I agree - and it depends on how often this family reunion occurs. Dh has 2 family reunions each year in the summer, and there's no way we could afford any destination reunions (they're local, fortunately). My family, however, doesn't have family reunions regularly. We did travel last summer 1000 miles to attend a family reunion/birthday celebration, but the cost was below $249 per person.

I agree. My stepdad continually enabled my stepsister when she was younger (she's 44 now) by "helping" her out when she needed money, needed a car, etc., and just couldn't seem to get her act together. He thought that by providing some help, she'd be able to get her feet under her and start doing well and taking responsibility for herself and her kids. After years and years of helping when he could, she's still not that stable or responsible. I don't think he helps her out like that anymore, but he feels badly about it sometimes and doesn't understand why she just can't get it together. I don't know if all the enabling in her younger years played a major role in that or if it's just her personality, but the "helping" didn't help in the long term.

My dh teases that the UPS truck is the "big brown truck of savings." :D

I think you could add quite a bit of spinach to homemade ones. I found this recipe: http://www.tammysrecipes.com/spinach_tortillas It seems to have more spinach added than the other recipes I glanced at. They sound good - I may have to get my tortilla press back out :)

I haven't looked, but I would think that it would be difficult to make a veggie based tortilla (that was more veggie than flour). Maybe it is possible, but the gluten in the flour helps hold the tortilla together and let you roll it out thin w/o it breaking apart. I don't know if something more veggie based would be very easy to work with. . . What are you trying to avoid in the whole wheat ones? I started making my own when I couldn't find any regular (not whole wheat) tortillas w/o transfats in them, but a couple years ago I found a brand w/o any, so I don't make them anymore.

:iagree: I think the money I save by not trying to come up with the $25 for free shipping pays for the Prime Membership, and I love getting stuff in 2 days.

My ds is notorious for losing things in his room. . .and he hates to clean it (we have come to somewhat of a happy medium about that), but when we'd start cleaning out under his dresser, in his closet, under his bed, and more and more stuff started coming out (along with tons of books), I had to make the rule. I really can't stand to see books mistreated like that, all bent up from being shoved under the dresser, etc., especially when the majority of them I had purchased (I guess if he wants to destroy books he purchases with his money, fine). So yes, it seems a little strict probably, but it's worked out quite well for the past several years that we've been enforcing it.

We instituted a 4 book at a time limit from our personal library. One of the spare bedrooms in the basement is our library (we have a lot of books) and after having similar situations where I'd find books all over my dc's rooms and not being taken care of, they got a limit as to what they could "check out" from the library :) Books have to be returned and put away when they want new ones. Occasionally they forget and end up with a few more than they're supposed to have, but it's really helped to keep them aware of what books they have, where they are, etc. ETA: I also use Library Thing to keep track of what books I have.

I am too - lol :001_smile:

I agree. I don't normally watch much on instant streaming, but dh does and he's searched Amazon a couple times and never found anything he wanted to watch. Netflix seems to have a much better selection.

We just flew out of San Diego a couple weeks ago and decided to just do the full body scanner since we rarely fly and the radiation exposure would be just this time. Dh went through the scanner, then the kids, then me. However, I didn't see how the kids were instructed when they went through (I was back trying to push all our carryon luggage through the machine since everyone left it for me :001_huh:). But afterwards, I was talking about having to hold still for the scan and the kids said they didn't have to, they were told just to walk through. Dh said they directed the kids around the scanner and he thinks through just a metal detector.

The wood pellets are great for urine smell (IMO), and I have a sensitive nose. I really can't smell the urine with the pellets. I usually change her box every 8 or so days (I don't count, just see how it looks, and it lasts longer than a week).

I've suffered from migraines related to my cycle for at least 8 or 9 years now (had sporadic migraines before then). Mine are every month. I went to a neurologist who specializes in migraines - I didn't want to go to a regular dr just because I wanted someone who really understood the physiology behind them and knew the best options.

For us, I think the pellets have had less odor than the clay - when we used the clumping litter, there was always the smell of litter and eventually the litter itself got stinky. However, I know a lot of it depends on what you feed your cat. We switched back to raw several months ago, and on a raw diet, there's practically no odor. I don't even know when she's used the box and left a present.

The sample sizes are great to get to be able to try a variety. Some of the ones I like best are Nettle, Rosemary Mint and Herb Garden. Dh uses Cafe Moreno. I don't think I've tried any of them that I didn't like - I generally have a couple in the shower at the same time and alternate.

I've found it at grocery stores and pet stores, however, it may be easier to find wood stove pellets (I guess depending on where you live - they sell them at some grocery stores here, too, and at farm supply stores). I've used a couple different brands that were just wood, no additives, and they are around $5 for a 40lb bag. To compare, there's Feline Pine which a Google search shows selling for $9 for 20 lbs.

I switched to shampoo bars about 4 years ago (I think?). There are quite a few kinds available, but I buy mine from: http://chagrinvalleysoapandcraft.com/ She uses all natural ingredients and no artificial fragrances. I have dry hair and have always had to use a good amount of conditioner when I used regular shampoo, but I can use the shampoo bar alone and my hair isn't tangly or full of static. The bars may seem a little pricey, but I cut them in fourths and they last quite awhile. Dh started using the soap for his face, and after a year or two, decided he wanted to use the shampoo bars, too.

Are you using a clay, clumping litter? When we used that type, it was a never ending battle of the cat(s) tracking it all over (and we've always used a box with a top). A rug under/in front of the box may help catch some of it, but then that still needs to be shaken out frequently. You might look into a pelletized litter - I currently use wood pellets (the kind for pellet stoves, that are just wood w/o any additives). I've also used alfalfa pellets in the past, and there are a number of brands of litter that are the same form (I've tried one made out of recycled newspapers). The pellets track *much* less than the clay. My cat will occasionally get a pellet stuck to her paw when she exits the box, but it's really only once or twice a week at most that I find a pellet on the floor.

I do this for a number of things - and often what I buy online depends on if I find it cheaper online at that point in time. Many items I find at Amazon (and I did buy a Prime membership at the beginning of this year and I love it!). Other items I will just do a Google search for and see how the prices compare.

Here's another link to info on Tom Hale's forum about Benedryl - he says to watch out for sedation in the infant: http://neonatal.ttuhsc.edu/discus/messages/44/377.html?1252935816

I don't have a Kindle (yet) but we used the Kindle apps on an Iphone, laptop, and Ipad over a recent vacation. It's really easy to share books across the devices. If different people are going to be reading the same books, though, there's a setting on the Amazon Kindle page for Manage Kindle Device Synchronization. You would want to turn that Off so that each person's device saves the page they are on.

I have no clue if this is "best" or not - but it's free and I successfully used it to recover some photos (it didn't get all of them off my memory card): http://download.cnet.com/Recuva/3000-2242_4-10753287.html

At this point, I'm getting away w/ one load per child (minus jeans) and I don't sort their laundry into colors. I haven't had any issues with colors bleeding or anything. Their jeans get put in with the rest of the jeans. If for some reason they have too much for one load, I'll throw the extra few items into another load, but generally don't mix their laundry with any other laundry so I don't have to sort out which clothes belong to whom. If they didn't have enough for a full load (or if I was doing laundry more often), I would probably just wait til there was enough for a full load so I didn't have to sort out their clothes. For the rest of the laundry, on Saturday morning, all of dh's and my laundry gets taken downstairs to the laundry room where I sort it before I start the loads. These loads only contain his and my clothes, so when I fold it as it comes out of the dryer, I put his stuff on one side of the basket and mine on the other :) His dress work clothes are a separate load that I do hang after they're dry.

I really don't think it takes that much longer to fold as I put the clothes in the basket than it does to just pile them in. I just grab an item out of the dryer, fold, put in basket (that's sitting on top of the dryer), repeat. I do just throw the socks in w/o matching at this point because the kids' laundry isn't mixed in with mine and dh's and so it's pretty easy to match socks as I put the other folded items away later.

Exactly. I also could do my laundry after 7pm in the evenings, but I'm trying to unwind in the evenings and don't want to be doing laundry. So I run about 10-12 loads over the weekend and am done for the week :)