It's not easily available yet in our area for some reason... I'm getting the flu shot next week, and will probably wait a week or two before I get the new booster.

Okay, I think I'm sending this as a gift link now... (Thanks for the suggestion!) (Wow, that's a long link!!) https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020756-quick-chicken-and-dumplings?unlocked_article_code=WDm9G9Wfvp8eRZwLRk24acTbEjGDb4WnGF7DSMoP9D2eeZkAK4zoQEhhzT-nymg9NLGwdQY7TOdrNdNl7jZ1NdmC0iUhF_SyKATgUbaPwpCJ96MhYg19V8lig-Lk37twDAsaHBpNSZIVHQ82Eytx8yQLUM0FDkSN56zoIwyrFtzXBosSCoITg-7GT0PN7sPBNS5dPswJ4haGFzXE_aXs5tqujtVlP28d5d73wAg8WXkrMp0cj8tC4K5enFcfb9qBR_NlWpdo6VL5HrcpNAnBRHkD5iU_P6p6PkFeLT_oGvL4ItS8cndjA27TQhlHuf2RXnFa6HPRq2n-KV28xdWDVQ&smid=share-url

I'm not sure if you'll be able to access this? (I have a NYT cooking membership.) This chicken and quick dumplings recipe is always a hit. (The dumplings are store-bought gnocchi.) Instead of rotisserie chicken, I use chicken breasts which I cook and shred. (Less expensive!) I use any milk I happen to have on hand instead of cream. https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020756-quick-chicken-and-dumplings?action=click&module=RecipeBox&pgType=recipebox-page&region=chicken dumplings&rank=0

I'll bet that's pretty out on your deck! Ours are solar powered, so they turn on once it's dark enough. I don't have to do anything, which is kind of nice.

I think you can easily get away with that starting in the fall! We have tiny lights on our patio year-round.

I don't need coffee to get going, and apparently I metabolize it fast because I can have a strong cup before bedtime and it doesn't bother me. That said, I LOVE coffee when I first wake up in the morning and can't imagine starting my day immediately without it. I suppose it's more because of routine and habit and the emotional happiness it brings me. 😁 I like it good and strong.

I don't know anything about RV's, but a friend of mine has a tiny home near their home and it's very cozy in the winter (I'm talking really cold northern climate winters). I have another friend who's been looking into turning a cargo container into a tiny home for their adult child, this also in a northern climate. I don't know much about them either, but perhaps they're easier to insulate than an RV?

Check with your credit card or even what the airlines might offer. Otherwise, we've used Seven Corners many times and they seem trustworthy and are competitive with costs. (We only needed them once to pay us back for something -- not for anything major like health issues or an emergency trip home for a family member, but for a flight issue.)

If she needs one math credit and this is the only thing she needs to graduate, is it worth it to switch to another math that she can tackle more easily just to get it done? Our dd began having major health issues during her junior year in high school. Focusing became really hard for her, and math required the most focus of all her classes. I made it as easy as possible for her, requiring only a handful of problems for each chapter (6 vs. 30, for example), eliminating chapters, etc. Anything to get her through it. She was naturally good with numbers and I wasn't worried about that aspect of it, and that helped in our decision. If we had kept her back due to that one class it would have hurt her far more than help her. She never went on to college as she spent the next several years getting her health issues under control, although she did work full-time in jobs that she enjoyed and that put her on a good path and built her confidence. Her health is much better now, and she has a great job with a financial tech company, amazingly enough! She's the only one without a college degree in her department but because she's good with numbers she's been trained on the job, and she loves it.

I color my own hair and have for quite awhile. I stick with what my original natural color was... It still is naturally "natural" in some places, but it's also kind of mottled and not as bright. I use L'Oreal Excellence Creme Permanent Color too. But I don't use it all the time. In-between -- at least once but maybe twice -- I use a root-touchup instead, like L'Oreal or Clairol root touchups. Using the touchup in-between the permanent, solid color dyes keeps it looking a little more natural. It seems to tone things down a bit, and makes it look more natural overall.

I like these threads! Question: Is this for your face? Or your whole body?

Do they seem okay with it themselves? Or stressed/anxious? Are they getting enough sleep? Depending on the answer, I'd ask them. A teen might not even realize that they can choose to not be involved in so much. I think a simple conversation about it from time to time is fine.

Things like colds and flues we always self-treat. Strep we always treated with antibiotics. It's a tough bug, and it can go round and round in a family. It can be very miserable and have long-term, permanent consequences. We went through some early years (when the kids were all elementary school age or younger) when it seemed to hit us every year or two and make its rounds, with several family members ending up on antibiotics each time, sometimes more than once. It's highly contagious. Then at some point, no one got it anymore ~ maybe everyone had finally built up enough immunity against it or something, I don't know. You also have to be careful of it spreading or reinfecting through toothbrushes, even toothbrushes touching each other. I've even heard that a dog can be a carrier in a family, although I'm sure that's pretty unlikely.

The l is silent, but I think it does change the sound of the vowel a bit. In wok, at least around here, the o is pronounced wider, with a more open mouth. In walk, the "o" sound isn't quite as wide, and the mouth is less open.

My dh focused on history, political science, and math before graduate school and then law school.

I think it depends on the circumstances. If I was just in the hospital for a routine even though serious condition, but knowing I'd be fine, then I can't imagine people really feeling like they should come every day and stay all day. If I were possibly dying, then I'd treasure the time with family there, and would want them surrounding me as much as possible. When my dh was hospitalized for 3+ months and we didn't know if he'd survive, I was there probably 12 hours each day. Our whole family surrounded him every day from morning til night, along with his siblings and my own own family. But it was so personal, that we didn't really want others in there much besides family. My dh was too out of it to care but it means a lot to us!

I just wanted to weigh into this a bit. This really depends on the college. Of course, if a student wants to keep all options open, then this is wise advice. My kids took gap years and we researched this pretty carefully but only colleges where they were planning to apply. It really varied! One college allowed two college courses taken after high school graduation and before entering their college, and would still count the student as a new freshman and allow them to apply for freshman scholarships. Another allowed one course ahead of time. Yet another counted even a gap year -- if it involved more than just a full-time job, but even if it didn't include any courses at all -- as a year of "education" and would prohibit them from applying for a freshman scholarship. So, a year of travel or volunteer work experience abroad would have disqualified them from freshman scholarships (even though they'd be entering as freshmen). Only ONE school was that strict and it seemed really stingy. I think that's pretty rare. Yet at the same time, at least a couple of the schools had transfer scholarships which were nearly or even just as good as the freshman scholarships. Lastly, some one-year school experiences in other countries (not a credited school but still a school-like experience) were not a problem for any of the colleges we checked with except for the stingy one that didn't even allow an experience. These are school-like programs that are not recognized as part of the official school system in their own countries. And yet, two colleges (the ones that would have allowed one or two college courses to transfer and still apply for a freshman scholarship) would have allowed the incoming student to petition for credit for one or two courses of their school experience in order to fulfill requirements at the college -- although the credit numbers would not have been tallied into the total number of credits required to graduate. Sorry if this all sounds confusing! Mostly just wanted to point out that it does vary a bit.

Do you think she's doing jobs because she thinks that's a way to pay you back for letting her stay there? I don't know the circumstances of her being there... If she's a good friend going through something difficult, or whatever. If she's going through something really difficult, I might let it go, but talk to your ds about why you're letting it go for now. And maybe find other things for him to do, like clean the car, vacuum the closet, make bread. Things that aren't typically a daily chore. If she's simply not getting it, I'd be clearer with her. Maybe make up a chart and hang it on the fridge. Clearly divvy up the chores on the list. Explain to her that you all need to stick with that list and why. If she needs more to do, do you have any bigger projects that you've put aside because of lack of time? (Like painting a room, cleaning out a closet, etc.) Could she do something like that?

You can always overnight it (sometimes it takes two nights) this first time if that feels easier, but after that, I'd get the prescription transferred. We were able to get ours transferred to a different state pretty easily if we used the same chain pharmacy. I think ours was Walgreens. But within the same state, I think it wouldn't even need to be the same chain. Or you can call your doctor's office and ask them to call in the prescription to a pharmacy where your dd is.

Oh yea, that was during the time when jello was considered salad! 😁

I'm really curious to know what pink salad is!

Can you share your banana pudding recipe? My girls and I were just talking about it (I guess it's popular in North Carolina?), and I was thinking I'd like to make it!

That's all super interesting -- thanks for taking the time to write it out. (Also, my dh's ancestry is Irish so that makes sense!)

I guess because I live in a culture that seems to imply that that this is comfortable and respectful. Is this true? I don't know.

Oops, I realized I didn't answer this part. Yes, so far two of my children have had complete iron panels and have tested off-the-chart high in iron and iron saturation. My dh and another dd will have this test in a couple weeks.