Celticlassie

I have a 9 yr old daughter in 3rd grade and I've recently allowed her to start "practicing" staying home by herself, only for about 10 minutes at a time while I go down the street to a neighbor's. Safety and rules were discussed MANY times and she always has the ability to reach me w/my cell phone. I've put this in a framework that I think she's responsible and trustworth - which she loves to hear - and that if rules are followed then after a while we can eventually "up" the time.

A few of my friends have agreed with me, a few have thought I'm starting too young. I think it's important to boost our kid's self esteem and help them achieve independence and I'm just curious at how others have handled this.

We were visiting my parents over the weekend and all of a sudden, a cat they'd never seen before started showing up on their porch. This was the most friendly cat I'd ever seen - loved to be picked up and cuddled, came when you called and would climb into your lap, and acted like it wanted to come inside with us. We gave it some cat food and it acted very hungry and it looked skinny, but not starved. My kids fell in love with it (as did I) and I seriously considered bringing it home with us, but wasn't sure if it was a stray because it was so friendly. It may have been someone's pet, an outdoor cat who just happened to make us part of its rounds (they live in a rural area, so this is not uncommon). Bottom line, we didn't bring it home but I can't stop thinking about it - we live 400 miles away, so it's not like we can go back and get it. What would you have done?

Do you think he's sincere or do you think he's just doing it because of all the uproar?

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-08010...

The DVD player in ours has skipped since day 1, we've had it to the dealership twice to replace and it's still doing it.

One of the sliding passenger doors will randomly slide back open after closing it. Dealership supposedly fixed this too and it is still happening.

Sometimes alarms and indicators will go off and not stop until you turn the car off.

Curious if anyone else is experiencing these problems... ours is an '05 which we got new about a year ago. It's still under warranty, but the dealership can't seem to fix them when we bring it in. Thanks!

I have 2 girls - 5 & 8. We're interested in getting a larger breed of dog which needs moderate exercise, & is good with kids. Ideally would like to find an older one (not puppy) from a shelter, not interested in going through a breeder.

I've seen some recipes using Cointreau, others just use the juice with a squeeze of lemon. I'm curious on the juice to vokda ratio.

"The science is clear: Secondhand smoke is not a mere annoyance but a serious health hazard," said Richard Carmona.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/06/27/involuntary.s...

What do you think of this new warning from the Surgeon General - do you think it will lead to more smoke-free establishments and workplaces? How about parents who smoke around their children? And ultimlately, do you think this will hurt the tobacco industry?