Julie Gentry's comments

Where and How do You Get Your Best Ideas? - Blog Entry

21 Jan 2007 03:55 PM

Mine come from my children. Or when I'm driving alone. Most of the time I drive in silence, and it's precious thinking time. My husband is a songwriter and he gets a lot of his ideas in the shower :-).

Diary of an Overweight Mom-It's All a Dance - Blog Entry

21 Jan 2007 03:52 PM

mmmmm, salsa.

Oh, that was the dance!

I'm enjoying your Diary of an Overweight Mom blogs and the forum, too. Thank you so much for starting it! 'scuse me now while I head out to do the Hot Potato.

Tip of the Day- Drink an Extra Glass of Water - Blog Entry

21 Jan 2007 03:50 PM

Good reminder, Alison! Here in the Northwest, we're on a sweet well. It was a lot harder to drink water when it came out of a California tap!

Important Information For Parents With Young Daughters: Experts Recommend Cervical Cancer Vaccine - Blog Entry

21 Jan 2007 03:49 PM

That's terrible. HPV is an STD. There's a better way to keep from daughters from getting an STD that is "causally related to HPV".

The vaccine "may" keep you from getting the virus (according to the FDA fact information sheet). The vaccine is new and may need boosters. There's simply not enough information for me to use my children as guinea pigs :-(.

Going Out to Eat With Kids-Tips to Make it Easier - Blog Entry

21 Jan 2007 03:42 PM

Cathy, good for you! "I save the quiet restaurants for date night." I hate going to an expensive restaurant with ill-behaved or cranky children spoiling the mood. You're 100% right about this -->>"I don't think children can learn how to behave at a restaurant if you never take them." Practicing at home just isn't the same as being there.

Mystery Shopping: What to Bring with You on a Shop - Blog Entry

21 Jan 2007 03:28 PM

Libby, you'd be surprised! I've taken mine on them since they were small. There ARE a few shops that specify "no children", but most want an average customer's experience -- and average people have children :-). You might start out with Amusement Advantage. They shop zoos, aquariums, go-kart places, and other fun places!

"I Don't Want to Go to Gifted School!" - Blog Entry

21 Jan 2007 01:54 AM

Michelle, three times my parents were approached by teachers asking to skip me a grade or two. And three times it was shot down for "social immaturity" by school counselors or the principal. What is that? Because I was not as jaded as some others? LOL. Looking back, I wish my parents had pushed harder. I had a great time in high school. I didn't learn a lot in class; I learned much more at home and the library. But I was popular and had a good time. Isn't that what school is all about? *snicker* I ditched a lot of classes and went to school a little over half the days -- and still graduated with honors. It's time I could've better spent in college. If I had been ten years younger, I'd have been homeschooled and skipped as many grades as I wanted. My little sister did that, was admitted to a California state college at 14 and now works for NASA.

Kristyn, will they let you and your son sit in on a few classes? At least you'd know what you were getting into.

"I Don't Want to Go to Gifted School!" - Blog Entry

21 Jan 2007 01:42 AM

My little sister and I got bussed to the special school, which was actually a wing of the poorest school in the district. They got extra funding for having us there. Back then it was "Mentally Gifted Minors" (aka Mother's Greatest Monkeys or Many Goofy Morons, depending upon whom you talked to). It was based on IQ; nowadays, teacher or principal recommendation can get a child into G/T who doesn't make it on the IQ score. I can't say that the gifted school was a good thing. There was not a lot of structure. We used calculators on our math tests, made contracts as to our work load (decided by us), told the teachers what we were going to read instead of the other way around, and came and went as we pleased. What I did learn was that who your daddy was was infinitely more important than how hard you worked or how intelligent you were. Thankfully, this isn't necessarily true as adults. The cliquishness was a hundred times worse than anything in high school - and this was with 4-6 graders. I learned a lot more in the pull-out gifted classes, where were mainstreamed most of the day and were segregated for just one class period.

Teenagers and the Mysterious, Disappearing Dishes - Blog Entry

20 Jan 2007 10:59 PM

LOL! We have a "dining room only" rule, yet I still manage to find dishes elsewhere. When I catch "Not me", whoever he is, he's in some real hot water.

Back to the Future Part III - Blog Entry

20 Jan 2007 10:57 PM

Good review. I loved the ZZ Top scene, too!