Ugh. That is terrible. That reminds me of when DD wanted to volunteer garden at a historic site. I made the first (and it turns out, only) phone call inquiring about the possibility. The head gardener volunteer person said she said they didn't want to hear any young girls carrying on about movie stars while they were trying to garden. I had only told the woman DD's age. :confused: Then she said they garden during the day anyway so it wouldn't be possible bc DD was in school. I said actually, she would be available because we homeschooled and DD could garden during the day. Her response was that she wouldn't be a part of DD not doing her schoolwork. :confused: :confused: And that was that. Buh-bye, crazy gardener person!

Thinking of you, Katie and hoping things are better today! You're in my prayers.

More has been written today (in tabloid type news) that RD's biological brother is going to trial for s e x abuse of a minor. And that HIS case is the reason for the family rift.

I wound my yarn. The weather is changing and I'm not feeling too hot. Blech. :-(

Yeah, it says something in the pattern about making it bigger.

I ended up buying Berroco Ultra Alpaca and the color is 6283 "Lavendar Mix." I'm going to use a size 10 set of circulars. http://www.berroco.com/yarns/berroco-ultra-alpaca I got 2 skeins because I want a shawl, something bigger than a kerchief. I've got to wind my yarn before I cast on.

Here, there are a couple sports that anyone can play/join in each season. X-country, football, swimming, indoor track, wrestling, crew and outdoor track. But you're right, not every one can always compete or get playing time even though they're on the team. The kids with lower ability get less attention from the coach or get placed with the less experienced coaches. That doesn't mean it isn't worthwhile and valuable for the kids to play. I'm glad there are opportunities for anyone, and the teams are usually especially welcoming to kids "cut" from other sports.

Another funny thing that makes an "uneven" playing field...climate. Kids from warm climates can play baseball year round. Kids from colder climates have more ice rinks so they can play ice sports more often. Look at all the southern colleges in the College Baseball World Series. Look at all the northern colleges in NCAA Ice Hockey Finals. It is geography plus history but I bet there are people saying "not fair!" :lol:

:grouphug: I am so sorry.

I am very sorry. Some of the most disappointing events in my kids' childhood involved not making a team. It is very painful to them and us, as parents. Unfortunately, not making an elite or higher level team at a young age DOES impact (or can) impact an athlete's development because he has less practice and playing time on than those on the elite team. Those differences start to snowball and the gap between regular and elite widens and widens. But on the other hand, sometimes the elite kids burn out at that level which creates openings. And boys especially get a surge of increased athletic ability along with growth so a kid who isn't elite level at 10 comes into his own at 13. Or, the biggest kid on the team of 12-13 year olds isn't much bigger a couple years later and is passed in size and muscle by a kid who was much smaller at 12-13. It's tough. I know what you mean when you say *this* is what we can afford. And it is the basics of the sport. Sometimes the basics are what is being scrimped and saved and sacrificed for. If you (the general *you*) give up X to do Y, you still had money to do X in the first place. Some people don't have money to do X to give up. And so it goes up and down the line with situations with more or less resources. If I give up X for house league fees, I'm aware there are families who don't even have X to give up for those house league fees. If someone has the house league fees, plus the travel league, plus the personal training fees, they might have had to give up X to put the money towards it, but they had the money in the first place. :grouphug:

Happy Birthday, to a swell Momma! :party: I hope your day was wonderful! :grouphug:

I could probably swing it. I have to buy yarn bc i dont have a big "stash." Today is busy but tomorrow all the LYS are closed. If I want something special, not from a BBCS, I'd have to decide quickly and get gettin'. We're going to do the first one you posted, right?

I'm picking out a thermos for yoooooooooouuuuuu. Not an ordinary thermos for yoooooooouuuuu...

Kind of like when I was 5, and mad at my mom about something and I was convinced that Wonder Woman was my real mom? Or not...

I agree with your conclusions but I don't think they all apply to this woman's circumstances. I think she grew up in Monatna or Idaho, not somewhere where she was the ethnic minority. I also think her siblings were adopted when she was older, like an older teen.

I'm not following you. Her character is the problem bc she allegedly lied about her race, which colloquially is usually identified as skin color. What part don't you want the focus on?

Step in time, step in time. Never need a reason, never need a rhyme. Save the chipmunk, step in time. :D

I have a tracfone that cost $9.99 that I bought when my 5 year old $19.99 tracfone stopped working. I can text and make calls. I only buy minutes for calls, not data. A text uses .3 of a minute. You can buy 60 minutes for $20. Depending on the phone, the minutes either double or triple and last 90 days. So it is basically less than $7 a month for 120 minutes. HTH

And now, that song is in my head. :lol:

NAACP official, college professor accused of pretending to be black... Is the title of the article by Slate. http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/06/12/rachel_dolezal_naacp_official_college_professor_accused_of_pretending_to.html She's being *accused* by her white birth parents. :confused: I'd think they'd know.

I'm interested! That shawl is one I had put on a "maybe someday" list. Would you start a social group here? Yay! I'm excited!

Wow. That is a long day if you add extracurriculars.

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Adding my positive energy!