I was not going to go into it. because I was shocked. SHOCKED! When I pointed out that it was art in my post above because I noticed that the proportions are amazingly "harmonious" and I checked, it was coincidental to the Golden Section Rectangle proportions! Sure it could have been accidental, but no! More! The inside rectangle follows the Root Five Rectangle proportions! I said it before, art is in everyone, it is up to oneself to discover that almost spiritual gift. dcarch

Posted by teresa_mn "----- As Bob Dylan - another Minnesota native sang "The times they are a changin'." When CDs first came out and were extremely expensive, I was enticed to buy a CD which had all the telephone directories of the entire US on it; because on the ad, it said "If you buy this CD, you will be saving 400 trees". Remember the White Pages? Yellow Pages? Sear Catalogs? Wonder how many trees Kindle saves. dcarch

My SD's mom has been saying she's gonna take DH to court for two years. The best way to nip it in the bud... say "go ahead!" and then say NOTHING. IF he had custody, then it is VERY difficult to change custody without proving the custodial parent is not acting in the child's best interest. You don't need a lawyer until you have been served with court papers. Then, you can ask for attorney's fees from her if she has no basis for making you seek legal counsel. If her mom forked over money for a "good lawyer" in the past and she still does not have custody, then unless you are doing something WRONG, chances are she won't have a leg to stand on... right now, all she is doing is making threats and the best thing to do is ignore her. We have gotten threats to go to court. BM actually responded to child support papers by alleging abuse of her child and asking for custody. Her abuse accusations were: 1. We make SD take at least 15 minute showers. 2. If she doesn't take a 15 minute shower, we MAKE her eat Oatmeal or chicken noodle soup while we eat the 'regular' family meal and we make her go to bed early. 3. SD doesn't have as much FUN at our house as she and her mother thinks she should. THE TRUTH: She needs to take a good enough shower and 2-3 minutes of just getting her hair wet & getting out does not cut it... we make her go back and use soap. She has been given chicken noodle soup and goes to bed when she is getting sick, even if we are having her favorite enchiladas. If we took BM's accusations seriously and got defensive or tried to justify why we do what we do, then it would only encourage BM to keep making these RIDICULOUS claims. DH asked her, 'do you really think the court is going to change custody because the custodial parent is making sure the child has good hygiene, eats healthy, gets lots of rest?' So, SD started failing in school on purpose because her mom told her if she fails in school, the court will let her live with her mom so her mom can help her in school. She was finally told that she will repeat the grade again if she doesn't start doing her work... that if he mom isn't involved in school here, the court will not 'assume' she will do better over there and that we can prove we are trying to get her help she needs to do well in school but her mom hasn't come to one conference... just sits there telling us how we are doing everything wrong while she does NOTHING. Besides, she does not know everything that happens in our house and she relies on a 10 year old's slanted information because SD is upset she has to have a bedtime, do her homework, take a decent shower, do her own laundry, and keep her room clean. It only makes BM look foolish to guess at the truth and put it in writing in court papers. The last time she threatened to take him to court was a few weeks ago and he said go ahead... we will also talk about the back child support and just how involved she is in SD's schooling. BM has not yet filed anything and the truth is, she probably won't because she does not want to discuss EVERYTHING.. just the BS that she wants to b*tch about. When you open the door, you can't pick and choose what may get brought up. The point is, you can let yourself get all worked up over what BM is doing and let your life and mind get cluttered with it when she is probably blowing smoke and laughing at the reaction she gets. From your past threads, it appears that you really don't like her and apparently have told her so. If she is as manipulative and dramatic as you say, then the best way to deal with her is to take the wind out of her sail... by NOT reacting and not giving her any attention for her antics. Let your DH deal with her. Remove yourself from it altogether as much as you can. If he gives her information regarding the children, do it in writing. When she starts a scene, calmly stay seated & ignore her.... watch the show, smile and act as if she isn't there. An 'argument' takes two. If she makes a scene, she will be the one looking foolish. Any reaction from your side of it only hurts the kids when they are there to have a nice holiday performance and end up worrying that mom and dad are going to fight... what a way to ruin the holidays for the kids. NICE!!! (and I thought it was sad yesterday when I went to my Stepdaughter's play... there was a little boy asking his teacher if he can call his stepdad really fast to see if he can come. He had nobody there from his family and all kids want is for someone to care and be there) It may not be the situation with the kid yesterday, but it is so disgusting when a parent gets angry that a stepparent has the nerve to be involved in their child's life.... and it happens all the time.

Some years ago I adopted a declawed cat. As far as I know, he had no issues. I thought at one point he wasn't using the litter box. It turned out to be his clawed housemate. (She has issues. *sigh*) In spite of being declawed, he was an okay hunter. The running joke in our house was, "velvet paws, toothy jaws." Living in a 150-year-old house, he dispatched his share of mice, and once, a short-tailed shrew. His clawed housemate thought mouse hunting made for a good spectator sport. He was eight when I got him, and had him another seven years. I miss him. At least his adoptive family can afford vet care, and are willing to provide it. You did okay. I can't imagine how often vets hear, if you won't declaw him, just put him down. This spring, I'm making the *second* set of armrest/covers for a nice couch a friend owns. He took in a cat another friend couldn't keep. He's determined to keep kitty, but has already decided he'll never have another one.