My everyday tea is Red Rose. For a treat I like apricot black tea. I *think* it's Barnes & Watson. It's loose tea, in bulk from the grocery, so I'm not 100% on the name but it sounds right. Also I like huckleberry cream tea but it's another of the loose teas in bulk and I don't know the brand. If I have time I will stop by the grocery tonight to find out. I've tried a number of teas from Republic of Tea but IMO they all seem weak. I like my tea strong. Perhaps two bags would do the trick?

Namaste. 5lb bag at Costco is $11.99.

Seems like a perfectly normal lunch to me. I don't see why anyone would think it was "weird".

Same here. Also Xersion from JCPenney and C9 from Target.

Yes, I write quite a lot by hand at work.

If your doctor is in-network with your insurance, the doctor's contract typically requires him or her to directly bill the insurance. ETA: if you don't want to use your insurance for a specific medical service, there is a form that the doctor's office will have you sign. It states that you're agreeing to pay a specific $ amount for the service, that the office won't bill your insurance for the service, and that you won't submit the bill to your insurance for the service.

I have done a fair amount of thread crochet. I think the Clover steel hooks are okay, although for thread crochet I prefer Boye steel hooks because they give me better control of the thread. The Boye hooks don't have ergonomic handles so I improvise with foam pencil grips. The Clover hooks don't come in as many size increments as Boye so I have to mess with the thread tension a little bit more. I crochet more loosely with the Clover steel hooks. Also it depends on the thread texture (there's a gamut from stiff to floppy) and the size of the thread vs the size of the hook. An affordable way to try a Clover steel hook is to look for a good Joann coupon.

This is my favorite crochet hook. Clover also makes steel hooks with this same handle for thread crochet.

Ripe enough is when I forget about them for a while and the skin is pretty brown. Peel, slice, pan fry in coconut oil, sprinkle with lime juice (optional). Yum!

Also, if your dd likes pancakes, Trader Joe's gf buttermilk pancake mix is great.

My kids say Trader Joe's blue label is the best for sandwiches. They also like Trader Joe's bagels. I freeze both because gf bread seems to mold quickly. I like Franz blue label for garlic bread and buttered toast. My kids don't like it. They say it's too squishy. It freezes well so a loaf lasts me a long time (I don't eat bread that often). Trader Joe's sells par-baked individual pizza crusts in a 2-pack in the refrigerated section. I keep a stash in my freezer. My kids like to make their own pizzas. ETA: I forgot, no nightshades. You could do a white sauce pizza...

Yes, that is what our vet did, with the sedative given first.

We have a "pet cemetery" also, for our gerbils. The first time I took a gerbil to be euthanized, the vet gave the initial injection in the back room. Then she brought out our pet to the exam room where I was, to give the final injection, but the gerbil died in my hands and didn't need the second injection. The second time, I didn't want to watch. Now we have another gerbil who needs to make that final visit and I have to make the call tomorrow. It's so hard to say goodbye to the little guys, but it's not right IMO to let them suffer. When our cat was euthanized (at a different vet), I was present for the whole time.

I have had to take two of our pocket pets to the vet to be euthanized. IIRC the cost was around $50. There was an additional charge if I wanted the pet to be cremated (I didn't choose that option - we buried them in the yard). Both times I called and told them I was bringing the pet for euthanasia. There was not an office visit charge added -- the vet sees our pets for routine visits, illness, etc. and the office visit charge in those cases is the same as for a dog or cat. Our vet treats cats and dogs, but is also quite experienced pocket pets, rabbits, etc. Most vets in our area see only dogs and cats. It's worth asking around to see if you can find someone with more experience treating the little guys.

My PS high school kid's fees for last year: $20 foreign language workbook $20 science lab fee $1000 for band trips out-of-state/out-of-country, band class, marching band (my kid played in multiple bands/ensembles) No book rental fees and my kid doesn't buy school lunch.

I always park my car in the garage. That way, no one can break into my car or vandalize it or steal it. And it won't get damaged by a drunk or hit-and-run driver which unfortunately happens too often to cars parked on the street in my neighborhood. Plus I don't have to scrape ice from the windshield in the winter. I sweep out the garage occasionally but otherwise I don't worry about whether the floor is clean. I wear shoes in the garage.

Mission GF tortillas. You can use them for wraps with whatever sandwich filling you like. My kids also suggest: spread with Nutella, roll up, and eat.

Before installing new hardwood floors over the top of the old hardwood floors, I would want to know how the thickness of the new hardwood would impact door clearance (would you have to cut some amount off the bottoms of your doors?), distance from floors to bottom of cabinets, difference in height between hardwood floor rooms and other rooms with different flooring material (carpet, tile), etc. Also if your doors have trim around them, that might all have to be cut shorter as well. Would there also have to be a layer of something installed in between the new and old floors? That could add thickness as well. Two layers of hardwood is a lot of weight. I don't know anything about how houses are built to handle weight limits, but I would want to know in advance if this would be an issue. Maybe none of these things would be a problem, but I would want to know in advance just in case.

Yes, this is worth taking into consideration. I have run into people who are just a couple of quarters short of qualifying, but are unable to work enough to earn those quarters.

My kid said there are more male teachers than female teachers at his high school. He has only one female teacher this year. ETA: Thinking back to my high school days, 2/3 of my teachers were male my senior year. Junior year was 2/3 male or 1/2 male, depending on the semester. Freshman and sophomore years, my memory fails me. It's too long ago.

My co-worker told me that many years ago, one of her parents purchased a prepaid cremation plan from the Neptune Society. These are the details she told me: When her parent dies, either my co-worker or a staff member from the parent's assisted living residence will call the Neptune Society. Their representative will come to get the body, will handle the cremation details, and will scatter the ashes at sea. It might be worth an inquiry.

Yes I saw that a couple of weeks ago... not sure if the shorts were exactly Y-cut. I didn't want to look that closely. But the expanse of cheek peek surprised me.

Three miles. Ten minutes by car, or 40 minutes by bus (requires a transfer).

I clicked on the link and Amazon told me I bought the book back in 2009. I can't remember why I bought it, haven't read it, but now am inspired to do so.

If you have any thrift stores nearby, you might get lucky and find a decent pair of hiking shorts. Look on the athletic wear shorts rack as well as the regular shorts rack.