What a timely thread! We have seven brand new baby chicks that my kiddos incubated. They are two days old and are about the cutest things I have ever seen! And are presently being housed in my hallway :). I will let you know in a few months what kind of mischief they get into, but right now, they are adorable!

I have no advice, but am listening in....I will be planting my first garden this year and I feel a little overwhelmed.

For our family, it is because they are sturdy little boogers that will hold up to the abuses of my kiddos :). And we reserve our better glasses for company. I don't know why other folks do it.

The longest we have ever trailered was 12 hours straight, so I am interested in knowing how it goes for you for 21. We stopped every couple of hours so they could to just stand and give their legs a break. We offered water when we stopped and had brought it with us. They had hay nets filled so they could munch on that constantly. We only have a four horse, front load. We positioned them so they could lean/brace against each other and against the back gate and that helped take some of the pressure off of them individually. Thankfully, we didn't have any problems on that trip, but we are getting ready to do it again in March and I am getting nervous again. Good luck and I hope all goes well!

I would get a baby gates and confine him to one extremely small area, that is not on carpet. No freedom for that little guy. I would create a crate-type atmosphere, even if he can't tolerate a crate. And follow all the same rules as crate training. Just throwing out a guess, is he a yorkie?

My inlaws have donkeys and have kept them in the same pasture as the horses. The only time there were any problems was between the jack(fully intact) and the gelding. They were constantly fighting it out to see who was most dominant and surprisingly the donkey held his ground quite definitely, even though there was a significant size difference. I would say to introduce them to each other and see how it goes. Your old guy may like a companion, you never know until you try. Good luck.

Ok, clearly, you are much more passionate about this topic than I am. I stand by my beginning discussion that Girl Scout cookies are not worth the hype that I see going on around here. I will also stand by my statement that little girls are used to sell a product, and therefore, are being exploited. We can agree to disagree, since clearly you feel that is not the case. Have a nice day. I would offer you a chill pill, but I can't find the emoticons.

Oh, and yes, I do think little girls are exploited through Girl Scouts cookie sales. ex·ploi·ta·tion [ek-sploi-tey-shuh n] Show IPA noun 1. use or utilization, especially for profit 2. selfish utilization: He got ahead through the exploitation of his friends. 3. the combined, often varied, use of public-relations and advertising techniques to promote a person, movie, product, etc.

Oh goodness! I sure hope this isn't as touchy a subject as cupcakes ;). Good thing for the Girls Scouts that there are still folks out there that don't feel the way I do. It is always interesting to see the differences in opinions regarding these kinds of topics.

What is the big deal? I just can't understand what is so great about these cookies. Everyone here in my area acts like it is the most exciting thing ever that the Girl Scout cookies have arrived. In my opinion, they are really expensive, in really small boxes, and don't even taste that good. Combine the above with the exploitation of young girls to sell them, I am just not a fan. What am I missing? Why are they so popular?

Ok, now I feel bad... She just called (literally as soon as I pushed send on the previous post). She said she was running right then to the post office because my check showed back up in her mailbox today. She had forgotten to put my zip code on the envelope. While I was on the phone with her, she got the stamp and put it in the box. Whew...problem over. I do, however, agree about not lending money in the future. I have definitely learned a lesson here.

Long story short, my sister owes me $115.00. She was supposed to pay me this money December 20th. I have asked repeatedly for the money and she keeps putting me off. Finally, last Friday (a week ago), she claimed to have put it in the mail. The check is still not here, and I doubt very seriously that she even mailed it. I have created myself a Paypal account recently. I am essentially backing her into a corner and forcing her to give me my money by telling her to direct deposit it, as she would not be able to lie and put me off anymore. However, her two young children have developed the flu. I feel guilty demanding my money when I know that times will be tight for her now that the kids are sick. But times are tight for us too and I need that money. And it really ticks me off that I have had to wait an entire month for her to pay me back. So, should I force her hand or give her a break? Wait even longer to get my money? Or, just forget about it altogether and learn from this to never do business with her again?

Yes, the new classifieds. I am stumped on why it is doing that. It is also marking my price as free and I have to go back in and change that several times for it to stick. Is anyone else having this issue or is it just me?

Arrrrggghh! I have listed some items on the for sale board and for some reason, the title is changed when I go back and look at the item. I have edited it numerous times and it looks right when I change it, but when I go back to look at it, it went back to the wrong way. I made sure it wasn't autocorrecting, so I am not sure what is going on. It isn't a big deal, but it is still annoying me. Any ideas why it was doing that?

Yes, I agree with the above statement. Even my dh, who is 41, loves r/c things. He has an absolute blast with them. I think it was a very appropriate gift for a 12 yo. I can totally see my dh sending one of his nephews this gift and being very disappointed if they weren't as excited as he was in sending it. Maybe youtube some videos of cool things to be done with r/c trucks to show him what kinds of fun he can have with his gift.

Is there anyway you can take out the gas insert and put in a wood burning stove? I don't know the size area you have, but you could insulate and brick the hole, then put a stove there in its place. If there is a chimney already in place, you could use it for the wood burning stove too.

We don't do buckets or the toilet. I have the two gallon size zip lock bags kept on hand at all times just for this purpose. If someone is sick, they puke in the bag, zip it up and put it directly in the trash. No rinsing of buckets, potties, Etc. I cannot handle cleaning up the mess from vomit. And so far, (knock on wood), we have never had a miss with the bags. The bags are big enough that a little one can practically put their whole face into the bag so there is no chance of missing.

We have a wonderful mini schnauzer and I can't imagine our life without her. She is truly a family member. The only negative is that I have to buy special dog food for her because she has a sensitive tummy and will vomit if she eats high fat food. If we keep her on the right food, we have no issues. We got her as a puppy, so she has grown up with our kids. She is almost eight now. She plays hide and seek with them, lets them dress her up in doll clothes, and considers it her job to make sure everyone stays together when we go hiking. She will literally herd us the entire time we are out and gets incredibly stressed out if we get too far from each other. She is a great traveler, too. Honestly, I can't think of anything bad about her except having to buy more expensive dogfood. As far as the barking...I cannot tolerate it. She would try to bark when she was little and I would make an unpleasant/nnoying noise each and every time she started to bark and she quickly learned not to do anymore. The only time she barks now is for play or when daddy comes home. Oh, and she sings with me :). It is so cute. I would always sing to my girls to wake them in the morning and one day, our sweet puppy met me at their bed and started singing too. So, now I can say, "you want to sing?" And she gets so excited and sings with me. Adorable.

Holy cow!

I was listening to NPR this morning and a guest on the Diane Ream show was talking about his book about World War II. It was a fascinating story of two WWII veterans. I immediately ordered the book for my hard-to-buy-for dad and am so excited for him to read it. Just thought I would pass along the info in case some of you are still trying to find something. The $14 two-day shipping seems worth it :) The book is called, "A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II", by Adam Makos.

Ummm, do you still eat spinach, cantaloupe, peanut butter? That same bacteria has been found in all of those and caused all the same problems, as well as death.

AMEN. And that is what is so frustrating with this issue... big business has lobbied so hard and won that we don't have the right to purchase and consume raw milk. They treat raw milk as if it is an illegal drug and those that choose to partake have to jump through hoops in most states, I.e. be a part of a cow share or agree to drink "pet" milk. Truly ridiculous.

Not wishing to start a debate here, but you can get those same bacteria from spinach or cantaloupe, and they haven't banned those items. The banning of raw milk has more to do with big business realizing they would have no market if people drank raw milk from their local farmer. Don't be fooled that the sole reason for pasteurization is for your health.

I would skip on the agent altogether and go to a title company. The title company will tell you all the things you need to have (inspections, etc.) for the sale to take place and you have saved yourself a significant amount of money.

Not to sidetrack the thread, but your statement gave me a chuckle....isn't a lot of what you eat, something that someone else made? Do you make your own bread, crackers, cookies, pasta, etc? As an answer to the question, I voted for artisan bread. Yummy!