Cooking over real wood is great. It works well when I'm at a campsite. Propane is about $3 per gallon. I suppose you'd have to figure out how many BTUs you were using on the gas grill and go from there. Then again, I also buy chunks of wood for the smoker box. For steaks, I use an infrared grill. It produces extremely high heat. You just sear each side for a couple of minutes. The char marks on the steak taste like it was grilled over an open fire. I don't think this uses much propane because it's on for such a short period of time. There's some warm up time and some burn off time. That's probably the cheapest way to go. I think I paid about $800 with the stand for that grill.

It is my understanding that the hearworm pill does act as a once a month dewormer for other kinds too. I think I read that on the back, but don't have it here. The idea was that the pill may have "primed" your dogs system to be sensitive or irritable and it is overactive. ( duh can't seem to put it into words.) and needs to be calmed down. If it is not a medical reason, then go back to square one with housetraining. I am betting on his tummy tho, dogs seem to get the idea to poop outside much faster than the concept of peeing outside. It is not pee too is it? Our dogs were crated usually for 8 hours a day with no ill effects as they were worked with and loved the rest of the time and slept in our bedroom. The vet and other resources said that it was fine,(her dog was crated that long) that dogs love their crates- and our do. It is far better for young or unreliable dogs to be safe and cozy in their crates than on their own and getting into danger. We have a yard and always took them outside to play and walked them etc when we got home. As soon as they were able to be trusted, we began letting them remain out for a few minutes alone, then gradually extended the time out. We then took the doors off the crates because they still enjoyed going in on their own. Don't forget to "babydog proof your house" include your kids rooms... Goldens will eat ANYTHING!! corncobs are deadly- be especially careful of your trash. and pill bottles :( and pumice stones ( dont ask) and knee highs... We have put the crates away to make more room in my laundry room as they were no longer going in the crates this summer. We were converts to crating with Bailey and then Cooper, and they are far better trained and happier and loving than the dogs we didn't crate years ago- no bad habits or behavior problems.It is all in how you handle it and consistency in training. They do go through adolescence and that is why training is so important especially through those years, if they are well trained early, then you can draw on that for their trying teen years( yeah they even whine like kids! but at least they don't want the car) You have a great attitude and you will be fine! btw if you have a petsmart near you they offer good training classes inexpensively. The trainer we had also volunteered to train the primates at the zoo. She had her own non animal related business but did the training on the side- her degree was in animal behavior! Look into clicker training - it is a lot of fun and very effective training tool. Sue HTH Sue

It might have more to do with your husband's, uh, neediness?, devotion?, obsession?, than with something being wrong with you. You dated in college, got engaged, *broke up*. One thought that occurs is that, since he "followed" you, you equated it with true love. so you got married. didn't work, so you *divorced*. but he was still around, & after all he was your child's father, so you re-married, & now you have another child. & now you're thinking about *divorce*. Maybe you're together now because he's persistent & you (like so many of us) find it hard to say no. Maybe you need some time alone, maybe some counselling alone, to see your own direction more clearly. I wish you the best.

I have a bit of a different perspective...hopefully you are still reading this. I have several points to make. 1st: your Christian faith is an important factor OF COURSE. Anyone that does not understand this may never understand. However...know the Bible. See God's heart...and assess the scriptures by that and not just what you have heard some pastor say. TONS of Christians talk like you should never divorce Biblically, but that is not what the Bible says. God made marriage for mankind...not the other way around! Relationships are challenging for everyone, and if we are truly living in submission to God's ways, we are supposed to learn and grow in any relationship because of all the good and bad. God never intended anyone to be miserable, but he did intend for us to stretch and grow TOGETHER in a relationship. 2nd: Love is a VERB. It is an action...in any relationship it takes work to keep that "feelling". You and your husband both have work to do in that area. You have to choose to DO IT! That old warm fuzzy feelling isn't going to magically appear, it takes time and determination. If you work on it, even alone at first, chances are your husband will be inspired to start trying to treat you with love again too, and that gets the ball rolling. Certainly not easy if you aren't feelling it. God will give you strength if you start asking for it! Really! Also...Chances are, especially if your husband is a Christian, he is carrying around a lot of shame which is debilitating sometimes. Feeling love and forgiveness from you may be just what he needs to start wanting to change. Forgiving him doesn't mean you are going to "let" him continue to be stupid. It is recognizing that it is HIS battle, and let his wrong crap be his wrong crap! It helps you start to separating his stupid actions from yourself, you can stop taking it personally. You need to see that it is his life he is screwing up, and you don't have to let him take you and the kids down with him. Even if you stay with him, that will be an amazing difference for you that will help you to stop reacting to him the same way, and you will hurt less and less. Forgiving him, and learning to stop worrying about what he is doing wrong, does free you up! It will be the catalyst that starts you on a path of freedom. You will start to see the areas of codependency you have. Read about what codependency is for sure. It is very important for you to start seeing how you are enabling him. Learn better how to set some realistic boundaries that are not made in moments of anger, and make sure you know how to respond if he crosses them. Boundaries do no good if you don't enforce them somehow-that's the tricky part. My 3rd recommendation based on personal experience. I have found no Christian guidebook on this one! After reading the Bible more, praying daily for God's heart in the matter, researching codependency...etc. think about a split for awhile. Tell him you are not ok with being unhappy like this the rest of your life...BUT-do it after lots of prayer and submitting what happens to God, because you have to be ready for however he may react. FIRST- make sure you don't do it when you are angry. It works so much better! Get your heart in a loving, hopeful place first, and be so sweet to him for a while that he knows something is up. (Besides...you getting to that place first may do the trick with no split!). Be "sweet" for at least a few weeks first! It will take forgiving him first, and learning to quit taking his wrongness personally. VERY HARD. You will definately need to lean on God during this time, and you need some support. Go to a counselor on your own, or have a great support system of people who are supporting you with really good advice that is not bashing him or marriage-etc. Talk to him about the fact that you want to go into the split with the intention to heal your marriage-not end it. You may really have to put your foot down to make him believe you are serious-because you have probably been making idle threats for years. Like I said tho...do it sweetly with love and hope. Be genuine-not fake. Let him see your heart, admit your vulnerabilities and fears, but be strong and resolute at the same time. This helped me and my husband so much! Until I did this, I was not able to really understand the ways I was subconsciously codependent. I just couldn't see it! It helped me to let go of feelling like it was my responsibilty to "police" my husband. It forced me to recognize that he is going to do whatever he is going to do. It made him take me seriously, realize he loved me too much to risk losing me over stupid addictions, and finally get some help and do the work that was long over due. Our "spark" is back! It sounds like you still have some hope or you wouldn't be reaching out! Most people (esp. Christians) tend to look at a separation as the road to divorce...but you don't have to! That is just fear based. Make it about hope. Tell your children you are doing this because you want to make your marriage better, and relationships take work. If you and your husband can do it with determination to really work on yourselves during your time apart...your kids will be impressed with the new you(s). Let your husband come visit often. Spend as much time with him as you want-or don't! There are no rules saying how to do this...base it one day at a time and do it with prayer. It is easy to forget how to really talk to God...it makes all the difference. Talk and listen! You can inspire your kids for their future marriage too-that is important. It may be refreshing to them to see you and your husband choosing to work on it out of hope of a happy future together. Go into it with the understanding between the two of you that things MUST change in order to live out the rest of your lives together. God doesn't want anyone to be miserable! Expect great things and have hope. Choose to love. I'm praying for ya!