I am so thankful for this turn of events for you, and for the internet friend who shared the information that could make this turn happen. :grouphug:

Those things are like a Mensa challenge. I don't need that with a runny nose, forget about with shock setting in! On the upside, I bet once you gouge your way in, the tablets are all pre-pulverized for easier absorption. ;)

Diphenhydramine has been available in generic for a very long time. You are paying a premium for the name. That's it.

This is me, though the prep doesn't so much stress me out as deplete the energy I need to endure a bunch of people in my space. We actually end up with people here once a month or so, but it's an impromptu dinner thing rather than a planned event. Never, ever parties. We hosted holidays for several years so as to not have to drag the kids all over, but that's just as exhausting. I hide in the kitchen.

No. If I won't stoop to dying my hair to look younger, I certainly will not be injecting botulism toxin into my face. Quite honestly, the quest for eternal youth is not something I want to teach my children and I cannot imagine trying to explain to them why it's perfectly reasonable for me to have a deadly toxin injected into my body to paralyze my face so I can look better. And I have deep forehead lines that actually do bother me every time I see them.

eBay. My husband has purchased a number of replacement phones over the years. Then he just activates it through Verizon with his phone number. You have to get a Verizon compatible phone, but the sellers will specify which carrier a phone is good for.

Three is probably about average for us. They have PE two days a week and there is normally another day in there where they play with friends, take a class, go on a field trip... It's not ever week, but there are some weeks when it seems we're always out.

I am thankful for amazing friends, a few of whom reminded me just how much I adore them over the past few days.

I really like the Cooks Illustrated cookbooks. They give you the breakdown in the test kitchen for how various adjustments turned out.

:iagree: That's essentially what we have as flooring in the impact studio at work.

Ah, yes, the unfortunate intersection of I Want A Different Life and I Haven't Grown Up Enough To Know Every Thought Does Not Need to Be Expressed. Good times. :grouphug:

Baked chicken, Mac & cheese and salad. And the only part I'm responsible for is the salad. No idea what sort I'll scare up, but I'm pretty excited that that is the extent of my dinner planning tonight.

Bailey and the boys are 3.5 years apart. They all play together well, given gender differences, that the boys are twins, etc. (I mean that in the way that, while the boys seem to embrace hitting people with a stick as a valid activity, Bailey is not always on board... And multiples tend to organize against you which gives them advanced mischief skill.) Generally speaking, though, they are all close and enjoy playing/doing things together.

:iagree: I've never had an extended family meal where people contributed dishes and then divvied up cost... How is that supposed to work, anyway? You all add up receipts, then figure the cost per person, then add up your family's people, then subtract out what you already paid, then contribute the difference? Pay each person the difference between your receipts and their receipts? Throw it all into a pool and everyone gets a cut? Insane.

That does sound like how I felt after a recent gluten binge (and how I was feeling on and off for years before going GF). Except I never had GI issues. I can tell you that my gluten tests were "sub clinical"; I am positive for one celiac gene, and I had some antibodies but not enough to be clinically definitive. My doc's take on that was to go GF anyway because non-sensitive people don't have any antibodies, and a trial wouldn't hurt. We were also addressing other things at the time and I really didn't think the diet was a big factor... Until the binge. Yeah, that was enough proof for me. Eta: my way of going around in the world is largely what Erica described. I'm not so sensitive that I live in fear of cross contamination, but I do look for obviously gluten free offerings when I'm eating away from home. Another recommendation, which I've had good results having herbal clients follow, is The Inflammation-Free Diet Plan. That has been helpful for clients dealing with asthma to widespread, nonspecific pain.

Go to Flour Arrangements. She has some great looking holiday fare, including a luscious looking pumpkin pie. It's not pumpkin pie ice cream but... (I'm dying to try her pumpkin empanadas)

Yes. You can use OpenDNS or parental controls that are part of your service and block access to social networking as a genre or specific sites. I'm pretty sure Verizon's parental controls allow time blocking, so you could have it lock down during set hours. I'm sure other providers would have similar options.

That sounds like me when I'm just done. I'm an introvert, so going to socialize with a group of people (whether I enjoy them or not) is just tiring. If I'm already wrung out for whatever reason? Yeah, I can't find something to wear. Because that leads directly to being "on" which, at that point, makes me want to hide under the covers. When I'm not wrung out from overactivity, I have no trouble at all dressing myself. I honestly don't put that much thought into it. ;) I think your wardrobe issue is a symptom. At least, that's how it works in my world.

We just got the kids Nooks (the original). They won out over the Kindle because we can use them with any ePub formatted book, so we can check out ebooks from Overdrive as well as get them from other sources. B&N has a good selection of leveled readers and a decent number of free easy readers for the Nook. Do remember to password protect the download feature, whatever you get. Our least fluent reader figured that out as soon as my husband turned it off and forgot to re-enable it. :)

Our Mountain Buggy Urban double stroller was indispensable. All-terrain and turns on a dime. I will caution against orange, though, if you'd like to get through the grocery store without being stopped multiple times per aisle. I really love the Elise chaise from PBKids I bought as my "exclusive" nursing nest, too. ;) Otherwise, we really went the other way with the boys. I slung them together in a Maya wrap when they were very wee. We had a changing pad on an antique vanity upstairs but, really, we changed them on the living room floor more often and kept a basket of diapers on top of the tv. Two massive high chairs took up too much room in our dining room, so we went with collapsible booster seats. Oh... A diaper sprayer for the downstairs bathroom was awesome but more because - no lie - they did not potty train until they were almost 4 1/2!! (I was really beginning to think they would be those non-existent children who go off to college still in diapers.)

Last time I looked, teachers weren't subject matter experts. They used to be, but now the vast majority are generalists who develop skill in an area through interest and experience. As I was fond of pointing out when people waxed on about the perceived difficulty of software engineering: rocket science isn't Rocket Science if that's what you do for a living.

I agree. "Based on" would, to me, imply a closer to reality story line (but still not documentary) than "inspired by". The latter implies a fictional story line based on a concept, eg Law and Order. The former implies that the story is largely the same, with areas where cinimatic license has been taken to enhance the telling. Even documentaries are often limited to a single perspective, though.

The vole tongs hung in the trash closet after that. You know, so she wouldn't foul another pair on the next disgusting thing.

I should not read the boards pre-coffee. I took me three tries to see that you don't keep a bowl or PET next to the bed for this purpose. That's what we do, too. Bucket next to the bed for emergencies, otherwise the toilet. (no pets or bowels here) When the kids were really little, it was a towel in our laps. Running through the house with a barfing toddler just upped the level of difficulty in cleanup.

Oh, good. I was think maybe I'd pulled out a very special freak flag there. :D