[Making dulce de leche]

I've heard dulce de leche called "danger pudding" because of the exploding can possibility. :)

[Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up--anybody read it?]

After reading this thread, I put a hold on it at the library. I figure it will be either helpful or good for a laugh. :)

[Do curriculum companies have sales in springtime or other times?]

I received an email from Milestone announcing that Rod and Staff is 10% off now. :)

[Silly Poll- Road names and home buying]

My street name is ridiculous. It is a hodpodge of directions and types of streets, with no obvious name to it. Mapping apps and gps have trouble finding it, and our utility company insisted that we didn't exist, despite their meters being installed outide the house. I won't give the real name, because internet, but my address is something like 123 West North Boulevard Avenue.

[Silly Laminator Question]

So…I love my laminator, but I have mostly laminated whole sheets, then cut them to size. How do I laminate flash cards? What can I use to keep them in place that won't leave an unsightly blob on the finished product? It looked like a Mr. Bean sketch last night when I was trying to keep everything in place. Thanks!

[Tess Holiday, Plus size model]

At least she really IS plus size.  Calling someone a size 12 plus sized is ridiculous. 

 

How should we define plus size? My BMI is 30, just over the line for "obese," and I wear a size 12. An old off-the-rack size 12 or a dressmaker size twelve is not plus-size, but with modern vanity sizing an off-the-rack size 12 is plus size. And now "size" looks wrong after typing it so many times. :)

[Please Talk about Food Budgets with Me]

Do you have a Trader Joe's nearby? Just switching from WF to TJ would probably save you a significant amount of cash.

[No School in Two Years]

The concept that it's hyperbole is mystifying to me. Are those who agreed with that comment really that sheltered?

My sil and I have joked about being one step up from "jars-of-urine-in-the-closet hoarders." In reality we have stacks of books on the coffee table, junk-mail clutter in the dining room, and the kids' shoes on the living room floor. Maybe you are just sheltered from bad jokes. :)

[How to help with counting to 20?]

nm

[Use carton of beef broth dated...Oct 2015???]

I would use it, if the aseptic carton is still sealed.

[Another would you eat this]

It was warmish. I smelled the cream and it smells okay….I'm putting it in my coffee. I can't handle the morning otherwise. 

[Help me use 2 lbs "ready to use" butternut squash]

I would make a pie--just sub the squash for pumpkin.

[Another would you eat this]

Last night I did some grocery shopping. As soon as I walked in the house baby started to fuss, so I asked my dh to bring in the groceries. He brought them in, but neglected to tell me that he was stashing everything on the kitchen floor instead of putting things in the fridge. So…would you eat half and half, or yogurt, that has been unrefrigerated for 12 hours?

 

[without googling...do you know what a candy striper is and were you one?]

Yes and no. I did have friends who did it. I don't think they got the spiffy uniforms. :(

[Book a Week in 2015 - BW8]

While waiting for dh to finish fixing the floor so I could get to drywall, I read Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew. Now I'm making mental plans for my new and improved super garden. Well, anything would be an improvement over last year's total garden fail. Still working on the winter gardening book, and also checked out an urban farmer book. Apparently an urban farmer is a gardener who lives in a city. :)

[Book a Week in 2015 - BW7]

Today I remembered that my library does e-books. 

 

This is the only way I read these days. My "real books" that I've started are lonely on the shelf.

 

I haven't been doing much reading of any type these days. We started a small kitchen remodel, only to find that ALL of the plumbing in the house was leaking and we had a pond in our crawl space. The last week has been devoted to drying out the crawl space and replacing the plumbing. I did get an amusing story out of it, though--on the day that our drain pipes were replaced, we didn't have use of the toilet for several hours. My boys were introduced to the joy of "watering a tree" in the yard. In the afternoon, just before all the systems were turned back on, my 7 y/o said "I'll be back in a minute, mom, I'm going to go fertilize a tree." "Okay hun." Wait, did he say…."Noooooo! Wait!" I had to explain to him why watering a tree in the backyard was okay, but fertilizing….yuck. 

[Anyone going to the HEAV convention?]

What a horrible acronym. Is it held at the vomitorium?

[Stop the oil madness!!]

Did you know that there's an oil to help with annoyance from the constant oil pushing? There is also an oil for your oils, when they lose potency. And you need the special foot pre-oil, so you can oil your feet to make them ready for your oil-treated oil.

[Peanut allergy: FDA warning about cumin]

Thank you for posting this! As a mom of a kiddo with food allergies, I have found it helpful to subscribe to the FDA recall alerts. I receive several notices each day in my inbox. The cumin recall continues to grow. Right now dd is having very bland food--I don't trust anything anymore!

[Book a Week in 2015 - BW7]

I read Ender's game years ago, and tried to read the next book but couldn't slog through it. I don't remember being particularly disturbed by it, but I probably skimmed it more than read it--I am not really into most sci-fi. There. I said it. :)

 

I would be happy to read a golden age mystery rather than Virginia Woolf. I read To the Lighthouse years ago, and found it a slog. Hmm--with all the books I seem to slog through, maybe I don't actually enjoy reading. Lol

 

Currently working on a book about winter gardening in my area. Back to the lovely world of nonfiction.

[Book a Week in 2015 - BW7]

A minor kitchen remodel has turned into a cascade of problems here, so I haven't been reading too much. For February I have read Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz, and Jane Eyre. JE has been on my to-read list for years, but the fluffy challenge was what I needed to finally do it. I thought it started out slow, but I ended up loving it. Now I need to find some movie versions to watch while I do my step aerobics at night. :)

[The Finland Phenomenon]

I would love something like that. I might consider P.S. if it was like that.

 

What I'd also like is a phonetic language like Finnish. Can you imagine the wonderfulness of reading instruction ending at the alphabet? A phonetic version of English would also make a fabulous international language.

You're not an Esperanto speaker by any chance, are you? Lol

[Today I'm that mom]

Hmm...I know a homeschool mom who tells her kids she's doing laundry, then hides in the laundry room and eats the last drumstick. It's altruistic, really--there is no way to evenly split a pre-made ice cream cone. I am saving them the feelings of persecution that result from getting the cone part instead of the ice cream part. :)

[Got my first wedding invitation by text.]

Am I the only one who thinks this is a great idea? Instead of hunting down the paper invitation for the driving directions, I could go back through my texts, click on the address and have a map pop up. Very convenient. ;)

[A New Direction]

nm