No underage kids at home. DS19 wants the PC game version of Battlefield One. We also got him a casual jacket and an inexpensive pair of VR glasses - the kind you attach to your smartphone. At our Thanksgiving gathering he was messing around with the ones dss has and though he didn't ask for them it was obvious he'd enjoy a pair of his own. They were only $15. For the grandkids 2 and 4? We have no idea. They have a lot of toys and we're waiting for dss and ddil to reply to our request for suggestions.

I came home from book club last night and checked the mail (it hadn't arrived before I left). There was a package addressed to me and although I order online regularly (usually from Amazon but other places too) I knew I hadn't placed any recent orders. When I opened it I found the two Georgette Heyer books Aggieamy said she sent me! Even though I know they can be read in any order I looked at the copyright dates and saw that The Grand Sophy was published earlier than Cotillion so decided to start with that one. I read one chapter before bed and will now add it to my currently reading list. Thank you Amy!!! Happy Belated Rose. Your review was interesting to read in contrast to the book I finished this morning. The Good Girls Revolt: How the Women of Newsweek Sued their Bosses and Changed the Workplace. Author Lynn Povich was one of those who originally signed on to the lawsuit. While fashions do change, some things probably become symbols and therefore casualties of a movement. Before she gets to the late sixties and the women who eventually filed the suit, she talks about the early sixties, the Mad Men time. They were the women who lived on the cusp of huge coming social changes and they were confused. Hats and gloves may have been among the casualties. -bolding in the quotes is mine "We were at the tail end of the old generation," explained Jane Bryant Quinn, who worked briefly at Newsweek in the early 1960s. "We wore hats and gloves. We couldn't go to prom and parties without dates - and the men had to do the asking. We also didn't have many role models in the working world." Most of us had graduated from college in the 60s when half of our classmate earned their M-R-S and got married when they graduated in June. "Our generation was raised to be attractive and smart - but not too smart," said Pat Lynden. "We were to be deferential to men, to get married, raise children, and to be ornamental wives dedicated to our husbands' careers." I think the feminist movement (called Women's Liberation at the time) changed fashion when women decided they were no longer going to be ornamental. It may have necessitated radical changes in dress style. Later in the book once they start talking about suing Newsweek, their ACLU lawyer Eleanor Holmes Norton (yes her) was surprised by their naivete. They thought they could just ask their bosses to make the changes required by law and it would happen because it's the law. "You gotta take off your white gloves, ladies, you gotta take off your white gloves," she would say. I know you're a feminist and you don't think the world was a better place when women wore white gloves and hats. I know for you it's about dressing nicely within one's budget as well as the lost skills women once had. I was just struck by the stark contrast of The Lost Art of Dress juxtaposed with this book. And I think you'd like this book too.

We're down to one cat. We've always had a cat or dog or (usually) both. The most we had at one time was 4 cats and 3 dogs. Dh and I each grew up having cats, dogs, or (again, usually) both.

That can change very quickly and unexpectedly though. You didn't say if the coverage is comparable, but I think I'd go for the $80 plan. Your dh's job situation could also change quickly and unexpectedly and if it was me I wouldn't want to be on the hook for repaying that huge monthly premium.

I used to subscribe to her menus (both freezer cooking and regular menus) and I have the original cookbook. Some of the recipes have become family favorites. What finally stopped me from buying cookbooks is the realization that I use only a few recipes from each book. I know how to cook and bake and do it well (learned in the kitchen next to my mom starting when I was nine) so I don't need any of the tips or information in cookbooks. I eventually copied the recipes I use and gave away the books. I still have a few but mostly because I haven't copied the recipes yet. I also used to be susceptible to cookbooks with a story or from certain places. Two I still have even though I don't use them are one from the St. Augustine Bed & Breakfast we stayed in on our honeymoon. It was actually from several B&Bs in the city. They got together and each contributed a recipe. I used one recipe exactly one time. The other is the Columbia Restaurant Spanish Cookbook because we enjoy eating at the restaurant, though we've never been to the original. I made their famous 1905 Salad once. Just once. Never made anything else from the book. The Inquisitive Cook though not a cookbook, helped my niece when she wanted to learn about the hows and whys of cooking in general. It gets into the science of food and what cooking does to it, similar to the way they do occasionally on Cook's Country.

Oh, I forgot to answer the cookbook question. Cookbooks used to be my downfall any time I walked into a bookstore. Now I just search online. I've given away nearly all of my cookbooks. I kept a few I like Simply Recipes, Food Network, Allrecipes, Mel's Kitchen and Kitchn. Mostly though, I just search. I'm a good enough cook to look at a recipe and know if it will work and if my family will like it, so I've rarely gone wrong with recipes I find online. The funny thing about my (former) cookbook addiction is that I mostly cook without recipes. On the surface it would seem like I wouldn't want cookbooks, but I always liked getting new ideas, and looking at photos of the dish if the book had photos.

My GWtW connection - I once had a dog I named Tara because I found her as a stray puppy hanging around Jonesboro Middle School where I taught for 2 years. Jonesboro is in Clayton County where the book is set and I had just recently read the book, so Tara seemed the perfect name for my new canine companion. While living in the Atlanta area I tended bar for a while after I quit teaching (long story but I eventually went back to teaching after I moved home to Florida). My female boss and the bar's half owner with her husband is distantly related to the man who was driving the car that hit and killed Margaret Mitchell.

I admit to being taken aback when I saw the number 48 in the thread. Why it just now hit me that the year is almost over I have no idea. Yes, I know it's December. :) Somehow seeing that number and realizing how close it is to 52 just slapped me in the face. Bingo - I only got one actual BINGO and that was the top row across. B - Female Author - I've read 22 by female authors and am currently reading 2 that I know I'll finish before the end of the year. Some were fiction, some non-fiction including biographies and memoirs The Sunne in Splendour - This is going to end up on my favorites of 2016 list and my top 100 list. I - Published in 2016 Homegoing N - Number in the Title Ready Player One G - Dusty - Because I read mostly on my Kindle and because no matter what format I choose I mostly borrow from the library, my definition of dusty is a book that's been on my TBR list for a long time, not necessarily one I own. Things Fall Apart O - Picked by a friend. There are several that fit this category, but I chose one that we read in my IRL book club. The person who chose it has actually been trying to get me to read it for several years now. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I didn't love it. It's one of her favorite books of all time. The Art of Racing in the Rain I've read a number of other categories but none that give me any type of BINGO. The ones that tripped me up and kept me from getting Bingo are Fairy Tale Adaptation, Arthurian (the two I just couldn't bring myself to read), Color in the Title, Play, Written in Birth Year, Picked Based on the Cover, and Revisit an Old Friend. Without at least one of these I couldn't get any more Bingo. I've read at least one (often more) books in all the other categories: HIstorical Over 500 Pages Classic Non-fiction Translated Banned (challenged actually) Mystery Nobel Prize Author Epic Nautical 18th Century Set in another Country

From last week - Ouch Nan! I hope your arm is feeling better by now. I finished A Royal Pain audio book and am now listening to A Man Called Ove. I love it so far. Earlier this morning I finished reading The Snack Thief from last week's foodie category. The food descriptions are a wonderful part of the Inspector Montalbano series. Just one example from this book - "The pasta in crab was as graceful as a first-rate ballerina, but the stuffed bass in saffron sauce left him breathless, almost frightened". A few pages later he describes the cook of this dish as "directly inspired by the Madonna". I also didn't realize that the inspector has synethesia and associates odors with colors - "The office was filled with an unpleasant odor of musk and garlic, which Montalbano saw as rot-green" Apparently it's been mentioned in some of the other books too, but I just didn't notice it before (and this is only the 3rd book so I'm sure I'll see more of it as I progress in the series). My library Kindle copy of The Good Girls Revolt: How the Women of Newsweek Sued their Bosses and Changed the Workplace came in, and I started reading it. aggieamy, I haven't given up on When Christ and His Saints Slept. It's getting better, but still doesn't have the appeal of The Sunne in Splendour.

We're saving for an Alaska cruise with extended family members.

This cooperative Harry Potter game is on my wish list. Also Jaipur (a two player game). I

I was skeptical until it happened to me - more than once. I don't use tapatalk but the site loads differently on my phone than on my computer. I wonder if using the app vs. reading on the web makes a difference in how easy it is to accidentally do something like downvote.

Yeah, when I saw it compared to a magna doodle I was confused.

Southeast. My user name is a dead giveaway. ;)

Every time the minimum wage is increased there are the same arguments. As far as automation and robots, that was always going to happen. It's called progress. And contrary to what seems like common sense, automation not only increases production but actually improves productivity and doesn't cost jobs. https://hbr.org/2015/06/robots-seem-to-be-improving-productivity-not-costing-jobs The minimum wage was meant to be a living wage, not an entry level wage. We've had this discussion here over and over and over. The fact that the minimum wage was meant to be a living wage has not changed. https://thebillfold.com/it-was-always-supposed-to-be-a-living-wage-a6d4cf3c7ab1#.sulyerpyh Some minimum wage increase mythbusting from the Department of Labor https://www.dol.gov/featured/minimum-wage/mythbuster Raising the minimum wage doesn't always cost jobs nor does it always increase them as some say. Raising it doesn't happen in a vacuum and what happens is usually tied to the current state of the economy. The senator in this article claims that increases always result in job growth. While Polifact rated his claim as mostly false the data shows that a minimum wage increase has relatively little effect on either job growth or loss. What is does however, is allow those in minimum wage jobs to have more purchasing power. And to, you know, buy food and pay rent and stuff.. http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2014/nov/06/ben-cardin/does-raising-minimum-wage-result-job-growth/

In case anyone didn't see my thread, I started a social group for IP (and other pressure cooker) lovers. Veterans wanted, newbies (I'm a total newb) welcome and also wanted. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/groups/277-instant-pot-wtmers/

Spending accident. I love it. :lol:

Oh, don't feel awkward. I will definitely give them a chance. I don't hate romances, they just aren't my thing. I recently read a novella that Kareni linked and I read one of ktgrok's Harlequin romance novels, and enjoyed both. Thank you for thinking of me and sending them.

Re audio books: They definitely count! I can only listen to them while driving or keeping busy. I listen while folding laundry, chopping vegetables, doing general basic housework, even knitting or crocheting. Congratulations to all who recently reached or passed 52 books! Thanks. And if you mean Regency romances no, I haven't read them. Romance novels aren't my thing, no matter the time period. I don't mind if a mystery (especially historical) has some romance in it like the Lady Emily, Lady Julia Grey, or Captain Lacey books, as long as the romance isn't the focus of the novel.

Question for those of you who read Georgette Heyer myssteries - Do they need to be read in any particular order? When I was at the library yesterday I checked out Behold, Here's Poison because it was the only one on the shelf. I see that in Kindle format that have more and all are available. Should I step back and read another one first, or can I start with the one I have?

I really enjoy that blog but tend to forget about it until someone here brings it up again. So thank you for being the one to do it this time. :) I see that one of them is reading the latest in one of my favorite historical mystery series - the Charles Lenox mysteries. Although I've still been reading fiction I'm right there with you on Instant Pot reading. I picked up two pressure cooker books from the library yesterday and have been scouring websites and cooking blogs for recipes. I've yet to try rice but that's one of the things I was excited about being able to make in it. Glad to hear your report that it works well. I wish the DCI Banks series would come to AcornTV or Amazon or something. Our PBS station leaves shows up for a limited time and I often miss some of the British shows I want to watch. I should check my library for DVDs. I too tried one of the books but wasn't impressed. Sometimes, though rarely, tv adaptations of certain books are better. I think that's also the case with the Sidney Chambers books vs. the Grantchester tv series. I can't wait for the next season of Grantchester but I wasn't crazy about the book I tried to finish.

I've never eaten bananas on a sandwich. The only time my mother sliced them and the only time I slice them is to put on cereal or in banana pudding. Therefore - circles or ovals (doesn't matter which).

I can't take Flexeril because it knocks me out (I was prescribed muscle relaxers for my back). I've taken Robaxin and Skelaxin. I can function on both but they don't really help. My current prescriptions is for tizanidine but I've been afraid to take it after foolishly googling side effects, some of which are anxiety attacks. As someone who used to get panic attacks I really don't want to take a medication that might bring them on. The jury is out on how effective muscle relaxants really are. Many (most?) just make you tired so you can get rest while you heal.

I read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. I'm still not sure what I think, mainly because as a dog lover a particular development bothered me. The main character as well as his classmates were very realistic (None of the classmates are characters but they're sometimes discussed or described by the MC). I worked with autistic kids, including three severely autistic boys, in my first teaching job. Throughout my teaching career I had a few students on the spectrum even though my field was really intellectual disabilities (the R word is actually on my university degree but it was used professionally at the time). Often ex. ed. teachers are given students that aren't classified in the field they studied, which is how I ended up with autistic kids in my classroom. ETA: It was my first teaching certificate not my degree that uses the now out-dated term.

I'm so sorry. There's a news report of a man who can't find his wife and daughters. The latest report I saw was around 9am Eastern time. He doesn't know if they safely evacuated or got caught in the fire. It's heartbreaking.