I've been no-poo for a couple of years now. There is a patch of something (eczema, psoriasis?) on the back of my head that I can't see, that has been greatly reduced by the no-poo. I use the baking soda / apple cider vinegar method, and use a final rinse of cooled herbal tea, usually with chamomile, lavender flowers, rose petals... Sleepytime works well in a pinch. The final rinse makes my hair really shiny. I smooth some coconut oil through while it's still damp, to cut down on the frizzies. My hair is bout knee length and curly. It has never curled more, with any product. If anyone is about to attempt the no-poo, it's important to remember that there can be an adjustment period while your scalp normalizes after compensating for being stripped with shampoo for a long while. There's also some trial and error in finding the method / amounts that work for you, much like finding a shampoo that you like. I've found it to be well worth the change.

I'm not sure how much more "special" I would feel with tin foil on the windows than tablecloths tacked up. And it might be nice to see out occasionally. I would just put up room darkening roller shades ($5-10) on the windows, and spring for a blackout panel you can install behind the regular curtain on the sliding doors. Redi-Shades are fairly attractive, inexpensive, and easy to install. They come in room darkening and blackout models.

The unicycle book must have amazing information on the blank pages - there are only two used copies available... FROM $71.96! I like the one that wanted information on glass blowing, but the pages described throwing a "proper party". :lol: At least that one wasn't more than $5.

Also - and someone please correct me if I'm wrong - don't military personnel register their cars in their home state, no matter where they are currently stationed? So, if you're stationed in NY but your home state is HI, and you bought a new car, wouldn't you still have HI tags?

Yes, everything Suzanne in ABQ said, except mine is an LG. It's awesome. (and I thought you meant a tiny fridge meant for almost daily marketing, too... )

Yes, that IS unfortunate. I would try to teach my children compassion for their community, but I don't want to interrupt them while they're stuffing dolls we've made for an orphanage in Nicaragua. (My four year olds are particularly proud of their fabric choices) It is times like these when I wonder if I've missed the memo on some benefit in the crack the rest of the world appears to be smoking.

Um, you may want to handle them. I may be a little compulsive about my knives - and downright angry that Wüsthoff has stopped making mine - but I really, really don't care for the way Cutco knives fit in my hand or how they are balanced. I'd rather just give her the money and skip the knives. ;)

My parents intentionally bought a house in a neighborhood just like this, in the 80s. There was a 10 years legal battle between the HOA and one of the first residents, who owned a truck (actually more than on over that period) and had the audacity to park it in front of his house instead of up on the street. I kid you not. And, in the end, he won because that clause was not part of the original HOA agreement he signed when he bought the house. I can't imagine how much the HOA spent on the harassment. I would probably be in violation. I have an IAFF sticker, a sticker from our CSA (which is totally advertising), a presidential election sticker, and one that says (ironically, in this case) "Love thy neighbor preemptively".

That's what I was thinking. "120 days" seems like an awfully bizarre thing to ask for. Maryland is either 120 or 125 (can't remember which) and they consider the child to have "join residency", which changes child support. That's different than joint custody, though. I had joint custody with "liberal visitation" (so love those vague descriptions...not) with my ex, but my daughter physically lived with me (primary physical custody). I'd have her check into the laws about physical custody vs legal custody (decision making) in OK.

It's working for me (both yesterday and this morning)... have you tried clearing your cookies?

Our house is around that old - 1860s. As I type this, my husband is re-framing the dining room porch, which started out as a project to replace the screening so we could leave the door open... :001_huh: Suffice to say, in an old house - particularly one where the previous owners' highest standard was "cheapest and easiest", which translates into delightful things as spray foam between the window sashes - there is no such thing as an afternoon project. AND, we live in town, where we cannot have "farm animals", and the drunk, brawling neighbors are out across the street every single night when it's not freezing. However, we would do it again (on more land, outside of town) in a heartbeat. This house was built by hand, has seen many generations of families and all their joys and sorrows and, in many ways, it is an honor to restore it. (Or maybe I am a glutton for punishment. :D)

Wow. What a nut case. Thankfully, it hasn't gotten to chatting over the fence, where she could save up her alternate-reality version of friendly conversations and do something with them. :001_huh:

I iron, too. And really cannot believe how many people don't iron...? What's up with that? Do you go around looking like a used kleenex? Really, for the number of people who claim to not iron, I should be seeing a LOT of wrinkly looking people... maybe I'm blinded by the people walking around in their jammies. (Which is not unique to Walmart) With the exception of my husband's uniform, everything we wear is natural fiber, and generally cotton/linen. Dress shirts go to the cleaner because I cannot get them crisp enough at home, though I just got some liquid starch, so I may give those a whirl again. So, my answer would be: better than getting caught up on the ironing is the journey to the bottom of the basket. :D

It has been my experience, over the past four years of our own co-op, that some people are just not engaged. Two years ago, we had somebody who signed her daughter up for a book discussion, and never obtained the book - despite weekly reminders - for the full eight-week session. We had somebody sign up to teach a class (again, 8 weeks of classes), teach one week, go on vacation (covering that week), and then just decide to extend their trip another couple of weeks. And not let anyone know. And not understand the issue when we called her on it. Yeah, there are some people who sign up for things, but never actually commit, and can't seem to understand what the issue is when they leave everyone hanging. We generally nudge them toward the door.

Um, no, they are actually not. If a money order is paid for by a check and the check bounces, the money order does too. Weird, huh? Rather defeats the purpose of a money order, as far as I can tell.

This year, our co-op took on the service projects of our host church (they have a dwindling and aging congregation), so our family helped with a food drive for the local food pantry, and we collected toys, art supplies, items for "day bags" (hat, mittens, chapstick, tissues, snacks, etc.) and other miscellany for a new family shelter that was being hosted by a consortium of area congregations. We were honored to be able to share dinner with the guests one evening. This week, my eight year old will be helping me make some dolls for an effort spearheaded by one of the other co-op moms, to send dolls to an orphanage in Nicaragua. The moms are having a sewing party one evening, but I will be bringing additional dolls that my kids worked on. Over the summer, we all plan to get together and work on a mosaic piece for the local Hospice house.

I'd send out another email saying, since you haven't received any reply to your previous email, your plan is to purchase the $80 gift (today!), which will add an additional $5 to everyone's cut. Either it will inspire responses, or everyone will be aware that their share is $5 more ahead of time. I hate when people don't reply to email, especially time-sensitive ones. :glare:

Ooh, that's a tough situation. If I were you, I would let it go. Really. Just continue to share your progress - not in a crazy zealot way, but in the "Yay! We just paid off X debt! It feels great! Next up is..." general conversation way when it comes up naturally, like talking about your yard sale. (As an aside, you're not really going to sell a Cricut and camera lens at a yard sale, right? You're going to put them on Ebay or something?) It sounds to me as if you opened the door and she shared the information about bankruptcy as a way to shut down discussion on that path. Until people come to that place themselves, it has been my experience that they resent people suggesting they give up their spendy lifestyles. There's something there that suggests that the speaker is really saying they're a bad person for getting nails done, going out to dinner, etc. Really, the bottom line is that she is not interested in looking at her financial situation - she's got wedding spending to do, after all - and you continuing to pursue it directly is only going to make her less likely to come to you for the name of that book when she finds they're in some deep hot water in a couple years. Sorry, I can imagine how tough it is to sit by and watch.

We have bean burritos at least a couple times a week. I alternate between black and pinto beans, and make them from dried - soak them overnight, then cook in the crock pot with salt, cumin and chili powder. We prefer homemade tortillas, and then top our burritos with, well, whatever we want. Sometimes, it's just bean and cheese. Sometimes we add rice, avocado, sour cream, olives, chilies, salsa... potatoes sound yummy!

Yup, we get about 5000 "average" pages per cartridge. I've also found that, while the toner cartridges retail for about $80, I can get them for $30 something at Super Media Store. I usually order two, get free shipping and spend about $15 less than I would have on one somewhere else. We're thinking about getting another all-in-one, though, so we can make copies, etc. This time, one of the criteria is separate color cartridges. It's ridiculous to have to change the color cartridge (at $45-60 a throw) when the cyan (or yellow, or magenta) is the only color that's low. :glare:

I pretty much graduated from Harriet the Spy to Stephen King... I honestly don't think there was very much age-appropriate material for adolescent readers back then, and Salem's Lot was in my dad's bookcase. Also in the bookcase was Homer, Salinger, Steinbeck... I read those, too. In my mother's bookcase was the-Blume-novel-that-shall-not-be-named (though I must say we still, 25 years later, joke about the dog's "sticks and wees", and whether the chicken was properly browned), V.C. Andrews, Danielle Steele, etc. I read those, too. I discovered last year that my grandmother (a devout Catholic) was a HUGE fan of trashy novels. Except, she used to check them out of the library and mark out any words she found objectionable with black Sharpie. I wonder if they ever caught on to her... :001_rolleyes:

I found out about our co-op on our local Yahoo group. More recently, though, we have advertised homeschooling information meetings in the local newspapers, at the libraries in 5 counties and have, this past year, put up a website. We've had at least 10 families find us since fall through the website. I hear all the time how difficult it is to *find* other homeschoolers. It's because everything is word of mouth. :glare: Advertise! Send a "press release" with informational meeting date information to the newspapers.

We've been refusing to turn on the a/c, too. I'm just becoming profoundly cheap, though, and it has been a weirdly cool spring thus far on the Mid-Atlantic. I may change my mind in July or so, but right now I figure it like this: the house is a Victorian, so it was built for ventilation (27 windows, 4 doors). The Victorians wore a whole lot more clothing than we do, and cooked over a wood or coal fire and had gas lights. If they could survive it, we can too... (Come to think of it, our Amish friends have the same deal as those wacky Victorians, and they never look particularly wilted in the depths of the summer. :001_huh:) We've become a bunch of ninnies, and it's time to pull up our big girl panties and man up. Sweating is free.

To my knowledge, they cannot force a minor to work to support the family, even if that minor has already graduated. Isn't that what child labor laws were put in place to prevent? In fact, I'm not sure they could force her to get a job (or make benefits contingent on her looking for one) even if she was over 18. I think that only applies to the heads of household. (She may not be counted in the dependents if she was over 18, but that's a whole other matter) I can't imagine anyone wants to be in a position to ask for assistance. It seems rather prideful to me, though, to dismiss the possibility out of hand, to the detriment of one's family. You know? And, you can enjoy startling the checkout folks by being the already habitually frugal shopper with the card. :D

I love to cook. With the exception of the past few weeks, I generally cook three meals a day. (My kids have been on a cereal kick, so I haven't been making a hot breakfast) If it's not cooked, I made the ingredients - if lunch is hummus and veggies on pita, I've made the hummus and pita. There are a number of quick things in my arsenal for when we have a time crunch. I make pasta and veggies in a garlic cream sauce a couple times a month. That takes about as long as it takes to boil the noodles, and it's versatile so I throw in whatever veggies I have from our CSA pickup or, in the winter, from the freezer. A couple of weeks ago, we had fresh peas, this week, spinach. I also make a big crock pot of beans - generally black or pinto - about once a week or fortnightly, and a big batch of tortillas. Bean burritos and salad are supper once or twice, lunches, etc. We have lots of salads in the summer, too... I've often said I could eat some combination of soup, salad and bread for the rest of my life and never get board - with the eating or the cooking. (And, sagira, my house is a disaster, too. Sigh.)