Okay, I completely messed up the "quote" part of my response. I was trying to quote Nancypants and I managed to mess it up. I'm really slow with technical matters. (And yes, even this board falls under "technical matters" for me.)

I haven't yet read many of the responses, but I agree with several responses from those who oppose the death penalty. Some (but not all) of my reasons include: - I don't think it's a deterrent. - It tends to be meted out against minorities more often than whites. - I could never dole out the punishment myself if I sat on a jury. - Everyone can be redeemed (this does not mean they should return to society though). - I'd rather err on the side of life. - It contradicts what I believe. Honestly, this is not a popular position where I live and people tend to get fairly heated about it. I've even heard sermons for capital punishment preached from the pulpit (but not where I attend). I realize we're talking about life or death though - no light subject. Anyway, it's interesting to hear others' views and think about my own.

Journey .38 Special Earth, Wind, and Fire U2 Queen etc... I came of age in the '80's and the music I listen to kind of reflects that (with a good bit of 70's and a little 90's too). I'm sure there's some current music I might be interested in, but I'm just not "up" on it. Also, what I listen to when I run and what I prefer to listen to when I'm sedentary are two different things. I definitely prefer a driving beat when I run. :)

I'm hear to tell you though, the choc. soy/strawberry "shake" tastes good, fat or no fat! It's just so darn easy too. I love so-called fattening smoothies too though. My absolute favorite of all time is at a local Amy's ice-cream shop: Mexican vanilla ice-cream blended with hot fudge (and I mean real, buttery hot fudge, not Hershey's Syrup) and strawberries. It shall be on the menu in heaven.:001_smile:

I've read the same thing and I think my pediatrician has brought this up too. So we'll wait until dd is about 14 (she's 11 1/2 now but quite tall). We were in a bad wreck this August when a car broadsided us after running a red light (at about 60 miles an hour). Interestingly, the car hit us smack dab in the front passenger area. It was a knock-over-the-head reminder that I don't want to mess with the portion of car safety I am in control of.

Here's an easy-peasy one that my kids love. It's not technically a milkshake though, so this may be disqualified. Put chocolate soy milk in a blender with some frozen strawberries (both organic, fwiw). Blend and enjoy! The frozen aspect of the strawberries works like ice cubes and the shake has a nice iciness to it. I also sneak in some flaxseed sometimes too.

We love, love, love Sonlight. We use the history, read-alouds, and readers. We don't use the LA or science. I love the book selections Sonlight uses and I love the schedule. I suppose some would consider the lack of hands on activities to be a downside, but that isn't the case for us. HTH!

I'm trying to work up to 50 posts too (this is #47, if I'm not mistaken). Are you saying you've discovered that you can't just automatically post something for sale when you reach the 50 post mark? Is there someone who can shed light on what else needs to be done? Thanks!

I sometimes take a shower before bed, especially if I've exercised that evening. When I do take a shower at night, I let my hair dry naturally (while I sleep). When I wake up in the morning, my longish hair looks crazy so I have to "reconstitute" it with some water and blow dry and style as usual. My hair's so thick though that showering at night saves the time it takes to wait for my hair to dry after I shower in the morning.

My voracious reader spells crazy well - much, much better than me at the same age. My not-so-voracious reader spells about as well as he reads, which is mildly above average (I think). My friend's daughter, however, reads like nobody's business and she struggles with spelling. She's been diagnosed with dyslexia, but who knows? Her mother isn't even sure if the diagnosis is correct but she does know the child reads really well.

Princess Diana's death shocked me the most. It's not that she impacted my life so greatly, but I sure was taken aback when I heard she died. Maybe it was because she was ever present? I dunno. The second might have been Elvis Presley. I was only 7 when he died, but even then I remember being "all shook up" about it. (Sorry about the lame pun.):tongue_smilie:

My grandmother is full of funny, but true sayings. A few I can think of off the top of my head: ~Pretty is as pretty does. ~Girls who eat sweets have big seats. ~I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. ~Can what you can and eat what you can't. ~That's like the pot calling the kettle black. ~She had a fit and fell in it. ~A sliver, a slice, a slab, a slob. ~For a while when my mother was growing up, my grandparents didn't have any furniture in their front living room (to my mother's great embarrassment as a teenager). My grandmother always told her to tell people they were decorating in "early, early, early American style."

You can do it, Rhonda! I'm in no way an athlete - never have been. However, I've started the Couch to 5K several times throughout the years and have always gotten to the goal with perseverance. I think the key for me is to keep a goal in mind, like reaching 5K status, training for a 10K, knowing some sort of race is coming up, etc. When I "just" keep running, with no goal in sight, I start feeling a little bored of it all and procrastinate exercising (much like today :)). Oh, reading other people's stories/journeys with running keep me motivated too. I say, get good shoes and keep your eye on a goal. Best of luck!

I've used both too and found TGG to be easier to use and more thorough. That being said, I currently only use Coupon Mom because I was tired of keeping up with TGG and I was beginning to drift away from too many of the products they listed. I also check thecouponclippers.com for the coupons I need, instead of buying newspapers and clipping coupons. There's a small cost, but well worth the savings for a few products I still buy. Obviously, I don't get the savings I used to, but it's a happy medium for me.

Well, I'm not so frugal and certainly not a great housekeeper, but here are a few tips that I can think of: - Throwing a little vinegar on the dishes before washing them in the dishwasher helps curb soap residue and makes them look less spotty. - If the heavy furniture you've moved has left dents in your carpet you can put an ice cube in the dent to "raise" the carpet back up. - Over the years I've gotten several of the pump style hand soaps from Bath and Body Works (mostly as gifts). After we use up the soap that's in the container, I save the pump, add about 3 T of Dr. Bronner's Lavender Soap and fill the rest up with water. Voila! We have foamy hand soap at a fraction of the store brand and it's much healthier. - Before I ever purchase anything online, I always Google the store for a promotion code. I've saved a lot of money by taking a couple of minutes to do this. I also go through Ebates.com before purchasing online from a store. I've gotten rebates from them for purchases at Amazon, Overstock, Old Navy, etc. It really works! - Lemonade stands provide hours of entertainment for my kids and a host of educational opportunities. My kids had a stand today and I can't believe I was reluctant to let them do this. The heat practically did the advertising for them though!:)

I was 24 when I started to get comments! There weren't that many gray hairs, but still, some people noticed. It was around the age of 25 when I started coloring my hair (I'm 38 now). BTW, I remember seeing something on the news one time that said the same gene for premature graying was linked somehow to the gene for osteoporosis. Apparently women of European descent with small (or fine) bone structure are lumped in with this too. I qualify for all of this - which means I better start taking some calcium!

Where can you buy tickets for the tour? My dd would love to go.

Oh, this sounds yummy! I'll have to try it this week.

Love tea, don't like coffee so much. Unless I make it into candy (lots of cream and sugar), coffee tastes like what I would think cigarette ashes taste like. I always have Darjeeling tea in the morning with a little milk and light Agave nectar (I use to use sugar, then I moved to Splenda, and now I'm using Agave). In the afternoon I either have another cup of Darjeeling or green tea. I do drink my green tea straight. BTW, when I'm really treating myself, I'll get a Chai Tea Latte with fat free milk at Starbucks. It's heavenly with their pumpkin bread. :)

Oh cool! I just found out about this game a couple of days ago. As we are contemplating getting a Wii, this game sounds very intriguing. But would I really use it? Hmmm... :)

I saw Scarface when I was 13 or 14 and I was too young to see it. I sobbed during the shoot 'em up scene in the end. It was depravity on a scale I had a hard time coping with. Shark Boy and Lava Girl was a movie I took my kids to see a couple of years ago. That is one of the worst movies I've ever seen and 90 minutes of my life I can't get back.

Wow, I love this thread and reading people's responses! My list: The Roman Forum The Pantheon The Coliseum in Rome Pompeii St. Peter's Basilica Ford's Theater (where Lincoln was shot) Mount Vernon The Alps in Switzerland (Murren, to be exact) Lake Louise, Canada The Sequoias in California Cherry blossoms along the "Philospher's Path" in Kyoto, Japan Autumn along the Hudson River The sunset outside Santa Fe, New Mexico The Grand Canyon for the first time A few things I'd love to see before I die: George Seurat's painting "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" The Louvre Pyramids in Giza, Egypt Jerusalem Whales in the ocean My children have children and many more...

To soften corn tortillas, I put a tight "lid" of foil over a small pot of water. I punch holes in the foil to let steam escape. After the water comes to a boil, I just flip the tortillas on top of the homemade steamer (foil over a pot of boiling water) and the tortillas have turned out well. We eat enchiladas a lot and this works every time. Not all corn tortillas are created equal though. Some are more apt to get mushy than others. That I cannot stand. :)

Where are you in Texas? My 11 yo dd and our Boston terrier take agility classes in the Cedar Park area, outside of Austin. She also goes to a two week camp at the same dog training location and learns how to work with our dog in agility, obedience, dock diving, etc. I don't know too much about it, but my daughter does. We bought her a relatively cheap agility course set for Christmas. She sets it up in the back yard and continues to work with our dog. Agility courses have done wonders for our dog's disposition - he was very active and mischievous before and now he's very well behaved. I think agility classes gave our dog purpose and understanding.