GerberaChic

I started a new job a few months ago. Almost right away a guy in my new job and I fell in lust(?), love(?). Even though I was married, he suggested if I wanted company to go for a day trip again this summer, I should let him know. In the meantime, my husband and I separated. I gave this guy at work my phone # and told him I had time the following weekend if he was still interested (which he said he was) but he already had plans - and yes I believe him.

I know he's fallen for me big time, flirts with me and gives me looks of such hunger (it thrills me) and I flirt with him and think about him night and day.

I finally told him I'm separated a few weeks ago but he hasn't called me. I see him at work often and we talk a lot. I found out yesterday he doesn't have a girlfriend but he does have a friend with benefits. We're both just under 50 years old. He's never been married.

I'm kind of traditional in that yes I have his phone # but I feel that he should be the one pursuing me more actively and yet a very wise girl at work who's known him for years thinks maybe he's waiting for me to call him.

My hairdresser (a guy) thinks men will wait at least 4 - 6 months after a woman separates before they'll take a chance in case they become just the rebound guy. Another guy at work says the interested guy would call her right away.

I'm not looking for committment, just the company of a hot, red blooded male for fun and cuddles until we know whether it's really love or not.

I don't know when my dog is in a good mood anymore. He probably senses that I'm getting increasingly nervous about petting him. He's started snapping at me in the last month or so. He just turned 12. Last night he was sleeping beside me while I was watching t.v., and I said his name and reached down to pet him, he sat up like he's done before like he wants to be pet, but instead - he snarled and snapped at me. I did what Cesar Milan has taught us, and my dog acted appropriately, but I know (and fear) that this situation is going to probably continue. Makes me sad to think maybe he's got dementia??? I wondered what this otherwise healthy, strong, sweet quiet dog, would look like as he advances into an elderly stage.

He's had a mole on top of his head for a couple of years (he's 12 now) and the vet has had a look at it and says it's just an age related skin ailment. Fred has always rubbed his head along furniture since he was young, like his head is itchy, but now that he's got this mole, he's rubbing it and making it bleed (for the last week). Is the most common thing to remove it surgically? Is there anything I can try at home that would protect the spot while it heals naturally?

for actually asking a question about a parenting dilemna here on Yahoo? Seems someone took offense to me even asking a question and gave me the impression that if we have to ask questions about what to do, that we should have our kids taken away from us. The person went seriously berzerk on me but the kicker is they actually got a couple of thumbs up. No one seemed to report them either though they broke about every Yahoo guideline there is. Other people have asked similar questions as mine but they got reasonable answers.

My 11 year old very healthy dog has been getting heartworm vaccination for a few years now. It is very expensive. I was told recently by a colleague that if a dog has never had heartworm, and he's getting up in age, it's not worth the expense and that the vets are just capitalizing on our guilt and sentimentality. How necessary is it, considering we live in the city with only the odd foray into country like settings (if that makes a difference)?

First off, the catholic schools in our country are not 'private' schools in that they don't cost anything extra for parents. We just switch our property tax over (little fuzzy on that detail).

Our kids are not stellar students - about a high 'C' average, they both seem to have learning disabilities which are going ignored in the public school system they are already in.

They are in grade 2 and 4 and would be devastated to be moved to the catholic school because they would most certainly lose their current friends. We have a high population of Muslim kids in our school and there is actually a better chance of my kids making MORE friends at the catholic school because the Muslim kids don't seem to be allowed to mix with non-Muslims past school hours.

My son is especially a withdrawen kid, and self-admittedly feels weak compared to other kids...maybe the catholic school would be better for him???

My husband wants to make the move over from public 'yesterday' because he thinks the integrity of the teachers at our school is sorely lacking. Moral seems to be kind of low in general too.

Though I would love to move the kids to a private school, we can't afford that. Is the catholic school the next best thing? As far as the sense of responsibility the teachers feel towards enriching kids lives goes? ! Oh, and yes we've already had a meeting with the v.p. at the local catholic school but she didn't really convince me that they could offer my son the extra help he really needs !

As far as catholic school staff protecting students better, I've read in the newspaper enough stories that staff at catholic schools protect bullies about as much as in the public school system.

The pros really need to make sense and outweigh the cons if I'm to be convinced to move the kids.

Feedback from Canadian parents would be especially helpful :)

My daughter's 2 best friends families both have medium (mix) or large dogs (gold. ret.) and these dogs never get walked (I do mean literally). Our large dog gets walked, but not nearly as much as so called experts say dogs need to be walked. Families with young kids often don't have time to walk dogs, so should families not have dogs? Even if they have fenced in back yards? Yes, I suppose it might make dogs more 'nippy', but really, is not walking a dog more the norm than people who walk once or twice a day? Do you know people who never walk their dog?

If it was part of a fundraiser. Would you pay $50 for a homemade beef pie? $40 for a homemade chicken pie? If not, how much would you be willing to pay knowing that the money is for a good cause?

Would you pay $25 for a dozen iced cupcakes?

I want to raise approx. $5000 for a volunteer abroad trip and have given myself a year to raise the money.

If it's a male. If it's in its own backyard. If it's a slow moving squirrel that has invaded the space. Will your dog automatically try to catch it and kill it?

My dog (we've had since he was a puppy) caught another squirrel yesterday but we didn't know this time until hours later and he had had time to partially eat the thing too. I feel a little sick about it really. I've seen so many photos of inter-species friendship on the net...but my dog is a killer. I feel like I don't have the same level of love for him. He's pretty darn fast for a dog 11 years old.

...I've only tried it once, when my son was a toddler. We tried growing carrots, etc. from seeds in a peat tray in our dining room. A gazillion seedlings popped up so I'm assuming they could all have become carrots (if my son hadn't used the soil for his construction toys thus ruining our project LOL). But is each seedling supposed to be separated from the one next to it and planted further apart? Doesn't that take HOURS? Or do you just leave it and the strongest seedling will survive? I will be trying a veggie garden again in the near future.

In our front garden, the soil seems to either compact itself, blow away or otherwise shrink. We put a layer of decorative cedar mulch on top but I think we need to build up the area with more soil.

Do you scrape off the existing mulch, add soil, then put the mulch plus more on top? Do you just throw more soil on top of the existing mulch? The mulch itself seems to disintegrate over time as well.

Our work place used to be more fun, when we had a different director. The birthday person would be the person to bring in a treat for our smallish office. We got a new director and slowly our office has become a more bland place to be. The youngest person in our office is always thinking of other people, always remembers my birthday and brings in some little token and cute card.

I was thinking of making a cake for her today that everyone could share tomorrow. But no one in our office does this for each other, and it is very unlikely to start a new trend. I feel like the gesture would stick out like a sore thumb and then I would regret bringing it in. Should I just forget it and bring in some token gift for her, seeing as though that is the established protocol?

is not knowing what's age appropriate, what to expect or not be able to expect?

I mean, how do you know how to discipline a child if you don't know what's reasonable behavior for their age? Shouldn't a 7 year old girl be able to dress herself? If a 10 year old whines about having to do a chore they've been doing for 4 years, shouldn't they have grown out of that stage by then? Especially when it doesn't get them their way?

Shouldn't hospitals, besides giving us average milestones on our babies' development when we leave, also give us a booklet on what things we should be able to expect (on average) from our kids at each age? How can we be better parents without better guidance ourselves? Our family and friends just shrug their shoulders or give us their arm chair opinions, don't they, because they don't know any better than we do.

Quite a few months ago, one of the managers in our small office tried to commit suicide and she hasn't been back to work since. Her return kept getting delayed by months and months. Now she's coming back on Monday and I'm not sure how to react. We were told by her boss to not even talk amongst ourselves about what I'm sure we all knew had happened.

I knew she wasn't happy because of the kinds of things she talked about over time, and complaining about even having to come to work (don't we all, I know). I've personally missed her because she was the only one here who could make me laugh, she's such a character, but I'm resentful because I could almost imagine her faking the attempt to get out of working (and she seems to have an attitude that she's above having to work for her money). So much has changed here at work in regards to policies and new practices, I think it will be even harder for her to cope. Her and her boss have been best buddies for decades and I'm not sure that her work ethic would pass the muster anywhere else in a mngt role.

Have any of you experienced anything like this scenario and did it work out for the person coming back?

Besides having no clue to her personality because she's not a shining light of humanitarianism that I know of, she looks absolutely awful in the skin tight dresses she wears to big events. The dress she wore to the 2012 Oscars might have looked quite stunning on a slim gal, but the way the lines stretched out her curves makes her look like at least a size 18, if not 20. Totally wrong dress but why am I the first to notice this?

My husband and I work full-time but due to his work, can't take a family vacation with us this year, so it's just me and the 2 kids.

There are so many things I want to do, or have my kids do although some of them would have to increase our debt a little.

When they're young, I want them to have so many different experiences, like travel, becoming independant, that if I wait until we can actually afford it, they will be adults.

I was thinking of renting a cottage, sending them to a week-long overnight camp that has lots of cool activities, us going to the coast to a cousin's cottage, tent-camping like we've been doing the last couple of years, science day camp, etc. Some of these don't cost too much ($300ish) ie: softball,science camp, but others cost $1000 - 2000 ie: going to the coast for a week or two, overnight camp.

Do I get into debt because they're only young once, or do I keep it low expense and hope things are better next year?

I'm a mid-40's woman whose doctor is bullying her into excersizing. I have a very sedentary job, but two young kids at home so when I'm home, I'm constantly on my feet. I've failed to lose the last 20 - 30 lbs I gained during pregnancy, years ago.

A gym opened up across from where I work, so since july I've been going between 2 - 4 times a week to work out (I only have an hour). So I do 1/2 hr of eliptical and then some stretches and floor excersizes. I sweat like a cat at the dog pound...if not more.

I haven't lost 1 pound. After all these months, my pants feel tight again this morning. I don't eat more than I used to but I have to admit a weakness for food/sweets. I make lovely meals for my family at night and though I don't feel hunger, eat anyway because it looks so good and because I'm joining in on family time. I've tried to cut down on the portion, but that seems to make no difference.

I keep telling myself I need to starve myself or something. I hate fruit/fruit juices. I'm not pigging out on sweets/chips/etc. every day. The only food I bring into the house has to have some nutritional element to it so I can set a good example to my (extremely skinny) kids.

What have you done to lose a lot of weight, yet not go to extremes? Or has it taken extremes?

My brother, (who says he loves me) and his wife bought their first home a year ago, about a half hour drive from where we live. To this day, they've never invited my family or I over. After all the years of inviting them to my house for all kinds of celebrations, etc., they've never returned the invite. I know his wife has had her family over, all of her friends for various things. I don't think she really likes our family.

I talked to him a month or so ago and mentioned that we've never been invited and he said they are more casual than inviting people. Usually people call them and say, hey, we're coming over, and they say yes or no depending. I know they don't have much furniture, but if it's good enough for her friends and family, then why isn't it good enough for us?

Is she playing a power trip? Is she rude? I have a feeling if I talked to her about this I might get angry...but then what do I have to lose? Then again, am I being uppity? I just don't feel welcome to her house (my brother would NEVER have been able to afford a house without her).

I was thinking of putting my son in 'Kempo' which is offered at a studio around the corner from where we live in Toronto, but the fee is approx $900 for a year ($80ish/month). That includes a 'back to school' special where they supply the uniform and the first month is $25. Another school I called charges $80/month and the uniform is extra.

Does this sound extraordinary? My jaw dropped because I was expecting $300 - $400/year.

My 10 year old (large) dog will NOT let anyone cut his nails. He may have had a bad experience at a groomer's in the past, but we'll never know.

My vet has prescribed a tranquilizer but the time it takes to start working, and then how long until it wears off, is all very unpredictable.

Someone at work suggested Gravol but it hasn't had any affect on him and I don't want to keep increasing the dosage.