jewels

My husband was laid off from his job as an electrician on 2/7/14. It was considered a temp layoff so his job search criteria was waived. However, he still searched for a new position because he wasn't sure how long the layoff would last. On 4/17/14, his employer called him back to be a laborer with a $4/hour pay cut starting 4/21/14. In between that time he got 2 other job offers that’d pay him a substantial amount more than what he was making @ the time of the layoff before the pay cut was involved. He sent an email to the employer on 4/21/14 stating he wouldn’t be returning to work for them, started his new position on 4/25/14, & never collected any more unemployment.

The previous employer tried to appeal his unemployment & lost. Unemployment said his contract was broken. Now his previous employer wants a fact finding hearing stating there was not written contract BUT had there been, my husband broke it because he was unable to pass the licensing test. They even included evaluations in their appeals packet they claim they did during his employment but he was told by a coworker that they did them after he quit. The appeals packet is full of stuff they made up.

What is the likelihood he would have to repay his unemployment benefits for accepting a new position rather than returning for a demotion & pay cut?

What would you if your significant other never wanted to do anything outside of the house with you but complains all the time about not getting enough sex.

I was sent for a random drug testing & assumed I had nothing to worry about. My results came back that I tested positive for marijuana @ 15 ng/ml (which they told me is the exact cut off level). I requested that it be sent for a confirmation test because the MRO stated that it could have been human error, 2nd hand smoke, or in a food or drink I consumed with out knowing. Per my company policy & Iowa State Law section 730.5, I requested that it be sent to a different lab to be tested at my expense. 1st of all the lab didn't notify my employer 1st as stated in company policy & law. 2nd of all, even though I requested it be sent to a different lab, they used the same lab as the 1st test & used the same process for testing. Now I am suspended & facing termination. The lab didn't follow my company policy let alone the state law. Can I file for unemployment & a wrongful termination suit?

It is my grandma's 91st birthday & her birthday dinner is usually at a family style restaurant. This year she wanted to do a Sunday brunch at a nice place that is family friendly during that time. However that didn't work & we are going to the same place but on Saturday night. This is an upper scale restaurant. Dinner Entrees start at $20 & go to $60+. I suggested we not eat there on a Saturday night because if people are paying that kind of money the last thing they want is to be around a bunch of kids. Apparently I am the only one in the family with this opinion! I have a 1 year old son & my cousins have children of their own. And they are all under 8. Their outlook is, it's a public place & if people don't like it...too bad! I don't have a babysitter to leave my son with. So my choices are taking a 1 year old to a fancy restaurant or staying home. I have NO problem with the latter.

What is your opinion on taking children to a place like this? If you were spending this kind of money to go out to eat or on a date, would you want children present?

It is my grandma's 91st birthday & her birthday dinner is usually at a family style restaurant. This year she wanted to do a Sunday brunch at a nice place that is family friendly during that time. However that didn't work & we are going to the same place but on Saturday night. This is an upper scale restaurant. Dinner Entrees start at $20 & go to $60+. I suggested we not eat there on a Saturday night because if people are paying that kind of money the last thing they want is to be around a bunch of kids. Apparently I am the only one in the family with this opinion! I have a 1 year old son & my cousins have children of their own. And they are all under 8. Their outlook is, it's a public place & if people don't like it...too bad! I don't have a babysitter to leave my son with. So my choices are taking a 1 year old to a fancy restaurant or staying home. I have NO problem with the latter.

What is your opinion on taking children to a place like this? If you were spending this kind of money to go out to eat or on a date, would you want children present?

My husband only has 1 family member (a nephew a few yrs younger than my husband & his family) living in our state & they only live 5 miles away. 16 months ago our son was born. The family has never made any attempt to meet our son. I’ve invited them over numerous times since the baby was born, invited them to the baby shower, & eventually I stopped wasting my time. My husband is hurt by the fact they’ve made no attempt to meet our son. My husband & I have been together for 7 years. I’ve invited them to our house too many times to count, special events in our lives, or asked if they would like to go out to eat. The ONLY thing they showed up for was our wedding & the only reason for that is b/c his nephew was a groomsmen. Invitations have never been reciprocated by them. Now their sons are playing varsity football & all of a sudden they are back in contact & expect us to come to their games. I don’t really know how to handle this situation. This family has always been rude to me. Telling other members of the family in the beginning not to waste their time getting to know because I was, “just another girlfriend & I would be gone soon anyway.”

In 16 months they could not find an hour to come visit their newest family member but now they want us to come spend a couple hours every week or every other week watching their kids achievements. How would you handle this situation?

I have a Samsung Mesmerize & the pic messaging isn’t working. The short cut keys also stopped working so I got a new one through insurance. I have had 3 replacement phones sent to me in less than 3 weeks. I can NOT get pic messaging to work. I have done battery pulls, sd card pulls, factory resets, have had my carrier reset my towers, reprogrammed the phone, put a new sd card in & still NOTHING. My wifi & Bluetooth are off. My data is enabled. The firmware & software are up to date. And my carrier (US Cellular) has no data outages. Are there any other things I can try before I have to go into the store or get ANOTHER replacement?

Last summer we went to visit my elderly MIL in another state when she was in the hospital when our son was 6 wks old. She was going into rehab after the hospital, so my husband brought home her financial info so he could pay her bills online. His 60+ y/o brother (he is 20 yrs older than my husband) was so upset that he didn’t have access to their mother’s $. He called DHS & the police on me back in our state saying I was neglecting our son & not providing him critical care. He also called the police in his state saying that my husband put a bomb in his car & the cops called my husband threatening to file federal charges. Everything was unfounded & I only had to meet with a social worker for less than a ½ an hr. He also filed no contact orders against us (even though we are 500 miles away). I swore to my husband that I could NEVER take our baby back to that state. His brother is unstable & his mother is still in contact with him. My MIL is now 81 yrs old. My husband is giving me a guilt trip b/c I’m afraid to take my baby back b/c they all live in the same city. I don’t know what his brother is capable of doing if he were to find out we were in the city. He has gone to major extremes trying to hurt us & get our child taken away.

It’s not that I am opposed to visiting my MIL, it’s that I fear for me & my child’s safety. What is a concerned mama to do?

I am waiting on my dr to call me back to hopefully get a refferal to an allergist or dermotoligist. In the mean time, I am wondering if anyone else has dealt with this. My son who is 11 months has been having hives show up for about 6 weeks now. I took him to an urgernt care a month ago. He told me it was an allergic phenomenon & prescribed prednisone. Hives still returned but I thought it was an eczema flair up. The hives returned & I took him to our family dr 2 weeks ago. That's when I learned it was actually hives. She said it should clear up with benadryl. I also eliminated dairy & wheat from his snacks. Switched to soy formula for his supplement feedings when I don't have enough breast milk. Wash his clothes in free & clear & don't use fabric softner. Don't use soap in his baths. Use Aveeno lotion, Aveeno eczema cream, or aquaphillac ointment. I took all polyester outta his clothing (no fleece sleepers, no sweats, no fleece blankets). We have no pets. The dr put him on prednisone last Thursday & he had his last dose on Tuesday. The hives showed up yesterday, ONE day after being off of prednisone. Has anyone else dealt with anything like this in the past? What did it turn out to be that your baby was allergic to?

I am waiting on my dr to call me back to hopefully get a refferal to an allergist or dermotoligist. In the mean time, I am wondering if anyone else has dealt with this. My son who is 11 months has been having hives show up for about 6 weeks now. I took him to an urgernt care a month ago. He told me it was an allergic phenomenon & prescribed prednisone. Hives still returned but I thought it was an eczema flair up. The hives returned & I took him to our family dr 2 weeks ago. That's when I learned it was actually hives. She said it should clear up with benadryl. I also eliminated dairy & wheat from his snacks. Switched to soy formula for his supplement feedings when I don't have enough breast milk. Wash his clothes in free & clear & don't use fabric softner. Don't use soap in his baths. Use Aveeno lotion, Aveeno eczema cream, or aquaphillac ointment. I took all polyester outta his clothing (no fleece sleepers, no sweats, no fleece blankets). We have no pets. The dr put him on prednisone last Thursday & he had his last dose on Tuesday. The hives showed up yesterday, ONE day after being off of prednisone. Has anyone else dealt with anything like this in the past? What did it turn out to be that your baby was allergic to?

I have a family member who is getting married for a 3rd time. What is the proper gift giving etiquette for a 3rd wedding?

My 8 month old son has only gained 11 oz since he was 6 months old BUT he has grown 1 1/2 inches. He is currently 17 lbs 1 oz & 28 inches long. We are partaking in a breast feeding study & they haven't said that this should cause any alarm. He eats 4 oz of veggies, 4 oz of fruit, & a 1/2 cup of rice cereal every day. He isn't a big fan of the bottle so the daycare provider is lucky to get 12 oz down him in a day. But at home he nurses on demand. A couple of times a week I will put a scoop of formula in his bottle to get him extra calories. Should I be alarmed he isn't gaining weight very fast? He is meeting all of his milestones. Our next dr appt isn't until his 9 month check up.

My little sister is 18 & her & her boyfriend just had a baby in October. They are telling us that the Army told him he can not enlist unless they are married. Is this true? We want them to get married but he just proposed last night & they are feeling they have to be married by the end of the year to enlist.

My little sister is 18 & her & her boyfriend just had a baby in October. They are telling us that the Army told him he can not enlist unless they are married. Is this true? We want them to get married but he just proposed last night & they are feeling they have to be married by the end of the year to enlist.

My MIL lives 500 miles away & had hip surgery this summer. She needed someone to pay her bills b/c last time she went to the hospital, my brother in law didn’t pay any bills & spent all of her money so the house got foreclosed on. We didn’t want her to get evicted from her apt while she was in the hospital & after care home, so my husband brought his mother’s purse back w/ us so he could pay her bills which any good son would do. Now comes the complicated part…

This purse & entire financial issue has created nothing but turmoil in our family. When his brother found out about him having the purse & the fact he wouldn't have access to their mother's money, he called the cops & DHS on me saying I am an unfit mother to my then 7 week old son & exposing him to drugs. So I had to meet w/ a social worker to have all the allegations turn out to be unfounded.

Then my MIL gave my husband the wrong PIN # to her debit card too many times so the bank put a stop to it & she would never call the bank to have it reactivated. So my husband took a day off of work & took the 9 hr trip there to become power of attorney & set up her bank account & they sent a new debit card to our house so we could pay bills. My husband ended up getting so sick after the trip he missed 4 days of work, so a week’s worth of missed wages & we live paycheck to paycheck w/ an infant.

The debit card FINALLY came & we had it no more than 1 week before the card wouldn’t work. My MIL had asked my husband to go to Wal-Mart & buy a set of dishes for his oldest daughter’s apt warming present & send them to her. Before we could pay any bills the card was turned off. His no good brother went to the bank & told them someone was using her card fraudulently & turned the card off. When my husband who is the POA called the bank, they said his brother was authorized on the acct. This is a BRAND NEW account so she had to have added him to it.

This whole ordeal has created nothing but turmoil & stress on our marriage, family, and my husband’s job. What should we do? We don’t want my MIL to lose her stuff, but she is putting up so many road blocks & not allowing my husband to just help her.

My husband & I have been together for 5 1/2 yrs & married for 1 1/2 yrs. We were so in love & excited to start our family after we got married.

We had our 1st baby in June. My maternity leave turned into a bunch of drama the 2nd half. We were in a car accident, his brother got mad @ him & called DHS on me w/ false accusations so I had to meet w/ a social worker to get everything straightened out, I had emergency gall bladder surgery & while I was in surgery, our house got broken into. I fell into a little bit of a depression for awhile, but who wouldn't?

I went back to work last month & my son has been sick since he started daycare. So I am working a full time job & taking care of a sick baby @ night. I feel that since our son was born & everything that has happened this summer, we can't have a conversation w/out it turning into an argument. I have not been interested in sex so he thinks I am not attracted to him anymore. That is not even the case, I am just extremely exhausted.

I just feel so alone & like I don't have a husband & partner anymore because of all the arguments. I feel more like I am living w/ roommate. Even when I try to give him compliments, he has to get in snide little jabs at me. Its tiresome. We both are very concered w/ our son & his health & being the best parents that we can be that it seems like our relationship is taking a back seat & I don't want it to continue on this downward spiral.

What can I do to get our marriage back on track?

I’m due in June w/ my 1st baby & have had several conversations w/ my husband (who’s 12 yrs older than me, I am 28 & he is 40) that I need out of state family to wait couple wks before coming to visit & stay. They’d be staying @ our house, not a hotel. The only overnight guest I’ll want right away is my mom b/c she’ll let us get some sleep, show me about breastfeeding, & help take care of the baby & the house. He has 3 children from previous relationships ages 17, 18, & 22 (they all live in a different state). We’ve had the younger 2 live w/ us in the past & I’ve always had a good relationship w/ them. The oldest one I’ve only met twice & they barely know each other cuz her mom kept her from him. She considers someone else her dad. I’ve always encouraged him to have a relationship w/ her. Not much has transpired in the 5 yrs we’ve been together. Now all of a sudden when the baby is due, he has invited her to come visit & stay right @ that time. The younger 2 are fine w/ waiting a couple weeks. He feels I’m trying to exclude his kids which I am NOT doing at all. I just want a couple weeks to bond w/ my baby & settle in. He works long hours & so I’ll be left there to entertain someone I don’t even know. Am I totally being selfish for asking for a couple weeks to bond w/ my baby w/out overnight guests even though it’d be family (family we don’t really know)?

My dr. recently took me off Ritalin b/c we are trying to have a baby. I have been on ADD meds of some sort for 6+ yrs. I am having some terrible withdrawal. My dr. took me off it cold turkey. She said the only thing safe for pregnancy is Zoloft. I am on that now but it takes 2 weeks to build up in your system. Any suggestions on how to deal w/ the symptoms until then?

My fiance is turning 40 in 2 weeks & I would like to do something special for him. The only catch is we are on a fairly tight budget. We are getting married in 3 weeks & he has been unemployed since right before Christmas. I would like to do something special but doesn't cost an arm & a leg. What are some good ideas?

I was diagnosed w/ PCOS 4 yrs ago & have been on Metformin for it ever since. I got off the pill a year ago because I knew it would take me longer to get pregnant than the average person. I get married in 1 month & plan on talking to my doctor & getting on fertility treatments to speed up the process. I just want to hear of any of your success stories, what you did, & how long did you try before conceiving?