I have a dark navy denim and a white denim that I wear to my office, depending on what I have going on. The navy one goes very nicely with a cotton blend trouser-leg pant in several possible colors, generally over a black shell or a similarly understated base layer top. The white goes with so many things it's hard to find something I doesn't go with! It's particularly nice for "summering" something that is less summery. I like them for keeping me warm in a chilly office, without feeling cardigan-ish.

While I like KungFu Panda's idea -- a lot! -- I'd want to be sure that the mechanism is rated for the kind of weight you'd have in that volume of cookbooks. I use a rule of thumb that for a moving, weight-bearing part, I look for it to be rated for 2x the actual amount of weight I intend to put in it. Anything near maxxing out a suspension will shorten it's life and, worse yet, warp the structure it is attached to. (Ask me how I know...) In my experience, since the moving items were already installed in my kitchen, I've had to move the contents of the cabinet and swap out heavy items for others that weigh less.

Never mind, others have said it better than I did.

Depending on whether you can access some custom cabinetry skills, I think I'd be inclined to build a two part box to suspend from the joists. The back would have a pull-out or a baking sheet rack (sheets would stand vertically) and it would be accessed from the side of the fridge. The front would be the bookshelf, and it would be accessed from the front of the fridge. Also, it would be absolutely critical to allow for airflow above the fridge.

FYI -- Ramona and Beezus has a similar story line. I watched this recently and generally really liked the film. But it does have this rather inauthentic storyline.

She was the best part of a women's conference I attended, and the speakers were really outstanding --> she was that real and that talented. I'm so sorry to hear this. Her circle must be devastated.

[deleted and edited for privacy] Maybe you could ask for options within a price range, and let the person give you ideas?

That's a really nice large sized skillet, and the oil-filled core should do two things really well: it distributes heat nicely, so nothing cooked in it will be subject to hot or cool spots, and it should do really well at keeping food warm. If you have the room, I'd hang onto it. (As you get older, having lighter weight cookware is also helpful on hands and wrists that aren't as strong.)

@cjzimmer1 What business is this for? Are you all market gardeners? Have a nursery business? The gallon jugs are awesome; do you sell those?

Would the NAME national org have names for the chapter/local leadership from when the group was active? Any online groups that might have geographical sub-groups?

https://eclipsewise.com › solar › SEgmapx › SEgmapkey.html (ETA: The gent that wrote this, Fred Espenak, generated the Google maps in the first link I posted; if I remember correctly, he's a retire NASA guy.) Greatest Eclipse (GE) and Greatest Duration (GD) See the link above for good explanations. 🙂

@bolt. Thanks! That's a good idea, too. That idea might lengthen our window of possible events, if one of us is no longer in good enough health to go globetrotting.

After seeing a total eclipse, I might have to travel to see one again. My dingdongs at home had to be convinced that they really, really should watch it, but I forgot to verbalize that it was fine to take off glasses during totality, so they missed that. All that said, I'm really, seriously thinking about planning international travel for at least dh and I to go see another one before we're too old for international travel. I thought you might enjoy this website I found, that pinpoints when, where, how long for totality, and spots in each country that should be a great starting place: https://time.com/4897581/total-solar-eclipse-years-next/

I'm not going to make any suggestions for what to bring, but you can always choose something from Amazon and have it delivered while you're there, as opposed to carrying it on, in case you decide on something a bit larger.

Hehe! I've been mentioning bunnies a lot recently. Can't have chickens in our suburb. BTW, my guys drove our tiny pickup to TSC, and they cut up the panels with bolt-cutters in the parking lot. Apparently people do it. all. the. time. I'm five years into these pieces, and they are indestructible. The cut ends have been overwintered in dirt, and they haven't rusted, even where they were cut.

@Faith-manor I missed all the fun and was also going to recommend cattlepanels. I have the equivalent of three panels, all cut into 5 foot pieces (four per 20 foot panel) that I use for either tent style (2 pieces) or vertical (1 piece) in the center of the bed. Our cattle panels have slightly smaller openings along one edge and openings for the majority of the panel, and since it's harder to reach through the smaller rectangles, I place those facing the end of the bed, so I'm reaching into the tent from the end rather than through the smaller rectangles further down the bed. I use the sticking-out-wires (cut halfway into an opening) intentionally to press into the soil, and I have yet to have one blow away, in spite of notorious spring storms in my area. I've trellised everything from peas and cucumbers to pole beans and sugar baby watermelons, on them. I have two that are permanently framed with cedar on the ends of two beds close to the house for trellising morning glories. That's my concession to folks who aren't wild about looking at a messy garden. I have cedar verticals and cross bars over the beds, periodically, that allow me to suspend shadecloth over the beds. A week ago when we were expecting 2 inch hail, I laid the trellis panels over the top of all the vertical pieces, then put 4 layers of frost cloth over the trellises and clamped it all down, so that if we did get hail, all my plant that are blooming would be shredded. We didn't get hail, but I think it really would have protected the majority of the garden. I haven't tried tunnels yet; when we get somewhere permanent, I probably One final pro-tip: use an angle grinder and take off the sharp edges before you use them. It'll be the best 10 minutes of prevention you'll ever invest.

How were you treated, @Carrie12345? (Just a curiosity question.)

For the OP, I adored baby-wearing and and wore out the first ring sling, and sent my second one to a relative when they asked for it. (I also had an Ergo baby carrier, a front pack, that my firstborn loathed, but subsequent children and I were off to the races with slings.) That said, I don't think baby carriers are a great idea for gifts because they are so very personal. My first adult-offspring-to-have-a-child only wanted to use a soft baby wrap. (I swear it took her 3 minutes to wrap and tie the thing on and just as much time to take it off, but she wanted her own way of raising baby.) The next offspring to have a baby is open to the sling, understands the ease of it, and asked me to show them how to adjust it, and his wife was very open to trying, but the baby has an unusual way of carrying herself that makes slings harder. She will definitely have to be coaxed into fitting into a sling, and I don't know if her mom and dad will want to work at it that hard. (It's a physical thing.) I made it clear why I liked it and showed them how, but I also verbalized that I wanted them to do what worked for them; they should not feel any pressure from me.

My adult kids have absolutely loved their (second hand) Peanut baby changer, because it is soft, warm, and absolutely impermeable. (Wipe and go; no need for fabric changing pads that have to be washed.) They also like the Bumbo baby floor seat. https://www.amazon.com/stores/Bumbo/page/D7EA5422-775B-4875-9960-D305F21FFD74?ref_=ast_bln (This is all the Bumbo products.) My youngest is in a 2-br apt, and they don't have a dining table. Baby is under a year, so they keep the Bumbo on their kitchen island and feed her in it there. The adults eat meals on the couch and, in a few months, when Baby is eating "meals" with them, they'll move her Bumbo to the small coffee table next to the couch. Either of these items could be sent to your family via Amazon, and you could mail a nice card separately.

Yesterday, as I was running errands in my area, which will be in totality, there were Department of Transportation signs out: "Eclipse: Arrive Early, Stay Put, Leave Late." I was also taking calls on Friday at work, asking if our privately owned parking lots were open for people to come view on site, and if there were events for the public. (No to both.) Our student life staff have done a bang-up job planning fun, and all classes from 12-3PM have been asked to provide asynchronous learning, so students can participate. I have seen that some municipalities have viewing events planned, similar to festivals. I'm glad that's the case. 🙂

Very best wishes to her and the seedlings. Dh has care of mine while I'm in another state snuggling the cutest little girl. ❤️

We've used Vacasa, as has a family member who works for the most well-known STR company. 😄 https://www.rd.com/article/vacation-rentals-websites/ Google can probably pull you up a few articles like the one I linked.

It dawned on me at one point, that the specific whinge du jour really isn't about that topic, it's about the loss our elders are feeling. They may or may not be amenable to being gently steered to things for which they can choose gratitude, but if someone is feeling grief, discontent, etc., they would like you to either JAWthem or to murmur empathy, and occasionally, they might be persuaded to see things through gratitude...but we're not naturally wired to choose gratitude first. Trying to apply logic doesn't help. I do JAWyou that it is very taxing and corrosive. Sigh.

Oh, Tap. I'm so sorry. What a difficult road you've been on. In this season, difficult as it is, I pray that you will find the comfort of love and the strength of hope quietly filling in all the empty spots.

That's awesome!