might be worth looking at that option too.

It is Math Connections course 2 (Glencoe McGraw-Hill). Actually I think she is in 7th grade math, pre-algebra is 8th at this school.

Thank you. This is not the first time the answer key has been wrong. It threw me for a loop which is not good when I am trying to convince my daughter she does know this, yet the answer key says she is wrong. The year has been mostly review, until now, so we are learning how to problem solve through problems and that sometimes she needs to do more than what is assigned to make sure it is cemented by test time and for further sections.

Yes, that is why I am scratching my head. They are doing conversions this unit too, but not with in the slope/change of rate problems. Plus, for miles/km they would have given the exchange rate.

Daughter is taking math at school this year and is working with slope and rate of change. Something new to her. We are redoing an assignment she did not understand, and I am not sure if there is something we are missing, or if the answer key in the back is wrong. The problem: The table shows the distance y Cheryl traveled in x minutes while competing in the cycling portion of a triathlon. Graph the data. Then find the slope of the line. Explain what the slope represents. Time (min) 45. 90. 135. 180. Distance (km). 5. 10. 15. 20. She used slope = change in y/ change in x Therefore 10-5/90-45 = 5/45 = 1/9 Therefore, for every 9 mins, she runs 1 km. Book says .45 mi/ min. Now I see they are stating mile instead of km, but I don't see this as something they should be doing - converting. My mind is so toasted, does the book answer even make sense? So, can I assume the answer she came up with is correct?

For me, I am hoping that by meal planning, it will help us eat healthier and lower what I spend at the market each week/month. When I am there every couple days, for groceries (not just to pick up more milk, bread or produce) I pick up other stuff or start browsing. Extra unplanned trips raises the chance of having either my husband or daughter with me, which then means extra stuff in the cart.

I need to look into Plan to Eat. My struggle is that I already told myself no extra spending, but I think this might help with savings, less waste of food, and less trips to the market. Plus everything will be in one place, instead on Pinterest, printed on the counter, or in a file on the laptop/iPad. I am one who struggles with what do we eat for meals. I had already done what I saw suggested here. I sat down and wrote down everything I have made recently that we enjoy (or some of us enjoy). I asked my husband for some ideas and that was slightly helpful... I think I came up with a round 20 meals so far. I made a list of meals for this week (dinners only), including side dishes. Figured out ingredients, then I shopped. And the next day I realized some ingredients did not make the list so back to the store I went. Am having trouble finding one ingredient so the schedule has been bounced around a little, but that is ok. As long as I use what I bought and we have a meal each night, I will be satisfied. That alone will be an accomplishment for me.

Not so much a 'famous person' but character... My husband and I were having something notarized a few years back. The notary was giving my husband a hard time due to my name. (Gets old having a 'famous' name) Tables turned, however, when the notary had to sign his name "James T Kirk"...and he was born before the show aired.

I am thinking of doing this as well. Mainly just to keep track of what I am spending so I know if what I budgeted is high or low.

I forgot about my MIL's (84) reaction to the gift from my dad. It was a subscription to MAD magazine. My dad was very doubtful, but I assured him, she would be happy. Boy was she! She lit up, leaned over, and gave him a big kiss on the cheek. She loves her MAD magazine and has not had one in a while. It was hard to create a List for her because all she does is watch tv and read. She has 40+ boxes of books and struggles with a basic tv remote so a kindle or such would not be a good fit.

Overwhelmed just reading this thread. My goal this week is just to sit down and figure out what we are paying out each month. I have never put it down on paper (at least not recently). We need to figure out whether MIL is contributing enough, or not enough. We looked at Directtv tonight to see about lowering the package (can't cancel due to MIL) and canceled Hulu which we rarely use. Baby steps... I also want to start meal planning better so that I am only shopping a minimum of once a week (minus if we are low on milk), and so that we aren't spending as much on groceries (I am going to assume I am).

DD11. 10th Drs sonic screwdriver and a specific minecraft t-shirt she wanted... MIL (84) (first real Christmas in 9years)- everything, but would not let go of her stuffed Sven from Frozen (which she has not seen)

My concern is the longer I wait, the less chance I have. At the same time, the only Apple stores are 45 minute drive or 3 hour and I really don't want to deal with that right now, especially in a mall. After the holiday, I don't mind walking in/making an appointment and talking to someone. On a plus side, I ordered the ipod 11/28, but he says it's only 8 days out of warranty and they should have record of me calling in today. As for third party repair, I called the same chain that repaired my iPhone 4S and they quoted the same price as Apple thought it would be. $75. I will call a couple other places too. I am second guessing getting apple care/extended warranty on my phone now. I had not planned on it, but now I wonder if I am cursed with Apple products.

Has anyone had any luck with getting Apple to repair something free that is out of warranty? I bought my daughter an iPod nano for Christmas last year. According to Apple it is now 8 days out of warranty. What really is frustrating me is that we have to buy in advance for Christmas, either for a decent price, or to ensure we have the item they ask for, yet the item does not get used until the 25th. Today her iPods headphone jack stopped working. As I told the person I talked to at apple is that I would be more understanding if this was something she used daily, where the headphones were in and out a lot, but this was used just on occasion (mostly because she would forget to charge it). I am being quoted $75 for repair. Taking into consideration gas and time, my daughter just said it would probably be easier to just get a new one. All I hear is how good Apple is and honestly this is the third problem I have had with them out of three devices (the third being the iphone 6 I just bought and so far no issues there). Not a good record. They are great... When they work... Any advice?

I have looked at the site the last couple years, but just placed my first order there this season... and then ten days later, my second order... Various Minecraft, Firefly, and Dr. Who items. We just started watching Dr. Who, so the Tardis ornament was one of those items! One item from the first order arrived Friday, the rest from the first order are due to arrive today.

I called earlier and was told I need to provide a list. Last time I went bag by bag and somehow still messed things up. Just spent 2 hours going through book three and came up with about 80 missing pieces. Most of them the tan color that makes up the level. I was nice however and went through the extra pieces from level 1 and was able to bring the total down to 65. Have just over 1 gallon ziplock of extra pieces now from this set. Now to call them back.

Lego is amazing. We still have 3-4 sets (larger) wait ing to be built with more coming for Christmas. That makes me nervous after this experience but it is what it is. I don't think anything is retired, which is good, but I am half tempted for anything over 1000 pieces to ask for a bag list so I can check before I build. I am sure this is not close to normal for them. I forgot about this. It probably came up last year. The odd thing is that by looking at my set when I dumped it out, your wild never suspect there were pieces missing. When I originally talked with Lego there should have been, let's say 17 bags for level 1. I had 21. The picture below is left over pieces from that level and fills 1/2 a gallon zip lock. It also includes the 3-4 mini figures from that level. I am not sure what's left over from level 2 yet since I am confused about missing pieces and what could extra from level two vs needed for level three. I am guessing they quality control by weight checks and that is the only way it passed through?!

I will start by saying that occasionally there are missing pieces in Lego sets and Lego is good about making it right. However, I want to know if anyone has come across this situation. 2 Christmases ago I was gifted the Grand Emporium. It was a year before I was able to open it and start building. I was off to a great start but when I finished the first level I started realizing something was far from right. At first I thought "score, lots of extra pieces" but then was concerned when I realized I was missing pieces for level 2. Contacted Lego and they were wonderful but it was still a frustrating experience. They sent a parts list and I had to go bag by bag to figure out what I was missing. It took a couple hours labeling bags based on their list and double checking cause there were extra bags. I let them know what I thought was missing and pieces were sent. 10 months later I finally have time and space to pull it out again and make it through level 2. I am on a roll and figure I will start level 3, and somehow, level 3 is missing pieces. I honestly can not believe this. Not a piece or two, but it has to be at least 1-2 bags. Everything was kept together since the moment the box was opened. I am going to try customer service again tomorrow but I thought I looked through level 3s bags too. I really am hoping they still have a record of my calls from earlier this year, because I have never heard this happening before and it seems like such a stretch. Update- just got off the phone with Lego for the second time today. 59 missing pieces and the gal with worked with me was awesome. She kept laughing as I went down the list especially when I got to the two pieces that were missing 19 each. She said it almost sounds like it was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and someone just shoved bags into a box and called it good. (For fun, did a count on my first missing piece order and there was 188 pieces they had to send. So in all about 1/10 of pieces were missing... Crazy). Final update- pieces came just before Christmas but I did not get to building until last night. Finished up with just one final piece missing. It is not seen, so I found a spare of a different color to replace it. In the end, I have a gallon size bag full of extras and part of a second gallon bag full of larger flat pieces. My daughter is thrilled! Especially since there are some minifigures.

Thank you for asking this...am watching :). My 11yo has been asking to download/install a couple mods and I told her I want to look into it first.

Will put that on my list... Honestly, if it makes a difference, she only has slightly more than what she would be allowed to keep in savings, and her monthly income is not that high. I just don't want do something stupid and regret it later. Have looked into funeral arrangements. Need to prepay cremation and it is only a couple hundred to bury her with family, so not worried about that one expense.

We are taking over care for my MIL and moving her in with us. I am pretty sure that within the next 2-3 years we will need more help for her, whether that be at home with us or in an assisted living/nursing home. I have financial POA for her and want to make sure that we document everything properly, starring now. Medicaid had a 5 year look back period and can penalize if they think anything was not spent appropriately. At least this is my understanding of it. Any recommendations for this? Has anyone been through this and know how detailed it needs to be? Can we just charge 'room and board' to cover expenses or do we need to show itemized breakdown for power, food, cable, gas (driving for appointments) etc.? She currently gets an 'allowance' from her accountant for free spending... Does what she buys with this have to be accounted for? It does account for about 1/4 of her monthly income if that matters. I plan to talk to Medicaid once we have her settled but my experience so far with them is I won't get much info. They could not even tell me what I would need to do to document value on her mobile home so we could sell. The feeling I got was pretty much 'do what I felt was best and cross my fingers we don't do anything wrong.' It does not help that we are moving her across state lines so Washington is not too helpful yet since she is not a resident there.