jpiglet86

My best friend lost her husband 2 years ago at age 31. I do my best to be supportive and helpful every way I can, but I have no idea how she is actually feeling or what she is going through. I've been looking into the different books that are available, but I'm hearing from feedback about the books that they aren't as helpful for a young widow.

Can anyone suggest a book for me that would be helpful to her?

Thank you so much!

It's my first pregnancy and I'm 22 weeks with a girl. I'm getting a little annoyed with everyone telling me that I should have felt her moving by now.

She's moving and growing and her heartbeat is great (we just had an ultrasound Friday) and the doc says it's perfectly normal to not feel anything for another couple weeks with a first pregnancy.

So I'm just curious, how long was it before you felt your first one move?

Thanks girls!

I currently live in LA, my husband got offered a job back in Buffalo and we are moving at the end of September. I will be 6 months pregnant by then and the doctor has already told me that it's fine for me to fly, but I'm wondering if any of you mommies out there can share any stories or offer any advice? Is there anything that I should bring or do that I wouldn't have had to if I wasn't pregnant?

Thanks a bunch =)

Seriously. I'm 3 months pregnant and it's gone from the occasional annoyance to being down right comical.

I can't do anything right anymore. I'm always dropping things, running into stuff, tripping over imaginary items, screwing up basic tasks.

Lately I can't pour a liquid into a glass without spilling half of it all over the counter. I can't get pasta out of a bag without it falling all over the floor. I can't throw something into the garbage without smashing my head on the cabinet (that isn't even over the garbage can). And forget about actually trying to remove the garbage from the can. The bag will rip, the pull ties will come right off, the can will fall over once I've got the bag half way out.

And then there's the put the cereal in the fridge and the milk in the cabinet or pouring juice on the cereal instead of the milk all together but then not even realizing it until I had a spoonful of the concoction.

Went to make french fries today and put the fries in the basket, but instead of putting the basket in the oil I put it in the sink and didn't realize that little goof until 15 minutes later.

The first few weeks of the pregnancy was spent doing a lot of cursing, but now I just think it's the funniest most ridiculous thing ever. And thus I spend a lot of time going 'wow' and just rolling my eyes or cracking up.

My husband, bless his heart, tried so hard for the first few weeks to be supportive and helpful and all that even though I know he wanted to laugh his butt off at me, I mean, who wouldn't? So finally once I started finding humor in it, I told him he could laugh if he wanted.

It's quite amusing actually. I call him my studio audience.

I guess I just wanted to see if any other mommies to be have any silly stories or really big pregnancy induced 'DUH' moments, so please, feel free to share!

About half way between my right hip and bottom rib I've been getting intermittent sharp almost stabbing type pains on my right side about twice an hour. They come and go very quickly but it's still quite uncomfortable at times. Has anyone else had this? Any idea what it is?

I've had no spotting or cramping or abdominal or back pain. And I haven't been strenuously exercising or anything (actually I haven't really been exercising at all because it had been making me throw up...lol) so it's not one of those 'oh I ran to far too fast cramp/pain things' (although this is the same spot pretty much where such a pain would occur).

This is my first baby so I'm still trying to figure out what's normal and what's not. I called the doctor, but they don't get in the office for a few more hours, so in my impatience, I wanted to ask all of you :-)

Any help is appreciated, thank you so much!

I guess I'm not quite sure how to word this. I'm just so freaking furious that I had to post and see if anyone could help me.

One of my closest friends, Johnny is 18, goes to dialysis 3x a week and has been on the transplant list for 2 years.

My sister in law just got a kidney transplant in 2007. And promptly started smoking! Honestly this just absolutely disgusted me and I let her know. So now she is well aware that I think she is stupid and selfish and that I greatly dislike her.

Well last night I'm talking to Johnny and he's on the verge of tears. I guess that she was over to his house (he lives with my other brother and sis in law) for a visit and there was a point where Johnny was in the kitchen alone with her.

He said to her that he didn't think it was right that she was smoking as it can damage her kidney. Her reply made me vomit.

She said "I've been smoking since I was 13 and I'm not about to stop now and well this is my second one so if something happens they'll just give me another one."

So I think I'm just curious how stupid people like her keep getting organs when there are people like Johnny with hearts of gold who do everything right, eat well exercise and what have you and haven't even gotten one kidney yet.

I wish there was a way for me to tell the transplant list people what she's been doing so she can't get ANOTHER kidney.

Not only is she disrespecting herself and people like Johnny but what about the family whom on their loved ones deathbed decided to give her a second chance (well I guess third in her case) at life.

Sorry everyone, maybe I just needed to vent a little, but feel free to share your thoughts. Thank you for listening (well, reading..)

My neighbor just gave me her little two story cat condo to give to my kitties because her cat never used it. It's a few years old but there is really no wear on it at all it's just dirty. I think at some point it was a light tan color and now it's more along the gray hues.

It's just dust and cat hair and such, but I don't know the best way to clean it without completely wetting the whole thing down and scrubbing the crap out of it, which is usually how I clean area rugs and things. But because this is just carpet over particle board, I'm guessing that the wood will warp and weaken and then the whole effort will be for nothing.

So does anyone have any ideas? I ran my turbo brush vacuum attachment over the whole thing a few times but it's not helping.

Just thought I'd see if anyone might have some tips or ideas. Otherwise I think I might just end up throwing it out because she was a smoker too and that's about all I can smell now.

Thanks for your help!

Brought my 2 1/2 year old cat home from spay surgery today and she's doing great, but something I didn't expect was my male 3 1/2 year old cat (he is neutered) hissing and growling at her constantly since we brought her home.

I just don't know what to do! Has anyone else had this happen? Will he get over it? It's just crazy, he's acting like he's never even seen her before. I know she's got all kinds of weird smells all over her and I hope that's the problem and in 2 weeks when we can give her a bath, things will head back to 'normal' with them being inseparable and completely loving the crap out of each other, but this is definitely a side effect that no one warned me about. I'm just scared because now I have a kitty recovering from surgery and another one that is stressed beyond belief.

We're keeping them in different rooms, just for sake of keeping the peace and providing Chase with a 'stress free as possible' healing environment but I am just completely at a loss and will welcome any tips or advice.

Thank You So Much Everyone!

My husband is a tattoo artist in Hollywood and the shop owner is constantly leaving the dog in the tattoo shop. Shedding hair everywhere (he is a pit bull). Now as far as I know, animal hair is one of the leading causes of new tattoo irritations/infections so wouldn't you want to minimize that risk as a shop owner?

Not to mention the fact that the dog is always being left in the care of my husband who is alone in the shop most of the time. The dog does not listen to his commands at all and jumps on everyone that comes through the door, he even bit someone yesterday! Lucky for the dog, the guy just shrugged it off.

But what can we do about it? My husband is afraid to lose his job if he complains to anyone about it and I just want the dog to be left at home. I don't see the point in bringing him if his owner is just leaving him alone with whomever is at the shop anyhow.

I just don't want to see this dog put down because he bit someone else.

Any advice is appreciated, thanks!

Does anyone know the correct forms that we need to have in order to do this? My husband's ex just got married and she asked if he would surrender his rights so her husband could adopt the baby. We're living 3000 miles away from them and have never even met the child (we found out about him after we'd already moved). But after some serious though about what is ultimately best for the child (having a mother and father in the same house), my husband agreed.

They are in Buffalo, NY and we are in Calif.

I want to look over the forms and make sure that we have all the documentation (not sure if my husband will need a copy of his birth certificate or any other documents that I will have to order copies of) needed all ready to go when the baby's mother files the petition. But there is about 30 forms on the family court web site dealing with termination of rights and I have no idea which ones we need. Anyone familiar with voluntary surrender procedures in NY that could help us out?

My husband's friend just opened up a new shop and we were hoping to be able to print out the exact penal code regarding the laws as they pertain to tattooing of minors in CA.

In the shop he worked at previously, they had something saying it was alright if they were 17+ with parental consent and documentation to verify the relationship, but I've googled everything I can think of and can't find anything definitive one way or the other.

Whether it says you can or you can't, we just want to be able to have it hung up in the shop.

So if there is anyone who could help, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you kindly :-)

We're new to the area so I'm not familiar with the wholesale flooring options that LA has to offer. We're flooring a tattoo shop, so we're going to need a non porous tile. Something 12x12" at least would be perfect. I would like to use a wholesale outlet or perhaps even a recycling center if there is such a thing. We don't have top dollar to spend, but we don't want the floor to look cheap either. Has anyone used a tile outlet in the LA area that they could recommend? Or should I just go to Lowe's?

Thanks for your help!

I've been feeding my 2 cats canned Science Diet for about 2 years now. They have recently changed their formula and I'm just not happy with it anymore.

After doing some research, and crunching the budget, I'm thinking that we're ready to make the jump to Innova (Wellness and Nature's Variety are just a bit too pricey for us at the moment), but now I'm confused.

They have a normal and a reduced fat formula. My oldest cat is only slightly overweight at 10 lbs. 7 oz and my youngest is spot on at 8 lbs. 4 oz. Our vet said not to worry about the oldest one because he's very active and hasn't gained any weight over the past 2 years.

Is it alright to go with the reduced fat formula even if they don't need to be on a diet? I mean, my husband and I eat reduced fat stuff all the time and we're not overweight, so I'm thinking that it would be fine to do the same for the cats?

The nutritional content is the same, isn't it?

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance!!!

My husband and I are trying to conceive our first child, so we've been talking about everything under the sun and the topic of godparents came up. Now neither of us are religious, there was a time when I was younger that I went to a Methodist church regularly, but haven't set foot in a church in many years. So we're not sure about the whole baptism/godparents thing. Yes we have people in our life who would handle the title quite nicely, but what are the benefits of godparents? Do they have any legal say in any aspect of the children's lives if something were to happen to us? Is there something else we could call them that would hold them in the same regard without the baptism/christening? I want these two to know that we think of them in such a high regard, but what do we say? If we were religious you guys would be the godparents? I guess I'm just confused. Any thoughts?

Hubby and I are currently in Van Nuys. He just got a new job at Hollywood and Vermont in the Los Feliz area. We don't have a car, so walking distance to work would be awesome for him. We're not familiar with that area, so I'm not sure what the "good" and "bad" areas are. If there even is such a thing. Our lease here is up in a month and we have 2 cats. We need a one bedroom. Hoping for something around the $1000/month range. Also open to North Hollywood if it is walking distance to the red line. If anyone has any companies they've rented from or worked with or buildings with vacancies, could you let me know? Craigslist has been kind of a bust lately, so I was hoping that someone on here might be able to help. We're not native to CA, so any advice is GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks in advance!!!

I just bought a book for my step mother in law. It's just one of those cutsie little things, maybe 4"x5" but I want to write something really nice in the cover.

I have so much that I want to say, I just can't condense it enough to fit inside this book. The bottom line is, she is really close to me, we are great friends and I know I can count on her for anything. She's more of a mom to me than even my own mom and I wanted to convey that in a short paragraph at the front of this book, but every time I write something it seems to end up being way too long. And I don't want to put a letter in there on separate paper because I don't want it to get lost.

Anyone have any ideas? I am looking to bring on the water works with it, so lay it on me if you've got anything :-)

I just think maybe I've been at it for too long and I've got writer's block now!

Thank you everyone!!!

Hubby and I have been at it for almost 2 years now. I'm finding that I get so depressed every time my period comes and that I don't enjoy sex as much as I used since it all seems to big one big waste of time. I love my husband to death, but I don't know how to lift my spirits enough to just enjoy him again. I'm waiting for my period to come this month so I can start charting everything (Just got Taking Charge of Your Fertility, so I know all about the cervical position and mucous, etc.) My plan is to chart for a good 3 months before going to the doctor, I figure this way at least I can say 'look' I'm not ovulating or there's no thermal shift or whatever. Hubby has a child from another relationship, so I'm fairly certain the problem lies with me. I'm just so terrified to find out that there could be something seriously wrong and I won't be able to have a child. How are you all handling the stress? Any ideas or tips for me? Best of Luck to all of you and thanks for your answers!

I'm in Southern California and my grandmother is in Buffalo, NY. I want to start a non profit organization in her name that would benefit her and other people in her condition. She is on several blood thinners and is always freezing. This organization would provide energy inspectors free of charge or drastically discounted, to examine the recipients home for leaky windows, bad heating, no insulation, etc. Then provide contractors, again at little or no cost, to fix these problems. Hopefully providing a more comfortable way for these heart patients to get through colder winter months. It it possible for me to start the organization while being out here in LA or should I wait until we are back in Buffalo in a few years? Anyone have any idea what start up costs might be for this? Any way to get grants to cover those costs? Are there lawyers that will provide a free consultation to get started?

Thank you all so much for your help!

I was wondering if anyone had found any cat grass seeds or plants that last more than a week or two? My cats like the cat grass, but they don't chew on it enough to make it worth buying a new one every 2 weeks. Is there any cat grass species that will keep for an extended period of time? Will planting the seeds in a nutrient rich potting soil or a ceramic pot help at all?

I'm also thinking about getting a cat nip plant for them but what am I supposed to do with the plant in order to make it safe for them to play with? I figured I would just pick the leaves and once they are dried out put them in the pouch of a cat nip toy, but if anyone else has other suggestions, please share :-)

Thank you so much for your help!

My husband just called me from work with a bit of a dilemma. His co-worker found an injured brown bat and now they are calling me asking what to do with it. I called the emergency number for The California Wildlife Center and left a message but I haven't heard anything and it's been a few hours (some emergency hotline). I told my husband to get a shoe box and line it with a towel or something soft and to keep him in the dark someplace out of a draft, but that isn't anywhere in his shop that's for sure. So now he's got him in the box and is bringing him home. Can I just leave him settled in a lined shoe box until someone comes to get him? Will someone even come to get him? I don't know what I'm going to do with this bat if no one can help him. I don't know the first thing about caring for injured bats. All I know for sure is that it's one wing is broken. Do bats even recover from broken wings? What do I feed him? Should I give him water? Help! Please!