I could maybe delete older photos, but I hate to do that lol. I could pay to upgrade my storage space from 2GB to 10GB and decide if I want to pay for six months or a year or whatever, but I'm not sure I understand how that works. If I paid for 10GB and paid for a year, does that mean that I can use up to 10GB of storage space within that year? And then what about if I renew for another year. Do I then get ANOTHER 10GB for that year? Does it keep building for each period you pay for? Or do you get 10GB total as long as you're paying for it, and once you've used it up, that 10GB, you've reached full capacity regardless?

I was just in the process of updating my livejournal account (I have a paid membership until May incidentally) and as I was uploading pictures, it told me that there was "no more room" on this account or some such! Ugggggghhhhhhh I can't upload any more pictures to my blog! This won't do!!!!! Now what?! Do I have to start a second livejournal account? Am I better off switching to somewhere else entirely? Help!

LOL having been born and raised in NY and not moving to PA until I was around 27 years old, I can say that I don't think I have EVER heard anybody actually use the word "forthwith."

Exactly. And I think there's also some potential for being teased there, for your daughter growing up, given a name that's unusual, hard to pronounce, sounds like mo-nay, and is named after a male (his last name no less) and so on and so forth. I know neither of you should have to "tolerate" your baby's name, but then again, you should consider what said child will have to "tolerate" growing up when naming it, generally speaking, I think.

Exactly. It's common practice to make shipping prices higher and auction prices lower, but to me the bottom line is what the total, overall price will be. I mean you can't really complain that you paid a ridiculously high shipping price for something that you got to pay a ridiculously low sales price for, right?... and he told you up front (adamantly) that he won't combine shipping, and you still agreed to buy from him. Presumably because even with the ridiculous shipping costs, the overall price was still cheaper than everyone else's on ebay. So, no, while I might grumble about it, I wouldn't leave negative feedback.

A little tired still when I get up. Back-achy (sciatica). My mind might start turning to the things I need to do that day, but, no, I do not feel nervous.

Funnily enough, my not-quite-five-year-old son already knows how to raise his hand. He observes other kids doing it on field trips and library programs and different settings like that, and so he does it too lol. And he has to "line up" to do various activities at gymnastics. I don't know how he managed to learn these things without going to school to have a certified teacher teach it to him, but he has. He must be a pretty brilliant kid! :lol: You know, I have on idea. She was 4 in like 1941. And an 'army brat' maybe even back that far. Heh. She has her good and her bad, like everyone else I suppose. Some things you'd love about her and some things would irritate the heck out of you. In this instance, I did appreciate her response to my email though!

If it's something like a soda can that's been opened, I will rinse it so it isn't sticky or leaking droplets of soda. A can I opened that had veggies or something in it, I'll rinse that out. If it's like a glass jar of sauce I'll usually give it a quick rinse. But most of the milk, water, juice containers etc. I just leave the cap on and toss them into the recycling container.

Thanks for 'having my back' lol. I actually ended up emailing my mom and telling her what I thought of her comment and her expectations for my son. She basically admitted that "perhaps I was expecting behavior of a kid older than Ben is." She also said "I don't know why I made that association of school or pre-school and behavior." and "I hope that you do not put a lot of weight on various things I say- I am not an expert in child psychology by any means! Like I said, its been a long time since I had to know what was or wasnt age appropriate behavior. Yes, I did feel a bit embarrassed that the teachers might view him as being a "bad listener" but there too they are probably a lot more in tune with what an almost 5 year old is capable of then I am. So yep, its good that you told me how you see it - and feel free to remind me any time if you think I just don't have it straight. Put it in the framework of "mom doesnt always know what she is talking about" and shed some light for me!" :D

I'm sorry. Don't be ashamed to utilize things like food pantries and food stamps and whatnot if you are at a point in life where you are in need of it, maybe that will knock some $ off of your grocery bill. Perhaps your dd's sports class would be willing to discuss some sort of financial aid with you toward that bill. Things like that. Maybe it would help a little bit. I hope things get better for you!

I like the crew socks/mid calf socks for boys. Right up to the knee I wouldn't like as much- but they wouldn't really BOTHER me if that was what my son liked; I'd just let him wear them. I do agree that ankle socks seem a bit more feminine though.

If you were pulling out a dictionary and talking about characters and setting and plot and forethought with a 6 year old, I'd think you were definitely putting too much of your own thoughts and ideas into it, and making it way too overwhelming and stressful for your daughter. Like another poster said, the teacher wasn't going for a literary work of art, just looking to see if the kids could put all the words in sentences that kind of flowed together (as opposed to writing individual sentences that had nothing to do with each other). I think you should have (or that next time you should) just leave your daughter to it and see what she comes up with on her own, and then not be too critical of her attempts. She's only 6. Your daughter might have wrote something like: The Big Mess Don't come in! You can't see the floor. I made a mess! I am cleaning up. Now there are less toys on the floor. I can lend you a toy. You have to bend down to get it. Come in. Do you want to help? Don't tell my mom. The lamp just fell! Something like that. I don't think the teacher expected more and the things you were expecting/discussing with your daughter would be expected from a MUCH older child, IMHO.

Oh I am so sorry :( You are in my thoughts!

Well, it seems that taking a nap IS a thing you need to do. So go for it! :D

In which case you should DEFINITELY check out the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward :D

They're 10 and 7? Uh, yeah, take a nap! They are old enough to entertain themselves for a while without eating the Drain-O or decorating the walls with your lipstick or something like that. :lol:

Vampire erotica. Twilight. Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter. The Black Dagger Brotherhood series. The Sookie Stackhouse books. All of those. But, I don't know- I'm not really embarrassed to admit it or anything lol. What else. Hm. Oh, that song "Making Love Out Of Nothing At All" by Air Supply? I've been known to sing that at the top of my lungs in the car. I've watched plenty of bad reality TV shows- all the Rock Of Love shows for example. I have something of a crush on Tito Ortiz, the UFC fighter. Even though he has a porn star girlfriend. ETA: I also have a crush on a fictional book character. That would be Jamie from the Outlander series, by Diana Gabaldon. I love me some Jamie! :D I get hooked on the Diner Dash type computer games. And The Sims. And some of the Final Fantasy games. Do those things all count? :)

That sounds so promising!! I'm glad that you had such good initial results and hope that things continue to improve! I remember one time I went to a chiropractor for the first time ever. I had always thought chiropractors were kind of a crock lol. I don't know why I thought that, but I just kind of did. And I'd been having an outbreak of sciatica, only this time, it wasn't going away, it was lasting for WEEKS, it was getting worse. It went from pain to numbness in one leg and foot after a while. And the regular doctor hadn't been able to do anything for me. The meds they had given me hadn't done a thing. And then I read online that some people recommended a chiropractor for that. I was desperate enough to make an appointment with one, and let me tell you- I was glad I did. That numbness never fully went away, I think I waited too long- but the pain? That was GONE... and it didn't come back for a LONG, LONG time after just one visit! (And that visit was cheaper than a visit to the family physician was). (And when it did come back, much later, I think it was because I had exacerbated my condition by the weight gain. Blah.) ETA: my point is not that you should see a chiropractor lol. It's that you shouldn't doubt somebody just because they're not your garden variety regular doctor. :)

:lol::lol::lol: RIP, Ralph!

Last night we went to my oldest daughter's back to school night/open house (a very casual event where you walk around at your leisure seeing the different rooms and can meet the teachers, but no in depth conversations about your child). I invited my mom along, and brought my almost 5 y/o son. As we were walking through the building, at one point my son got a little over-excited and started running ahead a bit, going around a corner (and then either waiting or coming back when I called), ducking into a doorway and standing there to look in or whatever. At one point I called him back to me and it was true that I had to call him a couple of times before he listened and came back. He's usually a pretty good listener. But he's young. Sometimes it takes a couple of attempts lol. My mother commented, "See, this is what worries me about him not being in preschool or public school, where he'd learn how to behave in this kind of setting" or something like that. I think I just gave her a baffled look and said, "Really?" I mean, really, she worried about that? She thinks that's what a kid should go to school for? This isn't normal not quite 5 year old boy behavior for most kids, homeschooled or not? :confused: I mean he's not wild all the time. But we were in a big, new place and he kept getting eager to see what was up ahead. He wasn't constantly running, he wasn't yelling, the hallways weren't crowded so he wasn't running into or right past people or anything, he wasn't even full out running, or going ridiculously far, more like jogging ahead a bit. I thought her comment was kind of irrelevant. Besides, he went to a two week art camp over the summer, almost 3 hours a day, without my being there. He took group swimming lessons for a couple weeks over the summer. He takes gymnastics lessons now. He does have some 'experience' with being in a group with an instructor and doing what the other kids are doing and listening to a 'teacher' etc, with little to no problems. Then, at one point we were in a room talking briefly to one of my daughter's teacher's (the home ec teacher) and at that point Ben got a little silly and started walking in circles around my older daughter, giggling and trying to play with her. It's hard sometimes for young kids to just stay perfectly still and quiet and just wait while adults are talking, isn't it? Nobody else was in the room with us at that moment. And you know that "look" you give your kids sometimes, where you show them a mad/annoyed face, and give your head a vigorous shake to let them know that you want them to stop what they are doing immediately, without having to say it out loud in front of people? Well, my mother gave ME that look! To show me that I shouldn't be letting my son do that, within seconds of him starting to do it. I didn't know if I wanted to burst out laughing or haul off and smack her. I was thinking are you kidding? Who do you think YOU are? And remind me to leave you home next time! But anyway her initial comment just really struck me as odd and irrelevant. And it surprised me because she's never said anything even remotely anti-homeschooling before. Oh, and on our way out, we passed two boys (one looked my son's age, one a year older maybe) who were chasing each other around the lobby and laughing. I don't think my mother even noticed. But she seemed ridiculously tuned in to what my son was doing and acting like his behavior was terrible and everyone in the building was going to get mad at him or something and that it was somehow going to reflect on her. I don't know WHAT the heck she was thinking, to be honest, but for some reason it irritated me! Would that have irritated you? (Or are you sitting there thinking "I'd have reacted just like your mother did?") LOL.

I don't think that would bother me. It was nice of them to ask first! Now, on the other hand, if somebody could get rid of the wasps that always seem to find their way into my backyard, I'd appreciate it!

Yep, they'll ask you to write a "hardship letter" and provide certain paperwork, but you may at least be able to get your payments reduced! Good luck!

That's a very bad habit, I think. She's much better off not looking. Maybe she can try this typing program which is free online: http://webinstituteforteachers.org/~gammakeys/Lesson/Lesson1.htm

Well, maybe your children didn't learn phonics lately. Maybe they didn't learn handwriting skills. But hopefully they learned about how family pulls together in a crisis. How to try to make someone else feel better. How to help take care of family or someone who is ill. Maybe they learned a little something about geography in your travels. Maybe they learned about health and physiology as the pregnancy progressed. Maybe they picked up some medical terminology while hearing you discuss your mother's surgeries. Maybe they learned about budgeting and saving and why that's important due to your husband's job situation (which I am sorry to hear about- I hope that your situation improves, truly)! Maybe in their "free time" they are playing educational games, reading, watching educational shows, spending time outdoors, observing nature, doing crafts, and learning in all sorts of ways you maybe aren't really thinking about right now. Your 6th grader is certainly old enough to help you with meal preparation, housework and so on, and I hope that you are having her do so. Sometimes life happens- you'll have to do some catchup with your kids but don't feel guilty that emergency situations took priority up until now. Hopefully you will be able to get your head straight soon. Hopefully the medical situations are improving. I hope that your husband finds a job. And hopefully you will start to find the time to sit down and cover the basics with your kids in an effort to catch them up some, even if you only spend an hour a day on it. Even if it does mean going back to square 1. Even if it does mean you have to pick and choose what you cover with them. Hang in there. Meanwhile, you may have to have a heart to heart with your older kids at least. Don't be afraid to let them know what your situation is and how you are feeling and how you would appreciate their best efforts during this difficult time. As for your best friends- I don't know. Maybe they are overwhelmed by all the difficult things going on in your life and don't know how to talk to you/handle it. Maybe they feel like it's all you've focused on and the negativity got to them. Maybe they think you are too busy for them. Maybe they aren't very good friends. Maybe you need to reach out to them. I'm not sure. But I'm sorry you are feeling hurt. You've certainly got a lot on your plate and I'm sure it gets more and more overwhelming as time goes by, but take a deep breath. See what you can do. And if, in the end, you DO decide that they need to go back to public school, whether that is permanently or for a year, don't feel guilty about that. And don't feel like you can't because they're behind- so, the school will help them catch up. It's not the end of the world. Maybe that WOULD benefit you guys right now, one year of letting someone else catch them up some, and letting you focus on other things in your life, and then taking them back when you feel more prepared.... It's up to you. Do what you think is best in the long run for all concerned and don't feel like you're ruining their lives. You're obviously a very caring and concerned parent.

I don't think you did anything wrong in that I can definitely understand why you asked the question, and it would not have offended me if you'd asked me. But I can see why she might have taken that as you wanting to know how old she is and that you potentially would have discriminated against her for her age or something. But once you explained why you were asking, I would have thought she'd understood... ...ah well, better you find out right away that you don't click with her rather than getting beyond the initial phone call/inquiry stage. Maybe if you talk to somebody else (not sure if you're still "interviewing" lol) you can word it a little bit differently... "Do you plan on continuing to teach piano for the long term? I know things can come up unexpectedly, but generally speaking I want to hire someone who is going to be able to stick with my son in his early years rather than starting with somebody who has retirement plans for the near future." Or something like that.