Well good grief am I glad I asked! I had no idea! My stepson has asthma, seems to be outgrowing it now that he's 16, but his only flared when he got a cold. So I thought I was familiar with asthma, you know? He has an albuterol rescue inhaler as well as steroid breathing treatments with his nebulizer machine. I have no experience with cough variant asthma induced by allergies. I now have a new research topic. And perhaps a trip to the pediatrician. Or should I skip the ped and go straight to a pulmonologist?

Zee gets an allergy cough every summer now for the past few years. Right now we're doing daily Claritin and Flonase, and it's just not working. It's a very, VERY persistent cough, and it's definitely allergies. Please help.

Rebel, do you mind me asking if you ever got tested? My stepson got tested because he was complaining of pelvic pain that was not being diagnosed as anything else, and his mother had been diagnosed with the disease already, so she took him to a pediatric nephrologist for an ultrasound. So now my stepkid's mother and I are trying to convince my stepdaughter, who is 19, that she should go get checked out for her peace of mind (and ours). You mention that your dad's nephew had it, but did you or any of your siblings (if you have any) or any of your dad's siblings (if he had any)?

Oh dear. That is... unfortunate. I've never watched that show, and now I see I'm not missing much. I'm not making any judgments on what kind of person that lady is (outside of not being a good cook). She may very well love her children and care for them very well. However that "recipe" is... wow. So. Much. Margarine. And she called it butter! No!!!! That's NOT butter! We were at my inlaws recently, and my fil's new wife served margarine. (It kind of surprised me because she's very health conscious; I think it may be a generational difference?). Anyway, the boys had never had it before, didn't know what it was, and were totally grossed out by the idea of fake butter. They did NOT think it tasted good. (Thankfully they were polite about it.)

My stepson was just diagnosed. I am well versed in kidney function, etc, as a living kidney donor, but my 16 year old stepson so far has reacted to it with the "I'm invincible" character that plagues many teenagers. His mother and grandmother also have it, as it is genetic. However it is presenting much more mildly in his mom and grandma than in him. His cysts are already bigger than his mothers. It is causing him pelvic discomfort sometimes. His mother and I are trying to get him to understand that while its not a death sentence, he does need to take extra precautions regarding his kidneys. The biggest being no caffeine and no nsaids (Alleve, Motrin, etc. Basically he should only take acetaminophen unless it's a rare thing). He is not at all liking the no caffeine, as his mother was apparently allowing him to have it quite freqeuntly at her house. We don't stock pop here at our house, and the Keurig is for dh. I hadn't worried about the small amount of caffeine in iced tea, but I'm going to switch to using decaf tea bags to make it,since that's mostly what he drinks when he's here. That and water. He doesn't care much for milk. Anyone have any experiences they could share? This is all very new, so having someone btdt would be helpful. I'm trying to figure out how to encourage good kidney health habits, and for him to *get* that he needs to take care of his kidneys so he can go as long as possible without needing dialysis or transplant.

Professional sports. I've never in my life been able to wrap my head around why we pay grown men (and women) to play a *game* for a living. That just seems so absurd to me. (Yes, I realize I'm odd.)

Ok ladies, help me diagnose Moose... It all started early Monday morning when he woke up around 1am and vomitted. Later in the day on Monday, he had diarrhea. Ever since then he hasn't thrown up or had diarrhea (he's had normal bathroom habits since then), his appetite and energy have been low, he has intermittent nausea, and says his head doesn't feel good. When I asked him to explain what he means by "his head doesn't feel good", he said "you know how there's the stomach flu? This would be like the head flu." He says his ears don't hurt, and his nose isn't stuffy. I've been able to keep him drinking, but he has very little interest in food. He tolerates toast, plain bagels, easy stuff. But he doesn't want much. And he just lays around. Both are very out of character for him; he loves to move and eat. Any ideas?

I... don't think you can? It's like one of those things that you figure out on your own, and either you can do it or you can't. Kind of like rolling your Rs . At least that's what I think.

My husband's favorites (I'm not promising these are all healthy, but rather his favorites, LOL): Chicken and dumplings. I make this in the crock pot. Homemade pizza. And since I've tried a zillion ways to make homemade crust and it's never as good, I buy frozen pizza dough from the grocery store for $1.39 each. The pizza really is good. Grilled chicken that I do in the oven. I cover the chicken in olive oil, italian spices, garlic powder, and salt, then broil them on a grill pan in the oven (we don't have a bbq, but that would be fantastic too). He likes this as is, or chopped up and used to make chicken fried rice. Stuffed shells. I just use a mixture of ricotta, parm, and mozzarella. Spaghetti with meat sauce. Chicken parmesean Pierogies with onions Pot roast with carrots and potatoes, done in the slow cooker. With all of these I would of course serve sides of fruits and veggies, I just listed the main dish.

Ah. See, I learned a little trick, because my stepdaughter tends to do stuff like this to me, too. (As if it matters to me what day you do to a movie with your friends?! Why would you even ask me?! That's what my brain is yelling. However...) What I would do is turn it around and answer her question with a question. So going with your example, I would have replied with, "Well dd, would you rather that they change the date they go see the movie, or do you want to go today?" And then when she answers "Well, I really want to go tomorrow because blah blah blah", you can all 'Mmm hmm, yeah, oh, ok, well, that sounds like a good idea then to ask them to change the day". So basically, you're just agreeing with them that whatever (rather unimportant, neither right nor wrong) decision they want to make, it's the right one. Worth a shot at least. :D

Tell them how their gift has impacted your life. That's what will help them heal. Tell them specifically how donating their loved one's corneas has improved the quality of your life. Perhaps tell them about how now you will be able to continue seeing and caring for your children, your family, etc. Just let them know, however you can, just how much it has meant to you. I think sending them a letter is a very sweet idea.

Yes, my dh very much likes my bare shoulders. Which is why I only have bare shoulders when I'm at home. I don't wear sleeveless tops out of the house without something underneath or over top. It's something about looking "undressed" I think, to some men, to see bare shoulders. All the same, I don't/didn't/haven't/won't make a rule that bare shoulders = immodest.

My grocery shopping has changed HUGELY in the eleven years we've been married. I used to buy whatever I wanted when I wanted, regarless of price, And we ate a lot more convenience foods. This was when we first got married and dh and I both worked, eleven years ago. Boy have things changed. I quit working to stay home and raise our kids, and that was an adjustment for both of us. Now? First off, there's a great website a gal runs in our area that matches up the local grocery store sales with coupons. That helps a ton. Plus, I cook much more from scratch now (as an example, I bake homemade muffins insead of buying a mix like I would've back in the day). We eat a lot less processed foods, even though I coupon so much. Who couldn't use a coupon for toilet paper, paper towel, deodorant, shampoo, laundry detergent, peanut butter, etc. There are lots of staples, toiletries, and paper/plastic products that have coupons. Shoot, yesterday at Meijer I even used a coupon on my organic romaine lettuce.

I so seriously have some friends, a couple that dh and I are friends with, that fit that to a T.

My inlaws got me this set of Food Network stainless steel a few years ago for Christmas. I love it very much. And Oh.My.Goodness, I had no *idea* how much it cost them until I just now googled it. Good grief, I know I've thanked them several times for it, but I'm going to have to mention it again. My word. I'd NEVER be able to bring myself to buy something that expensive! Ahem. Wow. Anyway... In addition to that, I have a Lodge 12" cast iron pan, a Lodge 8 inch cast iron pan, and a Lodge griddle/grill pan. Between those and the stainless steel set, I feel very well equipped.

Wow. He sounds like a handful, to be honest. You're a much better aunt than I am, because at this point, I'd be telling him he wasn't welcome on our vacation if he was going to act that way. Seriously. I wouldn't want my vacation ruined by a negative, sulking, angry nephew. I get that you love him, you don't want to push him away, you want to be there for him. But that doesn't mean you have to put up with him very likely souring your good time on vacation. Just my $0.02

Uh, yeah, Aubrey had a dead turtle thread. You might could try pming her. I'll see if I can holler at her over at facebook...

Ok, I had never heard of sponge candy, so I obviously I had to google it. I came to sponge candy's official site (lol), and found this faq that explains what sponge candy tastes like. What I want to know is who's going to send me some so I can taste it now? Seriously, how have I never heard of this? It sounds yummy!

I am SOOOO showing my dh this. The grocery budget is a constant source of, uh, "discussion" in our house. According to this, The average food stamp recipient in our state, Michigan, gets $135. If you multiply that by four (which is what my dh would do even though I also feed my stepkids sometimes), that would be $542. That is MORE than our montly grocery budget. :/ And our grocery budget covers all toiletries, paper and plastic products, cleaning supplies, etc. Not just food.

My dad is wanting to make his own ketchup and bbq sauce so that he can control the sodium content. He's never made either of them before, and neither have I. (I know, can you believe I've never made them! LOL) So hit me with your favorite recipes. Bonus points if they're already low sodium, but if not, dad and I can adjust that pretty easy. TIA!

Niiiice. :)

I've heard of places like this before. I always thought they were a fantastic idea. It's fits a need quite well. My sister, for example. She and her husban both work, and they have a teenage daughter, and she doesn't really care much for cooking. But she wants to eat healthy and not eat out all the time. It's not for me, but I think it's a brilliant thing for people who do need it. Like you!. :)

Well I craved dirt when pregnant with Moose, but that doesn't mean I actually ate the dirt, LOL. It was pica, and it freaked me out, but it went away. My OB actually said there's no solidly known cause of pica in pregnancy, she said I'd be fine. The ice may be anemia, or it may be just a habit.

That same pair at Payless that you posted comes in black.