Excellent!

I use coconut oil as my only "product". My hair is knee length and frizzy-curly. With the BS / ACV and coconut oil, it actually curls. I would suggest putting honey on your ends. I put it on before using the baking soda, to protect and condition them when they're looking a bit ratty. (Note: under no circumstances would I recommend using honey all over; it made my dry/frizzy hair heavy and creepy feeling). We do it to stay away from chemicals, but also to clean our bodies in a way that doesn't stress. Even the organic shampoos can over strip the natural oils your scalp produces. That's often why people end up feeling greasy or itchy by the end of the day or the next morning; the scalp is over compensating for being stripped of natural protective oils. The more aggressive (i.e. shampoos for "oily hair") you get, the more you will need to shampoo to counteract your body's response. And, yes, even natural products can be very astringent. I've heard many people experience dry, flaking skin using the oil cleansing method for their face, because they have used castor oil which can be, ironically, very drying. Finding a good mix of castor and another oil (like almond or olive) is a personal trial and error excercise. Everyone is different. For those who are experiencing difficulty, I would suggest, after rinsing with the cider vinegar, to do a final rinse with cooled chamomile tea. The chamomile is calming and leaves a brilliant shine. You might also try adding a single drop of lavender essential oil to your baking soda mixture. (More and the smell will be overwhelming) And, if you're not going anywhere, just plain water rinsing on days between cleansing should help calm the oil production, too. (I understand the desire to be optimally presentable when you're going out) There is also a "no-poo" Yahoo discussion group and lots of people on it who have had different experiences, different regimens that work for them that they are willing to share. Peace.

If you go to the order page, down at the bottom, the sample page links work. I got a 404 error trying to look at the one on the "about us" page.

:lurk5:

I use my iPod with a PC, as well as our non-Apple MP3 players. My sister-in-law has added music to the non-Apples from her Mac. No issues.

Merry Christmas! Happy Christmas! Joyeux Noel!

:iagree: Readers are people who read. Otherwise, they are literate, but not Readers. My 4 year olds are Readers. They are not so literate. Thus, they are learning.

That sounds like an appropriate response. Followed by "and I'll be happy to respond in a chattier tome later. Right now, I wanted to take a moment and wish you a Merry Christmas." And then move and change your number. And email. :D

Um, also, you can buy the whole album "Transatlantique" for $9.99 on iTunes.

Who are you looking at? Maybe one of us has used them in the past.

I had this conversation with my mother a little over 4 years ago. The first time we saw each other after was this summer, when my grandmother was dying, and only because of that. Since then, she has seemed to respect me as a person and my boundaries, but it is a very, uh, "casual" relationship currently. When we were estranged, she would call my husband at work, call my dad (from whom she has been divorced for over 25 years) and try to get them to make me see "reason". Then she would send my eldest email discussing how I need psychiatric help, but that's my husband's problem to deal with... yadda, yadda. I'm an only child, though, so I'm sure she would have preferred to be pressing siblings who don't want to be in the middle of the drama. I feel your pain. The fact is, though, she is unlikely to respect your boundaries if she has another option. I would totally tell her you moved and that you choose not to tell her where, etc. And then :grouphug: to you and your sister, who will be impossibly stuck in her drama until she sets her own boundaries and enforces them.

This is me, too. Though I'm not sure my husband is a total extrovert, for me, having a house full of people is. completely. draining. My in-laws are delightful, wonderful people. If they lived in town, I would have no problem with them "stopping by". They're two hours away, though, so stopping by is from late morning until late evening. I stay up late doing those Christmas Eve things you do when you have children, then get up early because, let's face it, the children are awake when it's still dark out. Then there's the rush to get dressed and be presentable, create snack items, make dinner, blah, blah, blah... meanwhile, I've been exhausted since 10 a.m. There's too much noise, too much activity, too much to do and, at the end, the children are overwrought and melting down, and I'm a basket case. So, my joyful, peaceful day is whittled down to the hour after I (prematurely) get up and then it takes the next week to recover... three days later, though, we're apparently expected to schlep to my in-laws for some extended family fete - the FIFTH event, in fact, in 14 days where ALL of these people have gotten together. Because everyone wants to have a "thing". Good grief. So, yes, I have put the kibosh on entertaining the family on Christmas. I'm sorry. Call it selfish. Call it nervy. It's a survival thing.

I'm another Dr. Bronner's and scrub brush gal. If I really have to use something abrasive, I'll use baking soda or coarse salt. We use bar soap (glycerin or hand crafted from Flower Moon) and never have a problem with soap residue. When I used shampoo / conditioner, we had an issue, but I've gone back to baking soda and apple cider vinegar... no residue.

iTunes? They have Jeeves & Wooster (LOVE that show) for $.99. I download podcasts and audio books and all that jazz, so to speak, from the iTunes store, and listen to live radio. Perfectly reputable, but you'll have to download iTunes. Amazon also has by-the-track downloads for some things.

I have a front loader and use regular soap, too. According to LG, if you use regular soap, just halve the amount. Works fine. No issues in 5 years of heavy use, including twins in cloth diapers for nearly 4 years. Look at the fine print on the usage area of the label. It may give directions for high efficiency machines. At least the laundry soap our Amish friends sell does - much to her chagrin, since another milk customer told her he couldn't use it because of an HE machine.

Got the pole. Are we airing our grievances on this thread, or another? :D

Restaurants actually do refrigerate ketchup, at least overnight. And they have a high rate of turnover. It does not need to refrigerated, but it will ferment, eventually. If you're buying large bottles for economy's sake, I would transfer an amount you will use in a reasonable amount of time to a jar that you leave on the counter. When the jar empties, you can just rinse it and refill from the refrigerated container.

I voted "family" but probably should have voted "other", too. We celebrate Christmas because it is our families' tradition. We observe Yule with friends as our own.

I get up early, at around 5:30, and the kids naturally wake between 6:30 - 7 (she types, as her children are still in bed at 7:40). They go to bed early, so I can have some winding down time before I go to bed, too. I used to be a complete night owl and would easily sleep until 10 or 11. Not so much anymore. I don't think there's anything wrong, or unhealthy, about what you're describing. It would be one thing if you had to drag them from the house every morning, but if they're sleeping in naturally, then they should be getting enough sleep.

I display them on the piano. After the season's over, I try to toss them, obsess about the bad juju that surely is associated with tossing someone's family photo, then wait for my sister-in-law to come over, tell me that it is July and the holiday season is over and toss them for me. She has no such qualms. :D

Yup, that me, too. I remember having a little - like the size of a shot glass - A&W rootbeer mug (come to think of it, it could have actually been a shot glass) and my parents letting me have a little beer or wine in it when I was a kid... maybe from 5 on? And, to this day, I hate blackberry brandy because of the hot toddies - tastes like medicine to me. ;) My parents both drink wine with dinner, or the occasional beer. I drink the occasional glass or two of wine (two if I'm entertaining, which rarely occurs) mostly with dinner. Sometimes, a friend will pop by late in the afternoon and we'll have a glass - that may happen once a quarter. When I was younger we had an annual drunk, both opeing and closing the local bars. It's called St. Patrick's Day. (Fire dept thing, I suppose) In fact, we got married on St. Patrick's Day, so we would "always" celebrate... we haven't been out on that day since our wedding. :D My children may have a sip of whatever I'm drinking (that's the rule for coffee or tea, as well, though I make them their own tea). Only one of them (one of the 4 y.o.s ) doesn't grimace at the taste, but he never wants a second sip. I think they expect it to be sweet and it's not. They may get a dose of something in some herbal tea with honey during cold season, too, but not a lot - they drink tea out of Fiestaware cups that only hold about 4 oz, anyway, so there's not a lot of volume there - and in hot beverages, the alcohol blows off a bit. (I also tincture herbs in vodka, and have been known to add a dropper of tincture to their drink)

Oh, and I would like to also point out that my in-laws (who are both over 60) use their PDAs exclusively. So, no, I don't think age has more to do with it than personality.

37, former software engineer, paper planner girl. As I explained to a former co-worker who poked fun at my "antiquated" planner: short of fire or flood, my planner will never fail me. Conversely, when we rely on batteries and software to hold all of our contact and schedule information, we set our selves up for a big ol' single point of failure fiasco. I use my paper planner, and back it up to Google calendar, so my husband can check my schedule before he commits to stuff when he can't necessarily reach me. Dude, Aubrey, you have a *word processor*? You know your computer will do that for you, right? :tongue_smilie:

A) The curb thing will probably attract the same weirdos. We have had people bang on our door (frantically, as if they were being pursued by a homicidal maniac) to ask if our *trash* worked and whether we would deliver it to their house. Trash. Delivered. B) Do you have a Freecycle group near you? That may be a better venue. Or, it could attract the very same wackos.

I have no objection (my 7 y.o. is a huge HP buff...) but I do have a question that I think is relevant: If these are French materials - as opposed to Quebecois - isn't that going to create a functional language problem anyway? To me, that would be the baseline problem, then the issue of ideology. I have been in the same dilemma before and have been fortunate to find alternate materials that to not explicitly teach a worldview that conflicts with ours, but it is terribly frustrating. Still, the issue of the differences between Parisian and Quebecois language and culture - particularly when French language is provincially mandated - would be the total deal-breaker. Unless, of course, they would be just as happy with your children learning Haitian French (which seems ridiculous, given the, uh, "nationalist" culture of Quebec).