Quick-thaw method- put turkey in a sink full of cool water. Thaws pretty quickly. (Mine is in the sink now.) Many people have thanksgiving at dinner time- don't stress!

I'm on my way to the grocery store to buy a turkey. (They are usually marked down by Thanksgiving day.)

I try to get out a few times per year to keep up my skills. I have my dh's guns. Deer rifle, shotgun, 9mm, and a couple 22s for the girls to practice with. I like shooting skeet and plinking away with the 22s.

Not time consuming, not difficult. Soooooo much better than store bought. Lots of great recipes out there- I like to use fresh ginger. My younger dd made pies from scratch by herself starting when she was 8.

My kids don't eat fish either. They LOVED the fresh halibut and salmon we had in Alaska last summer though! I think fresh makes all the difference.

I've been vaguely paleo recently, in a low carb/ high fat kind of way. I found this menu on a blog, and I'm doing it! I'm also doing a recipe or two from this site. Turkey Prosciutto Wrapped Pears Turkey Sausage stuffing (without bread for me) Cranberry sauce Paleo Holiday Yams or Roasted Sweet Potatoes- not sure yet. Braised Cabbage & Bacon Paleo Pumpkin Pie

I like this poll better. If I was motivated, I might make it.

Um- no. Adults who are bullied at work can look for another job, or another department or location to work in. Children in school don't have that option. And bullying doesn't just affect the kids being bullied (although they have it the worst, obviously.) The other kids will be horrified by the actions of the bully, but they don't know what to do because they don't want the bully to turn on them. Yet they still wonder why no one will stand up to the bully. And then the kids start growing up, and feel guilty about it. I was bullied when I was a young teen on my gymnastics team. I have been told by two of the non-bullies that they always regretted not standing up to the bully for me. I hear this bully is a "nicer person" now... and after reading the book Queen Bees and Wanna-bees, I do think that's possible. But if I ever meet her as an adult, I will snub her. Took me a long time to get past it, it's not worth it to me to rehash it.

Cool ideas, ladies! Thank you! (More are welcome if you have them- I have 3 days worth of crafts to do!)

I need some craft ideas for 12 4-6 yr olds that will take about 20 minutes. All ideas welcome! Thanks!

I've had better luck in the last two years. But once about five years ago, I was flying somewhere on Frontier and they told me there was no way I could sit near either of my kids (then 8 and 13.) Not really a huge deal, my kids are well-traveled and had their ipods, the flight was only 3 hours long. After boarding, I found out that a large group on board had been switch from another flight due to a missed connection. We were sitting in and around them. It was obvious that our seats could have been together, and they would have not had strangers sitting among them. Oh, and the group was a bunch of teenagers that had obviously not been taught how to behave when using public transportation. Yelling across rows, using language not appropriate in public, etc. I talked to the kids in my row, and they thanked me and said they would pass on the news. It was a church group, and their "leader" was about 21 yrs old and just as misbehaved as the kids. They weren't bad kids, just clueless.

This is the Iron I take as well. Other iron supplements just gave me black sticky stools, and not raise my iron levels. Hemagenics keeps my iron levels normal even with the lower dose, and no digestive issues.

Me either. I don't like crowds, and I don't like shopping. One year I had to go out and get something at Kohl's on black Friday. It was horrid! I took a kid and stuck her in the checkout line as soon as I got there, and I still had to wait in line for an hour.

I use 1 cup of coffee in a 12-cup machine. It's nice and strong, and if you don't like it- that's fine you can make some for you! I agree with the previous poster, that you should ask a coffee drinker to make the coffee. If you make it and they don't like it, they might not want to tell you they don't like it and risk hurting their host's feelings. If another guest makes it, they will just say they like it stronger or weaker.

The set-up of this meeting is completely inappropriate. They are setting up a gang mentality. If no one will be first to speak up, no one will speak up. On the other hand, if everyone jumps on the band wagon, it will be more like a lynch mob. After the meeting, all kinds of gossip will be spread about who said what. This type of meeting is not in the best interest of the children OR the coach. Ask your friends to set up a private meting with the supervisor, to tell the supervisor what she has seen. I would refuse to air my dirty laundry in public. I would not publicly disparage anyone at a meeting such as you have described. It's just not right. If the coach is not present, I would be talking behind her back when she can't stand up for herself. If the coach was there, I would be (probably) embarrassing her and humiliating her in public. I would step up and tell a supervisor what I had seen in practice, in a private meeting. If I thought that would affect how the coach treated my child, I would not want my child in that program. The coach is supposed to be an adult. :grouphug: good luck- I know you are in a rough spot.

No. It never occurred to me to find that annoying. (I hope everything is OK in your life.)

Thank you! I will look into those. And the thread.

Thanks for the suggestions so far! Kareni-for pleasure, she generally reads fantasy and future dystopia. (Is that a word? I mean books like Hunger Games, Uglies, etc.) For school, she has enjoyed The Book Thief and Fahrenheit 451. I'm kind of thinking of getting her a book on living on her own and being a "real adult" though, I just have no ideas what would work for that. We do have all the James Herriot books, and she has enjoyed them.

Well, my tree is still up from last year. It's a small fake one, because we were out of town for the actual holiday, and I decided I just wanted it to stay.

Hi, everyone- I have a great book picked out for my 13-yo for Christmas. It's a newly released hard cover. I would like to get an excellent book for my 18 yo also. She's a senior in high school, looking forward (with quite a bit of concern) to living on her own next year. Might go to college, might get a job out of state and take a gap year or two. She always wanted to be a veterinarian, but now is balking at spending that much time in school. So now she's not sure what she wants to be when she grows up. We are atheists, so no religious books please. All other suggestions are welcome! Thanks.

I agree. Even more so in the modern world, where most women don't live near extended family, and work outside the home. I don't think I would have had a problem with an additional wife. I would not have wanted 3 additional wives though.

Last time I was in a group that decided to donate xmas gifts to a needy "family", we got a middle-aged couple that was living together but not married. Turned out they were basically indigent drug addicts. Didn't make me feel generous, it made me feel like I was enabling them. I would have felt better if I had taken them to a rehab center. Now I just look for ways to help people I know. Babysitting, bringing a meal over, making cookies, etc.

I grew up atheist, and I'm still atheist. I have always and always will celebrate Christmas. I even call it Christmas, because that's what everyone else in our culture calls it. I am celebrating the same thing people in the Northern Hemisphere have celebrated for thousands of years- the winter solstice. The longest night is over- now the days will start getting longer. And yes, we have a Yule tree, and Santa, just as my ancestors have since well before the birth of Christ. We also take the time to remember and reconnect with family.

My husband was a private pilot, and my older dd got air sick quite easily. She was very skilled at barfing into a ziploc bag without spilling a drop. When we have a stomach bug, the goal for kids is the toilet or a bucket. Anywhere but the rug! I go for the sink with a garbage disposal so I don't have to risk splash-ups or cleaning chunks out of the bathroom sink.

I try for the kitchen sink with the garbage disposal. Cleaning chunks out of the bathroom sink might make me get sick again. My kids go for the toilet or a bucket.