My dad retired from teaching high school earlier than anticipated because he couldn’t handle the parents anymore. The kids were fine.

She’s adorable! This is my Orion.

Orion was brought to the county shelter as a stray. A mixed breed and a very good boy.

If the answer to with whom my parents have had sex is anything more than “each other”, I don’t want/need to know about it.

Mine was an ‘88 Tempo, passed down from my father and sister. The one below is in better shape than mine was by time I got it.

My 12 year old son is picking up his Invisalign next week. Very few kids in his school have braces, so he didn’t want them. The price difference at his orthodontist is less than 5%. Our insurance covers half the overall cost, so it isn’t a significant difference for us.

Amen! Arizona is having the same problem. I think we’ve had two days with rain this winter, and neither one was much. We have had seven straight days of 80 plus degree days, and that’s all the 10 day forecast contains, too.

Thank you, as always, Mortal for bringing these burners and posts to our attention. As a society we are starting to focus on raising awareness about and ending sexual harassment of women  with the #metoo movement. This is admirable and important, but needs to be taken further. We need to be committed to stopping all…

Dogs, wine, and hockey? You just described the perfect Saturday night.

Many hugs and condolences.

History class the first week of sophomore year of high school.

We enjoy you in the chat room. Intellectualism is not required. We don’t think of you as an “off the cuff weirdo.” You’re you, and that’s who you should be. I often have to step back because I can’t follow all the conversations at once, and sometimes leaving for 15 minutes leads to more missed messages than you (royal…

I like Rosemary Beth. Would they be open to Elizabeth instead? If not, perhaps Grace.

It does take a lot of time, but has been worth it for us so far. Little Grapes is 12 and his sleep issues have started to create problems at school. The true test will come this week when school resumes after winter break. The method I used is posted in a response to Bouncing Betty if you need it.

I sewed three sides of the blanket, leaving open a narrow edge, then sewed columns. I added polypropylene pellets (you can get these at a craft/fabric sore or from Amazon) for one pocket to each cloumn. I put in a line of pins above the pellets to hold them in place while I made the horizontal seam. Repeat…

Mimi and Orion say that is some very good floof.

What about Arizona interests you? I’ve been here for 11 years. I don’t have advice on making such a big move in your situation. My husband and I moved from Oregon when our son was eight months old, but my family is here, which made it easier.

I’m in!

I left my high stress, long hour job two years ago to work at a job with less stress, more flexibility, and less money two years ago. Best decision ever.

Update! Little Grapes loves the weighted blanket I made him for Christmas. He has slept better the last few weeks than he has in years. Now I’m making a smaller, lighter weight one for the couch.