Secular Confessions

[stash]

In Iceland? You get 9 months paid parental leave - 3 months for the mother, 3 for the father, and 3 that you can split however you choose. It's even more in other Nordic countries, I think.

Yep, see, I'm venturing a guess here that the attitude of a people (in general, culturally and legislatively) toward the care and upbringing of children is indicative of the overall culture's support of true education. And by true education, I DO NOT mean a "good school system" I mean the understanding that families and communities are equally, if not more, responsible for the education and well-being of our children. Not the school systems and government organizations. They should be the last line of defense, not the first.

[AmeriBrit]

Like, what's the deal for maternity and paternity leave and support for children?

Here in England, it's currently 9 months paid and you can take an additional 3 months unpaid maternity leave. Dads get 2 weeks paid paternity. They are looking to extend both. I love the work-life balance here. You also get a one off grant when pregnant to use towards healthy eating and a grant for when the baby is born to put in a savings account.

[MammaMia]

Yep, see, I'm venturing a guess here that the attitude of a people (in general, culturally and legislatively) toward the care and upbringing of children is indicative of the overall culture's support of true education. And by true education, I DO NOT mean a "good school system" I mean the understanding that families and communities are equally, if not more, responsible for the education and well-being of our children. Not the school systems and government organizations. They should be the last line of defense, not the first.

We are very lucky here. Iceland is a very child/family friendly place.

[missychrissy]

Here in England, it's currently 9 months paid and you can take an additional 3 months unpaid maternity leave. Dads get 2 weeks paid paternity. They are looking to extend both. I love the work-life balance here. You also get a one off grant when pregnant to use towards healthy eating and a grant for when the baby is born to put in a savings account.

I am jealous.

[MammaMia]

The important question is, who's going to reach 10,000 posts first, me or this thread?

[missychrissy]

Oh, you're close. I think you can win it!!

[MammaMia]

What I really want is to have my 10,000th post be the 10,000th post in this thread.

[missychrissy]

Such lofty goals. That could be tricky.

[sunrider]

The important question is, who's going to reach 10,000 posts first, me or this thread?

Wow, didn't realize we were so close.

You're much closer than this thread, but wouldn't that be awesome?! The rest of us will have the take up the slack to get closer to the 10k mark.

Seriously . . . 10,000 posts in this thread?

[girlwonder]

Go MammaMia!!!

[MammaMia]

Such lofty goals. That could be tricky.

At least then I can say I've achieved something worthwhile during my unemployment (I jest).

Wow, didn't realize we were so close.

You're much closer than this thread, but wouldn't that be awesome?! The rest of us will have the take up the slack to get closer to the 10k mark.

Seriously . . . 10,000 posts in this thread?

I know, right? I love this thread!

[sunrider]

As much as you people post between 5 pm and 8 am, it would not surprise me if we hit 10k by morning. At least on some nights. Cause sometimes I log in and am like, what? Did no one sleep last night?

[Cosmosmom]

Ok lets see if I can help a bit....my house now has electric in it and some of the plumbing and furance/duct work. And I got to see the tub installed and shower. Wanted a huge garden tub but would have cost too much with making the room bigger and basically throwing everything off. But we were able to get a tub that is 2 inches deeper, 4 inches wider and 12 inches longer than standard!

[Cosmosmom]

Took me a while but finally decided on this for the fireplace tile http://daltile.com/series.cfm?series=232 it's the city elm one that we are going with.

Picking tile was so hard, second only to laminate counter tops! Too many choices and combinations. OMG I drove DH nuts.

[Cosmosmom]

Did I mention earlier that I got my tickets to see Bill Maher this morning on a presale. We are in the 10th row from the stage! OMG I'm so excited about this. Way better than a concert to me at least. My sister called me a big nerd.

[addysonreese]

I am in tears right now.

I've been fretting over my hospital bills from last year; collections has been calling and I've had no money to pay them.

I finally got my tax check and paid the first bill of 150.00. Then I called the collections agency for the 410.00 and they said if I didn't start making payments, I was gonna have to go to court. After speaking with my mom, she said she would pay the bill by the end of this month.

Then I called the hospital to ask about the big bill of 3,057.00. I had called before, but got nowhere with the financial aid office. When I called again, the woman said that I'd have to make a payment of 500.00 and then be able to do a payment plan, and I said I'd been unemployed. She said that she needed to speak to someone before giving me more information. I waited, and when she got back she told me that a charity organization paid my bill in full.

Basically.. it's all over. And I am crying so hysterically I can't even seen the screen right now. I cannot believe something that good happened.

[Cosmosmom]

Oh Lauren that is awesome and such a weight off your shoulders!

[addysonreese]

Oh Lauren that is awesome and such a weight off your shoulders!

You would not believe!

I know now that I really shouldn't have left all those bills become friends with the dust bunnies, but I had no money and I figured there was nothing I could do. I am just so thankful that it worked out the way that it did. I knew there were charities around; I just didn't know they took care of what happened!

I guess maybe when I called a few months ago and explained my situation they sent it out for approval to be taken care of by a charity? I have no clue.

And again.. THIS is why I am for the health care bill.

[addysonreese]

Took me a while but finally decided on this for the fireplace tile http://daltile.com/series.cfm?series=232 it's the city elm one that we are going with.

Picking tile was so hard, second only to laminate counter tops! Too many choices and combinations. OMG I drove DH nuts.

hehe Men just don't understand how things have to be when it comes to redecorating or adding certain things.

Did I mention earlier that I got my tickets to see Bill Maher this morning on a presale. We are in the 10th row from the stage! OMG I'm so excited about this. Way better than a concert to me at least. My sister called me a big nerd.

Awesome! When is the show?

[girlwonder]

You would not believe!

I know now that I really shouldn't have left all those bills become friends with the dust bunnies, but I had no money and I figured there was nothing I could do. I am just so thankful that it worked out the way that it did. I knew there were charities around; I just didn't know they took care of what happened!

I guess maybe when I called a few months ago and explained my situation they sent it out for approval to be taken care of by a charity? I have no clue.

And again.. THIS is why I am for the health care bill.

I'm so happy that someone helped you. That is marvelous. Is there any way of finding out which charity so at least you can send them a thank you note or something? Amazing. I was expecting that story to end in a different kind of tears.

[addysonreese]

I'm so happy that someone helped you. That is marvelous. Is there any way of finding out which charity so at least you can send them a thank you note or something? Amazing. I was expecting that story to end in a different kind of tears.

I am not sure. I might be able to google charity organizations in the New York/Queens area. Maybe there is one that specializes in helping people pay hospital bills? I know when I worked for Bank of America, churches that people went to would help pay mortgage payments.. of course we know I don't go to a church, so that's kinda moot

In the beginning, I was crying for sadness. This past hour has been so full of severe ups and downs I'm not sure what to do with myself right now!

[Cosmosmom]

hehe Men just don't understand how things have to be when it comes to redecorating or adding certain things.



Awesome! When is the show?

Well mine is awfully picky about how things look. So basically he wanted me to just present him with my top three choices. But I kept changing my mind and that was what drove him nuts.
But yeah he REALLY cares about things like curb appeal. We couldn't even look at a house if it had beige siding. LOL It HAD to have a living room in front with a big window. Couldn't be a bilevel or multilevel....it quickly became easier to just build. LOL

I'm happy that it's a Saturday night for the show and it's not one of the weekends DH has to work mandatory overtime. We will go down to my parents that weekend as the theater is a north Chicago subburb about 30 minutes from my parents. July 31st.

[girlwonder]

Maybe you could just write it in care of the hospital billing department and ask them to pass it along?

[addysonreese]

Well mine is awfully picky about how things look. So basically he wanted me to just present him with my top three choices. But I kept changing my mind and that was what drove him nuts.
But yeah he REALLY cares about things like curb appeal. We couldn't even look at a house if it had beige siding. LOL It HAD to have a living room in front with a big window. Couldn't be a bilevel or multilevel....it quickly became easier to just build. LOL

I'm happy that it's a Saturday night for the show and it's not one of the weekends DH has to work mandatory overtime. We will go down to my parents that weekend as the theater is a north Chicago subburb about 30 minutes from my parents. July 31st.

Awesome! I've never been to a real comedy show.. although I did catch a small one in NYC.. and I laughed so hard that night. My mom got tickets to see Robin Williams, and I was totally jealous.

It's kinda funny that he's picky about the house and how it looks, although good in a way. You definitely don't want someone who's just gonna go "Eh, whatever," about everything. I think that's DBF sometimes.

Maybe you could just write it in care of the hospital billing department and ask them to pass it along?

I'm definitely going to do that. It's a really wonderful thing what happened, and I'm so glad there are places like that out there that help situations like mine.

[girlwonder]

Comedy shows are a lot of fun. Usually if you go during the week or on Sunday, the cover charge is less, though I think they always have the 2 drink minimum.

You are in Arlington, right? http://www.hyenascomedynightclub.com/

I worked a few nights here. The two comedians I know coming up are Ben Creed in May and J.R. Brow in June (JR and I worked together a lot - we had the same home club).

You should go - get a sitter and go forget about everything for a while. Your stomach will hurt from laughing!

Fun fact: Kelly Clarkson worked as a cocktail waitress at the comedy club in Ft. Worth before she hit it big!

[addysonreese]

Comedy shows are a lot of fun. Usually if you go during the week or on Sunday, the cover charge is less, though I think they always have the 2 drink minimum.

You are in Arlington, right? http://www.hyenascomedynightclub.com/

I worked a few nights here. The two comedians I know coming up are Ben Creed in May and J.R. Brow in June (JR and I worked together a lot - we had the same home club).

You should go - get a sitter and go forget about everything for a while. Your stomach will hurt from laughing!

Fun fact: Kelly Clarkson worked as a cocktail waitress at the comedy club in Ft. Worth before she hit it big!

You know what's hilarious? Clinton HAS that number from that club in his phone. He used to go all the time!

I actually don't have any children so there's no sitter.. so that's taken care of. Clinton's been meaning to take me there.. and also find some open mic nights to do. He's been writing down stuff he wants to use in a comedy sketch when he actually gets the motivation to go and compete in one. I think he's hilarious, but I'm sorta biased there, haha.

That's really cool about Kelly Clarkson. I had no idea she was from Texas.

[Cosmosmom]

Awesome! I've never been to a real comedy show.. although I did catch a small one in NYC.. and I laughed so hard that night. My mom got tickets to see Robin Williams, and I was totally jealous.

It's kinda funny that he's picky about the house and how it looks, although good in a way. You definitely don't want someone who's just gonna go "Eh, whatever," about everything. I think that's DBF sometimes.

.

When we lived in Milwaukee, there was a club near the house and we went fairly often (I usually had free tickets and just had to pay a cover of two drinks a person). It was usually good but not always and were smaller names.

This is really cool because he's a big name and someone that we both just love and make a point to watch every week on HBO. And this one we are going to is in a fancy theater...I haven't been there before but my parents have and really like it. In fact that was how I found out about the show....my dad must be on the mailing list and asked me if that wasn't that guy that we liked.

Oh yeah I knew he was picky about decorating and looks of things...thank god we have similar taste!!!
It was funny, for about the first two years we were together it was always, whatever you want to me...we always did what I wanted and I got what I wanted. When several years into it, he started saying what he wanted once in a while, I was mad! Took me a bit of getting used to. Though luckily most of the time we agree on what to do or get.

[Gwenn]

Bridget, I'm so sorry about your mom.

Lauren, that is so amazing about your bill being paid. I would be really emotional about it too.

[girlwonder]

Bridget

[shutterbird]

BLAH BLAH BLAH. I'll stop talking to myself now.