I don't believe that it's part of the original complaint. They couldn't agree on the surname, which is the "family name or the name that a person has in common with other family members." It doesn't appear there was any disagreement with regard to the first name so I don't see how the judge could force that to be changed as well.

I finished If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Calvino. I am still processing this book. There were times I loved it because the writing was just so clever. Like here: "To fly is the opposite of traveling: you cross a gap in space, you vanish into the void, you accept not being in any place for a duration that is itself a kind of void in time; then you reappear, in a place and in a moment with no relation to the where and the when in which you vanished. Meanwhile, what do you do? How do you occupy this absence of yourself from the work and of the world from you? You read; you do not raise your eyes from the book between one airport and the other, because beyond the page there is the void, the anonymity of stopovers, of the metallic uterus that contains you and nourishes you..." This made me smile and to have an airplane be called a "metallic uterus" made me laugh. Who does that? Yet I could appreciate the analogy. On the other hand, there were times I would be reading and just go :confused1: :confused1: :confused1: Like here, for example: "But just when you are convinced that for the professor philology and erudition mean more than what the story is telling, you realize the opposite is true: that academic envelope serves only to protect everything the story says and does not say, an inner afflatus always on the verge of being dispersed at contact with the air, the echo of a vanished knowledge revealed in the penumbra and tacit allusions." Say what??? I needed to look up 4 different words in the dictionary to understand this sentence! And his sentences were often loooooong like this one. It reminded me of Dickens when I read Great Expectations. When sentences go on forever, my mind gets impatient. I start reading faster searching for the period and the end of the thought! By then I've lost track of what's been said. The funny thing is, now that I've finished the book, I do plan to go back and re-read it at some point. I'm hoping now that I know the story, I can pick up some of the many nuances I'm sure I missed because I couldn't figure out what the heck was happening! So while I wouldn't say I loved it, there were some things that I appreciated about it. Certain parts I loved and others I didn't care for, but I must have appreciated it because I NEVER go back and re-read books but I actually plan to do it with this one.

I was pretty surprised when I read that too. I have a feeling it will be overturned.

I knew nothing about this area and the situation there. Thank you for sharing and the work you are doing.

That's interesting that you say people "in the west" use these terms. I've lived in WA all my life and we call interstates I-5 or I-90, etc. It's usually a dead giveaway to me when someone is from California because they will invariably refer to "the 5."

I've never been to NM. It makes me think of desert with mesas and plateaus.

I'm guessing that you mean a meltdown after some type of disagreement so that's how I answered the poll. I have 2 teens, both boys. I have one who is much more "volatile" than the other but when he gets upset with me it consists of arguing which can turn into pouting for a period of time. The arguing would rarely last more than 5 minutes but the pouting portion can last a couple of hours, which is usually acting sullen either around the house or in his room. My oldest, will argue some, but it doesn't usually last long. These situations happen after being told no, they can't go somewhere or do something, which really doesn't happen all that often. I can't think of any other situations that would bring on a "meltdown."

Bizarre!

I've finished 3 books over the last couple of weeks. First was Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny. This book had several different storylines going on at once. The primary mystery wasn't as much interest to me as two of the side stories. The story takes place in Quebec and the author occasionally inserted French phrases which I'd end up googling to figure out what was said. I must be slow to pick up foreign languages because I swear I looked up "Je me souviens" 3 or 4 times. I just couldn't remember what it meant. Just now I had to look up the English to French translation because I still couldn't remember the phrase. :tongue_smilie: I'd give it 3.5 stars. Next, I finished listening to How Now Shall We Live by Chuck Colson. This was a Christian worldview book that I'd give 4 stars. I really enjoyed it. Finally, I read The Homecoming of Samuel Lake by Jenny Wingfield. I had placed a hold on this at the library but I can't figure out where I heard about it. It's Christian fiction and I don't typically read that genre so I was surprised that I had requested this book. I'm glad I did because I could hardly put this book down! This week I'll continue working my way through If on a Winter's Night a Traveler. I make it through some parts completely engaged and then at other places get really bogged down. I'm a little over halfway through.

This is exactly what I was thinking; new wife gets new/different name. I love this suggestion because what they've done is horribly rude and offensive and it should be pointed out to them.

I am definitely Book Lover: Compulsive: Preserver. If I buy a book for myself and dh borrows it, he knows he HAS to use a bookmark or I will flip! I just cringe when he reads his own books. He happily dogears one page after another or leaves it lying face down open to the last page he was on. When I see this, my heart starts doing palpitations. And don't get me started on the books my kids read for school! I guess I could be bordering the OCD category on this....

This! I just can't think about Christmas in the summer. I don't think too much about it before Halloween!

My sister likes the sheets from Costco as well. I usually buy them at Marshall's or TJ Maxx but I don't know if you could find that many sets of white ones at a place like that.

Just chiming in to agree with the other posters. It would be A LOT of reading. I don't know how old your kids are but to give you an example from Year 4 Week 3: LG would read 8 pages in 1 book for History Core; a complete book for History In Depth; a complete book for Literature UG would read 16 pages in 1 book for History Core; 1 chapter plus 10 add'l pages in 2 other books for History in Depth; 8 chapters for Literature; 5 chapters for Church History D would read 8 pages in 1 book, 40 pages in another book for History Core; 25 pages in a different book for History In Depth; an 88 page book for Literature; 6 chapters for Church History R would read 22 pages for History Core; 70 pages in another book plus 7 pages in a different book for History in Depth; Literature is a study in poetry with additional reading from several other handbooks; 19 pages for Church History.

I'm in the midst of a couple of books. Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny is a mystery within a mystery with a back story going on as well. I had started that and then a couple of days later added If on a Winter's Night a Traveler. I've only been able to read a couple of chapters in that one. For me it's the kind of book I have to concentrate on to follow what's happening. I had a busy week last week and just wanted something to relax with before bed so I didn't spend much time on it. I'm hoping to finish at least one of these books this week.

White glue. My kids always used glue sticks so I have no idea why I would also always buy Elmer's glue. It must have been a good deal. At one point I think we had 9 unopened bottles! Why would I continue to buy it every year???

Years ago I had major surgery and was off work for about a month. Shortly after coming home from the hospital, the wife of my husband's best friend called and said she wanted to stop by and see me. I remember thinking how thoughtful it was of her because we weren't close. Well, it turned out they had recently become part of a MLM business and she wanted to tell me about it! I was shocked and hurt. It didn't sit too well with dh either and definitely put a strain on the relationship. OP, I have no idea what makes these people think it's ok to approach you during a clearly difficult time. I agree that it's offensive and I'm glad you let them know how you felt.

59 left, 41 right

I finished a couple of books this past week. Gallows View by Peter Robinson was a slow starter for me but picked up mid-way. Overall, it'd be a 3 star read for me. I also read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society. I'd seen it talked about here on the boards but I didn't realize that the book was going to be completely comprised of a series of letters. It took a bit for me to get the characters sorted out but once I did it was a quick read that I enjoyed. I'd give this one 3.5 to 4 stars. I'd love to! This is one reason I really wanted to get a Kindle. You all would be talking about reading a book together and when I'd check my library that book would already have multiple holds on it, and the same is true on this one. Now that I can order it, I'll be able to read along with others in real time which makes me happy!

I finished The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton. I wasn't crazy about the characters in this book so I had a hard time connecting with them. I liked the way it ended though, which redeemed things for me a bit. I've started Gallows View by Peter Robinson but it's been slow going for me. On a side note, I got a Kindle last week! It's taking a bit of getting used to. I love the feel of a book and turning the actual pages so the first day I couldn't seem to get absorbed in what I was reading. I read a little on it yesterday and it seemed better so maybe I just need to adjust. There I'm reading It All Begins with Food by Dallas & Melissa Hartwig.

I love his name! Can't wait to see the pics.

That picture is so sweet! Congratulations!!!

I didn't know about this. I just added it to my phone. Thanks for the tip! :)

I have a Samsung S3 and have been very happy with it, although whenever I see someone pull out their iPhone I second guess myself. I went with an Android phone because I wanted to be able to sync things with my laptop or desktop and it's my understanding that you can't do that iPhone to PC. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong.) If I had a Mac I would have gone with the iPhone.

Glad to hear things are going so much better for both of you. :grouphug: