Good one. Is it me, or is it a little eerie that the finance people don't seem to get the irony of their statements? I heard last night that AIG is claiming they are contractually bound to give out that $165M in bonuses, so even though they don't want to, they'll have to pay them out. Ok, but, wait! They will grudgingly cut the "retention bonuses" by 30% but want everyone to realize that this could cause them to lose some of the "best and brightest". Best and brightest what? Surely they cannot be referring to the giant financial brains they've got on the payroll, right? The ones with the "golden parachute" contracts that commit to pay their salaries and bonuses for years if they are FIRED? For CAUSE?? Yeah, "Corporate Terrorism" seems to fit well. Maybe we can respond with a little "Public Loansharking Muscle" and commence to breaking kneecaps. You know, just randomly, to set an example. :D

I went from a Suburban to an Odyssey and have been very pleased with the van. BUT! I have three kids in car seats / boosters, so the configuration and ease of getting everyone in is a factor in that. As is gas mileage. If you are entertaining a specific Yukon, I would strongly urge you to look at the ratings for that specific year and model. Our Suburban is a '97 and, after the fact, I looked around at reliability reviews... suffice to say, about the only thing that did not get a black mark was the seats (and they do continue to function). Meanwhile, we've replaced the engine, the alternator, the transmission, had wipers that didn't work in the rain (but did work when it wasn't raining) and a whole host of wacky problems. Apparently, that year was simply not a good one for Suburbans. If you want a car-like ride, I'd go with the Honda or the Lexus. (Or, my personal preference, a Volvo wagon.:001_smile:)

Oh, yes. I've sobbed my way through the live performance a few times. The book takes forever to read because there are certain parts where I have to keep putting it down, crying too hard to see the text. Miss Saigon is another one that needs tissues to sit through.

You're right. It's crazy trying to find other homeschoolers. We actually advertise in the paper and on the local library bulletin boards, and hold informational meetings for new and prospective families. We now have a website for our area and a number of people have found us through that, as well, but all that seems to be way outside the "normal" (read: word of mouth) way of doing things. When we were first starting out, I found other homeschoolers by searching Yahoo groups for MD homeschool lists. Once I'd joined the lists, I found information about a new co-op forming in the area, an umbrella group that does field trips, and other activities, but it was really daunting for a while. It's a shame that more people and groups aren't putting themselves out there publicly.

If it were me, I'd go with health first, sanity next (or at the same time) and then school. If I can get control over what I *can* control, then the rest isn't as daunting and usually clicks into place. And, frankly, living with the physical fallout from food allergies and in a chaotic house would not put me at the top of my game to make a job change, even in a good economy, if that makes sense. :grouphug: I feel for you.

Totally fine. And if anyone complains, tell 'em it's a New Millennium Victory Garden. But not zucchini. People will hide in their houses if you have zucchini.

I do, though I don't think I'd say I "run a tight ship". Our decision to home education was based on the <dreadful> quality of the schools here, though. And that my reading 5 year old was not eligible to start until the next year. So, yes, I suppose it was, in some ways, to have control over our kids' education, but only because my eldest's education was controlled by the public schools and we have a very concrete understanding of how substandard they are. (My husband is not the father of my eldest, and I had joint custody with the ex, so homeschooling was not an option) I would say, though I am now a dedicated homeschooler, this option might not have even occurred to us for consideration if we lived elsewhere.

I use qt or 1/2 gallon mason jars and don't really find them heavy. I don't care for plastic, though, so it's pretty much the norm for our house; leftovers go in vintage glass, lidded dishes, etc.

I have the Pro and, while I love it and would only trade it for a 40qt Hobart that bolts to the floor and comes with a safety cage (yep, total geek), you should be aware that the little clip in the back that holds the bowl in place on the raise-arm models (the Pros) does not hold that well for huge batches of dough. In reality, that means I have to hold the bowl steady (or it rocks back and forth on the arms) when I make large batches of stiff dough... it is only occasional, but it was startling when I moved from my screw-base model. Otherwise, I have been very happy with mine, and make 4x pizza dough and double batch bread pretty frequently with no issues.

Not Joann, but... It's all trial and error. Some people do great with a little BS in a lot of water. I tend to go heavier on the BS and mix about a 1/2 cup with enough water so it's just pourable, almost like heavy cream. I use the apple cider vinegar as Joann described, but rinse it out thoroughly and do a final rinse with cooled chamomile tea. The vinegar can make your hair very heavy if you use too much. (So can honey, which is very conditioning, but I find needs to be confined to the ends of my hair or it dries very heavy - like morning after the prom, full of product, heavy.)

Or make some the day before and make fried rice. One of the moms at our co-op made an excellent pilaf in the cooking class last session: Middle Eastern Rice with Lentils(from the Vegetarian Times Complete Cookbook) 1/2 med onion chopped 1 tbs veg. oil 1 cup uncooked brown rice 1 tbs tomato paste (the recipe calls for low sodium tomato paste but I use what I have) 2 1/2 cups water 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon 1/4 cup dry lentils 1 tsp salt 1/2 cup raisins ( I used golden raisins) 1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted In large saucepan, over medium heat, cook onion in oil until soft. Add rice and stir for several minutes. Combine tomato paste with water and cinnamon. Add to rice along with the lentils. Bring to boil, cover and lower heat. Simmer for 30 min. Preheat oven to 350. Stir salt, raisins, and pine nuts into the rice mixture. The mixture should be a little watery; add 1/4 cup of water if it is dry. Place the mixture in a greased 2 1/2 qt baking dish. Cover and bake for 20 to 30 min.

No, I don't. I am 38 and have about as much gray as my grandmother did when she passed away at 82. (And more lines in my face... as much time as she spent gardening, she was never, ever in the sun apparently) My husband has about the same amount, but his hair is shorter, so it doesn't show as much as the streaks I have with my hair pulled back. But, no, I don't intend to maintain the illusion of youthfulness through color, injections or plastic surgery, despite my mother telling me I should. I am the age I am and I'm ok with that. (And I would totally call about the rude woman. I am terribly sick of the trend where you can just make any unseemly comment to customers, then insist on your rightness.)

Microsoft Money does the same. I use the reminder feature on Bank of America online banking, though. It emails me. (Or, I just set up the payment to go out in accordance with the due date.)

:lol: Yep, that's what I always tell people, too. The first was around 5-6 months, the second, around 6 weeks. The boys? I tinkled on the stick and couldn't get my pants back up. :D

I bake two loaves, twice a week, and make tortillas and other stuff in between. My favorite hamburger roll recipe is here. I double it and make really big sub rolls.

Aw, that's sweet. I played the violin for a while, in 4th grade. It was dreadful. In reality, I used to be a software engineer. :D

I make pretty much everything from scratch, so don't worry to heavily about HFCS... there's none in oats or flour or other "ingredients".:D Nature's Best bread doesn't have it. Annie's products don't (I just checked a rogue box of cinnamon bunnies to make sure) and my kids like their "bunnies" snack crackers and mac & cheese. Pretty much anything organic isn't going to have it because corn grown for HFCS is generally not organic and is genetically modified.

My husband probably would be taken for a contractor except when he's in a suit, then he looks like a politician, which is the purpose if the suit (political schmoozing). He's a firefighter / union president. Me? I dunno. Given my avatar, what would you guess I used to do for a living?

We belong to an inclusive, widely varied co-op that meets in a church (because they delightfully rent us their space - we actually have no common members) once a week. Not my style, but my kids' so we go and they love it. I am also the director of an umbrella group and we do field trips about monthly so I can do reviews with member families. People are expected to come if they sign up (obviously) but we're a pretty loose bunch and no field trip is mandatory.

You know, sometimes you just have to embrace the crazy. I am wearing a bracelet that says "leap and the net will appear". Leap. :D

Yes, indeed! Thanks for the recipe, Kate!

I've never been able to find really good galleries. I can send you a picture of mine, though. ;)

I usually soak them overnight (or a couple of nights, if I forget I'm soaking them) in about twice the depth of water as beans. Then, I cook them on low overnight in the crock pot with some onion, garlic, cumin, salt... Then we go all sorts of things with them - bean burritos, mostly.

I was thinking of you the other day and wondering if you'd heard anything. I'm glad there is a diagnosis and a plan. I hope he gets back to normal soon.

:iagree: Yep. That's basically what became of ours. I didn't have the jumpers and whatnot to entertain them (just didn't ever think of it during the window where they would have enjoyed them) but we did have gates. I would essentially gate them into the livingroom / foyer with their toys. It really wasn't an issue if I gated them in at an appropriate time - like not when they were getting hungry or tired.