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My leather sofa was damaged when the chemical from inside a children's fluorescent glow stick leaked onto the seat of the sofa. Where the drops of chemical made contact with the sofa, the color changed from dark brown to a much ligher shade of brown with an orange undertone. The damage appears to be "in" the leather rather than "on" the leather, so topical leather cleaners and conditions haven't worked. What can I do to make the color appear more uniform?

This question is on the the newest generation of the Cra Z Loom called the Super Cra Z Loom. The directions include instructions for a Heart Cuff Bracelet, Letter Banners, and Pennant Designs. All of those items require you to "lock' the design in place on the top row before you pull the finished item off the Cra Z Loom. We can't figure out their written directions or the photos that go with it. The directions say: "To lock the design in place on the top row of your design, use your hook to pull the bands that you first placed around the top loomed bands (figure 6). Move the top set of bands on your hook off the hook and give the remaining bands on your hook a tug to lock that row of bands in place. Repeat (figures 7a-7c).

We have tried to apply these directions, and we haven't been able to get the design locked. The directions seem very confusing to us. When it says to pull the bottom two bands around the top loomed bands and move the top set of bands on your hook off your hook, we think you should have nothing left on your hook. But, the directions say to take the "remaining bands on your hook" (WHAT remaining bands???) and tug them to lock the row of bands in place. To make it even more confusing, the last row of pegs has bands that are all in one color, which makes it hard to differentiate one band from another.

Can anyone please help us to understand how to lock the designs on the Cra Z Loom? Thanks!

From time to time, I see recipes for layered dishes like lasagna like the slow cooker. I'd like to try one, but I'm concerned about how to get the finished layered product out of the slow cooker without the layers falling apart. Does anyone know how to do this? I've tried to do a web search on accessories for slow cookers, such as some sort of lasagna rack, that would let you lift out the entire cooked lasagna at once on to a serving platter, bit I haven't found anything like that yet. I don't want to try one of these recipes unless there's some way to keep the layers intact when serving the lasagna out of the slow cooker. Thank you for your help.

In the U.S Figure Skating Basic Skills Program Level #6, there is a curriculum requirement called "moving backward to forward two-foot turn on a circle clockwise & counter clockwise." Do you know of a video I can access to demonstrate this ice skating move?

My 15 year old son got an invitation to a school friend's sweet 16 party. She is a casual friend, not a girlfriend. The party is going to be a four hour event at a country club 20-30 minutes from our home. What would be a suitable gift from my son? Also, what should he wear to the country club? Thanks!

My family resides in NJ on a lot size of between a quarter and a half an acre. We have used a lawn service for our weekly lawn cuts. However, due to a recent lay-off, we may have to drop the lawn service and buy our own lawn mower. The front lawn is the trickiest to mow. Although there are only 25 feet from the front door to the curb, it's a downward grade of four feet. In addition, there is a large maple tree near the curb and the tops of the roots are exposed due to the downward grading. What lawn mower would you recommend that I purchase for this kind of property? I'm interested in models that can safely handle the four foot downward grade and something that's going to be reliable if I follow the service / maintenance schedule. Thanks.

I saw on a student blog that a few students were chatting about the recent firing of a female teacher who was relatively new to the school district (18-24 months experience). One student said that she got fired for being a "squid". What does that mean? Does it mean that she was being an over-confident know-it-all?

Today is the launch day (March 23, 2012) for Disney Junior the Channel, and I cannot find it on my TV. I have Verizon FIOS in central NJ zip code 07738. I can't find it on the TV channel listing on my TV or on the TV channel listing on the Verizon FIOS site. But, the Disney Junior site says that I'm supposed to have access to this new channel in my town today. Does anyone know how I can find out the channel number for Disney Junior The Channel for 07738 on Verizon FIOs?

I will be a guest surprise mystery reader in my child's first grade class. The kids are seven and six year olds and a mix of almost 20 boys and girls. Mystery readers also bring in a craft for the kids to do. All together, I think the reading and craft only take around 30 minutes or so. I don't have a crafty bone in my body, and I would like to get some ideas of first grade books I could read to the class and a suitable, fairly simple first grade craft to do with them. Thank you!

My middle-school-aged son prepared a school report on Microsoft Word. On the last page, he has some pictures downloaded from various web sites. Now, he would like to type a caption for each picture that he downloaded. For example, below the appropriate picture, he wants to type in a caption that reads, "Saint James the Greater by Rembrandt". What does he need to do to create these captions? Please provide as much detail about the process as possible. Thank you.

I am an existing Verizon Wireless customer. I am eligible to get my new-every-two-years phone upgrade, and I'd also like to get a first-time phone for my son. I've always bought my phones from the Verizon Wireless store. But, I've noticed that the prices are frequently much lower on the Verizon Wireless web site compared to the prices in the store. What are all of the risks of buying my phones using the web site compared to buying them in the store? I assume that I would have to pay return shipping, possibly multiple times, if the phone is not working properly. I'm not sure whether I can bring in a phone purchased through the web site to the store for repair or adjustments. Thank you.

My spouse commutes 55 miles one way to work, for a total of 110 per day. The commute has toll roads, heavy merges and lots of other commuters. Would a Toyota Prius or other hybrid be suitable for this type of commute? Please explain why or why not. Thanks.

My 12-year old son has ADHD, OCD (chronic knuckle-biting), and a central auditory processing deficiency. About 18 months ago, a couple of members of his diagnostic team diagnosed him with mild Asperger's. However, some members of his diagnostic team disagree with the mild Asperger's portion of his diagnosis, so there isn't complete consensus within the team. He's doing quite well with his therapies, which consist of a psycho-stimulant for the ADHD, social skills therapy for the mild Asperger's, and various classroom accommodations. It's quite difficult for many adults to fully grasp the nature and scope of Asperger's and how it relates to autism. Not only is it difficult to understand, it's difficult to explain to others. With that in mind, should I disclose to my son the possibility of his mild Asperger's and, if so, how should I explain it to him? Would it be better for me to wait until he's a bit older, such as 14 or 15?

I have two zones in my home for my 2 central air conditioning and 2 natural gas furnaces. Last year, I again purchased the annual service contract for both zones and it cost me over $500, which is really expensive for me. For that cost, I get the annual checks and maintenance on all four items. If something goes wrong, the service guys will come and fix it and the labor is covered by my service contract. Regardless of whether I continue to buy the service contract or not, I will still need to have the technicians down the house once a year to do the annual maintenance and check on all four items. Should I continue to shell out the $500 each year for the service contract, or should I just set up a fund for the annual maintenance and for any emergency repairs (parts and labor that might come up in the future)? The second (smaller) zone is three years old, and the first (larger) zone is about eight years old. Thank you.

I bought a CD at Target for my son's birthday a few days ago. It's "Taylor Swift Fearless Karaoke". I didn't realize until I got it home that I had picked up the karaoke version of this CD by mistake. He just wants to listen to it on his CD player and not do the karaoke. My question is: Do I have to go back to Target and exchange it for the regular CD or will the karaoke CD have the regular (non-karaoke) music on it in addition to the karaoke tracks? Thanks.

I misplaced the product manual for my Oxo Good Grips salad spinner. I'm concerned about how to clean the lid. I'm afraid to submerge it in water because it seems to have a concealed spring, as well as the hand pump, brake and lock. I'm thinking about just using a damp soapy cloth to clean it, a damp cloth to rinse it, and a Clorox wipe to clean and disinfect the outside. Does anyone have any other recommendations or, even better, the product manual that specifies how to clean the lid? Thanks.

I have seen recipes that call for "bulk sausage." What exactly is it? How does it differ from link sausage? Does it not have a sausage casing on it? I never see anything labeled as bulk sausage in the supermarket, so how will I know it when I see it? Thanks.

If you have tried Slim-Fast, how satisfied were you with the effectiveness of the program? Also, I was just on Amazon considering a Slim-Fast Optima purchase, and I was surprised that I didn't see available a variety pack of Optima shakes or a variety pack of snack bars or meal replacement bars. They only had cans of all one flavor and bars of all one flavor. Does anyone know if Slim-Fast has variety packs available so that you can get a variety of flavors in one package or box to reduce the monotony? If so, where / how can I purchase them? Thank you.

If not, do you know what his new band will be?

A couple of years ago, my spouse and I doubled the size of our home which we had owned "free and clear." To do so, we took out a 20 year home equity loan for $250,000 at a rate of 5.85%. Since we already owned the home and this was technically not a mortgage, there was no downpayment on this loan. With rates coming down, do we have any hope of refinancing our home equity loan? Or, is refinancing basically restricted to mortgages? Thanks.