Honeycocoa

Stella ( my Ter Rock a Poo - as my son says) has a new friend in the neighborhood, a huge Rhodesian ridgeback who really, really, really wants to catch the local squirrels. He goes galumphing after them, but isn't even close. But their cat, just your average black and white domestic shorthair, has caught four in as many months. For Halloween they decorated their yard as a crime scene, complete with chalk outline on the driveway. Nov 2, the cat left his latest victim in the hand of the chalk out line. Scary smart and quick that kitty. I'm glad your niece remembered and you had a nice gathering with your friends. Yea!

Happy Belated Birthday NetFoot! I hope you had fun with Buddy and all your flying friends! We're good, getting ready for Thanksgiving and all. Then the kid goes off to science camp for a week which will be weird. Hope everyone is doing well!

Emma675 The Ask A Manager website is great. She has an advice column, but all kinds of other info. Highly recommended. http://www.askamanager.org/

Wow, that's crazy. and she did all that work on the 19 Questions and Counting thread too. Obviously an actual Dugger watcher. How bizarre

Six hours flat on your back? May I suggest a couple good audio books and or pod casts, post sedation you might not be able to concentrate much, but I'd sure want something pleasantly distracting to listen to. Good luck, Burlas. Californian here, manditory swim tests for everyone in order to graduate highschool, back in my day. All that coast line... Here Fourth graders do a report on who in the family moved to California, where and when did they come etc. I was feeling pretty proud of my son being fifth generation on my moms side, till another mom mentioned she had Miwok ancestors... Take good care y'all.

Wander some of my better friends, who I am able to rely on the most are the people I met in my son's playgroup when he was a baby. Not all of them of course, but some of them are great and we are still seeing each other regularily 12 years later. If your town has a parent baby playgroup , I highly reccomend it. It really helped me to see other babies and parents and how they all grew. This is no time to be the lone ranger. Thanks for checking in.

Years ago some friends of mine had a potluck wedding. When the invitation came I thought it was terribly tacky. But she is a dear friend and everyone knew there wasn't much money. Since the wedding was pretty small it turned into this great little community event. everyone asked "what did you bring?" and tasted each others food, and we all bonded about cooking for this couple who we loved. My mom got up early ( which she never does) and dipped strawberries for them. Many people gave them the serving dishes as gifts. I'm sure that s how people had weddings way back in ye very olden times - everyone brought food - not something from the registry. It was a really sweet event. ( and I'm pretty sure there was both refrigeration and heating available. But Yeah, Jill and Derrick should have sprung for some cold cut platters. If you like Rom Com books, I recently read The Royal We which was fabulous! HFC good to hear from you and I hope we hear from Wanderwoman again soon.

Glad to hear it! And embarrassed I once again confused Barbados and the Bahamas.... ( it's in the Caribbean! it starts with a B!- oy...) On the other hand my father in law kept asking if we were affected by the wild fires north of Napa. Which is a couple hours north of us. We weren't affected except our sunsets got really orange and there were a few spare the air days. ( no un necessary driving etc) Geography, one would think us TAR fans would know this. Stella takes Trifexis for fleas, which is a pill. - the topical stuff just washed right off of her. - it works great for my cats, but they don't get bathed like my white hairy dog. A new dog ( and family ) have moved into our neighborhood - Stella loves their dog and I have re discovered our local dog park - it's actually a baseball field but on weekday mornings, it's all neighbors and dogs. Nice people to chat with. I certainly get more exercise when we just walk. so I'm working out how many times a week to go to the park and how many times a week we just walk. This is my bad news/ good news joke about Dog as Personal Trainer - the bad news is, we have to stop for all the pee and sniff breaks, the good news is, there is no skipping the walk - twice a day at least around the block, no matter what. Wishing you some cool breezes, Netfoot! Hope everyone else is doing well too

Netfoot, I really hope you and buddy are surviving this hurricane ok. They say it's really bad in your islands and I'm concerned about you. I'm also glad to hear you had a good trip. So glad to have a normal TAR season again!

There are a variety of books on this subject, the one I read most recently called How to Raise and Adult. The author is a friend of friends and was the dean of freshman and undergraduates at our local fancy university. She talks about students getting more and more incompetent at life skills as they have put all their efforts into academics. It's an interesting read. Back in the day, I was the only one in the dorm with cough syrup and decongestants. , I eventually started charging for them When we married, my husbands siblings held up our chuppa, along with one of my friends ( so they were right up there with us during the ceremony) my sister in laws asked me what I wanted them to wear, as they weren't bridesmaids. I just said a "solid color, long(ish skirt)". One wore a mild floral, which was fine. The other wore white lace, full length, with a drippy shawl. Seriously, white lace, like she was going to stand in for me if something happened. My girlfriends all thought it was pretty funny.

Oh Lorazapam ( aka Ativan) is the good stuff Readsalot. I knew someone who referred to it as a "chemical vacation" I have another friend who takes it at night when she is due to get her period. PMS sets off her anxiety and insomnia something fierce. She barely drinks wine, but that pill makes her a much happier person. Doing it with out drugs is fine, but actually getting it done is more important right? Take the one tonight and see how you do, maybe? And Yeah I would definitely work on your list of pleasant day dreams for tomorrow. Take good care of yourself.

Well there's all the fan sites and blogs, I'm sure Lily and Ellie would be happy to publish whatever Jimbob wants... They've just lost much of the mainstream media. But I bet Jessa and Ben get some coverage when she gives birth. I don't think they will turn down free publicity.

Exactly! Going through that kind of process, having their home and parenting style subject to scrutiny( beyond their parents) could be good for Ben, Jessa and their biological children. Especially their children. I'm sure Ben is just hoping to privately adopt some baby that the mother wanted to abort, so he can feel all heroic about it. But I honestly think an adoption agency's involvement in their life could only be a good thing.

Ya know I hope they do it. I'm all for both Ben and Jessa taking as many classes as possible. The both need to be exposed to more ideas, especially parenting. Jessa can't really expect people to think she's an "expert" any more, her parents so clearly screwed up. Obviously she's done more time with babies than most 22 year olds, and obviously some of the parenting techniques she knows are crap. So I really do hope they take a class together and learn a little more about the world. I hope they apply and are put off. Or someone explains to them that they don't qualify yet. because I think that will be good for them too. Not to be mean, just to make them think about their situation from another perspective. Maybe it will motivate Ben to stay in school or something.

HFC so maybe it's time to introduce a little Stranger Safety into the family curriculum. Good for al the kids, not just the potential travelers. I have a couple recommendations. For the kids, the Kid Power books are great. (Seashell lover this might be handy for your grandsons too.) https://www.kidpower.org/store/ and the Safe Side video is very cute and corny, but really gets the message across. It's not scary and this is a scary subject. http://www.amazon.com/Safe-Side-Stranger-Safety-People/dp/B0009LS9Y4/ref=sr_1_3?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1440876016&sr=1-3&keywords=child+safety+dvd When he was little my son had a friend who liked to hide when it was time to leave the park. Scared the crap out of me. I got this movie and made them watch it every single time that friend came over for a couple months. I loaned it out a million times too. I have no idea where it is now. It's goofy, but it gives you a context for talking to the kids about this issue. Finally for you , the excellent book is Gavin De Beckers Protecting the Gift. Excellent book about security and kids, only one scary story. HIGHLY recommended. http://www.amazon.com/Protecting-Gift-Keeping-Children-Teenagers/dp/0440509009/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1440876486&sr=1-1&keywords=protecting+the+gift HFC You can get these materials - your library probably has some, and just start talking to all the grand kids and your kids about the subject. Then you aren't singling out the mission trip kids, and honestly it's probably good for all the kids. - having outside materials helps because if it's just you talking to them it's easy for them to dismiss it as " grandma's being paranoid" The idea that this is a serious subject that people make movies and write books about helps them pay attention. Good Luck. Hoping everyone is doing ok, Thinking of you Wander Woman

FBI stays within American borders for the most part. As my State Department friend used to say, "You want the other agency...." ( starts with a C ) But hey, let's stick with the State Department for now, shall we? My suggestion? Wait until your daughter and grandkids actually move- or are getting close to moving) and then describe the situation as factually as you can , and send it to all the addresses you have, just to let them know about a potential problem take good care! .

RE the picture of Josiah. Ok , note to self, polka dots just draw attention to the acne. Yikes! It's like he was trying to go for camouflage and ending up highlighting what he was trying to hide. Poor guy. I wonder if they did anything besides recognize him on social media.

http://www.sagaftra.org/content/coogan-law That is known as the Jackie Coogan Law which does not apply in Arkansas, and seems to only apply to hired actors, not reality TV. It will be interesting to see if there is ever a Dugger or Gosslin Law given the irregularities in these situations.

Welcome Henri205! Actually we try to leave that one alone.... May I recommend the 19 Questions and Counting thread? Pretty sure it's not Josh, though.....

I can't imagine how overwhelmed Anna is. She's what, six weeks postpartum? Meredith is maybe sleeping 4 hours at a stretch? Anna is supposed to eat and drink so she can breast feed and she probably has no appetite at all. Marcus is two and needs help with everything. Michael is 4, Kinzie is 5, so she can sort of dress herself and pour a bowl of cereal, but Anna must be so completely overwhelmed and exhausted. I bet she resents the lack of help at home. Honestly caring for 4 kids under 5 ought to be enough for Josh to deal with. And when she has time to think about it maybe Anna is glad he's gone for a while. but I hope someone is there helping her. Probably Jana, Jinger or Joy, may be the older guys can go shopping for her, or come over and play with the kids. Instead of sending Josh to some stupid work camp for six month, they should have sent Anna to a nice Hotel. ( not that she'd go, I know) But he gets to sleep all night. Poor Anna.

Oh WanderWoman, I hope you have help. I am really hoping that you have lots of friends to be with you and Maisie through all this. I so hope that you are not alone. And honestly, I hope your husband isn't either. That he visits some old friends and family who tell him that this isn't who he is, that walking out on a cancer stricken wife and newborn is pathetic. And if that doesn't work, well, I wish you reliable child support payments. I wish you good friends and good health. hugs! And you're right, I wish Anna good friends too. HappyFatChick, with any luck at all your son in law will realize he's in over his head pretty quick. And I second the suggestion for keeping copies of the family passports and contact information for the embassy close at hand. If they actually all go there, you can contact the embassy yourself, just to give them a heads up on the situation. Do your grandchildren know how to reach you, if they have to ? Your full legal name, address, phone number and email? They should memorize that - have them sing it. Any child who has memorized a 26 letter alphabet can learn a ten digit phone number. A while back someone was looking for finding a new job advice. The website Ask a Manager is fantastic for that. Highly recommended.

I wonder when they are going to start taking requests? Ya know, give a few dollars and include a note saying, " I'd like to see all the boys under the age of 18 doing a page of age appropriate Math please" or " I'd like to see Joy reading Little Women to Hanna, Jenny & Jordan." Produce these scenes and I'll give more money! I mean, if they are relying on people to just donate, they've gotta give people what they want, right?

Wanderwoman, thanks for checking in. Sometimes one thing at a time is the only way to get through the day. I know when my son was tiny I felt pretty darn good if I got two or three things done, and I wasn't dealing with any of the bigger issues you've got. I hope you have friends and family who are offering to help and I hope you can find ways to use them. Be gentle with yourself, please.

Sometimes warming up the chicken baby food a little bit helps. The water or oil left in the tuna can is also a great incentive, if that's on his diet. ( and most cats don't want strained peaches, but many of them will eat cantaloupe , asparagus and peanut butter.. And now a random Dugger moment. We were visiting my father in laws girlfriends house ( mother in law passed years ago) On her coffee table are photo albums from various bar mitzvahs and weddings, the most recent one being her grand daughters. So I'm paging through it and I start laughing to myself.. Girlfriend wore Michelle's duct tape dress to the wedding! ( the one she wore to Jill and Derricks) And it looked great on her! She's in her early 80s, no modesty panel for heavens sake, it was knee length and she looked good. No one else understood why I was chuckling and I didn't try to explain. I had to resist the urge to ask if she still had it in her closet. When the 80 year old looks much better in the dress than the 40 year old, someone's wearing it wrong. Wanderwoman, hope you are ok, please check in with us when you have a chance... Thinking of you all. ETA Cantalope, for heavens sake, not antelope!

That photo is Grand Prismatic springs in Yellowstone National Park. The colors are caused by thermophiles "Thermophlic bacteria and archaea are often brightly colored by photosynthetic pigments (chlorophylls or carotenoids) and show distinct zonations according to their specific temperature tolerances". http://www.nps.gov/features/yell/ofvec/exhibits/treasures/thermals/hotspring/grandprismatic.htm It's huge and gorgeous. The Seawalds should go there. ( everyone should!)