My kids are not in public school but we do donate to a particular public school.

Minestrone. It's way too hot for soup but it's what I had ingredients to prepare.

Oh Daria, You have a great sense of humor, I laughed so hard I almost cried. Please tell us how this works out.

I think I would pass.

The last time my husband lost his keys they were in the ignition of the car. Kitchen cabinets are a favorite hiding spot around here.

I'm sorry Chris! Hang in there.

I have one friend whose oldest self potty trained around a year. Two others around 15 months. I potty trained one around 18 months. I think it is possible but definitely depends on the child. It sounds like your son recognizes when he needs to go potty, he could be really easy to train.

Welcome back! I noticed you weren't on here and finally realized you must be visiting your in laws. Did you play violin for them? Was it a good trip?

Mine was about the same but our house is a little bigger. We keep our house comfortable and I'm home pretty much all day. It's been in the 90's almost every day. A local FB page asked this question awhile ago and answers were all over the map in my little town. It seems newer houses, even with cheap windows, are more energy efficient. Our electricity bill is half what many people pay who live in much smaller homes than what my family has. It is also much cheaper than when we lived in our 1100 sq foot house with the 40 or 50 year old air conditioner.

Make sure you are n a place with clear connection. My phone gets crackly in certain parts of the house.

If it sounds lonely, go to a place where a good friend or sister lives, spend some time alone but have a lovely long lunch with someone else. I'd spend time in a book store, read, maybe get a pedicure, watch movies, and sleep.

I really enjoy cooking, but it does get tiring cooking three meals a day every day. When I still worked full time whoever got home first prepared supper. Now I'm home all day, have three kids, and a husband who travels a lot. 95% of meal prep falls on me. In a perfect world I'd have a chef on duty who would cook breakfast for the husband and kids (brought in because I'm weird about smells in the morning). Then would do lunch for the kids and be on call for supper. The meals would be healthy and like what I would cook but not necesarily my receipes, I would like more variety. Someone else would clean all the mess.

We live in a neighborhood. Only constant barking for 10 minutes straight violates the noise ordinance. We had previously had neighbors whose dogs constantly violated this with a high pitched bark, I didn't figure they could do much about it other than getting rid of their dogs so I never complained. My current neighbors have a dog they let out every morning between 5:30 and 6. It barks once or twice to be let back in which usually wakes me up. It's annoying but I feel like it's something I need to put up with unless I live on a few acres. My guess is you have something similar happening in your situation and because you are new to the area someone feels he/she had a right to complain.

Since it is your parents could you just be honest with them and tell them that feeding three teenagers is tiring and expensive so you are burned out on meal prep. Ask your parents if they would like to plan and prepare a meal. I wouldn't do that with most house guests but no one ever stays with us that long either.

I think that is a fabulous idea, I need to do the same with my libraries. That's how I read it the first time.

I would add a whistle and a water filter or water purification tablets. Maybe add a topo map and compass if she does back country hiking. Supposedly National Geographic recently added printable files on their website so you can print them from home instead of having to order them. I'll see if I can find a link. http://www.natgeomaps.com/trail-maps/pdf-quads

It will be ok. Good luck finding tickets!

You may want to see if they have any discounts. Our Y has family memberships for $25 per month for law enforcement and firefighters. It's normally around $90. Also, I can get an individual membership for me and the kids can still use the childcare without paying extra. If I want to sign one up for an activity the cost difference of paying the non-member price for them is usually still less than paying for a family membership. My Y doesn't have any kid classes included in the price so YMMV. Not all Y's are created equally, you may want to see if you can try it for a week before you commit. I can use any location statewide with my membership, my Y is by far the nicest of the 5 or 6 I have used. It always makes me hesitant to recommend the Y to other people because I never know if theirs is nice or run down.

Very interesting. I knew Columbus had never actually set foot in North America, but I definitely believed he was proving the world was round.

You know your child well enough to know whether he would appreciate it or not. I think kids probably feel differently than adults for the most part.

The Italian connection makes sense. I lived in IL for a couple years and remember getting out of school for Polanski Day, none of my friends knew what the day was for but no one minded getting a day out of school.

I've never had one thrown for me. I would be gracious but likely very embarrassed, I hate being the center of attention. Anyone close enough to me to throw a surprise party for me would know this about me though. My daughter and I attended a surprise breakfast tea this past weekend for a little girl turning 6, her face was priceless, it was the sweetest thing ever.

I'm starting this year for my third grader. Our lists will come from TWTM and I have a couple science biographies as well. He is a voracious reader already though, I'm just looking to steer him toward more high quality books.

Is Columbus Day observed in your area? On the flights thread people mentioned plane tickets may be high because of Columbus Day weekend. It isn't observed where I live and I have never had it as a paid holiday. In South Dakota, where I grew up it's observed as Native American Day. This article says it's only observed in 23 states but the research is a couple years old. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/10/08/working-on-columbus-day-it-depends-on-where-you-live/