I like a little popcorn with Parmesan & black pepper, good chocolate with nuts, tortilla chips & whatever is in the fridge for dipping (hummus, salsa). As far as baking: I just made chewy walnut squares (with pecans. I don't care for walnuts) and substituted Pamelas for the flour with no difference in texture or flavor. I've also substituted Bob's GF AP flour for the flour in Outrageous Brownies with no difference in the finished product. Ahearn's all-purpose blend (gluten-free girl & the chef blog) made an excellent shortbread crust for my favorite lemon bars (who wants seconds blog), that even my non-GF friends (who love those lemon bars) voted no-difference.

We paid $116 for cable/highspeed/home phone. Then it went up to $140, then $180, then $210 over the course of a year, so we dropped it. - cell phones (2 - droid & iPhone) $189 - home phone $11 (with taxes etc) - dsl $27 - Netflix $16 One time "setup" costs were (approximately) $170 to replace the ancient antenna that came with the house, add an amplifier, $40 for a converter box for our old tv and, eventually, $99 for a Roku box to watch Netflix streaming on the tv. (both the converter & Roku were rebated when we bought them, though, so we paid less than that)

:iagree: at our co-op, he would have been excused from class to sit with you if he couldn't get himself under control after being asked to settle repeatedly. I wouldn't have bat an eye over her comment. But it DID bother you, which is the important thing, and you dealt with it gracefully.

I've already replaced all the bulbs in our house with CFLs, except the nightlight in the bathroom. That includes chandeliers and dimmable lights. (and one dimmable chandelier) We buy the "soft white" ones, so the light they put off is pretty close to an incandescent bulb (I don't care for the bright white or "daylight" bulbs regardless of type). Recently - in the past year and a half - I have started replacing with LEDs. (First were the mini-spots in our kitchen, originally halogen) They're ridiculously expensive, but are supposed to last 15 years, and since the CFLs last so long, I'm thinking we'll be replacing about 1 a year (with the exception of the spots, those have been about one every 4 months as the halogens go). The LED spots are basically indistinguishable from the halogens next to them. I have a history of migraines, and have had no issue at all. They are not the CFLs of the 80s and early 90s. Those were horrible. These are instant-on, no flickering. A couple are not exactly full brightness when it's cold, but they come up quickly.

I would think a step (which had been pointed out) is a reasonable part of q house. If you had a hole in your floor and threw a rug over it, I can see expecting some sort of assistance. A misstep is a misstep and can happen on any surface, anywhere. And I would be leery of her not being covered. She fell down. What's not to cover? Does she need precertification for ER visits? Scans? If that's the case, she needed to call for approval, or the ER did. That is not on you.

Ditto.

:iagree: My dog is not particularly well leash trained (meaning she tends to drag us to and fro to sniff all the wonderful foreign smells). On occasions when she is on a leash, I am conscious of others coming toward us and bring her appropriately close so she can't dart across the sidewalk and trip them. If she was inclined to engage passersby, we would stop and sit while they passed.

:grouphug: I've found that sometimes, extended family just sucks, and we realize we've ended up with the only properly functioning one of the lot. And happy, happy birthday to Possum!!

:iagree: ours worked really well for over a decade. When it started going bad, we got another. I can't abide crappy can openers.

Our next door neighbor really, REALLY wants my 10 yo in his AP US history class. I'm thinking "no way", but he's repeatedly commented on how bright and engaging the kids are, which is nice, especially when he's got the more advanced highschool kids in his class. A couple weeks ago, we got a rare FedEx delivery, with a new driver. Homeschooling came up and she was very enthusiastic, told me how great it was that we were doing it, that she had several homes hookers on her route and how we were all doing a great job, etc. I guess I won't dread seeing a fedEx shipping notice anymore, will I? :D Eta: our state homeschooling coordinator - from the Dept of Ed - discussed his interactions with college admissions offices over the past several years at a meeting I attended. Mostly, they called him for clarification on diplomas, etc., but he said they were mostly quite impressed - enough to comment - on the quality of application packets they received from homeschooled applicants. (he did say there were some negative comments about rare, individual packages that were just :confused: but that those were commented on as exceptions to the favorable rule.)

Title Nine has great sports bras. As for shoes, it depends what you look for in a shoe. I prefer minimalist and would look at New Balance Minimus or the Merrell barefoot line. Merrell just in general is good for trail shoes, though.

Ooh, Dawn, those are excellent! Thanks!

Um, not to be the weirdo of the group, but I see you have a 1 yo. Postpartum hair loss is not uncommon, and I know mine didn't really set in until my nurslings were eating solid food and my hormones were wildly fluctuating with that change. If you're also experiencing pp thyroiditis, well, that just adds to it. Could that be what's happening?

Yes.

:iagree: Generally, too, if I'm riding in the car with someone other than my family, we're not listening to the radio. We're chatting. (With my family, we're usually listening to audiobooks or NPR, so the annoying song question is moot) This reminds me of a ride, almost 20 years ago, with my new boss: chat, chat, chat <omg, why is my bum warm?> chat, chat, chat <ok, seriously, now it's hot> chat, chat, chat <this is not normal... how do I ask my new boss why my bum is overheated?> chat, chat, chat <panic! panic!> chat, chat, Boss: oh! the seat warmers are on! I must have hit the buttons with that box! <turns them off>

I used to sleep til 10 or 11, given the opportunity. Since the boys were born - even in the depths of twin-infant sleep deprivation - I get up between 5:00-5:30. I set my alarm for 5:30, but I'm usually awake before then. I think it's a self-preservation thing. By the end of the day, I'm pretty fried. Early morning, before everyone else gets up and the day gets underway, is my only time for quiet.

In our case (and I assumed that it's the same for the OP), it isn't associated with having to turn off the tv, it's a global bad attitude - physical fighting amongst themselves, surliness, inability to follow directions, etc., and is an all day thing. When they aren't allowed any regular screen time beyond the Friday night movie, there are squabbles here and there, or general complaining about something in particular, but everyone generally gets along. Also, the only time they get "bored" is when the tv has been available to them on a regular basis.

:iagree: we have also noticed a direct correlation between screen time and attitude, with all three kids. And, no, it's not content. They don't watch sassy, snarky shows anyway, but it's the same whether they watch Jeopardy! or Magic Schoolbus or anything else regularly. We've cut it down to movie night on Fridays.

I'm not sure I would require school, rent, or out. Neither of our families did (though my husband, his siblings and I have always been gainfully employed, me since I was 14)... But everyone here is expected to contribute to the household in an age-appropriate way. At 19, sleeping the day away and being provided for 100% is not age appropriate. I think providing for himself in a tent on your property is perfectly reasonable, since he does not care to contribute to the larger community of your household.

Me, too. And if it was laminate throughout - or the entire main level - it would be a complete no. We have 150 year old pine floors that are original to the house, with the exception of the kitchen and laundry room. The kitchen had vinyl crap on the floor - it has been replaced by cork. There is a little wear next to the door, but that is the main door we use and we have a dog and three kids running through it with sandy shoes all day long... We did NOT finish it properly when we installed it (don't ask), and I am really not good about keeping up the floor. Re-sealing it is on my to-do list after I finish staining the front porch. When we were considering cork, I was concerned about dog toenails, and other stuff. I found this, which I thought was pretty interesting: It is also warm, soft under foot and actually much, much quieter than wood.

I got the "But Moo-oom! It's Sunday!" :001_huh: Yes, we have school today. We took off last Thursday for our not-back-to-school beach day so we're not only having regularly scheduled lessons, but catching up... And on a Sunday no less! What a scandal! :tongue_smilie:

We have lots of cotton napkins - twill restaurant style, lighter broadcloth one's from rummage, some I've made from yardage. They don't have to be ironed. The only ones I have to iron are the vintage linen. We had some polyester. I don't care for them; they're just not absorbent and I've had a dribble roll right off (luckily mostly to the floor, where the doguum cleaner is waiting to pick it up). They also don't fold nicely.

I read it as "at one time, the ship had a female Chief-Mate, but that position is currently held by a man". But I can totally see it the other way, too. :D

Bugger. I missed it. Have to watch tomorrow online. :glare: I love Hathaway. (I like Inspector Lewis, as well)

What a sweetie. Now drink your water and go lie down! :toetap05: