I've never lived without a disposer. I wouldn't know how to function. Okay, not literally, but scraping into the trash and draining things and having rotting food sit around all week. Yuck!

Burners. But I've heard eyes.

I'll just quote myself on the Curious George question from when we discussed this several years ago on the General Education board: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/479206-george-was-kidnapped-from-the-jungle-and-sold-to-a-zoo/

Thank you!

I want to make this dress: http://www.modabakeshop.com/2010/09/knotty-jumper-with-ruffled-leggings.html I've read that you should always wash your fabric before sewing. My question is if I should pre-wash the jelly roll fabric. It seems like I'll lose a lot of width with fraying, but will it be a problem if I don't? And if I don't wash the jelly roll fabric, should I wash the bodice fabric? What about the rick rack?

I do math last because I can never gauge how long it's going to last. That ensures we finish everything in a timely manner because I'm trying to get school done that requires my constant presence during the baby's nap. The rest of our subjects are pretty predictable in how long they'll take.

Wait, what about Oceania?

That was my concern. I can't find an exact date, but it seems REPAYE only became available a few months ago, so it's pretty new.

Yeah, I was all excited about it last night until I read that after pages and pages of fine print. The other thing is that it sounds like to go to a Direct loan, they give me my original high interest rate and not the lower going rate for loans now or even the rate I have now for so many on-time payments and having automatic withdrawal.

Ravin, you can check if you're eligible for REPAYE (it sounds like you are) and compare repayment plans here: https://studentloans.gov/myDirectLoan/mobile/repayment/repaymentEstimator.action Here's a comparison/explanation: https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/understand/plans/income-driven For me, the big considerations between the two are: - 10% in REPAYE vs 15% in IBR of discretionary income - having 50% of all interest paid in REPAYE (after three years; before three years, both programs pay all subsidized interest) - in REPAYE, spouse's income is always considered, but only if filing taxes jointly under IBR - in IBR, your payments can never exceed what the standard 10 year payments would have been when you started paying, regardless of how much your income goes up, while in REPAYE, it can go over that amount if your income goes up that much. And then my other consideration, which you wouldn't have, is that to turn it into a Direct loan, I lose five years' time.

How do I find an accountant who could help with this?

Massive as in more than our house is worth and there is no way we can pay a standard plan. If I hadn't had a baby right before I finished grad school who turned out to have life-threatening food allergies and then autism such that we felt my staying home with him was the best option, I'd be one year away from paying it off. We hadn't planned on having children, but you know what they say about planning... As it is, I spent two years on economic hardship deferment, two years on forbearance, and now five years on IBR. DH is actually going back to school next week. His company is helping him to earn a management degree to move him up, but it's going to take about eight years. They said he doesn't have to be done before he moves up, but close. So, if he makes it through, there's the potential of significant increase in about 7-8 years but not before. I don't see myself returning to work until my 10yo is an adult. I'd love to stay with my 6yo and 1yo also, but they don't *need* it the way the oldest does.

So, I have massive student loan debt and have been on an IBR plan for five years. It was the only income-driven plan I qualify for because my loans happened before whatever magical date they decided. I just found out about REPAYE, the new income-driven plan that would reduce payments by a third (right? 10% of discretionary income vs. 15%) and have half of the interest paid for. I *could* qualify, but I have FFEL consolidation loans, and not Direct consolidation loans. I *could* apply to have my loans reconsolidated as Direct loans, but then none of the five years I've been paying on them counts towards time in an income-driven plan and my twenty-five years would start over again. Why does this all have to be so darn convoluted?

First question, I'd use a credit card and pay it when due. Second, depending on finances at that moment, I'd do the same, or I'd use the hospital 0% financing.

I learned about it all throughout school, including elementary school, I'm sure. We were just told that plasma was the fourth state of matter and was found in the sun. That's all I recall.

My dad left in the fall of 1979, a month before my birth. The divorce was finalized in March 1981. I knew no one else with divorced parents growing up until my best friend's mom and dad got separated whe we were I fourth grade. But her mom left for her boss, so she was remarried as soon as the divorce was final, whereas my mom never even dated. I felt very stigmatized growing up with just a mom. My friends' parents seemed to be suspicious of our situation. And I was very jealous of people who had stay-at-home moms. But to answer the question, no, no club.

That's what I thought as well. And I assumed that the present-day situation was because of things Moriarty set in action before his death. I've seen some people speculate that Mycroft is behind it, but I didn't get that impression.

I've let my kids read whatever they want whenever they want. If something is too hard, they just stop. For example, ODS read the Hobbit and LOTR at seven, but didn't get past the first chapter of Silmarillion. And he rereads over and over again, getting more out of it each time. He must have read the Harry Potter series at least ten times. We are going to be doing the Hobbit for literature next year and he's exited about it. Having read it before will be an asset, not a handicap. Familiarity with the plot allows for a deeper reading on subsequent reads, in my experience.

Switch the doors. And forget about needing walls for furniture placement.

All I've seen is that they start filming in the spring and release in 2017.

Loved it too! I can't believe we have to wait so long to see what happens next.

South Carolina. It has been a horribly warm, wet winter so far.

Thank you!

Embarrassed. The thread was on backwards. I trusted a YouTube video. I went back and looked at the manual and it was opposite from what the woman on YouTube did. Now it works great. Here's my first sewing attempt:

I want to learn to sew and got a Brother CS6000i for Christmas. I took it out to start sewing today. I have the correct presser foot for the stitches, loaded the upper thread and bobbin correctly, and am using the needle that came in the machine. I'm using new Gutterman cotton thread on a woven cotton fabric. Why do my stitches look like this?