I forgot Jerome Benton from the Time. Dh sat next to him on a plane, and recognized him, and Jerome invited us to the concert he was playing that night. eta: ok, one more: I took a college class with Elizabeth Shue, back in the 80's. None of the boys could pay attention to the lecture!

My first famous-person meeting was Olympic ice skater Eric Heiden, who I met in Oslo when I was a child. He gave out the skating medals at our school's skating event, and we got to go to an event with him at the embassy. Working in retail, I met a bunch of famous folks. The first actor I clearly remember meeting was Avery Brooks, who played Hawk in Spenser for Hire. He radiated cool. I saw Mark Wahlberg a few times (also, Dh went to school with him). Gabriel Byrne was shopping for ties at the same place I was. Julia Child was buying kitchen stuff from us after she donated her own kitchen to the Smithsonian. There was also Imelda Marcos, in exile, shopping with an entourage. I have interacted with a bunch of politicians, mostly through working as a student reporter. Bill Clinton, John Kerry, Janet Reno, Gary Hart, and a few others. Michael Dukakis, while at the hospital with his wife. I once organized a Nobel letter for my boss, so I had to call up various Nobel prize winners and get their signatures from them. So not movie star famous, but the folks who wrote my textbooks, so that was cool. Speaking of textbooks, I met Richard Rusczyk, of the Art of Problem Solving fame, along with my child. That was kind of homeschool-cool. I know there were more encounters, but these folks stick out for various reasons.

I've had food poisoning a couple of times, and both times I just had to settle into the bathroom for an extended time. I was advised that once everything was up and out, if I couldn't urinate, I need to get checked out for dehydration. I couldn't hold down water, but I was able to take very small bites from a cup of Italian ice, which helped get some fluid in me. I hope you feel better soon.

We were in Europe for half my childhood, and in the US for the other half, moving back and forth to various places, due to my father's military career. My mother worked part-time when she could. I have a brother, 2.5 years younger. We did not do a lot of regular organized activities. I tried ballet around age 5 at the local rec center, and hated it, so I quit. I think we mostly hung out at the pool at the rec center. I started going to Girl Scouts in the DC area at ages 5-6, and continued that at a DoD elementary school I attended in Europe. My mom was a troop leader, my brother attended all the meetings. My mom's part-time job when I was in grades 2-5 was working at the little library next to the commissary, and I used to go there after school and read and do my homework. We did cross-country skiing and ice skating; I remember that my school had an outdoor rink. Our house bordered on a national park, and my brother and I spent a lot of time wandering around there, which we could do pretty freely as long as we stuck to the paths and did not cross certain bridges. Back in the US, I did track when I could starting in 6th grade. I stuck with running at a half dozen schools, adding cross-country running in 9th grade. I continued to spend a lot of time at libraries, which I could get to by public transportation or walking. Eta: I think I might have been better at friendship stuff if I had more time with my friends outside of school. I know we sometimes hung out with other kids because they were my mom's friend's children, but they were not my friends. It was harder with all the moving.

I tend to do a lot of my shopping at Target. I recently bought a few new fluffy "Threshold" towels there that I am happy with so far. At $9.99 for a bath sheet, these are an affordable way to get a towel that covers everything that needs covering. I picked a different shade of blue for each person.

Since there isn't really enough room for anyone to sit down for coffee/tea at our current place, I would offer to treat them at a nearby shop. If I limit myself to about a half mile radius, I can offer Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, a hipster coffee shop, a bubble tea place, and several other places that have coffee/tea on the menu. And since I don't drink the stuff anyway, I am sure these places make a much better cup that I can. We are expecting to move in the near future. The kitchen will be smallish, but I am planning for the dining room to have space for entertaining. I have packing boxes full of lovely serving pieces; teapots of various types and sizes, lots of cute little cups, pitchers, bowls, etc. Dh uses a small French press now, but after we move I will probably buy something with more capacity. We have about a dozen kinds of tea on hand, mostly in bags, but some loose, with strainers, etc. Dh used to have the ugly bear for his honey, but lately we get it in jars. I personally prefer creamed honey, which is much easier to serve.

Dh and I both paid for our own education, with no support from our parents. My father refused to even fill out the financial aid paperwork, saying it was his own private information, and irrelevant. Dh's mother charged him close to market rate to live at home while he attended the state university. We both worked while attending college, for employers that reimbursed some tuition costs, and we took out loans as needed. I borrowed for undergrad, dh borrowed for grad school, and we are both still paying it off. In our current financial position, I don't think we will be able to do much for our kid, who is now 13, other than provide as much guidance as possible. I think early college is a possibility, so some of the costs may start sooner than traditional age, and we will have to figure it all out as we go.

I cannot imagine doing a public request for funds for that particular expense. If help is needed, I would talk to relatives, but not post a fundraiser. Dh's father died broke, and had been homeless for a while. I remember going to the funeral home during the planning process, and seeing that dh's mother (divorced for more than a decade) had requested a $17,000 package. I think dh and his brother cut it back a bit, and their extended family (aunts and uncles) volunteered to pick up various expenses. Like, one took care of the burial plot, another bought the headstone, etc.

My vegetarian kid drinks them sometimes. The taste-tested winners that we keep on hand: Boost Simply Complete, Dark Chocolate Boost Original, Vanilla Delight Eta: my kid is also a dancer, with 7 hours of classes and a competition over the next 3 days.

In the last couple of years, I have stayed in the Meadowlands area when visiting NYC with the family. Our base room rate was around $150 per night, with free parking. We have also found similar rates for tiny rooms in midtown NYC (without parking), but that is for when dh goes on his own, or when we went as a couple, without our dc. In the Boston area, we tend to use airbnb instead of hotels. Last summer we booked a 2 bedroom apartment in the neighborhood of West Roxbury, and paid a total of $600 including taxes, etc, for a 3 night stay. We were within walking distance of the commuter rail. My dad found an airbnb place in Brookline, which was convenient for getting around via the green line of the T. If I had to stay in a hotel outside of the city with family, I would probably choose Dedham, with access to the commuter rail.

I am sorry for your loss, and sorry for how it happened. :grouphug:

Up here in New England we call them split top hot dog rolls. I definitely prefer that style!

I like your idea of a roving mom for sick moms. I hope you feel better soon. This really does suck.

Yeah, ugh, it is crud all around here too. My kid got it Thursday, so I got it Saturday, and dh got it Monday. I cannot sleep for longer than about 2 hours at night, due to the congestion. I took a long hot shower at 3 am to try to flush it out, then just sat in the tub for another 2 hours. The crud just seemed to crawl deeper into my lungs. Yucky.

Usually: ketchup, mayo, and sweet relish Rarely: chili and grated cheddar cheese (never a cheese "sauce")

I have an only child, so no planned hand-me-downs. I guess I mainly go with high quality, but try to find good prices. I worked on my feet for years, usually in retail, and know how important good fit and support are for my feet. Also, the kid is a competitive Irish dancer, and I spend $160 for hard shoes, and $65 for soft shoes, so most regular sneakers seem totally reasonable! My kid mainly wore $60 Merrill's in elementary. I would usually buy the next size up when it was on sale, and hold on to them until needed. We would usually buy $20-30 shoes from Target for occasional-use shoes, for church, or a special costume. In middle school, my kid has preferred sneakers with elastic instead of regular shoe laces; it is probably $30 or so for those at target, but again, I try to grab them for less during sales. We also shop at DSW, now that the kid is in small adult sizes (though that store recently added kids' sizes too).

If both SIL come along, the other at least has a companion for any times that you will be doing things on your own or with your daughter. Keep in mind that if you hope to tag along with your daughter, there is a big difference between adding one person to her day vs adding 3 people. Perhaps I would try to compromise, suggesting the SILs visit for part of the trip, during a time you expect your daughter to be occupied, and talk with them ahead of time about what your itinerary will be for that portion. Let them know that you would like to reserve the other time for a mother daughter visit. When DH did an internship in France in our 20s, I visited for a while and had an amazing solo weekday adventure, mostly visiting museums, and we spent our evenings and weekends together. Sometimes our together time included doing things with old and new French friends. It was a good balance for me.

I have had this; it is yummy that way!

I know the perfect building! When we lived near Oslo, there was an old carriage house behind our house. It could hold 6 cars, and it had an apartment above it.

We make crepes once a week. I think we use roughly equal parts egg, flour, and milk, plus a pinch of salt and sugar. I also make little fried leftover cakes with various veggies and grains by mixing in a few eggs and shaping into small patties. This works especially well with rice.

I just thought of another issue, even if the water from the tap is ok, you may lose access to an accessible tap even if you can shelter in place.

I think in general we should always have a couple of days worth of water on hand. Our region's water system has been compromised by a couple of times in the last few years, and occasionally our apartment building has had to shut off the water. The building is about 100 years old, with delicate copper piping. If someone above us has a plumbing issue, then we also have a plumbing issue. Bad weather or some other disaster/attack could interfere with obtaining replacement water from the store as needed, and even problems elsewhere could affect the supply chain of bottled water.

Man, some people really suck.

I know you said no glass, but I am going to plug this style anyway: http://m.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/art/60279711/?bvstate=pg:2/ct:r They are tempered glass, and super sturdy. They are a nice size, and easy to hold. At one point I managed the glass department for crate&barrel, so I have handled a ton of glasses, and I am ready to toss everything else I own and use only this kind from Ikea.

My New England state has a huge variety in charter schools, making it hard to generalize. There are many different kinds, and they appeal to different groups, for different reasons. Some are very unique, many are part of a network. The state rules require that admission is by lottery if there are more applications than seats, which is almost always the case. Schools are allowed to have certain basic priorities in the lottery, ie geographic, or sibling preferences. At the moment, each school has their own individual application and lottery, but there is a proposal to consolidate, to increase awareness of options and simplify the process. In the city we live in, ALL public schools admissions are by lottery, with a handful of non-charter public schools having an additional application component such as an exam or performance audition. My 13 yo is attending an expedition/project based charter middle school, and about a quarter of the students have identified special needs. It looks middle class to me, but their numbers indicate they are mostly low income, which is consistent with most public schools in this high-cost region. Students and parents are required to do volunteer hours, but it does not have to be for the school. So, my kid can volunteer at an animal shelter, but has done some volunteering at school as well, putting ikea furniture together. They do significant fundraising, but it is low key. They have a full-time staff person working on that, but they seem to focus on more on going after grants and corporate sponsorships.