If a garment is a natural fabric and doesn't have a lining, then you should be able to gently wash and flat-dry, taking care to block it (return it to the original measurements) so it retains its size and shape. I have no experience with rayon, but I suspect you should be able to do the same.

DS loves reptiles and always has. DD not so much. When they were 3 and 2, he put on an impromptu "puppet show" for her. He had an alligator puppet and walked it along the back of the couch and this freaked her out- I mean freaked- she was beside herself with fear over that little fuzzy alligator. He was so offended that he told her alligators from the creek nearby were going to come get her (this was in Houston and we always had reports of alligators). I couldn't convince her otherwise so I had to make special alligator-proof curtains for her windows.

I've been disturbed by that too. I think that's like saying all homeschoolers are on the fringe. FWIW, I have the best guard dog ever (and a pretty darned good companion) who is a rescue, and I have a perfectly good 80 pound pure bred lap lab.

My dad went to Baylor and my mom's hometown was Waco. Once upon a time we would refer to it as "Whacko", insinuating that her family and friends were weird (they are not any weirder than any other typical family- it was just in fun). We don't do that anymore. It's no longer funny.

I have checked the fourth book out from the library EIGHT times (we have four week loans, too) and I just cannot trudge through it. I even bought the cds last year to listen to when the kids are at taekwondo in the evenings, thinking that would help. Still not happening.

Trumpet of the Swan The Mouse and the Motorcycle DS loved the same books, almost obsessively. All audio or read alouds. The first books he enjoyed reading on his own were by Bill Wallace; I believe he started with The Backward Bird Dog.

Moby Dick. I had to read to the end because it was for a class. But left to my own devices, I would have chunked it after the first two chapters. The Notebook. That one I did chunk. At the wall when I finished it.

No Costco here either. I've tried camparis from Kroger and they are just not the same. The last great tomato I had was an heirloom from a market in Paris. Of course, the fact that it was an heirloom from a market in Paris may have had something to do with it. Paris is a long way to go for a tomato.

If you have a Costco near you, try their campari tomatoes. They are usually pretty good.

Our rooster was a surprise, but DD9 was rather attached by the time we figured it out! There is another rooster near us and the two of them get started with their "crow-mail" at about 5 every morning. The porch would be fine, but anything on/in it will be pooped on. Just be prepared for a good hosing afterward. They will need a heat lamp for a few weeks, and some starter/grower feed. Also, don't bother with the small waterer- go for the big one because you will need it eventually. If the tray opening is small enough, they won't be able to get in and drown.

My kids are presently ignoring their school work to play with the chickens. 1. We have 6 hens and a rooster. We get six eggs per day unless one is molting. We buy a large bag of layer pellets and a bag of scratch every two months or so. They free-range so they are supplementing their diet with a lot of extra stuff. The kids fill the feeders a little more often than once per week. 2. If you are waiting for eggs, waiting for chicks to mature enough is like watching water boil. Our chickens are first and foremost pets, tolerated by DH because eventually they became producers. The kids have really enjoyed raising them from chicks and are now incubating more so they can repeat the process. They also plan to have a covert eggs business. 3. Rhode Island Reds are good egg producers. Buff Orpingtons are good with kids. We have a Brahma, two reds, a silver-laced Wyandotte rooster, an Americauna who lays beautiful dark green eggs, and two Favorelles who lay the tastiest but rather small eggs. All of our chickens tolerate temperature extremes. The favorelles enjoy cold weather and I bought them to ensure I had fresh eggs in the winter. That wasn't a problem- all 6 laid eggs right on through winter. When I was kid, I had bantam silkies. Those were fun pets, but not much in the way of eggs. 4. Good lord, yes. We harvest hay from our field and spread in the coops and the chicken yard to keep moisture and stink under control. I am constantly booting them off of my porch. They like to "bomb" it. 5. In the winter, we just keep adding hay to their coop floors. It mixes with their droppings and rain/snow and then builds up a heat layer- it keep them warm. Spring-fall, we move their coops every month or so and I spray the boxes down with bleach water. Every week, the kids scrape any droppings from surfaces and add hay to their coop floors. There is a forum that is a lot of fun and quite informative: www.backyardchickens.com

I freeze a lot of food for convenience (teenage boy) and my best advice is to have food at room temperature when assembling and packaging. It prevents sogginess. I make breakfast tacos with corn tortillas, heated on the griddle until almost crisp to toughen them a bit, eggs, and pre-cooked meats like bacon or sausage. I wrap tightly in plastic wrap and store them in a baggie. I keep a baggie of gluten free biscuits so I always have some available. I keep uncooked flour biscuits frozen also, but my gf ones don't bake well if frozen before baking. Eta: I pre-cook the meats and then let them cool before assembling. I don't use packaged pre-cooked meat.

I am so glad you were finally taken seriously and able to get a diagnosis. Please keep us posted- you have a lot of concerned friends here.

I also save the sections of paper I cut off of pattern pieces to use for this purpose.

I second the tissue paper. I use it with knits and works like a charm to keep the fabric where I want it.

Blue Bell is the only ice cream we buy. We are die-hard Texans and it's the only ice cream that DS can tolerate. No ice cream for us for a while. I also have friends caught up in a listeria law suit. Much, much better to err on the side of caution.

I had exactly the same thing happen after #1. I labored an excessively long time and wound up having a c-section. My doc said it was a combo of the two- the prolonged labor plus the section. I still have broken veins where I pushed in my skin to show how bad the swelling was to various people (don't do that too much). I was 20 pounds heavier than when I was admitted for delivery. In my case, everything turned out okay. Recovery was closer to 3 months even though I had to return to work at 2 months. It is not normal but sometimes it's not the worst case scenario. On the other hand, as I have grown older and wiser, I have become more of an advocate for my health and if I had to contend with the same symptoms again, I would insist on hospital monitoring until the swelling started to subside.

This is a very good point. She needs to look at the school's requirements. DH had to take trigonometry (thankfully not calculus), three structural engineering classes, and physics. He was not a classic STEM student by any means- he struggled with these classes, but he really wanted that degree. Most of the heavy-hitting math at work is covered by software.

Super job! Congrats on the achievement and please let us celebrate with you next year (and a few days).

Hmm...I was born an aunt. I am 41 and I actually have a great-great grand niece. I think that's right. If anyone has a better/more accurate term, I'd love to know it. My niece is a grandma.

Drafting classes are helpful. She will need to declare right away since most of the classes are 4-5 year sequential. Architecture programs are structured to take the entire 4-5 years of study. Studio and other classes cannot be taken simultaneously. If she has the opportunity, do summer internships because they count toward the apprenticeship.

DH is an architect. His degree required practically living in the studio for 4 years. The professional registration was 9! tests as opposed to 1 for engineers. Pay really stinks when you are starting out but gets better quickly after the apprenticeship is over and licensing occurs. Employment is dependent upon the economy so be financially prepared for lay offs or starting her own firm. As far as her own firm, payment for services can take up to a year so be prepared for that. DH now works for the federal government and makes a good but not great salary. He is sticking with it, though, because it is stable and he is far less stressed. He is very artsy and originally had a civil drafting associate degree. His is dyslexic and his family didn't encourage his dream of being an architect because of that. They didn't think he was capable. Well MY family (with our own spattering of dyslexics) encouraged him to be whatever the heck he wanted to be- to use that to his advantage, so he did.

I had mine removed in the ER. A bit of lidocaine and a razor blade. The top half will probably need to be removed. I'd check with your GP's office.

Also, my brother and his family live in SLC. They like it there, but not love. They are not LDS and that is a factor in how much they fit in. They have a great circle but nothing really keeping them there. When they retire, they intend to head north to Idaho :)

I completely get where you are coming from. Little Rock has many of the same problems-could be an amazing place, but... high crime everywhere, poor education, cultural divisiveness that is similar to ABQ although for different reasons. It seems petty to mention lack of museums and such with the aforementioned issues. The biggest problem for me, though, is the weather- a lot of self-medicating and drinking going on to make it through an evening thunderstorm here. My insane anxiety has FINALLY prompted DH to start looking elsewhere for a transfer. I sorely miss Texas, but there are not very many opportunities for him there. We spend a bit of time on and off in Boulder and we love it. It is expensive, but there are college students making it work, so I would imagine that retirees with few material needs would mange just fine. The closest we can get is CO Spgs so that's hopefully what will happen for us. Right now, I'm thinking of packing up school and heading down to my parent's house outside of Houston for the month of April.