Kashi

I am currently about a week out from filing for divorce. We are splitting peacefully and agree on most of the financial stuff. I am currently going back to school after staying home with the kids for the past 11 years. The only income I will get right away is alimony/child support and possibly cash from the 401k. I would use this to pay bills, etc. while I continue to get my degree. I know it is better to keep the 401k money invested, however, I don't really have a choice to do so right now and still live on my own. I may get a decent amount of financial aid money, but I cannot apply for that until we are legally separated. I'm sure there are tax deterrents for this- I'm hoping I'd have some cash left.

My daughter has a DSi and the Imagine Artist game. You draw your art on the DSi game and then you can upload the photo to a Ubiworld site. We have a Ubiworld account, but cannot figure out how to link the account. I've called Nintendo myself and Ubisoft and they are both morons. While trying to upload from the DSi, it gave me an account id but there are too many digits to enter on the ubiworld site. Help! I know this has to work, because you can see other people's pictures on there!

My daughter has one, and we have it set up with the wifi in our house. Her older sister is going to France and Italy in April and I wondered if it would work there in a wifi hotspot just to communicate with us thru email. Anyone have experience with this?

My husband occasionally has to go to meetings with co workers who are women. Once in a while they are also a friend of his. Sometimes it's just a meeting around where we live, but once in a great while it's further away. For instance, last time he had to drive about 5 hours with this woman for a meeting and golf outing, they stayed at a hotel (separate rooms) for 2 nights. This particular woman is happily married, has kids, etc. I feel very uncomfortable when he has to do this. I don't necessarily think there is already something going on, but am afraid that the opportunity is there. I can't change how his work operates. I don't have friends who have husbands with similar work environments. Does anyone else have this situation and have a hard time dealing with it? Years ago, he did get too close to some women friends emotionally and we had a long time working that out to where we were both comfortable with the friendships. I also had an ex husband that cheated on me (physical affairs). I think that affects the way I see things. Any insight?

I have a 7 yr. old who tells me that if she does one thing on one side of her body like itch her leg or stretch it, then she feels like she has to do it on the other side. She says she feels like she "needs" to do it to the other side as well. She is very smart, can concentrate in school, gets good grades, is very sociable. But she is also a perfectionist and very competitive. She is sensitive to her feelings and to others. She has a half sister who is on depression meds (15yrs. old). I am seeing my own therapist on Wed. and will ask her, but I was wondering if this sounded familiar to anyone. She only has recently mentioned it, but claims she has always done it. She got very upset and was crying because she said she thought she was crazy. Any thoughts?

I'm wanting to buy a used iMac for my 15 yr. old. She is very involved in the arts/drawing, etc. and will probably be going to an art school instead of an university. Here is one I have found and I wanted some opinions on if this sounds like a good deal. She would just be using it at home to get used to a Mac since she hasn't used one before, and this has Photoshop on it as well which I like getting way cheaper than buying new! Thanks- Here's the description posted:

Selling this used G5 loaded with tons of great software

Specs:

Speed 1.8 Ghz

Memory 768 MB

What this machine has:

Latest version of Apple OS, Leopard 10.5.6 (see pic, will include disk if wanted)

Microsoft Office Suite ($150 value)

Fetch FTP client ($29 value)

Stuffit Expander ($80 value)

Upgraded to latest version of ilife, “iLife 09”

Free trial version of “iWork”

Adobe CS3 Photoshop (worth A LOT)

Open source apps on machine:

Transmission (torrent downloader)

Adium (Instant Messenger client)

Handbrake (media converter)

VLC (all in one media player)

This is a great computer, I used it primarily for all things media but once I got office installed I used it more for work purposes.

It is used so a few dings here and there, the apple keyboard and apple mouse are "ok" (I actually use a dell mouse with it)

This is a PPC processor and not an Intel.

My 7 yr. old daughter wanted to vote, so we went online last week. I was a little surprised to see the Pussycat Dolls on there for best group (I think) and Katy Perry's song "I Kissed A Girl". I'm not pruddish- consider myself fairly moderate. I'm not really strict, but not really liberal either just somewhere in between. I was just a little shocked at these choices for nominees for a kids award show. I don't have a problem with my 15 yr. old and these things, but I don't really think she's in the demographic for Nick or the kids choice awards. Was anyone else surprised by this?

I'm debating between a bowling party or a craft party at Joann Fabrics or Michaels. For the craft party I can choose between cupcakes (they decorate their own), sew and dress,etc. a small stuffed bear or frog. They're both age appropriate. Anyone have experience with doing a craft party at one of these stores? The bowling parties I've been to take longer and sometimes the kids get bored while waiting. I thought the craft party would be not as long, but the kids would be busy the whole time. I can bring cake/cupcakes to either one.

I have a recipe for a creamy pumpkin pie that just goes in a pre made graham cracker crust. I want to have it larger, and not in pie form and it just gets all messy and stuff. I was thinking of doubling the recipe and just putting in a graham cracker crust myself in a 9x13 pan. I'd then cut it into bars instead of pie slices. Do you think this will work okay?

I bought some potsticker wrappers (look like wonton wrappers, but they are round) and need to find a good filling to make them with. My family isn't big on Chinese flavors, so maybe something with a twist? I have chicken breasts I can shred for the meat portion.

We have a gas fireplace that does have a glass front/door on it,but it still has openings. We don't really use it, and especially in the winter time alot of cold air comes through. Any ideas on a creative way to cover it? I'm sure I could just use the same plastic as people do on their windows, but I was thinking of making something with plywood covering it with fabric or something so it looks nice?

My child's doctor recommened my kids take some Omega 3 supplements. The first ones I bought were Gummy Vites (my kids take their multi vitamins and they are just fine) and they taste awful! I tried them too to see if the kids were just being picky and they were extremely gross and fishy tasting. Has anyone had any luck with a liquid or chewable supplement for omega 3's that still tastes good?

My family wants to go to Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas next June. Does anyone have an opinion on if it's best to use a travel agency or use the Atlantis website for hotel and plane reservations? Why or why not?

Are there any good sites or books that go into detail about the emperors and other important people during the Shang Dynasty in China? I've only found places that list the emperors, but not their time of rule or what they did. No where can I find any information on any other important figures during this time. It seems like alot is not known from this time period in China's history.

My daughter is going to homecoming next weekend and has a short, cute, black and red dress with black shoes (still have to find). Back in my day, we always wore hose with a dress - but it seems like people don't really do that anymore. Is that the trend now?

I have a very inexpensive life insurance policy with AIG that I got about 3 years ago. I was healthier and weighed less back then, so I really don't want to have to go find another policy because I will probably be paying more for the same amount. The news is saying that AIG might go bankrupt as well. Does anyone know what would happen to my life insurance policy with them? Do I just go and find another one?

My 6 yr. old has started her fall allergies- full swing. I should have started the Claritin earlier because I knew this would happen. But, I just started it this week. Claritin takes while to work because it has to build up in your system for a few weeks before it really works. Has anyone had this and given their child Benadryl for their daily symptoms? She is miserable right now. I did check the ingredients and the main ones are not the same name.

My freshmen daughter is having trouble getting to two of her classes. It's only the first week of school, but I think this will continue. The freshmen are in a separate building from the 10-12th graders. But, some of their classes can end up in the 10-12 building. They have 8 minutes between classes. It used to be 6, but this year they changed it. She has to go from the top floor of the one building, go downstairs to get to the doors to outside and go to the other building. The classroom at this other buliding is not right by the doors either. The walkway is fairly long as well. My daughter told this teacher she was coming from the other building, and the teacher said that was okay because she wasn't going to mark tardies until Monday. Like the way is supposed to get shorter by Monday? The freshmen class has 700 people. I'm not sure about the others, but this district is really busting at the seams. Days where it is raining or snowing can't be any faster either. I've emailed the asst. principal, but haven't heard back yet. I know some kids out there are not probably using their time wisely, but my daughter has so much anxiety and is so nervous about this, I know she is trying hard. My daughter is an honor roll student and always follows the rules. To top it off, the class she is late to is geometry and it's the class she's most worried about. For the next class she has to cross campus, but that teacher seemed to understand better. She is not really late, but is usually down the hall, in view of the door when the bell rings. Do you think I have an argument here? After 3 tardies, in a class per semester they get after school detention. If my daughter is late every day for this class, she'll have detention every week. I will not allow that to happen!

My 14 yr. old (freshman) is currently in counseling for what I think is mild depression, confidence issues and emotional stress. She lost her dad 3 years ago, but has always been very hard on herself and very sensitive. We are not to the point where she is on meds yet, but things seem to be escalating since school started. I am worried that it will come to that. I'm scared because I've heard lots of bad side effects and things may get worse until we find the right drug for her. For those of you that are dealing with this, how is it going? Do you communicate with their teachers about any of it so they are aware? Do you do special things to help them reduce their stess levels? I was thinking about picking her up from school because how this school does their end of day stuff is really chaotic. Everyone brings their backpack and stuff to last hour and they hop on these shuttle busses that take them to the 10-12th grade building where they get on their real bus. They have 4 minutes to catch the shuttle bus. I thought that might help her out. I know kids have to deal with stuff on their own, but I don't feel like she's at a place where she can do that very well now. I stay at home, so it's not really a problem to do.

My 6 yr. old daughter is having a hard time dealing with the two neighbor girls who have aspergers who are going into second grade. Does anyone have any advice on this? I don't want my daughter to be mean to them, but on the other hand, I don't want her to get walked all over either. The girls play with the other kids nice for just a bit, then when they don't get their way, they stomp off yelling. They'll usually return with a mean drawing or note for the kids that upset them. They also accuse the other kids of calling them names and being mean to them when it hasn't happened. They say that the kids can only be their friends if they do exactly what they want them to do. I find I have to be right by them when they play at our house so I can know exactly what is happening. I have to keep telling them that we don't talk that way at our house, and to not lie to me. My daughter will be riding the bus with them this year and I want to try to give her ways of dealing with them.