silverspoons

I was shocked that the son was so young. I thought he was at least 25. He looked so defeated. I was so hoping when she checked in the hospital to lose weight before the surgery , he was at home posting an ad for a girlfriend. I know he must feel obligated but he is 19 or 20 now so he could leave. He might have had a crappy childhood, but nothing is stopping him for renting a room, getting a job(even if it is minimum wage) and taking a few community college classes and getting a life of his own. My husband has a cousin that is over 550lbs and she was put in a care center at age 33 after she was bedridden. Her son wanted to finish high school and go to college out of state and her mom couldn't drive anymore. We visited her a few times and I talked to the nurse and she said maybe 1 in 15-20 patients are in this long term care center are under 40 because of weight or weight related complications. I wonder if Paulie saw that Penny was the most talked about episode last year and she wanted to be Penny 2.0 for the attention? I hope she didn't do this show and surgery for more publicity and waste so many resources. It is not really the $743 (or whatever SSI pays in 2015) a month. It is the FULL medical with NO deductibles, food stamps, paid housing and utilities, the durable medical supplies like the beds and wheelchair, transportation vouchers, the van that picks her up, and all the other extras that give her a better life then some full time working women. How many Americans after paying for housing, utilities, medical , food and transportation have $743 left over every month? Sadly there are many who don't.

I wonder if any of these kids plays sports or are into non-academic activities? My oldest has high functioning autism and I feel like he has better social skills then a lot of the kids in my daughter's gifted group. So many of the gifted kids are clueless about sports, pop culture, and how the real world operates it is amazing. There is one very smart Asian child in my daughter's group who really wants to play basketball but the parents say no. They have had a college goal since birth basically and that is their entire life. The family doesn't celebrate birthdays or holidays, all gifts are attached to good grades. I've always felt like the most successful kids are in an upper-middle tier not the super gifted group. I always tell my daughter I would rather see a 95 on a test and have her have sleepovers, play sports and be into her various art medias then be a 100% student with no life outside of studies. As much as I am not a fan of the Duggar-Graham lifestyle I bet he does get more outside activites. He is active at his church and has lots of siblings and is in mainstream public school. I can see him shooting hoops with church friends. I have a hard time believing any of the other finalists do much outside of study. My daughter made it to the next round of the national history fair and the science Olympiad so we will have to travel in the next few weeks. I am going to watch more closely the parents and kids. I'm still a bit suspect about this competition. If you look up the national history fair or Science Olympiad or geography or spelling bees, there is lots of information and almost every public has an opportunity to have kids participate. This Intelligence Competition for Child genius seems very made for tv? Again I'm trying to avoid spoilers but I did see early 2014 casting calls for kids for the show.

My daughter is in her school's gifted group and her teacher talked to the class about the show. My daughter is only 1 of 3 kids that are allowed any tv in the group(religion mixed with Tiger Moms) so she volunteered to watch the show and tell what she thought. She and I wondered are the questions all from a packet or study guide or random. My daughter has been in several bees and they have given her large packets of information and all the questions come from those packets. We both felt like this is what is happening her so besides that one logic? round(the one where they had to guess the number of triangles) the rest is really just a memory game. The kid that won the geography bee my daughter was in slowly pronounced words, you could tell he didn't really know the meaning of the answer and was just memorizing facts. My daughter group is the top 20 kids out of over 2000 and they fall into two groups, kids that work hard and come from homes that have no tv/limited internet/no sports, usually just music lessons and academics. These kids can pass a test but have little creativity and pop quizzes are not always passed with ease. There are a few kids that fall into the creative gifted group, ones that explore art, travel, are more outgoing and well rounded. It is easily seen on certain benchmark type tests. We live in an rural area with one religion representing 99% of the student body and few kids have traveled much. The benchmark on world religions had only 2 kids pass was very telling. I have watched this group through the years and there is a place for each of them, being great at memorizing and taking advanced math and science will land you a decent future. I am confused about this competition in general. I wanted to read up on it without spoilers since I believe it was taped last summer. There was a lot on Graham who seem to indicate he flew to California twice only, even thought he show edits him being home between rounds? His mom was complaining about missing the family but Graham says it was the first time his siblings flew on a plane. Unlike the other contestants Graham's number one goal in life is to be a dad to 6 kids (Wondering if they are quiverfull like the Duggars). I also can't see Ryan's parents moving to a hotel for 10 weeks to help him get the edge. Why would the kids be asked 30 questions a week and sent home to study for a week. This had to be filmed over just a few days or 1 week? While I question the editing, It isn't a bad show to tweens to watch. I predict Vanya wins unless there are some odd subjects coming up. She has the memorizing skills and the experience.

This is what bothers me so much as well. I developed severe POTS/OI (basically very low blood pressure & high pulse rate) 5 years ago and I would faint just getting up to go to the bathroom. While waiting to see the Mayo clinic I read so many stories of either women being bedridden or women being so creative about ways to still get out and live life. I refused to let my condition keep me in bed especially when it came to my kids. I remember rolling myself into the side door of the school and grabbing the guidance counsuler's leg to make sure my child got into the classes they needed. I would have my husband help me in the back of my kid's orchestra performances after the started and it was dark and I would put my feet up and lay across the back seats. I refused to miss a minute of my kids lives. Along with EDS my life hurt but it was going to hurt whether I was sitting in bed or out living. Penny can go out in a wheelchair even if she claims it hurts. She is lucky, she has that option. While I do not think Liam should be Penny's crutch , I do believe that he could be the biggest help to get her out of bed. I was surprised that it was kids that helped me as become as functional as possible. Kids are the best cheerleaders. Kids like to exercise along side of you. They are happy for you when you make small progress. I live 8 houses from the school and the first time I was able to walk to the school, there was a playground full of kids cheering for me. It is obvious that Penny is happy with her life. I look at boards where bedridden people are trading tips and asking for help in how to do everything from cook a meal to go to Disneyland. Penny is fine with being in bed. She doesn't want more. I wonder if Liam and Edgar want more or are allowed more(like can Edgar take Liam to an amusement park? or fishing?).

My husband and I make a bet before every episode on what Scott will find in his never before seen foreclosure. So far we have seen aliens, dog house, cat house, drug house, bee house, coyote house, fake gyn house, skateboarders house, chop shop house, preschool house... This staging is more fake then the pretend budget. I have walked through plenty of foreclosures in UT/NV and with the exception of a very few the bank tries to at least clean up the house to get the most money. The banks are not putting in granite but I have known several people who have worked for banks cleaning up for foreclosures here, just basic junk removal and cleaning. My other issue with Scott is add up his costs and compare to the final cost, the numbers are VERY far apart. At the end of the episode he will say he spent 25-30k on the flip but Amy's floors, cabinets and tile add up to 25k so what about the landscaping, paint, bathrooms, electrical..everything else??? I have a feeling he uses some insurance money to pay for some of the upgrades. Notice how a pipe bursts or a toilet is clogged and over flows or how many many break ins he has? I don't know if Scott does this but I have known other flippers and contractors that file exaggerated claims and use the money for the upgrades. It would explain how he quotes the viewers $50k+ in upgrades but the final cost is $25kish. I also wonder how every episode ends in a fist day offer of full price or over from 1 open house. Not possible. Last year I saw local post that 2 of the home Scott claimed to have sold full price on the first day in Summerlin were still on the market with prices reduced. It was also rumored some of the flips aren't even his. I take the Vegas show as entertainment. I laugh at what he finds in the house and like to see how the neighborhoods are portrayed (or misrepresented). Scott is no different then Armando or the Boston guys, they are all selling books and seminars and basically A&E is helping them become rich off of hooking people in seminars not from them flipping houses.

I wore slipper socks when needed, they have rubber grippers on the bottom so they are not slippery. Some of the slipper socks are actually very thick so they would add some protection. I can't believe how they no shoes rule is not enforced these days. My daughter is in a gifted group and was working on a group project so I had 5 of the other gifted kids at my house. My background includes working on IEP's and after spending time with these gifted kids over the last 2 years, many are more socially awkward and quirky then kids with learning disabilities. While working on the project , I decided to get the kids pizza and treats. We loaded into the car and I arrive at the pizza place to find 3 of these kids forgot their shoes. One had her head in a book, and the other 2 just forgot because they were engrossed in some science debate. I told them to go out to the car and wait while I got the pizza but the pizza place said they could stay. Then I ran into target and I told them to stay outside and they came and target didn't care. I ended up giving my daughter $3 to go to Michaels and get $1 flip flops because I was not only embaressed but worried about injury. I was shocked no store cared even when I asked the manager.

I do not think the call center they showed on UB is the main call center. The main one is in Utah and Armando was shown visiting it during an episode of flip this house which I think they gave him a birthday cake? Unlike the run down Texas location, The location in Draper Utah is full of good looking clean cut Utah men who IMO (from hearing stories of people who have worked there) are returned missionaries or recent college grads with young families that are hungry for fast money to get the middle class dream by 25. They sell coaching and mentoring on top of the 40-50k bus tours. There are actual people who are out well over 100k between the bus tour and then getting coaching/mentoring by the Utah center. The base salary is low $10-12 an hour but if you can close there is big bucks for employees. My daughter came in and saw Armando's UB and was laughing at his body double. I explained to her the episode and then she said, "Did Armando make like 5 million dollars for that 3 day seminar?". She tried to count the people and I would guess there was 100 or more people at 45-50k+ each so that is 5 million or more for 3 days. Granted he rents a space, pays some employees, and taxes but he must make at least 2.5 million or more for 3 days!! I think Armando went too far showing his girlfriend last night. One of the reason's some people were drawn to him was he was a "normal guy" with a wife and kid that started poor with no college education. I think dropping the wife and kid for a blond sex toy will be one downfall for him. In his head he thinks people want to be around him because he is rich and cool. I think he has gotten so far from reality. A & E and FYI should stop rerunning flip that house. As long as they rerun the show, viewers will still be drawn to the hardworking family Armando they see(acting) on the show and may not realize that was 5 years ago.

I haven't watched UB in a few years and was shocked to see Armando on the show. I followed the complaints and stories of those scammed after watching him on flip that house. I remember he had a big call center in Utah. Recently 2 Utah Attorney General's were brought up on charges by the FBI. Both of these AG's took lots of money and perks from several different coaching service call centers in exchange for protection. Yes, Armando gave big contributions to these men. I always thought something like an FBI investigation could bring him down. There have been so many people obviously ripped off by Armando that have never been able to get a penny back. I can't imagine how all his $1500 and $40-50k VIP customers feel seeing him on tv flaunting his wealth. I also wondered how they picked the one women from the 40k seminar to talk to Armando. I wondered why a good looking women at a 40k seminar would want to go out to lunch with the gross looking undercover Armando? Wouldn't she want to go to lunch with a well dressed business man? a respected contractor? anyone that she could network with or maybe learn something from? Instead she goes out with Armando. Also what about the over 100+ people that paid 40k for the bus tour. They all didn't get interest free loans. It still baffles me that anyone would pay 40-50k for 3 days on a bus tour and not spend it on buying their first property. The bus tours are all in southern California. How is that suppose to be relevant to someone from Detroit , Boston, Billings... it isn't, rental markets, populations, and contractors all work so differently in different regions of our country.

I wondered why she could not have worn fuzzy/slipper socks at least. I have EDS and 5 years ago I was unable to get my left foot into any type of shoes. My doctor was more focused on my vascular issues and "shoe problem" he didn't seem to care about. I went through over 100 pairs of fuzzy slipper socks while waiting to find a solution. I bought the socks in black and wore dark pants or a long skirt when I went to the doctors office or my kids school. I was finally able to get a clog mule type shoe by mail order and I was so happy to feel normal again. While waiting for the shoes I didn't dare go to a store or park. It was not only the fear of dirt but what if I got cut or hurt. I also wondered when Amber walked on the pavement, were her feet so callused that she didn't feel the heat? As for Rowdy, I was happy she had some support outside of her family. I do wonder what will happen when/if she is at her goal weight, active, working or going to school? Will she want to explore her options with other men? Will Rowdy not find her attractive as a thinner women? Will she feel guilty and stay with him?

What "condition" did Penny claim to have to need the oxygen? It doesn't make sense if she was 450lbs and met Edgar at a bar and was able to drive. She also was able to get married and pregnant at about the same weight she is now. I wonder if she got addicted to the care Edgar gave her while pregnant? I would think she would have been on some type of bed rest during the end. I was on bed rest for several months at the end of my pregnancy and while it drove me crazy, I'll admit my husband doing all the cooking and cleaning an getting me anything I wanted was kind of nice. I could not wait to get out and drive again but maybe Penny got addicted to Edgar's care? Maybe Edgar got addicted to be a caregiver? Is there any timeline to how soon after Liam was born that Penny was bedridden?

It seems like Wendy's audience is going over the top more then usual and it is getting annoying to me, especially when it is taking up the first 3 or so minutes of the show to introduce her. I went to her first Vegas show. I lived through many 80's metal concerts but the 45 minutes before Wendy came out were so loud and crazy. I almost had to leave because it was so loud. Her DJ and crew would not let Wendy come out until we were loud enough and they had a good shot of it. We had to shoot the "How You Doin" a few times to get it perfect.

Looking at those twitter pics of Penny, is she still on oxygen? Dr Now said she didn't need it in the first place. How many years can insurnace(Medicare or whatever source is paying) can they justify oxygen tanks for someone who doesn't need it?

I think he is gifted as a vascular surgeon. It takes a great work ethic to stand on your feet for 4-6-8-12 hours tying off blood vessels. I do think some of what we see is insurance driven and I do think Dr. Now knows those insurance rules well and makes sure he going to get paid before he operates or takes on a case. While I think he cares about his patients in a way , he cares about money as well. I think when he mentions lose 25lbs before surgery to some and 50lbs to others or different amounts to lose before skin surgery it has to do with insurnace paying more then his personal opinion. I think Im torn because he is still hard working at 70 years old and could easily retire. So is he in it for the money/fame or for the people? I have read conflicting stories from he tries to recruit certain patients that have the high paying imsurnace to stories that he saved someone life. He certainly is not as transparent as other TLC stars.

I don't think any of these couples are getting rich from TLC. I have spent too much time researching TLC contracts and they pay lousy. The pay gets better if you have a long standing series but more of the income even for those individuals are in the free perks not salary. My guess is that each couple got 10k to spilt. 10k is enough to help Daya get into a standard apartment complex and out from under the roommates. I would assume it would be a nice start for Danny and Amy. I somehow doubt 10k (or 5k each in their case since I doubt money will be communal) would pay off Dani's debt. I saw that bedroom set and though Ashley furniture's no payments till...and it probably cost her 3-4k. I could see her having other easy to add up debts like fingerhut, store credit cards and just being 30-60-90 days behind on general bills. What I would like to know is what Happened with Dani/Mo between days 80-wedding day. All the other couples we have seen bits and pieces of the 90 days counting down. A big chunk of Dani/Mo is missing. Their story starts at the airport and the first 2-3 days of meeting people and then bamm we are at the wedding. I kind of feel Mo might have lived elsewhere for 2 months or travelled. He could tell Dani since he could not work and didn't want to sit in the crowded apartment , he wanted to visit NYC or some larger city with more people of his faith or whatever his excuse would be. I just think something is missing. I hope TLC will have some unaired footage special after the season is over. I would much rather seee that then some holi-day-athon of Teresea or couponing.

Remember Amy and Danny met at a Bible college. Its program has some simliarites to the Duggar's ATI. For Amy's family to be able be able to send her to an expensive program abroad they must be from the upper level of their church community. It makes me upset that they met at a Bible college and share the same faith and belief system yet Danny's dad disapproves? Would he rather have a white finace that has had a kid out of welock, purple hair and is atheist? I see Danny's family like the Dugars in another way. It is fine for Danny to go to bible college abroad, do missionary work, convert anyone to Christianity but don't marry them. There is a very sick wrong movement amoung some of these "Christian" groups to be having large family to be God's white army. My neighbor's son went to South Africa on his LDS mission and returned to marry a young lady from there. Her close family was able to come here to see her marry in the temple. The son went back and they lived in South Africa for her to finish grad school. They just moved back here. She is lovely, so bright and professional. He works selling cars. It hurts to see her having babies and not using her degree living in her in laws basement while her husband spent 2 years on a mission , has a few college credits and sells cars but they seem happy and in love and both have strong faith.

I wasn't sure where to post this since there is no Polygamy USA thread. I assumed most people who have seen my 5 wives and sister wives have watched polygamy USA? I happen to see the Cawley family out shopping last week. I did not see Rose Marie with them and wondered if she had gotten married. I checked her face book and she last name is now Knudson. One of her dad's wives maiden name was Knudson and the Knudson family has a few of the nicer homes in CP. I curious who she married? I so wish they had another season of Polygamy USA.

Alan has some sort of Man School class on iTunes? It is about how to met and marry a women from another country. I can't listen to it right now(not sure if it is free or not, but it is 52 minutes for the first class). By the timeframe on his syllabus it does seem he met her at age 11-12 and then returned years later when she was over 18. It is Man school class #63.

She can drive without a green card so maybe Alan is messing with her about auto insurance or rules. I know plenty of people for other countries that just visit here and can rent a car here and drive. My mom has a friend from Germany that visits for 4 months every year and when my mom had surgery she put this person on her insurance so they could drive her to the doctor. This person was able to get a Utah DL privilege card as well. Kirylam had a DL in her naïve country so she should be able to get an international DL here.

I can see Jim Bob using guilt with the kids over 18. We know the Duggars tell the kids about the scary bad world out there, debt, purple hair, kissing before marriage! Look at what Jim Bob gives his kids, free housing, use of cars and insurance, food, laundry by grandma, meals by Joy, trips, clothes, make up, hair products, they get everything they need plus the protection of daddy from the big bad world. In exchange he keeps any TLC money. Then he buys some lemonade and cookie mix for their wedding and gives then a starter house/job with strings attached of keeping up the brand. Josh and Anna get a paycheck. I have seen a few TLC contracts and I can't imagine they do not get their own paycheck. Now how well Josh negotiated at age 20-21 with TLC is what is unknown. TLC is not known for paying well unless it has too. Endorsements often pay more then TLC does. I have noticed Anna using a few product placements and I would not be surprised if the last one(some sort of kids healthy drink) got them 10k or more plus most likely a lifetime supply of the product which could be worth a lot if they have a ton of kids.

I also wondered why doesn't she has LDS friends. They obviously attend church. The relief society would welcome her and she would have a calling at church. Living in southern California there are plenty of Mormons wards with that would have members speaking her native language. I'm just surprised the church isn't doing more because the LDS church loves new members and loves getting them involved in everything. Alan has to be up to something.

Is there a reason she is the only one who doesn't have her green card? The other women were all busy driving, working and living while Kirylam is sitting inside the house waiting for the green card to start her life. Maybe Alan has it hidden? Why can't Alan buy her some online computer class to learn English, she seems smart but he is holding her back from learning the language. I got the impression they wanted kids as well but I think she is holding firm on getting her green card first. What is she was denied? and pregnant? I'm not sure how that works but it might be smart to wait. Mormons are ok with birth control so she is smart to wait. I still find it weird that their initial meeting was most likely when she was 11. This has always made me feel weird. I know plenty of LDS missionaries that marry young women from their missions but not meeting at this age.

The Duggars priorities of music lessons and dental work can be explained. I agree they are middle class values. The music lessons have been provided by a widow and now her children that Jim Bob kind of took under his wing after the father died. When you think the Duggars have never paid for a sport , paying a widow a small amount each month to teach weekly group music lessons isn't breaking the bank. I would be shocked if in the pre-TLC Jim Bob spent more then $100 a month on music lessons. If you look at the Braces they came after the show. Josh and JD never got them and Jill and Jana got them after 18. Michelle just got braces(invisaline) recently. I think they wanted good straight teeth pre-TLC days but it wasn't till after TLC that they had the money.

I got the impression that Yamir was adopted or had no family? The manager seemed more like he was a father figure and said something about Yamir needing a good relationship in his life. I think the manager seemed happy Yamir had found love but not happy of his choice of leaving. I'm not even sure it was about the money. I think there is more to his back story. Hopefully TLC will actually tell it and tell it honestly.

I wonder if Jill and Derrick will get the entire amount TLC pays for the wedding special? That would by around 100k for the 1 hour special and a very nice start to life? Maybe TLC gave them an advance for shooting the courtship, engagement and the rights to the wedding and that is how they got the down payment. I am leaning towards it being a rental because as much as Derrick was brought up differently then Jill, he is doing most everything Duggar style right now so I doubt he would be signing a mortgage a few weeks before marrying a debt free Duggar.

When Jill is at work we see her in scrub tops, does she wear pants or a skirt on the bottom? I don't see Jill wearing jeans anytime soon, but I can imagine her pretty quickly wearing scrub pants to work if she isn't already. Does anyone know if their home is a rental or purchase? I would imagine an accountant with 20% down (from Jim Bob as a wedding gift but is really Jill's money from working on the show), could purchase a 250k house in Arkansas and it be really nice. Remember Josh and Anna pretending to go house hunting in Arkansas and they saw nice new houses in the low 200's. I'm curious if they purchase, meaning they may stay settled while Derrick works and Jill finishes her training vs renting and becoming full time missionaries in the near future.