Well, I'm not in my 40s yet but, in my world, if you're putting on a suit, you're putting on hose, too. And heels, even if they're low pumps. I always favored flesh colored (meaning the actual color of my, personal, flesh), thong toe ones, so I could wear open toe shoes, but I wore suits to work, in the daytime. So, in my 38 y.o. opinion, a suit without hose is half dressed.

We buy books, mostly. Sometimes electronics. I just ordered an iTouchless stainless, self-opening trash can - $60, Prime eligible. :D My MIL, SIL, dad and a couple friends all use my account. They have to log in as me, but then they can add their own ship-to address and billing info. (You have to update billing info any time you add a new address... or something odd like that) The billing system does not seem to care that their names / addresses are linked to their cards. I do get the confirmation emails, though. I just forward them to whoever ordered.

Me, too. I would also add the entire Sandra Boynton collection. We had so much fun with those when my kids were tiny. I think I can still recite them from memory (they probably can, too). My absolute favorite for real littles is On the Day You Were Born. I weep every time I read it, and it is one of my favorite gifts for new parents.

I am perfectly standard in my circle of friends... i.e. crunchy hippie homeschooler crowd. My husband, who gets out in the "world" more with that job thing, reminds me more and more that the way we do things is not the cultural norm. I'm always shocked. In my experience, the more I evaluate how/what we do, the more I evaluate. It starts with making a conscious evaluation of one thing, then seems to snowball into always evaluating. ;) It started with birth options and has spread to the place where I can't buy anything without wondering about the off-gassing, labor practices, environmental impact... It's a continuum. Like I said, though, I don't really think of any of it as "weird" until someone points it out. :D My dad his live off the grid for 21 years... that's not "weird" to me, and one of my fantasies, too.

For what it's worth, when I was a teenager, I had a woman in our community who would call me monthly (for a couple of years) to schedule me to watch her kids. Every. Single. Time. I told her I didn't babysit (and that I didn't know who put my contact information in the community newsletter, but it was not correct), I would get the "what? Watching my kids is beneath you?" attitude. It wasn't beneath me. I worked at a restaurant. Six days a week. Doubles (11 a.m. until midnight) four of those days (or just the two weekend days during the school year). I brought home $1000 in tips in a weekend. I had neither the time, nor the inclination to take a pay cut to watch her kids. It could be that the kids you're asking about just have other commitments. ;)

Try freezing it, then scraping as much off as you can (gently, so as not to damage the fibers) with a credit card. Then, you can use GooGone for the rest. GooGone is a light oil base (like kerosene) and does not leave oily residue after washing. Is it me, or could the gum only have fallen out of the mouth of the person sitting behind you? :001_huh:

I freeze my bowl in a -10F freezer for the full 24 hours called for in the manual and make sorbet (so, no cream at all). I've tried making a second batch after a few hours, no luck. I think you just didn't chill it long enough. Just pour the mixture into a container and let it cure in the fridge overnight while the bowl freezes all the way.

That's what I use and it's one of a very few things that do not cause breakouts for me. I really only wear "full" makeup in the depths of winter, when my skin looks dull and uneven. The rest of the year, I may wear mascara and lipstick if I'm dressing up.

I think "tortilla flour" refers to masa harina, for corn tortillas. (For which you need a press) I just use the all purpose I normally use for everything else... sometimes I substitute some of it with spelt or whole wheat pastry flour, though. I use Jungle (or Spectrum if I'm out of Jungle) non-hydrogenated palm shortening. Crisco would be fine, if that's what you normally use. Lard would be traditional. ETA: we put anything in them - salads, meats, PBJ, traditional Mexican stuff, tuna. The kids like anything in a "roll up"

If I were to want to be on vacation from cooking (and I like to cook, but I still have those moments when I go quick & dirty... just not prepared food), I'd either plan ahead and put meals into the freezer or I'd pick up frozen meals on sale (I'd probably go with Amy's or some of the ethnic foods at the health food store, though, sale or not.) I'm pretty sure (unless they've changed it) Jenny Craig and Nutrisystem require a sign up, then you buy food.

um, this might not be the answer you were looking for but... nothing, they're all rubbish, full of not-food ingredients and do absolutely nothing to change your eating habits other than make you dependent on their prepackaged meals. Sorry. (And ordering from the company locks you into the prices they choose to offer, rather than being able to hit sales, use coupons, etc.)

We love Monk, even the 4 year olds. They're pretty discreet about the crime scene, though there are some episodes that would offend some of the more conservative among us - adultery, etc. Love Jeeves and Wooster (LOVE Hugh Laurie, especially being British - as opposed to House). I would definitely prescreen Agatha Christy, though. I tend to think of Poirot and Miss Marple as quite tame, but we were just watching one of the recent Masterpiece Mystery episodes and there was repeated discussion of one of the town people seeking abortifacient herbs from the grandmother (an herbalist) of another, as Miss Marple unraveled parts of the mystery. It was over my kids' heads, but it would probably not be the ideal conversation starter if they were older.

That's funny... our prices are up because we've been exporting it to Canada. :001_huh: Grading only has to do with color, though it does stand to reason that the dissolved nutrients would be higher ounce for ounce in the darker syrup, since more of the water has been boiled off.

Yep, I use Seventh Generation and don't even bother to rinse the gunk off. Everything comes out sparkling, almost every time (sometimes bread dough doesn't come off the paddle, but I think that has to do with how long it sits before I run the load) and there is never any film, nor clouding on my glasses.

B&N is going to a new, scan-able card system this fall. You'll be able to use it online, too. My cashier was a friendly guy, but warned that they might need more "official" proof for the permanent cards... than my business card as the director of an umbrella group? :001_huh: We are considered non-public schools in MD! We also discovered them shelving the new "educational" area earlier this week in Annapolis. The guy said they are one of 50 pilot stores. Alas, their "how to survive your classroom" section was quite large, but the actual section labeled "Homeschooling" had each shelf about 1/3 full. They did have Writing With Ease, though! Most of the rest was workbooks like the ones the teacher supply store carries, manipulatives, test prep...

Happy birthday!

Yeah, I think this has more to do with common experience than how to engage with non-homeschoolers. In both situations, the "other" people share common ground and their conversation naturally drifts toward that. The same would hold true if you had three vegan couples and you were the only non-vegan, or three couples (or kids) from one church (that had some sort of major thing going on) and you attended another. In any event, you can either throw in your insights (i.e. "wow! I often wonder how the budget cuts are affecting school families!") or you can arrange the social situation differently, more one on one, so that there is other common ground. Unfortunately, as rude as it is to exclude the hostess from the conversation, it is just as rude for the hostess to dictate which topics are "acceptable". You know?

I buy organic, fair trade, dark roast Sumatra beans from Coffee Bean Direct. ~$6.50/lb and no shipping when I buy it in the 25# bag. (which I sometimes split with friends)

I'm an X-er (at least my husband insists that I am) and I am completely scandalized by the idea of appearing at a job interview and telling the interviewer I am not available on Wednesday mornings because I have a yoga class and Tuesday and Thursdays I will be leaving early for my book club and happy hour with friends. :001_huh: That is, apparently, the new trend (at least before the tanking of the economy). I spent my teen years in a pretty affluent area, too, and almost all of my peers had jobs in high school and continued working through college, etc. Those that didn't were usually highly committed to something else, like sports or dance. Of course, that was the uber-achieving 80s. But, yes, we've all been slackers according to our parents' generations. Such is the way of the world, no?

Oh, I totally missed that! (Note to self, read ALL the words... preferably in order) Oh, well, she might want to go on vacation then, if eviction becomes necessary. yikes!

:lol:

My advice to your daughter (because I, too, think a teen should be able to choose): I took French and Latin in high school. The functional difference is this: I can order a beer AND find the toilet in a French speaking country. I can only order a beer in a Spanish speaking one. ;) Seriously, I took French because it is the language of my family (all great grandparents are from Quebec and PEI - my parents' is the first generation not fluent in French). I have run across exactly one French speaking (no English) person in the 20 years since. I have run into hundreds of Spanish speakers. Of course, the great irony is that my children are learning French and Latin... my MIL took both in school, too, so now it's a tradition to be linguistically dysfunctional. :D

Evictions are done without direct confrontation.(At least here. I assume DE is similar) She would file with the courthouse and he would be notified (with appeal and date of exit information) by certified mail or the sheriff. If he's not gone by the date given, and hasn't appealed, the sheriff (or whomever - someone with body armor and a gun) will remove him.

It would give me pause. Meth (and PCP) users tend to have remarkably bad decision making going on. I would at least be on the lookout for any erratic behavior. (A meth lab would be a whole 'nother ball of wax, just because of the chemicals, and I would be beside myself and doing everything possible to get it out of my neighborhood.)

I suspect this is the result of many factors: 1) There seems to be a distinct lack of ambition among our new crop of young adults. (Obviously not all of them, nobody get your back up because your kid is industrious) I know my husband had interesting discussions about the "new generation" when he was in grad school. The general gist of it was that these kids are appearing for job interviews and dictating the terms of their employment, like the hours they're available to work, as dictated by their social schedule. It's the pendulum swing from the yuppie '80s. 2) The economy is in the tank. Even if they are willing to work long hours for little pay, there are sooo many applicants for any given position, the odds are simply not in their favor. 3) I think it is a cultural thing that, when you turn 18, you're out on your own. Whether parents are dictating that or the kids decide they need to be out, the effect is the same. Unfortunately, we are no longer in a place where newly fledged teen-adults can support themselves. My husband lived at home until he moved in with me. At 28. I think his younger brother was around the same age. His sister is 35, a teacher, and still lives at home. In their area, having worked in the same place since she graduated from college, she would not be able to afford her own place, unless it was highly questionable. My in-laws have a rare ability to segue from living with children to living with adult children (and treat them like adults), though.