My three share a room. They wanted bunk beds. So, Bailey (7) sleeps in the top, single, bunk and the boys (4) sleep in the lower, double, bunk. They've shared for... about 18 months. I voted "no", though, because they don't have to share, we do have another, albeit tiny, bedroom, that used to be Bailey's when my eldest still lived at home. Now, it's a junk/guest room. ETA: oops, the boys have actually only slept in there for a little less than a year. We've had the bunk bed in there for 18 months, but they weren't ready to move out of our room for a while after we got it.

I make a tomato "tea" to clear out my sinuses and have gotten rid of sinus infections quite handily with it. I would also recommend a garlic-eucalyptus salve on the soles of the feet at night. Vapo-Rub in a pinch. Being stuffed up at night is horrible. Feel better!

I agree! And, also, when she said "No, because I don't love you" Charlotte would have been mine, too. Some friends have a consequence chart. That might be a decent tool in this case, so that you both go to the chart, discuss the behavior and then the consequence happens. And, in the event that the disrespectful behavior happens after a crazy, busy day when she's just plain overwrought, you can discuss the consequence and extend grace, with her knowing that that is what's happening. We're thinking of installing such a feature for our precious little darlings. :tongue_smilie:

Oh, good! I'm glad your adventure is over and everyone is safe and sound. Our cat (now almost 18) has gotten out a couple times. And he HIDES! One night, I was out there shaking his dish and calling and finally saw "him" coming down a neighbor's railing... until I realized "he" was an opossum! Evidently, they really like cat food because this one was definitely planning to pass as the cat. Oh, and then there was the time when I went out the kitchen door in the dark to get something out of the car and found "him" in the driveway, so scooped him up and tossed him back into the house... only to come in to find 1 confused husband, 1 confused teenager and 1 confused foreign cat (that in my defense looked an awful lot like Sam in the dark) standing in the kitchen. Owning pets is so soothing, isn't it? :tongue_smilie:

Ya know, there are some of us who actually obsess about things like that. Which is why mine is on my ankle... at the point I have saggy, baggy ankles, I'm thinking I'll have larger issues than how the ink looks. And I'll probably be wearing socks a lot. Old, baggy people seem to like socks. As for things to do before 30... I can't think of a single thing that's better pre-30. Really. (ok, maybe staying up late, but he's in seminary and you have kids, so he's probably been doing that all along)

WHAT?!?! What kind of school sanctions public ridicule as a student body event?!?! Good grief. I was recently horrified to learn that our local middle school thinks having adolescent boys play dodge ball in PE is a good idea. But this? This take the cake for bad administrative decisions.

Um, I don't have Word anymore, but I have OpenOffice (free office suite underwritten by Sun) and I have an icon to save as a pdf document right on the toolbar. I don't have Adobe, other than Reader. I'm sure there is a way to do it. 'Save As'?

Oh, bugger. Rice Dream, then? That always seems a little chalky to me, but not as bad as some almond milks (Pacific, ew) or soy. I've not tried hemp. Cheese substitutes have definitely come a long way, baby. :D I can't remember the specific brand, but the slices were definitely edible and I'm pretty snobby about food... hence the Earthalance, since it actually *gasp* melts when you add heat, as opposed to doing that disgusting thing that most margarine does, not changing shape at all, but forming a puddle of water. :ack2: I love coconut oil, too, but probably not on my grilled cheese.

I like to listen to Marketplace (and Marketplace Money) on NPR. There are interesting looks at what's going on currently and how it translates to life. You can download the podcasts from American Public Media or iTunes, though. Also, Charles Schwab has a lot of research and commentary on their site. On their main tab "Welcome to Schwab" there are links to "Ask Chuck" videos, and a section (all the way over to the right) called "New to Investing" that has some basic information. I'm pretty sure I can see everything but my personal accounts when I'm not logged in. (I also really like them as a brokerage because they're always available by phone to answer questions, will meet with you free of charge to help you plan your portfolio, and the account people are not commissioned, so they have no conflict of interest. I was recently steered away from a Schwab mutual fund in favor of one that is doing better for my 401K rollover by one of their reps, in fact.) I am not an "investor" (meaning, I have investments, but I'm not an obsessive market watcher, or even much of a watcher at all) but here are some things I've gleaned: 1) do not invest in single stocks. Mutual funds are much more stable and the fund analysts are always on top of them to make sure they don't tank. Mutual funds that owned Enron lost value, they did not lose everything. 2) index funds are essentially a slice of the entire market, so if any particular sector tanks, you're still pretty good. 3) no matter what, the market will, eventually, recover. I remember an illustration used by our 401K guy, showing what a single $10k investment made before the depression would have grown to (in 1999) and it was several million dollars in a moderate-risk, moderate-return fund. If you're investing for retirement, the younger you are the higher risk you can bear. As you get closer to retirement, you will want to adjust to protect what you've grown. Target date funds do this automatically. Honestly, I would look for a seminar or a class with a non-comissioned agent, after you look around at the information "out there".

You CAN have grilled cheese! French bread (it's lean, shouldn't have any milk components or egg, but read the label), Earth Balance (vegan, so no aminal products) and veggie slices (which I've found melt very nicely and are cheesy). Veggie slices work nicely on tuna melts, too. Any pizza dough should be dairy free - it's just flour, water, yeast, sugar and olive oil - so the only challenge would be finding a vegetable cheese substitute that you find acceptable for mozzarella. Tofuti Cuties, the little tofu "ice cream" sandwiches are fabulous. Almond Breeze is wonderful on oatmeal, can generally be substituted in baking, and makes really excellent chai. (I personally detest any form of soy milk, plus there are questions about whether soy is good for you, except in traditional preparations, e.g. tofu, soy sauce, etc.) I also would go with total elimination - including casein and whey in products - and then trying to add back some goat or sheep products to see if they produce the same reaction.

Oh. No. I'm sorry. I've been watching your progress and I can't keep up with you. :D (and by that I mean, "Excellent! Your fabulous progress will keep me from being lazy!"

I think we're planning to make the "investment" - $8, if it turns out to be drek, it won't hurt our self esteem too badly. ;) Anyone else? And would anyone be interested in, say, a weekly check-in to see how it's working, what adaptations have been made, etc?

I've listed a bunch of old videos and stuff and there were some orders within hours of my listing. As far as I can tell, Amazon does not take more of a cut than ebay / PayPal, and they process the payments so you do not need to upgrade your account like you do on ebay, so they can charge you vendor prices for every cent you move. Plus, Amazon doesn't care if you sell teacher manuals, whereas ebay will cancel your listing. Amazon also gives you 3.99 shipping for books, $2.99 for dvds. The dvds I shipped first class, with delivery confirmation, and they were only $2.04, so...

Monday. My kids desperately need to get back to their regular routine. I plan to look over our schedule and see where we need to play catch up and make adjustments, but we are definitely starting again on Monday.

Asta - I don't know what is considered "best". Look at reviews from online sources. For pressure cooking, you want a stainless model, big enough to hold dinner for your family. For canning, Presto and Miro are pretty standard and well-liked. They are simple in design and parts are easy to get (like if your lid gasket wears out, or you lose the weight). These aren't highly sophisticated pieces of technology; the only changes since our great grandmothers' time is that there are now safety features that keep them from possibly exploding. In the case of mine, said feature is a little rubber plug in the lid that has a pressure threshold somewhere between 15 lbs (the upper unit of pressure with the weights) and "exploding" so it will pop out and depressurize the thing if the pressure gets too high.

You need a pressure canner. They're are larger and, I believe, go to a higher pressure than those designated as just pressure cookers. They also come with a rack for the bottom, which is required to keep the jars from direct heat. You need at least a 16 qt to process quart jars; the smaller ones are just not tall enough. There is a decent comparison here. I use my 16 qt pressure canner to do water bath canning (jams, jellies, other fruit type things - with the lid on upside down... otherwise, it locks and that is annoying in this application, I also do the same to get the water up to a simmer while I'm filling jars), and pressure canning of low-acid foods like garden veggies, stocks and, yes, even tomato products because I am paranoid and would rather not have to guestimate and adjust the acidity with lemon juice or vinegar. We have, on occasion, used it to pull off some of the recipes that came with it - spare ribs that fall of the bone in 15 minutes were a hit - but don' generally use it for cooking because it's aluminum. Mine is similar to this but does not have a dial gauge, it's just weighted. Very simple.

Well, techincally speaking, I'm sure it has to do with the half-life of the medication and needing to get it absorbed into the bloodstream quickly to maintain therapeutic levels. That said, I would certainly ask what constitutes an "empty" stomach. A light nosh should probably clear your stomach in under an hour, whereas a large, meat-heavy meal would linger for quite a while. So I guess the questions are a) how long after eating should you wait and b) how long before eating should you take it? I suspect that the pill will dissolve and be on its way to being absorbed in just a few minutes, so maybe taking them before meals would help?

No, it holds 1.5 gallons of food / liquid. My 16 qt pressure canner will hold 7 quart jars (10 pints, 12 half-pints). Also, if I recall correctly - it's been a while since I've looked into pressure canners - pressure cookers cannot be used to can, though canners can <generally> be used to cook. I think it has to do with the capacity, as well as the pressure, but don't quote me on that.

Oh, excellent. That's exactly the same soul-affirming reception I would expect if I wasn't screaming it ("you're a bigot!" "you're disturbed!" "you're an IDIOT!!") in my head. Mostly, I think, because the whole freaking assortment has yet to notice the bigot or the weirdos. Ugh. I may need to stop for some stress pills tomorrow.

I would rub eucalyptus (or, if you are so inclined, Vick's VapoRub) on the soles of her feet. Put socks on to keep it off the sheets/furniture/etc. Traditional Medicinals makes a kids' Throat Coat tea (there's a cartoon giraffe on the box) that may help with irritation. My kids like it with honey, which is also nicely soothing. Over the counter pharmaceuticals are NOT effective and are now being considered unsafe for people under 12 (or maybe 16, I can't remember). They have side effects including heart arrhythmia. I would also recommend a warm mist humidifier in her room. It is likely that her sinuses are simply compensating for being dried out by the heated air (and low outdoor humidity) of the season. I don't particularly care for cool humidifiers because they don't seem to put much water in the air (it often just falls on the floor, ew) and they also like to develop bacteria and whatnot in the wicking filters. Also, ew. I would doubt she's sick. I think she's just dried out. If it were one of my kids, I would hesitate to go to the doctor because the combination of irritated mucous membranes and warm, germy air is sure to result in some sort of actual illness. Plus, there's not much they can do about it.

I don't think you can please everyone, and you'll drive yourself crazy trying. That said, how about a daily blog format, with a sidebar of links organized by topic. Could you reorganize your topic list and have a daily theme? That may help with regular readership, and keep you from getting bogged down in one area. I'm not much on contests, but I know others really like them. Maybe a monthly challenge would be good? Right now, as always, our focus is on healthy living which, at least in my mind, encompasses all the things you're talking about. Right now my struggle is balancing time - between house, school (kids), outside obligations, my own studies... then there have been holidays, family, my husband traveling... ack! I don't suppose you have a format in mind that gives us more than the standard 24 hour day? (and, by the way, I really do like your blog)

Yes, also, look in the instruction booklet to make sure of what media types it plays. My husband realized, after adding a huge amount of music to the boys' MP3 players, that they will not play Windows Media Player formatted files (.wpa), only .mp3. You can convert them into the proper file format in Media Player, if that is the case.

We are pantheist, or gnostic - there is a lot of overlap and I don't get too bogged down in the titles or hair splitting. As a point of reference, Kabalah and Hinduism would fall in both, as would, probably Unitarian Universalism (though that would depend on the individual congregation). There are also Christian gnosticism and biblically based pantheism. It's a broad category. Basically, we believe that everything, including humans, is of the divine. We believe that the way to realise the divine within ourselves is through knowledge and that all knowledge is available to us through the natural world. (We also believe that ALL wisdom traditions are equally worthy of study, that each tradition's experience and celebration of the divine is valid, and that none has a monopoly on Truth.) In practice, we follow the wheel of the year, reflecting on the energies of the natural cycle on the various days, as described by Jennifer. There is a lot of self examination that goes on, particularly examining how we affect the world. Other than The Essence of the Gnostics (which is, admittedly, a bit dry unless you like sociology texts, then you may enjoy it... I do and did) there is very little that I have found that is not Christian interpretation of gnosticism or Christian gnosticism. How's that for the foggy-brained manifesto? :001_smile:

I was thinking the same thing... then I realised I am simply too lazy and, also, there is something about somebody else making the list for me that makes me more likely to stick to it. :001_huh: I use OpenOffice, but in the bullet and numbering section, where you can look through the character map for special characters, there is a "geometric shapes" category that has a box. If I remember correctly, in Word there is also something in Webdings or Wingdings that is a box or an unfilled circle or something.

Yes, I have a specific tea mug. It's a beautiful, hand thrown, ribbed, handle-less vessel, dark brown glaze on the outside, celadon on the inside. My husband's is the same, slightly larger, and with opposite glazing. They make you pay attention to the tea you've curled up with. For coffee, I'd be happy to drink straight from the pot, but that would be gauche. :tongue_smilie: