:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: I'm dying to know too! OP, you've gotten great suggestions, but Amazon also has Amazon Lockers, which are secure locations in public places where you can have your Amazon stuff delivered. Not as convenient as getting packages at home, but at least you'll get your packages!

I do, and I have no idea why I know that. Probably my dad's doing :lol:

I just tried it and the code worked for me. Maybe try again, or try from a different computer?

We just saw Howl in the theater as well. Actually, we saw all but Nausicaa (though DD saw it) and Kiki, because the theater had a problem for Kiki and it wouldn't show. It was really wonderful to see the on the big screen. I'd seen Spirited Away before but not the others. Definitely worth the money and time!

I bake these in a 9x13 Pyrex (either glass or ceramic, both work fine). My tips are to use dark brown sugar in the filling, and if you bake in the large pan, leave some space between the rolls when you prep them for the second rise, to allow them room to rise sideways a bit (and then puff up when you bake them), and if your rolls rose up so that they're packed tightly in the pan, bake at a very slightly lower temp for an extra couple of minutes (like, 10 degrees lower for maybe 2-3 more minutes). I sometimes have trouble with the center rolls not getting baked all the way through and staying doughy, and this eliminates the problem. Good luck! I only make these three times a year: Christmas morning, for breakfast one morning during our annual extended family vacation, and when a specific cousin comes to visit and requests them. They're really amazing and totally worth the effort!

I agree with Lori. We are HUGE Studio Ghibli fans here, and Spirited Away is my personal favorite--there's so much beauty and detail in that movie, I see new things every time we watch it (and I've probably seen it 7-8 times by now). Howl's Moving Castle and Totoro are very close seconds--beautiful beautiful beautiful! But all of those five would be great for a not-terribly-sensitive 11-year-old. They do have some intensity in them, if she's sensitive to that. IMO, there's nothing scary, and neither my sensitive kid nor my horror movie watcher (!) were bothered by any Studio Ghibli movies at that age, and even younger.

This is the one I use, and the one that's well-known here on the boards. They've made me famous in my extended family :lol:

This is exactly what I do as well. It makes good cocoa, especially if you use whole milk :D I usually go a little heavier on the cocoa powder too, and I try to buy a bag of little marshmallows in the winter to keep them handy, or if I can plan ahead well enough, I'll make a little whipped cream.

There's one girl, and I strongly suggested that very thing. DD is extremely nervous about it, but I think she is leaning toward talking to her about some ways to steer the conversation in other directions.

DD has a had a good, fairly tightly knit group of teen girl friends for a good long time now. However, recently, two of the "best friend" pairs recently had major falling-outs, and it has caused major turmoil in the group. Long story short, the result is that two of the girls have left, or were kind of cut off, in an awkward sort of way. I'm not thrilled about how all of this played out, but it is what it is, and the two girls who left the group were less bonded to the group overall. The big problem is this: The remaining girls in the group have basically rebonded over the implosion, and all they want to do when they get together, or on their Instagram group chats, is trash-talk the two girls who have been cut off/left. DD was just showing me a long conversation string, and it is very ugly :( She's extremely uncomfortable with all of it, and she's very tired of listening to it as well, because it just goes on and on. She thinks that, in particular, the girls are being extremely unfair to one former friend (and I agree, which is why I'm kind of glad she left the group and its activities--I think she's better off). Unfortunately, DD is struggling with her own depression and anxiety issues right now and doesn't feel capable of rocking the boat or making successful, quiet, positive change. One girl in particular is fairly volatile (dealing with a lot of her own emotional issues), and DD is afraid to become the lightning rod. The worst part is that these are all pretty good kids. This is the first time anything like this has happened, and I suspect it will all blow over in a few months. In the meantime, though, DD doesn't know what to do with herself. She wants her friend group back, but she doesn't want to attend gatherings because they devolve into snipefests. There's an impending sleepover, and she's dreading it and agonizing over whether or not she should even go, but the reality is that she'd be heartbroken if she stayed home. We've talked a lot about how the girls are still processing their own grief and loss of friendships, how she can subtly remove herself physically or mentally if things get unbearable, how I could pick her up at 1 a.m. so she doesn't have to stay the whole night, ways she could subtly stand up for the ex-friends if she sees an opportunity, etc. She wants to do it, but even thinking about those kinds of things makes her anxiety go off the chart. She actually would like to make new friends, but opportunities for teens are really few and far between here. In the meantime, she's feeling lonely and frustrated and sad and angry at her friends and is just wishing things could go back to normal. And they probably will in a few months. For now, though, she's really suffering. I'm so tempted to contact a couple of the moms of the girls involved, but I suspect that's probably overstepping! I kind of wish I could tell her to just drop all these girls and contact one of the girls who left the group, but she'll see this friend group at weekly activities, and honestly, these girls have been her friends since they were all little kids. I want to tell her to be strong and do the right thing! Advocate for the girls to treat each other better and for herself and her other friend! But she's not strong right now, and she fights to get through every day as it is. I would love to hear if anyone has any miraculous words of wisdom for us. What's the right thing to do here? And why are teen girls--heck, why are adult women--so truly awful to one another?! Blech. Thanks.

I remember mentioning this. It's mind blowing, and you inspire me.

52 days is crazy!!! This is why I don't use my debit cards anywhere but legit ATMs. We have two friends who have constant problems with their debit cards being compromised, and it's a huge hassle for them every time. At one point the bank insinuated that one friend was scamming them and that they might not get their money back after all. I really hope the bank moves much faster than you think :grouphug:

My two favorite low-carb ways to use ground beef are burger patties on a bed of dark greens with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and olive oil and this Addictive Asian Beef Slaw (one of the few ways I can get my kids to eat cabbage!). I've made the beef slaw enough times to be able to tweak it to whatever we have on hand. I increase the chopped bell peppers and carrots, use all white cabbage if that's all I have, skip the lime and cilantro (though I like the lime and use it if I can), add extra ginger, etc. It's always so good.

Regal Cinemas is doing a Buy a $50 Gift Card, Get a $10 Concessions Card deal through the end of December, I think. https://www.regmovies.com/promotions/holiday

The Tucker & Tate bralettes were my sensory-sensitive kid's first bras too--super soft and comfortable.

That's really interesting. I've not had that experience, but I've read books that unexpectedly gave me insight into certain life situations that changed the way I thought about some things. I guess that's the point of great literature, right?

Just sharing this here because I know we love our Great Courses :D Great Courses Plus is offering a Black Friday deal of $159.99 ($20 off the regular $179.99), and you get a free Roku Express as well. We have a Roku Express, and while it doesn't measure up to the Apple TV, it more than does the job for things like watching TGC lectures. We love TGC here and are using several for 9th grade alone, so it's a great deal for us (we were already paying monthly at $20 per month). https://www.thegreatcoursesplus.com/ HTH someone!

When my periods got like this, thyroid meds were the key to fixing it. My numbers weren't low by most doctors' standards, but they were low to my endocrinologist, so she put me on levothyroxine, and everything evened out and got normal again. It's been wonderful.

Oh no :( I'm so sorry :grouphug:

WOW! That's some review. I've been really hesitant to try an IP mac and cheese recipe because we love our stovetop one so much, but now I'll have to try this. Thank you both for sharing and reviewing!

That's great to hear. I've some saaaad cage setups :( Yes, they really seem to want to do whatever you don't want them to do--chew whatever they shouldn't and never the toys you give them, escape when they should be staying in, staying in when you finally want them to come out. Contrary little stinkers! Do you have a vet you could take her to if she doesn't improve through the night tonight? She might need some pain meds while she heals.

NM, didn't read the OP carefully enough!

FWIW, hamsters need much more space than the Habitrail/Crittertrail cages offer. US pet stores are woefully behind in this area. You're much better off with a big glass tank and a mesh lid that you can add latches to or weigh down so she can't escape anymore. Because hamsters absolutely LIVE to escape wherever they are!

I was asked to bring a vegetable dish to a potluck an hour away tonight. (No Brussels sprouts though :lol:) Can anyone recommend something that will travel well? I don't have a crockpot but I do have an instant pot. There will already be a veggie-tray-and-dip kind of thing there. Thanks!

Except that what you're describing was absolutely the mindset of my Gen X college classmates, and many expected to and did walk out of college with good, high-paying, non-ground-floor-level jobs. So this attitude isn't limited to Millennials in any way.