Jammin Me by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 1:16 PM on July 3, 2008

About the FIV...the first cat I adopted was FIV+. He died last year at the age of ten. When he died it was because of a heart condition, not because of anything related to the FIV. He also lived with other FIV negative cats and it was never an issue. I'll always be glad that I adopted an FIV+ cat, and I'm sure you will be too.
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 10:15 AM on June 11, 2008

I was working part-time for a home care agency and full-time for a professional contracting agency during my pregnancy. I just notified them that I'd be taking leave as is allowed by FMLA after my delivery and left it at that. I consented to work up until my due date at my contract job, but I think that FMLA allows you to take off in advance.

The home care agency I worked for had the same policy yours has about your client being your supervisor. I was on good terms... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 7:57 PM on June 3, 2008

I don't think it's an unrealistic list. In fact, I made a list of personality traits I wanted in a partner right before I wound up dating my husband. Having a list helped me concentrate on the personality qualities I really cared about and ignore other reasons I might pursue a relationship with someone (he has an interesting job/lives close by/is cute). And yes, I met my husband on OK Cupid.

However, as ThePinkSuperhero mentioned, you have to give someone time to... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 11:12 AM on May 18, 2008

I don't think it's the case that you'll never have sex. You dated two women who just didn't believe in it. They're rarer than you'd think. I bet that within the next relationship or two you'll find a woman who wants to get it on.

I lost my virginity later as well, and my reaction to the first time was, "Wait...that's it?" It's fun, and can be wonderful with the right person, but it's not the all-important, all-consuming thing that everyone makes it out to be.
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 6:09 PM on May 17, 2008

When my cat started having heart problems I had to give him meds twice a day. This cat was a world-class wriggler and there was no way I could shove pills down his throat (to give you perspective, he was an old three-legged cat but still required two to three vet techs to clip his nails). I asked the vet if I could crush them and she said I could, so I got into this routine of crushing the pills, dissolving them as best I could in a little low-sodium broth, and then mixing the broth with a... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 2:44 PM on May 17, 2008

My grandparents are close to ninety and very content. They're hardcore Catholics, so they're constantly doing things for the church like delivering communion to nursing home residents, writing the church bulletin, doing pre-marriage counseling, and getting involved in other activities. Their only problem is that their washer and dryer are in the basement, and they can no longer carry the basket up all the stairs. So they tied a rope around the basket, leave it at the foot of the stairs, climb... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 4:06 AM on May 15, 2008

When I was sick I always got saltines. That's my sick-people food.

When I had dry sockets from having my wisdom teeth removed my oral surgeon kept poking these medicinal strips into the sockets. They tasted really strongly of cloves. I hated the procedure so much that I still can't stand cloves.
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 6:53 PM on May 12, 2008

When I got married my mom walked down the aisle first with my husband, and then waited at the end while I walked down with my dad. Then she helped me get the veil off my face and gave me a hug. If I were you, I'd stress that last bit. Don't say, "Mom, I really don't want you walking down the aisle with me." Instead, stress how you DO want her to be involved - say something like, "Mom, I always pictured you walking down the aisle with Fiance and then waiting for me up there to... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 3:06 PM on May 5, 2008

Why not just suggest how she needs to change position at the time? For example, if she's sitting, say, "Get your butt into the air," or if she's laying down, say, "Get up on your hands and knees." I don't think you need one phrase to describe that position.

Personally I wouldn't like to be told to get up "on all fours" because that's too much like how we refer to animals. But your girlfriend might be different.
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 7:25 AM on May 4, 2008

I get up early for work, and the thing that helps me is having the minimum amount of effort to put forth in the morning. I shower, lay out my clothes, pack my lunch, and organize my purse and briefcase the night before. Getting up at 5 AM and doing all that stuff is daunting...getting up at 5 AM and just having to make it as far as the bathroom or that bowl of corn flakes is a lot more do-able for me.
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 8:39 AM on April 30, 2008

This may sound odd, but have you thought about volunteering? I know the only time I'm able to fully forget about my problems is when I'm absorbed in helping someone else with theirs, or in helping to further a cause that I believe in. Plus it certainly wouldn't make your day feel wasted.

Good luck.
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 3:38 AM on April 30, 2008

I'm a speech pathologist, and when people hear this they often say, "Oh, speech pathologist huh?" with this weird lisp. Oh, the hilarity.
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 5:39 PM on April 28, 2008

The idea of paying rent makes me very, very happy, but not happy enough to consider living in a yurt. Really. What about a Tumbleweed House? More expensive, but also better than a tent. If it were me, you could sweeten the deal by promising to let us have a beautiful home built once your schooling is done.
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 4:54 PM on April 21, 2008

Yikes, this happened to me. Except I had two positive tests, and then a negative. My negative test came up for two reasons:

1. I used urine later in the day, and it was less concentrated

2. I used a different test that was less sensitive.

If you used different tests the three times, I second the idea of checking Pee on a Stick to check the sensitivity.

My pregnancy turned out fine...I'm... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 4:25 PM on April 20, 2008

I was born in 1979, and my mom has a good singing voice, and she sang all the time in the car along with tapes or the radio. It was a lot of Fleetwood Mac, Beatles, etc. She also bought "Thriller" by Michael Jackson when we were kids, and she let us sing and dance along to it.

Also, the tradition is not dead...I'm 35 weeks pregnant and I made a mix CD of songs for my son. I listen to it on the way to and from work and sing along, and I plan to keep singing... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 3:29 PM on April 19, 2008

Seconding scavenger hunts. You could have the kids do some crafts, like making eye patches and pirate hats out of newspaper, and then give them a map to follow that leads to the "treasure" (lunch and cake). If you have adult helpers you could give them a map to the first clue and then have adults there holding each clue to give to the kids rather than hiding the clues so they don't get lost or stolen. If you really want to be fancy you could divide the kids into two or three groups... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 5:15 AM on April 19, 2008

Are the PT/OT staff asking the nursing staff to let your mom help with her daily cares? Like, are they encouraging your mom to help with transfers, or moving her arms around for dressing or brushing her hair, or things like that? Are they allowing her to move her wheelchair along with her feet? Those things might help with your mom's recovery, but that you might not notice because they aren't occurring during your mom's designated OT/PT time.

If I were you I'd talk... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 6:57 PM on April 14, 2008

I'm sort of more passive in my relationships. I'd just take this as an indication that you can't always count on her to do things that are important to you. She might do something later to change that impression, but for now I'd just shrug and say, "Well, I guess I can't count on her."

However, I'm seconding the idea that something might be going on that you don't know. When I got married a close friend of mine who was going to be a bridesmaid dropped out of... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 4:42 PM on April 13, 2008

I also started dating later than most people and experienced getting dumped later, and there are only two bits of advice I can give. First, you move on by doing exactly what you're doing...don't let him manipulate you, don't "settle" for him, don't give in. Move on with your life. It will stop hurting eventually, but this was your first love...it takes a long time.

Also, I learned that you can't just learn vicariously from the experiences of others and have... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 3:23 AM on April 10, 2008

I never got general soreness in my legs, but I did get charlie horses or bad cramps sometimes. It stopped completely when my mom told me to start taking two Tums before bed. I guess I wasn't getting enough calcium, which can sometimes result in crampy legs.
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 4:53 AM on April 6, 2008

Did you really stress how important it is to you? I was completely bored sitting through the graduation ceremonies when I got my BS and MS, and my husband skipped his college graduation altogether. Your siblings might have had similar experiences at their graduations. Plus a lot of people assume that you'll want them there for the party afterwards, not for the ceremony itself. It sounds like that's what your siblings are planning.

Try explaining it to them again.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 3:30 PM on April 5, 2008

When my brother decided he was ready to come home from Japan he began applying for jobs there and didn't get anything. I guess employers weren't interested in conducting such an inconvenient interview. However, he moved back home with my parents and found a job right away. His field is education and it sounds like yours is business, though, so YMMV.

I agree with 1...why not start your job search while in Japan, and move back home if it doesn't go well? That seems reasonable to me.
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 3:11 AM on April 3, 2008

Seconding the fries-in-the-shake idea. It's awesome.

Also, peanuts and grapes are pretty good together.
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 5:21 PM on April 2, 2008

As far as prolonging the foreplay goes, I've found that a lot of positive reinforcement works. Saying things like, "Oh, please don't stop!" and "Just keep doing that," or describing how something makes you feel could let him know how much you love it and want him to continue. That might be tough if you aren't normally so vocal during sex, but it's worth a shot. As long as your comments are positive I can't imagine that he'd mind you prompting him a bit.
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 2:58 PM on March 30, 2008

How do you regain your wife's trust? You'd have to ask her. We can guess at the issues - you drink an awful lot, your wife's libido is to blame, you betrayed her on dating sites, she overreacted - but honestly, having a bunch of strangers assigning blame and guessing at the problem won't help. Go up to her and say, "I want to fix this. Let's talk about what we should do." If you can talk about the concerns you both have without assigning blame it'll be a lot more productive than... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 6:00 AM on March 30, 2008

If you could somehow train her to leave food and still need a signal to get her attention, what about a tactile signal? When I was a kid I taught my dog that three pats on the side meant that I was done petting her and that she should go lay down. Maybe you could teach your dog that three taps on the back means "drop it."

I have no idea how you'd teach her to drop it, though.
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 12:47 PM on March 29, 2008

I agree that you're blowing this out of proportion. If he's part of her circle of friends then it would be nice if you could at least be civil. Otherwise every get-together will be awkward for her.

I've met some of my husband's exes, and he's met some of mine. One of my exes even attended our wedding since we're still friendly. It's only as big a deal as you make of it.
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 9:25 PM on March 28, 2008

I had a Maine Coon cross, and she was a sneezy cat too. The vet diagnosed her with allergies and said that I could treat her with a kitty nebulizer. Basically it would be a little mask I'd put on her face and it would attach to a machine or something that would let her breathe in the medicine. I passed on that. She never seemed upset with her sneezing, so I just let it go. The vet said to watch to make sure that the mucous she was sneezing never changed color or consistency, as that would... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 9:14 PM on March 28, 2008

The Alliance for Technology Access might be helpful. There's an organization called TRIAD that's based in New York that also might give her some information. Also, once she has a device in mind the New York Assistive Technology Project might help her get funding.

I'm not sure how things work in New York, but in the states I've had experience in (Wisconsin and Illinois) the child's home district is responsible for special education services even if the kid is enrolled... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 11:23 AM on March 26, 2008

This guy does hardcore, fundamentalist Christian reviews of movies, and he has this system where he counts the number of sins in each film, including swearing, sex, violence, etc. He seems to think that over the years the PG-13 rating has been allowing more R-rated content. So maybe more stuff is getting lumped into PG and PG-13 ratings because they're the most marketable while the G and R rated movies are dwindling.

I know that when I was a kid I definitely thought... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 5:30 AM on March 26, 2008

I'd like to second Bridal Bargains. It broke things down into easy-to-understand steps and had a lot of good ideas for having a nice wedding without spending a million dollars.

Just remember...breathe! Really, for a wedding all you need is an officiant. Friends and family present and munchies after are usually desired. But anything after that is just trimmings.

Congratulations!... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 9:02 AM on March 25, 2008

I think people might have higher requirements for contentment. In order to be content my cats just have to be fed, not very hungry or cold, and have either me or the other cats around. For me to be content I need to have those requirements, but also some assurance that those conditions will continue into the future. If I don't think that my content condition will continue - for example, if I'm not sure I'll have enough money to buy groceries tomorrow, and therefore will be hungry - I won't be... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 4:20 PM on March 21, 2008

I'm a speech therapist who works with high schoolers and my kids say they don't like having their words finished for them. I can imagine it would get annoying and feel condescending if someone finished my words for me.

If you work in a public school your student is probably either seeing the school's speech pathologist, or should be. Maybe you can ask her how to deal with this in the classroom.
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 12:59 AM on March 19, 2008

"Float On" by Modest Mouse might have the message you're looking for.

I also like "Let it Be" by the Beatles when I'm feeling down.
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 8:51 AM on March 16, 2008

I agree that counseling might be in order if she's putting on the weight as a revenge maneuver. However, if she's just let herself go lately, here's how my husband got me into biking. It might work with your wife.

First off, we got me a really nice bike. I went and picked it out by myself. Riding a multi-speed hybrid bike was so much better than pedaling along on a Huffy. Then we went riding. It sounds simple, but he bikes regularly and is pretty fast, while I was... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 5:06 AM on March 16, 2008

I'll second WCityMike's thought. My cat vomited large amounts of undigested food when he gobbled his food down. So perhaps he does like the 9 Lives less. Or maybe he's feeling more comfortable in your home and doesn't feel the need to gobble.
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 10:31 AM on March 15, 2008

My old cat was an absolute hellion at the vet. They actually had an anesthetic tent for her. They'd put her in and pump gas inside and she'd go to sleep. For routine things like claw clips they had leather gloves that went up between the elbow and shoulder so she could claw away without hurting anyone.

As far as getting them to take you seriously, I used to ask what my legal liability would be should my cat injure one of the vets. It made them realize I was serious... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 5:35 PM on March 13, 2008 marked best answer

I work in education and I can think of several things that it might be. However, without actually knowing your kid it would all be conjecture. Have you gotten anyone from school involved? The school psychologist should be able to help you out. Don't get scared at the thought of contacting yours...they don't just deal with kids with low IQs or emotional problems. They're experts in all kinds of behavior! That would serve your son much better than letting us take random stabs at diagnosis.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 3:27 PM on March 13, 2008

It's really hard to move on without having that reason about why things didn't work out. But honestly, it sounds like you're torturing yourself. Stop calling him, stop making an effort, and if he's into you he'll step up and make the effort. Otherwise, just assume he wasn't interested or wasn't ready and let him go.

I also think this is more about his baggage than yours. Maybe he's afraid because you're so similar to his ex-wife and that relationship ended badly.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 5:01 PM on March 9, 2008

A friend of mine had several dates with her now-husband that involved a long walk in the park and throwing bread to the ducks that lived there. Some of my favorite outings with my husband are walks around the city. Biking is fun too, but unless you're both very slow or very good it's hard to talk while biking, which might put a damper on things.
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 3:53 PM on March 9, 2008

I agree with everyone else...this isn't your business, it's not worth the fight to get a measly $150, and these are the terms you agreed to. Sorry.
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 3:36 PM on March 8, 2008

"Lovin' is what I got" - by Sublime from the song, "What I Got." I know "got" can be used in grammatically correct sentences, but here he's using it as a substitute for "have."

The song title "Doowutchalike" by Digital Underground is a horrible mis-spelling.
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 3:49 AM on March 5, 2008

Could you call home health or home care agencies? If you got hired by a home care agency you could get paid for taking care of your grandmother, just as if they were paying a stranger to be her caretaker. Your grandma's Medicaid/Medicare might cover it (I can never remember which covers it) so it wouldn't be any cost to her either. It wouldn't use your MLIS, but it would fill in a gap in your employment history and maybe result in a reference for future use.

I worked... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 6:08 PM on March 4, 2008

My mom's dogs love Braunschweiger. I know that's not that unusual, but they adore it.

My mom would also sometimes grill liver and garlic for the dogs when she needed an extra-special treat. They loved liver with garlic.
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 2:20 PM on March 2, 2008

One of the best wedding gifts I ever gave was the book All About Us and a few gift cards to restaurants. I informed the couple that their gift was "quality time together." They said they loved the chance to focus on each other after the chaos of getting the wedding ready. I bet it would make a good shower gift too.
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 10:36 AM on March 1, 2008

I believe that most law schools require that you have a bachelors degree, which is about three and a half years away for you. I know that I applied for grad school when I was a senior, and when I was accepted it was contingent on my finishing my BS that spring. So even if you do awesome on your LSAT, most law schools still won't look at you now.

You could start studying for your LSATs, but you could also keep studying for your classes to keep up that high GPA. Your... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 6:12 PM on February 29, 2008

I have several students who are illegal immigrants, and some of them seem to get work either in landscaping or construction. I suppose those businesses could pay kids under-the-table for light labor on a day to day basis. It's not very consistent work, but at least it's some money. Some of my other students shovel snow for extra cash in the winter.
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 7:11 PM on February 20, 2008

I watched a documentary that said that the actual, proper dose for Alka-Seltzer used to be one tablet. They switched the advertising to say that you needed two tablets when sales were lagging so they could sell twice as many.
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 7:09 PM on February 18, 2008

Okay, how about instead of a pile of MDF cubes, you use a pile of shiny steel cubes instead? You can use the "Design Your Own Steel Cube Solution" feature to order what you need for your space.

If that doesn't work the store might have a good alternative...they have a bunch of storage items. They might also have that trash can you're looking for.

Good luck!
posted to Ask Metafilter by christinetheslp at 7:04 PM on February 18, 2008