We did Romano, which is a Valspar color. It is a creamy white, and it really lightened up our space! We love it.

I feel wrong for being so very happy for you!

Have gallbladder issues been ruled out?

Pie crusts sound outstanding!

I have an odd migraine trigger... Sudden changes in weather. For example, if it has been sunny and warm and then a storm blows in, a migraine will just nail me. Does anyone else have a similar trigger? Any "cocktail" of medicine that helps? I use an ibuprofen/ Benadryl/ Diet Coke combo that helps maybe half the time, but when it doesn't work, it is days of mind-blowing migraine.

I'm not sure if it's helpful, but I can throw in the "working parent's" perspective. DH lost his job last year in the spring and didn't find a job he wanted. I ended up going back to work, as we just needed someone to be working. The company I work for likes me, and the position morphed from part time to a very full-time position. I left this morning at 6:30 am and got home at 6:30 pm, with a 15 minute commute each way. I ate lunch at my desk while I was on a conference call. It was relentless (they all are). When I got home, DH was tired and burned out from dealing with the kids, which I get (I was the stay-at-home parent for years, so... I really get it). He left at 7 to get some quiet time. But... I worked a solid 11.5 hours and am now dealing with the kids. I have three more hours of work after I get the kids to bed, so... that's fun. I don't feel like I have a meaningful choice to work less, and we can't afford another unemployment stint. On days like today, I'm not quite certain why I was so focused on "growing up"!

We have a 2008 Sedona. No issues except one of the sliding doors' locking mechanism doesn't work unless you manually lock and unlock the door. I attribute that more to my children's behaviors than that of the manufacturer's carelessness. It has been a great vehicle for us.

You are doing the right thing. Depending on your state, your company may face large civil penalties if you do not dispose of confidential employee information properly. We have secure shredding/disposal facilities in our area, and I use those for the confidential information I'm concerned about.

Cynthia Arnold was also on our short list, Portland based.

Again with the google-fu, but this is a super list of environmental service projects. I'm really getting excited about this project!

Thanks for the suggestions! They are great additions to the list. I was looking online, and we may add bat houses, mason bee houses, and bird feeders to the mix, in addition to invasive species removal, tree planting, and trail maintenance. I'm really looking forward to this adventure! Please keep the ideas coming!

My mom is incessant with trying to convince me "not to continue my march to HELL." It's ridiculous. She has mental illness issues, so I try to be kind about it, but it's so frustrating to try to have a basic conversation with her. DH's family is also religious. MIL is very live-and-let-live, but my SIL is always trying to get my sons to *say* "I believe in Jesus" so that they will be saved. The boys are nice about it, and DH has chatted with her about it, but...it's pretty annoying.

This is a new Goodwill and Amazon partnership: https://www.amazon.com/p/feature/xde6cauvpfp66o2 Basically, fill up your Amazon box with Goodwill donations, print out a label, and Amazon will pay the shipping to get it to Goodwill. The usefulness of this will depend on where you live (we live closer to a Goodwill than a post office/UPS store), but it may be useful to some!

For 2017, our family would like to become more environmentally active. As part of this goal, we are going to do monthly "environmentally friendly" projects with our homeschool play/social group. The group is basically 8-14 year olds, some of which live in houses and other rent (applicable only because of the nature of projects). We live in the Pacific Northwest in a larger city. In January, we will build birdhouses for our local park and recreation area (and anyone who has a yard that wants to hang one up). DH is woodworking guy, and will also do safety and basic tool use with the kiddos. In February, we'll do trash pick ups at local parks. In March, I'm thinking we'll tour a recycling facility and increase our recycling and composting efforts. I'd like to do group projects monthly (or so). Our goals would be (i) do things to help the environment; (ii) learn about environmental issues; and (iii) learn hands-on skills. Often times when I'm looking at "environmental projects for middle schoolers," the things that come up are games, talks, watching videos. All are great, but I'd really like to get more hands-on. DH would love to be able to teach kiddos to build useful things (he's an engineer and woodworker). I would love more ideas!

We thought we were moving across the country this summer, and we just purged like crazy. Our plan was to reduce our house size by half, so we were brutal. We basically engaged in an unlimited "Kon Marie" -- if it didn't spark joy, it was gone. And everything had to spark a whole ton of joy. We got rid of 10+ van loads of things (DH is a bit of a collector... ahem). Now that I went back to work and DH is staying home, our house looks pretty ridiculously bare. But it has caused us to consider moving to a smaller home in our existing town, so... that's something. And with DH's shopping... well, it should be full again soon.

This! Adding to list: we do grilled cheese, breakfast potatoes, all of the rice and pasta packets (add sausage to them and you have a relatively decent meal). Our electric skillet gets used almost daily.

He'd be fine with the same suit, but just change ties and perhaps shirt colors.

Congratulations! What a wonderful start to the new year. I just went through this (I got the job, but needed to brush up on skills), and will throw out a few ideas: I found working and focusing for 8 hours after not working for a while to be a challenge, so take the week he has to "practice" sustaining attention for a full day. If your DH needs to update his skills, check out Udemy.com, Lynda.com or any of the other online providers of classes to see if your DH can find something relevant. My DH did a number of Udemy.com courses and found them to be excellent (for the most part, there was one class that wasn't great). Our local library has a Lynda.com subscription, so we could access those courses for free. They also provide certificates of completion, which may be useful for your DH to show/prove to his new employer that he's serious about taking his skills to the next level. If your DH will be working outside of the home, practice getting to work during drive time (traffic is horrendous around here). Congratulations, again!

Two years ago, my word was THRIVE. That was a good year -- the boys really turned a corner and started to blossom. Last year, my word was ESSENTIALISM (based on a book I read). It was a useful word for the year. We dealt with a ton of changes this year, and the word tended to guide my response to the those changes. We dealt with DH's job loss, a potential cross-country move, and me going back to work full time with DH staying at home with the boys. It has been one of those years that we survived, but didn't necessarily enjoy. For 2017, I'm going to focus on JOY. Because man, last year really didn't involve any. I'm not sure that this year will be much better, but my focus is finding small moments of JOY.

On sunday afternoons, I roast chunked root vegetables (potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, butternut squash, turnips, etc) with olive oil and some seasoning salt. I also make a pan of roasted cauliflower, Brussels sprouts or broccoli. Then I make a ton of salad fixings. For dinner during the week, we'll eat roasted veggies (in whatever form -- reheated, as part of a casserole, or in soup) and salad. DH and the boys have meat, and I have tofu or seitan. It is relatively simple, but keeps us happy.

<<<hugs>>> We are just establishing a new "normal" after six months of DH being unemployed. It was a scary, stressful time. Some of the things that helped me: I found purging and home improvements helped to keep us busy and work off some nervous energy (we also thought we were moving). I"m not sure if it was the exercise or the "controlling what I could control" that helped... maybe both. "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living" by Dale Carnegie. I love this silly book! So many great techniques and visualizations. Multivitamins with lots of B and Iron really helped. EFT tapping has been amazing for anxiety. I purchased a course on udemy.com for $19, but there are other ways of learning it. Game changer for me. I hope things look up for you soon.

n/m, thanks.

Emla or LMX is what we used for port access.

My son uses a 3x5 card box... Some might call them a recipe box. He got it at the dollar store.

Lentils are a staple food for the world... I'd go big on the ethnic foods. I just use the cheap, brown lentils for all lentil recipes, although if you have fancy lentils, those are great, as well. The big thing for me with lentils is spicing the heck out of them. Some of my favorites: Mujadara. I make it like this: http://www.themediterraneandish.com/mujadara-lentils-and-rice-with-crispy-onions/ Messir Wat. I make it like this: http://forbiddenriceblog.com/2014/10/01/ethiopian-food-part-3-mesir-wat/ Indian Dal. There are tons of recipes out there. :-) Lentil Tacos. Saute an onion, add lentils with water and cook down, drain most of the water and add taco seasoning.