One Sunday on our way to church, my mother accidentally struck and killed a little bird that had flown into our path. I was only about 5 or 6 years old at the time, loved birds, so I was absolutely devastated. I remember crying and carrying on and my mom barely able to console me in time to go into the church. The sermon title that day? His eye is on the sparrow...... Now, you would think the sermon topic would further make me question a God who, apparently, didn't have his eye on the bird we had killed, but instead I remember feeling such love for a God who wanted me to know he had heard the cries of my heart and cared enough about me to let me know.

I once for about 7-8 months had to cut back groceries to $80 per week for 6 people (which also had to cover all toiletries, garbage bags, etc...). I was successful at it and here were some of the things I did: Bought flour in 20 pound bags - made everything from scratch (bread, tortillas, hot dog buns, etc....) Scoured all ads and if there was a phenomenal deal on 1-2 items I knew I'd use I'd spend $15-$20 of the $80 to stock up on it. This helped tremendously! So, I'd have a large stock of laundry detergent, or milk (I'd freeze the gallon jugs of milk), toothpaste, chicken, etc.... Over time, this somehow freed up my weekly budget to allow me to diversity our diet (don't know how). Took any handouts available from local farmers or friends with gardens and started canning/freezing.... if I'd had to do long term I would have grown my own garden also. Made from scratch my own pancake syrup, mayo, relish, etc.... No more paper plates Instead of zip lock bags, I loaded up on cheap rubbermaid/tupperware from rummage sales/Goodwill We all drank water (from the tap) instead of juice/pop/etc.... I religiously planned my weekly menu and made a list accordingly, calculating very carefully. The kids knew that if it wasn't on the list, it would not go in our shopping cart. Ever. If I'd needed to go longer I would have done the once/month grocery buying.....I've known people who do this and saved even more than I was able to.

Not a long article, but one I've never forgotten: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/44288821/ns/business-us_business/t/mystery-double-eagle-gold-coins/#.WV0y12dglCg

FACT: The current administration isn't picking this one issue for which to slash funding but is slashing the overall budget of the department from which that funding comes. How that department decides to prioritize with the money it has left is up to it. FACT: A lot of very good programs in all departments will be affected. FACT: My niece worked for DHS for 2 years and talked to me daily about the MASSIVE amounts of money wasted by our federal government. She said just for the one county she worked in they were budgeted $1M to educate on ONE particular health issue and were instructed to spend it entirely on PAPER (no media, no website development, no charges for printing onto the paper, no community visits, etc... just on PAPER) and they had to spend every last dime by the end of year. FACT: I thought these boards were not supposed to get political????

Winston Churchill Albert Einstein Aristotle JFK All of these people are reportedly famous for taking daily naps. Few would consider them lazy or unproductive.

Just because you put your house up for sale doesn't mean it will sell right away.....if you haven't already listed it can the courts dictate which REALTOR you use? If not, don't go with the best....don't always keep the house clean when it's being shown. Drag your feet a bit in this way until the timing is better for YOU (not your ex and his girlfriend).

It sounds like they are making sure Christian families do not enroll their kids in their club. They might as well name it ATHEISTS ONLY club. If they don't want a room containing kids who might actually believe in Jesus, this would help them achieve that goal. In some neighborhoods they probably won't be very successful with their recruitment efforts, but to each their own, I guess.

So, I learned that my nephew (late sister's son) who is having his annual BBQ family reunion also invited my ex husband to it. Even though xh won't be going (and I'm pretty sure they knew he wouldn't), It hurt me to learn that. My brother thinks it's ridiculous that I would be hurt. So, am I being silly feeling a bit betrayed? As background, my xh is an alcoholic. We were married 21 years. I was in counseling for most of those years and still am, dealing with the issues that came with living with him. He was very emotionally and verbally abusive, and, I suspect, not at all faithful. He was incarcerated a number of times, but was able to stay employed because he worked for said brother. He is now remarried, back on the wagon, lives in another town and works elsewhere (so is no longer connected with my brother/family). I am engaged to a wonderful man (widowed) who hates alcohol and actually treats me with respect. I am very happy. Except my family's continued attachment to my ex hurts. Am I in the wrong here?

Thanks everyone for your input. I've gone ahead and submitted the enrollment and will follow-up with the lawyer later. If I have to un-enroll I'm not out a bunch of money or anything and we have all summer. Thanks again!

My ex and I share joint legal custody of our kids. I have physical custody of our daughter who desperately wants to attend a particular private school. Because we have joint legal custody he must agree to her going, which he has done in a round-about manner via a signed letter which states: "I don't agree with [daughter's name] attending [school name]. I think it will give her a narrowed and skewed world view. But if you are willing to assume all cost related to her attending, I will not fight you on that decision." I am willing to take on the entire cost of the school, but am worried this letter might not be strong enough permission. I would consult my lawyer but he is on vacation and won't be back for a couple of weeks and the enrollment form needs to be turned in right away. Does anyone on the board have experience in these type of matters and could offer their advice? Thanks so much!

Island of the Blue Dolphin (at two points in the book, I won't give spoilers) Sign of the Beaver Old Yeller Angela's Ashes (not a kid's book, I know, but one of my favorites)

Has anyone mentioned "Lord of the Flies"? That is one of my favorite classics.

I'm currently an active WW member, go to meetings each week, etc... I started in October and have, so far, lost 17 pounds. I loved the PointsPlus. The new SmartPoints and the new website are very disappointing to me. When they unveiled the new system they said their scientists had discovered that saturated fat and sugar are what need to be avoided more than anything. So they re-calculated based on that. Instead of Fat, Carbs, Fiber and Protein, I have to input Calories, Saturated Fat, Carbs and Protein. The result is that some of my tried and true foods went up significantly in points, while almost all lean proteins went down in points. My oatmeal doubled in points. Also, now chocolate and my fiber bars are off limits (very sad about that). But, a can of tun in water is now only 1 point. And turkey went down significantly. Another change is that we no longer get 49 floater points. The floater points now are different for every person. Also, normal points are different. Mine went down but most life-time members and maintenance people saw their points increase (I guess to off-set the jump in points for some of their favorites). My opinion? Why fix something that wasn't broken??? If I lose 100 pounds eating chocolate once in a while, I'm going to be healthier, end of story.

I'm sorry for responding so late. And I thank everyone for their input. As far as why anyone would steal socks....they were brand new large-quantity Nike socks in an unopened package and very expensive for socks. The belt was also new. At the time they were stolen I was certain it had to be my 16yos because his father had given him his school clothes money and he had bemoaned not having enough. These socks/belt would be the type he would have worn. Also, he has been known to have his dad buy him expensive Nike shoes that he later sold at school. The kid is always begging for money from me and his dad but refuses to get a job. As far as whether the socks were misplaced....my 13yos put them with all the other brand new clothes he had gotten for school but was not yet allowed to wear until school started. They were all in the same dresser drawer. But, we tore apart the room anyway, just in case. As far as newlyweds living with my 16yos, I agree with what has been said. I do not favor it, but have no control over the situation. Many things at my ex-husband's house are dysfunctional (one of the many reasons he is now my ex, but that is another story).

No, he did not have receipts and store of purchase is over an hours away. He is my one son I do not worry about drugs. Well, 16yo does as he is "supposed" to visit every other weekend (I say "supposed" because he normally hangs out only with friends every weekend) They might be for the missing money, but have never visited my house so wouldn't have taken socks and I've never seen them hang out with my sons. This sounds like a good idea!

One of my children is stealing, but I don't know which one and don't know what I should do. My 20yo son and his wife, as well as my 16yo son live at my ex husband's house in another town, along with ex husband's new wife and her 3 children. At my house are our 13yo son and 12yo daughter. About a month ago, I went away for the weekend with my 13yo and 12yo. When we returned, a brand new pack of expensive socks and new belt were missing from my 13yo's bedroom. Both of my other children (20yo and 16yo) had visited my house at some point while we were gone. My ex husband went through their belongings and did not find the missing clothing. Both deny taking the clothes. Over this past weekend, my 13yo son was visiting his dad's house. While in the bedroom shared by 20yo son/his wife/16 yo son (yes they share a bedroom), he came across a money jar belonging to 16yo son that he pulled out and showed to 20yo son. My 20yo son told him to put it back, which he did. However, this morning I got a call from 16yo son saying 13yo stole $20 out of that jar. When I asked how he knows 13yo stole the money, he said that no one else besides the inhabitants of the room know about the money so 13yo must've taken the money. When I confronted my 13yo he denied taking any money and said the jar was full of change and doesn't even know how $20 could've been in it. I haven't noticed any extra money being in the possession of my 13yo and have looked in his room, but found nothing. I don't know what to do at this point, or who to believe. Does anyone have any suggestions?

My kids favorites: Island of the Blue Dolphin Sign of the Beaver The Indian in the Cupboard series Old Yellar

It is apparent that these companies are abusing the system and not following the rules of the law. That said, I don't understand why our government isn't enforcing the law. Hershey would be a difficult one to boycott, but if enough people did so, it might send a message. I'm just very frustrated by the whole situation. I live in a town in which one of these big companies are doing the outsourcing to a foreign-owned company thing. Hundreds of people either lost their jobs or had their salaries cut in half or less than half as they now are employees of the foreign company. The entire community is affected by these decisions...all in the interest of making sure the stock price never goes down and always goes up. The reason for that? Because the CEO and all of the board is paid in stock options. I can see making a company profitable, but why can't there be some sort of balance that doesn't leave the employees out to dry?

I've been reading up a great deal about large companies, such as Disney, displacing entire department of workers with foreign workers flown in using the H-1B Visa program. The stories told by the displaced workers are heartbreaking. Here is some background: http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/09/07/exclusive-displaced-cast-member-how-disney-replaced-me-other-americans-with-cheap-foreigners-on-h1b-visas/ http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-visas-tech-workers-h1b-20150217-story.html http://www.computerworld.com/article/2879083/southern-california-edison-it-workers-beyond-furious-over-h-1b-replacements.html I don't want to get into the politics of this (that's for another type of board), however I have begun to think about tangible things I could do to send a message to companies that do this. If people were to boycott these companies, I'm wondering if it'd make enough of a difference for these companies to change their ways? I know it'd be hard to boycott ones electric provider, but surely something can be done. I mean, we all get on the band wagon against companies that charge too low of a minimum wage, or who discourage unions, all because they want to save a buck. Shouldn't these large companies laying off loyal, hard working employees to be replaced with someone from a foreign country whom they can pay less also be put in the spotlight?

I got through my divorce and can share some of my thoughts, especially in light of the things you just discovered. I withdrew all the money out of the accounts and put in new accounts in just my name only hours before he went to the bank to do the same thing. I'm so thankful I did that. Eventually, I did have to divide up as part of the divorce settlement, but at least I wasn't left penniless during that time. I'm not saying you should do that, but that advice about buying cash cards at the grocery store was a good idea, if you don't want him to catch wind just yet. However, my ex beat me to the punch with some financial papers. The ones he hadn't hid (or had forgotten about), I immediately hid at a friend's house. Another thing I did was start a spreadsheet to track everything. I kept the spreadsheet on a computer he had no access to. You really do need to think of this as espionage work, in a way. Get your computer in a safe place, or locked up tight somehow. Password protect everything. Whatever you can gain access to, don't hesitate. Be discreet. It does appear he has gotten a head start on you, but that doesn't mean you need to continue being blindsided. Take control. You can do it!! I understand you are feeling like you can't survive without him. I felt that way too. It has now been almost two years and I can't believe how well things have gone for me. You and your children will get through this. There is a light at the end of your tunnel.

My best friend and I kept a notebook of our teen crushes into which we'd glue in torn out star magazine articles (not pathetic at all!). My crushes were: 1. Harrison Ford (top on the list after seeing Raiders and Empire Strikes Back) 2. Kirk Gibson (Detroit Tiger baseball player) 3. Pierce Brosnan 4. Tom Selleck 5. Mel Gibson 6. Tony Geary (Luke on General Hospital) 7. Jack Wagner (also on General Hospital) 8. Rick Springfield (GH again) 9. Bono (still have a crush on him)

...be more than I can afford (my current house actually isn't, but the previous one was) ...lack a mud room and coat closet ...lack a dishwasher ...have a tiny dining room

My sil had a long time stalker who made her life hell for many years. Luckily he was arrested and sent to prison, but was recently released. She doesn't feel safe without her concealed gun in her purse these days. This man could be anywhere, even in someone's house, or following her to someone's house (who knows!). While the man is not supposed to come near her, the trouble with evil people (stalkers, etc...) is that they don't mind breaking the law. Also, I think if I were answering a Craigslist ad and going to someone's house to see the couch or whatever, I'd want a concealed weapon on me. Otherwise, I'd be completely vulnerable if the person turned out to be another Craigslist killer, etc... (I don't have such a license or a gun, however, so won't be answering such ads).

So it's like one of "those who live by the sword shall die by the sword" type of things. I guess they had to have seen it coming then, especially knowing how ravenous both fans and enemies of those in the public spotlight can get. Frankly, I wish all "reality" shows were axed. Anything we see has been edited a million times to show only what they want you to see anyway, so it's far from "reality". Like you say, NOW it's real. And, like everyone's "real" reality it is sometimes ugly and painful to watch.