My dentist makes the crowns in-office, too. But it doesn't save me any money, just time!

This is good to know! I have Denby Harlequin that I registered for when I got married 28 years ago. I'm going to try this!

This happened to me a few years ago. I don't even know why they sell glitter wrapping paper, because tape doesn't stick to it. I still have that roll in the attic, but I need to get rid of it. It's so pretty though -- a coppery gold.

So fun! Thanks for sharing the link.

My late season flowers, which I will get to enjoy for another day, because it didn't go below freezing last night after all.

I have found through the years that my trick or treaters LOVE Sour Patch Kids and Utz Cheese Balls, so those are what I tend to buy. For us personally? We like Reese's and York peppermint patties. ETA: I know Utz Cheese Balls are not candy 🤣, and the first year I gave them out, I was quite surprised how fast they were chosen in my candy bowl. They have become a staple, though.

Welcome!

I didn't feel TT Geometry was especially hard, and I didn't feel it had an overabundance of proofs, either. I think my son who used this program got frustrated with it at times because of the way the problems were graded (I don't remember specifically why), but the program served my son well when he needed to work on math independently from me. 😁 FWIW, he majored in biology with a chem minor in college, and he did well.

My husband and I have been talking about him and listening to his music all day. We toasted him tonight with a couple of margaritas and a good listen on XM's Margaritaville station. Sail on, sail on sailor. 😥

So sad. DH and I are parrotheads through and through. I've only been to two of his concerts, both in the 80s -- one at Carowinds when he used to play there, and one at the Dean Dome in Chapel Hill. I had always hoped to go to one more of his concerts. 😥😥😥

My mom was known for her soup. She could make delicious soup without a recipe, just what she had on hand. I've never known her to make a bad soup. Once, when my younger son was a pre-schooler, we were talking about grandma, and I asked him what he thought grandma might be doing right then, and he said, "Grandma is making soup!" 😁

Oooo, I think you may have helped me find a Christmas gift. I have one adult son who would probably enjoy this.

😁 I've always loved a good Saxon thread and will read 'em every time!

An ultrasonic repeller has been largely successful at repelling deer in my front bed, but it has not stopped the squirrels at all. 😒

Right now I'm harvesting eggplants, tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, chard, okra, onions, garlic, and the last of the summer squash. Like Sneezy, I grow a large variety of peppers -- bell,, serrano, ancho, giant marconi, padron, 3 varieties of jalapeño, snacking peppers, cubanelle, banana peppers and a couple of varieties of chilis. The peppers seem to be doing well this summer, but the tomatoes not so much. I planted around 30 tomato plants, and you'd think I'd be inundated, but if it weren't for one single Early Girl that has produced 145 tomatoes so far this season, I really wouldn't have that many. The weather had the biggest impact on the tomatoes, but now in the late season as the tomatoes are ripening, the squirrels are out in full force. No matter how many we trap and eliminate, there is another one to take its place. It's so very discouraging. Still, I have more than enough tomatoes to eat, so I can't complain too much. I've made 3 jars of refrigerator pickles, and that'll probably be it for any cucumber overages. I think they're about done for, but I planted a small second crop so we'll see what happens with those. I've also pickled okra and dilly beans. 😋 Last night's supper was almost completely from the garden. We had cucumber and tomato salad alongside stuffed peppers in the chili relleno style. Except for the meat and some of the spices, everything else was from the garden.

So awesome! Thanks for sharing the link.

I once did some research into this when somebody told me I was repeatedly spelling this word wrong. I was mortified! But apparently there was a spelling book some time back in history that had this word spelled as dilemna which is why so many of us in a certain age category remember it as such. It has taken me a long time to clear the wrong spelling from my mind.

An older model Mazda 3 hatchback, well, actually the Speed3, was my older son's dream vehicle, but alas for him, when he test drove one, his head was just about hitting the top of the car. He ended up with a 2009 Subaru Impreza with 76,000 miles on it. He just brought it home last week, and so far he is loving it.

Greenville, NC might be a place to consider. With ECU, there are plenty of cultural and sports activities. ECU has a med school, and so the hospital and medical facilities are top notch. Even though the population of Greenville is close to 90,000, it still has a small town feel. I grew up in Greenville, and my mom still lived there until fairly recently. NC is a bit tricky in that most of the cities with good stores, activities and medical facilities are located along the I 40/I 85 corridor. Busy, busy, busy. If you get away from these areas, shopping, medical care, etc drop off rapidly. You could consider a town like Hillsborough, which doesn't have a lot of stores and such, but it does have a hospital, and it is close to Chapel Hill where there is a Whole Foods, Trader Joe's and Wegman's. And of course with UNC Chapel Hill, there are plenty of cultural and sports activities. And oh my goodness, Charlotte is nuts! My son goes to UNC Charlotte and the driving is downright scary at times! Although I enjoy our trips there because yeah, there is about every store and restaurant you could imagine.

This

A lot of what we're eating lately is based around garden produce. We have so much Swiss chard that DH made spanakopita with chard instead of spinach. It was delicious.

My older son has $18,500 in loans. He went to the local community college for two years, earned an associate degree, and all of his classes transferred into a state university. So his loans are from 2 1/2 years of college. He went to college 5 hours from home, so he couldn't commute. He had some good grants and a small scholarship, and that helped a lot, plus my mom contributed some (she set up a Roth years ago for all the grandkids to share). Finally, because my son went to college during the pandemic, he ended up with quite a bit of money through the CARES act -- his school was very good at distributing it to the students, and I think he got 3 payments totaling close to $2000, plus the one summer school class he took was covered through CARES act money. He will have no trouble paying his loans back, because he has a decent job, and he intends to pay back his loans early.

A gardener never has enough space! I stuck various veggie plants in all kinds of interesting places this year. I have tomatoes, peppers and eggplant somewhat hidden in my front flower bed. I made use of the spot where a plum tree died, and planted a tomato in the space until I can get a new plum. When my DH cut down the nandinas, I promptly used the now sunny space in front to plant veggies and herbs. Sigh. I still have 2 homeless tomato plants and 1 homeless pepper. If I can find a spot for them this week, they still may produce this year. Things grow quickly right now.

I will try that kind, too. The kind I grew this year rapidly went to seed. Thanks for the info!

Zinnias will bush out if cut back, but I rarely do that. This year the deer did it for me. 😑 It took about 3 weeks to recover from the deer mauling, but they are now starting to bloom.