To clean my glasstop stove, I use Earth Friendly Products Creamy Cleanser (I guess it's a more natural version of Soft Scrub) and a scotch scratcher sponge that is safe for non-stick. The Creamy Cleanser works *much* better than Weiman's. I discovered this because I had purchased some at Safeway, and ran out of the Weiman's and used it in a pinch. Now, the Creamy Cleanser is the only thing I use. If something happens to get really caked on, I will leave a wet rag over the stuff for an hour or so. I also try to wipe the top as soon as it is cool enough. I have found my stove super easy to keep clean this way. Btw, once I tried Easy-Off cleaner for glasstop and it is the *worst* thing I've ever tried.

As a candidate for a non-partisan position, I have been stereotyped b/c of my delcared party. Some assume I voted for certain people b/c of my party affiliation. If all Reps and Dems were the same, we wouldn't need the primary, now, would we? Btw, I really, really dislike Super Tuesday. :mad: It basically makes my vote in the primary useless when voting day rolls around in late May.

But I'm okay with that. I had a few extra goodies during the Superbowl, and with my lovely, not-so-regular cycles, I've pmsing now for 3 weeks. All things considered, I'm glad not to have gained, lol.

It was a quick, day surgery. I had to lay low for a few days, but was mostly recovered within a week. I had pain for 7 YEARS before surgery (b/c they couldn't find any gallstones, and kept insisting it wasn't my gallbladder). Anyway, I have been pain-free ever since. Go for it. You will feel better.

And it may cost me a political race someday. The way I see it, no one is perfect. There are times when the front-running candidate in my party of choice is *not* the best one for the job.

I went to Eddie Bauer yesterday. Lo and behold, they now have a "shapely" cut of jeans and chinos that are one size smaller in the waist than the hips and thighs. Guess what!?! They had the same gaping waistband in the back, and not enough room in the hips and thighs! Arrgh! I guess what I really want to know is, if the most common body shape is the pear (I've just heard that, but I don't know if it's true), why would most clothing manufacturers not make clothes to fit that shape? Oh, well. I'll just keep searching. In the meantime, I'll try not to waste too much brain space on this. If this is the worst thing I have to worry about right now, I think I'm doing okay, lol.

Kevin Boss, the Giants' Tied End, is a rookie player this year who got to play in the SuperBowl because of an injury of their regular TE. He played really well, and I'm excited b/c he is from a small town near me, and went to my Alma Mater, a small university not known for producing professional fb players.

Okay, you got me. But I'm just sayin'.....

Think about people like Julia Roberts and those infamous Desperate Housewives (have never watched their show, but I know some of them are over 40, and have long hair and look fabulouse).

The Comfort Fit jeans aren't too bad. But, I've only found the blue jeans to work, and not the black jeans or chinos. Not only that, I found what looked like an identical pair at TJ Maxx, but I'm betting it was last year's style, because it was cut completely differently.

I am a pear shape. I have always had a small waist in proportion to the rest of my lower half. I have heard that is the most common body shape. So, why, oh why, do clothing manufacturers make their waistbands so BIG? I've trouble my whole life finding pants and skirts that fit right--small waist, large hips and thighs. It doesn't matter what size/weight I've been. It tends to be this way through various trends and styles, high waist, low-waist and in-between. I'm trying to find nice clothes for my campaign and it's difficult. I bought a fabulous pair of pants and TJMaxx that had wide legs and hips. They looked great, but when I wore them around the house for about 10 minutes, I was constantly pulling them up. The best jeans I've found are the now out of style, not-cut-the-same-way-anymore Eddie Bauer jeans. I went into a nice ladies' clothing store and asked the clerk what they have that would fit someone with a smaller waist and larger lower half. Her response indicated that she'd never had that question before, and no, they didn't. I wear a size 18, and have a 33" waist. And I can't even go in for Women's sizes, b/c the waists on those are even *bigger*. Anyone else have this problem, and what do you do? Am I stuck wearing elastic waists forever? :confused:

In our district, ps students must be taking, and passing at least 5 classes in order to participate. Last fall,my ds was being hsed and playing football at the high school." I had to give them a copy of his 8th grade standardized test scores. In addition, all the players had a "yellow card" each week that every teacher had to sign with current grade and any other remarks on their progress. Ds' coach just let me fill out the yellow card each week. (I was blatantly honest, which ds didn't always like, lol.) Other schools might not be so lenient. The thing about football is, at least here, there is no homeschool outlet for it. The ps is the only place to do it. It is the one sport that really motivates my ds to keep himself in shape. I couldn't keep that from him.

That should be "Crunchy Peanut butter when Creamy is not available."

I've been ordering for 15 years. Right now, I drive 9 miles to pick up my order. It's because we moved out of the town where I ordered it from. I have had some of the trouble the others mentioned, but it doesn't really bother me. The lady who does the ordering will let us put substitute items in the order, which helps a lot. You might be able to do that going direct as well. (Ex. Crunchy peanut butter of Creamy is not available) In the "old" days, Azure carried a lot of items that were not readily available elsewhere, or you could only get at an expensive health food store. I order every other month now. Things I usually get, that are generally cheaper than anywhere else I've found: 25lb. bags of oats Grains of all types Granola Dried Beans Liquid Aminos Hot Dogs Sucanat and other sweeteners Essential oils natural cleaners (sometimes) nuts peanut butter (15lb bucket) Broth powder Some bulk baking items Chili Seasoning There may be a few things I'm forgetting. I will also sometimes order things there that I could get somewhere else, but it saves me a trip to the store. Many moons ago, I'd spend about $200/month on my Azure order, and it fed our family of 4 for most of the month. I couldn't do that now. I think it's worth it if you can find a good place to order from. Also, if you consistently order the same thing, you will have a pretty good idea if it is usually in stock or not.

Our first home was a small, 1000sf ranch with 3 br, 1 bath. We didn't really consider it a "starter home" when we bought it; it was just what we could afford at the time. We had a mix of ages in that neighborhood. The house we live in now, we bought new, and is almost twice the size of the first one. Our agent told us the neighborhood was considered "starter homes". They are mostly 2-story homes, 1800-2600sf. Compared to what we had before, our 1800sf home is a castle. I can't imagine having lived in a home this nice when we were first married. I have seen many young couples come and go, though. Only one was a foreclosure. The rest have "moved up" and/or kept their home in our neighborhood as an investment rental. I think it all depends on how you look at it.

I am GREEN with envy :o Enjoy it for me, okay?

Well, dh is mostly bald, and uses a razor in the shower to take care of the rest. Before that, I cut it. I used to cut my boys' hair, but recently, I've taken them to SuperCuts or similar. My older ds has thick, curly hair and it looks really bad if it is not cut right. My younger ds has a cowlick that needs professional assistance, lol. For many years, I cut all their hair, so I never felt bad paying to get my own hair cut.

We had 2" yesterday and the schools were closed. Not only that, but only certain areas of town got the snow (weird weather system). 1 mile from me was completely snow-free. Temp. was above freezing. I think, though, AR has a similar climate to OR. Part of the problem is that people where I live aren't really equipped to function with this kind of weather b/c it happens so infrequently. I do find some of the hype a bit pathetic, however.

Sounds to me like you're doing pretty well :) Your family sounds pretty much like ours. We try to eat lots of fruits and vegetables, and I'm pretty militant about whole grains (preferably organic). I try to stay away from chemicals in our foods and cleaning products. Although some products marketed through MLMs are very good (like Melaleuca), you do not need them to be healthy. If you even wanted to, you could find acceptable, lower cost alternatives at TJs or a whole foods co-op.

When I got married in the early 1990s, almost everyone I knew had either Corelle or Pfaltzgraff. I picked out a nice Corelle pattern and got several pieces and place settings as wedding gifts. The very next year it was discontinued, and hasn't been one of those popular ones you can still easily find pieces for. The only Corelle that coordinates with it is plain white. That's one reason I like Fiesta; you can mix the colors and it still looks great.

In the past two hours, we've gotten about 2" of snow. Very rare for us. Very fun. I have so many pics over the years of my boys standing proudly next to their "slushman", and videos of slushball fights. Plus, I know it won't last long. It may not even be here in the morning.

I didn't lose or gain, but I'm exasperated. By the time I had finished lunch today, I had eaten 1500 calories! I actually drove by LA Weight Loss *twice* today, but I'm too cheap to spend money on something I should be able to do on my own. To me, this looks super healthy. Would a skinny person eat this much? :confused: This is what I ate: Bfast: 2/3 C. dry oats 10 almonds 1.5 tsp. sucanat 1/2 c. milk 1/2 c. Naked raspberry juice (65 cal) Snack: 1 medium apple Lunch: 1/2 C. kamut pasta 1 tbsp. cheese sauce (50 cal) 1 serving canned salmon 1 bag baby carrots 1 "healthy" peanut butter cookie, made with 100% whole wheat flour (200 cal.)

How do you decide what to add to your collection? I needed new dishes, and decided to go with Fiesta. My big order arrived last Saturday. I love this stuff, but trying to decide how and what to add to my set. Just for fun, I'd love to hear what other Fiesta owners have, in what colors, and what pieces/accessories you look to add. Also, if you have a favorite place to buy it. At the moment, I have 9 dinner plates in 5 different colors, 13 cereal bowls in various colors (mostly all different) 10 mugs in 7 different colors, and a few luncheon plates and salad plates in various colors. I also have some of the small fruit bowls, and 4 chili bowls, and a few accessory pieces. I'm thinking I'd like to work up to 2 sets in each color, and add accessories along the way. I was given a set of yellow bulb candle holders. I think they are pretty ugly with candles in them, but they look nice just sitting on my baker's rack. I've ordered most of mine from Zestydishes.com.

It was in our local paper.

I taught K-2 for 5 years. Many dc are still reversing letters in the 2nd grade.