We tried that one year. :) The only problem with that is when friends say, "So, what did OC Mom get you for Christmas?" You've gotta have something tangible under the tree to discuss with friends & family!

I was thinking the opposite - "I bet my husband wishes he was married to Catwoman!" My jaw dropped when I saw that list. My dh would keel over if he got all that stuff. That said...we don't really live in a climate where any of that is necessary! My dd and I did discuss getting a pea coat for dh, but he'd probably only wear it a handful of days a year. (dd and I are in the Pea Coat Club and only get to wears ours occasionally. On the plus side, we wear flip-flops 9 months out of the year)

I just saw two of you posted about an Amazon wish list. What a great idea! I keep one for myself, just to remember what books I want. :) I am going to ask dh to start keeping a list for the future (it's a little late for this year...)

He says he wouldn't...but...the kids would feel bad, and I would feel bad. Plus my parents want to know - they are willing to spend up to about $150 on him! Thanks for the ideas posted so far. The wine & chocolate idea wouldn't work for hubby, but it made me think of something else. He likes to spend more money on dates than I do - I am always trying to drag him on free hikes & such :) - so maybe I will get him a restaurant card for a "date night" restaurant.

My dh refuses to tell me or the kids anything he wants for Christmas. I'm a little ticked (sorry, don't want to husband-bash!). But he it looks like he is going to get some Starbucks cards under the tree. If I buy him books, he won't read them (like most of us, he likes to pick his own books). If I buy him clothes, other than the very standard dress shirts, he won't wear them (again, he insists on picking his own). I already checked the concert schedule of the only 3 bands I could think of that he might like to see - nothing in our area on the schedule. ??

Yes, I hate to admit it, because I think I *should* like certain books. Brothers Karamazov - agh! Portrait of a Lady - snoozer Anything by Dickens - could it get more tedious?

Me, too. I kept waiting for it to get good, but it never did. Just more graphic. I also really disliked All the Pretty Horses. Can I have 2 least favorites of 2010?

LOL. Yellow Tail Chardonnay here (that I read about on this board!). I have had a headache all evening; finally decided a glass of wine would do the trick. :)

I'm glad, too! I checked out the code from my Costco 2% rgbh-free milk - it comes from a dairy in our county. It's not organic, but at least it's local. I had been buying organic since about March, and just switched back to regular this month b/c of the cost...but based on the info Colleen & others provided, I'm going to consider organic again. I also bought raw a couple of times, but my ds, who's the major milk drinker in the house, wouldn't drink it. He said milk MUST be pasteurized or it is poisonous. ?? Not sure where the 14yo comes up with this stuff.

Thanks for weighing in on this one, Colleen. Do you have an alert that lets you know when "organic milk" shows up in a post? :) I checked out your link and was surprised - I guess I thought "Organic Valley" was a huge dairy farm; it didn't occur to me that they get their milk from local organic farmers!

Biola University, with their top scholarship! :D It is her first choice. Now we are just waiting for her to be contacted about their great books honors program; she submitted the app for that, too. (it's what makes Biola her top choice...not sure what we will decide if she doesn't get in to that).

Do you have a Costco near you? We bought some very nice towels there that seem to be holding up well. The only reason I don't like buying linens at Tuesday Morning or other discounters is that it's hard to find complete sets, and lots of the stuff they have is decorated. :(

I read the Christmas CD thread a couple of days ago with interest. But then I realized, I don't NEED to buy any more Christmas CDs! We are getting all of the Christmas music we want through Pandora. We are lucky enough to have a stereo that can stream Pandora, but we can also get it on my iPhone or my son's iPod touch to play on our docking stations. I think you can stream through any computer also. The commercials are minimal - one short (30 second) ad every 10 songs or so. They have some preset Christmas stations, but you can also search for the artist you want, plus the word "holiday" and you have a customized Christmas station! Our stations: U2 Holiday - lots of Enya, Sarah Mclachlan, John Lennon, funky new artists, etc. Trans Siberian Orchestra Holiday - lots of TSO and Mannheim Steamroller & other instrumentals Blind Boys of Alabama Holiday (I added this one after seeing their album mentioned on the other thread!) Mountain Top Bluegrass Gospel Christmas Willie Nelson (holiday) The Merriest Hawaiian Christmas Radio Enjoy!

Their website is very slow (for me, at least). I can't find any pricing info or where to buy - do you have to find a medical provider?

I am already overwhelmed at just deciding if I NEED to take some of these things. But lets assume I decide that something for my aging joints would be good. I have a friend who is into nutrition who says to take a "good brand" and she recommends Garden of Life. Wow, that and other brands are expensive! How do I know they are better than, say, the lowest price brand I can get at Costco? Do my vitamins need to be from "whole foods"? I don't want to waste money on cheap supplements that won't do me any good, but nor do I want to waste extra money on expensive brands if they are no different. I could say, "Take what works", but when these things are supposed to take a month or more before you see a difference - or maybe you're not supposed to see a difference at all, but you WON'T develop problems you might have developed if you weren't on the supplements - well, you see my dilemma! Help!

Another vote for Aleks as a review. We haven't found it great as a primary course. But my dd needed it to take a final exam in Algebra months after she had completed a course (long story). She used Aleks for a month to review, and got a 98% on the final!

My 14yo would pay for his retainer if he lost it. (I think it is about $250 at our ortho). BTW, we told him this when we got the retainer. I posted a couple of weeks ago about whether or not to ask our 17yo to pay for the damages for putting diesel into our van. We ended up not asking her to pay anything, partly b/c we felt that there hadn't been an expectation up front. Still need to have that conversation w/ dd about any future damages...I want the expectations to be clear! We have a $1000 deductible for any body damage.

I'm sorry that happened to your shirt. But I would probably chalk it up to experience. Whenever I get a color treatment done at a salon, I always wear a shirt that I don't mind if it gets splattered. My stylist is careful but I still came home with a bleached spot once.

My dd started with the Klutz book years ago. It gave her enough of a background that she branched out to designing her own creations, and trying to copy pictures she saw online.

Mrs. Mungo, have you noticed the horrific number of kittens dying with the Christmas season? As often as not, Christmas cards are signed: The Smith's, instead of: The Smiths. Oh, the humanity! (the felinity?)

Waiting here. The official word is that they don't notify until early January - but we heard from 2 students who were accepted in the last couple of years that they were notified before Christmas. (I wish those friends hadn't told us that, so I could rest easier...it has me on pins & needles whenever I check the mail!)

More :grouphug: for you. Are you done with school for the year? Maybe you should be. :) Time to bake cookies, touch up your roots, etc. :grouphug: PS - My "roots" are out there, too - but I have recently decided that the bleach/dye/etc. is poison and I'm not going to subject myself to that anymore. We'll see how long I last. :)

You multiply whatever your top marginal tax rate is by $4470. So if you are in the 25% bracket, you will lose about $1100 this year - but get it back next year, as WendyK pointed out.

Yep, we have both. And an espresso machine. It's a good thing we have lots of counter space - the coffee nook takes up quite a bit of kitchen real estate. If we had just one coffee drinker in our house, I can see how a single cup maker could replace the regular machine. But since both of us are coffee drinkers, it makes sense to make a whole pot in the morning, and then use the Keurig in the afternoon, or for evening decaf.

I don't think so. Do you know someone who could order it for you (your parents?). You can buy from lots of b&m and online retailers, but Costco had the best price when I bought mine in April. (I just looked it up, and I have the B60 which is still available - either the B60 or 70 would be good).