Oooh, I got a message from "Roger Peterson" at the Ministry of Internal Revenue. The best part... He left a message on my answering machine, complete with callback number. Which makes me wonder... are people actually CALLING THEM BACK?

Thank you for your clear explanation. I have no idea why my friend told me otherwise; it sounded so implausible. Now I know the FACTS! :)

Age 4, I think, for my elder child. My younger child was playing with it by age 2 (under supervision). Each child played with it almost daily until about age 12, and then less frequently after that.

So, what is the health care setup like for seniors/retirees? Is it the same as for working-age people?

An acquaintance told me that senior citizens in the UK don't have national health care. This person said that the national health care covers only working people, and that once someone retires, he/she has no health care coverage. And that there is no Medicare equivalent. Is this true?

I read your post to my dd. She said, "Do they live around here?" You are describing our local HS group, and my dd's experience with it.

One of our traditional Thanksgiving dishes is apricot-glazed sweet potatoes. You could sub vegetable oil or nondairy spread for the 2T butter. That would make the dish dairy-free, and it's gluten-free too. If the gravy is thickened with cornstarch instead of flour, you could have turkey & gravy, and cranberry sauce. What about green beans & bacon? Simple & tasty! Or perhaps there's a green bean casserole recipe that is dairy-free? Pacific Foods makes a GF cream of mushroom soup in case you find a recipe calling for that. A fancy green salad is another option.

I bought TJ's GF stuffing mix too! Post about your test run, ok?

NEprairiemom -- Size XL in the style you linked is 23.8-24.2 cm. Size 7 in Men's Carlo Moccasins at Target.com is 24.6 cm. Would that be small enough to fit your son? They show as being on sale right now, with free shipping.

I love my ice cream scoop! It has antifreeze in the handle so it makes the ice cream easy to scoop. IMO it's essential, even though we don't buy ice cream very often. Hmm, I think we will buy some tonight, though!

I like Keens. I don't know if they come in suede, or fur-lined. The couple of pairs I've had are/were leather... not all of them were smooth leather, but they didn't seem like suede. They are supportive, relatively water-resistant, and the uppers are durable. The soles seemed like they wear out too soon, but my dh said to be realistic, and not to expect a pair of shoes that gets worn every day to last for ten years!

I *love love love* Acorn Mocs. IMO they are moderately priced, considering I can generally get 3+ years of wear from a pair, and I wear them October - April. I buy them a little smaller than my shoe size (i.e. if I wore size 8 shoes, I would buy the size M mocs) because they stretch out after a while. They are cozy warm, with sturdy soles. I also like Haflinger wool slippers which are more expensive, but super durable. They're also more supportive if you have any foot issues.

Our family hasn't noticed any taste difference between Namaste and white wheat flour in any of the recipes my mom and I have made with it. Bob's, OTOH, tastes NASTY to me. It contains garbanzo flour. I made a Bob's chocolate cake mix last year and the garbanzo flavor really stood out. Yuck! I couldn't eat it. Namaste is garbanzo-free.

Costco sells 5 lb bags of Namaste Perfect Flour Blend, the organic variety, for $11.99. It includes xanthan gum and subs cup for cup in wheat flour recipes. My mom has been going to town making muffins, cookies, etc. for my kids. She just uses the Namaste flour instead of wheat flour, with no other adaptations. I've made the brownie & pancake recipes on the flour bag and they turned out great. We have not tried making pie crusts or yeast bread with it.

My 14yo is all over my Duran Duran records.

Take a look at the Klutz knitting book/kit. It is clearly written and illustrated, and it comes with yarn, needles, etc.

Can she do dual enrollment at a local community college? It's my understanding that 1 year of CC foreign language classes = at least 2 years high school classes (depends on whether your CC is semester or quarter based). Here, dual enrolled HS juniors & seniors get free tuition; they have to pay for books.

IMO it's WAY too early for stores to be playing Christmas music. Michaels and JCPenney, I'm talking about YOU! If the grocery store will just hold out till the day after Thanksgiving... please, oh please...

I don't watch TV. There just aren't enough hours in the day for me to write "TV watching" into my schedule. Well, there would be the option of trading forum time for TV watching (watching... what show? no idea) but... no, don't want to do that! :) That said, I do like Downton Abbey, but haven't had a chance to view the current season on-line. Maybe next month, when co-op is on Christmas break... unless I get tapped for more hours at work.

Same with my teens. Each kid chooses their own each year (from our stash), and last year I chose one too. You're never too old for Playmobil! :D

The one Lego Advent calendar I bought didn't have little boxes. Each day's model was in a plastic bag, with a picture of the assembled model on the front. There were no instructions for the daily model, but there were instructions for how to combine four or six models together into a different model. I don't remember how the cardboard box was set up... there must have been little doors to open, with the bags inside the doors? I cut the bags open carefully and we still have them, and all the Legos, though most of the Legos have been mixed into the general pool. This was years ago, though, so the calendars may be different now. Even though my kids are teens, I am tempted to buy the new Playmobil calendar... or maybe one of the Lego calendars. :)

Those are some seriously steep stairs... and what is the blue stuff on the floor around the toilet and bathtub? My dd wants to know: why do the balcony doors have handles on the outside? Certainly no one would be able to use them...

Eleventh Doctor wannabe?

Okay. I thought it was like the PSAT, where the students receives his/her actual test booklet back. I see what you mean about the questions, though. It would be difficult to write a completely new SAT test umpteen times per year.

Thank you!