Thanks everyone! I think we will go ahead and do it.. It is a bit of sticker shock. We have really only ever had 100% necessary work done on our house. Anything optional we have done ourselves which is very limited to tasks that very unhandy people can do. This door will alleviate a lot of annoying hassles....mostly involving keeping cats out of the food.

They will paint to match trim (in our case white) and source the hardware. If we do either of those, that comes off the top. They will not true the opening and it is not swinging as the geometry of the space only allows the door to go it one direction....as much as I'd love a swinging door.

I am trying to decide if this estimate is off before I further consider it..... We got a quote to have a door installed in an interior doorway between our kitchen and the rest of the house. Our house is 130+ years old and has a lot of really pretty, but a bit beat up, original trim, doors, and hardware. The doorway is, of course, a non-standard size and is not even sort of true/plumb. The quote is to custom build and install a door with a glass window in the style of the other doors in our house with period appropriate reproduction hardware. The install is pricey due to the lopsided nature of 130yo houses. The total quote is for nearly $1400. Is that completely bananas or reasonable. I really have no idea.

Huh. That is not the word I had on 11/11. I had today's on that date. Then again today! So strange......

Am I crazy or was this word used very recently?

This is what I was going to suggest. Cook one ahead of time and maybe do it in a way that is easier, quicker, and might even taste better, then have that one ready to serve while the other (decoy) one rests. I have also made GB casserole (uncooked) days ahead and just plopped it in the oven to be ready for dinner. Mashed potatoes in a crock pot does very well.

Ignoring the current game/gift of "how can Pinball keep the pot stirring" for a moment, this right here is the problem. We have come to a place of such privilege (and frankly, reckless lack of regard for the consequences of blind consumption) that gifts can be a burden. Gifts can be weapons, intentionally or not. I doubt anyone with good gifting intentions would ever want someone to be in tears over gifts. Or have bad feelings in general. Obviously gifting with bad intentions is no good and I doubt anyone would disagree. That would be the giving meat/alcohol to a vegetarian/recoverer. Or how about the time-honored classic of giving toys to children that the parents have requested to be avoided? Let's give little Johnny a drum set even though his mom is migraine-prone. Or let's get Susie a ginormous Barbie house when the family lives in a studio apartment. Parents "have views" about plastic going in landfills? Let's load up at the dollar store so that their kids can open all the plastic things then be upset long after the giver has left when they break and end up in....wait for it.....the landfill! Timmy can't have peanuts? Oh, I bet the parents are overreacting, let's see what really happens when I give him some peanut brittle. This all comes from a sense of entitlement. I *want* to gift and I *want* to do it the way I *want* to, so I am going to double down. That is not coming from a place of love or care, no matter what "love language" you are trying to pin it on. It's about control and it stinks. Then we have the truly oblivious. People who hear the message, "please do not give us gifts" and think it is coming from a place of modestly or not wanting to put people out. So they gift anyway, without knowing that this gifts cause stress. And yes, sometimes tears, anxiety, guilt, etc.... That can be forgiven which is why most people will graciously accept Great Aunt Tilly's gifts to all 5 kids of matching sweaters even though they live in Florida and two are allergic to wool....and someone will feel guilty when they get dropped off at Goodwill. The OP is walking the line here and teetering towards bad intentions. No, SIL should not get to decide how/if anyone else decides to exchange gifts. But her request to have her family removed from the gift exchange should be honored, no matter what the reasons are. If the OP still shows up with gifts, how can anyone call that "love?" It is at best, selfish and obtuse and at worst, blatantly unkind. We are post etiquette book here. At least in the olden days, pre-cheap-plastic-and-dollar-stores, vengeance gifting was limited by financial and material means. Still wrong and problematic but containable. Now, anyone with $20 and some time on their hands can make anyone miserable.

I really love mine! I use it in my normal boots to wam them up before going out for long periods. It really makes a big difference! I have one like the first link below that does not have a fan. It takes longer but prevents shoe stink from being blown around a small space (in case that is important). The second would be even faster but still compact. https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/peet-drop-in-footwear-dryer?ds_e=GOOGLE&ds_c=Cabelas|Shopping|Smart|CatchAll|General|NAud|High|NMT&gclid=EAIaIQobChMInK3YgK21-wIV-RPUAR3bFwgYEAQYASABEgIQbPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds https://www.rei.com/product/891155/dryguy-travel-dry-dx-boot-dryer

This is going to depend more on the sock itself. I only buy wool socks that are meant to be washed and dried on hot like Smartwool and Darn Tough. I wash and dry on hot with no problems. ETA - I have a pair of Smartwool I bought in the 1990s that I have washed and dried like normal and they are still going strong aside from aging elastic in the cuff.

Fleece lined leggings are great and I usually find mine on the cheap at TJ Maxx. Lightweight wool running socks stay somewhat warm even when soaked....which mine usually get from snow/slush. Electric boot dryers to place in shoes to allow to both dry them out post wet run or to pre-warm them before heading out. They make models that are better for shoes, rather than boots or ski boots.....but I think they are pretty much always called "boot dryers." A handful of lightweight Buffs can serve both as a neck gaiter or hat. I sometimes will pull it up over the back of a running hat at the start of the run then pull down as I warm up.....leaving it there to pull back on when I stop. I will layer more than one on folders days. And they make great headbands/ear protection for in-between temps. And as others mentioned, blinkies for dark runs. I have a few and I will typically click one to the front and another to the back of my running top.

This is a constant battle with a loved one in my family too. She is thrilled when someone (anyone) calls and will happily give out all of her info. It is a fine balance between allowing her as much independence (the phone, for instance) and the threat of scams. I just undid a doozy that I only caught because I check every account daily. There are a few things people like us can do that has helped protect my elder. Freeze their credit with all three agencies, keep only one CC with a very low credit limit with text notifications for each use, and keep balance in any bank accounts the elder has access to very low and again with text alerts. We actually had to ditch the normal CC altogether because even with the very low limit, she was giving out the number so frequently that we could not keep her account secure so now she has a preloaded CC with only $100 on it. At least she will only lose $100 each time but I can much more easily/quickly shut it down and get a new one to her. There are a lot of new phone options as someone else pointed out. That does not work for us as my elder no longer has the ability to adapt to a new phone so we are stuck with what she has. It is a truly sick person who does this to dementia suffered......and their caregivers.

I am one who had suggested (unsuccessfully, FTR) that we stop exchanging gifts on both sides of my family. It was (is still, actually....but less important to me now that we are empty-nested) out of control and such a huge focus of the season that everything else was being pushed out. We have literally stopped at Goodwill on the way home after the holidays to drop off more than half of the gifts we received. Not because they weren't thoughtful or because they did not fulfill someone's "love language" but because they literally would not fit in our home or car. There were a whole string of years when I had a sobbing toddler/child on my hands because they were on house 2 and hour 7 of opening gifts on Christmas Day.....all while being expected to be polite, patient while each person opened their gifts, and socially grateful for each gift received. It was so over the top that those same years, we (the parents) did not even buy gifts for our own nuclear family because it just added to the pile of stuff and time trapped waiting for presents to be opened....and the thing is, no one even noticed! I just asked my grown dd if she ever noticed that mom and dad did not give her any Christmas presents between the ages of 2-10. She had no idea. She says she could never keep track of who gave her what after a few hours. Hours. Think about that. Why are we spending hours of precious family time on consumerism and landfill fodder? As I said, it didn't work and we eventually "aged out" of the parenting phase where it mattered. But it made the holiday emotionally conflicting, guilt-inducing, and honestly ruined Christmas Day proper for many years until we decided to just opt out and stay home. The gifts still rolled in but at a WAY lower volume and we were no longer trapped for hours doing a tradition we did not like, want, or even find ethical TBH. Now that we are empty-nested, we have a quiet day at home with just our nuclear family. We open one gift to/from each of us, which takes mere minutes, then spend the rest of the day delivering meals for the local senior citizen society, taking our annual Christmas walk to visit with local friends, and working on our annual puzzle. No more sobbing toddlers. In times of yore when people did not lose their minds over holiday gifting and no one ended up with huge piles of toys, I think the etiquette of always graciously receiving gifts was good advice. I believe the etiquette rules need to change when grandparents and aunts and uncles think giving each child 10+ presents every single year is appropriate. I am old school. I still write TY notes and make my family members do the same. I bring a (consumable) hostess gift when invited to dinner. I look up what black tie means before attending that wedding. But I draw the line here. Times have changed and I believe people have a right to control how much and what kind of stuff ends up in their possession. All that to say that I never did figure out what the "right" answer was but when people are saying this, there is a reason and it is not just to stomp on someone's gift-giving love. And no, they probably do not want gifts year round either!

Also, the bath house is really not terrible if you are prepared. Obviously flip flops are a must. But we also have a simple plastic pail that we all share. You can dump in your new clothing, towels, and any products you need. The pail allows to you either hang it from a hook or set it down on a bench or floor.....which are often wet. It is nice to have somewhere to place your clothing and towel where they stay dry. But we too have camped locally and to save cash, I will run home daily to take care of cats and will for SURE use my own shower when I can.

We cook pretty much the same things we would at home. If you are going to have a campfire, you could do some sort of foil dinner. I will often pre-assemble burritos at home, wrap them in foil, and toss them at the edge of the coals or on a grate (if one is available) as an easy dinner that can be heating up as we set up camp. You can do this with just about anything you can put in foil. Roasted potatoes with green beans or broccoli is another foil favorite. I do pre-roast the potatoes and veggies as it can be very tricky to get them to cook fully on a fire. We use our tonka pie cookers a lot.....and almost never for pie. You can make custom pizzas, quesadillas, breakfast sandwiches, reubens....pretty much anything you can put between two piece of bread or tortilla. I especially like corn tortilla pizzas. I also especially like the lack of dishes this creates and making everyone assemble their own.

We do a lot of camping in campgrounds that range from busy state parks to off-grid state forest campsites. Our camper does not have a lock and we do leave all of our stuff in it. We have never had anything stolen. I do prefer to lock bikes but my family is terrible about that so it almost never happens. We seldom even lock the car at night. We camp with a large group on many occasions and some of them have very expensive bikes, stoves, SUPs, and coolers that they leave outside and unsecured. Even large bottles of alcohol left out on picnic tables. Again, no one has messed with anything. I am personally not comfortable with that level of trust but it shows how little theft occurs. We have had bears and raccoons break into everything....bins, coolers, tents, etc..... In general, all food is either in the camper or car overnight but more than once we have forgotten to put a cooler in the car at bedtime only to find ourselves awaken by a rummaging animal later in the night.

I had what I assume is omicron last May. I was fully vaccinated and boosted. I experienced "bad cold" symptoms. Nothing terrible. But it got me on the back end with months of difficulty breathing, lingering cough, loss of taste, high heart rate, and general fatigue. I am a runner and I have still not regained my pre-covid pace. If I did not have the measure available, I would assume that I am now back to "normal." I have years of heart rate and pace data that confirms I am still not 100%. I was also fooled by how mild I thought it was and probably pushed activity too hard and too soon....so partially my own fault.

I agree!

Thanks everyone!

I agree with a few points that have already been made here. The bow is just as important as the instrument when it comes to how a player will feel about the sound and ease of play. And bows can be very expensive....typically up to half the cost of the violin. And cost does not have much to do with how an instrument and bow will match a player. We live very far away from anyplace that sells the kinds of violins dd needed when she was looking. The shop had to ship several to us after an extensive Q&A (about price, brightness, use, etc.....) with dd, us, and her teacher. They send violins that ranged in price from $2000 - $6000. We had dd play each for hours with the costs masked. We had no intention of buying the $6000 instrument but were very curious as to which she would gravitate towards. Shockingly, it was the least expensive one, so that worked out well all around. Dd was still considering going into music as a career at that time so we did want her to have something to at least get her started after high school (she was not planning to go to college for music if that was the path she chose, but rather go right into the industry....or at least attempt to). Since you can go to the shop itself, your dd will have even more variety to try out. They likely will allow you to take the top 2-3 "finalists" home for a week or so as one really needs more than a few minutes in a shop to determine which will be best. And all that said, violins hold their value so you should be able to sell and recoup your entire investment should your dd decide to stop playing.

Gifting is not my love language..... My niece is turning 8 in a few weeks and I am trying to come up with a super cool gift. She is into writing and illustrating her own books. Anyone know of a fun gift that would work into that theme? She also like instructional books about drawing, Minecraft, and Pikachu. I have already recently gifted her higher end colored pencils, markers, paints, brushes, clay, nice paper, and other art supplies. Help! Also, while we are at it, I am looking for generally whatever the coolest things ever would be for a 4.5yo girl and boy. Because Christmas is coming! Sigh. *I am posting and running. Not sure how quickly I will be back. So forgive delay in responses!

Camping mattresses have come a long way. I would check out the ones I recommended, Big Agnes and Sea to Summit. Both have models that are very thick, single and double wide. They have two big advantages over a traditional standard air mattress. 1. They have some closed cell foam which makes them warmer. 2. They are very compact and come with these nifty air filling bags that eliminate the need (and potential technical problems) for a pump of any kind. For us, car camping means less concern over weight and bulk but that is still finite. A big traditional air mattress takes up a lot of space. As I said, I am known to still haul my own but I have to bring extra layers for under my sleeping bag because I am basically sleeping on air. My preference is to use one of the thicker Big Agnes mattresses we have but sometimes those are in use by others and I am stuck with the big mattress.

We are huge fans of REI tents of all sizes. We have a few - everything from a 2-man backpacking tent to a very large family. All are 100% waterproof and hold up very well. For "higher end" tents, they are affordable and the customer service is great. We have also had several cheaper Kelty tents and those also have held up well but are for sure more basic than the REIs we have had. Ground cloths are a rip-off unless weight (backpacking) is a consideration. We just cut to fit from old tarps. Big Agnes and Sea to Summit make great inflatable individual sleeping pads. We do have a few old school thermarests floating around too and they are bombproof.....but not as comfortable, IMO. I also feel to shame in dragging a full-on air mattress out when we are car camping.

It's tricky. Most of dd's labs have a drop-one-lab-grade policy that can be used for illness or just to drop a low grade. Some even have it for exams, like "best 2 of 3 in addition to final" policy. These policies are the general way to handle occasional illness or other unplanned derailments like weather, car trouble, dog ate my notes, etc...... The problem is that the students want to "save" the drop for a low grade rather than use it to cover absence due to illness and will still drag themselves in sick. Dd just missed an exam last week due to illness. She actually felt well enough to take it and was prepared, but she was coughing so frequently that she worried she would disrupt the other students. She asked the professor and her only option was to come to the exam as planned or drop that grade (best 2 out of 3 policy). She really REALLY did not want to skip and drop because she was very prepared and suspected she would get a higher grade than her first exam of the semester. But she felt it was irresponsible to attend so it is what it is. Then she finds out from a classmate that half the lecture hall was hacking through the whole exam. Now she says she won't do that again unless she truly cannot drag herself into class/lab/exam. So, the system is still flawed. To the OP, is there no policy like this for the lab or the chance to still file a report with the results of other students?

Correct. No water at all. Our unit had a kitchen sink when we bought it, but we removed it as we don't ever camp where we have water/sewer hook ups and I do all cooking and dish washing outside anyway. By removing the sink, we opened up some additional storage space and eliminated all need to winterize our rig or mess with water lines at all. And there was never a bathroom of any type. We use whatever campground facilities are available. Sometimes that is a full bathhouse with showers and hot water and other times it is pit toilets and a water pump that we use to fill our own water jug at camp (for hand washing and cooking). If we are boon docking, we use a shovel. It's not for everyone....or even most people.....but is not at all uncommon so be sure to ask a lot of questions before renting if certain items are a must, like bathrooms, AC, and heat.

Correct. No water at all. Our unit had a kitchen sink when we bought it, but we removed it as we don't ever camp where we have water/sewer hook ups and I do all cooking outside anyway. By removing the sink, we opened up some additional storage space. And there was never a bathroom of any type. We use whatever campground facilities are available. Sometimes that is a full bathhouse with showers and hot water and other times it is pit toilets and a water pump that we use to fill our own water jug at camp (for hand washing and cooking). If we are boon docking, we use a shovel. It's not for everyone....or even most people.....but is not at all uncommon so be sure to ask a lot of questions before renting if certain items are a must, like bathrooms, AC, and heat.