blooming chamomile

We hear often about how Obamacare is going to increase premiums on our insurance policies. My question is: What *exactly* is it about Obamacare that will cause premiums to go up?

I know there's a ton I don't understand about it, but it seems to me that insurance companies having a lot more customers should cause the cost to decrease (as in group insurance).

I just read that even though Obama has the authority to go into Syria without Congress' approval, he doesn't plan to. What?? I thought Congress had to approve going to war.

I thought Congress was going to vote on it on September 9th, when they return from recess. Is that right?

Trying to make my own salad dressing and I thought olive oil tasted too oily. What's a nice, light tasting, (hopefully healthy) oil to use? Any other recipes and tips would also be appreciated. Thanks.

I swallowed it Thursday. I feel like I have a bruise on the upper left part of my stomach. I woke up vomiting this morning. Could that be a problem, you think? Yes, I'm a hypochondriac. :)

In 2012 we sold one house and bought another.

When I called to make our appointment to get our taxes done, I asked what we needed to bring since we sold and bought houses. I swear she told me we don't need to bring anything at all (as long as we didn't make $250,000 or more on the sale).

I've been googling about it a little and from what I can tell we should be getting credits or deductions...something about points, closing costs, sales or property taxes...I know I don't understand all that...

Anyway, did I hear her wrong? Should I call back and ask again? Find a different tax preparer? Or is that right that we don't need to bring anything?

Thanks in advance for your help. I hope the question is clear.

I've been considering homeschooling. Our situation, briefly: We have a 6 year old and a 2 year old. I'm a stay at home mom. The 6 year old is in first grade and is very intelligent but is far behind his classmates in emotional and social development. He's having behavioral trouble. He has just entered his school's gifted education program, which consists of him working individually with a teacher a half an hour a week on subjects of interest to him. It seems that a mainstream classroom just isn't a good fit for him. He does enjoy school, though.

I guess what I'm after here is for people who have done homeschooling to tell me...the good, bad, and ugly. The biggest challenges. The best rewards. The stresses. What if I'm not organized enough, not a good teacher, not smart enough, not patient enough? How will I do it with a 2 year old and a 6 year old?

Thanks very much for taking the time to answer.

All my attempts so far have turned limp. What am I doing wrong?

I've heard it on the radio a couple times now. It's about a relationship...the idea is: we tried everything, it's just not going to work, it's not our ___ (I think if I could think of that, it would be the song title...something land maybe?). I think it's a recent song, pop music I think. Hope someone can help me here. Thanks a lot!

http://s298.photobucket.com/albums/mm262/daydreame...

http://s298.photobucket.com/albums/mm262/daydreame...

A lot of the tomatoes from our garden have the black spots and about half have the rot. What is that and how do we get rid of it, or prevent it next year?

Thanks!

Is it something other than heartburn because the pain is in my throat and not my chest? The pain is always on the right side of my throat and can even hurt up into my ear. Tums helps very temporarily. The reason I think it's heartburn is because I only get it during pregnancy. But heartburn is supposed to be in the chest, right?

Just wondering. Thanks.

This has been bothering me. In movies, they touch two wires together and the car starts. Okay, I get that. But what they never show is how they turn the car off after it's been hot wired. The key wasn't turned, so you can't just turn the key back like you normally would. Right? How do you turn off a hot wired car? (To be clear, I'm only curious. :))

I'm having a C-section in the near future and plan to have a tubal ligation done at the same time. I'm just looking for anyone that has had that done (with or without C-section) and your experiences. Side effects? Changes in PMS, periods, anything? How was the recovery? Anything you can tell me is appreciated. I have of course discussed it with my doctor and now would like to hear from regular people who have done it. Thanks very much.

So, my son goes to day care where they go outside from 10:00am to 11:00am. They slather all the kids down with sunscreen lotion before they go out. Is it a bit much? I don't know, I'm leary of what kind of chemicals are in the lotion they're putting on them every day and I simply don't think that getting some sun on the skin for an hour in the morning is harmful. In fact, I think it's healthy.

Yeah, if you're taking your kid to the beach from noon-4pm, by all means use sun block. But are we all just going crazy with our fear of sunlight? I know most people will probably disagree with me. I'm not anti-sunscreen, I just think...gah, I don't know. lol More of a rant I guess.

We are trying to replace the woodwork in the living room of our 100 year old house and make it look similar to the original. Please help us settle this. Look at this picture http://s298.photobucket.com/albums/mm262/daydreame... See the part of the door trim that the red arrows are pointing to? Which way should that grain go, if the trim around the door is going vertical, and the mop boards' grain is horizontal?

By the way, what is that part called? I hope it's clear from my drawing what I'm talking about--they're usually only seen on old houses.

Thanks very much.

I want to make a chocolate cake recipe into a vanilla cake. Can I just leave out the cocoa, or do I need to replace it with another dry ingredient, or reduce some of the liquid?

This is the recipe, if it matters:http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chocolate-Oil-Cake/De...

Thanks very much!

Is the staff at schools and day cares required to get all the vaccinations that the children must have? Just curious.