My dh is an engineering technician for a micro devices company. He orders and oversees installation and repair of the equipment used to manufacture radio frequency chips used in cellphones and GPS systems. He worked up to this skill level through experience in various maintenance mechanic jobs in manufacturing, one of which paid his college fees for a degree in robotics... which he's yet to actually use in any job. ;)

Last year I did the whole "blanche, peel, seed, chop, stew, freeze" for my tomatoes. It took my literally all day and my hands were shriveled and sore at the end of it. The results were bland and watery. Hmm. had to be a better way! This year I've taken to processing my tomatoes another way and it's soooooooo easy! First I trim the stem end if it's particularly tough. (The roma type I planted this year are very small and tender so I can mostly skip this part.) Toss the entire tomato into a blender or food processor and puree until as smooth as you can get it. Toss in any herbs and seasonings as you like. Simmer gently for a few hours to evaporate some of the liquid. This process works with frozen tomatoes as well. Just rinse, destem if necessary, and freeze the tomatoes for processing later. Or complete through the 'crushing' and reducing steps, then freeze. Now you've got a fantastic base for making spaghetti sauce, just saute your usual onions/garlic/peppers, etc and add the reduced tomatoes. It's fantastic and not as 'pasty' as store bought tinned tomatoes. HTH

I recently purchased a Creative Zen for it's bookmarking capabilities. I think they're cheaper than iPod, but they're not necessarily the cheapest MP3 players on the market either.

I am not eligible though that didn't stop the county sending me a summons once.

I don't have a brand/model recommendation but have been checking information on laptops recently and learning as much as possible before buying one for my dd to use at college. So far the general consensus of chat boards and pc magazines seems to be get at least 2GB for Vista to run without causing major headaches. We're looking to buy one at the lower end of the pricing scale so our choices are very limited. Every brand I've researched has bad reviews and good reviews. All brand reviews have the same complaints about customer service and the various components not being up to par. I say choose a size and price you're comfortable with and pray you don't get a lemon! :) HTH

Check out what is available through your local library. Ours offers downloads via OverDrive and Netlibrary. Their selections are limited but free! :)

Thankyou all so much for your suggestions. I'd not realized they were so easy to make, that should work well for dd's needs. Thanks again! :)

Thanks Jen, that's such a sweet offer, (and a sweet smiley to go with it!) My dd is almost 18yo and this is really just a bit of a joke costume for her party. I'd feel bad accepting under these circumstances. I'm sure there are lots of little girls who really would love those wings and use them more than just the one time. I think I'll have dd make some. I've found instructions online, she can make any shape she chooses, and we have most of the materials already.

I've tried Walmart, Target, local party supply store. I'd prefer to find them locally as it's for Dd's party next weekend, a bit of a gag-gift item so I don't want to spend a lot of money. Any ideas?

This website might help. You can search using specific names, letters, meanings, origins... it's a great site. http://http://babynamesworld.parentsconnect.com/ HTH

Vinegar neutralizes the uric acid in cat urine. It's a wonderful general cleaner and as long as the smell of vinegar doesn't bother you, it's a great choice because it won't damage your flooring either. HTH

I usually buy certain fresh food items from Costco and what I have recently noticed is how quickly the produce has been going off. In the past the same items had lasted much longer. I had mentioned to dh I was not going to purchase the usual items this weekend, for that very reason... and when I got there I found that the veggie/fruit area of the Costco store was half empty anyway. Hmmm... interesting! I wonder if it has anything to do with floods/fires/droughts of late.

Still reading "The Great Indian Novel" by Sashi Tharoor. It has taken me months, I just can't get into it. This morning just started "Knots and Crosses" by Ian Rankin and liking it so far, just a few pages in.

For me it would depend on how often I needed to go to that store, and how much room in the house to store purchased items. I've shopped at both and I much prefer Costco, even more so since I just found out this morning they offer a concierge program which means 2 years free technical help by phone (to a call center in the US) for electronics purchased at their store. AND... they also extend manufacturer 1yr warranties on tv's and computers to 2yrs free coverage.

Love your large, neat veggie rows! My dh would love to have a larger plot and an excuse to own a tractor too :) We're fairly new to veggie gardening and I'm not much of a gardener of veggies or flowers at all. More an "Okay, I planted you, now survive and do your thing without my help" kind of black-thumb. *LOL* This year I'm trying harder and have even started composting, etc. We're growing corn, green beans, yellow squash, zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes (2 kinds), bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, and by accident... butternut squash (dh purchased the seeds and thought it was like yellow squash. Oops!) I also threw in a few herbs, most of which have survived the bunnies and are starting to grow. Yay! :D It's all doing well, though the tomatoes turned out to be indeterminate type and are gigantic plants. I also didn't stake them properly so am struggling now to lift 5' tomato laden limbs off the ground. It's not a pretty sight I can tell ya. Squash is fruiting well and we're not sick of it yet, corn is starting to tassle, first peppers are just ripe, tomatoes are plentiful but still green, and beans are just now bearing. We had our first green beans last night thanks to Dh picking them while braving the pesky mosquitoes. My eggplant are finally starting to get blooms, no sign of fruit yet. I'd post a pic but it's pouring with rain right now. YEEEES!!

That's interesting. My younger ds(13) loves lego and just a few days ago declared he wants to be an engineer. Hmm.. perhaps I should make sure dh and I support his 'habit' :D Thanks for sharing the links, my ds is going to just love the lego gallery site.

Okay, so it's not technically a desk, really it's just a shelf adjusted to fit our pc. I can't help but keep it uncluttered because there's no room for anything but fingers on the keyboard! :)

We've only ever had one bathroom and it's a teeny-tiny one at that. No electrical outlets in the bathroom mean we're not in there for extended times drying hair, etc. It's strictly for lavatory use and bathing, though my kids are older so we're well out of the "bathtime = playtime" years. Our rule is that we'll ask if anyone needs to use the toilet BEFORE we take a bath/shower. Any real lavatory emergency still takes precedence over bathing. You just make do with what you have and it becomes the norm :)

Yikes! My older ds's friend(16yo) was bitten by a rattlesnake last week and has only just left the hospital. He's lucky in a sense, the snake only caught him in the thumb with one fang.

My ds(16) sprained his ankle on Monday and did go to the Dr. We went straight to a Dr. because my dd(17) is just now recovered from a broken foot so we really wanted to be sure ds wasn't attempting the same! :) The Dr. put ds's ankle in a secure, supportive ankle brace and told him to stay off it as much as possible for the next week. The brace is similar to the one on this website; it is laced and has velcro straps. http://www.ankleshop.com/proddetail.asp?prod=206XX He's only had the brace on two days and already feels a lot of improvement... despite not actually heeding the Dr's advice to rest the ankle! Teens, eh! :D HTH

Can I ask a piggyback question? Which mp3 player do you have for audiobooks? I'm thinking of getting one for myself and as far as I can tell from surfing online for info, I should avoid iPod because the format audiobooks and libraries use is different (?).

I haven't been since a few months after my youngest ds was born. I had just returned to the U.S. and had a tubal ligation. Went through the routine exam stuff then and haven't been since.

We've bought a couple of refurbished iPod Nano's from the Apple website and have been very pleased with them. My older ds(16) currently has a 4GB nano and it's a decent size for him. He uses his for mostly music, some games and small selection of photo's. Younger ds(13) will probably get a nano for Christmas and I'll definitely go with the refurbished route again. HTH

Ah, that's a relief. I was concerned the price had skyrocketed since I last bought some but it seems a simple case of Whole Foods overcharging. I'll know to avoid buying flour there from now on! Thanks for the feedback :)

Yes, you can walk on a broken ankle. Years ago my dad thought he had twisted his ankle, even had it checked (not x-rayed) by his local GP. Turns out the ankle was broken and walking on it had moved the ankle bone out of place. He ended up having surgery to pin it back in place. If it were me I'd definitely have dd x-rayed just to be sure. Hope she's all well again soon!