No way, but I'm a little squeamish about stuff like that.

I am just throwing it in the trash, this "American Girl" catalog that arrived at my house unrequested today for no apparent reason. My daughter, almost 11, has NEVER been "into" dolls. I on the other hand loved dolls for as long as I can remember, from the time I was a little girl up until I was around 12 years old. And if I start looking through this catalog, I'm going to want to order dolls that I think are positively adorable, and, really, what would be the point? My daughter would never appreciate them, and they aren't cheap lol. (I know, because from the time SHE was little and it was time to birthday or holiday shop, I would inevitably find myself drawn to the doll aisle, but whatever doll I spent money on would just be cast aside and forgotten. So I had to train myself to stop buying dolls for my daughter)! Pout. :)

I've read every single "Anita Blake" book she's written so far, and every "Merry Gentry" book, too. I really love them but I do think that the last three or so books in the Anita Blake series just got too repetitious, becoming pretty much nothing but sex, which might sound good to some lol, but it's repetitive sex...we've read it all before in the previous books and those scenes seem to all become the same. And there's less "real" plot...I'll keep reading them as they come out though just because I feel like I already invested in the whole series haha. This book sounds really good! My library does have it and I've made an official notation (read: I've scribbled it on a Post It Note that may well get lost on my desk) for future borrowing. I've already got two books ordered through ILL, one of which is quite lengthy, so I want to get through those before I start ordering more! You know, I've never read "Frankenstein" either. I really should! Adding that to the file (read: Post It Note System) too! Okay, I'm adding it (to the Post It Note)! I keep going back and forth on whether I want to read that one. It's just that I know the premise and I know the plot and it sounds awfully depressing... As for me, I just finished "A Feast For Crows" yesterday and have "A Dance With Dragons" on reserve through interlibrary loan. I'm doing another quickie read while I wait for it to arrive... "Bloodfever" by Karen Marie Moning, the second in an urban fantasy series set in Ireland, though the main character is an American who goes to Ireland trying to find out who murdered her sister, then finds out that "Fae" really exist and she has certain powers, and she gets caught up with all sorts of supernatural problems after finding out that her sister knew about them, too and died for it, and she meets several enigmatic characters with no idea who to trust... It comes after Darkfever which I previously read, and I've got the third book in that series on reserve through ILL, too. Someone here recommended the series to me, zennjenn I think, and I like these books in the same way I like Laurel K. Hamilton's books, J.R. Ward's books, and the "True Blood" books. They're just... fun! :D P.S. I finished "These Happy Golden Years" with my 10 y/o daughter, and we're reading "Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli together this week.

I loved it, too. Gave me chills a few times!

:iagree: Hope you feel better! But if you don't, it's okay to delay your start date or keep things light to start off with!

Was it Free Range Kids? http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_3_15?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=free+range+kids+how+to+raise+safe.+self-reliant+children+without+going+nuts+with+worry&sprefix=free+range+kids Or maybe Protecting The Gift? http://www.amazon.com/Protecting-Gift-Keeping-Children-Teenagers/dp/0440509009/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1315268380&sr=8-1 Another good book to read WITH kids: http://www.amazon.com/Safe-Zone-Guide-Personal-Safety/dp/0688153089/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1315268403&sr=1-1

I was going to suggest poptropica as well. You could also do Wizard 101, Pixie Hollow, or Webkinz.

My daughter (turning 11 next month) says root beer.

:lol: :iagree:

Would Tuck Everlasting count?

I don't mean literally closed with gates, just a sign that says "residents only, no through traffic" kind of thing- something that discourages people from using it as a cut through. But I guess some of you are right that most people will ignore it and cut through anyway. :( Maybe if it was done in conjunction with at least the one speed bump at the beginning of the one way street, that might help. Could I write a letter to town hall or something? Not sure if there's a specific person in charge of that. I guess I could call town hall and ask them who would be in charge of that sort of thing! They will probably act like they have no idea what I'm talking about lol.

So maybe we can ask for a sign and speed bumps at the beginning of the little one way road? Hm. I think most of my neighbors would go for a sign, no idea how they would feel about speed bumps, but something to think about and mention. I plan to talk to at least four of the other families with kids who I see frequently sometime this week and see what they think.

Bumping 'cause there's still time if anyone is remotely interested!

Got a family member into a detox/rehab and I'm actually considering that very good news. :P

I started a thread about this very thing in the spring that showed my own experience and got other responses as well: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=259625&highlight=teaching+textbooks+standardized+test

I live on a small, residential, one way street. There are about 16 houses on the block. 8 of those houses have families with kids ranging from 4 to 11 plus a few teens. 2 of the houses are elderly women. 1 house is empty and for sale. And the others are people without kids. When people come up a main road from a neighboring town, our road is used as a cut through to get out onto our town's main road. So cars cut through all the time, often going faster than the posted 30 mph... And halfway down our street, the road curves, so if there are kids in the road (and some of the 9-11 year olds do play in the road sometimes), they can be hard to see. There is a way these cars can go, detouring slightly just before they get to our one way street, that with a quick left and a quick right, they can be out on that same main road without having to come down my street, which only saves them literally a few seconds of time. I was thinking I should make some formal request to have our street be residents only. Who should I ask? What should I write? Do I ask all the neighbors to sign something?

Figured I'd pass it on in case anyone's interested in watching or setting it up to record. I have it DVR'd and plan to watch it on my own and then decide whether to re-watch with my almost 11 y/o daughter on 9/11. --- TLC is premiering a two-hour special on Sunday, September 4 at 9/8c, telling the tale of bravery and survival inside the World Trade Center. Narrated by Chris Noth, 9/11: HEROES OF THE 88th FLOOR introduces viewers to two remarkable men and their unforgettable story of sacrifice and courage after Flight 11 struck the towers on 9/11. The special shines the spotlight on construction manager Frank De Martini and construction inspector Pablo Ortiz and follows their heroic and selfless journey through the burning tower as they saved the lives of 77 people. Through archival footage and dramatic recreations, audiences will relive the tragic day through the eyes of the people who actually lived it.

I don't know. I'm recording a program tonight called "Heroes of the 88th Floor" on TLC at 9 PM I think, and I'm going to pre-watch it, then decide if I want to watch it with my almost 11 year old on 9/11. She was just a baby when it happened and we had recently moved from NY to PA at the time, but she's heard about it here and there and does know the basics of what happened.

:iagree: For us, the Activity Guide is the best part of this whole thing. It is SO helpful and makes it SO easy to add on books, activities, and so on to make everything seem more "alive" as fairytalemama said.

Sounds like you handled it well! I'm glad you talked to the mom and not the aunt. She probably would have been really upset and/or embarassed if she knew you went and talked to the aunt "behind her back" and that she had to hear this secondhand from the aunt, instead of from the person who actually encountered the problem etc. If you notice it again, you may really have to just tell her gently but more explicitly, "I don't want to embarrass you or put you on the defensive, but I just wanted to let you know that if the bottles don't regularly get taken apart and scrubbed out, mold will actually grow inside these nipples, and that can make the babies sick. Last time I did see mold in it when I had taken them apart to wash them, and I saw it again this time. That may be what causes the tummy aches, etc. I took them apart and cleaned them out really well again and they had no troubles with belly aches or throwing up after their bottles, so I just wanted to let you know." This will be helpful for her AND the poor babies. Also please note that I specifically said "if the bottles don't regularly get taken apart" etc as opposed to "If you don't take the bottles apart"- it sounds less accusatory (maybe) if you keep the subject on "the bottles" and not "you" (the mom) if you want to try to word things so that she doesn't feel defensive.

That's cute! I really love Improv Everywhere. If you've never read about their Best Buy Prank, you REALLY should. It's long but hilarious! http://improveverywhere.com/2006/04/23/best-buy/

How many cups of coffee did that thing have?! It's going too darn fast! LOL

I would do it, but then I give out my children's social security numbers, too. :P

OK I agree that a "big girl panties" smiley would be hilarious. I've never even seen one!

I know, I've posted it before and some of you have seen it before, but it's been a long time, and if you haven't had a chance to read this yet, well, you simply have to. :D How many forum members does it takes to change a light bulb? *1 to change the light bulb and to post that the light bulb has been changed *14 to share similar experiences of changing light bulbs and how the light bulb could have been changed differently *7 to caution about the dangers of changing light bulbs *1 to move it to the Lighting section *2 to argue then move it to the Electricals section *7 to point out spelling/grammar errors in posts about changing light bulbs *5 to flame the spell checkers *3 to correct spelling/grammar flames *6 to argue over whether it's "lightbulb" or "light bulb" ... another 6 to condemn those 6 as stupid *2 industry professionals to inform the group that the proper term is "lamp" *15 know-it-alls who claim they were in the industry, and that "light bulb" is perfectly correct *19 to post that this forum is not about light bulbs and to please take this discussion to a lightbulb forum *11 to defend the posting to this forum saying that we all use light bulbs and therefore the posts are relevant to this forum *36 to debate which method of changing light bulbs is superior, where to buy the best light bulbs, what brand of light bulbs work best for this technique and what brands are faulty *7 to post URL's where one can see examples of different light bulbs *4 to post that the URL's were posted incorrectly and then post the corrected URL's *3 to post about links they found from the URL's that are relevant to this group which makes light bulbs relevant to this group *13 to link all posts to date, quote them in their entirety including all headers and signatures, and add "Me too" *5 to post to the group that they will no longer post because they cannot handle the light bulb controversy *4 to say "didn't we go through this already a short time ago?" *13 to say "do a Google search on light bulbs before posting questions about light bulbs" * 1 to post about how hurtful and offensive the whole thread is to people who, for whatever reason, have made the decision for their families NOT to use light bulbs, followed by a 22 page slanging match to include the phrases "big girl panties, "entitled to my opinion," and several quotes from the bible. *1 forum lurker to respond to the original post 6 months from now and start it all over again.