I saw a headline recently about cauliflower going way up in price. I think it has to do with a shortage, although I'm not sure the reason behind that and if it's just in certain regions. I wondered if the trend in roast cauliflower was adding to that -- sort of like inexpensive cuts of meat that get to be trendy and then go up in price.

I'd post pictures of what my kitchen looks like when I'm in the middle of dyeing 36 yards of 120 inch wide muslin various shades of green using my kitchen sink. But I'm too busy dyeing fabric. Picture newspapers and trash bags taped all over everything to keep the dye off ... all week long. Charming, yes? My sink is very shiny, though, since I scrub it out after each batch. (Yes, I've been harping on this online all week. Because it's taken all week. People keep wandering into the kitchen expecting to be able to fix food, plus there was a day we couldn't use the water due to sewer backup in the Great Flood. I'm poised to start the final batch, though, so will soon start complaining about something new.)

Paint scenery for musical (already started this morning; waiting for first item to dry for next coat) Drive younger dd to audition Drive younger dd to rehearsal; pick up several hours later Dye 10 yards of 60 inch wide fabric (last batches! whoot!) Start ripping fabric into strips 10-20 feet by 6 inches

We haven't seen it due to conflicts (which will be ongoing for the next week, so we're out of luck catching up next week in a theater or repeat performance on tv). However, dd's bff in UK watched it and messaged her that it seemed like Tumblr: The Episode to her. In other words, a bunch of vignettes that fans would like and post online incessantly. They enjoyed it for what it was, but thought it wasn't a standalone episode. Of course, she might've just been being kind since we won't be watching it for awhile ... it would've been disheartening if she'd immediately started exclaiming that it was the best thing ever and our lives weren't worth living until we actually saw it.

I'm sorry. :grouphug:

I think there's extra footage in the theatre. I can't remember where I read that, though, so I can't confirm what it is. Also, PBS tends to compress BBC shows -- cut minutes and speed up the track. REALLY annoying. I'd rather see it at the pace it's supposed to be with all the bits intact.

Okay, thanks. I undoubtably blocked it from my mind. Padme's stilted speech patterns and Anakin's acting apparently shut down my ability to listen. Edited to add that one could argue that having feelings and having kids are two different things that don't necessarily coincide (again something that came up with the Bene Gesserit).

Yeah, I missed the original discussion, and it isn't really apparent to me what's going on with this.

Spent the day dyeing fabric for Wizard of Oz set -- the forest. Also painting platforms for the set. Shopping for fun foods (and also more dye). Tonight: Old movies, frozen pizza, homemade lemon jello (for some reason dd likes to do this on NYE; also, funny that we're making frozen pizza but have jello lovingly made from organic lemons, etc.).

I'm not too hung up on whether this speculation is correct or not, but I will note that I've read an EU book in which either Obi Wan or Qui Gon fell in love with a female Jedi and was planning to marry her. I think it was Qui Gon, but honestly, most of the books are such that I try to put them out of my mind and remember to not read any of them. But then I get sucked in again, sigh.... Pretty sure it was in one of the YA series. I don't recall anything explicit in the movies where they were saying, "Yo, can't do the parent thing 'cause JEDI." But, hey, I don't spend a lot of time thinking about these things; if it was in the prequels in particular it would've blown right passed me. Also, considering how much of the lore was pulled from Dune, and how the Bene Gesserit were all about the procreating, I'm open to suggestion that Jedi aren't necessarily celibate.

How fun! Thanks for sharing!

I see what you did there!

Whoa, I didn't know that's where the term "corned beef" came from. As for the poll, I voted other since I have no clue what grains were grown then and there. I assumed "corn" meant "grain", though.

On my machine that would mean the upper tension is wrong. But it could also be threaded wrong, or the bobbin wound wrong, or the bobbin in wrong, or the needle in backwards, or or or. Usually if fiddling with the upper tension doesn't solve it (note: the Reader's Digest sewing manual has really good pictures for tension problems), then I start fresh by re-threading and generally re-doing all the things.

My kids report internet chatter that Rey could be related to Obi Wan -- I guess a granddaughter or something. People have been heavily analyzing the voices in the vision sequences and somehow came up with this.

Dd got a lot out of Physics B, which was NOT Calculus based. She used the Kinetic program in 10th grade. The math needed is Algebra 2. Dh helped her with some of the chapters, and was incredibly impressed with the rigor (although sometimes hard pressed to come up with a way to not use Calculus). He likened it to a college level course (she was doing the AP version), bearing in mind that colleges offer algebra-based physics for various majors. She took chemistry after physics, and commented that much of chemistry made so much more sense because of the physics background she'd already had. I think both physics and chemistry were a much more positive experience for her because of the order in which she took them. Others in her chemistry class struggled, btw. We've had the non-calc physics discussion on here (WTM forums) before. You could spend hours reading through discussions on various online sites (including physics forums and College Confidential) and come away with the impression that there isn't a "one size fits all" answer as to whether it's worthwhile. She is now in Electrical Engineering, dual degree with Tech Theater; she enjoys calculus and physics, and does well in those courses.

In addition to ones I checked off above: Treasure hunt for the "major" Christmas gift, Watch Star Wars movies on Christmas Day (have been doing so for years; this year we're suddenly trendy), Use special Christmas dishes throughout the advent season, Help youth community theater group put on a musical (4 performances for a total audience of over 1500 people). NEW THIS YEAR: Dh and I went to a used book/video/record/etc store at separate times with separate kids. We both had a $20 budget. Whatever we got is our present to each other. We were trying for a mainly 2nd-hand-or-homemade Christmas, and this was a fun way to accomplish that. Both kids are once again in a community theater show at the beginning of January -- this happened last year, too. So we may have a new tradition of building set pieces in the garage on Christmas evening.

Older dd has a sore throat from a virus (went to the nurse practitioner at Walgreens for a strep test -- she was pretty sure it wasn't strep but thought she should check). She's at work right now anyway, and no plans to slow down over the holiday. OTOH, I'd love to have an excuse to say I'm sick and can't do all the things right now, but here I am running around healthy organizing and cleaning everything. Unfair!

Ooh, I want to know this, too! Several theater companies around here are putting on Fiddler on the Roof this year, so it's going to be a big topic of conversation.

I think most foods cause problems with someone or other. Most people in our family have something they need to avoid for reasons most people wouldn't think of -- for example, chamomile makes Dh jittery (due to tannins, apparently). Various things that go into "healthy" smoothies, like coconut milk, make my heart race. BIL cannot tolerate oregano. God for OP for figuring it out, though! You really have to be willing to reject the mindset that certain foods are so healthy that "everyone" should eat them!

I heard that, too, and thought of it when I saw this thread! I could relate to the bit about having an excuse to not go places -- hah! Dd is reaching a point where people are starting to say she might want to consider pursuing a career in performance, and one of my objections would be the "fame" business. But, yeah, Jennifer Lawrence had thoughtful points to make about it. As for me, I'd rather be like Rubik of Rubik's cube, who I also heard interviewed yesterday. People know the name, but I doubt they know the face. (Edited because my iPad was spastic about formatting this post.)

Working retail 20 hrs per week. Tech director and lighting designer for a community theater show opening Jan 8 -- a volunteer job to build her resume. At the moment she's upstairs finishing her set model to go show the director.

In Montessori the idea is that a full size broom can be hard for a little person to wrangle, so they come up with real brooms that are smaller -- not toys, not "fake", but something that works just as well as the adult-size counterpart. Which is why they cost so flipping much. Sometimes you can come up with something in the toy aisle that fits the bill if it works just as well (the crappy ones that fall apart really aren't suitable). You came up with a feed bucket, which is awesome and something most of us wouldn't need to think about. By the same token, Montessori recognizes that putting things on lower shelves and providing step-stools helps children do real things within the parameters of their size and coordination limitations. The adult attitude has to be one of welcoming the child into the world of doing these things rather than commanding them to do it.

Okay, I just skimmed a bunch of the answer, but WOW THIS SOUNDS LIKE MONTESSORI! How very cool! I have the impression you're doing these things together, by the way, just like people pay a Montessori preschool teacher to do. I remember hanging up little hooks for coats low down where the kids could reach, for example, but I never called it a "chore" to hang up a coat. Yes, all the brooms and dustpans and other equipment are available in tiny sizes at astronomical prices in Montessori catalogs. Kudos to the OP for finding reasonably priced options that work well.