If he can sit up, I reccommend the bathtub for Ben. When I had my week of 104 degree temperatures I lived in the bathtub - I could warm up or cool down the water as I was cold or hot. and it helps in bringing down the fever as well.

sj- if the day after class is always hard - plan for it - plan to stay in bed longer , expect to feel less than ideal ,etc. and you may end up feelign bad for less time. ma~~ to your firend

PC- babysteps - this sounds liek a compromise - and quite frankly if your basic profile doesn't attarct attention - well, I didn't think you were in a hurry anyway. and as long as contact is with you the real you will show through very quickly. I guess I am going to say something that I think is hard. Pick you battles. you fight with your mom over everything. You get worked up over it , and it ends in tears. the girl you marry - that matters. How you meet her, doesn't . If you ever do decide to break off contact with your mother - you want it to be over something that matters - but you have to figure out what that is first.

Nora, that's awesome! I'm glad you re-explained. Such a great feeling. It happened to me last summer, and I walked around grinning like a fool most of the time.

Cindy, I bet you're right about Ben's immune system being pooped. fevers over 102 just wig me a little.

IOridiculousN, I'm watching the I Love Lucy where they board the ship for Europe. They're talking about ship to shore phone calls, and now I'm wondering, how did that work back then? There were no cell phones back then, obviously. Was it a radio of some kind that they routed through extensions to the cabins?

I am an absolute Luddite when it comes to technology, even the old-fashioned kind.

Good for you Nora! I think that is a good plan . After reading Mindless Eating my idea is to lose 10 - 20 lbs over the course of a year. I think my biggest eating problem is not paying attention to how much I am eating - or eating without thought.

Everybody send some job ma~~ to Matt please. It looks like he will have a new job soon, but he is stressing so much over the transition that he just might worry himself to death

Lots and lots of job~ma to Matt, beth. He so deserves a new and better job, and definitely before he worries him into a frenzy about it.

You know, Cindy, now would be a good time to take advantage of the fact that you're an active member of a church and get a little help from that community. I'm sure you've done your share of do-gooding. Just having somebody stop by and help with a few things today or tomorrow would probably make a difference.

P-C, it could turn out to be an okay compromise. You can send out the P-Cish biodata after initial contact. It's not the first filter (which would be ideal), but it could be a useful second layer.

Sometimes in profile Matilda looks a lot like Harold of Purple Crayon fame. Sometimes full face she looks a lot like Emmett at this age.

the girl you marry - that matters. How you meet her, doesn't

Deserves to be said over and over again.

Though I'm still an advocate of finding the one person you know that your mother would most disapprove of, and introducing that person to her as your SO. (And I'm sure you'd have little trouble finding someone cooperative that your mother would thoroughly disapprove. Your area ATTRACTS people of whom parents disapprove.) Anyone you'd actually want to marry will seem ideal to her by comparison.

Lee, thank you.

beth jobma and calm~ma to Matt. He so deserves this, and he deserves to enjoy it, too. I will keep the bath idea in mind.

Nora, your weight management plan sounds so sane! I love it.

You know, Cindy, now would be a good time to take advantage of the fact that you're an active member of a church and get a little help from that community. I'm sure you've done your share of do-gooding. Just having somebody stop by and help with a few things today or tomorrow would probably make a difference.

There's really not much to do. I've been basically housebound with sick kids for the past 18 days. My laundry has seldom been in such good shape. I mean I've even been folding and putting away laundry while it's still warm. It's madness!

Hmmm. Maybe I've upset the delicate eco-system of the house.

P-C, it could turn out to be an okay compromise. You can send out the P-Cish biodata after initial contact. It's not the first filter (which would be ideal), but it could be a useful second layer.

This is true, and really, if the girl isn't the first to look at the biodata, the cute, customized P-C biodata might filter out girls you don't want filtered out, just because their relatives don't *get* you.

Job~ma, Matt. And sanity~ma to both Matt and Beth.

Health~ma with a good dose of sanity~ma to Cindy and family.

Loquat Extract is teh bomb for coughs.

Oh Cindy. {{{Family}}} Much get better~ ma and quick recovery ~ ma to youse guys. I'll be thinking of you guys all day.

jobma and calmma~ to Matt. Hey! Company! Go Matt! Choose Matt!

Go Nora with the saneness of the weight loss plan! Where do I sign up?

And P-C, what Cindy said here:

if the girl isn't the first to look at the biodata, the cute, customized P-C biodata might filter out girls you don't want filtered out, just because their relatives don't *get* you.

Does make sense. And, nice compromise. (But your mom really needs a class in diplomacy and niceness to her children. IJS.)

This is true, and really, if the girl isn't the first to look at the biodata, the cute, customized P-C biodata might filter out girls you don't want filtered out, just because their relatives don't *get* you.

Oh, good point. Good point. Cindy is wise.