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Laurel

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Everything posted by Laurel

  1. I am moving to St Louis this summer, and have an uncommon request. If you live in the St Louis area, could you PM me? Thanks!
  2. Yes! I just started listening to this yesterday morning, and I want to tell everyone I know about it. I was hesitant to get it because I thought it would just be another celebrity/comedian memoir. But the reviews were so great and I had an audible credit to spend, so I took the chance, and I've been listening every chance I get. It's well-written and deals with heavy stuff, but it doesn't seem heavy. And, of course, he's funny.
  3. Yes. Ideally, I cube it and then roast it. (Often I'll make it with leftovers.) I will add that I am not terribly picky when it comes to texture of foods after freezing. Squash seems to be fine, but things like zucchini and tomato can be very watery when frozen and then defrosted. But I like the taste, and I am slightly picky about source/quality of ingredients, so that's where my priorities lie.
  4. I make what I call "breakfast bowls" - ground meat/sausage sautéed with some veggies. I make a big batch, and freeze in individual portions. I defrost the night before and sauté that morning, though you could microwave it. Some combinations I like: Ground beef with butternut squash and spinach Italian sausage with zucchini and tomatoes Pork roast with green beans Turkey with sweet potato and greens
  5. We've also done graze, and both dp and I really enjoyed it. Lots of fruit and nut blends, and things that I wouldn't be able to get in stores.
  6. Dp got me an Apple Watch. I was speechless. As I told him, it was such a great gift experience for me. It was a total surprise, something I wanted, but never would have gotten myself, and his wrapping was great - he put it in a huge box, with weights, so I had no idea.
  7. If school work is the issue, then institute a policy of no phone until his work is finished. With only allowing texting one day per week, the teens were backed into a corner and probably feel like they have no choice but to disobey. (And I would clarify that it's not your dss's job to make sure she obeys her parents rules, so I don't think him texting/responding to her texts makes him untrustworthy.)
  8. How many holds are you allowed with your library system? (10 is common.) Max out your holds, so you will make progress in each hold line as you wait. It's very rare for people to return digital items early, as they naturally return themselves at the end of the loan period, so it takes more work to return them early, so each person will probably have the book for a standard time (1, 2, or 3 weeks depending on what your library allows). With Overdrive, you should be able to set search filters so it only shows you books that are available. And as you see books that you think you might like, you should be able to add them to your wish list as well, so when you need a new book you can go there and see what's currently available. And, echoing others, get a free trial of audible, and you'll get a free audiobook to get you started, while you wait for your library holds. They also run a lot of deals/specials, so you may find very cheap audiobooks that you are interested in as well.
  9. What have you already listened to and enjoyed? You asked for NEW, so perhaps you've already listened to these: Serial Criminal Malcolm Gladwell's Revisionist History Radiolab's More Perfect (if Supreme Court is at all interesting to you) Invisibilia
  10. We love our local credit union. Great service, great loan rates, etc. And when traveling, I find it so much easier to find a member credit union than it would be to find a branch of a large bank.
  11. I definitely add in more cumin than recipes call for, and ginger too. And with sweet spiced apple and pumpkin things (breads, pies...) I usually double the spices. I don't ever measure vanilla, I just dump a bunch in. And like others, I often add more garlic than called for. I will cut back on sugar in a lot of recipes. I would halve it if I thought I could get away with it.
  12. That's a nice list, thank you. I hadn't seen that one as I was searching online. I think they would enjoy zip lining as well. As far as snorkeling, they will definitely go (and he will wear a life jacket), but they'd prefer to go on their own rather than a tour, I think bc of that. I would love to go on that tour myself.
  13. Biking is a great idea. (As an aside, this is their belated honeymoon, and BIL proposed on a weekend biking trip, so this would be a nice way to bring things full-circle.)
  14. My sister and her husband are headed to Maui early January. For a Christmas gift, we would like to provide them with an experience, and I was hoping to get recommendations for things to do (and especially good companies to go through). They are active people who love the outdoors. They've both been to Hawaii several times, but this will be their first time to Maui together. They do plan on going hiking and snorkeling, and have a couple restaurants in mind already. They have no interest in a helicopter tour, and my BIL can't swim. I'm open to suggestions at any price range. Thanks!
  15. Here is (hopefully) the online catalog. http://www.rainbowresource.com/pdfs/HolidayCat_16.pdf I would guess the robot mouse as well, figuring she just got the colors wrong.
  16. A good friend gets his guide dogs from Fidelco and raves about the company. http://www.fidelco.org
  17. You can access look at your shopping and to-do lists on the amazon website. Playing music is very easy to do directly with the echo, no need for a smartphone. Just say the song or artist and if it's available, it will play. (If it's not available free with prime music, she plays a sample.) And there are lots of playlists already made, so if you just want a certain genre of music it's easy to ask for that too.
  18. We love ours. You don't need a subscription for news; it's a standard feature. We probably use it most often for a timer, and also to keep track of shopping lists. It's great to be able to add things to the list even when my hands are dirty in the middle of cooking. We also stream music, and I use it as a speaker for my phone for music/podcasts/audiobooks. (I like the audible app interface better, and while you can listen to podcasts directly on the Echo, it's much easier to find them on my iPhone.) Oh, also, a favorite feature - with the Alexa app I can turn music on remotely when I'm not home, which really freaks out DP when he's home alone.
  19. As others have said, these are not monthly things, but enough so I can always find at least five things we need each month: Toilet paper Toothpaste Deodorant Body wash Q-tips Trash bags Dish wand brushes Dish detergent Laundry detergent Cat food Fish tank stuff (and occasionally fish food) Hand soap Chai mix Crystal light Coconut oil Vitamins Face wash/masks Shampoo and conditioner Those of you buying paper towels - that's one thing I don't ever get because they seem more expensive than I've seen in stores. (We also don't use paper towels very much.) Is it convenience, or have you found them to be a good deal?
  20. http://www.food.com/recipe/mean-chefs-banana-nut-bread-65535 This one is from Nancy Silverton's Pastries from the La Brea Bakery (https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0375501932/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1477094751&sr=8-2) and is hands down the best banana bread I've ever made or eaten.
  21. DP and I are definitely better than we used to be, by far, but no where near perfect. People coming over unannounced/unexpected is fine (as long as they're not getting in my car!) There was no magic bullet, or moment, or system. It's been a slow, gradual process that hopefully will continue. I've developed some good routines (for me), that have spilled over into how DP acts, and it's easy to get back into the swing of things after an upset (like an exceptionally crazy week, or when we've been sick). You made the comparison to losing weight, and I think it's accurate here. The people who are the most successful at keeping the weight off are the ones who slowly make gradual lifestyle changes. It's easy to maintain a new system for a week or three, or a couple months. But when life gets in the way, it's hard to get back to it. Have you read the blog A Slob Comes Clean? That might be the kind of conversion story you're looking for, with a heavy dose of reality.
  22. Toaster oven is great to reheat food. I love my Breville, though if you didn't want to spend that much $$, I think any toaster oven would work. I use it almost every morning to heat up my breakfast (usually leftover frittata, but also great with baked goods like muffins), and we use it often throughout the day too, to reheat or cook almost anything that fits in it. Much faster to preheat than the regular oven, and as our oven isn't fancy, the Breville has way more features.
  23. We have a natural tendency to stay home and do nothing/waste time, so we make sure to get out and do "forced family fun" on the weekends. And then, having some of the time filled with outside activities means we also make a point to make sure our time at home is relaxing and recharging.
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