Secular Confessions

[AmeriBrit]

LOL, Myles....I wondered where you were!

Chrissy, your post made me laugh, too, about Doug, the Brit friend. Is he Northern or Southern English? The accents here are even more varied than American ones by region....people here that live like 3 miles apart will argue over what to call what I would call a hamburger bun either a bap, breadcake, a scuffler or a teacake! English people are craaaazy! But I do think the healthcare is pretty good, not great but it does the job for the most part. Healthcare and holiday entitlement are a biggy for us for staying in Europe.

Just to update y'all on Travis and school. Last week, he didn't cry at all, so he's in the swing of things now! And he only cried a little today because he didn't see me wave to him at the window, so that upset him when I actually left. He's been taking a tiny little stuffed dog with him from home, so I asked him if he'd like to try to leave the dog at home tomorrow and he said he's going to try....I'm so proud of him! My latest struggle with him is to get him to eat anything other than peanut butter sandwiches...he can be so picky sometimes! Argh.

[missychrissy]

I didn't even think to ask him which part of England he was from. The poor guy...I can only imagine what he really thought of me, but he took it in stride and laughed in a friendly way at this crazy drunk American.

I'm so happy that Travis is having an easier time with school. I remember very well how heart wrenching it is to leave them when they're upset. It's easily one of the most difficult parts of being a mom.

[AbbeysMom]

Myles! Sorry you've been sick, it seems like everyone around here has a cold too. And I think I heard eye twitches were caused by dehydration?

Erin, Robotics sounds awesome! I'm so impressed with your drive to make something happen at your school just so your son (and kids like him) would have the opportunity to be involved with science and math in a fun/hands on extracurricular group. Activities like that change kids lives. And it's not surprising to me that your son is better at figuring things out than other kids who grew up with i-everythings. IMO Apple's intuitive GUI creates an end-user curse where people don't understand anything behind the machine, they just act like computers are pseudo-sentient and can't understand why "my computer hates me" when it freezes and needs updating or a new hard drive or something. I heard that alot when I was teaching, and it made me worried for the next generation of kids.

[Gwenn]

Erin, that's awesome about the robotics! My niece plans to major in robotics engineering when she starts college. She's been taking robotics in high school and really enjoys it. She is very smart. Too bad she's 7 years older than Ky!

I finally went to get my knee checked out by the doctor this weekend, and the doctor at the workman's comp place said she thinks I have a slight tear in my meniscus and sprained muscles. DH doesn't believe it and got out his sports injury textbook and just doesn't believe it's my meniscus because the book said it would have made a sound when it was injured - which it didn't. He thought it was a ligament, but wasn't certain which one. Went into work today and my OT friend (who worked in a joint injury wing at a hospital before she moved here) looked at it and said immediately she didn't think it was my meniscus. I told her where it hurt, she moved it, and 3 seconds later she declared it was my MCL. I believe her, partly because she was so sure of herself and partly because she said the same thing DH's sports injury book. She recommended a great PT and I called the HR department to see if I could go to her PT and turns out he is part of the network the district uses, so no issues for me to see him. I'm just waiting for them to get my paperwork approved - the doctor wanted me to get PT three times this week and I don't know how that is going to happen if I haven't scheduled the first session yet. Let's hope it comes together because the pain is getting worse every day.

[Bridget]

I'm so glad your friend was able to look at if for you. And BOO on dr's who do not take their time/know what they're doing/care.

[Bridget]

I just wanted to let y'all know that I went to the library today to settle up my fines after I received a letter and that I will never repeat the amount that my fines are at right now.

I shall take it to my grave.

[3andMe]

Gwenn, I tore my meniscus once and it made a popping sound and it FELT like it made a popping sound. I also had an x-ray to confirm it, though. Are you not getting any diagnostic testing?

Bridget, I believe that is officially known as taunting.

Robotics sounds awfully cool, and I think I will not let DS know about it for a long while, because he has become so enamored of his books about machines that he has started pretending he is a machine and is making machine noises all the time and is oftentimes a car crusher and will just start snapping his hands closed on my hair when I'm reading bedtime stories (annoying!!!) or is a giant excavator or some other machine. It's hard for him to just be a boy. Even when we play 20 questions at dinner, he only chooses machines.

Mylah, I'm sorry to hear you've been sick. It seems like this season of illness is hitting hard and fast already. My neighbor across the street just told me her son (same age as baby S.) just got out of the hospital for pneumonia. Five days he was in there.

[Gwenn]

Gwenn, I tore my meniscus once and it made a popping sound and it FELT like it made a popping sound. I also had an x-ray to confirm it, though. Are you not getting any diagnostic testing?

No, stupid doctor did not order ANY testing and didn't seem too sure what the problem was. Just ordered three sessions of PT and to report back in a week. I'm pretty annoyed about it, to be honest. I didn't realize a torn meniscus would show on an x-ray - now I'm even more annoyed.

Good news is, if I do get to see my friend's PT, she said he was the best PT she's ever worked with. Hopefully that will make up for the doctor. DH wants me to see his acupuncturist/Chinese medicine doctor but the jury is still out on that for me.

[3andMe]

I forgot to add that I was invited to a friend's 40th birthday party and it's a lingerie pillow fight theme. For a guy. His wife is hosting it. I was thinking that it's awfully sweet of her, but there is probably nothing that would make ME feel older on my 40th birthday than trying to recapture the exuberance of youth and seeing a bunch of half-naked middle-aged people in lingerie, having a pillow fight.

We are not going. We are in conflict with a four-year-old birthday party.

[Gwenn]

I forgot to add that I was invited to a friend's 40th birthday party and it's a lingerie pillow fight theme. For a guy. His wife is hosting it. I was thinking that it's awfully sweet of her, but there is probably nothing that would make ME feel older on my 40th birthday than trying to recapture the exuberance of youth and seeing a bunch of half-naked middle-aged people in lingerie, having a pillow fight.

We are not going. We are in conflict with a four-year-old birthday party.

Being well on my way to middle age myself, I heartily agree with that statement. Not something I would enjoy.

ETA: Particularly after picturing myself in lingerie and my knee brace, hobbling around with an injured MCL.

[Bridget]

That lingerie party sounds like a joke! It sounds like an Adam Sandler movie.

Savana has been asking me a lot of questions about slavery. I read her a book last night from a little girl's prespective, rubbing salve on her mama's hands that are bleeding after a long day in the field. In the story the mama sends the girl away in the middle of the night with some people who are leaving via underground railroad. She stays behind and it's very very sad.
When I was tucking Savana into bed she said, "Mom, I don't think I'm quite ready to learn about slaves yet. I need to wait until I am a little older because I'm not old enough to understand it and it makes me feel like the whole world is scary."

[missychrissy]

Mandy, I'm glad you finally got it checked, but I thought you were supposed to do it sooner? Sorry, the mom in me had to. I don't know what to say about the apparently inept dr though. Ugh.

Hope you're feeling better Myles. I'm sporting a kickass cold myself right now. I forgot my Dayquil too, so it's going to be a long day.

When I was tucking Savana into bed she said, "Mom, I don't think I'm quite ready to learn about slaves yet. I need to wait until I am a little older because I'm not old enough to understand it and it makes me feel like the whole world is scary."

I'm always blown away by how incredibly insightful and self-knowing Savana is.

I bought a car last night. I didn't trade my VW Cabrio either (which I'm tremendously happy about). I pick it up tonight. This is a first for me...I've never gotten a loan for a car before. And I did it without a cosigner. Considering how the banks are supposed to be stricter and I have a bankruptcy on my credit, I was surprised it went through.

[Ky'sMom]

Congrats on the new car Chrissy!!! People have told me it is easier now to get a car loan than it used to be before the recession and economic downturn. I know here on the radio there is a place that advertises that they can get you a 3.9% APR for a new car loan even if you just have a 550 credit score which is just crazy to me!

And poor Savanna regarding slavery. I remember being shocked reading about slavery as well. I used to walk to the library by myself at 6 years old and read books because we had large fines as well (and I will admit that right now I have a fine of $65 and Ky has a fine of $35, we are horrible library users and our library will actually let you take out books even if you have a fine up to $20. I am going to go and pay them both though this week and I just am going to consider the fines a donation to our library system LOL). But I was very saddened by the thought of slavery. I was and still am one of those people though who get stuck on a subject so I read every book in our neighborhood library about slaves and slavery and after a while it was very uplifting to me to see that so many people of all backgrounds worked and lobbied for abolition. Savanna seems like such a sweet souled girl. Ky was and is very sweet and sensitive like that (even though he doesn't want me saying he is my sweet baby boy, but I still say it because he is). He only recently has been able to watch sad movies or discuss or read about certain subjects and some things still bother him. I was watching a PBS documentary recently about the Rwanda genocide in the 1994 and it was too disturbing for him. I knew it would be so I turned it off when he came into the room but he said he wanted to watch it and after about 2 minutes I could tell it was too much for him. DH is 39 and still cannot watch certain documentaries or news stories that are sad or speak of children suffering especially.

Myles, sorry you are not feeling well. I hope you are better today. And too bad you are a twitching. I hate it when my eye twitches. Once my eye and my leg were twitching, it felt like they were having a party or something. I was also told it was due to dehydration and a lack of some vitamin I can't remember. Imagining you with a taped open eye though made me giggle!

R sounds so funny L!! If he were here we'd let him join in on robotics. All of the younger siblings participate as much as they can, especially with building the robot and board. They enjoy it. Plus all siblings are automatically admitted into our school so we want them to have a head start on the other kids so by the time they are in the FLL club we will dominate our region.

Erin

[3andMe]

Congrats on the new car, Chrissy! What is it?

Bridget, what book have you been reading? Slavery is something adults have a hard time understanding, too. When I was little I thought that I would grow up and somehow know all of the answers. I remember even at 17 asking a friend who was turning 30 how it felt to be that old and being able to feel secure, and he laughed and said he didn't feel any different than he did when he was my age, but that he just had a few more years of experience to help him handle situations.

I've been reading The Boxcar Children to mine. I never read the books when I was little, and so far, I have to say I like it and the twins are enjoying it more than most of our chapter books so far. We just finished Book 1. They were written in the 40's and I haven't had to explain anything that is terribly dated. I thought my kids were going to be worried about the children's parents being dead, but they haven't asked about that at all. The books espouse hard work, kindness and self-reliance, and I like how they make do and are happy with what they have. The kids make a home from an old boxcar and things they find in a nearby dump.

[missychrissy]

I remember even at 17 asking a friend who was turning 30 how it felt to be that old and being able to feel secure, and he laughed and said he didn't feel any different than he did when he was my age, but that he just had a few more years of experience to help him handle situations.

That's essentially how I explain "being old" to my kids too. I don't really feel any different than I did when I was 16. I just have more stories.

The car I got is just a Suzuki SL7. It's nothing to brag about, but has white leather interior and seats 7 and has AWD. I ended up taking pictures of the muscle cars they had on display and totally forgot to take a picture of my new-to-me car.

I forgot to at the idea of 40-somethings having a lingerie pillow fightin party. I kinda like the concept, but it would totally depend on who was gonna be there. Definitely something I'd only wanna do with really close friends. Like maybe the secular mommas.

[girlwonder]

I loved the Boxcar Kids when I was little. And double yuck to middle-aged lingerie pillow fight.

[Bridget]

We just picked up the Boxcar Children series at goodwill! But it's missing the first one so I want to pick that one up before we start. I also loved the series.
The book is called The Most Loved in all the World by Tonya Cherie Hegamin. It is very sad and I had tears in my eyes as well. The mama makes a quilt with a cabin "means a place is safe", a star "the brightest in the sky; it's for you to follow, a tree with green on one side "the moss should only be growin' the direction you are headed", and a happy little girl "is the most loved in all the world". Heartwrenching.
I did tell Savana that slavery will never make sense no matter how old she is and that it still makes me very sad even though I am 30 years older than her. But I remember being a little girl and wishing I didn't know certain things that made me have scary thoughts when I lay in bed at night.

[Cosmosmom]

I don't think of myself as middle-aged yet but I don't even have lingerie! I'm liberal and all but personally am very modest. I would have to show up in granny nightgown or my matching long sleeved ones with pants.

Congrats on the new car Chrissy!

Gwen, was that a family doc you saw? For something like that, I would want to see an ortho doc and would want to make sure some dx tests were done.

Myles, hope you are feeling better today. You too Chrissy.

Chrissy, hope that you get an Indian summer and get what we are having next week....this week is upper 70's and even some low 80's! I would prefer the 64 that we should be having but the sunshine is nice. I don't really like winter either. Basically I don't like driving in snow and our winter is kind of long. But I have to say that it can be awfully pretty when it's all crystal looking. And the sky can be such a beautiful blue in January when it's -10 outside.

Um, yeah I tend to run up fines at the library also. DH teases me about that since he thinks being a librarian I should know better! LOL I usually renew or return though before it gets over $1 and I just consider it a donation. We have no good excuse because in my town there are return boxes for the library at the grocery stores!

[daylilies]

Wow, I thought having a couple bucks for a library fine was bad ;) Our library lets you take out books even if you have a fine too. I always feel guilty about that though so I try not to let him take out more if we already have a fine, or a bunch at home.

We just finished one of the Oz books so we'll go back today to get another one. They're really over his head I think, but he seems to enjoy them, so I guess we'll keep it up!

[missychrissy]

The first time I owned lingerie was for my boudoir photos, and that was the only time I wore it.

[3andMe]

I have actually been to another lingerie party, but it was a good many years ago. My sister likes to throw themed birthday parties with dress codes. Most of her birthday parties were formal attire, but one year, maybe 10 years ago, she had a lingerie party.

I have also been to a party where there was a kiddie pool set up for naked chocolate pudding wrestling, but I did not participate.

[Bridget]

Erin, I feel so good to read that you have large library fines. You are so responsible with money! I have a few items I'm being charged for replacing because I cannot find them. If I find them today or tomorrow then I can bring them in and reduce my fine before I pay it off. I still insist that it's worth it even if I have to pay this ridiculous fine because we use the library a lot.

Sometimes I have to wonder what reality dbf's mom is living in. While she was here I'm sure she could see that there were certain domestic tasks that he did not participate in. One day she came up to me with a basket full of my clean clothes that she had washed and folded and she said, "You are busy so bring these to Mark and aske him to put them away for you." I just silently took them and put them away myself later. Then I sent her an email this morning and mentioned that Kai has been asking about apple pie since she left. She made a couple of pies from scratch with butter crust and they were drool worthy. I told her I was going to pick up some crusts from the health food store so they were handmade but would not compare to hers. She just sent me an email saying that she was gonig to email Mark the directions for the apple pie crust so that he could bake pies in his spare time.

[missychrissy]

It would be funny if he did make them.

[Bridget]

It would be awesome. He would totally get laid for that.

[missychrissy]

lmao!!

[daylilies]

DH made a pecan pie last week, home made crust and all. It was delicious. I can't recall if he got laid specifically for that or not though.

[Ky'sMom]

LOL Bridget! Makes me want to whisper to your DBF (you know she'll give you some if you make her some pie!!) LOL!

I am pretty bad when it comes to returning library items. Ky also lost a couple books. One, when I asked what it was, I was told its description was "paperback." I'm like WTF!!! That does not help me find it. I was ill about a year ago and wasn't able to take about 20 books back that we had for about a month, which was how my fine got so high. Ky lost 2 books, which was how his fine got so high. I found one of the ones he lost so will take that back and it will shave off $10 off his fine. I am thinking of asking them for some sort of pardon for mine, like I'll pay half of it. I mean I was sick. DH wouldn't take them back for me at the time, he was being a butt head when I asked him and I forgot about it until it was $65.

Erin

[Cosmosmom]

My DH doesn't cook really at all. He can make homemade pizza (and does a fantastic job on the crust) but that is about it. But he cleans the toilets so that makes up for a lot. Making a pie crust isn't hard at all except the rolling it out.....DBF should totally do it. I got DH to help roll it out to since....and than I told him how cute he looks working in the kitchen.

I think that we charge $150 for a lost book, no matter what the book costs. A lot of that is staff time for processing a book into the system again and well some of our books cost way more than that so it balances out. But we don't charge any late fees....we just REALLY want the books back. Some DVDS can cost us over a thousand or more.
I borrow pretty regularly from one library and if the book is lost or damaged, it's automatically $225, audiovisual items are $375.
I don't know what the fees are at the public library but i think that they tend to be more forgiving. Except for iPads which my public one is now lending. Those the late fee is $10 a day, if you stick it in a return slot, that is another $25 and if you lose or damage it, it's $1,020 (which is almost double what they cost).

[daylilies]

While we're talking about libraries...how much would I have to donate so they can replace their entire children's dvd collection? Almost every single dvd we get does not work at all or skips a lot. I used to tell someone when we return it but I don't think they actually do anything about it.

[Cosmosmom]

While we're talking about libraries...how much would I have to donate so they can replace their entire children's dvd collection? Almost every single dvd we get does not work at all or skips a lot. I used to tell someone when we return it but I don't think they actually do anything about it.

too many variables...depends on how many DVD's there, are they still easy to get, how much staff time does it take to process them. I know for us DVD's are way expensive but it's not like we are buying Lion King....and in fact aren't buying much anymore at all because the stupid publishers charge way too much for them. I mean we can a DVD for 1-2K, sometimes even more.....OR we can get a ton of books and audio books...guess which one wins?

I know if we get an item back that doesn't work, we test it out and try to clean it....we do a LOT of audio books on CD. Sometimes we can get a replacement, sometimes we can't.