Queen Queso

I know how old Norman Reedus is, that is not what I am asking.

I have been reading some Walking Dead fanfics while I am waiting for season 3 to be available at the library and it seems that everyone has a different idea about exactly how old Daryl is. So how do YOU see him? Twenties? Thirties? Forties?

(Also, I don't have cable so I am only finished with seasons one and two. Please no spoilers! Unless there is an episode where someone actually says how old he is.)

When I was in school, you could literally set your clock by the time the bus came. Passed our house at 7:15, turned around at the end of the road, and picked us up at 7:20. Was given his route assignment by the school and by the first day would have everyones stop memorized.

My son started kindergarten last week. The first day, the bus came at 7:15, which I thought was too early because we live 5 min from school, he got there at 7:35 and then had to sit on the bus for ten minutes because they're not allowed in the building until 7:45. School starts at 8:05.

Then he had to go to his dads for a few days and his dad drove him because he's out of the district. So today, we went outside at 7:10 to watch for the bus, just in time to see it drive past without stopping. Don't drivers stop at the stops anymore if they don't see the kids?

And the first day, she yelled at us for not calling her ahead of time and telling her he would be on the bus. Isn't that her job or the schools job to give her her route assignments? When we registered for school (on the first day of registration, not late or anything!), they told us what our bus number would be and the drivers name, but did NOT tell us we had to contact her for anything.

Did I just have a really amazing bus driver when I was a kid and am expecting too much of this lady?

It's literally the 4th day of school and between the bus driver and my son ALREADY getting head lice, I'm about ready to pull him out and home school.

There was an incident at a gas station in Kentucky and a man punched my boyfriend. They had given each other dirty looks when we were pulling into the pumps and he was pulling out at the same time because there is only one drive in and out of the station and neither one really wanted to stop and let the other one go. But he left and we were there for like 15 minutes and then when we were about to leave he came back, got out of his car and said 'I decided I'd like to come back and beat up a white boy from Indiana' and swung at him.

He didn't aim well I guess because he barely caught him with the side of his fist. It didn't even leave a red mark. The cops said assault was like a C or D misdemeanor, but I was wondering if it was an A or B, or even a D felony if it was a racially motivated assault. From what he said, the only reason he came back is because my boyfriend is white.

I've never had any dealings with anything like this before, but I have seen that term 'racially motivated assault' in the newspapers and what not before. Is it a real thing or just a term they are using to headline papers?

My mom's friend is in the process of adoption. They have completed their home visits and have put together a scrap book. I guess what happens now is the scrapbook goes on a shelf with dozens of others and the birth mother would go through them and decide on a family?

If you have adopted this way or put a child up for adoption this way, please tell me a bit more about the process. If you adopted, how long did you have to wait before you were chosen?

Has anyone had two single babies born less than a year apart? If so, did you do it purposely, planning the second child, or was the second a surprise?

It seems like they are all surprises so I was just wondering if anyone would do it on purpose.

Yes, I asked this question already but I only got two answers and neither of them actually had 'Irish Twins.'

Just wondering if you planned to have them that close together or if it was a happy accident? Also, were there any problems associated with back-to-back pregnancies (early labor, low birth-weight babies, asthma, autism, milk dried up too early, made it double-hard to lose the baby weight, etc)?

I only know one person who had her kids that close together, and with her, her second was unplanned. She got pregnant with him because her mom told her that you couldn't get pregnant while breastfeeding. He was born in the late 70's, her mom's info came from having her in the early 50's. We all know now that's not true!

I am pregnant with my second now and my oldest is going to turn 6 a few months after the baby is born. I never wanted that much of a gap between kids, but I am thankful that my ex and I only had one child between us. My SO and I are going to have more kids, and we don't want almost 6 years between them this time and were trying to decide on a spacing when this question came up.

There is a river here that is very popular for canoeing, tubing, etc., but the water level is pretty high because of our recent rains.

Apparently this afternoon, a couple took their toddler out in a kayak and they tipped it trying to get around some tree limbs and they've lost him. That happened at 3 pm and they have not found him yet, according to the latest news stories. It seems that the baby WAS wearing a life jacket, but it might not have fit and wasn't fastened all the way.

I've lived here all my life and am very comfortable taking my son to the river. He is 5 and last summer we took him tubing down the river for the first time. We have been playing in the water since he was 2 1/2. I am pregnant now and I'm sure this child will grow up on the river bank as well. HOWEVER, I can't believe that someone would think a 1 year old is old enough for a kayak ride, without a proper life jacket, let alone when the river is high and fast and full of debris!

What on Earth is wrong with people?

For two days now I have had a very sore spot in my lower stomach, off to the right. From my hip bone, it is about three inches in and two inches down. The pain kind of radiates out from there. Different ways that I move, or when I change position too quickly (like stand up fast), it sharpens into a stabbing pain.

I also have had a headache for the entire two days I have had this hip pain.

I am 17 weeks pregnant, and I am not spotting at all and have no other symptoms. I had my appendix out years ago, so it can't be that. This happened to anyone else? Is it related to the pregnancy or something totally else?

I have had a headache for over 24 hours now. I took tylenol, tried to nap to sleep it off, and drank a pop to see if the caffeine would help. I'm pregnant, so I can't take aleve or ibuprofen.

Any suggestions on how to get rid of it?

I know the obvious would be Anna, Ann, Annie, and Belle, but I don't like Annie at all. Do you think if I just kept saying Anna that everyone would get used to that and not get in the habit of saying Annie? I don't care about Ann or Belle, I'd be fine if people called her that, I just prefer Anna and don't like Annie...

And also, there are many variations on spelling. What do you think is best?

Annabelle

Anabel

Anabelle

Annabell

Anabell

Annabel

I have been reading posts on this board for awhile and I have been thinking about it lately because one of my mom's friends is in the process of adoption. They are currently just waiting to be chosen by a birth mother.

I know that its really inexpensive to adopt from the foster care system, but only if you are a foster parent, right? How does the process work? I know you have to be approved to be a foster parent, but once you are, do you have to accept any child they ask you to foster? Or can you become a foster parent for the sole purpose of adopting a single child and then never foster again? Are the kids that could be placed with you all up for adoption, or do they go back to their families after staying with you?

I don't actually know anyone that is or has been a foster parent or a child in the foster care system, so I have zero personal experience with it.

I just found out that I'm about 5 weeks pregnant. I have a doctor appointment in two weeks that will confirm a due date and exactly how far along I am. We have decided to keep the pregnancy a secret (if possible!) until the end of the first trimester. I can't wait to tell everyone, and I know everyone will be thrilled (or at least not unhappy), except for two people. My parents. They hate my boyfriend because they say that me being with him is cheating on my husband (I had filed for divorce before we even STARTED dating, and my divorce was final years ago) and have always been rude to him, even mildly slanderous, talking badly about him to other people. They disapprove on nearly every decision I've ever made without consulting them first (and by consulting, I mean doing exactly what they wanted). However, they're still my parents and I'm uncomfortable with the idea of writing them out of my life, no matter how childish they act.

And since they're my parents, I feel like I should tell them directly instead of them hearing about it from anyone else, which would happen if I started announcing it to friends first.

Has anyone been in the same situation? Does anyone have any tips or suggestions? My first pregnancy was SUPER stressful because of them and I was very sick, lost several pounds, and nearly had to go on bed rest before they stopped being nasty about it. I don't want to do that during this one, too!

I'm going on a cruise that leaves out of New Orleans and we will be staying in town for one night after the cruise comes back. Our travel agent has booked the St. James Hotel. It's supposed to be walking distance to the FQ.

Has anyone stayed there or even heard of it?

What are some attractions that we can do there for one day? I was thinking maybe some kind of tour of haunted locations? Any suggestions for one of those?

I'm asking this here because you ladies are paying more attention to your cycles than anyone else. I recently removed my Mirena and have only had one short period since. I had none while on Mirena and before it was in, my periods were irregular and very painful.

My period was Jan 24 and 25, and then very lightly on the 26th. Today I have been having mild cramping on my right side only, which is unusual for how my periods used to be. I used to have heavy cramping all the way across. And as far as I know, I have never felt any ovulation pains before, but I have seen it mentioned on these boards a lot.

So do you think this is my period coming a little early, or do you think I am feeling ovulation?

Just out of curiosity, really. I see posts about them from time to time. Are they really helpful? I mean, it seems to me that they'd only be useful if you had a regular cycle, but if you had a regular cycle then you could probably figure it out on your own...

I'm not TTC so maybe there's something in there that I'm just missing.

My son is 5 and loves basketball. The plastic kids hoops are no good for him. They're not very well balanced and they're mostly too short for him to do any actual shooting. So I want to get him a real hoop. It has to be portable because we rent and cannot install anything permanent. I have been looking online but it seems like anything that adjusts down below 7.5 foot (much too high for him now) has bad ratings.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

I looked at these two:

http://www.buylifetime.com/Products/BLT/PID-90022....

http://www.competitiveedgeproducts.com/detail.aspx...

I had the Mirena for 3 months short of 5 years. It was put it when my son was a month or so old, and I never had a period while on it. My last period was in April 2005, right before I got pregnant with my son. The Mirena was removed almost 3 weeks ago and I have had no indication yet that my cycle is restarting.

Anyone out there have the Mirena or another IUD? How long did it take after removal for your cycle to restart? Did you have periods while using Mirena?

My son turns 5 next month, and I'm having trouble finding a place to have his party. We live in Indiana, but the closest city is Cincinnati, Ohio. It will likely be cold so it will have to be indoors and my apartment is too small. There will probably be less than ten kids and fifteen or so adults. I don't have a lot of money to spend and every place I can find to have it is either really expensive or far away.

My son turns 5 next month, and I'm having trouble finding a place to have his party. We live in Indiana, but the closest city is Cincinnati, Ohio. It will likely be cold so it will have to be indoors and my apartment is too small. There will probably be less than ten kids and fifteen or so adults. I don't have a lot of money to spend and every place I can find to have it is either really expensive or far away.

I know you're not allowed to take alcohol, obviously, but I saw a post on NCL's website that said what kind of pop they have, and it didn't include Dr Pepper, which is the only pop I drink. Would they confiscate it like they would alcohol?

Also, are there any things that you would suggest I take, or that I won't need? Like I read posts saying that there will only be one outlet in the room so people suggest bringing a power strip.