Well, I think your health trumps her feeling censored. I can't tolerate many scents and have always had veto power if something came into the house that I couldn't handle. I have one friend who likes to give gifts from Bath and Body Works and although my dd loves some of it, it goes right back out the door when we get home. It's just the way it is.

:grouphug:

I bought my dc Lyra because of reading on here that Prismacolors tend to break more often, and I knew my kids would be dropping their pencils. . .The Lyras have been great and although they're been dropped many times, I haven't seen any broken leads.

Thank you for sharing that.

It would depend on the situation, but if it's between paying off debt and staying in the mobile home or not paying it off and getting a house, I'd go for the house. Sanity is worth more than paying off the debt now, IMO.

I agree - both dh and I went back to college after 5 and 4 years respectively. We were there because we wanted to be there and worked hard to do well, unlike some classmates we met who "had" to go to college and didn't have the same level of seriousness about it.

Mine was $385 in 1989, no alterations. When I got remarried, I was a broke college student, so used the same dress but remade the sleeves and part of the lace overlay (I worked in alterations in college) so it would look like a different dress and wouldn't cost anything extra.

This used to take several years though (like age 24?) - at least back when I started college. I had been married and was going through a divorce and filing the FAFSA (I was 21 or 22 at the time). I had to file still married, because if I didn't, I was still considered a dependent under my parents.

Zenni has the ability to upload a photo and try on the glasses virtually. Not quite the same as trying them on in person, but the 4 in my family have been happy with their choices and I can get 4 pairs of glasses for less than the cost of one locally.

I don't know what my dc will do when college time comes, but I seriously doubt we will have the money to help much, and what we've put into savings for them is very small. Dh and I both went back to college 4 and 5 years out of high school and had to work and take out loans, while taking a full course load. We finally paid off our students loans a few years ago. If they want to go to college, they will most likely have to pay for it themselves and figure out how to go about that. It was hard for dh and me, but made us serious about what we were doing.

I agree - my dh broke things off with me for a few months (and even had a go at getting back together with his ex-finacee) before realizing he really loved me. I was absolutely crazy about him and devastated - but tried to move on. However, when he came around, I gave him a second chance and that's been 19 years ago.

I never used a mixer when I made cookies as a kid/teen. I always creamed the butter with a fork with the sugar and it worked well.

Just bumping for the morning - hoping someone has some ideas! :)

Well, I Googled some more and found something about the increased enzyme activity creating the gummy texture that wasn't quite done no matter how long you baked it. And some suggestions to bake it as hot as possible to stop that. I put the rest of my flour in the oven at 250F for a bit to see if that will work, but would still love any input :) The bread was still terribly gummy when it was cooled and although dh and the kids were loving the taste of it, it really can't be classified as bread. . .

I've been grinding my own wheat and baking bread for years, but just started trying to use sprouted wheat flour in my bread recipe and am not having good results. . .The first time, I followed my regular wheat bread recipe (which uses almost a 50/50 whole wheat/white flour) and it was a disaster. Extremely gummy and sticky (tasted good - the kids ate a bunch of it anyway, but it wasn't like you could slice it and use it for toast). Today, I decreased the liquid and added more white flour during kneading, trying to make a drier dough, but the results are still gummy. It's not nearly as bad (and may be better after it cools - I had to cut a piece and see :)), but are there some tricks to using sprouted wheat? I did Google it but didn't find anything too helpful.

I'm glad you had a breakthrough! I've found out with my ds that many times when he's being obstinate and bull-headed is when there's something going on underneath (he's felt misunderstood, treated unfairly, feelings hurt, etc.) and if I can see past his behavior and find out what set him off, things can turn around for the better. It's so hard, though, when he's being so difficult to be around, to step back and not react.

I don't know. But it's obvious that your Big Kitty is not happy and not doing well and that's probably not going to improve if things stay the same. I'd try to find some way to make a room/place in your house only accessible to the older cat, that she can go into when she doesn't want to be around the younger cat, and the younger cat can't follow. And you'll probably have to be creative. One idea that popped into my head was one of those magnetic cat doors that only open when the cat has the collar on. If you had a room that could be kept closed with the kitty door in the room door, then the older cat could have the collar and get in and the younger cat couldn't. It really depends on your house and what you can make work.

You may have to make a place where Big Kitty can go that Little Kitty cannot, so the older cat can have a sanctuary spot that she can feel safe. Some cats don't do well with other cats (mine would not) and that's probably the best solution.

I've seen an app (or more than one) that says "See who's looking at your profile" but I don't think it's Facebook sponsored and who knows what info the app collects and how it's used. . .

I really don't know - however, I think a lot depends on the people and how willing they are to stick to a budget and do w/o things they don't really need. My ex and I lived on one small, blue collar income in this area (w/o kids though) and were able to buy a starter house - but we were very frugal.

I've been using it mainly to pin recipes I either want to try, or want to keep track of, but don't want to print out (I have printed out way too many in the past and they got lost in the recipe pile and never made).

I love my Dyson, too - I've had mine for at least 8 years and it's so much better than dealing with bags, and I'm always amazed at how much stuff it picks up.

But there is a nutritional difference between the eggs I raise and conventional store bought ones. I feed an organic, soy and corn free feed and my hens free range during the day. I don't eat conventional eggs if I can help it.

As everyone else has said - it lasts for a very long time.

We have our own chickens this year (4 brown and 1 green egg layer) and I hope to try natural dyes. Even if they aren't as bright, I think it will be a fun experiment for the kids :)