If someone would pay me $30 an hour with no benefits for unskilled labor, I would jump at it. Where I'm at (currently looking for work), it's much more likely to find jobs from $9.50 to $12.00 an hour with no benefits. And then you have the companies that pay between $9.50 to $12.00 an hour that offer health insurance (so can't qualify for ACA) but it is NOT affordable. It's a damn mess.

Don't even get me started on billing mistakes. Billing mistakes with no resolution in sight. Right now I'd take a gift card just to get my money back in some manner. And I HATE gift cards.

Not something I would ever do, and not common in my extended family, but it's their wedding, their money. But I also wouldn't likely attend, especially if it was out of town and no babysitters. If in town, I might try to make it to the ceremony but not the reception. Now that my kids are older, I would attend. Honestly, I can't recall ever attending a wedding without children.

I am so very sorry for your loss. Your family is in my thoughts and prayers.

Don't tell me dark chocolate counts as dessert. That is medicinal. I keep mine in the drawer of my nightstand. Fortunately my twins don't like dark chocolate.

That's rather hard to answer. It depends. For instance, right now I have several boxes of peaches I'm trying to use: fresh peach pie, peach crisp, peach cobbler, peach ice cream, peaches and cream, peach milkshakes. During the rest of the year I will have some type of dessert around like a crisp (using up the frozen fruit), gingerbread, cookies. I don't serve it, but it's there for whoever wants some. The twins and I have tea time on Tues. and Thurs. and usually have some type sweet thing. That's the only time I eat desserts unless it's a special occasion. Both my dh and one of the twins has a sweet tooth. I find if I have something sweet around occasionally, they don't over indulge.

I just can't get around to thinking of Rose as a first name. We have two Roses (dd and gdd), but Rose is a middle name. Maybe Rose Margaret or Rose Olivia. I feel like the middle name needs more than one syllable with Rose. My first choice would be Rose Elizabeth, but I guess that's out. I have a Rachael Rose My granddaughter is Evelyn Rose Rose Evelyn.... hmmm...

The only time we would do that is when we are on vacation. At home, no. However, during the summer there is usually ice cream in the freezer. Buying individual ice creams for everyone is expensive. It's so much cheaper to buy ice and toppings and have it more than once at home.

http://cecentralsierra.ucanr.edu/files/177585.pdf You could call your county extension office. Ours has a list of master preservers (?) who are very helpful.

I can't imagine it had anything to do with reheating the sauce. Sauce was hot when put into jars, lids were hot, and it was processed. Seems like it should seal. Maybe it was just a fluke. I do remember one time that I did have several jars - of something - that didn't seal, and I ended up blaming the lids. They were all from the same box. Everything else sealed just fine like normal; just this one batch had several that didn't. It is sure frustrating to do all that work and not have it seal. If you put it in the fridge when you realized it didn't seal, could you use it in some cooking?

Did you process them in a hot water bath? I rarely have a jar that doesn't seal. When that has happened, I find that the jar rim is nicked or something.

Love, love tacos. I usually make pork tacos. Always corn tortillas. Dh still likes those hard shells. The taco truck is a couple miles from our house. Way too convenient. My first trip to Mexico was an eye opener. My favorite food.

Satisfy my curiosity? What else is going on?

My grandfather was 21 years older than my grandmother. A childhood friend of dh's married a woman 16 years older. A young woman I know very well, 19 years old, is seeing a man who is 31. I used to have a more negative reaction about big age differences, but the older I get, the less it bothers me. Both my older girls married men who are 6 years older. That's not much, but neither one of them ever seemed remotely interested in dating anyone their age. Dh is 2 years older than me. In the end it isn't my business. But...I do think it would feel really weird right now if dh were say, 20 or 25 years older than me. That would make him 75 to 80. I could be looking at a lot of years as a widow.

Obedience is not in 'my' book of virtues. I am big on virtues: compassion, fortitude, generosity, humility, patience, diligence. Obedience is not on my list.

Well, my view is skewed. I LOVED family vacations. Each year after Christmas my family would start planning the family vacation. My sister and I were always included. I have wonderful memories plus many scrapbooks. Dh never had a vacation other than a 3 night camping trip when I met him so he was excited to to see some of the country. We have always included our children in the planning. I mean, it's a FAMILY vacation. Family is what we are. Sometimes we have to nix something due to finances or time constraints, but we all get a say. In fact, we're more apt to plan around our children's wants than our own, but they usually line up. All our children have loved our trips. We had a blast on our road trip this summer. I can see how it wouldn't be that way for everyone, though.

Who are these teenagers who balk at going on vacation. A miserable time on a European vacation. Do teens not understand the purpose of 911? My teenage dds just spent 2+ weeks on a road trip with their parents. Guess what? It's been the highlight of their year, and they are planning the next one. My older, married dd was mad that she couldn't go with us. Are my teens really that unusual?

Our bill for July was $85. for 802 KW hours. 2400 sq. ft. house. I don't turn the a/c on until after 4PM and usually turn it off by 11PM. There are times we run it earlier in the day and all night, like when it hits 100+ for a week. The weather has cooled; right now it's a beautiful 84 outside and no a/c. I have a gas water heater and hang the laundry on the line. The highest bill we've had over the last 3 years was $120.

That could be dh's doctor. Five minutes dealing with the medical issue. Thirty minutes ranting about government conspiracies. Smart, well educated man. Makes me wonder about my sanity. I've always known there are crazy, phobic people out there. I just never knew any personally, or that I was aware of, before.

Previous employer cancelled dental policy back in January and didn't notify us (we are on it through COBRA). Just found out. No one knows where our money is; we have been making our monthly premiums all years. Same company - can't get in touch with anyone to sign separation papers so we can roll over the 401K. Went to the shed to get canning jars, and my foot went through the floor. Dd lost her German book and is having a panic attack. The landline isn't working, and my cell phone battery won't stay charged. At least I have coffee.

No. I buy toothpaste with fluoride and my children have had fluoride treatments. No fluoride in our water as we have our own well. I'm not worried about the small of toothpaste they use, and it is proven to help prevent decay.

On my 50th I went out for dinner with dh and dc then went for a long walk along the river. Afterwards, dh and I took a blanket out to the field to eat ice cream, star gaze, and talk. A couple of weeks later dh took me out of town for a couple of nights.

Some well meaning people on facebook (friends of friends - not mine) are posting warnings that by the middle of November we will be under 'marshall' law. Right. Sigh. This is why I've narrowed my facebook friends down to the bare minimum.

If you don't know for a fact that person you are throwing a surprise party for would truly like having a surprise party, please do them the favor of at least asking their spouse or someone close to them if it would be okay. Or, just ask the person if it would be okay if you hosted a party in their honor. If a you're giving a party for someone and it's really because that person is important and special, I would think the last thing you would want to do is make that person feel uncomfortable and anxious. 'You' isn't any specific person in this thread. I've noticed over my life the people who throw surprise parties are the ones who would love to have a surprise party thrown for them. What is one person's idea of the most perfect celebration could be another person's worst time ever.

I'm ready for the personal chef. I wouldn't care what recipes he/she used as long as I didn't have to think about a meal nor cook it. Coming up with what to cook is worse than the actual cooking. Which I used to love. If it were up to me, I would have a few staples on hand, and that would be it. If someone is bored with yogurt and blueberries for breakfast, too bad.