...what caused you to make the change? My DH and I are atheists. We aren't anti-religion; there are many things about religion we admire (the history, ritual, community, etc.), but we can't see ourselves ever being truly religious without basically lying to ourselves just to make ourselves feel better about the harshness of reality. We'd love it if there was an afterlife and a god of some sort, but the likelihood of that seems so remote. A religious friend of mine recently asked what it would take for me to have a conversion, and I'm not sure there's even anything that could. I mean, if I had some sort of emotional or personal "God is talking to me" sort of experience, I would think I was having a bout of mental illness. I can't imagine reading or hearing an argument for religion that I haven't encountered already. So I'm just curious, if you used to be atheist or agnostic but you had a "Ah-ha!" moment of conversion, what prompted it?

I just joined a group not too far from where I live, but I'm not sure how active they are. I'm a little intimidated because they seem a lot more hip than I am.

At a similar breakfast place, I made around $80 per day in tips. Better servers made about $100. Worse servers made $50. And then the $2.13 on top of that. Male servers always made more than women (I'm honestly not sure if that's because they were better at it or because traditionally a male waiter has socially higher status). With the one exception of beautiful women--if you were a gorgeous girl, you made bank no matter what.

What?! I was hoping we could edit it to make it secular, but now I'm not so sure.

I'm in favor of UBI, but only if we get rid of welfare in exchange. I suspect that if we ever do get it, we will have both and still del with the problems associated with the welfare state.

No. As someone who worked in restaurants for ten years, I can say objectively that men's bathrooms are gross.

We just moved to a new house 1.5 hours from our cozy home in the mountains (the commute to work was just too much). It's flat and hot and uninteresting. DH grew up in the town we moved from. It's a tourist town, the kind that people travel from several states away to see. There's mountains, hiking, skiing, kayaking, zip lines. There's a fun amusement park for the kids, a special play place for children at a reasonable price, tons of local food and music and festivals. In short, whenever I told someone where I was from, they'd say, "Wow! You're so lucky!" And I'd say, "I know, right?" But we HAD to move away for DH's job. And while I love our new house, it's in the middle of no where. It's a thirty minute drive into either of the closest towns, and the towns themselves don't have that close knit vibe that produced all those fun community things we used to have. Once you get there, it's like...yay, Walmart? My question is, do you think we can learn to love a place like this? Have you? I'm making a list of things to do and see (though to be honest, it's nothing that spectacular). And I know it can take a while to feel at home in any place. I'm just wondering if anyone ha made a similar transition, and if so, did you end up moving back because location is everything (even if you take a hit financially) or if you learned to love where you are?

So, because of your posts, I was going to ask for a box for my birthday. But we're thinking about taking a vacation this winter, and money is toght, so I'd rather save money spent on birthday gifts to put toward that. But the upshot is that you talked so much about the importance of writing a good description of what you want in your box, that I've been working on writing that for the past month in anticipation of ordering a fix. I've also been pinning things to a Pinterest board. The process has really taught me how to zero in on what I want my closet to look like, and that in itself is invaluable. Before this, I wasn't really sure if I had a cohesive style (well, I don't based on my closet, which is in large part gifted or hand me downs). Now I know what I'm really after, and I can look for that whether in at goodwill or target or wherever. Here's what I came up with, in case anyone needs inspiration to write their stylists. --- Machine-washable clothing only. No shorts or leggings/pants/jeans. Skirts BELOW the knee or longer. I like fitted tunic tops. A defined or cinched waist is a must (I look pregnant otherwise). No sleeveless, barebacks, cardigans, vests. No white tops (I'm too pale). No orange or yellow. I like V necks if they're not too risqué. Inspiration: Sundance Catalog (without the $$$). Romantic style: embroidery, lace, leather, fringe, flowy sleeves, long skirts. --- So, I mean, it's true that I'd love a full denim skirt even though it fits the homeschooling cliche. And I could be accused of wanting to go back to the 1960s or 1970s...though I want kind of an updated version of it (without disco). Before doing this, I think if someone showed me different style boards, I would have said I liked them all, not realizing I like some styles more than others and I like some on OTHER PEOPLE but not me. Thank you for helping me find my own style!

These embroidery kits for little toys are great. They have different levels of skill required, here's a link to Level 1: https://www.kirikipress.com/collections/level-1-diy-embroidered-doll-kits

What strategies are you using? We just moved into a house that sat vacant for over a year, and we have mice. I've been using the standard snap traps with peanut butter and have caught three so far. I just ordered peppermint oil on amazon because I've read that cotton balls soaked with it can act as a natural repellant.

It's a full program. For those who need more practice, they're working on releasing BA Online where your kid can do extra problems, etc. I'm not sure when it's going live though.

Following. I'm doing maintenance level (100g) because that's what Dr. Atkins recommended for breastfeeding women, but I fully expect: a) even the extra carbs I'm allowed to eat will be no where near enough for my intense cravings b) my breast milk supply will probably still take a huge hit, even when eating to fullness I feel seriously addicted. Like I dream about croissants and pizza. I know I need to make this change, but it makes me want to cry. Especially because life is hard right now in other ways, so I have to resist the urge to turn to comfort food.

Ha, I feel the same way. I wish my parents had forced me to learn one as a child!

Thank you! I'll check these out.

Does anyone know of a similar online resource for classical violin? Let me know!

If you're interested in learning the fiddle to play bluegrass or Celtic music, check out https://bluegrassdaddy.com/ It's like what Hoffman Academy has done for piano. There are several free lessons, and the membership fee is quite reasonable. The teacher is a homeschool dad, which is pretty neat. Just thought I'd share!

We usually stick to fruit purees, like apple, banana and pear. Also, this year the new guidelines suggest introducing peanut butter at 4-6 months to lower the risk of allergies (pb also has a lot of good stuff in it). They're too young to be able to eat regular peanut butter at this age, so our pedi suggested using a product called PB2 that is powdered peanut butter (found next to regular in grocery stores). We mix in a couple teaspoons into the fruit purée at least once per day. Here's an article about it. http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/01/05/508348588/new-guidelines-tell-parents-when-to-introduce-babies-to-peanut-products

My doctor thinks I have sacroiliac joint disease. I'm in a lot of pain. At my worst, I couldn't get out of bed without crying, dress myself or walk without a cane. I'm doing a lot better now that I'm on muscle relaxers, but it's still pretty life altering. Does anyone here have experience with this condition? Did you find the steroid shots to be effective? Anything I should know about?

I really like Kindara.

I have a question. I heard you can choose different price points for the clothes you're sent. What is the cheapest price range for the clothes you can get? I'm thinking SF is out of my budget but I just wanted to check!

How about SCM's Delightful Handwriting? https://simplycharlottemason.com/store/delightful-handwriting/

Great points so far for both sides. This is going to be hard.

A local carpenter is making a dining table for us out of a rustic slab of wood. It's an eight person table, and the two chairs at the ends will be almost like mini benches with backs on them. Then we will have two long benches down the sides. Should we have backs on the long benches or no backs? I'm thinking that no backs makes it easier to get in and out. But having backs will match the end chairs. We intend on using the table for homeschooling, so it seems like having backs would make it more comfy for kids? I don't know.

I'm 32 and around 30% gray. I have dark brown hair otherwise. I can't wait for it to turn totally gray like Kinsa. I think all gray looks a lot better than salt and pepper.

I'm not a crier and I've always wondered about criers because it's so foreign to me. For example, recently there was a mother who lost her nine month old to SIDS and she posted her story to Facebook. I completely agree that her story was heartbreaking and I couldn't help worrying about my own baby after reading it...but hundreds of women commented that they were sobbing from reading her story. The idea that you'd burst into tears from reading something sad is just not on my radar. I hardly ever cry at movies either, though I have a handful of times (I think the last time was Les Mis). I didn't cry at the births of my children or my wedding or my father's funeral. Sometimes, I wonder if there's something wrong with me.