irma,did you get my e-mail, I'd love some contacts. Let me know if you didn't get it. imatallun, thanks for getting back so quickly(I really appreciate the actual numbers he gave you).I understand that those towers don't emit that much power, but what about the CONSTANT exposure to the surroundings(ie.my children and 250 other kids),5 days a week,35-50 hours a week. I also think that children are in a different category in terms of how their bodies react to this stuff and I, for one, don't think we should be using them as guinea pigs. I just wonder what the long-term effects of having a microwave for 8 hours a day would do to all of us, this is what I'm concerned about. I just don't like that this is not voluntary; if I put my cell phone to my ear, next to my brain, I am doing it voluntarily, as an adult, making the choice. These kids are not able to voice anything. THe school,fyi,has made zero attempt to inform the parents of the children that attend the school. I know of the location of this tower because I live in the neighborhood, not because my children go to the school. This is not acceptable either. The ugliness of this thing,too, that is what I have to focus my argument on because the health issue is controversial and as far as I'm concerned, not been proven to be safe because it is just too new of a technology. I am reading and printing all you are sending and it's helping me build my case and also helping me see different angles!! I very much appreciate all your advice. teeka

Of course you don’t discipline the child and there’s nothing wrong with participating in major holidays. But I would take a step back from the household duties and party planning. Dad can do his kid’s laundry and cook dinner once in a while. Also, let him handle the party planning for the birthdays. Sorry, but you sound like a cook and maid - do you work? Don’t feel that your taking a step back means you don’t care. What Kroopy and others are trying to warn you against is doing too much. It sounds like you do A LOT and while right now you say you’re okay with that, are you still going to be okay with doing ALL the household chores while dear ole SO sits and watches TV? Think about it, if you weren’t there, he’d have to do it all by himself. What would he do then? Right now you might not see anything wrong with the way things are, but doing all the work around the house, becoming maid, cook and chaffuer for a kid that isn’t even yours is going to get old after a while. You’ll start to feel unappreciated and resentment will start to set in. Remember, if you and SO were to break up, you’d have no legal rights to this child. All this time, energy and emotion you’ve invested in this child can be taken away at any time. So many times I’ve read on forums like these of women who put their heart and soul into caring for their step children, only to have it blow up in their faces. If the two adults break up, the SM has no rights to seeing that child anymore. Or one day the child starts to hate you for the simple fact that you are not his mother even though you've been caring for him for years like a mother. You think he'd never do that, but I've read of it happening. That is what folks are trying to warn you about. I would just let SO know that you feel that you are taking over too much of the parenting duties and you’re going to “let” SO do the lion’s share of the parenting. Say that you are doing this BEFORE resentment starts to build. It’s not that you don’t love SO and care for his child, but you realize that you are doing too much and dad needs to step up and be a dad to his son. Stress that it’s about dad being a dad to his son, not that you don’t want to do anything for his son. And remind him that if you weren’t there, he’d have to do it all on his own anyway. He’d have to figure out a way to pick his son up if you weren’t in the picture. He’d have to do all the cooking, cleaning and laundry himself. Of course, you don't have to go cold turkey, but I'd definately find ways to step back a little.

A bit late to this, but did you try calling the iPod tech support number yet? I did that when I got my new iPod (shuffle) & the young man was very nice & helpful; did a shared desktop screen while on the phone as well, where he showed me w/ pointers what to do & what to click. (side note: I believe new devices from Mac are just not as intuitive as they once were. I never had to get help w/ my old iPod) Do you know how to make a screenshot? Showing what your screen looks can be helpful for stuff like this. You should be able to do a search of your computer for the iTunes folder, shouldn't you? When I've purchased Amazon MP3s, I simply dragged them into the iTunes icon on the desktop(dock) & then drag those files into the iPod - which shows up in the sidebar of the iTunes screen. I'm on iMac, tho - no experience how the Windows version of this works... FWIW, HTH

ok I actually went and counted shoes lol. 34 pairs(including everything-flip flops, water shoes, jelly shoes, sneakers, fall boots, snow boots( even though I don't go anywhere near snow anymore) and heels I can't wear anymore but can't part with them still) bags..two normally looking everyday bags, two very worn everyday bags(like, worn to the point even I'm slightly embarrassed..), two more-night-out bags, one travel tote, one travel backpack, one carry on, and one clutch for summer nights on vacations or something. I think I'm on the peak of owning stuff..never ever I had more in terms of things that I have now. Couple pairs-a mistake, frankly. My wishful thinking and all. Many though are very good buys and I have them for years. My record with shoes was 14 years I think. (yeah by the end they looked the part) With jeans-15 years (great pair. by some Arden B? don't remember). A jacket-twenty two years(actually I don't wear it anymore but my DD does. It was Topshop by the way. Very hard to believe they'll make anything like that now..probably will get ruined very fast) I do have a mild problem with throwing away bags or shoes that are too worn out or ripped beyond repair. It's like, my inner goodbye to them takes longer. Removing them out of my sight usually helps some.