With a small family (3), I've never had to carefully plan my menus for time's sake. This summer and next year will be different - much busier schedule and increased food costs is causing me to give this serious consideration. So, here's my questions: 1. What are your favorite meals that you repeat over and over? (looking for new ideas to get out of our rut)? Are there any meals that you have every single week, without fail? 2. What are your favorite dishes that you do some preparation in advance and put in the freezer, so that it's ready to go? 3. If you do bulk preparation and preset menus, do you plan every single meal, all seven days... or do you leave a few meals open? What have you have to be the best "ratio" in this regard? 4. Do you also preplan and/or prepare and freeze side dishes, breads and desserts? Or only entrees? What about breakfast... do you have a preset breakfast schedule? Eat the same thing for breakfast every day? As you can see, I'm trying to figure out what is a good balance here... which dishes/meals are the most convenient to preplan and/or preprepare, and for which are preplanning/prepreparing more trouble than it's worth. Thanks for any ideas! I'm really looking forward to hear how everyone does this. Robin

Thank you... yes that's her. I'll go look for her posts. One of the things I don't like about the new boards is I miss a lot of these sort of updates. Thanks!

How come I've never heard about the baby powder thing? And I live within an hour of the gulf!!! When do you put it on? After the sunscreen? Do you have to reapply it every time you reapply sunscreen? And doesn't that get gooey, or do you wait for the sunscreen to dry first?

Didn't she live in the northeast? I'm trying so hard to remember... I almost want to say it was brain cancer. The Kennedy thread made me think of her. Whoever it was, I haven't heard an update in a long time and I'm wondering if anyone knows her and knows how she's doing. I can't believe I've forgotten her name, because I think about her often. Anybody know what's going on with her? Roboin

The Kennedys have been a public presence my entire life, starting with JFK (whose assassination I distinctly remember). Dh and I were talking tonight about how this is the last of that generation of men, and what that means is that our daughter will spend her entire adult life post-Kennedy. That seems strange to us. She'll think about the Kennedys the way we think about the Roosevelts. What a major passing of an era this will be. I'm feeling older and older all the time.

YEs, but that's a long way away... boo hoo!! I'll have to find a new highlight for the week! LOL

I've always fantasized about being a ballroom dancer. I'm sorta sad it's over... there goes my "fantasy island" every week! Yeah, Kristi deserved to win. I agree.

I think that the Barnier talk that everyone raves about is "Don't miss the gift of this child." She also does one on learning styles, and I hear she's great, but it's the "gift of this child" that is supposed to be so fantastic. AT least that's what I've heard. My favorites: SWB and mom, Rob Shearer, Debra Bell.

WE do this with sweet potatoes... but regular oil, not olive. Yummmmm!!! I'll try it with carrots next time. Thanks!

I can't remember how long they were down... maybe just a few days. Maybe a week? Apparently it was such a dark time I managed to block it from my memory completely :). Fair warning was giving in advance, though... it's not like it happened all the sudden... we were warned... the definance continued... they followed through on the warning. After that they just started deleting threads, sometimes deleting every single post of the offending poster. Presto - the person disappeared! LOL

Don't swim near people who are fishing. Seriously. Don't swim near bait (or bait fish swimming in small schools). Don't worry about rip tides and undertows unless a warning is posted. But still, you should teach your family that if they are ever caught in one, not to fight it or try to swim to shore. Calmly swim parallel with the shore line. That's the key. Swim parallel with the shore line. Don't try to come in until you get out of the current. They should know this just like they know what to do in case of a fire, kwim? The only other thing is that there is a lot of sand, and you will find it everywhere months after you get home. Just be prepared :). If it's not too far out of the way on the drive down (or coming back), I'd plan to make it by Lambert's Cafe in Foley, Alabama (right at the Alabama/Florida border, about 8 miles south of I-10). Home of the Throwed Rolls and all... always worth a stop :). Oh, and have LOTS of fun!! Report back with pictures! Robin

I was surprised that David A wasn't criticized for re-singing a song. I think if David C had resung Billie Jean, he would have been criticized for it. Have you ever heard the woman's version of Imagine that David A used? It's beautiful (sorry, I don't remember her name, but it's on youtube). ETA: Eva Cassidy... here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soRFEeLEXn4

It would probably be better for David C if he didn't win... I think he'd be more successful commercially if he didn't. Not that many AI idols have been taken very seriously in the real music world. You know, everyone thought David A's version of Imagine was his own brilliant arrangement, but it's a copy, too.

LOL!!

Oh Camy, it's YOU!!! I saw a Camy posting, but I didn't think it was you because you haven't been around much in the last year or so. It's so good to see you!! Is your youngest really 2? I can't believe it!! I'm sorry I missed that interview... I might search his website to see if it's archived. :) All is great here. Thanks so much for asking. My dd will be 13 this summer, just a year younger than your two oldest. Would you be interested in an arrangement? :) Thanks so much for saying hi... I missed seeing your posts- the picture of your family is lovely, btw!! I also had lost the link to your blog... will start visiting!! Much love, Robin

I had forgotten all about that!!! Yes, that was wild... no board for YOU. No board for ANYONE. I'm holding on to hope it won't get that bad this time around... with the off site moderators, the new format, and a community that's matured a little... hopefully.

Oh, Liza, hopefully you will appreciate this. August 1973, I saw Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road tour. That was about a year before this song, but still... Elton in the early 70s has a special place in my heart. It was my first sorta kinda date :). There's a current thread about the most amazing thing you've ever seen. Elton John. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Huge light up glasses. I started to post this - it really *was* amazing - but I was afraid it might do in what little bit of reputation I have around here :) Robin P.S. My dh says he'll be DA's album. I just hope he doesn't play it when I'm in the room. :)

LOL!! Except, you know... I'm not sure he's compassionate enough. HAve you noticed that he never hugs anyone or expresses any sort of empathy? There's a social disconnect there... Dh and I think he's a savant or something.

Remember the thread about how some of us are old enough to be some of y'alls mother? You know Kristi's partner, MArk. As a teen, my husband was neighbors/friends with Mark's *grandfather*!! LOL!! Dh was part of the team that built the first weedeater (Mark's grandfather invented it)! Talking about making you feel really old! LOL

When I close my eyes, I like listening to him. But I have to close my eyes. If the only exposure I had to him was over the radio, I would probably like him a lot more. I just *like* Cook more, overall.

LOL!!! That would be me.

I just read this to my husband and we both cracked up laughing. Thanks for the chuckle!

Pam, I don't know if this will help or not, but I used to work at a private school that never, ever accepted early entrace to kindergarten. Even if the birthday cutoff was missed by only 10 days! As a matter of fact, we often rejected students who had birthdays a couple of months prior to the cutoff date. There are exceptions to everything, and you kow your dd best and she could very well be one of those exceptions. But if you're interested in *why* a school might do this (which I think you're asking, right?), I can tell you why *we* did it. We never did base the decision on academic preparedness. If a child is bright and destined to be successful in academics, then she will be that way no matter what age you start her... sorta like I.Q.... but we administered a different test - the Gessell - that measured maturity, not intelligence. OFten, a child is a few months behind maturity wise (nothing all that noticeable... and we're not talking about maturity in behavior as much as maturity in hand eye coordination, fine motor skills, eye convergence, etc). So she might be technically old enough to get into kindergarten, but we always advised the parents to hold back for a year so that she would not struggle and have the best chance possible for success, and fostering a love for school instead of a loathing. The reason why we wouldn't make exceptions no matter what is because even if the child's Gessell was close enough, since most of the children we admitted were solidly a 5.3 year old maturity wise (that was our preferred threshold - 5 years 3 months), and that most of the students were actually closer to 6.0 years old maturity wise (since we were strict about the policy and often students waited a year to begin with us), by placing a student in the same class who is younger, often almost a year younger, than her classmates, we were setting her up for potential trouble/struggles later on, particularly when the kids approach adolescence - no matter how well the younger student performs academically. What I've seen of friends' kids attending homeschool classes in our area has convinced me that this is more often true than not. I have two friends with girls who are very good students, academically sound, very bright girls who for all appearances are advanced. They put their girls into classes that were primarily attended by students one year older or so. For example, a girl who turned 11 during the school year but was only in 5th grade went into a writing class with students who were 12 and in 6th grade. She did fine in the class academically, but at the end of the year, the teacher would not allow the student to advance to the 7th grade class. It wasn't because the girl couldn't do the work, it was because she just wasn't mature enough for the group and it was not a good mix. Same scenario with my other friend's dd. They could do the work, but a barely turning 11yo girl who doesn't even have hair under her arms yet in a room with girls who are approaching 13 and have started their period and are shaving their legs.. well, it's just a tough situation, and it's much better to be the older girl in that room than the younger. I'm not saying that any of this will hold true with your dd. Probably it won't. But that's the reason why we enforced that policy... and since you seemed to be asking why, I thought I'd offer. You're a smart cookie... You know your dd. Best of luck and wishes to you! Robin

Here's another suggestion - I went to the website to see which conferences were happening when, and I noticed that Barnier is doing "Don't miss the gift of this child" first hour Saturday morning. There was a conversation on this board recently where this particular workshop was mentioned, and several people joined in saying that it was their all time favorite workshop EVER... someone even said something about it being life changing. If I were attending FPEA, I'd check out that workshop. It was a good idea to bring a light sweater or jacket if you chill easily... I don't, but my feet get cold and so I've learned to wear very comfortable, full coverage shoes - no open toes (I usually wear an athletic shoe of some sort... you really don't care much about style by the end of the day! LOL). I'm sorry to hear you won't have a book check! What a bummer! Even the Arlington book fair, one of the largest conventions with thousands in attendance, offers not only a check room but CURB SIDE SERVICE - go get your car, pull it up, and they'll bring your purchases to you! What a deal! :). If you are planning your days and are having trouble deciding which workshops to go to, start a new thread asking which ones are best and list your options... you'll get lots of opinions and suggestions! I'd go to Adam Andrews first one and if you like them then go to the second. If not, then you can choose something else. Of course, it's up against Barnier's learning style workshop but that's about the only real competitor imho... most conventions allow you to buy tapes of workshop, so keep that in mind. Have fun!!