Cutting hair off the vacuum's beater bar is what I use my embroidery scissors for. Not much embroidery going on here, so it's really for vacuum maintenance. :D I still keep it with the sewing kit so I know where to find it. Maybe your best bet would be to use your embroidery scissors before every vacuum session? It would be a pain, but once you got into the habit maybe not so bad. It certainly would be cheaper than vacuum repair.

Reading the "Off the Wall Museum Guides for Kids: Greek & Roman Art", I learned the difference between the lares - the small figurine(s) representing the gods who looked after a Roman household, and the penates - the small figurine(s) representing the gods who looked after the food supply of the household. However, I spotted an error too. It states that Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. Nope. He merely legalized it. But because he was known to support it, it spread much more quickly.

This sends shivers up my spine. My brother was electrocuted when he was 14 and climbed an electric pole just to look around at the view. He just wasn't thinking. But the hand grips had not been removed from the wooden pole, and workmen had left a *live* high-voltage line dangling. The wire touched his head, causing third-degree burns that went into his skull, and the exit wound on his thigh. Some medical staff said his heart probably stopped, but was re-started when his body hit the ground. He is a wonderful husband and father, with five beautiful homeschooled kids. I am so glad we still have him with us. And so sad for the life cut short. His parents must feel as if time is standing still. Wishing they could turn back the clock just a bit.

It seems to fall prey to the 'we have Real Information About Education Now' fallacy. As if learning is a technology that becomes ever more evolved. As if flexible thinking has only been invented recently. Sigh. I really expected better of Summers.

I read an interesting analysis once about the cost of various types of cooking. The author figured that Mexican style cooking was the least expensive of those she studied. Beans & corn made up the bulk of the protein. Ingredients were used multiple ways, so there was very little waste, and with plenty of vegetables as the core of the menu, it was extremely healthful as well. I'm enjoying this thread. And may I say I am extremely impressed with the o.p.'s attitude of fun about saving money. Soror, you so remind me of our beloved Amy Dacyczyn of The Tightwad Gazette! ;)

For what it's worth, I have never been able to get the online store to accept my Educator card. I gave up as well. I *may* go to my local store's sale. I get the impression their advertising department doesn't talk much with the computer people. :glare:

My mom showed us kids unconditional love during our childhood. My dad's love was more loaded with conditions and varied depending on if you were toeing the line. As an adult, I appreciated her sense of humor. I appreciated hearing her thoughts on whatever was going on. I appreciated her willingness to help without attaching strings to the help. We sat and drank mugs of tea and talked about what we were reading, the family, cooking, fashions (funny, because she was one of the least fashionable women I knew), and all kinds of things. Her love was a constant, warm glow in my life. We didn't talk often. But we so enjoyed one another. One of my favorite memories is coming to visit. Mother stood at the top of the stairs (split level with entry in the middle), arms stretched open wide, a huge smile of joy on her face. I imagine heaven will be something like that. :001_wub:

TJ Maxx often has high quality sheets for a decent price.

I hadn't read this for a couple of years, so thanks for bringing it back to memory. I'm sharing it with my younger friends on FB. They haven't had the pleasure. ;)

Well, Susan Wise Bauer is famous in my world, but maybe not in wider circles. :D

You need a high-quality air purifier, dear. And even a cracked window, even when it's cold, can move a lot of smells out. Just handle things one at a time. Don't get overwhelmed. Do some extra laundry. And enjoy your mom while she's with you. She won't be here forever. :grouphug:

I read about Thomas Jefferson keeping a commonplace book in an article about him in The Atlantic many years ago. It spurred me to start one of my own; it has served me well over many years now. I highly recommend them.

In the cartoon history book "You Wouldn't Want to Be . . . A Civil War Soldier" I learned an interesting piece of information. Army rules stated that all boiled food served to troops had to be cooked a minimum of two hours. :lol:

Gift certificate to Christian Book Distributors? iTunes cards for him to distribute to his youth group as prizes, etc? PX90 dvd so he can stay in shape?

I'm no help on the easy part, because this year I'm going to make the Cook's Illustrated pecan pie recipe from Nov/Dec 1995 page 6. It will take two days and I have no idea how many pieces of equipment. I will probably shoo everyone else out of the kitchen so I don't get distracted and mess up. But I'm looking at it as a fun experiment. ;)

:lol::lurk5:

I don't understand the question. :confused:

I'm hoping to plan a menu this week that will please the majority of the family. One can always hope. :D

Holy Notebook, Batman! That's amazing.

Why does everyone get annoyed by the e-mails??? Do we not realize that we don't have to get them? Or that we can set our mailbox to corral them into a separate folder or even directly to trash? I love the inspirational stories. I just read them at the website's bigtent forum instead of having them sent to my e-mail. I say, if FlyLady worked in the past, use that. Just set your preferences to No E-Mail.

Same reaction here! My adventure-story boy has read several more of the sequels, but I pre-read the "Brian's Hunt" and said No Way. No. Way. :tongue_smilie:

We listened to the audio book read aloud by Peter Coyote. Oh goodness, what a great story, and a wonderful storyteller! We were all spellbound. Couldn't wait to get in the van for a trip! The boys were 10 and 12.

It seems to me it would be much nicer in signatures rather than in a computer font. How about you put in eraseable boxes to get the sizing correct, and ask each person to sign inside a box. No photoshop needed, and a real tear-jerker. ;)

Happiness is . . . a great find at the library sale table. :D

Ow. I feel your pain. Remember that awesome non-fiction book, "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day?" As the mother put it so well: "Some days are like that." Sorry your year qualifies. :glare: