Thanks, Barb! Hive love is good.:001_wub:

It's the generic voicemail lady alien voice saying "You have reached <stunted phone number recitation>" and then something about leaving a message. No idea what it is, I never leave messages at home. I actually rarely leave messages at all. Everyone I know has caller-ID. They know if I've called. ETA: On my cell, which I have always used as my business contact, it says "This is Angela XX. I am unavailable to take your call right now, but please leave a message and I will return your call when I am able."

Another vote for skipping cute. When they're cutesy-snide (like we're screening and will pick up if you're worthy, or the can't hear you game) I won't even wait for the thing to ring enough times for the machine to pick up. (And I hang up on my BIL all the time because he likes to play that game when he calls.) Our home voice mail has the generic voicemail lady alien voice. My cell phone (business line) has me saying I am unavailable, please leave a message and I will return your call as soon as I am able. And that seems too long, frankly.

Oh, my... I think I embrace just about all of the already-mentioned forms of snobbery. What does that make me, Uber Snob? (And can somebody pu-lease get me a link so I can use proper marks on this board??? Really? An umlat? Maybe an accent ague? Please?) Food: Yes, the tomatoes, processed food, food that is not food, only Kraft mayo (and I have really, really tried to like the other, natural brands), super-premium ice cream, nothing from a box mix... I will not drink beer that is available in a can (whether the one presented to me is in a can, bottle, or a draught). The only exception is Guinness. It is a grudging concession. I do not eat "cheese food". I have the following canned (tinned) items in my pantry: tuna, coconut milk, chipotle peppers in adobo. There are also the office supplies, the toilet paper, the trash bags, the clothes (fit and fabric - always natural fibers), textiles, yarn (wool or alpaca only, please... maybe some silk), cooking implements, appliances, ... Books? You bet. Hardcover. Trade paper in a pinch but, again, it's a grudging concession. I hate wrinkles. I press sheets. (I may need to translate that into Latin for a slogan) I think the inability to keep your pants up or lift your feet while "walking" is a direct reflection of poor character. Ditto using bad table manners, or "checking" one's body parts in public. No, I don't care if a person can identify a shrimp fork, but please use a utensil for the salad and chew without showing off the fruits of your labor. I think I need an intervention. Who opened this can of worms?

You can look at localharvest.org for the specifics of CSAs in your area, and their individual websites. Or, just call them. We found ours through Local Harvest four or five years ago, when they were just starting out. There have been some kinks - nothing major - and the pickup location has changed over the years, but our CSA farmers have become friends. Some things to look at: Share cost and how many weeks that covers. Share size and variety - some shares are good for small families, some for larger, as far as quantity of veggies goes. Also, look at what they have planned for the year. Ours breaks it out by estimated harvest dates, so we have an idea of the variety we'll get through the summer and fall. Pick-up - both location and routine. We used to pick up at our farmers' house (not the farm) and they would have the veggies in boxes on the screened porch with the weekly menu of what everyone was supposed to take. Last year, we picked up at the local farmers' market, where they have a booth. You need to make sure their pick up does not conflict with another commitment you have. I would not want to pick up a pre-boxed, unattended share each week, either. Also, some farms in my area have pick-up shares and working shares. If you are able to work on the farm a few hours a month, you may do better with a CSA that has lower-priced working shares.

"CLEAN"... this sounds familiar... wait! Is it Latin? I'm on the Motivated Moms program, so officially I would say "a little every day", but I often combine tasks, like cleaning the bathroom mirrors when I'm squirting stuff in the toilets. My mother always had a "cleaning day" and it took little actual time, but in my house, it would take at least two days to declutter, then deep clean. And then the chaos would ensue when we were all too tired / fried to address anything afterward.

I think they're disgusting and unhealthy - no nutritional value to speak of, and incredibly high in sodium. On the disgusting front, my husband and eldest daughter went through a ramen noodle phase which kicked off a battle with weevils that was waged for the next 8 years, until we literally gutted the kitchen to the studs and subfloor. So no, not a fan.

My mother and MIL are both Grandma. FIL is Pop-pop and my dad is Pepe (PEPay). (Is there a way to add accents?) No idea what my husband has in mind, but I will be a Meme. (MEMay) That's what I called my paternal great-grandmother, I would have called my grandmother the same, but I never knew her - time to bring back Meme. I'm rather fond of the Little Bill great-grandma, Alice the Great. Might have to adopt that when there are greats. If I can remember it then, that is.:D

Actually, there was a piece on this on Marketplace the other day. In this economy, and particularly in this housing market, when banks are foreclosing on rentals, they are continuing to rent the property to the tenants. They derive income before reselling and the property stays in much better shape, since it's being used. (Utilities stay on, no flooding, freezing pipes, etc.) You essentially become their tenant, and then you have all the recourse you would have if you landlord decided to sell the property and wanted it to be empty for the transaction. That would depend on the state, though, and their rules for (probably) month-to-month leases.

We always get a refund. Sigh. Anyway, this year part will go to pay the second half of my herbalist course tuition. The rest... part will go to pay off debt, part will go to our vacation fund. I'm starting to put curriculum in my monthly budget, and buying it a bit at a time.

Wow. Maybe it's because I'm an only child and my dad is Mr. Car and Household Fixing Guy... I can't remember learning about male and female connectors, it's just always been the terminology used... and I'll even get the plumbing kid in the hardware store to look for the appropriately threaded nipple for me. He doesn't bat an eye. (Ok, he did that one time, but it was when I was putting him through his paces to help me build a diaper sprayer out of a sink sprayer and some odd parts - bathrooms and kitchens are evidently not threaded the same way - and finally described what the goal of the project was. :D) (Though I will put out there that some cabeling - particularly coax - is sort of hard to tell the difference, particularly if you think too hard about the locking collar on the male side)

Another vote for the Pro series. (It is my compromise - I really want a 40 qt Hobart that bolts the floor, but my husband says that's a car payment, plus it's weird, so the Kitchen Aid is my friend. :D) Two beater stand mixers with the rotating bowl are not powerful enough to knead bread dough. They're great if you like to multitask and all you use them for is whipped cream. The other thing I would say from experience (my 6 1/2 qt replaced one of the smaller Kitchen Aids) is that, for kneading stiff doughs, you either want the kind that the head swings up (and the bowl screws into the base) or you want to be aware that you may have to steady the bowl during kneading. With some doughs - not all, or even a majority - my bowl (with the lifting arms) will work loose of the little latch in the back and rock. It is not earth shattering, just something that happens on occasion. I wouldn't go back to the smaller one, it's just a "feature" of this one that I sort of find annoying at times.

I was ready to book the whole thing and then realized that it is just not in the budget. :crying: Otherwise, the whole family would be going. But we would be driving and my husband would be off those days.

Really? I have never heard of Pagans rejecting anyone. How rude. Trotting off now to educate myself on Christian Pagans. ;)

High GLA oils, like evening primrose and borage, help regulate prostaglandin production, which is linked to menstrual discomfort, moodiness and cramps. They have also been used successfully for skin disorders - especially eczema - decreasing Parkinson's tremors and symptoms of other neurologic issues, and symptoms of Raynaud's disease. It has also shown promise in some studies for promoting weight loss. Midwives recommend it to help "ripen" the cervix prior to childbirth.

I believe she is referring to the Christian Gnostics. Just as Kabbalah is Jewish Gnosticism, there are sects of Christian Gnostics who believe the divine is within humans (Holy Spirit) and only through knowledge can this be embraced and developed. They would be, broadly, looked at as heretics by mainstream Protestants, but I'm not sure they actually fall under "Pagan". Gnostics do include some Pagan sects, and also some branches that do not fall under anything else. Plato was a Gnostic. Here is a better explanation than I can provide. I have never heard Hinduism, Buddhism, etc. included under the umbrella of Paganism. I think this is a definition based upon a Christian perspective, essentially lumping all religions that do not acknowledge the same deity into the category of Pagan as "other", akin to heresy. Also, on the part of non-believers maybe getting their errant information regarding God/Jesus from movies... really? I mean, seriously? Because I'm pretty sure that the question was asked whether Pagans (or Wiccans or Witches) really believed in Harry Potter in this discussion. Given the play Christian theology is given in our culture, and the fact that there is great debate among Christians as to who is a "real" Christian, it seems to me that we have as much information as you, and the ignorant media portrayal of religion definitely has a field day with any belief system outside the "mainstream", which is, of course, why people have such bizarre information about Pagans. ;) (And, no, as mentioned, the devil is a product of Christianity. We don't worship one.)

Ok, A) IT'S INSTANT WATCH?!?! Why did nobody mention this? Well. I guess I know what I'm doing before Burn Notice tonight then, don't I? 2) it has been so long since I have been in a grocery store (other than running in for cat food a couple weeks ago) that I am completely out of my element when I go in (for instance, to buy cat food :D). So, no, I don't spend a great deal of time reading labels. I do look things up to see where they come from but, you know, when you're ordering organic dried beans, there aren't any ingredients. In label reading, though, I subscribe to Michael Pollan's rule in In Defense of Food: I don't buy things with more than seven ingredients (not counting water) and the ingredients have to be items I can identify as food themselves.

I like mine in spicy red sauce. :drool5:

Luckily for me, most of my friends are of the two-headed variety. But, yes, I enjoy the vindication as well. Yes, the article mentions hydrochloric acid and caustic soda. Yum! (And, really, isn't hydrochloric acid caustic enough?)

:lol: :hurray:

Yeah, I never worry about spices, either, unless I was making something Thai and going really heavy on the curry paste. (And, yes, we just used a fork) (Oh, and also, all of my children - from 20 to 4 - love Thai. :001_smile:)

I believe in divinity and higher power that guides us. I believe that deity is the creation of men, the personification of their relationship to that energy. I do not believe in afterlife inasmuch as "living" in another realm, but as matter and energy are neither created nor destroyed, our life force and bodies are simply returned to the world. In this way, I believe we have lived before and will again, albeit not in the same consciousness. Why do I believe these things? Well, that's a dissertation in itself. (Or, there is a deity and he looks and sounds like George Burns and has a really, really clever sense of humor.:001_smile:)

:lol: It has, evidently, not finished its waning in over a century. However, 102 years later, I still properly consider its use as an evidence of illiteracy. :D

Yes what everyone is saying about mashing stuff you're eating up. I also wanted to point out that, in the discussion about mercury being found in high-fructose corn syrup, it was also noted that Gerber products have... HFCS. First, I think we can all pause for the collecting retching. Then, I would suggest avoiding jarred baby food.

:iagree: Hopeless drek. I want my children to learn to enjoy food, not be repulsed by it.