Things my son looked into: trades: electrician, plumber, carpentry etc. Many require apprenticeship but many of those are paid. Welding manufacturing (and I know several of the bigger companies around here will train welders to work on certain aspects of the manufacturing line) but even the regular assembling/line work pays quite well.

I don't know if it varies from one store to another or not but our Costco has never had even one hint of Christmas decor the day after Christmas. It's just all gone. Normal price on the day before Christmas and completely gone on the day after (even when they have so much that I know they didn't sell it all). I'm not sure what they do with their out of season stock but my store at least doesn't discount it.

I can't tell you the exact ingredients because it's always been my mom and sister who made it so I never had the recipe. But it's a white cream/meringue filling with shredded coconut. I hate coconut so this isn't something I would have ever tried but for some reason it works in this recipe. I think it gives some body to fluffy/creamy filling without giving a coconut flavor. We serve it with sliced strawberries. But the whole pie (with the exception of the pie crust) is the most pure white and with the coconut sprinkles kinda looks like freshly fallen snow.

White Christmas Pie and Plum Duff. Both are things that if I saw the recipe, I'd have no interest in trying them but they are much better than the ingredient list would have one believe.

Admittedly I've never done this but if I had I would probably pick the seeds when they are well dried, spread them out for a day or two just to make sure they are fully dry and then pack them away. I'd grind them when I wanted to use them for maximum flavor. I have a little coffee grinder than I use for grinding all my whole spices.

My selenium was low. My doctor encouraged me to eat a couple of day to bring up my levels. But then she said or you can take a pill. So I added another pill to my collection. I can't imagine having to eat a couple every day for the rest of my life.

My mom started doing that when I was in high school. I always thought it was a great idea because then I got exactly what I wanted and if it was clothing, it always fitted. When the grandkids came along, she told us how much she wanted to spend per grandkids and the parents shopped and wrapped them and brought them on Christmas for the grandkids to open in front of her. My mom has always us (the parents of the grandkids) shop for the grandkids, so I get to control what items come into my house, my sister gets to control for her kids etc . It's a win because the kids always get exactly what they want within the limits of what mom and dad are willing to tolerate.

For this thought experiment I'm looking at a budget for your kids (and grandkids if applicable) only. If you have a fixed budget for Christmas, how do you decide how much to spend on each person? Equal for each person in your group? More for younger kids (so they can experience Christmas magic) and less for young adults (self supporting ones)? Less for younger and more for older since they have more expenses and/or desires for higher priced items? Do you include spouses of your children as a unit with your child? If child's spouse is a separate unit from child do they get an equal share of the pie? Assume a good relationship will all members and all members will be gathering for gift opening together. Just curious how this plays out in other families.

yes

I'm not stumbling but two factor stuff drives me crazy, especially my husband's work. All the insurance stuff is tied to his work email and work phone number and requires authentication from those two sources only. We can't change either, we can't add others. In other words, only DH can access our insurance policies, FSA/HSA savings etc. So If I want to know how close we are to hitting the deductible for the year, have to catch DH when he's working to look it up. Want to know how much is left in HSA for the year, interrupt DH at work to look it up. Want to verify a billing from a medical office matches what insurance says I owe, bug DH at work. It's an absolute pain in the butt because DH does NOTHING with those things and never has, it's always been my job but as long as he's at this company, I can't even do the most basic things because I'm not allowed access to anything. I find it very hard to believe I'm the only spouse of all the employees that company has, who does the bills and would like to look things up all by myself.

Ah, Mine don't have access to the stairs so have never had the opportunity to try that but I would imagine that would defeat the great majority of puzzle toys.

No, the "open" toys like the licky mats and the three tray spinner I linked we freeze (kibble with cottage cheese, applesauce, bone broth etc) so even if she flips them nothing comes out. She either has to lick/chew the food out or wait till it melts (aint happening). The other toys have small openings so only a few pieces fall at a time. Doesn't matter how much she shakes them, she can't empty them in one go. But when I'm picking puzzle toys, I make sure to select ones that are hard to open them all at once (or I freeze them).

We do the frozen kongs and topples too. Also freeze stuff to lick mats. Commercial snuffle mats have been a bomb here because my dog figured out she just had to lift the mat and shake out the treats. We've had better luck with the homemade ones (fleece tied onto a heavy duty outdoor rubber mat) because she can't lift it). We've used this: OUTWARD HOUND Lickin' Layers Interactive Puzzle Game & Slow Feeder, Multicolor, One-Size, 2 cup - Chewy.com The trays separate so you can freeze stuff into them first if you want. Here's a few more we have: TRIXIE Mad Scientist Turn Around Activity Strategy Game Dog Toy, Level 2 - Chewy.com Pet Supplies : Feixun Dog Treat Toy Ball, Dog Tooth Cleaning Toy, Interactive Dog Toys(1 Green+1 Blue) 2.8" Pack of 2 : Amazon.com PETSAFE Busy Buddy Twist 'n Treat Treat Dispenser Dog Toy, Medium - Chewy.com

Don't your dog just eat the towel then? My dogs are small but the amount of fabric they chew through is crazy. I'm trying to figure out how this works that doesn't involve them eating the towel to get to the stuff inside.

Mine use it for online classes. Once they hit high school I'm outsourcing things beyond my ability (like foreign language) so they really come in handy for those classes if that is something you might do in the future. Mine also use it to chat with siblings who are either playing in another part of the house or in the case of the older ones, have moved out of the house. We have the chatting stuff turned off in the games (because like you we don't want them talking to random people) and they chat through a different program while playing the games together or even if they just want to talk.

We traditionally have ham at my mom's for Christmas day and then peel and eat shrimp for New Year's Day. However this year my mom is having major surgery between the two holidays so we are condensing them and having shrimp for Christmas Day. We will have wild rice casserole for a side, kale salad (from Costco), some kind of fresh bread and a fruit salad. Dessert is still up in the air. I always bring cookies as that helps reduce my supply from Christmas baking, but our tradition is White Christmas Pie for Christmas and Plum Duff for New Year's but both are family favorites that we only have once a year. I'm not sure how to pick between them but also not sure if we have enough cooks that are willing to tackle them both. Normally my mom makes the majority of the meal but since she's out of it for this year, we are redistributing tasks and not sure who has time for what yet.

I do!

Actually I do that! I have a line of buckets on the top of my rock wall. I've used up all the rain water (and melted the ones that froze) but we've only had a few inches of snow so it's not enough to do anything with. Later in the season I will have more but we are in between precipitation events right now.

I still have parsnips out in the ground that I have to pull soon and I'll have to unburying the kale from under the snow to see how it fared. I'm guessing it's done but it has surprising durability so who knows. I'm still picking cherry tomatoes from the indoor plants I planted last January and round 2 (planted in early August) is hitting it's stride. I am struggling with many of the plants getting yellow and then the plants dry up. I'm going to have to do a second planting of cucumbers as the ones I have are struggling mightily. I mostly use city water (and it's loaded with chlorine) . I've been learning about, testing for, and remediating issues related to high chlorine and lack of iron intake. Also having to make some modifications in fertilizing (I don't do near enough for my indoor stuff). I'm learning lots of the nitty gritty and then just playing around with stuff in the house. My kids adore purple cauliflower and since it's a cool weather crop, I'm thinking it will like my basement temps under the lights. So I think that will be my new experiment soon. I did buy myself another grow light on Black Friday so I just rearranged all my spaces and got the new light up today. I currently have growing cherry tomatoes, radishes, lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, potatoes and ginger. With the new light, I have 2 new planters. One will get an assortment of greens (probably spinach and arugula and maybe endive). The other will get the second planting of cucumbers in the back row. I'm thinking of putting the cauliflower in front but not sure if it will get too big. Otherwise I could put a couple in 5 gallon buckets off to the side. I don't think they will care if they aren't under the light directly. But then I have to think what else to put in with the cucumbers. Maybe I'll keep it simple and just put some more greens in there. It seems like we crave salads more in the winter than any other time so I'm sure whatever assortment I get growing will get eaten. Just went through my seeds and was realized I have no herbs growing. So for sure I'll add cilantro to the cucumber bed. I think it might be too cold for basil in the basement but I may try it anyways. I don't have any more soil and would need to go buy some if I want to have any more planters in the upstairs area. I really want to try peppers again, but the aphids from last winter have me hesitant on that. Although I know a lot more about using beneficial insects to combat them and we have a group that does group buys every 2 weeks so at least I know I can bring it under control much quicker.

I just had a conversation with a friend last week whose kid is diabetic. She told me turnips are the lowest of the root vegetables and parsnips are much higher. She said she regularly now serves turnips in place of potatoes. She equated parsnips more to a carrot. I love parsnips but as others have said their flavor is pretty distinct and not everyone appreciates it.

If you really love the look, than keep it because chances are high you will not find the exact thing again. If you are meh about the look or a person who likes to change up looks/style frequently, then return the extras. I'm a type of person who once I get the look I want, I would happily keep it for the rest of my life. I don't care if something is in style/fashion or not. I like what I like. It makes sense for me to buy extra and store it. On the other hand, I went to a craft fair with someone and she made a comment about how she gets tired of things so completely redecorates every 2-3 years. I was appalled because in my mind that is just so much waste but it worked for her.

Every year I say I'm going to cut back and I never do because every variety is someone's "favorite". Chocolate Crinkles Molassas Chocolate chip Mint Chocolate Chip Monster Sour Cream Cut Out Almond Raspberry Thumbprints Soda Cracker Bars Lemon Bars Fudge Meltaway White chocolate/peppermint bark Reindeer Tracks (half with m&m's and half with pecans) Chocolate covered Cornflakes I suspect there are several others that I'm forgetting. I always find more that I want to try too.

I have the same addictive problem with them. So I will only allow myself to buy them when Costco puts them on sale which is still several times a year but better than buying them all the time which I would probably do otherwise.

I always take my kids to funerals. I want them to know what it's about. But I will admit I'm a bit colored by a relative's story. Person was one of the oldest in a large family. One of the youngest children was sick and taken to the hospital and died a few days later. Family was poor and didn't have transportation readily available so children never went to see sibling in hospital. When funeral was held, only the older kids (10+) were brought, they were allowed a quick viewing (less than 5 minutes) before the service and then were taken home to be with a sitter. Younger children were not brought at all. Relative is much older now and still regrets not being allowed to participate in sibling's funeral and the younger children (also now adults), still talk about not getting to say goodbye. I realize your child isn't as close as a sibling but it still seems weird to me to exclude a child from a funeral (assuming you are already going) just because of their age.

I have to say I was surprised by that as well. I only have one child who had dated (and is now married) but I have no contact info for the IL's parents. It actually was an issue during one of DS's visits to IL when DS's flight home was changed to several hours earlier and he wasn't answering his phone. But even after that, I still don't have the numbers. I know my mom and MIL have never spoken outside of events involving both sides. I'm not even sure my mom could tell you my MIL's last name since she has a different one than DH so even in an emergency, I don't think my parents could contact her. I think it would be so weird to be contacted by the mother of someone my kid was dating especially about such casual things.