tri1104

Does anyone have a clue as to when Jean Auel is planning on finishing her final (#6) Earth's Children book? Just finished #5 - I know there is a 6th coming, but can't find any hint as to when! Thanks :-)

Hi! My husband and I are thinking of buying a plot of land and building a house. We're clueless about where to begin and DON'T want to rush. Can you please give me some resources about the steps involved, where to begin, etc. Also, is it better/cheaper to have someone design plans for us, or to buy plans from a book/magazine/website? We're having trouble finding what we want (actually, something very simple) in all the plans we've looked at... suggestions?? thanks :-)

We're putting together a small family emergency kit... was reading that it's good to keep a small supply of water purification tablets on hand, "just in case." 1) Where can we buy them, 2) We know there are bleach tablets, iodine tablets and "others"... which are best (as a last resort of course) and 3) as a LAST RESORT, is water treated with these types of tablets okay to use with a baby (again, in an emergency situation where there is no other alternative)... THANKS! :-)

I KNOW I can do an internet search and come up with dozens, if not hundreds, of good campling supply websites... isntead, I'm asking for your opinions of what you think are the best, not just a random list of ones you quickly "googled" - thanks a ton! :-)

PS - by best, I mean, selection, quality, shipping, etc...

Though I knew I shouldn't, we let our daughter have a pile of squirting bath toys... always drain them, but still (without me realizing it) mold grew. The other day our 9 month old was playing with them and she squirt one all over her face - covered 1/2 of her face with black stuff (I assume is mold). Washer her really well, but next day that 1/2 of her face was all red, blotchy, etc... took to dr, but they said it didn't look too bad - to keep it clean, dry, and if we wanted, use some hydrocortisone on it. Okay - day 2 - spread all over face!!! Have dr appointment first thing tomorrow morning, but looking for opinions, ideas, similar stories, etc... Thanks!

Our daughter is 9 months old. Lately she's been sneezing a ton - sometimes 5-10 times in a row, multiple times a day... nothing new being used on her or in the house, and it happens inside, outside, everywhere and anywhere. No cough, but there is some clear/slightly off white snot that tends to come out with it. Dr said it's rare for babies this young to have allergies, but not impossible... said it doesn't sound like a cold (no cough, fever, etc)... what do you think? Does anyone else have a sneezy baby? Thanks! :-)

We have Facebook, but I keep getting emails telling me I have new threads... I log on and all of the threads are to/from people I don't even know... just friends of my friends/relatives. I don't want the email notification anymore - I've gone to settings, etc, but can't figure out how to stop getting the email notification of threads... PLEASE HELP!! :-)

Our baby is 8 months old. She's VERY happy, VERY social and VERY active (so I'm NOT implying that perhaps she has autism or something) - overall, a great baby girl. However, other than nursing and cuddling a bit right before bed, she shows no desire to be cuddled during the day. I assume this is just because she's active and wants to play, play, play, but I must say I/we are a bit envious of our friends' babies who all enjoy cuddling throughout the day. We hug, kiss, play with her tons, but she just doesn't want the affection that we're dying to give her. Has your baby done this? Do they eventually come around?? THANKS :-)

I was under the assumption that cows continued producing milk the same way a woman can - as long as she continues to stay healthy, and as long as she continues to nurse/pump, she will make milk. However, I just read something that the only way cows can continuously make milk is by hormones... I thought all the hormone talk with cows had to do with making the beef cows bigger... do they really give the cows hormones for constant milk production? does it hurt them or is it considered unethical in any way? What are the effects on both the cows and consumers? Thanks for clearing this up! :-)

There are tons of websites that offer a monthly meal plan and matching grocery list. I'm wondering if anyone has any favorite sites to try. I'd like it to be one that you don't have to pick all of the meals yourself, but it let's you adjust and choose an alternative if it's something you don't want to make, fairly simple meals (I'm no chef, and we have a baby). We aren't picky, though we are vegetarians (but we use tofu and meat alternatives, so it doesn't have to come from a vegetarian website)... any ideas, please?? Thanks :-)

Reading Clan of the Cave Bear - I know Jean Auel put a great deal of research into her books, but I'm not sure how to separate fact from fiction. She shows the Neanderthals as having such huge memories - each being born with Vivid memories of all of his/her ancestors and all of the knowledge their ancestors accumulated... this sounds neat, but is it true?

I've seen maple syrup farms at work... I know it's a big process for them to make a lot of syrup - big machines, etc... but what if you have like 10 or 20 maple trees on your property and just want to top enough for a small jar or two of syrup per year... how do you do it without the machines? Obviously the machines aren't necessary as native americans and stuff were able to make syrup... do you just boil it or something? thanks :-)

how do you render fat? Is this as simple as taking the leftover grease/fat from a frying pan and storing it in the refrigerator? How did the native americans and other early life people (cave people, etc) do it wihout a refrigerator? I know they rendered fat and kept it in containers or something sitting around... just curious - thanks :-)

Hi! I'm just wondering if the final book of the clan of the cave bear series (earths children) has come out yet... if so, what it's name? I'm just picking up the series again for the first time in about 5 years... dying to know if there is finally an end to it. Thanks :-)

which do you think is better - firefox or internet explorer - WHY! (I have Microsoft Vista)

These books pride themselves on being simple for the beginner crocheter... they are, BUT I've got 2 questions to ask that NONE of my books explain... please help!:

1) Sc2tog - I know that means single crochet 2 stitches together, but WHAT stitches am I crocheting together and HOW???

2) mm - move marker - what does that mean? I thought it meant to make a turning stitch, but I was VERY wrong by the time I finished the last row it seems the author wanted a spriral bowl or something (for a head) but I just had a semi-circle...

PLEASE HELP!! Links are find, but an explanation would be most appreciated! THANKS :-)

We have been told by a number of people that the company Genzyme is holding a job fair this coming Thursday (3/26) in Framingham, MA, however, we can't find any information about it via the website and/or internet searches... will ask these co-workers where they got their info tomorrow, but for now, can anyone find anything about it?? THANKS! :-)

We saw a short movie (with Mary Tyler Moore) the other day... about the unethical treatment of chickens (mostly for eggs), pigs for ham products and baby cows for veal... all very sad and maddening that "we" could treat animals so cruely in our country. My question - is there anything unethical in the way milk cows are handled? I know you can buy organic milk - but that doesn't necessarily mean the cows are treated well.. just means that they are fed organic food.... THANKS! :-)

I'm confused... I've seen this at both Stop and Shop and Whole Foods - with both eggs and milk... Stop and Shop has a "healthy" store brand (Nature's Promise I think, and Whold Foods has it's brand - 350)... They will have eggs and milk by their store brand... one box saying organic and/or "cage free", the other doesn't say organic or "cage free", yet the box info shows both coming from the same farm... so is this just an advertising thing to get you to pay more for a different package, or do they actually separate their animals... the eggs for example... do they actually keep some caged for the boxes of eggs that don't say "cage free" and the other 1/2 run around free, or is this just marketing??? Hope I explained clearly enough... thanks :-)

Okay - just looking for opinions about homeschool programs for language arts (reading, writing, vocab, etc)... I have heard the Saxon Language Arts curriculum is good, and I have heard the Open Court program is not, Voyages (vocab/grammar) is okay, but I'm looking for opinions about both of these and others (the good and bad) that you have used. Thanks! :-)