I agree with calendar of your kids and a small photo album of your sister, perhaps given at a time other than Christmas. My condolences. We lost a good friend we'd known for over 25 years to suicide last week. It's doubly hard knowing the devastation survivor guilt is and will be wreaking on her husband.

We've been enjoying the British Bake Off series on Netflix and came across a reference to the Great Comic Relief Bake Off. I found the first episode of the first season on Youtube, but can't seem to reliably find full episodes there for the rest. We'd particularly like to see the one with Dame Edna (second season?). Ideally, I'd like to find somewhere that streams it for free since it isn't on any of the services we already have (Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Acorn) or the one we're considering adding (Britbox). We don't do anything along the lines of Torrent.

I've got a possible plan for my husband. I found a local guy who does blacksmithing lessons, something he's always wanted to learn. I've enough put back from doing some market research to cover one set of classes. This will be a joint birthday/Solstice present (his birthday is early December) as it's a big present. He'll still get a nice dinner and a Cthulhu t-shirt (already bought) on his birthday and a stocking with a small i-tunes gift card and some other things for Christmas. My daughter's birthday is very soon, so I have been focused on that, but I know she'll get some make-up, fun socks, candy, and an i-tunes gift card in her stocking. We'll see what her larger Solstice gift will be. I found a very reduced price nice make-up advent calendar from Nyx (12 eyeshadows and 12 mini liquid lipsticks) after Christmas for a spring equinox gift for her for $20 (reg. $50) http://www.nyxcosmetics.com/wanderlust-advent-calendar/NYX_389.html?cgid=sets. In looking online, it seems these sorts of things may go on good sale on Black Friday, so I might pick up something that way this year. In-laws: no idea, but it can't be gift cards as my father-in-law sees those as unacceptable either to give or get. :( Probably some Kindle books for my mother-in-law, often dvds for father-in-law. Not sure what to do for my dad this year. I have his birthday not long before Christmas as well. My stepmother passed away recently, so this will be the first year without a joint gift. We've usually given gift cards to local restaurants. Other than that, we do cash to niece, nephew, and godson, and we will do some small gifts for a few friends, possibly food.

I think I found a solution---Philly Swirl Sorbet cups or sticks. No gluten, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, HCFCS, and even in rainbow, which will please my LGBT daughter no end. :) She doesn't do well with a lot of dairy or chocolate. One question--does anyone know of something similar in individual servings without red food coloring? A sibling of one of the girls is likely to be there and can't have red dye. ETA: their organic line has no artificial colors or flavors! :party:

I will hopefully get to meet the parent at the end of year event which is prior to the meeting where I had planned to bring cupcakes or other treat) and have a chance to discuss this with her. It's primarily that I thought I had the bases covered and found out about the new wrinkle last night.

Wanted to share the response I got from Kalo Foods, which does the gluten-free cupcakes: "Our facility and our products are nut free. However we do not have a way to test individual ingredients that we use and they are not certified nut free. You may not want to risk it if she has a severe reaction to nuts. I hope this has been helpful."

That might work for all. Looks like the cooies are readily available around here. Which flavors are the best?

OK, does anyone have experience with Kalo Foods brand cupcakes? http://www.kalofoods.com/ The ingredient list for their vanilla and chocolate cupcakes from the online shopping site for our local Lowes doesn't mention any nuts. I've sent a note to their corporate office asking. If they are, this would be very convenient for us, as this is the brand carried locally.

Thanks. I'm not comfortable bringing homemade anything to any GS event now that I know about the nut allergy. We do tons of nuts and peanut butter. For their end of year thing coming up I'm taking prepackaged things that I can get from the store on the way so it doesn't even enter our house. I have some anxiety issues around serving food to others, which are greatly exacerbated if I know there's any risk of an anaphylactic reaction. There's a big difference in knowing some might get sick, which is bad enough, and the possibility of death if I accidently miss something. Lowe's has prepackaged gluten free cupcakes in store, but the flavors are carrot or banana, both of which often have nuts. I need to go back and check in-store. I'm not sure if we still have one Scout who can only do limited dairy. Maybe popsicles. These are teens, so I don't think lollipops will work, so I'll check into other packaged treats. Any ideas other than rice krispie treats? Cookies? We do have an Aldi, and also a Target and a Costco, though the last two are substantially farther away.

I want to take cupcakes to my daughter's GS troop meeting to celebrate her birthday, as they are meeting that day. The leaders are fine with it (several families do this), but we have a couple of dietary issues in the troop. At least one is gluten-free and a new Scout is highly allergic to nuts. Before the new Scout joined, I was going to get a set of regular cupcakes from the local grocery store bakery and some gluten-free ones to go with them. With a nut allergy, I'm not sure I'm comfortable getting the regular ones anymore, so does anyone know of a store that carries gluten-free, nut-free cupcakes? I have easy access to the following: Walmart Harris Teeter Lowes Food Lion Trader Joes Earthfare less easily Publix

Thanks. I have been reading a lot about changes in quality in Doc Martens since they started making them in China and Thailand in 2003. It appears that the newer ones can't be resoled as well? We looked more closely at photos of the soles of the ones we saw on sale and the tread looks quite shallow for the thickness of the sole, so I'm concerned that it would wear off quickly. She also is used to the inexpensive ones she has now that have a zipper and I wonder if losing that would make them less desirable. Too many concerns at the moment to justify spending that much, so we're going to wait a bit until more stores are carrying boots for the fall so that she can try on several different types to see what she likes and what fits well. She has a narrower heel, which sometimes is an issue. I wish REI had something in this sort of style, because I love their return policy---bring it back for any reason within a year, even if it's been heavily used. Hmm, I looked in the women's section, wonder if there's something in the men's that would work? The issue there is finding something small enough---maybe the boys' section? Thanks for all the input from everyone!

UGGs do look really comfortable, and she has a pair of knock-offs, but wouldn't fit this purpose. They're not something anyone would willingly wear in a NC summer, lol, and she wears her combat boots all year long (not that I understand why, they seem like they'd be too hot as well, but I'm not 16).

I had seen some comments that seemed to indicate doc martens don't have quite the rep they used to have since they are no longer made in the UK. They came into real popularity after I had already graduated in the early 80s. She does wear her current combat boots *all the time* with pretty much everything. Thanks for the suggestions of the cheaper sites! That's an even better price than I was looking at.

I have a friend in her 60s who has a floral pair and loves them, so go for it! Honestly, I've found that as I've gotten over 40 and now a few years over 50 that I care less and less about what other people think about how I choose to dress. :) I've seen some on sale that would bring them down into my budget and that's what's prompted the question.

My daughter has worn the soles off of her black inexpensive combat-style boots by wearing them almost daily and they can't be resoled. I am looking for recommendations for something to replace them. Since she's definitely shown it's her favorite style of shoe, I'm willing to invest a bit more than I might otherwise and get a better quality pair. She may end up going to college in the NC mountains next year, so something that can handle some snow would be nice (though she has good waterproof Ahnu hiking boots that will work for that). Cost: I'd rather keep it under $100 Color: black Size: Women's 7.5 or so, or the men's equivalent (current pair is a 7W, but she doesn't really have to have a wide shoe) Material: I'm assuming leather would be better so that it would last longer. Something that could be resoled by a local cobbler would be good. Style: Basically classic lace-up combat/motorcycle boot, not a super-thick sole. She's open to the kind that can fold down, but would want something without a thick lining as she wears them year-round (even this week when it's in the upper 90s here). Are Dr. Martens still considered good? Steve Madden Troopa?

I just use OneNote.

I had very dark brown hair, found my first gray hair at 17. My dad was completely white-headed by 40, so I guess I got it from him. I colored through my 20s and most of my 30s, then stopped when I got pregnant at 36. That's when I found out I was heavily gray/white, enough that I got random comments about my cute "grandbaby" when my daughter was little. I colored occasionally after these comments, then decided it was ridiculous to let comments from random teen retail staff influence me into doing something I found overly expensive and a pain, so I quit. I'm now 54 and mostly white/silver with some dark hair sprinkled through. My husband is just now at 51 starting to show any significant amount of silver in his dark brown hair. His beard was a different matter. It was snow white in his early 40s, so he decided to go clean-shaven.

Check out Warren Wilson in NC.

Interesting. I may have to try adding a bit of vinegar to the cooking water. I've always seasoned the potato salad and mixed it while it was warm. In fact, eating warm fresh potato salad on saltine crackers was a big treat in my childhood. :) My mother added the dill pickle juice, sometimes with, sometimes without cutting up pickles into it as well. I can't imagine a 1/4 *cup* of sugar in regular potato salad, however. I don't even care for it if made with a mayo that has sugar (Duke's for the win with no sugar at all!). If someone used Miracle Whip (shudder) with it, that would add another gram of sugar per tablespoon. I'll admit to having eaten extra potato salad instead of dessert ;), but I don't want it to taste like one. However, I don't understand putting sugar in white slaw, either, which evidently a lot of people do. Now, I do like German-style potato salad, which has a bit of sugar, and there's a bit in red bbq slaw, which also works. They're different animals altogether, with that sweet-sour flavor profile. My favorite potato salad-related memory is the way my mother used to plate it for church suppers in the 60s and 70s. She'd pile the potato salad up like a mountain and dust it with a light sprinkle of paprika. Then, she'd slice hotdogs in half lengthwise and fry them so they were browned on the cut surface. The hotdogs were arranged down the sides of the potato salad mountain like vertical stripes fanning out, with the fried cut side facing out. In between the hot dogs, she'd dot it with sliced pimento-stuffed olives. It was quite a production! I'm convinced the idea came from a ladies' magazine.

I'm looking forward to it and plan to actually start watching again. Clara irritated me to no end and I never warmed to Capaldi. Wonder if they'll make her ginger? :) I'm more interested in seeing what may change with Moffatt leaving.

I got a set by mistake once and ended up quickly giving them away. IKEA has a set of 100% cotton twin xl sheets (Dvala) for $11.99 through today, in white or dark blue, reg. $14.99. white http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70265252/ dark blue http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10265250/

Potatoes, mayo (only one with no sugar), hard-boiled eggs, minced onion (fresh or dried), bumpy mustard, salt, sometimes diced celery, sometimes dill pickle juice (never sweet). Never any sugar. For deviled eggs, no pickles.

You can order any number of glow-in-the-dark and light-up items in bulk from Dollar Tree, including rings, lanterns, color-changing battery tea lights, etc https://www.dollartree.com/search/go#?lbc=dollartree&method=and&p=Q&ts=ajax&uid=116895185&w=glow&cnt=300 You can order glowstick swords and have them process through a glowing sword arch, or shower blessings on them with glowstick fairy wands (with a choice of stars, butterflies, or flowers). ;) Dollar Tree is also a good place for other inexpensive wedding decor. https://www.dollartree.com/search/go#w=wedding

Maybe I'm just terminally klutzy, but if I tried to eat spaghetti with tomato sauce in a wedding gown, it would end up looking like the theme of my wedding was "CSI crime scene"!

My first thought was to check local thrift stores for cheap "oriental" carpet runners or a few smaller rectangular throw rugs of similar style to lay down, which could be covered with a fabric runner if the mix and match look was too informal, but that would be difficult to do from a distance. Whatever you use, you'll want to plan for someone to sweep the rocks away from the area so that it will lie smoothly and make sure it's heavy enough or secured in some manner that it doesn't blow around if the wind kicks up.