I agree with Jill... in the south, "legend" has it that the reason why everything is deep fat fried is because it is the CHEAPEST way to get calories into hungry mouths. The least expensive way to feed your family is to feed them foods that are full of inexpensive fats. Hot dogs. Fried everything. It's cheaper to make jiffy cornbread and instant pudding than it is to serve fresh produce and whole grains. I have to feed 100 a week for $1 each at a Wednesday night church event, and it is near impossible to provide anything healthy. Tyson breaded chicken patties and pizza are WAY cheaper than the foods I prefer to feed my famly. If I want to serve a salad or fresh fruit, I have to make sure and have a really cheap entree. I can actually get 59 cent hamburgers at McDonalds, but I can't cook something like lasagna from scratch and have enough left over for either bread or salad. Eating healthy really is a lot more expensive...

I don't care for the WIC Farmer's Market coupons at all. It totally discriminates against participants who don't have access to a Farmer's Market. If the whole point of the program is to help the nutrition of pregnant and nursing women and their children under the age of 5, and if fresh fruit and vegetables are an approved part of that program, then those fresh foods should be covered under the program in general... not only when they are purchased at a Farmer's Market. I mean, really... we'll pay for your bananas and brocolli as long as you buy them at a FArmer's Market? But if your town doesn't have a farmer's market and would like to buy those exact same foods at your nearby grocery store, then sorry... you're s.o.l. (with the exception of carrots, the only produce covered)? How ridiculous! And while WIC does cover dried beans, milk, cheese and peanut butter, it is also covers (and is used primarily for) infant forumla, processed (iron fortified) cereals, canned/bottled fruit and veg juice high in vit. C (the juices, but not the fresh produce!!), and canned tuna. All processed stuff. I think the program is good in theory (trying to provide nutrition to unborn babies, infants and very young children in low income homes) but what ends up happening most of the time is the parents use the coupons to buy groceries for the entire family, and proportionately little gets to the target child while low birth weights, etc., haven't been affected much at all Yep, socialism in all its glory... bureaucratic waste, abuse, nonsense guidelines, unmet goals...

Ethanol will never be the answer... there isn't enough land to plant enough corn to truly convert over, and what it does to food costs is catastrophic to the world's poor who depend on affordable grain from the US. These are not people who can gladly pay an extra $1 for a gallon of milk. The ripple effect of intentionally inflating grain prices is almost too huge to fully understand. I'm not opposed to grain farmers earning a decent living ... I don't think the subsidy was intended to raise the standard of living of the grain farmer, though.

What technologies are you referring to? I'm not aware of any viable alternative on the horizon, not anything that would genuinely revolutionize the way we fuel things in a big way. Is there something out there that is practical and affordable... I mean truly doable and promising? Robin

Hoping for the best and swiftest of recoveries! Take care and check in (or have the Mrs. do so) to let us know how it went.

You know, the US govt and the oil companies don't control the cost of crude oil. That's OPEC. And OPEC has made it pretty clear they're going to keep the cost of oil above $80. Some economists think their claims of reserves are fabricated and that the reason they won't produce more (and thus reducing the cost) is because they can't... that we're at peak oil right now. But even if they could, why would they? We gladly buy it at $100 plus, so why would they do anything to reduce the price? What we need is a real energy policy (not the energy policy of the last 20 years which has been little more than bash and blame the oil companies). It's going to take billions of dollars of research to come up with the technological breakthrough needed to effectively change the way we fuel our energy needs. No one is going to invest that until oil production hits peak... maybe we're seeing that approach now. And certainly ethanol isn't a viable answer - people will support that until they day they drive through McDonalds to find a Big Mac costs $10. The havoc corn subsidies has played on our food costs now should be all the evidence we need to abandon that policy. Man, grain prices are DOUBLE right now. It's unbelievable, really, how fast and drastically prices have gone up... Robin

Wow, they don't waste any time moving merging these threads, do they? LOL How on earth do they find such an old thread so quickly? Glad it all worked out,Jill... that was a great idea! Wish I'd have thought of it :). Win win!! Robin

I wonder if genetics plays a role... I have never had the flu. Ever. Neither has my 12yodd. We don't get the vaccine. My husband had the flu in 1986, and I think he got something similar to the flu a year or two later. He has gotten the vaccine every year since and hasn't gotten the flu again. Vaccine works for him, I don't know what works dd and me. Genetics? The fact that we wash our hands religiously and are very careful about safe food and drink? Good luck... I hope it doesn't pass your way.

But it keeps the recipient from adding all those emails to their account. People who forward stuff don't go back through old emails and hit "reply to all" to send out their forwards. They just send the forward to everyone in their contact list. That's why the bcc works (and prevents the appearance of scolding). The op has every right to ask the person to not forward to her anymore, but whether or not the other recipients have that wish is really not up to the op to decide/request. And working on the church's directory is not the appropriate time to air frustrations about email forwards. When you actually get a forward is the best time to do that imo. But I do agree that it is appropriate to include a reminder not to use the list for anything non-church related (solicitations, etc).

I think that adding all that verbage at the bottom of the email is a LOT more work than simply addressing the recipients in the bcc line! :)

I would think it's been taoed already... but if so, she's not revealing how she did. The email said that she would be on the show Friday, and subsequent days *if* she did well... so it's a mystery to me! Hope she does a good job! Thanks, Jackie

I just got an email that an acquaintance of mine is going to be on Jeopardy this Friday (3/14). She is a homeschooling mom who also teaches literature/composition classes to homeschoolers. For those who are familiar with the Homeschool STore in Houston, she is a part time employee there. Her name is Renee Mathis, and she is a great lady! Anyone who was hanging out at the online conference that Fritz did a few months ago might recognize her name as an attendee. Go Renee! (P.S. A friend of mine recently said that there should be a homeschooling mom's week on Jeopardy! LOL!! I agreed with her!)

I agree completely with elegant lion. This was one of our favorite books on tape, btw. But yes, the movie is crude compared to the book. I doubt you'd want to read the book after seeing the movie. However, after reading the book, we were very anxious to see the movie. Unfortunately, the movie did not nearly convey the same warmth, etc., and they just HAD to throw in some potty/crude humor. We were disappointed. I think this is worth doing the book first (or instead, to be honest), even if it's just book on tape. Robin

There are restaurants here that automatically include a tip/service fee for carry out. The cashier doesn't take the order... one of the wait staff comes and takes the order, and they follow through with it and check it and make sure it's boxed up properly, etc. In other words, they serve you the same way they serve people sitting at a table, except that your table isn't being bused. Usually it's something like 10% added to the bill. But these are fulll service restaurants, pretty nice ones, not counter service... I wouldn't tip at counter service either. At our local cafeteria, they've started having service staff getting your refills,etc., not wait service but bus service... and they imply you should leave a tip. This always bothers me... I have to stand in line to get my food, and carry it to my table, and get my own drinks, and they want me to tip someone for offering to refill my tea? I wonder if they do this so that they can cut down on payroll expenses... instead of minimum wage they can pay them wait staff wages and force those poor people to solicit tips. I agree that it's gotten out of hand. The Starbucks Drive through window even has a tip jar! So does the cashier at my local donut shop. Crazy!

As a matter of fact, I would be inclined to find another project. Seriously. I'm sure it's a great project, but I don't allow my child to be used in any way to promote a social issue. If we were Jewish or had a loved one who suffered that tragedy, I would feel much differently. And I certainly support those who feel led to express their remembrance this way. It's just not something I'd guide my young child through unnecessarily. Just me. Edited to add: If I were in a situation where I felt like I had to follow through on the project, I would just have the kids paint the butterflies and tell them that they're doing it to contribute to a beautiful butterfly display that someone is putting up. I don't think I'd say anything at all about what it represents.

Good point... there is a way that volume increase does help the organizer. Until our church got to a certain level, we had to go down to a different distribution center and pick up our order. Now that we have grown to a certain level, it is delivered to us. Just like any coop, volume really improves things in a variety of ways.

Don't feel that way! Go to their website and get info about this... it is a ministry that is intended as a blessing to anyone who wants to use it. It is very important that it not be a needs only based ministry. Everyone can use a little help with their food budget, and that is what it is intended for... Our church is a sponsor for this program and it has grown by leaps and bounds. Sure, there are some who are more in need than others, but that's not the point. The church donates money to this ministry and gives out about 100 free boxes per month at least... to those who truly are in need. But for anyone who wants to buy a box, that is great... many churches have a rule that in order to participate, you have to volunteer an hour or something like that... it is truly a volunteer run coop... the food is being sold basically for cost with all labor being volunteered. My dh has actually taken extra boxes and gone to low income neighborhoods and looked for kids playing outside and taking the food to their mom and just giving it to her - every time the person has responded with thankfulness and dh says that you can always sense God's hand in directing them to the houses where the people really need the help (there's always a story about a recent job loss or illness and they didn't know where the next week's food was coming from). These are donated boxes, paid for by the church or private donations. Yes, Angel Food is a wonderful outreach when used this way, but that is not *all* that it is. It is also there to benefit every single person in the church who would like to participate. It's as open to all as AWANA or Sunday morning service. So give it a try and order.. You will learn which foods you like and which ones you don't like. Some things are better quality than others, but it's not the same from month to month. I have not liked their steaks at all... tenderizer, etc., added and the flavor is a little off... other than that chicken has been good, etc . REally, don't feel bad about this at all... Talk to the organizers. They should make you feel better about it. Give it a try, and be willing to volunteer sorting boxes if necessary. It's a wonderful ministry to get involved with. Robin

Okay, I've got to know... why did someone give this thread a bad rating? It's a normal, friendly thread asking about vacation ideas, for heaven's sake! Is someone so offended that the op is going to patron the Creation Museum that they decided to diss her this way? I'm truly curious.

All I can say is beware what you tell the hive. We'll remember what you've paid good money to a therapist to forget :). I also remember trying to figure WHO the psycho neighbor was, and the gay couple was the primary suspect for quite a while... I think your dh is one of the luckiest guys around.

I second that! LOL

Ooops, my apologies. I didn't read the whole thread and didn't know you were undergoing testing for a potential problem. I thought we were just kidding around about menstral brain fogs, and was trying to interject my own brand of humor... Hope all goes well with your tests, and that you're feeling better soon.

LOL! You and me both! Surely the mongoose has a redeeming quality... wasn't it a mongoose that killed the snake in Riki Tiki Tavi? Oh that's right... Hawaii doesn't have snakes... nevermind :)

Sorry, but I don't remember. :)

Oh abbey... I am so happy for you and proud of your brilliant dh!! Gosh, I remember those days back in California when his laptop got stolen with all his work, and the psycho neighbors who kept reporting you... To think he went from that to tenure in this amount of time... I mean, it was just yesterday, wasn't it?!!! HUGE congratulations (belated, I know... my apologies... didn't have internet for a couple of weeks due to a move). What did you end up doing to celebrate?

Yeah, that's it. Too much tanning. Yeah. :) Funniest comment overheard at the precinct today (from good friend who manned the polling station)... "When are the carcasses meeting?" LOL