My 5 y/o played with salt dough for about 3 hours today--burying pencil "pipes" for the eventual house he built, creating a forest, fashioning food to barbecue. We like homemade salt dough because it doesn't stink, doesn't stain, and I don't worry if my 2 y/o tastes it.

Interesting article. I worked in the inventory department of our local Borders store from 2002-2006, and in that time the patterns of how they stocked titles changed. They went from stocking a wide variety of books to keeping shelves and shelves of the newest bestsellers and predicted bestsellers. Backlist titles, which sold predictably but slowly, started to disappear. One of the problems, and people would tell us this while they were browsing, is that non-bestsellers were full price, so people would come into the store, look at the book, and then go home and order it from Amazon. Obviously, the stragegy of mostly stocking bestsellers in each cagegory didn't work, either, since Borders is kaput. The Amazon model is impossible for brick and mortar stores to replicate. Ten copies of a low-demand book can be kept in Amazon's warehouse, waiting for buyers from all over the world. Barnes and Noble cannot stock a copy or two in each store--that's a money-losing proposition, and they cannot predict which ten stores across the US will actually sell the title, so they just don't stock it. Their problem is that customers looking for "long tail" items, which are most easily found online, will buy their mass market items from Amazon also.

Eh, let her go. Just warn her that some people keep separate bowls of candy--chocolate for little ones, rock-hard Bazooka Joe gum for teenagers. :lol:

Unfortunately, a lot of people seem to think that a small dog's behavior doesn't matter because they "can't hurt anyone." :confused: If you called animal control, would they know it was you? I would weigh the annoyance of the dog vs. bad relations with neighbors before calling.

:hurray:

Why don't we see cps show up regularly at the end of Wonderpets episodes to investigate all of the neglectful parents? And how does Elvis the fireman from Fireman Sam keep his job when he spends all of his time setting fires and getting trapped in wrought iron fences?

I dug out my last few receipts to get accurate numbers--I was starting to doubt my numbers after seeing some of the prices listed. At Costco, I buy two gallons of 2% milk for 4.88, two dozen eggs for 3.49, and a 20 pound bag of russet potatoes for 6.49. We haven't bought butter for a while, but I think the last time I bought it at Costco, it was still between 2.00 and 2.50 a pound. It has probably gone up since then. The coffee prices seem about right, but we only buy coffee when we can get a good deal on one of the more expensive brands like Tully's--not more than 5-6 dollars a bag. Flour is still fairly cheap, but I have noticed that sugar has gone up quite a bit. Beef is all over the place. 2.99 for pink slime special gb and up.

Hmm--I would wonder if it means that the book is a variety that has the title, author, and any graphics printed directly on the cover, rather than having a plain cover with a dust jacket over it.

nm

I have to ask--how do you play ulcers? :lol:

Our premiums "only" went up about 15%, but our deductible doubled--it is now $3000 per person. We found this out a week after we found that that we're expecting. :glare:

That's only slightly more tacky than the poor-mans's latte popular in my area--people buy a shot or two of espresso, pour it into their travel mug, and fill the rest of the mug with milk or half-and-half from the condiment bar. The really gutsy ones then ask the barista to nuke it to warm up the milk. :lol:

I graduated from a small liberal arts college in 1999 with a biology degree. First semester freshman biology was a weed-out class--iirc, about 1/3 of the class dropped after the first exam, with another significant number dropping after the next. Cell and molecular biology, normally taken first semester sophomore year, was another weed-out. One of my classmates who dropped told me about visiting the prof. during office hours to find a stack of pre-signed drop slips for all of the students who had failed the first exam. I only encountered required weekly assignments in math classes. Other classes required that assignments be done in order to participate in discussions, but the consequence for slacking was embarrassment, rather than a lowered grade.

Hmm--I have read that increased stress is associated with weight gain. Perhaps the laid back vacation attitude also contributes to weight loss?

Hmm, I'm not sure. We use a large national company, so I just called their 800 number.

There was something about Proctor and Gamble that was supposed to be satanic, but I don't remember the details.

Does your alarm company offer a cellular option? We found that we saved money by switching the alarm to cellular and dropping the landline.

If there is not a real person immediately when I pick up the phone, I hang up. We're dropping our land line in favor of cell service only, but I've started getting robocalls on my cell too. :glare: I just registered it on the dnc registry.

Cat. I have found cats to be less destructive.

They have a great selection of dried fruits and nuts for reasonable prices. We also like a lot of their frozen entrees--DH loves the chicken Alfredo, the kids like the Mac and cheese and the taquitos, and I like the frozen coconut milk soup. We buy their frozen berries, mangos, and pineapple for smoothies. They used to carry delicious coconut milk mochi, but I haven't seen it for months. :sad: I like their cheese selection, but I only buy their cheese if we will use it quickly--I have found that it tends to mold quickly. I also like the pre-cut veggies, especially kale and other greens. And their sweets are nice. They have a lot of dye-free options for those who are sensitive. Occasionally I can taste the flavor of the natural colors, though--a slight beet, carrot, or turmeric essence. :lol:

:001_huh: That reminds me of the local restaurant where I watched an employee take a sip from one of those metal milkshake containers before pouring the milkshake into a glass for a customer. We have never returned to that restaurant. :lol:

I really like the cauliflower pizza crust. I have found that it needs to be cooked a bit longer than the recipe suggests.

Woohoo! I'm knitting my first sock right now too--using the "Silver's Sock Class" tutorial for toe-up socks one at a time. At first, I kept getting the needles mixed up, but now that I have about half of a foot on the needles, they are much less unruly.

When I worked at a grocery store, my favorite combo was when a very sleep-deprived man came in and bought diapers, formula, and condoms.

:grouphug: Praying for you and baby.