I am all for a more-educated society. We are woefully behind at this point and making the educational bar higher across the population is essential. And I am politically liberal. But, I see a lot of flaws here. Despite adding a whole bunch of schooling to the early end of life, the outcomes are not improving. Graduating seniors are not better educated than they were before kindergarten, preschool, and Headstart became the norm. So, I have little faith that tacking more years on the end (making CC a default for most) is going to change much. Much of what should be happening to improving (or at least getting back to where we were) educational outcomes need to happen before high school graduation. Pushing more and more people into doing what should be high school work post-graduation seems a bit pointless. Until most schools are graduating most students with the expected educational outcomes we are just wasting time and money tacking on additional years. If all were perfect and we were not continuing to fail at the K-12 level, then free CC/college for all would be a grand idea and I would be all for it. Even then though. I don't think we can sell it as a way to improve quality of life. It is raising the general education of our population which is essential and good. But our economic system is based on some people being poor. That will always be true. And unless our economic policies change (unlikely) the percentage of poor people will continually increase and the rich will continue to get richer and fewer. We will have better educated poor people, but not less poor people. And really, that is an impossible goal. It is well known that poverty is a major factor in educational success. It is no big secret why outcomes continue to be met by less and less of the population. So, to me, this whole thing is trying to put a bandaid on a gash that needs 100 stitches. It might stop some bleeding but is not going to fix the problem. I'm glad I am not in charge because I honestly do not see a fix to it.

I would roast up a mix of chopped veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, green beans, brussel sprouts, etc...) that had been tossed in a little mid chili powder, lemon juice, and olive oil. They can be roasted ahead and reheated in the oven right before serving. This can go IN the tacos or eaten on the side. As a vegetarian myself, please please please bring a small can or two of refried beans. They don't have to be from scratch or fancy. A handful of lettuce and some cheese on a taco shell does not take you very far.....

I have a kid who will eat anything so it took a few dinner party "fails" to figure out that many kids need something more plain. My new habit is to always serve the same meal to everyone but earlier in the day, I grill up a few grilled cheese sandwiches and put them in the fridge. I can pop as many as I need in the oven at the last minute if I have a child-guest that does not want the planned meal. I can usually discretely ask a parent before the meal is served so no one is put on the spot. And if we don't use them, they make great lunches for dh to take to work. I always have applesauce and fresh fruit on hand to supplement the grill cheese if necessary. If all of that fails, I just be sure any hungry kids get a double portion of desert. It might not be healthy but better than hunger-induced meltdown.

Yes, all of mine are scramble egg ready. I have four pans, one very old, one medium-old, and two quite new and all have been fine. I rinse my pans in very hot water and use a bamboo scraper to get anything stubborn off, then I dry the pan before storing. Mine are stored hanging up near my stove.

I use those cheesy little pumpkin carving knives for all winter squash. They work like a charm. This was discovered only after my dh would not let me "borrow" the chainsaw.

My dd is in Suzuki violin. Up until she hit Book 7 (age 9), I attended all lessons. Now, I am welcome to and do sometimes but typically will use that hour to run errands. Dd is fine either way. She has far surpassed the level where I am of any use to her so my being there or not does not matter much.

We always get a whole bunch of pie pumpkins in our CSA share on the early fall so I just bake them all at one time, puree, and freeze in pie-appropriate portions to use the whole year. No one in my family can stand store-bought crust so I am on the hook there. I make it with real butter so it is not as flakey as the crisco crusts I grew up on but still good. We also usually have too much cream from our weekly dairy share so I typically use that instead of evaporated milk and use whatever is left over to whip up into the topping.

We are doing Singapore 6A/6B this year. My dd is good at math but not always careful and sometime struggles with problems that require a lot of thought and/or steps so I figured it wouldn't hurt to spend a year on review and strengthening weaker skills. We plan to go on to AoPS. My tentative plan is to have her take the AoPS placement tests for both pre-algebra and algebra. If it looks like she could go right to algebra, I think we will try it but take it VERY slow and spread it out over two years. If not, we will just go with pre-algebra.

I still have my very first pair of Smartwool socks. They are 15 years old and in great shape. The pairs I have acquired in the last 3 years have all worn through or actually busted through the toe or heel. So I did some investigating. Smartwool was sold. The people who first started Smartwool are the Point 6 people. I bought a couple of pairs the first year they came out (3-4 years ago) and they are holding up FAR better than the Smartwool bought the same year. I cannot vouch for 15+ years like my original Smartwools but they are at least not falling completely into threads......

I go to a chiropractor once a month (out of pocket as it does not count towards our deductible). While he is great about a lot of things, he cannot treat the two issues I am having. He is the one that has suggested I see a MD about them and also the one that told me it would likely require a referral to a specialist and could escalate quickly in cost. His family has the same insurance so he knows exactly what the issue is and also understands why I am reluctant to go down that path.

I live in a very cold climate, do a great deal of outdoor activities, and also have Raynaud's. You have already gotten some good advice but I will add to it. Smartwool is great. BUT, since they moved their operations to China, the quality has tanked considerably. For the same price you can get Point 6 brand socks. They are made in the USA and last a great deal longer. Hand and foot warmers are great. I use them frequently. So frequently that I cannot stomach the cost and waste. I invested in reusable hand warmers. They cost more up front but then I have no guilt using them any time. Despite hand warmers, I do also have to buy a pair of down mittens every year. They are chunky and ridiculous but the only way to keep my hands from clawing up. Since our winter is 6 months long, they are in pretty bad shape at the end of the season. I keep the older beat-up pairs for chores and use my newer ones for being in public. Gloves will not cut it. You need mittens. If you want to get very serious about winter coats, look into Canada Goose. They cost a FORTUNE. Really. But they are the warmest out there and many styles are passable for casual AND dressier uses. I saved up for two years and finally got one. Worth every cent.

About personal responsibility and individuals making "wise choices"..... We get our insurance through dh's employer. It used to be the best insurance around. But due to the skyrocketing prices, dh's employer started taking more and more away and charging more and more. Now, our only option is a high-deductible plan with HSA. Our monthly premiums are about $350/month for a family of three. Our deductible for the family is $12,500 before anything kicks in. So....roughly $1000/mo would have to be saved in order for us to be prepared to make that deductible. That would be about 1/3 of our take-home pay, not even counting the $350 monthly premium. We have been very lucky in that we have had no major medical expenses since the switch. However, we are currently "wisely choosing" to not see a doctor unless almost-dead. I currently have two medical issues that really need to be investigated. Both cause discomfort (are significantly lowering my quality of life) and both could cause bigger and more-expensive problems if untreated. We have the cash to go see a doctor. But both issues will require tests and specialists. Because I do not know how much those will cost, no one will tell me how much they will cost before appointments/referrals are made, and all could snowball into spending our entire deductible, I have decided to NOT have them addressed. We don't have that kind of money. And even if I was willing to go into debt to come up with the money, I feel like I have to "save" that option for a true emergency where someone in my family MUST be treated. Not cool. And in the end, I feel forced to make LESS responsible choices that could end up costing far more.

Our last move was a local move so instead of hiring a moving company, we decided to rent a U-haul. It was all going to be seamless. We would get the truck the day before the closing on our old house and with the help of a few friends move it to the new house. We had to be out of our old house the next morning at the 10am closing. The houses are about 40 minutes apart from each other. So, we go to get the U-haul truck. We had reserved the biggest one they had in order to just make one big trip (so our helpers would not have to drive the 40 minutes more than once). But when we got there to get the truck, they did not have it. They did not have ANY trucks. This is when they explained that when you reserve a U-haul, you are simply promising to pay for one (even if you never come get it) but that in no way does it guarantee they will have the truck you reserved. What?!?!? They offered us a trailer and we figured at this point, we would take what we could get. We were all set with the paperwork when they said we were declined because our tow vehicle was a Ford Explorer. This was during the Firestone tire thing (never mind that we did not then or ever have the tires in question) and they had a policy at the time to NOT rent trailers to anyone intending to tow it with an Explorer. Ugh. We made a million phone calls and everyone we knew showed up at our place with anything they had access to that could haul stuff. Lots of pick-up trucks, minivans, open trailers, even a couple of snowmobile trailers. I ran out and picked up a barrel of beer and lots of pizza. It ended up being a great party and we got it all moved in one mass trip. Unfortunately it was raining so anything in open trailers and pick-ups got wet but nothing was damaged beyond repair. Our realtor was so amazed that we pulled the together so quickly that she came out and took photos. Thanks goodness for lots of good friends!

The local schools have Wed-Fri off. We typically try to follow their calendar for our own holiday breaks because ALL of dd's friends go to public school and it is nice when they are all free at the same time to get together. We are not taking the whole day off on Wednesday but we are sticking to a half day. Same for Christmas break. The schools have the whole two weeks off so we will takes those same days.

I have been making sourdough bread every week for about ten years. I had the same homegrown starter going for almost ten years until this summer when I botched it and had to start over (long story). My new starter is so much different in taste that it has taken some getting used to..... But to answer your questions: I use filtered water for feeding. There is too much chlorine in our water for starter so it really just need to sit to dissipate the chlorine. Since it needs to sit anyway, using a Brita filter kills two birds....sitting and other contaminates. In general, I think tap water is just fine for anything but if yours is high in chlorine like mine, I would suggest letting it sit for 12-24 hours before adding to the starter. Boiling will do the same thing but takes more effort. I keep my starter in the fridge until I am ready to start a new batch of bread. Usually, there is no time in between but if we are traveling or have another reason to delay the next batch, I just put it in the fridge. I do not feed it or anything. I have left starter for as long as four weeks with no problem. That said.....we like SOUR bread so we don't mind the extra "seasoning" that results from fridge-neglect. I have also had much more luck with rye flour for starter. I use wheat for when I actually make the bread but use rye for feeding and propagating. In both cases, I use fresh-ground. I have a grinder attachment for my KitchenAid that grinds just fine (despite very bad reviews). I keep the whole grains in the freezer and grind straight from the freezer. Even with the cost of the grinder, it is FAR cheaper than already-ground flour and much fresher. I keep 50 pound bags of each in my chest freezer.

We never use paper for all sorts of reasons. Mostly waste but also paper, even the nicer stuff, just isn't big or robust enough for me. I have enough plates to serve 16 people but we have hosted larger groups in the past and I have used a few different tactics to solve the too-few-plates (and silverware for that matter) issue. 1. Borrow from a guest or neighbor. 2. Borrow from our local co-op. They have "party packs" in sets of 25 place settings that are lent out free of charge to anyone in the community. They do not necessarily match but they get the job done. 3. (This one is my favorite) Go to Goodwill or any other thrift shop and grab as many plates as I need for $0.25 each. Use them for said event then bring them right back. It is like "renting." In your case, that would be a $1.50 "rental fee." And it is fun for my guests to fight over who gets what plate as many remind them of grandma's plate or plates from childhood. For the especially enamored guest, I have on two occasions washed up their dish and let them take it home. Also good for sending left-over plates home with guests at the end of the event. It is really fun to find rare or funny plates. I once had a three-person war one Thanksgiving over a Smurf plate..... The mushroom-themed Corelle from the 1970's was also a hit.

Not really on topic....but I'm surprised girls are allowed to wear two piece swimsuits in gym class. I have no problem with bikinis (I wear one myself) but I don't think any of us would have dreamed of trying to wear one during high school gym class. Maybe I am just old.

So many awesome ideas! Thanks! And it does sound like our kids have similar tastes. Skijoring is something my dd would LOVE to do some time. We have skijorers pass us on the ski trails on a regular basis. Of only we had a dog.....

Also, I had no idea there was a whole magazine devoted to mushing. This would be great! We volunteer for a big local dogsled race every year and dd has even been on a sled a few times. We go meet the annual crop of new puppies at a musher friend's house every spring. Of course....if we get her the magazine subscription, I know what will be on next year's Christmas list.... Dogs and a sled....

Magazines! Great idea! I know she would LOVE a 3D printer. That is a tad outside of the budget. Ha ha!

Dd has a full set of prismacolor pencils and several nice sketch books. But the fairy thing is great! I completely forgot about her fairy obsession. I am checking out some how to draw books now!

A Kindle is interesting. She has not asked for one but might not know they exist. Having never owned one, can someone fill me in on how you get the books on the Kindle? Do you buy them or can they be rented? What about library books?

My dh and I are at a complete loss as to what to get 11 yo dd for Christmas. Nor do we know what to suggest to relatives. We have asked dd to make a list. She came up with a single item. "Science kits." After some prodding, she also asked me to knit her a hat. Um....OK. Done. A hat will be her gift from me and I will suggest the science kits to relatives. I am looking for any ideas. Some background..... We do not live where we have access to "experience-type" gifts. We do not have museums, zoos, bounce houses, amusements parks, horse farms, roller rinks.... You get the idea. Dd no longer really plays with toys. She has an AG doll and a nice dollhouse, but does not play with either much anymore. Dd is not really into electronics or video games. She already has a laptop, iPod, and cell phone. We have a great library within walking distance that we visit multiple times a week. So books are not really practical. Dd is super picky about clothing (how it fits and feels) and needs to pick that kind of stuff out on her own. Plus she is not a fashion-type girl and rarely gets excited about clothing. Dd has every art supply known to man. Dd has a stack of gift cards to many different stores that she has gotten as gifts over the last year or so. She can not think of things to buy. If I need something from one of the places, I pay her for the card and she put the cash in her savings account. Dd's main hobbies are violin, skiing, and gymnastics. She has every piece of gear needed for all of these activities. Dd is not into jewelry. At all. Or make-up. Dd has a tiny bedroom so "stuff" in general is hard for her. Knick-knacks seem to be the go-to gift from the grandmas and she is simply out of display room for anything like that. This kids never ever asks for anything. She in an only child and only grandkid so has traditionally been showered with gifts. We (her parents) do not spoil her. We never just buy her stuff and typically buy her a single gift from the two of us for birthdays and Christmas. So, aside from the hat I will knit, we really just need one nice "santa" gift and some suggestions for the relatives. After weeks of brainstorming, we have nothing so any out-of-the box suggestions would be great!

I tried it. It seemed like a great idea for someone like me who HATES to shop and lives very far away from stores that carry quality clothing. I did not have whole lot of hope though because I am also picky. And I was right:( First, I am a strange size. I explained this is great detail in the survey. Specifically, pants are tricky. I am tall and thin so standard sizes typically do not fit me. I typically need "longs" or pants that are sized with waist and length dimensions. The box included two pairs of pants, both of which were standard sizes and therefore at least 3 inches too short. I had warned about this and it seemed to have been completely ignored. They were also both "skinny" pants which I said in the survey that I do not wear and do not plan to. I also specified that I live in a very cold climate and that I was specifically looking for nice clothing I could wear to work that was WARM. The box included a dress that I actually liked a lot. But it was 3/4 sleeve and very thin. I could wear it here during the summer....on a good day. There was also a cardigan sweater (which as supposed to be "warm") but it was very thin, had no closure, and also 3/4 sleeve. I have long-sleeve t-shirts that are warmer than that cardigan. The last item was a long sleeve, button up, plaid shirt. It was made of very cheap material and was poorly constructed. Plus very very thin (not warm) and the sleeves were about 3 inches too short. None of the items were $50 or less. I am completely willing to pay for quality, versatile clothing that I will wear for years. Nothing in the box met those requirements. All were made in China and of material I felt would not hold up over repeat wearings. Two items were dry clean only (another thing I said I was not willing to buy in the survey). We do not even have a dry cleaner here..... Ugh. I know many are really happy with the service. Had it been a good experience for me, I would have happily been a repeat customer. But I think anyone who has specific clothing requirements, is an odd size, or is just generally picky about type and fit will be dissatisfied.

This is correct. My dd is in 1a now and this is indeed what they are covering.