We thought for sure the lack of a driver’s license would be a deal breaker, but nope. We live on a farm, so no public transportation out here. We have some family in the area, but they can only do one or the other. Childcare, or transportation. If I’m called in, DH will have to take time off work and the compensation is hardly equal to what he would earn. It’s frustrating all around.

A question about jury duty, specifically petit jury... I got the notice saying I’ve been selected for petit jury duty, filled out the questionnaire and listed the reasons I was asking to be exempt (homeschooling, primary care provider, no driver’s license), received a notification my excuses were not accepted, and now I’m waiting. My “term” (or whatever it’s called) is from April 1st through the end of June, but I haven’t heard anything since we got the notice saying I had not been excused. From what I was able to find online, a petit juror serves for a month so does that mean if I wasn’t selected for April, I won’t be called in this month? We don’t usually go on vacation, but something came up that would interest all of us and we’d like to go away for three days...but then we remembered jury duty and now we’re not sure if we should go or wait until July.

If my parents had any concerns, they kept them hidden and were nothing but supportive. Some of my siblings weren’t excited when we announced #s 6 and 7 though because they’d been forced into being done at 3 (physical issues) or had a spouse who was done at 3. I could understand their disappointment even though it hurt that they couldn’t be happy for us. DHs parents were a different kettle of fish. MIL didn’t talk to me for two days after we announced #7 (mutlti-generation household here, so can we say...awkward!), wouldn’t speak of the pregnancy for months, refusing to acknowledge simple things such as adding a new nail to the family picture wall, because she was not happy we were having another. Then after several months she wondered aloud to another family member that she thought it was strange we never talked about the coming baby. As soon as #7 was born, it was a totally different story and Grandma loves #7 as much as the other grandkids. However, we’ve been told not to have any more, we’ve gotten ultimatums that will take effect if we dare to get pregnant again, and we regularly hear comments about us being done. I’ve told DH if we do decide to have another, then he’s telling his parents! 🙂

Not necessarily weird, but my Dad bought some books from an estate sale and one had an inscription written to a soldier, dated during WWII. Inside the book someone had pinned a swatch of pink silk.

Yes, on the website.

Board Game Geek lets you keep track of games you’ve played.

I threw the beans away when I finished my first homemade batch. They were old and a little dry when I added them to the vodka though. When I’m done with the bottle we’re working on, I plan to add the beans to the next bottle (that’s already brewing). I don’t know what it will do, if anything, but I’m not going to just throw the beans away! We get them at Kroger for less than $7/two beans, so the price isn’t such a huge issue, but if it helps boost the flavor at all, it’s worth trying.

I’m not the poster you quoted, but if you don’t mind a second opinion....I use two vanilla beans per 750 ml bottle of bourbon. It’s richer than vodka, although not quite as cheap. The vanilla beans at Kroger are less than $7/two, then we chose the Bourbon based on price, so altogether it was less than $20 for the bottle. We prefer to avoid imitation vanilla and this was the cheapest option. Someone else might know this, but years ago World Market sold vanilla beans for a really good price (less than $3 for two beans, I think). There isn’t a store anywhere close to us, so we can’t check for price there, but that might be a good place to get beans.

We placed the order in USD and at checkout they added GST (in USD) to our order. Now to see what, if anything, happens when it arrives. I’m not expecting Mum and Dad to have to pay anything, but it will be interesting to see how long it takes to get there. They don’t live on the coast, so it might take a bit longer to wing it’s way out bush.

I thought about changing the currency, but I’m not sure that would do anything other than confuse everything. I don’t know that there’d be a way for anyone to know I paid in AUD and with our billing address being here...that just seems a bit too confusing. I think I’m just going to make a small order and send it to them and see what happens. Once we know what taxes they have to pay—if any—we can take it from there. Thanks everyone for helping me out here.

Okay...what about if I order in USD? I’m not in AU. I’d be ordering online from the US and sending to my parents in AU. Would that mean the applicable taxes aren’t paid? How would anyone know? I could always send a package and see what happens, but it’s not much of a gift if they have to pay for it on their end. 😕

Thanks! I knew this was the place to come for help. I figured one of you would probably have ordered from BD and would be able to let me know what to expect.

Thanks! I wasn’t sure how it would work and can’t ask my parents without spoiling the surprise. I know we had to pay to get a box from the PO when we were visiting. It was a personal item of value (@ $500) so that probably made a difference, but I wasn’t sure if the taxes would apply to something like a BD order. In our case, we weren’t importing anything. MIL sent us a camera we forgot to take—a camera I bought in AU before I met hubby—and we had to pay taxes on it before we could have it. I don’t want to send my parents a “gift” they have to pay for, so I thought I’d ask. It sounds like a smallish order from BD might not be a problem though. So yeah...thanks! 😊

Bumping in case any Aussies are online now.

Just wondering if any of our Aussie boardies can answer this question... If I order from Book Depository and send it to Australia, will my parents have to pay GST or anything like that to get the package? Thanks!