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meena

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Everything posted by meena

  1. My granny handwrote all her favorite recipes in a spiral-bound notecard book and gave them to my mom. What's funny is this is my dad's mom. Even though my parents divorced when I was very young and my dad remarried, my granny and mom stayed friends and as far as I know my mom's the only one who got a copy of these recipes. My mom felt she could never give this notebook to me because my sister would get mad, so she made photocopies of the whole thing. I have the copies in page protectors. It's definitely one of my prized possessions. The recipes themselves aren't necessary special, but I adore seeing my granny's handwriting and side notes throughout and remembering having many of the foods served at family meals and holidays.
  2. In our "co-op" the teachers set their own fees. They are monthly fees that work out to about $5-11 per class. There are also separate supply fees for certain classes, also set by the teachers. The more expensive classes are typically high school science lab classes. Class fees are paid monthly in advance, so parents are committed to pay for a month at a time whether their student attends or not. A different co-op that we've attended in the past charged per semester. It worked out to about $3-5 per class plus supply fees. I think having parents pay for a set period of time, either month or semester, is a good way to keep people somewhat committed. There will always be people who don't show up every week (full disclosure: my family is one of those--sometimes we have schedule conflicts and we choose other educational opportunities over our co-op) but laying down a larger amount of money in advance typically keeps them coming back over the long run.
  3. This is extremely helpful! I did find off-airport prices to be be better but was worried about making it back to the airport in time for our flight. I think I'll play around with the dates some more to see if I can find a way to make it work. (PS, sorry you had to cancel your trip but glad it's nothing serious) Editing to add: I just looked and if I split up the rental (one day/return/new rental for several days), that saves a ton of money. That will make it even cheaper than my Travelocity booking. THANK YOU! We travel a lot, so I will get a lot of mileage (couldn't resist that bad pun :leaving: ) out of this tip in the future.
  4. This is what I'm afraid of happening--a problem that the third company party won't fix and that the car rental company isn't responsible for. I'm especially wary of it for car rentals because they might be out of the category I rented. That has happened several times in the past, and the car rental company just upgraded us to the next class. I think they probably wouldn't offer that courtesy for third party bookings.
  5. Skulldug! is one that doesn't get mentioned often, but my kids like it a lot. It's not full-on role-playing but you do get to assume the role of an explorer on a quest to get the treasure and escape.
  6. Apparently I used to subscribe to your blog at one time or another--maybe you mentioned it here or it was linked elsewhere in the past? I saw your new post pop up this week in Feedly and thought it was great but didn't connect it being written by a WTM'er. All that to say, "Good job!" and I hope to read more from you in the future. :) I would love to write somewhere about our homeschool, especially from the perspective of having older kids. I'd probably have to stick with Instagram, though--a picture and a short caption is about all I can manage these days.
  7. Would you or have you used Travelocity for a car rental? If you have, how did it go? I usually book directly through the car rental company or Costco. The prices are typically the same (or better) than a third party company, and I feel more assured of the customer service going directly through the rental company or Costco. For an upcoming trip the prices were really high at all my regular places to book, but Travelocity had a seriously great deal so I booked it. Will I regret it? The Travelocity reservation has free cancellation so I'm mostly worried about getting to our destination and not having a car. We could take public transportation if it really came down to that, but it would be an inconvenience and wouldn't allow us to maximize our time at our destination.
  8. Whether or not one believes in an afterlife has a huge impact on this type of discussion. If you are looking at human life only from physical birth to physical death, then suffering can only be bad. Someone's life sucked and then it's over and that's it. If a person does believe in an afterlife, the perspective of what God does/doesn't do isn't limited to just the physical body but encompasses the soul and its eternal existence. People can be subjected to pain and suffering to the point of death, but are unbound from that suffering as their soul is unbound from their physical body. Human suffering can make sense if seen as part of a bigger picture beyond the here and now. Do you believe people have a spiritual element? If so, what happens to it when the physical body dies?
  9. Those are all out of my budget. And my youngest child is 11yo. But I can have fun looking, right? :lol:
  10. Oh my goodness, how cute is this set with the fuzzy vest with ears? http://www.carters.com/carters-baby-boy-sets/V_121H681.html?navid=carters-bloomreach-widget-rp For the tiny preppy lumberjack: http://www.carters.com/carters-baby-boy-little-collections-plaid-penguin-collection/V_127G584.html?navid=carters-bloomreach-widget-rp Hipster baby: http://www.carters.com/carters-baby-boy-sets/V_120G156.html?cgid=carters-baby-boy-sets&dwvar_V__120G156_color=Color&dwvar_V__120G156_size=12M#navID=header&start=1&cgid=carters-baby-boy-sets Not a sweater but looks so comfy and warm: http://www.carters.com/carters-baby-boy-sets/V_229G549.html Is a sweater--with a penguin! http://www.carters.com/carters-baby-boy-sets/V_127G595.html?cgid=carters-baby-boy-sets&dwvar_V__127G595_color=Color&dwvar_V__127G595_size=12M#navID=header&start=1&cgid=carters-baby-boy-sets
  11. This thread made me think of a couple good books by people more knowledgeable and experienced in Christian prayer than I: Moving Mountains by John Eldredge If God is Good: Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evil by Randy Alcorn
  12. The writers of the Bible predicted effects hundreds of years before the cause. That indicates (to me at least) some type of divine plan.
  13. What is the ultimate goal for humans? What are we striving toward? If it's to have a great life during our time on earth, then I can see how it can be hard to get behind a God sometimes allows terrible things to happen, while preventing them at other times. But what if our ultimate goal is not about us and it's more about him? That definitely causes a shift in thinking. I'm sure there are some people who would say that if it's all about God, then he must be selfish. But I see it as, if he really is the greatest entity in the universe--omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent--wouldn't he want to point as many people to the greatest thing as possible? A lame small-scale example--when I make a new recipe and it's so great I want to share it with as many people as possible. I might text my mom and sisters, I share with my friends the next time we talk. I'll definitely take it to the next potluck I go to. Not because I'm selfish and want it to be all about me. It's the opposite; I took so much pleasure in something great and I get so much joy from sharing that pleasure with others. God is omniscient, so he knows he's great and wants to share that with as many people as possible over the course of infinity. So despite us humans always throwing a wrench into things, he's trying to work things so that as many people know and love him as possible.
  14. I think of prayer as a conversation, similar to conversation I have with my kids. We communicate in all sorts of ways. Sometimes it's to share joys, some times it's to ask for help--which is the type of prayer I think the OP is referring to. In that type of prayer, I think that God wants to hear us cry out to him just like we want our kids to talk to us even when they're hurting. We can't or won't always help our kids because we're looking out for their best interest. Sometimes that means suffering in the short term to help them grow in the long term. I believe that God knows the total, complete, infinite picture of history in which some people have to suffer in their earthly lives, to ultimately point as many people to the eternal saving grace of God as possible (not to "teach people a lesson" punitive manner). If a person doesn't believe in life beyond this earth (that is, eternal life), that can make it harder to understand why God doesn't intervene in terrible situations.
  15. I always liked cozy one-piece pajamas--the ones with feet--for the winter. I also used short-sleeve onesies to layer under pants and shirts so that if the shirt came up the tummy wasn't bare. I really like the Carter's brand. I think they sell their clothes on Amazon but have better deals on the Carter's website. I just peeked at their site and, gosh, little kids' clothes are so cute!
  16. I have an older Pilot (2006) and love it. I've read that the 3rd row can seem cramped for taller/bigger people but it's never been an issue for us. It comes in handy when the kids want to take friends places or we have family visiting. Or one of the kids gets miffed at siblings and wants to sit in his/her own row :laugh: Totally agree with this sentiment! My first car was huge--way bigger than a minivan. I was just so happy my parents bought me a car and I could go places by myself that I didn't care what it was. I actually like the idea of kids starting in minivans because they are typically have good safety/crash ratings. I wouldn't mind my kids learning in my Pilot since it drives similarly to a car. But it's my "baby" so there's no way I'm handing it over to them. They get to drive my husband's sedan instead.
  17. I usually put my phone on a table in the room I'm in. With the ringer on full volume, I can usually hear it wherever I am. If I have to go outside briefly, I carry it in my hand if I'm expecting a call or just leave it inside and go to voicemail if I'm not expecting anything important. I frequently wear wireless Bluetooth headphones to listen to podcasts while I do housework, so I can hear the ringer through those even when doing something noisy.
  18. I'm saying this with the caveats that (1) I totally respect your desire to walk out on a doctor whose beliefs don't align with your own and (2) I'm not a medical professional myself (started out pre-med at university, took many science credits --enough to be one class short of a chemistry minor). That said, I'm a Christian who does not believe in evolutionary origins. I definitely have the "sense" to use antibiotics as necessary, yet be wary of the consequences of their overuse, and I'm sure there are doctors (male and female--not sure why that would even be a factor?) who feel the same. It's possible to be a Christian who believes in a divine creator while accepting modern medical practices. Even though essential oils fanatics might lead you to think otherwise, lol. Personally it doesn't bother me when a medical professional talks about their beliefs, even when they differ greatly from mine. My son's orthodontist had a few minutes between patients and sat and talked with me about politics and travel. I would rather hear different voices and risk being offended than to sit contentedly in an echo chamber.
  19. I have the paid version of Book Crawler. I've used it in the past to organize our school literature collection. I added the books using a barcode scanner, then tagged them with what program we used them in (Sonlight, Biblioplan, etc) and what week or unit it was used in. I could also add titles that we didn't own but needed to check out from the library. Each week I could make sure to have our upcoming scheduled books by filtering the appropriate tags and then gathering the ones on the list that we owned and making a trip to the library for the others. I haven't used it in a while so can't remember if genre automatically populated when scanning the books in; if not, you can tag them with your choice of genre label and then sort by tag.
  20. "She also rejected the assumption that she misidentified Mr Mueller, saying: 'I'm not going to allow you or your client to say I am to blame.' " (quoted from BBC) Bravo, Taylor! It's sickening how that lowlife DJ tried to somehow make this into her doing something wrong. I'm glad she has the gumption and support to speak out against him publicly.
  21. My answer changes, though, if you have a bunch of gear to get on and off the plane. If you plan to gate-check anything (like a stroller) or you have a carseat and/or roll aboard suitcases to wrangle, take the longer connections. If all you have is the baby in a carrier and a diaper bag or backpack (that's what I did with my youngest), consider the shorter connection. Also, how quick is your 11yo? How helpful? That can make a difference as well.
  22. I would risk the shorter connection times since you know you'll be in the same terminal. Flying with a sleep-deprived baby (which usually meant I was sleep-deprived as well) late at night was always a nightmare for me.
  23. I wouldn't. I like most of Costco's products, including their meats, but their chicken breasts and ground turkey are always "off" for me (odor and texture).
  24. Since she doesn't seem to be following what you say, you need to put your intentions in writing. Make a note of her final date of service, what your final payment is and what it covers. Make two copies, you and she sign both. Give her one copy and you keep the other. I think that will help you make a clean break. It sounds like maybe you were a little indecisive about having them continue but didn't want to fire them. It also sounds like the cleaner either didn't understand your intentions completely, or possibly did understand and is trying to hold on to this job as long as possible. Either way, it sounds like you would be better off to find someone new and you can't do that until you've officially discontinued your relationship with your current cleaner. The sooner you take care of it, the better for all involved.
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