bl8tant

I normally use my real name, location, and so forth when online, but not here. Why? I write books and magazine columns and speak publicly quite a bit, so it's not that I'm trying to avoid the creepies. It's also (mostly) not that I say things here that I wouldn't say at church. I tend to follow Postol's Law: be conservative in what you send and liberal in what you accept. It's really just that I want a space where I can ask, and talk, about things that I don't yet want tied to my real-life identity. In particular, as I'm going through my divorce I want to be able to talk to people I don't know, and who don't know me. The conversations and advice I get tend to be more open and much less judgmental that way.

I'm glad your son's feeling better! Icyhot has such a strong smell I can easily see why it would choke him up, and it's good that just cutting it out seems to have helped the problem. Two quick notes about allergy meds. First, when my son takes Singular it makes him really cranky. Some patients have this symptom, and some don't. (This is apart from his stupid inhaler, which makes him jittery and generally devilish for days after he uses it). Be alert for behavior changes when he's on it. Second, Singular, Claritin, and most similar meds take a few days to build up to a useful level in the bloodstream. You may find that he needs a few days of consistently taking the meds before he gets lasting relief. Good luck!

This is a brilliant analogy, its_Chet-- thank you for sharing it. A couple of (well-intentioned and hopefully not offensive) suggestions. First, grab a copy of Mindless Eating. It's short, but fascinating; basically the author's thesis is that we commonly eat more than we want or need to because of environmental factors that we don't even recognize. If you google for "endless soup bowl experiment" you should find a couple of examples of the author's research. Second, create a free account at livestrong.com, which has a pretty darn good calorie tracker. I've learned that if I make myself accountable by writing down everything I eat, I don't have the urge to overeat or snack nearly as much. I suspect if you do those two things you'll lose some weight just through the natural process of not eating as much. Once you see some results there you may be more motivated to exercise, which of course will help you get in shape even faster.

Congratulations!

Welcome, Lynden!

Welcome, Kimiko! What a wonderful conversion story you have-- thanks for sharing it with us all.

Probably, though the exact answer will depend on what kind of medications you're on. If you're ever in the position of being a donor, the donor team will evaluate your medical history to figure out if you're a suitable donor.

I have a 12-year-old who has asthma and a few allergies (like to cats, boo hiss) so I know a bit about this. Asthma attacks happen when the smooth muscle surrounding the bronchioles of the lungs constrict so that it's harder for air to pass into them. This makes it hard to breathe. These attacks can be triggered by lots of different things, including allergic reactions and exercise. Allergies usually cause swelling of the membranes in the nose, sinuses, and mouth. This causes the stuffy-head feeling, and it can also make it hard to breathe. An allergist can help you figure out exactly what kinds of pollen (or whatever) your son may be allergic to. In my case, my son's allergies have gotten way better since we moved from the midwest to the west coast-- different plants and trees mean different pollen. If he's allergic to menthol, that might explain the problem-- it may be triggering an asthma-like attack of something called "reactive airway disorder" (RAD). I don't know how RAD differs from asthma, really, just that some people have one but not the other. The symptoms and treatment seem to be the same. Good luck!

Had an interesting discussion with my soon-to-be-ex-wife this evening. We were discussing spousal support, and whether she needs to pay tithing on it. I pay tithing on my gross income, so my argument was that she didn't need to tithe on it. Her argument was that the support is part of her "increase" and so she should tithe on it. We'll get around to asking our bishop, but I was wondering what kind of opinion all y'all have about it. Let fly...

Sort of. I was running my own business in one city while living in another. After much fasting and prayer, my wife and I decided to move to the same city where the business was located. Before that happened, I got a great offer to join another company, in a different field and in a different city. After much *more* prayer and fasting, we decided to take that opportunity even though we realized that it would be much more difficult to move to an area where we had no support system in place. Pros: almost a year later, my original business has downsized sharply; my partners are still hanging in there but I'd probably be unemployed if I'd stayed there. I love my job, and it enables me to provide well for my family. We live in an exciting new area (to us, anyway) that offers lots of opportunities to try new things and meet new people. Cons: I'm getting a divorce, though to be honest that probably would have happened no matter where we lived. The stress of moving to the new area probably accelerated it. It's too early to tell if I can see all the good that came out of the decision, but I have no doubt that the Lord wanted us to move here. I'm not really sure why, but that sometimes happens :)

Fair Child, check out "The Body Brokers", a book on the organ donation/cadaver industry. Yikes, but no thanks on donating my body to medical school. I have always been in favor of voluntary organ donations, and I'm a donor myself. This stance was strongly reinforced after my dad passed away unexpectedly in a traffic accident; I was glad that some of his organs were able to be passed on to others who needed them. Plus, I encourage all who can to donate blood regularly. They even give you free snacks!

I have a somewhat different perspective on this issue. In my previous wards (in the southeastern and midwestern US), the scouting programs were OK. However, last year we moved to the west coast, and our scouting program here is *terrific*. We have great activities that the boys love: white-water rafting, caving, backcountry hiking, etc. The boys are learning not only Scout and church principles, but practical skills. I am thankful for the energy and effort that our Scout leaders put in, because it pays off for the boys, in spades. Marine8541, you're right that pressuring kids who don't want to take part in Scouting can eventually drive them away. I think, though, that we can lovingly invite, rather than pressure, to make the benefits of Scouting participation available to everyone.

I'm intrigued by this discussion-- if you're still using ReturnAndReport, do you still like it? Any bumps or hiccups with it? I'd like to see if I can get our EQ to start making use of it, because we could sure use the increased efficiency :)