You can see her hair smoking in the video. I don't know how she didn't smell it. But she is young, so she might not have known what smoke and stench meant when using a curling rod. Poor child.

I just bought a Ninja after Christmas. I've never had anything other than $50 cheapies, so I don't have much experience with high powered blenders. The Ninja is very powerful and sturdy. I don't see why I'd ever pay $500 for a Vitamix after buying this blender. We have only used it for smoothies, but we've used it several times a week. We've put whole baby carrots and whole frozen strawberries and they get liquified quickly. Hubby puts almonds in his smoothies sometimes, and those have been blended smooth too. I bought the model that came with two extra 16oz canisters and an extra blade. http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?SKU=40176550 I actually use the extra canisters, so I'm extremely happy with this purchase. On my model, the handle is sort of hollow. This only matters if you put the main canister in the dishwasher. If you do this, debris will fall all the way down to the top of the handle. Gross.

We have white Ikea bath sheets. They aren't plush, but they have held up wonderfully. I wash them in hot water with a lot of bleach and then a second cycle with a bit of tide to rinse all the bleach out. There are no holes or fraying after 3 years of bleaching. All of my towels are white, I wouldn't have it any other way.

I repaint the white trim/door frames and spot paint our white doors yearly. I try to keep them clean, but after a while they need to be repainted. I cannot stand beat up looking trim, it's simply too easy to keep looking new. It's about a 1 or 2 day task for me. I'm a slow painter, but I am always thrilled with the results. I also recaulk as needed at this time as well. As for walls, we use Benjamin Moore semi-gloss everywhere. The finish is incredibly flat looking, and very scrubbable. It's very easy to clean the high traffic areas and keep this paint looking fresh. We've never lived anywhere long enough to get tired of our color choices. But if we did, I would say we'd repaint every 5-6 years. Hubby works in commercial real estate. He sees the impact impeccable maintenance has on property value and a business' overall success, so he puts a high priority on keeping our home maintained. I'm a neat freak who loves everything looking spotless, so we're a good match.

You may not be a socialist, but you certainly are judgmental. We have the means to send our children to any college they choose. My husband and me having money does not make them spoiled.

Congratulations!

www.simplyrecipes.com It's a wholesome cooking blog. Some recipes call for canned items, but very few. As an aside, I have tried many recipes on this blog and everyone has turned out fabulously. Too many recipes, especially written by amatatuers, do not work out.

I was prescribed Flonase by my primary care doctor. She wanted me to use it for a several month stretch to remedy the recurring sinus infections I was having last year. I asked my eye doctor if this was safe and he said not to use it for more than a week at a time. There is a conncection between long-term use of nasal steriods and glaucoma and other eye issues.

Our kids don't have any interaction with one of their grandmothers for less than what you have endured. I would be concerned about the message you are sending your children allowing grandma to constantly undermine your authority.

When you say 'clean', these come to mind... Saving Sarah Cane Something the Lord Made Facing the Giants

I've had evaporation lines before. Any line that shows up after the time window is not reliable.

Praise God!

Tears in my eyes too. :crying: Children are a blessing...

You are doing the best you can in a pinch. I'm sure your kids will be safe and sound.

At the University I went to your GPA started fresh, and I think that is pretty standard.

We have a very similar blue gel ant farm. The first few days after we put the ants in it was fascinating watching them dig tunnels. After that all the ants congregated in the bottom tunnel and they almost never roam through the tunnels they built. We've had the ants in the farm for a little over 2 weeks now, and the only progress they've made these past 14ish days is trying to eat through the foam seal between the plastic farm and plastic top. We're a little disappointed, but it's not a bad experience. FWIW, we fished out all the dead guys on one of the 1st days & haven't had any fungus problems.

I would and have. Yes, you have to wipe them frequently, but having a clean, bright, stylish kitchen is very worth it to me!

Some people will find something to disapprove of no matter what you do. If it's not homeschooling she finds ridiculous, it will be something else. Do what God has called you to and disregard the naysayers.

Golf caddy?

Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies made by me. There is very little that I'm snobby about, but cookies are one of them :-)

My son developed this overnight at 2.5yo. It lasted for a couple weeks, then mostly disappeared. He had short spurts of stuttering a couple more times, but that was it.

Butter? Now every brand of margarine is far cheaper than the real stuff.

I almost never run out of fun size York Peppermint patties. Yummm.... My children are only 2 and 4, so they would never eat anything without permission. My stash is in a little red basket in my pantry.

I wouldn't have let that woman 'borrow' my child. I agree that asking for assistance sizing up an item is not odd, but that woman actually thinking you would hand over a toddler to be carted halfway across the store is bizarre.

This has been exactly what I've been thinking as I've read this thread. There are two unrelated (IMO) issues here. The first is a painfully shy new girlfriend. I don't see her behavior as rude. Give her time and space to be welcome to be herself and move at her own pace in your family and relationship. My guess is she's not an ogre if your son is in love with her. The second issue is that an 18 year old man who has moved out of his parents' home and started college is naturally not going to be as close to his parents as he once was. Girlfriend or not, I doubt you'd have the same relationship with your son now as you did last year. She's not changing him, he's not changing for her...He's growing and maturing. And that is not wrong or bad in any way.