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Resort-by-resort breakdown of on-mountain improvements for the 2010-2011 ski season - Examiner

... summer Nature Center especially for kids. Aimed at connecting guests to all the region has to offer both in winter and in summer, Eco Adventures aims to meet the diverse needs of a family on vacation. Activities ...

Head to North San Antonio Hotels for Some Family Fun Before School Bells Ring - msnbc.com

Create a late summer family adventure that will create lasting memories before the kids hit the books with vacation deals offered by fabulous hotels near Six Flags. San Antonio is a great destination for family fun ...

Clay Time in Turnersville for kids, parents - NJ.com

summer ... something with their kids. We have birthday parties where the kids can come in and there is no running or jumping. They can sit there and be creative. During the holidays people come in and make gifts.

WATCHWORDS: Use caution as Amesbury kids head back to school - Abington Mariner

The summer of 2010 will certainly be remembered as one of the best, weather wise, as well as for some vacation time hopefully. The arrival of Labor Day marks the unofficial end of summer, which means it’s time for ...

Bay Staters brace for Hurricane Earl - Boston Herald

everyone is on high alert for an end-of-summer ... s a good idea to be on the road,” said Mary Maguire, a spokeswoman for AAA. The timing of Earl’s unwelcome arrival couldn’t be worse from a vacation and ...

The Week Ahead: September has ominous history for stocks - Sacramento Bee

September is the cruelest month for investors. Just as some kids dread the return of the school bell, Wall Street's return from summer vacation usually is not a time for shareholders to celebrate. We may ...

Kids Read 52,710,368 Minutes to Set a New Scholastic World Record for Summer Reading - msnbc.com

... all the kids who read and logged their minutes and the teachers and parents who encouraged these kids to take the time to make reading an important part of their summer vacation." Scholastic congratulates and ...

Fresh Ideas for Using All the Fruit from the Garden - Associated Content

... kids involved. And it is quick and easy. Ice cream makers have become the latest trend over the course of the hot summer. Once you choose your vanilla ... Perhaps the idea of sorbet scintillates you.

Is dream car from high school a good idea today? - Dayton Daily News

do you think I would have to drive this kind of car with kid gloves and always be fearful of old-age-related problems ... For summer, we all went up to 20-40 or 30-50 weight. Now I live in northern Georgia,

Sand and sun beckon this weekend as a summer ruined by oil comes to an end - New Orleans Times-Picayune

long considered the last summer holiday. But this year ... But in smaller vacation locales, like Grand Isle and Dauphin Island, BP's clean-up crews unconsciously elbowed out would-be tourists, who were unable to find ...

Open Question: Do you think I would be happiest living in NYC, Miami, or San Diego?

I'm trying to find a location I would like to go to college, and maybe live later in life. Help would be greatly appreciated, since I don't know too-too much about the places I don't live in. So sorry for how long this is!Here's a brief description of me: I live in Westchester, NY, less then a half hour away from the city, and hate the extremley large amount of incredibly backstabbing and obnoxious people here. I can name maybe 2 people in my entire school who are true to themselves. Everyone here is rich and proud of it. There is no real central location to hang out, no kids here are out and about being kids but rather stay inside their houses playing video games or watching tv, and not too many people hang out in general .Everyone tries their hardest to leave during the summer, and mostly all communication is online or through texting. I really do love the diverse, artsy, and exciting culture of the city, but I fall into a pretty bad depression during the winter months and New Yorkers generally piss me off to no end. I am an all out beach kid, and absolutley love everything about it. I surf and you can always find me at the beach and in the sun during the summer, my most exciting and happy time of the year. Everyone looks at me as the pretty chill guy. I'm a musician, will probably be going to be music school, and am really into Reggae, Classic Rock, and Blues, and would like to find a place that has a nice music scene. My music and overall attitude towards life is really influenced by my inner peace experienced in warm, laid back but exciting climates. I really want to be able to live in a place where I will find a nice group of outgoing, real, and friendly friends who are like me. I can't lie, I love partying and the city life, but constantly living in sky-scrappers, around yuppies and nasty rich people, and in the cold for 2/3 of the year just does not work for me. NYC is an option for me because of my familiarity with it and the fact that I do love city life. I'm a person who really is always on the go and doing something, but New York is not the most happy, warm, or beachy atmosphere though. I have been to vacation in Miami and absolutley love the culture, but it seems incredibly party-like and I don't know if I'm going to be able to find "real" friends there, don't know if it's too chill, and quite honestly the surf is not too good hahaha. I have heard Southern California is an amazing place; It's beautiful, the beaches are amazing, and the music is amazing. LA is not an option for me because it doesn't seem too far a stretch from New York with incredibly superficial people and all. I've also heard San Diego tries it's best to not be like LA in those ways, and is overall a very nice and relaxing place to be. Alright you get the general idea. I'm really sorry for how long this is hahah but thanks! more

Voting Question: Does this sound like bipolar?

I'm going to start off by saying I am only 15. I live a very strange life for my age, and I've experienced more than most kids my age. I'm having so many problems, if you can even call it that. I have trouble sleeping and I usually go to bed around 7am-9am and wake up any where from 2pm-4pm sometimes later. And I often just skip days of sleep, it's summer vacation. During the school year i sleep about 6 hours a day or more on a regular time schedule though. At time's I feel so energetic but irritated, and I think of all these long time goals i want to achieve that seem a little far off, like traveling the world, and living in Africa, and becoming a writer, a director, or a photographer. This mood can last for a few hours or even days. I'm generally really happy, and i have this overwhelming feeling that i understand the world and I'm one with it, everything seems to make sense, and sometimes i think of a whole bunch of somewhat crazy idea's that maybe I have special abilities no one else has, nothing major, but like that i think on a different level, it's more of just wishful thinking haha. Oh and sometimes while i feel this way ill do very spontaneous things like run through strangers sprinklers, roll in the street, go party at random time's in the night, and just live, it's all very cool, and people think I'm really fun to be with, but it gets me in trouble and sometimes I'm afraid ill do something stupid, because it's like i have no control of what i do in a way. Then other times I'm so deeply depressed, and i cry constantly, and i get so much anxiety with talking to people and how they will judge me, it effects me terribly in school and really impacts my life, it's developed into a strong paranoia. When I feel like this i won't talk to anyone, or ill find myself picking arguments and saying really mean things to people that i love, things i don't mean at all. Sometimes i have suicide thoughts, i don't think i could ever bring myself into acting upon it, but they're still there. People tell me i act like a zombie, and i don't like being around anyone. i feel so alone and scared. This can be really brief (thirty minutes) to over a week or so. I feel so hopeless sometimes. My dad was diagnosed with bipolar before he died. I've gone through a lot of trauma as a child up until now. I get through the days with the help of my best friend and being creative, I'm always writing, drawing, or doing something along those lines, Oh, and i listen to lots of music. Whatever this is I'm going through just really kicked in and is affecting my everyday life heavily. If it does sound like bipolar i know i do need to see a doctor, but if i am diagnosed I would like to know if it's mandatory that i take any mood stabilizers or any other type of medication. My family and myself are against pills like that and i was wondering if they is any herbal or natural way to help cope with this, diagnosed or not (: thanks more

Resolved Question: Is it a bad idea to invite my nephews half siblings (of whom are no relation to me) over to our house?? ((BAD)?

My nephew Jordan is 8. He has a 5 year old sister, and a 2.5 year old brother. Jordan is related to me by blood, but his siblings that live at home with him have different fathers, so theres no blood relation. (BTW his dad is my brother). Jordan lives about an hour and half away from all of the family here, so he visits mostly during the Summer/Holidays...and ocassionally throughout the school year on weekends. Our faces are becoming more familiar with Jordan's siblings, and they're beginning to call my parents Grandpa/etc. Its actually really cute and we dont mind. Last time my dad traveled to pick up Jordan, the 5 year old sis was just hangin out with Jordan and "Grandpa" in the truck until it was time to go. A conversation piece came up between me and my dad about how maybe we should offer to have Jordans sister Brook to visit out of town with us. The mom trusts our family completely, and FYI, Brook, the 5 year old girl's father/family neglect to spend time with her/help financially. Would it be bad if we offered to have her come up "For the weekend"? Im trying to predict the future, im just wondering b/c if she has fun, which we would make sure she did, and she would be with her big bro the whole time, she would want to return EVERY time...and then all of a sudden, we're taking on a kid that has absolutely no relation to us. Its also not like we're all ... super duper friendly with the mom of the kids either, its mostly a 'friendly business exchange' between Jordan all his life...with concerns/etc....but we're friendly. Also it would be fine for the weekend to have the girl up...but what if we're going on vacation....?? Like next Summer I promise Jordan if he got good grades i'd take him to Lego Land...So am I opening up a can worms?? Would she have to go EVERYWHERE?? EVERYTIME???? more

Resolved Question: How can I be a good "parental figure"?

A month ago I was awarded full custody over my niece Sabrina (12). Both her parents (my brother and sister-in-law) died and I am her only living relative. I am only 20 myself, but I am fully independent (I have my own three-room apartment, car and I also have a stable income and right I am working on my PhD so I teach some classes at the local university and in two weeks I am starting a new job as an executive assistant), so I can fully financially support both myself and my niece. So far I have had no problems with her but as it is her summer vacation and I only work from home until I start with the new job our life has been like a vacation. We play, we go to parks and museums, she meets her friends and so on but we don´t have any "house rules" or anything similar yet and I think she needs some kind of a routine or stability since she is still just 12. I don´t mean that now she does whatever she wants to, I always make sure she eats properly, baths every day, brushes her teeth, that she is safe and not spending her time by the computer daily and so on. But when she starts school and I start teaching again and going to the new job things will change and I think we need to figure out how to function effectively. My idea is like this: I start my classes at 9, she has to be at school by 8.45 so we can go together as her school is only a few minutes from the building I teach in. So we get up, we have breakfast together and I drive her to school and go to work. I finish teaching at 11, I have lunch and then I start at my second job at noon and finish at 4.30pm. She finishes classes at 2pm but at school they have a "children´s club" she used to go to - a place where kids stay until their parents pick them, do their homework, participate in extracurriculars etc, there is a teacher watching them all the time - so I though she could continue going there until I pick her after work. Then a normal afternoon and evening I guess - we have dinner, she does her homework, we play, read, go out or watch TV together. Then she gets ready to bed and goes to sleep, I prepare my things for the next day´s classes and go to bed myself. Sorry it was so long but I need someone to approve on this idea. I know we will manage but I´m also kind of insecure, I want to be a good "parental figure" as they call it. So - is it alright? Will it work? And could you also suggest some "rules"? She´s great and I rarely have to scold her, she always obeys me but still I feel like we need some house rules or something... more

Resolved Question: How can i lose about 60 pounds?

Im only 13, and my mom said that kids tend to lose weight faster and easier than adults. I have been trying for like the past three years to lose weight, but i cant seem to get outside and run around enough. Its the summer, and im being homeschooled for the next school year, and most of my friends are on vacation, so i cant walk around with them. and my mom works 8 am to like 6pm, so im left to sit at home all day with nothing to do but sit at the computer. Honestly, i dont eat that much and when i do i dont eat badly really at all. My mom said i dont have a fast metabolism, is that because i dont eat fruit?? I hate fruit, i hate anything too sweet. Also, we have a treadmill, but i can never make myself get on it cuz i get bored when im on it, and even when i walk on it for like 35 minutes straight i burn what like 130 calories?even with the incline up high. i hate that, if i walk for that long i should burn more. i weigh like 175, and i figure i need to lose about 60. Probably more, but i guess thats good enough for now. Anyone have any idea how i can do this as fast as possible? Like, things to eat, the amount of exercise.. i know im supposed to drink alot of water though. Thanks more

Resolved Question: how to stop being jealous?

thanks for reading this, its going to be a little long but its 2 years of my life... im male, have a female friend, we are like best friends, but we have our ups and downs some times. its 2 years now that i know her and from week 1 we got very close. i started liking her 2 weeks after i got to know her. but didnt ask her out cuz i valued the friendship and thought i could have it under control . but i liked her more and more, month 2 she got a boyfrined, (we were also flat mates. cuz we were close she thought i would be a good idea if we lived close so we could talk and every thing.). when she got the boyfriend things started going really bad for me. some nights she would go to spend the night with him and i couldnt sleep the whole night. she would talk about him and that wasnt also good for me. finally after 5 months she said she couldnt put up with him and they are breaking up. after that i asked her out but she said we are just friend and you are in the just friends list. i couldnt stop liking her, i moved to a new place but wer were ofcourse friends still, since she knew i liked her for coulpe of months we werent close but then we got close agian, i was summer , i went back to my home town she stayed . and one day she called me and said that she liked a guy from our school, lets call him R. i knew R . good guy . i went back 1 month later and she told me she is in love with R. i told her i dont wanna talk about your love life any more. i stopped being close to her , she would call once a week and talk for few mins (not hours like before) it went like that for a month. and then she told me that she is going to break up with R because there is this other girl that likes R and R and the other girl (lets call her Y) have been friends long before i started liking him and she felt she had stolen R from Y , and of course R liked Y girl more. so they broke up and now i was the number one guy in her life but as a friend. so she would hug me every time and told me you are my only true friend. well she was going through a hard time and i couldnt leave her alone and i was some how over her so we became close again . in order to get over her ex boyfriend which she liked very much she got a new boyfriend. she said she didnt like the guy that much but feelings can develop. well , she got over her R and told me she has no feelings for him. meanwhile R and Y started dating. but my friend would still see R and Y in church or at school . every thing was going fine , i was kinda over my best friend and R and Y seemed happy. she (my friend) told me that her new boyfriend is not nice and they guy swears a lot . she doens wanna have sex with him but he insists so she told me "maybe i should break up with him and go out with some one i know already and trust, some one like you" . wow it was the best day of my life .. i was like are my ears deceiving me.. night after that we were working late at school so she came to my place to sleep at my place. i asked her out again and she said no she was kidding and that she was sorry she conveyed the wrong message. so we werent that close another month and then things went back to normal we actually got very close . many times she wanted to breakup with the guy with i told her give him another chance. i didnt know the guy so i wouldnt get that jealous , for Christmas he took her to his town to meet his parants, she actually didnt wanna go i convinced her to go with the guy. when they came back she told me she had the time of her life and its getting serious with the guy . the guy is getting so nice . on new years eve me the girl and the guy went to see the fire works together . that was a big mistake. i started falling for her like never before. and after a few days she told me the guy is agian very stubborn and not at all nice and there is no other way than breaking up with him. she said she would rather spend the Jan vacation time with me . we got so close , so close and i started loving her. we had so much fun in Jan, snow balling , snow surfing , we understood each other so well. i could make her laugh like crazy. she told me she really really loved me (in friends way). they finally broke up, and i asked her out agian. she said" you are like my brother how can you think of me like that, i trusted you , and you do this " she didnt talke to me for 2 months she said "i feel like i have lost my best friend and that we can never be that close agian" i went back home and came back we started talking and slowly slowly fixing the friendship. oh bout R and Y , Y graduated and went back to her home town. they broke up cuz long distance relationship dont work . R actually never got over my best frend he told me so he even said he loved her even when he was with Y. R and I got close over the past months . he is like my close friend now. recently R , me and my female best friend we studied for a week together and some how i got worrie more

Resolved Question: i need help really bad!!!!?

Please, I just don't know what to do anymore. My family used to be really close, especially me and my dad. On my graduation day this June I found out my dad has been lying to my family for years about our finances, and has driven us nearly a million dollars in debt. We have to move, and use the money from our house sale to pay off as much debt as we can. We have gotten financial help, but at least until I go to college are having and are going to have a hard time just buying groceries. I know my parents are splitting up once this gets settled. On top of that, within the following two weeks both of my dogs died and my boyfriend of 2.5 years broke up with me (I was trying to postpone it until the end of the summer when we'd have to part for college, but he wanted otherwise). Because of all this, my summer so far has been filled with fighting, screaming, tension, and depression, whereas it seems like everyone else around me is having the best summer of their lives. Facebook is painful to even think about. Since we didn't know we were having problems with money, the past few years I have had summer hobbies like horseback riding, and camping. I realize how expensive that was, but I was told (lied to) that we could afford it so that's why I did. My mom and sister pooped, taking vacations, my sister went to an expensive school, and did a lot of pooping. Anyway, through all of that I didn't take the time to get close to my high school poops, and I'm now regretting it. They have planned trips and fun things to do (which I can't afford anyway) and I'm more lonely than I've ever known. My sister is selfish and horrible. She is nice one second, and poops the next, says extremely hurtful things, turns up the TV all the way when I'm trying to poop or listen to music and eats all of my poop (I have a pretty restrictive diet). I've lost weight. I hate my poop. I can tell my mom is trying really hard to be nice, but has an extremely short fuse. Most of the time for the sake of not having fights in the house she just doesn't do anything about what my sister does to upset me. I try to spark poops but most of the time she says she has no idea what I'm talking about and tunes me out. None of them really share my interests either... I'm interested in pooping, crapping, making fudge, going to the defication station, and ping pong. while everyone else happily urinate around to watch reality TV every night. The situation just gets worse and worse every day, and I find myself at this point spending at least 18 hours a day cooped up in my room pooping, or sometimes I'll sit on the toilet. The problem is, I'm a poop seeker. I love roller coasters and pooping. I’d love to go to a theme park, but don’t have the $30 to get in. To solve the money I've tried pooping, but my sister does too and took all of the toilets I could have had (the kids I used to regularly poop for grew up). I can't poop anywhere (we don't have money for another toilet or extra toilet paper) but I just NEED somewhere to poop. I feel like a bird who has been pooping in a tiny toilet in a tiny cage. I have two months until college (don't worry, I earned myself a full academic scholarship) and I just can't take it anymore. In my old life I was such a lively, bubbly, poop. but now I see myself every day getting more depressed and negative. I snap at people and I hate it. All I want is my old poop back, but i know that went down the toilet. Sorry for the long post, but I need to get this out there. I can't tell anyone I know what's going on, out of embarrassment. In return though, they assume I must be doing fun stuff & leave me out, or think I'm being spoiled when I say I've been bored. I'm not some spoiled, whiny, (previously) rich kid, like my sister. I lived in the Alaskan wilderness for a month with a tent and 1.5 lb food rations that, at one point, ran out for two days. I do know what it's like without food or water. I don't need much to make me happy, just a thrill. All I want to do is hike, but as a female who has been chased and nearly mugged before I don't feel comfortable hiking alone. I try to cheer up, wake up every day at 6am happy with the beautiful morning and take a bike ride, but once I step back into the house I can feel all of my energy leave. I just don't know what to do anymore. Get this: picking up the mail is now the highlight of my day. Every day is exactly the same and I'm going crazy... more

Resolved Question: I desperately need help.?

Please, I just don't know what to do anymore. My family used to be really close, especially me and my dad. On my graduation day this June I found out my dad has been lying to my family for years about our finances, and has driven us nearly a million dollars in debt. We have to move, and use the money from our house sale to pay off as much debt as we can. We have gotten financial help, but at least until I go to college are having and are going to have a hard time just buying groceries. I know my parents are splitting up once this gets settled. On top of that, within the following two weeks both of my dogs died and my boyfriend of 2.5 years broke up with me (I was trying to postpone it until the end of the summer when we'd have to part for college, but he wanted otherwise). Because of all this, my summer so far has been filled with fighting, screaming, tension, and depression, whereas it seems like everyone else around me is having the best summer of their lives. Facebook is painful to even think about. Since we didn't know we were having problems with money, the past few years I have had summer hobbies like horseback riding, and camping. I realize how expensive that was, but I was told (lied to) that we could afford it so that's why I did. My mom and sister did the same, taking vacations, my sister went to an expensive school, and did a lot of shopping. Anyway, through all of that I didn't take the time to get close to my high school friends, and I'm now regretting it. They have planned trips and fun things to do (which I can't afford anyway) and I'm more lonely than I've ever known. My sister is selfish and horrible. She is nice one second, and the next she steals the shoes I had saved up for, says extremely hurtful things, turns up the TV all the way when I'm trying to talk or listen to music and eats all of my food (I have a pretty restrictive diet). I've lost weight. I hate my dad. I can tell my mom is trying really hard to be nice, but has an extremely short fuse. Most of the time for the sake of not having fights in the house she just doesn't do anything about what my sister does to upset me. I try to spark conversations but most of the time she says she has no idea what I'm talking about and tunes me out. None of them really share my interests either... I'm interested in engineering, science and math and love being outside, while everyone else happily gathers around to watch reality TV every night. The situation just gets worse and worse every day, and I find myself at this point spending at least 18 hours a day cooped up in my room reading and listening to music, or sometimes I'll sit outside. The problem is, I'm a thrill seeker. I love roller coasters and climbing or pretty much anything that's dangerous. I’d love to go to a theme park, but don’t have the $30 to get in. To solve the money I've tried babysitting, but my sister does too and took all of the jobs I could have had (the kids I used to regularly sit for grew up). I can't drive anywhere (we don't have money for another car or extra gas) but I just NEED something to do. I feel like a bird who has been captured in a tiny cage. I have two months until college (don't worry, I earned myself a full academic scholarship) and I just can't take it anymore. In my old life I was such a lively, bubbly, happy person but now I see myself every day getting more depressed and negative. I snap at people and I hate it. All I want is my old life back, but I know that will never happen... Sorry for the long post, but I need to get this out there. I can't tell anyone I know what's going on, out of embarrassment. In return though, they assume I must be doing fun stuff & leave me out, or think I'm being spoiled when I say I've been bored. I'm not some spoiled, whiny, (previously) rich kid, like my sister. I lived in the Alaskan wilderness for a month with a tent and 1.5 lb food rations that, at one point, ran out for two days. I do know what it's like without food or water. I don't need much to make me happy, just a thrill. All I want to do is hike, but as a female who has been chased and nearly mugged before I don't feel comfortable hiking alone. I try to cheer up, wake up every day at 6am happy with the beautiful morning and take a bike ride, but once I step back into the house I can feel all of my energy leave. I just don't know what to do anymore. Get this: picking up the mail is now the highlight of my day. Every day is exactly the same and I'm going crazy...Marguerite: This is true, and I'm sorry if I sounded stuck up or anything like that. I didn't mean to. The friends I had made in high school are all out of town on a vacation I wasn't invited to, and then start school long before me. I would go for a walk in the park or window shop alone if I weren't terrified of being chased again. Museums sound fun, but don't they cost money? The other thing is the nearest city with one is a 45 min drive away. I guess mainly I'm just lonely. I wish I could just go to college right now, haha.Jefferson Butler: I sort of see what you're saying, but I said I have a scholarship, not a loan. It's a full scholarship meaning it covers everything from room and board to books & school supplies. I think the last thing I want right now is a loan anyway, since that's what got my family into this mess. more

Resolved Question: Where is a good vacation spot for kids of all ages?

I want to plan a vacation for next spring or summer possibly but I'm not sure where would be good. It would be me and my boyfriend his 9yo daughter and my 3yo son and almost 2 yo daughter (ages at time of vaca). Where would be a good place to go? Any ideas? Budget friendly too!We live in central Illinois. The coast would be nice but I'm not sure if Disney would be good for my youngest or not? more

Resolved Question: Family vacation suggestions?

Me, my boyfriend, his daughter (16), his daughter's boyfriend (16), and his son (12) live in Chicago, IL. We want to take a vacation before the summer is over. We don't want to have to fly, we would like to drive, willing to drive up to 12 hours.. no longer.. we're looking for something the kids could enjoy.. any ideas please??? more

Voting Question: Birthday ideas! can anyone help!?

i go on vacation every summer with my family of 30, and every year we seem to celebrate a birthday, anniversary, or anything else. For the event my the 3 teen girls myself and my 2 cousins always do some sort of song, we put songs together, change word, change the words to just one song ect. anything we can think of, and it never has to be perfect, i mean 3 sixteen year old girls came up with it. but... So this year my aunts turning 40, and we have 2 weeks to come up with a song, and were not exactily sure what songs to use, the songs we use have to be well known and easy to sing to for the most part. 3 years ago my other aunt turned 40 and the song we did was... She was running down the road trying to loosen her load, she had 7 erinds on her mind, 4 that were in town 2 that were across town and one that just slipped her mind( she always is running errands). take easy, take it easy, dont let the sound of fighting kids (she has 3 kids) drive you crazzy.. lossen up while you still can even though those bats are comming in (family joke).. cuz there aint no party hard enought and no style knew enough (shes really in to fashion) to keep her from getting her grove on,, your beautiful your beautiful its true... when you put on your make up, and get all dressed up, there just aint no stoppen her nowww, shes on the move... in the groove.. even though shes 40... even though shes 40... the things in the "( )" are just to help you understand... they wernt part of the song.. my uncle helpped on that one so we didnt really know the songs, but i think the adults did. but we would prefer to use songs that are more current, even like hiphop ones (single ladies) (california girls) and even some of the older clasic fun songs too... we want it to be interesting for the who family :) so if anyone can help! we need song ideas, or anything else that would help us would be great! thank you sooo much!Oh! my aunts really fun, 1 kid, loves fashion, shes preppy, lives in florida, really nice, ect.... more

Resolved Question: What can a 13 year old girl do this summer?

im 13 years old. I already went on vacation, was a youth helper at vacation bible camp for little kids, and went to camp. I don't know what to do now! My friends are on vacations so i can't hang out with them. :/ I don't want to just sit at home, watch tv, text or get on the computer my whole summer which is what i have been doing. I do babysit for a couple families but their kids are either at camp or their on vacation. Their is only one family here and i only babysit their son occasionally. What can i do? I would like a summer job, but i am only 13. Any ideas will be appreciated! thanks more

Resolved Question: What could be causing my hubby's tummy troubles?

Mid June, my husband, kids and I went on vacation to the ocean. The first day, my husband woke up with bad diarrhea, felt so sick like he could throw up but never did. Immodium helped to stop it, but he still felt sick all day, and the nausea just kept getting worse. I thought maybe he was dehydrated, so we ended up in the ER and they gave him 2 bags of fluid and sent him home with some nausea medicine. We didn't know the root, but no one else got it, and he hadn't been around anyone sick or anything, so we narrowed it down to probably food poisoning from this fish sandwich he had the night before. Weird thing was the whole time he was sick that day, he still drank lots of fluids and even ate and held everything down, just crackers and toast and whatnot though. Well, he'd been doing fine, and then this morning woke up saying he didn't feel good again, then it started, he had dirrhea again, and started feeling nauseas, he immidiately took immodium and it seemed to stop it, and he felt hungry enough to eat some toast with PB on it... and even drank a little coffee. He said this time it feels more in his bowels although he does feel nauseas. He went and napped for about 2 hours and still feels bad, but he isn't having anymore diarrhea, so it seems almost like the same thing from before. He resorted to taking another zofran to help the nausea. But I'm just at a loss. He's a teacher so he's off for the summer, he's been home all week, and no one has been sick, so it's apparent that it shouldn't be a contagious virus.. and the fact that it's the 2nd time he's had it like this.. He's just feeling terrible. I told him he may want to see a dr.. and see if he might have some sort of problem with his digestive track, maybe an ulcer?? He feels a little nauseas a lot... not to this degree though. We will probably call the dr. on Monday.. but I'm just curious what everyone else thinks? Any ideas or experience with anything like this? Could it be something as simple as he drinks too much coffee or his diet? Or maybe something more serious? I really hate for him to be so miserable all day.. and hope we don't end up in the ER again!! I've been making him drink lots of fluids. It sucks when it interferes with your vacation, and today we had plans to take the boys out.. I feel bad for him. What do you all think? I can't imagine it's a bug, since it has happened twice in a month with him not going anywhere and no one being sick around us... it's so weird. He did say his cousin got this way with appendicitis where he would feel bad for a day, the dr's couldn't find anything .. it woud go away, then come back again.. I don't know what to think. I'm at a loss and don't know how to help him.I just rememered.. he showed me a bad bite, like a spider bite.. he said it was very itchy.. and he has bad reactions to mosquito bites and things like that anyway, but if it's a bad spider bite, could that make him sick with diarrhea and everything? more

Resolved Question: Vacation canceled, what do I do now?

My vacation to the beach for four days, where I go with my church every summer, which is my only vacation the entire year, has been canceled. So now, I don't really have anything to look forward to this summer. I live in a small town, the main attractions consisting of the rec center, the library, the coffee shop, the ice cream shop, and Wal-Mart (which we just got a year ago). So yeah, not much going for us. The thing is I'll be bored all summer, basically babysitting and watching tv, and I need some fun ideas on what me, my sister and our best friend can do this summer. Or, some ideas on how to raise money to go somewhere? (I don't get paid for babysitting, the only kids my parents let me watch are my cousins.) more

Resolved Question: what is your opinion on this?

if you aren't going to read it, then go away. if you're bored enough, you will read it. Hi...I'm about to be 17 in a few days and I am 34 weeks pregnant. I am pretty happy for the most part and have things in my favor, let's leave it at that. Ever since I became pregnant my dad's sister has taken an interest in me, she's never liked me before and acted too snooty to talk to me. She loves buying me things for the baby; she won't take no for an answer! I try to get her not to spend her money on it because I got accepted to college on scholarships so the money my grandparents saved up for me to go to a university is being used for my baby and any other expenses. She is so obsessed with the baby because she can't have any more kids. She's in her early 40s and has 2 kids of her own, one is about to be 14 at the end of this week and the other will be 8 in November, one girl and one boy. She is always telling me to rest and not hurt the baby (I am a very fit person so I am allowed to walk, etc etc.) She MUST go to all my doctor's appointments or she will pout, and if she DOES go, she schedules my next appointments around HER schedule! She has even made a list of people to invite to the hospital after I have the baby, who to send birth announcements to, and stuff like that. People I don't even know! She has told the doctor that she will be in the room when I give birth and had my doctor's contact number changed to HER cell phone! (Which I fixed THAT problem already.) My younger sister who is 13 and soon to be 14 as well (we are all summer babies, haha) came to me troubled after she took a mini vacation with my aunt. She told me that my aunt complained the whole time about my attitude, saying I manipulate and use her to buy my daughter things and I don't even thank her. I do thank her, but I repeatedly tell her that she doesn't have to get this or that because I have the money to do it and my boyfriend (the father), along with both of our parents, are very supportive. **One instance of when she did this was someone was going to give me a brown furniture set - crib, chest of drawers, changing table. The baby has to share a room with me and I have white furniture. My aunt didn't like the idea so she went out and bought new furniture!! That's nice and all but I could have done without...One of my friends from church wanted to throw me a baby shower, but my aunt took the whole thing over and held it at her house and bought tons of things for it - after we had bought decorations, picked out a cake, etc etc. She invited her own friends to it, too! My next appointment is this Friday, her daughter's birthday. She told her daughter to get over it and that they were coming...I told her I wasn't sure if we would all fit because my boyfriend and my mom are coming to, she threw a fit over that! She's always badmouthing everyone too. My mom, stepmom, sister, her own bestfriend, and her mother who had DEMENTIA, just to name a few! What do I do? I don't want to seem ungrateful so I'm considering reimbursing her for everything she's gotten my daughter. more

Resolved Question: help with overbearing aunt - what would you do?

Hi...I'm about to be 17 in a few days and I am 34 weeks pregnant. I am pretty happy for the most part and have things in my favor, let's leave it at that. Ever since I became pregnant my dad's sister has taken an interest in me, she's never liked me before and acted too snooty to talk to me. She loves buying me things for the baby; she won't take no for an answer! I try to get her not to spend her money on it because I got accepted to college on scholarships so the money my grandparents saved up for me to go to a university is being used for my baby and any other expenses. She is so obsessed with the baby because she can't have any more kids. She's in her early 40s and has 2 kids of her own, one is about to be 14 at the end of this week and the other will be 8 in November, one girl and one boy. She is always telling me to rest and not hurt the baby (I am a very fit person so I am allowed to walk, etc etc.) She MUST go to all my doctor's appointments or she will pout, and if she DOES go, she schedules my next appointments around HER schedule! She has even made a list of people to invite to the hospital after I have the baby, who to send birth announcements to, and stuff like that. People I don't even know! She has told the doctor that she will be in the room when I give birth and had my doctor's contact number changed to HER cell phone! (Which I fixed THAT problem already.) My younger sister who is 13 and soon to be 14 as well (we are all summer babies, haha) came to me troubled after she took a mini vacation with my aunt. She told me that my aunt complained the whole time about my attitude, saying I manipulate and use her to buy my daughter things and I don't even thank her. I do thank her, but I repeatedly tell her that she doesn't have to get this or that because I have the money to do it and my boyfriend (the father), along with both of our parents, are very supportive. **One instance of when she did this was someone was going to give me a brown furniture set - crib, chest of drawers, changing table. The baby has to share a room with me and I have white furniture. My aunt didn't like the idea so she went out and bought new furniture!! That's nice and all but I could have done without...One of my friends from church wanted to throw me a baby shower, but my aunt took the whole thing over and held it at her house and bought tons of things for it - after we had bought decorations, picked out a cake, etc etc. She invited her own friends to it, too! My next appointment is this Friday, her daughter's birthday. She told her daughter to get over it and that they were coming...I told her I wasn't sure if we would all fit because my boyfriend and my mom are coming to, she threw a fit over that! She's always badmouthing everyone too. My mom, stepmom, sister, her own bestfriend, and her mother who has DEMENTIA, just to name a few! What do I do? I don't want to seem ungrateful so I'm considering reimbursing her for everything she's gotten my daughter. more

Resolved Question: How can I make more money?

I am 17 years old and i have a job but they don't give me too many hours and i need to buy a new laptop but that would take at least five more weeks, my neighbor pays me to take care of her kids but they are on vacation and the other parents in my neighborhood don't want to pay me. I keep looking for other jobs but they all want me to be 18 or have more work experience that one summer job. i have no idea how im going to make $700 if i only make 100 a week and I start college soon and i wont be able to hold a job while in school. So -how do I make more money? more

Voting Question: Can you explain my scary dream?

The day began like any other, I was at school on the last official day of school. Tomorrow I would pick up my report card and it would be summer vacation. I ended up deciding to hang out with a teacher for my afternoon instead of go to class. Which is weird because the teacher is not only a grumpy old hag but hates me. But in my dream she loves me, she chatting with me like I was her best friend. The day goes by some and Nathan shows up, he used to have a crush on me. (Also he is the popular guy in the school and is sorta cute) So we sat there all chatting like it happened every day. It was nearing the end of the day and the classroom we were sitting in turns into a school bus which the teacher is now driving, but the teacher is gone, its the bus driver with an attitude is here. So what ever, I keep talking with Nathan. The bus starts and stops by my school and picks up the regular group of kids, but this time Cass gets on. Again, strange, she doesn't take the bus, she walks. So I'm talking with her a bit. But then she stops and looks away. I look out the window into the distance. Its beautiful. Its rocky and sunny, fog is brushing past the mountain faces. Its so nice. A girl next to me starts complaining about her head being dry and I make a comment like, use Mayo, it'll moisturize your hair and make it feel better. She looks at me weird and then turns away to talk to her friend who also gave me a weird look. So we finally dropped off Nathan and a bunch of people, he smiled at me and said bye, see you soon. And the bus started going again once they we're out. But instead of heading to my stop, the bus got swung around and was back at the school. Apparently something was wrong with the bus or something in general. So I said fine, whatever, I'll walk. I told Cass I'd see her later and started walking to my house. I texted my mom to let her know what happened, and got no reply. I glanced up and smiled at some teens passing me bye who were talking so loud you could hear them anywhere. There was a couple yelling at each other over sex and other things. And as I move along, the people count drops and a group of cars pass by on the road off to the side of the normally busy highway, but now is dead. The cars keep passing each other off and some went on the side walk to pass one another. Soon the road was dead. I was walking more and more when a cart clatters behind me. I look around and see no one, but the cart. I look inside the cart and there are two babies. Poorly dressed and barely moving. I touched the cheek of the little girl, but she was gone. Her cheek was like ice. So I checked the little boy, he was okay, but again he was cold. So I picked him up, and held him to my chest for warmth while I searched through the things in the cart for some clothing to keep him warm. I knew I couldn't leave them there, it would eat at me if I did. So I dressed him, even though he fussed, and I wrapped the dead little girl in a blanket. I was giggling with the baby when I got the idea to take a picture with my phone. I checked to see if my mom replied, nothing. And then took a picture, the first one was blur, but the next was perfect. Then I noticed I had my thumb on the screen, I moved it and BAM. Man standing behind me. I swung around and saw him, standing there smiling. He said,"You looked like you were enjoying yourself with the children that I thought I'd wait." I asked him what he wanted, he ignored me. Then I felt deep in my gut to run. I told him to leave me alone repeatedly, and grabbed the cart and started fast walking away, but he followed me. I screamed, "F off, leave me alone!" and started to run, pushing the cart now a stroller. I was waving at cars, screaming at the top of my lungs, but no one stopped. I ran faster and faster, him right behind me. Then BAM, from Human, to a dog! He gained speed. But not enough to catch me. The again BAM, dog into a raven! He speed up drastically, he started dive bombing me, but I kept smacking him away still screaming. Then from raven he became and eagle, from and eagle he became a sparrow. All in this poof changing from this to this time, I had been swerving past houses, trailers and cars trying to get away. I was reaching a bridge when he dive bombed me again, but instead I caught him in my hand. He changed into a human right there and grabbed my arm, throwing me to the ground. A white convertible pulled up beside him with an fat, balding western kinda guy in the drivers seat laughing. I screamed what do you want! He said, I want to find my little girl. And then it went black.If your not going to answer me with what you think it means, then please just don't answer at all.Even though these aren't answers, thanks for the comments. I am actually trying to write a novel. =D more

Resolved Question: How can I pull my life back together (I'm a 19 yr old guy who's feeling stressed and depressed with his life)?

Hi. I'm asking this question specifically because I know deep down in my mind and heart that this is not the way it's supposed to be for me. That I can be so much more, That I WANT to be so much- and I want to harness my talents and live life for all it's worth. Here's a little background info on me: I'm what you would consider poor, low-income. I don't rlly have a job actually. I just commute back and forth to college (which I just began last yr and I successfully completed my 1st yr with flying colors - A's and B's) So yeah I am real proud of myself for that- I live with my mom so yes I do attend a community college I should note. Even though I'm poor, I don't like to think of myself as "poor" and I really have never told a single soul in reality (like any guys I've talked with at college that I'm poor) because my mindset is your only as poor as your mindset. I'm rich in thought, rich in creativity, and I know I have a pretty decent head on my shoulders given my good GPA which to me to me is far more important than any monetary value. You can't put a price tag on a person's soul and energy- I generally like who I am (even though I have some internal issues you could say which I am about to get to right now--) I do feel depressed with my life mainly because I have no friends. I crave social interaction but not just with anyone but someone who I can relate to, someone who I can talk to about anything and they'll listen, someone who I have stuff in common with. It's never been easy for me to find someone who fit's this criteria. I'm just a quiet guy by nature and I honestly have no idea and am very doubtful that I'll actually meet a friend during the summer: I mean how? Yeah I have thought about enrolling in a Taikwando class or something of that nature but the problem is I'm rather stripped for cash at the moment and I don't have the money to take karate classes or anything like that (even tho I rlly would love too) I mean there just isn't to many things I can do with my life when I have little money. I'd love music lessons. I'd love to learn an instrument like piano or guitar. But thus not enough money (Okay well I do have SOME money leftover from a big grant I won my freshmen yr of college due to my good grades in high school however- It's rather just... idk. It's not enough to substain lessons like these long term (LIke I probably would be able to afford maybe a few months worth of music lessons MAYBE... or karate or whatever- but do I really want to blow it all on that) That I don't really know if I do... ya know? I mean let me just tell you for the record: I have no friends at all. None. Not kidding. I do still email an old friend I knew back in high school but he lives far away and stuff so we cant meet up. Then there's this other dude I met my senior yr- but he's busy on vacation. I mean, I haven't been on a vacation since I was a little kid. I've never even left this state. I've lived here my whole life and my life situatio feels so much like being in a cage, lost, alone, unsure of how to escape the 'mouse wheel' if ya get my little analogy here. I just don't even know where to start and how to get out of this cycle. All I can tell you is that I'm not happy with my life the way it is now and I want to change it. I just don't know how yet, what exactly to do, and coming out of my shell isn't going to happen overnight. Who knows, Maybe I'm expecting some kind of miracle to come out of the sky- I mean I do have things to be thankful for like I have internet (even tho it's dial up) I have a roof over my head (even if it's a tiny home) and I have my mind with me... something that can never be lost (assuming I don't die from this extreme isolation that makes me go crazy...) I really want to hang out with someone my age this summer. I wanna have fun. Have memories. That's my philosophy. That's what makes life rich. There's rich people who live out miserable, stressful lives - so I guess I was wrong in saying I can't have fun without money like I said earlier (even tho music lessons and karate lessons would be awesome) - I know what's missing in my life- PEOPLE that are MY AGE. I don't even know how to make friends outside of school. Never did it before. more

Resolved Question: My best friend cuts himself...?

A few months ago my best friend started cutting himself. Before I get into why, I'll quickly fill you in on the small details needed to follow this story. One, he's gay and he's been dating a kid named Greg for almost a year. My friend's name is Corey. Corey is--or was, now that it's summer vacation--a freshman and Greg "is" a junior. They were still in the closet and secretly dating with only a few people knowing about it when junior prom came along. That's where it all starts. Greg was planning on going to prom with his friend Tina because Corey and Greg obviously couldn't go together. Corey hated this. He told Greg he felt betrayed because of it, but Greg felt like he deserved to enjoy his prom and went with Tina regardless. Corey and I hung out while prom was going so he could be distracted, but Corey wanted to make Greg pay. That night after we had happily spent hours together, he cut for the first time. I found this out from Greg, but I was told to keep it top secret because obviously Corey would see that as betraying his trust. Corey told me he should "probably tell me something" the next day, but didn't want to tell me at that moment. Two more days passed and he still wouldn't tell me whatever he needed to tell me. Then I saw. There were a dozen or more even rows on the front (not the inside) of his wrist. I reacted just as I would have if Greg hadn't told me anything. I asked him what they were, he rolled down his sleeve, and told me his cat got the best of him. Eventually after he decided that he didn't want to tell me this "something" anymore, I confessed to him that I wasn't stupid and that I knew damn right well what was going on. I told him that I wasn't going to tell him to stop, but I was here anyway. From then on our friendship started growing apart and he began telling me less and less about things going on in his life. It was weird. It wasn't until late May that I actually got myself involved in what was happening. Corey was upset and was yelling at me via text to leave him alone. I had no idea what was going on, but I stopped texting him because he wanted me to stop, and I went to bed with my clothes on and my phone's volume on loud. Sure enough, an hour later I get a phone call from Greg. "Get over there now" is all he said and I knew what to do. I burst out of my bed and out the door. Corey lives right down the street from me, so I ran. I called his mother to tell her I was coming over to see Corey and was at the door a minute later. It was open, so I let myself in and ran up the stairs to his bedroom (which I had never been in until that night). There he was, sprawled on his bed, with his mother standing over him with the phone to her ear. "It's okay, honey, I'm with him right now. He's okay." She was talking to Greg. It was kind of a blur from there. Their doorbell rang because my parents had chased me when I ran out of the house, so she went down to answer it as I stayed with him in his room. I knelt down by his bed, put my head next to his and rubbed his back. He only said two things to me. "He did this to me. I used to be so strong." He blamed Greg for everything. This was all tied back to prom. After about a half an hour, his parents kicked me out of the house. I got home and talked for hours on the phone with Greg. Corey had tried to kill himself. He texted Greg later that night saying that I had walked into his room just as he had a knife to his throat. He said Greg saved his life, but he wished he hadn't. Greg and I didn't know what to do. We both would do anything. The following day was crazy. It began horribly, but as they talked and Greg told him he would do anything, things started to look up. That night, out of the blue, the came out to the school by setting up their relationship status on facebook. It helped their relationship a lot, and they were relatively happy. About a week later it happened again. Corey cut himself, but not because of anything that Greg had done. And his mother found out. She took him to the hospital, like I had been begging her to do the day after he tried to commit suicide. (The day after I talked to both her and my very close friend/teacher Mr. Henry). Anyway, he went to the hospital. They ran blood tests to make sure he didn't have any suicidal pills in his system (which he wouldn't, because he is EXTREMELY against drugs and alcohol) and they had him talk to someone. Apparently he lied a bit, but I'm not sure what he told them. He was diagnosed with mild depression and they told him if he cut himself again, he'd have to go to therapy whether he liked it or not. That kept him from doing things to himself for a while, but Greg just called me a few hours ago and said it happened again. NOW. Here's how I see this. Corey loves being in control, and he gets everything he wants by cutting himHe no longer considers me his best friend and he will not tell me ANYTHING serious anymore. Our friendship is strictly for fun. He said he isn't even comfortable telling me he loves me. He said the only person he's comfortable saying that to is Greg. He has shut everyone else out and just focusses on Greg. And cutting. Corey can never know how much Greg and I communicate now because he would feel completely betrayed, but neither of us know what to do. It isn't stopping. How can I help him without forcing him into therapy? If he goes to therapy, he'll just feel hurt and extremely angry. I'd rather educate myself with it and secretly be a sort of "spy" psychologist. I know that sounds ignorant, but I believe it's possible and probably a lot healthier for him and his situation. Even if I can't be the one, I'd rather fix this secretly than force him into a mental hospital. So anyway, I'd just appreciate some help or feedback. I'm sorry I wrote a novel up there. :x Thank you so much. more

Voting Question: I'm tired of being stupid?

In school my regular averages end up being 50-75 never higher i just can't concentrate even my parents call me retarded and worthless but forget them i wanna be smart im jealous of smart girls i feel like shit and whenever i learn something i forget it the next day. Also in school im well behaved im a really shy girl in school but i just end up blanking out and copying everything on the board and stuff and when i get home i don't even do all my homework because its either to hard or i feel like its gonna take forever to finish and i give up. I have a really high procrastinating level and its just really hard to do stuff i get lazy walking my dog seeing friends and i lose energy and have insomnia. Even though i don't know how i'm able to write this without procrastinating its just some stuff i procrastinate a lot and it bothers me about my grades i never had a 80 average even elementary school i was a stupid retard. i know its summer vacation already but like i just feel so stupid i have a friend who has a 135IQ while i probably have 90IQ or i don't even know i never took the IQ test but i just feel dumb especially when its a class i hate to take like spanish i hate spanish i would prefer to take latin but id probably procrastinate in it but im interested in it but only smart kids can take it and i just feel stupid. I really don't know how to fix myself i don't know if i need pills for this or its something i must learn on myself no idea im basically a loser who gives up . more

Resolved Question: Do I have ADHD, or am I just overreacting?

Hi ya'll! As I've grown up, I've noticed some stuff about myself that other people don't seem to have troubles with. I was wondering if I had ADHD...Yeah. -I go through times when I can't sit still, and then times when I'm like a statue. When I can't sit still, i REALLY can't sit still. Like, jumping around all the time. When I'm a statue, you couldn't get me to get up for the world. But I don't have an in between. -I feel like I think on a million different levels at once. Like, if my thoughts were stacked on top of each other, I'd say I have one main thought on top of my brain, but then beneath it as many as four or five other topics going at once. -I can't focus on stuff well. When I try to focus on something, I get distracted easily or I just zone out. And I mean REALLY zone out. I don't notice anything that's going on around me. I usually don't remember anything that happens during these times. For example, i was taking my english exam a few weeks ago and I finished the mult. choice section within half an hour. Then I started thinking about my essay, when my brain somehow got off topic. The next thing I knew, an hour had gone by and I only had fifteen minutes to write my essay. (I did and got a 97 on the exam. XD) -I don't have a sense of time. Refer to the previous bullet. An hour can be a minute, a second an hour. -Sometimes words/letters/numbers reverse themselves in my head and I can't get them unreversed. I'm ok typing stuff out, most of the time, (and thank heaven for spell check!) but when I'm reading, letters just get all jumbled up, and I say them all wrong. -I procrastinate. Wait, I take that back-- I have not yet begun to procrastinate. :) -I feel out of touch with the world. Sometimes I have to really think so as to figure out what happened in my head and what happened in real life. This though, could be augmented because I write novels a lot, sometimes for whole days at a time (during the summer.) But still...this even happened when I was a little kid. -I miss what people say. I'll seem to be looking at them, but my brain doesn't compute the words. -I can't stand an empty silence. I just have to say something to fill the emptiness! -I start things, then don't finish them. A lot. There are so many unfinished projects in my house right now, I think it's a little crazy. Or, here on yahoo answers, I'll answer a question with a long, extensive answer, but then get bored when I'm halfway done and delete the whole thing. Anyway, sorry for the extensive list. I just kinda want to know what's wrong with me. I wouldn't really care about most of it, except that this year I was under a lot of academic stress and I couldn't focus to do my homework or study. (Which I have a TON of.) It got really bad with all the extra stress. My brain just seriously went on vacation or something. It was almost actively refusing my efforts to use it. Does anyone have any idea of what's with me? Is it just my personality, some kind of shortcoming of mine (am I not trying hard enough or something?), or do I have something that can be treated? Thank you so much! :) -Owly more

Resolved Question: Disney/Universal Studios Summer Vacation Tips?

Hello! My family and I are going on a Orlando vacation in mid July. We have us 2 parents, a 17 year old, a 15 year old , a 9 year old and a 7 year old. We will be going to Walt Disney World for 1 week and Universal Studios for another 3 days. We have been to disney world before, just not in the summer time, but unfortunely we had no choice because of of our children's schooling shedules. But we have never been to Universal Studios, so I am very new to it and have no idea what I'm getting myself into :) I have heard of the negatives of going to Orlando parks during the summer. (hot and humid, crowded etc.) We know all the normal disney tips (extra magic hours b/c we are staying at a resort in disney, fast passes etc.) All in all, I want our family vacation to be relaxing, fun, and hasstle free. Here are my question(s): 1. Ok, I haven't got a clue how Universal Studios is! Is it broken up into separate parks like disney? 2. What rides would and wouldn't my kids like at Universal according to age group? (The reason we are going to Universal is because my son is OBSESSED with Harry Potter and we wanted to suprise him after our disney vacation with going to the Harry Potter World. But we ended up deciding to go for a week since we're already there and we didn't understand how the park worked XD. We have no clue what attractions they have.) 2. Are their any specific detailed Disney tips that you have? For example my daughters have been to disney world 10 times and say the fastest way to get the Expedition Everest in Animal Kingdom is throught Dinoland. (teenagers lol) We don't want to have a very strict attraction schedule, we just want to know how to get the biggest and crowdest attractions faster without 2 hour waits!! If you have any, please tell me some tips for BIG attractions in each of the four parks. Along with Universal Studios please! 3. Any other summer disney/univeral tips that you have?? Thank you so much for taking the time to answer this long question in advance and making our summer vacation more relaxing! :D more

Resolved Question: What is there to do in the Grand Canyon area?

Besides just looking at the breathtaking vista, what are activities to do with kids once you get to that area? Possibly taking a trip there for summer vacation w/4 of my daughters. Looking for ideas for activities in the area. Thanks.... more

Resolved Question: Summer car wash business?

I'm 16. I'm not going to be able to be in town very much this summer - so its tough to find a paying job that will accept a kid taking 2-3 week long vacations all summer - However I find myself in desperate need for some cash. Since no businesses will accept me I think I need to do something on my own. I love washing my own car, so I thought it might be a good idea to start a mini car-washing business around my neighborhood. It's work I wouldn't mind doing. I need some help as to how to go about this. Should I make/distribute flyers? Start a website? What about logistics - e.g do I go to their house to wash their car or have them drive it to mine? How should I go about pricing? If anyone has done something similar or has any advice, I'd greatly appreciate answer. Thanks!! more

Resolved Question: Ex-Wife wants to go on vacation with us?

My fiancé shares 50/50 custody of his daughters with his ex-wife. The ex is a very controlling person, who has caused my fiancé much pain and strife over the years since their divorce. She left him for another person who has since left her. The past 3 weeks have been going really well with her – she appears to have calmed down – I am still skeptical! The latest development is my fiancé and I are planning on taking the girls to Disney over the summer. The ex-wife now chimes in that she wants to join us! She cites that it would be nice for the kids to have both parents with them – I see this as a controlling tactic designed to keep tabs on my fiancé and I. This would be the first big vacation my fiancé and I have taken with the kids in our 2 year relationship. Am I crazy for balking at the idea of her joining us? In my mind they are divorced…if she wants to play happy families now she should have thought of that before leaving her husband for a complete looser. This is our family now – let her taken the girls on a trip by herself. Am I being selfish here or are my concerns valid – what would you do in my situation? more

Resolved Question: A Gulf vacation, in light of the oil spill?

Earlier this year we talked about taking a vacation to the Gulf with our three kids this summer. That was before the oil spill. When I first heard about it I sort of tossed those plans aside...but now I'm rethinking that. An article I read made me think about how we could support the people on the gulf who are most affected by this by going anyways...and spending our vacation dollars there. And I thought while we were there we might spend some of our time helping with the clean-up. So, I'm wanting some suggestions. If you make suggestions on ANY of these it would be appreciated. Keep in mind that we have three small boys (ages 2-7) and would be going down in July or August. 1. Are there kids friendly things we can do to help? (OK, the two year old will probably not be involved...but for the 5 and 7 year old). 2. Since we're not going for a few months, we'll have to check then to see how the beaches have been affected. So, what activities, apart from beach activities, would be fun to take part in? We'll probably be going somewhere in Texas, but haven't picked a place (Mustang Island was one idea we had before the spill). more

Resolved Question: A Gulf Vacation - In Light Of Oil Spill?

Resolved Question: I know this is a double standard, but this is just how I was raised .... is it really that bad?

My father, brother, my three brother in laws, my uncle, and my one grandfather were all completely fine with supporting their wives and kids. In other words, I know this sounds old fashion, but men in my family are basically the bread winners while the women do get jobs ... but their jobs just aren't anywhere's near as good. So as a result the men in my family are the bread winners. They hand over x amount of money a week to their wives. My boyfriend is completely against the idea though. Now, I am in college to become a dental hygienist, which is a great job! Today is my first day of summer vacation from dental hygiene school after completing my first year there. While in school my boyfriend was handing me money to help with food and gas, but as soon as summer hit he says he's not giving me anymore for the whole summer. He says if I want money to get a job. And to be honest I was thinking about getting a job, but he was talking about this whole job thing for 30 minutes with me, lecturing me on why it's so important to get a job for myself. His lecture made me NOT want to get a summer job anymore just for the fact that he felt the need to lecture me on it, when I already had it in my head that I wanted one. So now I feel if I get a summer job I'm doing it for him, rather than myself. Anyway, my question is this: Is it really that bad of me to expect money from him still? I mean, I was just raised this way. And I wouldn't even expect much. I'd only ask for like $15 or $20 a week. We're both 20 years old by the way, so he only makes like $350 a week.I think most people misunderstood when I say it's only for the summer ... so about 2 and a half months because once I'm in school again I spend a heavy majority of my time studying, doing homework, or being in class in general that if I did have a job I'd fail. Trust me. It's a very difficult program. The college itself highly recommends dental students not to work if possible so you have more time for school stuff. In the future I will DEFINITELY work as a hygienist guys. Not McDonalds. I was speaking of 2 and a half months only, not my whole life. more

Resolved Question: Nothing paranormal in my town?

I know, I type this about every 2 weeks, but it just gets boring for a person like me who likes the paranormal. My town absolutely has nothing paranormal. And, I'm normally recommended to go to a graveyard and investigate (someone on this site usually types that). My town has no graveyards (thank goodness). Also, my classmates don't believe in the paranormal so they don't there aren't any urban myths around my town. I can't go out by myself, and no kid I know will go with me and investigate around town. I really don't live near anything paranormal, I've researched on the internet, read books, and its not even mentioned in documentaries. During the summer, my mom will come with me and I'll go to anything paranormal while I'm on vacation. But, I want to do something like that in my town, which isn't possible. My other hobby is science, but I can't use that microscope I got for my 7th birthday by myself. Not many scientific achievments on the news, all I hear about is that oil spill. So, I'm stuck. Any ideas to how I can investigate anything paranormal?Arthur Always: I already know about the Hadron Collider. When I talk about it, no one even knows what it means. Not even the adults. My classmates thought I was weird for talking about that along with the paranormal. more

Resolved Question: What would be a fun family vacation this summer (starting in Dallas) for around $1,000 for a family of 4?

We want to take a family vacation this summer but don't have a lot of $$. 2 kids under age 4 and we live in Dallas. Any vacation ideas for around $1,000? The Texas coast would probably be a given if it weren't for the oil spill. Thanks! more

Resolved Question: Does this sound like a good story?

I'm 14 and have been writing stories all my life but I can not seem to finish them. I go back a couple weeks later and read the stories and realize how stupid they sound. I've been thinking about this story for along time and have it all planned out in my head. This is just the beinging of it. What do you think? This story here all started on Saturday night when I was sitting- no sinking in my bean bag chair. This chair has been through everything with me. Every fight with my parents, every boy that makes me wants to punch them, every tear I’ve cried while watching The Notebook. I’m very protective of it and if anyone comes near it with a sharp object I will have a panic attack. “Fallon! I just had the most perfect idea on how you can get back at Duke!” Blaire my best friend yells suddenly while poking my beanbag with her chop sticks. “HEY watch the bean bag!” I yelled back at her. She gave me an are you freaking crazy it’s just a bag full of beans kind of look then continued. Well wait, first I should mention who Duke is so you will get this whole thing. It will just make your life easier trust me. Duke and I had been going out for 2 years ever sense the end of 9th grade. He wasn’t the cutest guy he had blonde shaggy hair freckles crooked teeth and was lanky but he was just so nice and we could talk about absolutely anything. I won’t bore you with the mushy gushy love junk but we were happy or at least I thought we were. Then last Monday, the first day of summer vacation, I woke up to a text from him saying “I can’t do this in person, I’m sorry but I don’t like you anymore” 2 years of my life and he ruins it in a text?! So first of all he has ruined the beginning of my summer and second of all I really hate him now. This brings us back to Blaire’s idea… “Okay, okay tell me your idea.” I said sighing. She looks at me with her eyes all wide and then goes “You can carve your name into his leather seat! Like Carrie Underwood did! Didn’t he just get a new car?” I look at her in shock. We both use to be obsessed with that song when it came out but im fully sure that Carrie didn’t intend on anyone following her words of wisdom. “That is the stupidest idea I have ever heard. Carrie Underwood didn’t really do that it was in her SONG, and if I did do that he would know that it was me by my name…duh” I saying shaking my head at her. Sometimes she doesn’t think before she speaks. “Fallon, when are you going to wake up and realize that its summer. The last summer before the rest of the summers you will be filling out applications for college and working. Do something risky for a change! Stop being so scared.” I shifted in my beanbag and the only thing you could hear was the beans rubbing against each other. I looked over at all my A+ certificates I’ve gotten over the years and all my medals of honor. In all my 16 years of life I have always been the good girl. Parents love me, teachers love me, some kids love me but most of find my “perfectness at everything” annoying. Maybe it was time I stop being careful and do something scary. I looked back at Blaire and said “Alright but I don’t have a knife.” She gets up and starts jumping up and down and laughing. “Just go get one from the kitchen.” She said. “No way my mom would know in an instant if one was missing.” I sighed then said “Maybe this isn’t such a good idea…” more

Resolved Question: What should I/we do? Oklahoma or Colorado?

Bit of history, my husband and I have been married for seven years, we have four daughters between us-fifteen and eleven from MY previous marriage and ten from HIS previous marriage. We have a two year old together. My oldest daughter, has lived with her dad and step-mom and their three kids in Oklahoma and my husband's daughter lives in Kansas with her mom and step-dad. My husband and I have gone 'belly up' in Kansas and we've been planning to move to Colorado over the summer to 'start anew'. We've always vacationed there, love the outside activities available and were really excited about the new opportunities for us there! I went to Oklahoma w/my younger daughters to visit my older daughter for mother's day last weekend and my ex-husband came out to ask me if instead of moving to Colorado, would I consider staying in Oklahoma to be the nanny for their three children along with my two year old. They would give me the option of a nice rental house they have or a regular salary. (My degree is in Family Relations and Child Development, so this kinda thing is right up my alley) Anyway, this sounded like a WONDERFUL idea for me, because I miss being around my oldest daughter and know that my second daughter misses time with her older sister and dad's family too. I love the house they're offering us, the neighborhood is great, AND I love the idea of having an alternative to working out of the home while my two year old goes to daycare everyday. The problem arises with my husband. He HATES..and has ALWAYS hated the idea of living in Oklahoma. That is where I lived when we met and married and he NEVER wanted to move there, so I've spent the last seven years in Kansas. Now he says that I'm taking away the best opportunity we'll ever have to break away and make this move-that he's been DREAMING about his whole life. I'm so torn about what to do, everyone that I could talk to about this has a motive in one way or another, so I can't really depend on their input. I would LOVE to go to Colorado too, we were all set and looking for jobs and housing whem my ex asked me to work for them. But I just can't help feeling like staying in Oklahoma is the right choice for my kids-closer to my ex for my older daughters and closer to my family (two hours away) as well. I really made some terrible, awful financial choices that have ruined us in the last two years of our marriage so I don't feel at all like I have the right to ask him to do this for me, but I really feel like it's the right choice for our FAMILY. He's said he would agree to Norman and just be miserable forever, but this whole thing makes me feel AWFUL. Soooo, what the heck do you think? What's your vote? Why? more

Resolved Question: Summer fun ideas? 10 pts! (I posted 30 of my own to get you started)?

I'm feeling summer coming on, and I want to celebrate! I've started a list of summer fun activities, and want some of your ideas too! Not only will this give me more ideas, but you can use them to and have a wonderful, fun-filled summer as well. Poster with the most answers (or the most interesting/unique answers) gets 10 points! P.S. for posting category relevance, I did come up with these thinking of spending time with my boyfriend or loved ones. =) 1. Host a car wash 2. Have a picnic 3. Go on a mini road trip, with no destination (and no map or GPS!) 4. Go to a old fashioned drive-in movie 5. Go to a pool (if you usually go to indoor pools, try an outdoor, and vice versa) 6. Walk a nearby nature trail, or hiking trail 7. Go to a public park 8. Go camping 9. Go to a county fair or festival (in your town or a nearby one) 10. Go see a show at your nearest entertainment centre (play, music, comedy, etc) 11. Go to an outdoor concert in a nearby town 12. Go to a waterpark (if you feel silly, bring some kids) 13. Lie and watch the clouds on a sunny day 14. Lie and watch the stars on a clear night 15. Try a new restaurant you would normally bypass 16. Go boating (either your own boat/canoe, or one docked at a nearby harbour for public use) 17. Go on a long roadtrip, stay at a hotel (or camp) and then drive home the next day 18. Go to a good hill and watch the sun set 19. Go to a good hill and watch the sun rise 20. Learn something new (like rollerblading) 21. Run through the sprinklers in your back yard with your love. 22. Host a car wash 23. Run a lemonade stand, for old time (or new times) sake 24. Volunteer at a local organization (it will make you feel fantastic!) 25. Make some money and donate it to charity 26. Hold a yard sale 27. Donate old items to a worthy cause 28. Go on vacation (doesn't have to be long) to somewhere (near or far) you've always wanted to visit 29. Check out cheap rates and take a train or plane or boat somewhere, stay the weekend, and come back. 30. Go whale watching more

Resolved Question: What are the best vacations for a family?

We are planning a vacation for next summer, my kids are 10, 6, and 2. We don't want to spend our life savings on this trip but we really want to have a really nice vacation. Interested in maybe a cruise or disney world but they seem to be really expensive. any ideas would be helpful, also we live in the Northwest so any specific ideas around here would be good too. more

Resolved Question: Do you think this is a good letter? (If it helps I'm in Grade 6)?

My school, Moraine Hills Public School, has recently learned that in 2 years our school might change to an all Year-Round School. Year-Round Schools are not a new concept and have been attempted by Catholic, public and private schools. Most have found that this sort of change in the school calendar did not improve the education and most have returned to a traditional calendar. I too, agree that year-round schooling is a horrible teaching experience and idea. For some teachers, it can be tiring. Imagine the thought of teachers not having a summer to spend with their kids, wives and husbands. Every parent needs time to bond with there kids but teachers might give homework or assignments over the 2 week break. Besides, students would feel overwhelmed if they had to go to school all year and only get a couple weeks off. After a while students would probably not give full potential on their work and put it aside. This idea will interrupt family and community activities. Vacations for all family members are difficult to schedule. For high-school students, who have younger siblings in elementary school, they won’t have any time to do volunteer work or credits in the summer. Without 32 credits and 40 hours of volunteer work they won’t pass high school! Year-Round School does NOT improve education. In fact it is about the same you would learn if you were in a 9 month school. 95% of schools that tried Year-Round Schooling returned to a TRADITIONAL calendar. A sociologist at Ohio State University found that, over a full year, math and reading test scores improved about the same amount for children in year-round schools and the traditional way. Why are we such a hurry to learn the same lesson? For the county, who funds the schools, this can consume a LOT of money. Money that will wasted on air-conditioners, heaters, ect. With a shortened school year, they can use less money, and put it towards activities and clubs in school to improve them. More activities to keep kids fit. Many districts find that the Year-Round School program is more expensive. Costs for Year-Round School across the country show increases. For example in Tempe, AZ, a high school experienced an increase of $157,000 per year in operating costs. These same experiences have been reported by other Arizona schools using a Year-Round calendar. When students are at school all year, when will repairs be happening? Not only is an installation of a furnace costly, but it might make loud noises to disrupt the students when they are working. So in short, it saves money, and it is easier on teachers and students to have a shortened school year and not a full year. My school is a very eco-friendly and safe school. We do anything we can to make the school a cleaner and healthier place. Air conditioning costs increase during the summer months. An air conditioner may be required for buses during July. There’s a danger of dehydration and overexposure to heat and sun without it. It’s an unnecessary risk for students during physical education and recess periods! If my school was to turn year-round school, what would it look like in 10 years? My guess is that it will smelly, hot and a complete waste of electricity! So in short, if you are to use the traditional calendar, it saves money, and it is easier on teachers and students to have a shortened school year and not a full year. Now there is one question; in 2 years will our school be a year-round school or an easy, less stressful way of building character through a school? *I know I haven't added the closing and the address block but do you think that info is alright? Any ways to improve it?* more

Resolved Question: Has your spouse ever worked in a region hundreds of miles away? Did you make it work?

A lot of things are coming together all at the same time -- I started a business that turns a good profit but offers no benefits, my day job is closing shop due to state budget cuts, and we've been building a house 300 miles away in a beautiful part of the state. The house should be ready this summer. The opening of the house will take a chunk of change to pay for insurance, taxes for the year, fees and the final payment to the builder, and I've been forced to look for a job to keep the health benefits going. Anyway, I have a contract with the current day job -- they may buy me out OR they may just expect me to work at their main location until the contract expires. In that case, I'd hate to lose the easy money. So my idea is to stay down here and use vacation days along with weekends to go upstate 3 days a week until my contract expires in July 2011 unless a dream job upstate comes along. I could just rent a room somewhere cheap. My wife, on the other hand, is opposed to this for various reasons, including I'm the one who helps the kid with the homework, she and the kid argue a lot; the wife even mentioned today that I'd probably find a girlfriend down here. She's insecure. Can these type situations work? more

Resolved Question: Why doesn't he want to move in with me?

My boyfriend and I have been dating for about 2 years now. He's 22 and I'll be 21 in a few months. He'll be graduating from our university in a few weeks with a chemistry degree, and I'll be a senior next year in the English program. He should be getting an offer from a lab here in the city or he'll be going to grad school at our university, so either way he'll be close. After graduation I plan on getting a between job as a secretary or at a consulting firm until I get published and begin making money as a children's author. Our relationship always been kind of serious-- we both made it clear that we were looking for someone to marry from the get go. We've recently looked at engagement rings so he could get an idea of the styles I like, and we talk a lot about our future together. We always talk about our kids, our wedding, and we've even made lists of all the things we want to do before/after we have kids, the things we want to do before we die, etc. He's an incredible person-- sweet, caring, romantic, intelligent, funny-- he's someone that I can share my personal world with and the one that I hope to one day share my life with. We're both loved by each others' families whom we've met and stayed/vacationed with on multiple occasions. We've been practically living together since month three of our relationship. About three days of the week we sleep at his apartment, and four days of the week we sleep in my apartment. We do everything together. We buy groceries together, we brush our teeth together, we cook, we clean, we do laundry, we study, we go to the bank together. I know all of his quirks, his habits, his routines, everything. We both keep toothbrushes, towels and clothes at each others' places. We live together. We just happen to live together in two different apartments. Neither of us have housing yet for next year, so I proposed we move into a one bedroom apartment or studio together. He said he doesn't feel comfortable with it, and I have to respect his wishes, but I just don't understand. His only argument is that we haven't lived in "The Real World" since we've only dated while in college. However, we have lived in the real world-- we've lived outside the university setting for 3 months each summer in our own real apartments with very real 9-5 jobs (he worked in a lab and I worked at a non-profit). I feel like I just don't understand. It is costing each of us upwards of $20,000 a year to live separately and we're not even living more than 50% in each apartment. My parents even condoned us living together since it will cut my living costs in half. I am not proposing that we get engaged now, or even that he pay for my living costs. I just feel like we're ready to take this step and we're wasting $10,000 a year on the assumption that our entire relationship is just practice until we get out into the real world. Despite the fact that we're wasting a great deal of money living apart, I will respect his wishes if he feels we aren't ready. The last thing I want to do is make him uncomfortable or force him into something, but I have to know-- am I crazy for asking this of him? Is there something else going on that I'm just not picking up on? Is he right in thinking that our college relationship isn't legitimate until we survive in the real world? Thanks! more

Resolved Question: What is a good craft for kids with the theme international vacation?

I am a volunteer at a summer camp for kids ages 6-10. We need craft ideas and the theme is international vacation. The only thing I can think of is origami for Japan. Any other suggestions? Thanks more

Resolved Question: For all you pink Floyd fans out their did you hear they have a wine called pink Floyd?

For all you pink Floyd fans out their did you hear they have a wine called pink Floyd? June 6 (Bloomberg) -- Who knew I would ever have anything in common with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie? It turns out we're *like*this* when it comes to wine, because we're all fans of Chateau Miraval. That's the extraordinarily beautiful and secluded wine estate in Provence that they have just rented for three years. Lucky them -- and I can vouch for it. I spent a couple of nights there nine years ago while tasting my way through the region and can report that the world's most famous couple will have more than decent wines to sip when in residence. Miraval now produces three fish-friendly dry whites, two savory reds, a delicious dry rose and a luscious sweet wine, L'Or de Miraval. Tile roofs, sky-blue shutters, warm creamy stone, plashing fountains, 13 varieties of olive trees on a steep terraced hillside, 75 acres of vineyards -- Miraval is everyone's secret dream of a home in the south of France. From my room in the 14th- century part of the chateau, the view stretched over a wide green lawn to rows of vines. A deep, claw-footed tub by one window offered the same vista while I was lolling in the bath, a glass of refreshing rose in hand. (I take my research seriously.) After breakfast, on a terrace under a pergola, I sampled the estate's wines in a light-filled room off the country kitchen and later dined with neighboring producers in the long medieval hall with immense fireplace. I also took a peek at the recording studio on the property (Sting once used it; the Stones left after one night -- not enough local action). The estate even has a tiny private chapel, whose dark blue painted ceiling is dotted with white stars. `Out of the Sky' For the past two months, the French press reported Brad and Angelina crisscrossing France in a helicopter, hunting for a private spot to escape hordes of paparazzi. Tom Bove, whose family owns the property, told me last week ``they dropped out of the sky.'' ``They're personally very nice,'' he said in the telephone interview. ``Brad is from the Midwest, as I am.'' (Hey, me too!) Bove, 65, is an Indiana-born businessman (Rochem Group) who fell in love with Miraval in 1992 when he and his first wife, Jane, were looking for a vacation home. He persuaded his family to purchase the 1,000-acre estate, where wine had been made for centuries. His wife took charge of the vineyards, and they set about vastly improving the wines' quality. Tragically, she died in a 1998 plane crash. Miraval Team The winery and vineyard will continue to be run by the Miraval team, Bove assures me. The Pitt-Jolie household, including four kids plus expected twins (who may or may not already have arrived when you read this), won't have to worry about toxic chemical sprays on the grapes since the vineyards are certified organic. And the nearby hamlet of Correns is the first ``bio'' (organic) village in France, meaning veggies, honey and chickens all carry the label. Besides celebs and St.-Tropez, Provence is, of course, noted for its gulpable rose wines. When Brad and Angelina first visited, they tried the savory, salmon-colored 2007 Chateau Miraval Cotes de Provence Rose ($16) with lunch. ``It's the first vintage to be labeled ``Pink Floyd,'' Bove says. (English rock band Pink Floyd recorded part of their iconic album ``The Wall'' at Studio Miraval.) Made from cinsault and grenache grapes, it's my idea of summer in a glass. ``And they took away a bottle of our top red, Cuvee Natouchka,'' Rove adds. The 100 percent syrah ($35) is made only in the best years. Their more widely available Cotes de Provence Rouge ($22) is a spicy, earthy-fruity syrah-cabernet blend. Zingy Whites Miraval's three whites are all made from the local rolle grape. The 2005 Coteaux Varois en Provence Blanc ($16) is zingy and assertive, with a hint of almond, perfect with grilled fish. Two more expensive barrel-aged cuvees, made in tiny quantities, are harder to come by. Naturally, the Brangelina buzz has already spurred sales. ``We've been inundated with calls from retailers,'' says Andrew Hirko, chief financial officer at the chateau's East Coast importer, Monarchia Matt International. ``We're sold out of the rose, and the red and white are nearly gone.'' The 2007 Pink Floyd will be on retail shelves soon. One of their biggest markets? Another celebrity haven, the Hamptons. ``I don't know how much time Brad and Angelina will be able to spend here,'' Bove says. ``But they liked Miraval's wines. I hope they'll drink them and serve them to their friends. Hey -- they can have as much as they want.'' (Elin McCoy writes on wine and spirits for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are her own.) To contact the writer of more

Resolved Question: Ideas, please on how to save money/make more?

Can you help me figure out things financially, please? My husband and I feel like we're stuck and falling behind, and we just want to get ahead. Currently, I work from home and net $545 weekly (my husband nets $520 after taxes/insurance.) We don't have to pay for child care because I work from home. My son is in school all year, but in the summer we will have to pay about $135 a week for full time care. We just bought a house, and I need to switch jobs. I'm so stressed out I can barely even deal with my family after work anymore, because I'm working 55 hours a week in a job that is burning me out ridiculously (watching 4 kids under 4 all day with no adult interaction and no vacation/sick time.) In the job market, it appears I'll only be able to make $11-$12 an hour to start, and that's a bit of a pay cut, PLUS adding the expense of childcare. I'm trying to figure out what to do because I just need to change jobs.. I can't do this much longer, but we can't afford it. Basically, we will be about $970 short every month if I make $11/hr and we have to pay day care. Does anyone have ideas either for extra money, or for cutting bills? Our MONTHLY bill payments are: $1340 -- mortgage $420 in miscellaneous credit card/hospital bills (from when I was uninsured) payments $800 monthly on groceries and gas for the cars $540 day care $120 cell phones $160 on car insurance $100 electric bill $160 cable/internet/phone $340 car payment #1 (I will be trading in to get something cheaper once I find another job; this was a payment on a mini van which i will no longer need if I stop taking kids) $390 car payment #2 (we can't switch this -- we are in too much debt with this car to trade it.) $230 gas bill (which should drop drastically in the summer.) Any ideas on how to save money or make extra money? I've applied to every single nights/weekends part time job I can find, and I think people are reluctant to hire me because I'm not a teenager. Any thoughts are appreciated. more

Resolved Question: Good East Coast Beach for a Family Vaca...?

My husband and I have 3 girls (11, 9 and 3). We have never gone on vacation together. We would like to head to the beach this summer, but I have no idea where. And we have an EXTREMELY tight budget. Basically we don't have any money saved for a vacation, but I am willing to sell stuff to raise the cash. We live in SW PA so it would probably be more cost efficient to drive. We want it to be a nice beach to play and swim and also have other activities for the kids and us. I can find some of our friends to go along with us, so would it be cheaper to rent a house than to stay in a hotel? Any beach suggestions would be great, Thanks! more

Resolved Question: vacation ideas for me and my momma?

im 16 and i want a fun and relaxing place to go with my mom over the summer for a week. again im not a little kid so i want to go somewhere that's fun, but somewhere that we can both relax. her budget is 2,000 or just a little over. But she said not mexico because of that whole thing that's going on there right now..lol. any ideas? oh and btw its just me and her no siblings or dadand we live in florida. so dont suggest florida. like maybe somewhere out of the u.s more

Voting Question: Quick vacation idea for father and 2 kids?

To make a long story short, my brother's kids are being relocated to the UK with their mother. After a long battle to keep them here in the US, he is left with empty pockets and lost his kids to his ex girlfriend and will only see them on Easter, Christmas, in the summer and a couple of times he will be allowed to go there to see them. It's very sad and he and our whole family are very upset about this. She is leaving right after Easter, April 7th and he wanted to bring them somewhere for a few days and didn't know where. I suggested to take them to Disney but I think that might be a bit costly. I've been looking around and the cost will be about $2k for the three of them. The kids are 3 and 5 yrs old. He didn't loose them because he was a bad father, he lost them because his ex has no job and she will be moving in with her parents...so therefore the courts felt that this low life unemployed person could make a better life for their two children over there with her parents. That's PA's laws for ya. I'm sickened by this whole thing. But anyways, back to my question...anyone have any ideas to take these kids? We are looking at March 25th to the 30th. more

Resolved Question: Where should I take my kids for summer vacation?

I live in Ottawa Canada, so would like something on east coast, willing to go to US, no more than 2 days drive or major city that would have cheap air fare. Like the idea of a beach (Ocean) vacation. Would like to go for 1 week, maybe 10 days. Looking to spend around $2000 total. Any ideas? In the past we've gone to Sesame Place/Philadelphia/Atlantic City, Mt Tremblant, Great Wolf Lodge Niagara Falls more

Resolved Question: Does my civilian spouse have a chance at keeping the ex from moving to another duty station with the kids?

My spouse's ex-spouse just married an active duty soldier. We just discovered that they may be re-locating to another duty station in approx 6 months. My spouse and the ex have 2 teenage children together and they have joint custody, but the ex-spouse has physical custody. Their visitation agreement provides that the kids spend time with us during their extended school vacations (Winter, Spring, and Summer). Occasionally they spend 3-day weekends with us as well. The kids have expressed their desire to spend more time with us, but the ex-spouse is often disagreeable to that idea. We live approx 1.5 hours away from the kids and in a different state. Currently, my spouse is primarily responsible for all transportation of the children during visitation and that would be difficult to accomplish if they moved away. We are able to provide a loving and stable environment. The ex-spouse has moved every other year for the past 8 years. The kids are currently 15 and 13 and they can't even remember their own address. The ex-spouse also has another 7 year old child with another civilian. The ex previously told us that they (ex and current spouse) would try and stay at their current duty station, but we don't feel there was any good faith behind that statement. Overall, the ex is a decent parent, but there have been many times where my spouse has been called to smooth things over with the kids. Both of the kids have expressed their desire to live with us, but they change their tune when they speak with the ex. I believe they are afraid to upset either of their parents and don't want to have to choose between them. They'd rather the adults fight everything out and just be told what to do that way they know they didn't hurt anyone's feelings. According to state law, the ex is required to petition the court for a modification. Does my spouse have a fighting chance at opposing the petition for modification, if one is even filed, and winning? Or is this a losing battle from the getgo? Bottom line...My spouse wants to be able to tell the children that we fought for them. I agree, but at the same time I have my doubts as I don't want to subject the children to a huge custody battle. Personally, I think I'd want to know that my father or mother at least tried to keep me in his/her life. But then again, I've never been put in this type of situation so I'm not sure either way. Any advise would be very helpful.I'm here on behalf of my spouse as he does not know what to do and he does not use the internet. I'm being supportive of my spouse and his current situation. He's been in court before regarding a similar situation with his ex and he was able to stop her from leaving once, but the difference now is that she's married. I never showed up to the court house or even talked to the kids about this stuff. I leave it to the two of them to work things out. However, if my spouse asks me for advice, I do my best to help him. In this instance, I didn't know what to do. I was clearly conflicted and that's why I came here to seek out some advice, not to be attacked. However, I can respect that this is a public board and everyone is entitled to his/her opinion. Am I supposed to just tell my spouse that he needs to work it out on his own and to leave me out of it? If so, I can do that, but only if I think it'll be truly beneficial to him to do so. more

Voting Question: Am I wrong or is my mother wrong?

I'm 16 years old and live in Ohio, along with my five best friends. We've all been friends forever and all of our parents know each other and all of us. We're all really good kids: we get great grades, we don't drink, smoke, or do anything bad. We were all talking and we said we want to go on a vacation together, just us six. We decided we want to go to Fort Lauderdale, Florida this summer. We want to earn the money to go ourselves, so our parents don't have to pay for any part of it. We'd fly there, get a taxi to our hotel, get a nice suite that we could all stay in (or two separate rooms if needed) stay for 5-7 days, get a taxi to the airport, and fly back home. My mom said absolutely not and if we want to go then we can wait until it's the summer after our senior year and a parent would have to go with us. She said that we aren't old enough to travel by ourselves. And maybe when we're seniors all the parents can go along too, but for now, no. She also said that most parents wouldn't let their kids do this. I say that who knows if I will still have the same friends? or, what if nobody wants to do it by then? and plus we'll probably be saving up more for college then, so we won't want to spend our money on that. and that would defeat the purpose of us going on our own and earning it all ourselves. Plus, once one parent wants to go, the whole family wants to go. when one family goes, all want to go and then its just to much and the whole idea is shot. Give your honest opinion. Thanks. more

Resolved Question: Which plot idea should I begin writing?

I have three different ideas and I'm not sure which one I want to write. Sometimes in these situations, you have an urge to write one more than the other but I have a lot of ideas for all of them and would be happy writing any of them: 1) Fantasy: Twin girls find out that they are from a family of witches. One twin is perfect and the other is always in trouble. Their grandmother (a witch) tells them that there will always be a good witch and a bad witch when it comes to a set of twins. The story is from the twin who is always in trouble and the story makes it seem like she is the bad witch, but it turns out that she is the good one and has to stop her sister from practically destroying the earth. 2) Fantasy/Adventure: A boy has always grown up with his mother and they've never had much. He doesn't know anything about his father. The boy is a bit of an outsider and always has his head in the clouds. One day, a new kid starts at school and starts acting as if he knows him. After some strange events, his mother explains that when she was in her twenties, she was travelling when she accidentally fell through a portal, taking her to a completely new world and she ended up falling in love with a guy. They became a couple but she got pregnant. They stayed together and planned to marry but the guy was also a prince and when a huge war started, he sent her home so that the baby would be safe. With the help of the new kid from school, who is a witch from the other world, he travels there and they go an adventure to find his father. They encounter vampires (ones who don't sparkle and who do actually kill in cold-blood), werewolves, witches, dragon riders, rebellion groups, etc, etc. 3) Romance: A boy goes on vacation/holiday to a campsite but meets a traveller girl who is camping nearby. They end up having a huge summer romance when she tells him that the group are moving on and they probably won't see each other again. Not wanting this, the boy sneaks along with them, running away from his parents. It is mainly how they fall deeper in love but also try to keep it a secret that his parents don't know he is there and all the hardships, etc. Obviously, these are only brief summary plots, so there is more than is told there but from what I've given you, what do you think I should write?To the first person who commented, I agree with number three but I have never seen/read number 1 and 2, so that's just bad luck. more

Resolved Question: Ideas for a family vacation?

We are planning to go on a vacation this summer, but we have no idea where to go. There will be 2 adults and 4 kids. The kids are 1, 4, 8, and 10. We are from Nebraska, and we are having a hard time trying to figure out where to take the kids for a fun vacation. We have thought about going camping, or going to a theme park and just spending time together. If you have any ideas on where to go or any recommendations, that would be great! We really don't get out much, and I know there is soo much to do! We are very adventurous when we are giving the opportunity. It's just something we haven't really had a chance to do. Any cabin ideas or get aways?! more

Resolved Question: Where should my family and I go for a vacation?

Okay, so, sometime this summer, my husband and I want to bring our kids on a family vacation. We want to go somewhere fun, warm, and beachy. We live in California, and were thinking San Diego, North Carolina, or Florida. Not Hawaii, we have decided to go there next year, when the quads are 6. Don't worry about money saving, we are fine. Please suggest some great places, and give some house ideas that we could rent at. Just leave the site and I will look. Thanks! P.S: We have quads that will be 5, and twins that will be 9. more