I understand. Completely. In 2016 alone, DH has been in Paris, Munich, Switzerland, Amsterdam, Las Vegas, Chicago, NYC. He's home for a bit and then off to Amsterdam and Munich again. I may have missed a few places. We've done this for ten years. Some years are harder than others. This year - this was hard. DH jokes that at the end of each travel season, he knows he'll come home from one trip to our vacation all planned out, because I've hit the end of my rope. It's true. I hadn't even noticed - but I do it in April every year, when I'm sick and tired of him traveling without us. Heaven forbid a timeshare company call and try to upsell us during that time period - I'll say yes to anything! What makes it easier for me... Special routines. On the night he leaves, the kids and I order pizza and rent or buy a movie. We have a slumber party. I don't hesitate to order out or take the kids out to eat, I buy special fun paper plates, we do special projects. We hit the craft stores. And - I get them to bed really early so I have alone time. For several years, we had a terrible tradition brewing - every time he left the country, the kids came down with the flu. Or the vomits. Aaaaaagghh! Now I don't take the kids to potential germy places right before he leaves. :) I am still fearful about horrendously sick kids when he's gone, but it's workable. Sometimes I'm jealous, or resent it. Mostly on the hard days. For the most part, I'm just happy when he comes home. He always brings the kids fun stuff, and something for me, which isn't necessary but makes me smile. His CEO will send the occasional bottle of wine home as a thanks for loaning him... Those little things make me feel appreciated, I guess? I don't know. It gets easier, then a bit harder, then easier again. If you can, plan some vacations to take together! That really helps me.

Are you looking to recoup the costs when you sell? If so, be careful with the top notch stuff. I'd do more upper midrange things. If it's your forever house - that's a different story. Make yourself happy! And, really, it can be both. We just bought someone's forever home. They did top notch upgrades. They had multiple offers, full price. Hot market, though. The top notch upgrades were a big selling point.

I use the measuring lines on the press. They aren't marked, but they are there. For French press, a slightly coarse grind is better. The water should be hot but not actually boiling. I steep 5 minutes - because it's easy. DH may steep 4.

Some people are. :( It's heartbreaking.

A 13 year old. A child. Who knows what he said to her. Clearly, she didn't feel like she could get up. And I read that she did say something, but no one heard (in the linked article). She's not getting blame from me. He is.

That poor girl. :(

We used Family Tree DNA. They give a ton of info, with all the fun stuff - maps and goodies. We regularly get emails about more "matches" and can connect with those people. Love it. We did it about 12 years ago, but at the time the info from FTDNA was more detailed than ancestry.com. No idea about now. My doc is having me do 23andme for medical reasons.

Thanks, all! DH arrived home, and I'm going to start with Mucinex DM. If that doesn't work, I'll move on to honey and lemon, with bourbon if it's not going to interact with the Mucinex DM. Determined to get some sleep. Anyone else have the brutal virus that's apparently running rampant in VA? Most of our friends' families have had at least one member down with it. It's vicious.

That's what I've been using. :( I do seem to have gotten one hour of sleep last night. Thus is one of those times that having a sleep tracker is depressing.

That is a good question. I've been on a cap kick. Now I have an assignment ... :D I'll see what I can do! Wish you all lived close enough to drop by and try it.

Pen, how is your son? Is the bite healing well? He's been on my mind. I had a friend in college who was bitten, and it wasn't fun. :(

Totally agree with this. I was a hard sell for DH, and thought it was a crazy way to spend money. Our first machine became my favorite luxury item of all time. We used it so much, every day. And each time, I'd close my eyes and thank DH for convincing me to do it. :) Our new machine. Oh my. Big puffy heart it. I don't have aspirations to be a barista, I don't want to fiddle, I want my coffee and fast. It's heavenly. And I'm happy everyday with it. Oh, and I checked out the Saeco that Costco carries - I would watch videos on both. Same price range, I think, but DH specifically didn't want a Saeco. He didn't want any of the Costco machines for various reasons that I can't recall now. But ... He just researched in June, I can ask him, if you want. I did notice one person said the foam wasn't hot enough with the Saeco. That might be part of it. We bought our Gaggia from Whole Latte Love.

We go through a LOT of coffee here. DH and I both work from home and are heavy coffee drinkers. Ok, espresso. We also regularly entertain heavy coffee drinkers. So our bean bill is higher than most. We use the Camano Roasters coffee club. They roast and ship the next day, so always freshly roasted. I store in airtight containers - in the pantry. No freezing, it stales the beans and negates the fresh roasting. We get two bags of Papua New Guinea roast every two weeks. The bags are huge. Maybe two pounds each? It's $52. Shade grown, organic, fair trade, and those are my favorite beans by far. If you opt for a super automatic, like we did, you need to pay attention to the beans. Oily beans will gunk up your machine. Light roasts are better. If you put the beans on a paper towel, they shouldn't bleed oil.

Ha! That was exactly my plan for tonight. :D All I need to do is check for interactions, and DH is out to shop.

It finally died. I was distraught. :). We bought it refurbished, and it made more than 16,000 espresso drinks for us (love the counter!). We sent it for repair a few times, but we finally but the bullet and splurged on a new machine. The new one has been here for a few weeks, and I really like it.

Thanks! I will be begging DH to hit the drug store tomorrow. For now I'm propped on a mountain of pillows, dreaming of sleep.

I have an upper respiratory infection, pretty sure that's the cause.

He sounds a lot like my DD at that age. I found a lot of strangely absorbing things at the dollar store. Her very favorite was a plastic salt shaker. I got those little plastic cupcake toppers that have seasonal figures on top - ghosts for Halloween, etc - and she would poke those into the holes on the salt shaker. :) She also loved mini brooms and tools, and "work" things. Good luck!

So glad it's over! Hope your ankle heals quickly.

I haven't used any for years. Kids don't use it either - kids. Plus asthma. But I must sleep. 3 nights of nonstop coughing, ugh. Doc offered something with codeine, but I'm allergic, and declined. I've been using Delsym. Are there better options?

Have you looked up tot trays? There should be several sites, I think one is something like 1+1+1=1 ... Montessori type activities to put on trays. Put them on a low shelf and let him choose what interests him. Teach him to put the trays away. Then rotate them every week or so. Things like picking up Pom poms with big tweezers and color sorting them, or sorting little things into small containers. Water transfer activities (pouring), counting, colors, letters ... My youngest loved those. Plus sensory bins. ETA: http://m.1plus1plus1equals1.net/search?q=Tot+trays We used a lot of the printables, too.

DH is my compulsive researcher. He must have read about every machine, and watched every video. He chose the Jura, almost ten years ago, and when it finally died last month - he researched again. I honestly didn't think I'd love a machine more than the Jura, but wow. The milk carafe is very cool, too. With the Jura, we had the little fridge unit that sits on the counter, but we had to wash it nightly. I eventually just switched to black espresso. It was a pain. But the Gaggia rinses the milk carafe tubes after every use. Easy to use, then store in the fridge. Have fun deciding! Whatever you get - cheers!

Watch the YouTube videos on the Gaggia Accademia. Whole Latte Love, maybe? It's my new love. The best cap I've made, hands down. Our Jura was beaitiful, but this beats it. And - it's hotter. The espresso, the foam, all of it. No plastic parts. :) I'm no help, if you're looking for inexpensive, sorry.

That is very cool!

Maybe. :) I have to email for cross contamination info, but possibly. Thanks for the new lead!