I guess I would think of traditional craft items from a region. But if I knew it was South Africa, I would think soccer. Ds's soccer coaches were from South Africa. A whole continent or a large country is hard. What would a typically American gift be? A cowboy hat? Native American crafts? A hamburger?

Dawn, are you anywhere near Raleigh? We ate at Bella Monica when we visited. It was the best gluten-free meal I'd had in a long time.

It gets easier, really it does. I've been gluten free for 21 years. More and more restaurants are jumping on the gluten-free bandwagon. If you pick the restaurant for get-togethers, you can choose gluten-friendly ones. Google gluten free restaurants and your town. Some large chains like Ted's, Red Robin, PF Changs have standard gluten free menus. Church and pot-luck things are harder. I usually make a brown rice and veggie salad that gives is filling, just in case there is nothing else I can eat. But it's hard when there are so many dishes that you can't eat. I also almost always stuff myself before I go to those events so I'm not hungry (I usually eat something really decadent so I don't feel deprived.) I'm with you though, sometimes it just stinks!

From the South here too, our meals growing up were always a meat, a green veggie, a "yellow" veggie (squash, carrots, tomato, sweet potato) and a starch (potato, rice, corn, bread, etc.) I think my mom must have learned that in home ec in the '40s. I've always used that formula and when I had to change my diet (anti-inflammatory), I just dropped the starch and the high fat meats. So a meal is baked fish, a green salad, and cooked squash. I really miss the lemon pasta that I used to make with it, but I'm used to it now. With eliminating all grains (corn, potato, rice, wheat, etc.) and all sugar, I am fine eating the more sugary veggies like carrots and sweet potatoes and even fruit, YMMV. Other meats here are baked chicken, grilled chicken, grilled pork chops, turkey. No more fried chicken or chicken-fried steak! Breakfast is eggs, fruits and nuts. I don't make much in the way of casseroles anymore. I had to give up dairy and without grains, there is nothing to hold them together.

A guess: Most browsers allot a certain amount of disk space for history/cookies etc. If you have filled that without ever clearing it you may be out of space. You should be able to increase the space in the program's options.

Absolutely amazing!

Because you had finally solved the mystery of what's under the kilt? ;)

So I was motivated to search online. It looks like it is a mistranslation of a smilie: http://www.quora.com/Email/What-do-people-mean-when-they-put-a-J-at-the-end-of-a-sentence

I asked dh that because it was at the end of several of his e-mails. He told me he didn't do it. He thought it might be some extraneous character in the translation from mobile device to mail...maybe a line feed or return?

:iagree: I looked at it when I was trying to decide. In general, I was told if you are interested in Latin for academic reasons (word roots, medicine, etc.), go with classical (though ecclesiastical won't hurt). If you are interested for church or choral reasons, go with ecclesiastical, because that is the pronunciation used in singing and prayers.

So I wasn't "the only one here!" :D I was at Tech, too, working for the Psychology department at the time. The Today Show took over the top floor of our building. They built that big stage looking out over the courtyard.

worked in an Olympic Village, doing nothing that had anything to do with the Olympics. My office just happened to be within the secure zone. Quite a unique experience.

I think the first one is the only thing not on the DVD set. The four of them got back together to have a roundtable lunch that is on the Bluray. They also recorded new commentary that day for one of the episodes, I can't remember which one, but I can look. I think all of the other commentaries were the original ones from the DVD.

In the checkout screen, you can choose to use a credit or just pay for a book. If we are buying anything cheaper than the credit cost, I just pay and save my credit for a more expensive book. If you have a one or two credit subscription, all of the books are 30% off when you pay money for them. We have a two credit subscription and still buy additional books (and lots of little things like Car Talk episodes.) Ds loves audiobooks and we get many school books that way. I first signed up to get Joy Hakim's History of US series.

We love Audible here. Ds is an auditory learner and loves his audiobooks. I'm more of a visual person, so I prefer to read regular books, but I do get a few to listen to while cleaning house or other mundane jobs. It's well worth the money, because the credits are much cheaper than just paying for the audiobooks. And I've never had any complaints. Customer service is very responsive. I did have trouble playing audiobooks on one mp3 player. Technical support was very helpful and walked me through everything. It turned out that it was a problem with the player, not Audible, but he still helped me through the process of reformatting the thing.

The most helpful house training tip about leaving a puppy a long time came from my vet. I'm assuming it's true. It worked for me. We had to leave for several hours like you once the pup was crate-trained. He stayed in his crate fine and then really had to go when we got home. But then 15 minutes later, he'd pee in the house (usually while I was trying to get the car unloaded and put things away.) I thought he was mad at me. When we saw the vet, he said that once the bladder is full, the kidneys slow down. Once the pup is able to pee, the kidneys crank up again and they really do have to pee again 15 minutes later. So he recommended staying out on the leash longer when I got home or taking him back out in 15 minutes. Worked like a charm and with every dog since. They often need to do the exact same thing in the morning after a long night's sleep. I just thought I'd mention it, because it's something I wish I'd known years earlier.

I'll agree that she's pretty young for much formality or threats of school. With a 14yo, the one piece of advice I'd give myself if I could go back in time is "Just relax and enjoy it!" and "Don't stress so much!" I give that advice to all new homeschoolers that ask (and no one ever listens!) Fortunately, I didn't start stressing until first grade, so preschool and kindergarten are some of our best school memories. We did "school" two or three days mornings a week. The other days we were at playgroups or classes. We started by letting him pick an animal for each day. So we had "animal time" not "school time." We would read from a kid's encyclopedia on that animal. I would have a story book about the animal. (I sold Usborne books back then, so we had tons of resources in addition to the library.) We'd do a related craft. I could almost always find PK/K worksheets on any animal...dot-to-dot, mazes, coloring, simple math, word puzzles, etc. Our state provided United Streaming, so we'd also watch a video segment on the animal of the day. Now, with YouTube and so many more online resources, it would be so much easier than it was ten years ago. Good Luck! Just relax and enjoy it!

Is there a breast cancer support group in your area? I bet that both hospitals have one. If you could visit, I imagine individuals would be happy to share their experiences (though most support groups won't say anything official about docs.) Don't be afraid to interview doctors. You want someone that you are comfortable with and trust. Ask if you can come in and just talk to the doctors that have been recommend. Then you can make a decision yourself. And :grouphug: to you. I'm glad you caught it early!

Most of the Burt's Bees products have peppermint oil in them. It is an irritant and can make the problem worse for sensitive people. I definitely second the Lansinoh. And if she is old enough for logic...remind her that the job of our saliva is to begin food digestion. When she is licking constantly, she is beginning that digestion process on her poor lips. No wonder they hurt! Logical explanations always work here, YMMV.

I like to make quiche for breakfast get-togethers. I do cook them the day of, but a large one is in the oven for 45 minutes so there isn't "last-minute" work. They are usually round for some visual variety. I haven't done it, but I know that you can make them in little rounds also. (But those would cook quickly, so may not be the best choice?)

I did the colored masking tape one year. I got rolls in all of the primary colors. Huge hit with ds when he was young. At 14, the only thing I have so far is candy. I haven't thought of anything else yet.

I just wanted to say thanks for posting this. Ds (14) and I have already had discussions (at his initiative) about finding "the one." The thoughts that I shared were that you should share beliefs on raising children, handling money and religion. This article gives us more to discuss. Dh and I do agree well on his five points. You are getting more replies now, but I think this kind of thing means more to people who have been re-married. Though I've been married 18 years to dh, it's my second marriage. Ds knows that and is curious how to make sure he gets right the first time. I think it's something we don't focus on enough in discussion with kids. From the stats, I guess 50% of people are lucky enough to get it right the first time :D I wonder if that number would increase if we tried to help teens puzzle through articles like this one.

I was so fascinated by the Powder Puffs that I forgot about the 3 miles. That would rule them out. I'm just :lol: imagining the poor little thing trying to keep up! Of course I still think the Standard Poodle is the best bet. They have even run the Iditarod :D Both of my Standards came from show breeders, also. These breeders are pretty serious about the "good home" part. I've actually felt like I was in a job interview as they ask questions about the pup's potential home. Rescue organizations tend to be the same way. (Worry about sellers who just want to see the money!)

:iagree: Standards are awesome. They meet most of your requirements: Fluffy, wonderful, non-smelly, non-shedding fur. Great with kids. House-train very quickly (faster than any other dog I've had). Very smart and easy to train. Most are medium sized dogs (Females are smaller than males and meet the parents to get an idea of size.) The bads: They can be a bit hyper, but nothing like the little poodles. And if you take the dog on regular 3 mile runs that will take care of most of the hyper in any dog (except puppies, of course). They do need to be groomed, but that is certainly not weekly. We get away with every 7-8 weeks, with occasional touch-ups. We have two Standards and they are the best dogs I've ever owned. I would never consider any other type of dog again.