Alright now I'm starting to freak out about a video that is charged to my library card that I never checked out. It was back in 1997 and somehow an Arthur video was charged to my card and my dd had only just been born and I had never yet checked out any kids things from the library at that time. I told the librarian that when I saw it on my card and she told me not to worry about it, but that thing is still listed on my card as overdue after all these years. I hope nobody comes banging my door down. I never even had the darn thing!

Awwww! That is so sweet. I don't blame you. :grouphug:

I couldn't have said it better myself. It's so good to help someone else in need. It really is more blessed to give that to receive.

That's horrible. I just can't imagine going out expecting to find my car and it's gone. :(

I am thinking along those lines too. I just cannot imagine ever resorting to stealing someone else's property, but then again, I've never been in so much need that I've ever had to consider it either. If I were that desperate and couldn't find any work at all, I think I would beg on the side of the road for spare change before I could ever steal from someone.

oh wow! Yeah maybe.

I have noticed that since the economy tanked that there have been so many more robbery reports on the news, but the other day I was quite shocked when my mail man knocked on my door with a package and while he was handing it to me he asked me if it's okay to leave packages outside my door if he comes and I'm not at home. I told him, "yeah sure" because they always do that and then he tells me, "I just wanted to be sure, because a lot of packages are being stolen off of people's porches and I chased a bunch of kids just the other day who were stealing packages." :001_huh: I have lived in this house for 14 years now and never once have we had a problem here with robberies or burglaries or anything of that sort. I'm bummed because now I feel like I need to be tied to my house in case a package should come because I did all of my Christmas shopping online this year and have a bunch of stuff coming in and not all of it has tracking where I know what day it is supposed to arrive. :( I know that a lot of people are hurting financially right now, but in the case of these robberies, I really wonder if crooks are just using the economic downturn as an excuse to steal. I just have a really hard time imagining people with integrity stealing off of other people's porches because they are in that much need. Maybe I'm wrong. I don't know, but I'm wondering if other people are having similar problems or have noticed an increase in these types of crimes in their neighborhoods.

Oh my gosh! That is so, so sad. This must be a very difficult Christmas for her family. :crying: :( I hope she is resting peacefully.

no problem :) Hope you find something that works for you. :)

Sigh. I envy you. I've never seen snow in my life. :( I'd like to see it just once. sniff.

Awww they are ADORABLE!!! Congratulations!! Enjoy your new sons. :)

I want so much to see some too. But I'm in South Florida so it's not likely to happen. :(

Oh that stinks!! I'm so sorry. :grouphug:

As a mother to both a profoundly Autistic son and a highly functioning Aspie daughter, I can totally agree with what you are saying. Both of my kids are very challenging to raise, but they have different sets of issues for the most part except for some overlapping sensory things that effect them both, but for the most part, my son is the easier one believe it or not. The challenges with him are mostly safety concerns since he doesn't speak, he cannot tell you when he's hurting or if something is wrong. Just a couple of weeks ago, for example, he had to get a crown put on his tooth because he had a deep cavity that was right on the nerve and it was too deep to have just a filling. I cannot imagine how much pain he was in or for how long and he just can't tell us. Same when he's sick. I've learned to just really rely on trying to read his behavior, but it's really easy to miss it, like I did with the tooth. But other than those kinds of things and having to have my house like Fort Knox so that he can't hurt himself and having to make sure I know what he is doing every 5 minutes and taking him to the bathroom etc, he pretty much does his own thing. He lives in his own world and seems pretty happy there. My dd on the other hand straddles both worlds. She's got one foot in Autism and the other in the "real" world and it is so painful to see how she struggles. Both of my kids break my heart, but I usually suffer the most for my dd. If my son is ignored by someone he's oblivious to them and could care less, but my dd on the other hand WANTS to play with kids and when they ostracize her or ignore her, she knows it and feels it keenly. Often she'll ask, "what's wrong with me?" and it just kills me. :crying:

Ugh me too! I once heard a mom complaining to another mom how she's sick of having to go to birthday parties all the time. I would love for my dd to be even invited to one birthday party! :crying:

A pork roast, black beans and rice, tostones, maduros and salad. Keepin it Cuban. :)

That is beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing it. My dd went to ps school for one year. DH thought it would "straighten her out". She was bullied mercilessly and ganged up on by 6 other kids who pinned her against a chain link fence and punched her in the stomach and kicked her in the shins repeatedly. She was only 8 years old! The school was completely indifferent. I was constantly in meetings with the principal and vice-principal and they literally told me that all kids get bullied and getting kicked a few times is not such a big deal. :eek: DH let me pull her out of the school and homeschool her again, but it took YEARS to overcome those months in the ps. Some kids are so cruel and horrible and they don't even know how special and sweet a soul my dd really is because they never bothered to take the time to look any deeper. Their loss! The last sentence in your blog post brought tears to my eyes. I just thank God for homeschooling. It is so good for these kids. :grouphug:

I have an algebra textbook written by Dolciani. It's called Algebra Structur and Method Book 1 I don't know if that is the one you're referring to, but if it is I'd be happy to take picture of whatever pages you want to see and post them up for you if it would help you. :) Let me know.

I haven't started yet, but as soon as I finish with some obligations that I have this week, I'm going to be in full baking mode. Gingersnaps, chocolate chip cookies, sugar cookies and brownies. :)

:grouphug: Oh how I feel your pain. I go through this with my dd all.the.time. Lots of hugs and chocolate to you! :grouphug:

This is wisdom here. Thank you so much for this word. :grouphug:

Wow! I hope I can be that brave if I'm ever in that position. Cancer terrifies me!

It is. Your heart breaks for them. My son is profoundly Autistic and doesn't speak. He lives in his own world and is oblivious to friends and could care less about them, but my dd is very outgoing and loves to be around people. She's very high functioning and wants to make friends, but she's "different" and kids pick up on that like radar and avoid her. :( :crying:

I just saw it on the News Hour! I can't believe it! I'm so shocked and sad for her and her family. :crying:

CARD (The Center for Autism and Related Disabilities) also offers some types of social interaction opportunities for Aspies too. Some structured and some very unstructured like park play dates. We did a few of them, my dd still didn't make any friends, but she had fun while she was there. :)