The house I grew up in had one, the house I lived in for the last 23 years doesn't. I've never once even had a passing thought about getting one. It's just not something I ever found useful. But I also live in a big city now and I certainly wouldn't feel comfortable only using the storm door where anyone who walked up to the house could see inside. My preference is either a front door with a window in it or those side window panels. Not a fan of storm doors.

Our church does a Daniel's Fast for 3 weeks each year. It's basically a vegan diet. Yes we do find ourselves eating more volume of food but we all lose weight on it even with eating more. I normally eat red meat every day (I'm chronically anemic so I'm always trying to get more iron in) but I've found it doable by really upping the amount if fat I eat. However, it's not hangry type of hunger it more like a munchy/boredom type of hunger. I don't think gluten free and vegan would be that hard. For instance here's one recipe that is really a hit with my kids (we leave out the chick peas as no one likes those but you could easily use a different bean or lentil) https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/165190/spicy-vegan-potato-curry/ We basically sub brown lentils for most recipes that use hamburger. So we have lentil tacos, lentil stuffed peppers (with brown rice). I use black lentils (which stay firmer) in stir fry. I've converted this recipe to use brown rice and I serve it to a large gathering each year. I get so many requests each year. https://www.hippressurecooking.com/lentil-risotto-peasant-cooking-under-pressure/ These homemade lara bars are great snacks (unless the dates are too high is sugar, it's a natural sugar so I'm not sure if that is a problem or not) https://leitesculinaria.com/88638/recipes-homemade-larabars.html So rather than focus on what you can't have. Find ways to elevate the foods you can have. I'm not a fan of potatoes because they are so bland to me but the curry I linked above has so much flavor that I don't feel like I'm eating a boring potato. It does require a new way of cooking but it would totally be worth trying if you stood a chance of improving your health.

This is one of the brands I've purchased. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B004Q2420C/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_9?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

duplicate post

I've always cut against my thumb since I was a kid but all we ever had was the little paring knives. My mom never owned a chef knife to my knowledge. So yeah that's completely normal to me. As I've gotten older and more adventurous in my cooking, I've learned that a cutting board and chef knife are better tools for some jobs so occasionally I use them but I would say 80% of my cutting is still against my thumb. It freaks my kids out, they will only use cutting boards. I'm in the upper midwest, from a german culture. I don't know if culture makes the difference, I would expect it's more than previous generations on the whole just made do with less. I have Cutco knives and yes they are very sharp and yes I still cut against my thumb without self harming.

My adenoids were taken out when I was 4, I had chronic ear infections before that surgery and none since. Noses are for smelling things 🙂 , honestly though I never really gave it any thought. It was "my" normal so really never pondered it. I had a lot of allergies as a kid so I suspect that I was just so used to never being able to breathe through it that it became a habit to mouth breathe.

Since it was only a few years ago that I even discovered it wasn't usual and I've never encountered any problems, no it never crossed my mind to ask a doctor about it. But after reading your description of breathing it has made wonder if I have an issue. I rarely go to the doctor so we'll have to see if I remember to ask about the next time I go.

Interesting thought about trying to fix it. I guess I never viewed it as a problem. It wasn't until my mid 30's when I discovered it wasn't normal so by that point it was like "oh, I'm different, what else is new" (my whole life I've had unusual illnesses/reactions that have left many doctors saying "I've never seen that before", but my grandma was the same way so I just assumed it was some hereditary weirdness that I had). I did have horribly messed up teeth as a child but braces fixed it and I've never had teeth problems since). I don't snore and that was the only thing I had ever heard could be a problem.

Really?!? I don't have any at all. I have to conscientiously think about forcing air through my nose and it only works when my mouth is closed. Even then, I can tell I'm not getting near enough air. I can only do it for a few breathes and then I have to open my mouth or I start feeling like I'm suffocating.

I would be very curious if there is a difference between mouth breathers and nose breathers. I have never for as long as I can remember breathed through my nose without giving it conscience thought first. I had no idea that most people breathe through their nose. I remember having surgery once and they put the nose thing with oxygen on me. As soon as I woke up, I asked to have it removed and the nurse is like "no, you need the extra oxygen". I told her I'm not breathing through my nose so how does it help" She was aghast at the idea I was breathing through my mouth but I told her that was normal for me. So she checked my oxygen levels, then removed the nose thing and check them again later and once she was satisfied that my oxygen was fine she finally removed it for good. But she was as shocked to learn that I never breathe through my nose as I was to learn that people normally did.

I have 2 upright freezers and then the freezer that is on each of my 2 fridges. The upright freezers are the manual defrost type so that's where my long term meat gets stored. The bottom of one of them has a basket so the hamburger from my 1/2 beef goes in there. Usually there is some that has to go on another shelf but I make a point to use that up first. One shelf is roasts, ribs, soup bones and stew meat. Another shelf is steaks. My whole pig goes in the other freezer, again shelves dedicated to specific cuts. I get my meat in February when my summer produce is at it's lowest (and clean both freezers right before picking up the meat), and my summer produce goes in July/August when my meat is at it's lowest (I clean the freezers again right before starting produce). The top shelves of each freezer is packed with fruit and the second shelf and doors contain veggies and premade stuff. As things get emptied out sometimes things end up on the wrong shelves but by emptying things out twice a year things get put back in place. The freezers on the fridges have things like ice cream, frozen pizza store bought frozen veggies and anything else that gets used very quickly since those have the auto defrost are it's much easier to end up with freezer burn if things are there long term.

Oh my word I LOATHE online grocery shopping. It takes me hours every week to put together an order than make acceptable substitutions, than stay up to the alloted time when new openings are released then submit my order. then have to go pick it up at a specific time. Grocery shopping is easily double or more the time investment for me now than just going in person. I can't wait until its safer to go back in the stores. But I will say, I'm not a list shopper. I shop the discount bread section first, then the discount produce and then I hit the fresh produce and pick up whatever is reasonable price then I pick up dairy. I buy what's economical and I meal plan based on what's in the house. I don't care about brand in the slightest so scrolling through lists of things to find the best price drives me nuts. None of the grocery stores around here has very good search/sort features for online ordering (at least not the way I'd like to see it). And the grocery store with the best prices/widest selection has the worst site for adding products to an existing order so it takes 3 times as long if you forgot to add something the first time.

my kids had cleanings last week. I was hesitant but they had already been postponed 2 month and one of my kids had a a visible cavity and I needed to have the dentist take a look. Their protocol was this. Text when you arrive, they will will tell you when to come in. Door propped open so no one had to touch. fever check upon entering, everyone uses hand sanitizer. Masks required. Waiting are chairs marked with flip over sign, green means it clean red means it's waiting to be santized. empty chairs in between aren't to be used. Only sit in green spots and flip card over when you leave. Cleaning area has multiple chairs in an open room (which is great because all my kids can get their teeth cleaned at once. Now they are are only using half the chairs, plexiglass barriers between stations. Hygenists have 2 masks and a a face shield. Cleaning is done with manual toothbrush rather then the electric one to reduce spray. They run a fogger periodically during the day to clean the air but not sure how often that is done just that they said it would be running shortly after we left. While not having teeth actively worked on, everyone wears masks (so on and off several times during the appointment). I think they took every reasonable precaution. I know the droplets hanging in their air is cause for concern but I think there is only so much that can be done about that. It's still better than a grocery store where hundreds more people are going during the day. So if you need to see the dentist, I would just go and do the best you can.

I LOATHE the bunnies in my yard. my back yard is about 1/10 of an acre and it's not uncommon to have 8-10 sunning themselves in my yard. And they eat everything I plant. I have loads of dandelions in my yard and lots of various greenery that I would happily share with them but they are food snobs and will only eat the tender flowers and veggies that I plant. One decide to nest in my pot of chives this year. 2 of it's offspring lost their lives due to the folly of that particular rabbit. Had my older boys been around the entire batch would have been eliminated but my younger kids are not yet skilled in their extermination technics and let 2 of the little ones get away. I know many people think I'm cold and heartless and "How could I kill a rabbit" but when you deal with these destructive critters year after year, it's becomes very easy to take them out. My sister has woodchucks and they have caused thousands of dollars of damage at the family greenhouse business. We shoot those guys without remorse too but alas guns are frowned upon in city subdivisons or I'd be taking aim at the bunnies quite quickly.

I voted 5-6 but after seeing everybody's list and going yep I got that too, I'm quite certain I have 7 or more. My current fridge doesn't have a deli drawer but my previous 2 did. I never used them for cheese (well at least not all the cheese) because those drawers are way too small for cheese so I'm actually much happier not having the drawer. But I tend to buy shredded cheese in 5 pound bags and blocks of cheese in 2 pound packages. Then you add in the yearly stock up of asiago (because Costco only carries the economical stuff at Christmas time) so I probably have 10+ wedges of those in the fridge. Sliced cheese, feta, cream cheese, etc. So yeah, I could probably fill a couple shelves with cheese (I have 2 fridges so stuff is spread across) pretty easily.

We had 3 girls so went the twin over full route. In hindsight I would have skipped that and went with regular bunk bed and then a pull out or separate twin even if it didn't leave much floor space. Reason being when they are small they didn't mind sharing a bed but as they got older, no matter which 2 shared a bed, their sleep was really impacted by not having their own space. And by the time they were around 10 no one wanted to share a bed with anyone. So we ended up getting rid of the twin over full and just going with regular bunk bed. Since I view furniture as a long term investment, I found it wasteful to have to replace it after 6 years when my other 2 sets of bunk beds were still in use after 15 and 10 years respectively. (Yes, I have now purchased 4 different bunk bed sets and the only one not in use is the twin over full).

I don't know what the official policy is but I'll just share what I've personally observed happen. The church has a benevolent fund that is used to cover small requests. I know sometimes this is used for community members other times for church members. If the person in need is an established member, the church will often put out a request to the church body for assistance but will also use general funds if the need warrants it. For instance, elderly couple with a disabled daughter, the mom had cancer, the dad fell and broke his hip. The church had families deliver meals and visit in person to assist with household chores until COVID, then the church is paying for meals on wheels for 3 months (I think that was the plan), to help out. I know they gifted money to a widow when her husband suddenly died and they still had 2 young children at home. We received assistance with our mortgage payment when my husband had been out of work for 7 months (many years ago). We did not request it but an elder told us that God spoke to him in prayer one day that we needed the help (I had been praying about that specific thing but we had told no one of our need, nor even spoken to that elder in several months because our church is pretty big) and he requested the help on our behalf. During normal times, a group of ladies gets together once a month and makes freezer meals that are then distributed to those who are in need of meal assistance. Individuals will also use the benevolent fund and designate a beneficiary when they want to help another family out without the awkwardness of handing it to the person directly. The church office will disperse the funds and deliver a thank you card if the recipient writes one to keep the giver anonymous. So no blanket policy, just what makes sense in the moment. I think it's decided by the pastor and assistance pastors.

it's definitely worth checking your insurance policy and even though you don't have time right now for that part, take pictures/videos and document everything you can. That way if they will cover it, you have proof. Our sump pump failed last summer, except we didn't know that was the cause just that we had a suddenly wet basement after extremely heavy rains. We were on vacation so it was a couple of weeks before we could have someone in. Got the sump pump replaced and were slowly working through ripping things out and replacing. About 2 months after the fact someone mentioned insurance. We never checked because we assumed it wouldn't be covered. But we had a rider for it (that we never even knew about) and they came in a covered a portion of it. Thankfully, we hadn't gotten to throwing out all the damaged furniture so it was easy to still document that part. The carpet we had already thrown out but between the obvious water damage/mold on the walls and trim and the report from the company that replaced the sump pump, we were able to provide enough proof that the insurance company chipped in their full portion. So document just in case, you might need it!

honestly I've been pretty impressed with the $1.50 (ish) one from IKEA. A friend raved about it and so I grabbed one. While I wish it had a bit of an angle, it certainly cleans much better than any of my previous 3 or 4 toilet brushes.

I saw your message late yesterday afternoon and I ordered it then. 20 hours later, I had the paper in my house. I was shocked it got here so fast. Although apparently I ordered color printer paper. I have no idea what is different between color printer paper and copy paper but I have a black laserjet. i assume it will still work.

You can also get that dose over the counter. I've been taking it for 18 years (I have malabsorption) and I've never once used a prescription. OP, my kids are taking this chewable one. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B017BY7BGS/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A2OKL1APMG8NNW&psc=1 KAL is another brand that makes chewable in various strengths/flavors.

I haven't been in a store since lockdown started but the chicken has been canceled off most of my orders since this started. I did get ham at Easter time though. But I kind of figured this was coming so 2 weeks ago I called my beef supplier (which thankfully I just got my yearly 1/2 in early February) and asked about pork. He had some going in the butcher this week. I bought an entire pig. It should be ready next week. My freezers will be stuffed but we should have meat to tide us over for a while. Maybe not as much variety as I'm used to but it's food and I can be creative.

we got down to 97 at Costco and woodman's and a couple of other places. But they are crawling back up. Woodman's is now at 1.05. I expect Costco will follow tomorrow. I heard somewhere up north got down to 75 cents. I would have liked to see it just to take a picture. The lowest I had ever seen was 79 at the top of the hills/mountain in Kentucky or TN in the early 90's. It was memorable because gas was quite a bit more expensive at the bottom and super cheap at the top where they had to lug it up the winding pass.

I can only give you my non-medical thoughts on this. I have malabsorbtion so I have to take very high doses. As a result I've had way more vitamin D tests than the average and my doctor also discussed my history with someone who was researching Vit D at the our very large state university. The gist of what came back from this over the years is that while "normal" is listed at something like 10-80, those numbers aren't necessarily ideal. I have major sleep issues with anything below 80 and need to keep mine over 100 (yes that's above the "recommended normal" range) and we know that even though 10 is supposedly "normal" that more than likely that's deficient for most nearly everyone on the planet. Also they don't start seeing toxicity until you get in the 200-300 range. So lots of room between going over "normal" before you have to worry about causing problems. So my decisions for my family are based on what I've discussed with our family doctor as appropriate for our situation. Note: the units of measurements are those used by my lab reports when this was hashed out with my doctor a few years ago. I have no idea if these are still the current range or not as I no longer worry about that because I know my needs are higher. Also as noted below the is measured as ng/mol I live in the upper midwest. It's cold here and even when we go outside, we are still pretty covered up and frankly we've had way more clouds than sun the last month. We are light skinned. For my family I giving them these daily doses; Under 12 are taking 2000IU, 12-18 are taking 5,000 IU and adults (myself excluded because my needs are exponentialy higher) are taking 10,000 IU. We don't eat any kind of fish here. These are definitely higher than normal dosages but I'm comfortable giving them in the short term knowing there is a huge area before we will even come close to toxicity. I will probably lower the doses for kids once summer arrives because they will be outside more. DH seldom goes out so he takes that dose year round. But please do your own research, consider your location, skin color, time outside etc because this is really very individual.

I was actually coming to post the same thing!