hootie

Last night I woke up in the middle of the night to the scent of VERY STRONG cologne. My husband wasn't in the room and even if he was he doesn't wear cologne. I laid there for a while trying to figure out where it was coming from but gave up. I then got up to use the restroom and didn't smell it in that room and when I went back to the bedroom the smell was gone. Could this have been sort of subconscious thing? Can you brain make you think you are smelling things that aren't really there?

I read a book when I was younger and can't remember many details but I'm hoping someone out there can help me out. On the cover was a castle or something like it set up a cliff. I think the book was about a woman that moves to the castle for some reason (maybe she married someone that lived there) and she discovers all sorts of weird things about the castle and the people that live there. It was considered a mystery I think and it would have been suitable for a middle school age child to read but possibly on a high school level. If you have ANY idea what the title of this book is please let me know. It's driving me crazy that I can't remember it!

I'm trying a new recipe and it calls for a bundt pan. I couldn't find one of those in the store so I bought an aluminum fluted tube pan. Are they interchangeable?

My kids birthday's are very close together so I plan on only having one party for both of them. Would the proper ettiquette be to send a thank you note from each child or can I combine them? For example say The Smiths give one gift to my daughter and one gift to my son, can I thank them for both gifts on one thank you note or does proper ettiquette say to write one thank you note for each child? This will obviously effect how many thank you notes I buy and what colors (they have pink and blue available in the theme of the party).

For me:

...when I was at lunch with co-workers and pulled a pacifier out of my purse while paying the tab.

and

...after dropping the kids off at daycare I drove all the way to work listening to (and singing along with) a children's CD only realizing it when I pulled into the parking spot.

I've been wearing contacts for 10 years now. I am very much aware that if you don't take care of them you can damage your eyes for good. So please no comments about how I'll ruin my eyes forever... rest assured, I take good care of my contacts.

But my question is, what physically happens to the contact lens that makes it only good for one month (or week, etc. depending on the brand and type)? Does it begin to break down, get weak, etc?

I've heard so many people say "Don't start your baby on fruit first or they will never eat veggies because they get used to the sweet taste." That's silly! Why do people say that? My daughter started on fruit (pears) and couldn't stand it but ate it since it was all she was offered. Once she got to try carrots though it was a different story (her nose was orange from eating so many carrots and she still loves to gnaw a raw carrot while I'm cooking). In fact we had a hard time getting her to eat fruit once she tried veggies. She was almost a year before she really ate fruit (and about 2 years before she liked eating meat... we didn't push this, it would have been fine with us if she wanted to be a vegetarian). So from my personal experience that statement is very incorrect yet there are people out there who still believe this and I want to know the reasons behind why they believe such (other than because it's sweet and the baby will like the sweets better... that's false as proved by my own child).

I've HEARD it was because people were using it to make meth but I'm not really sure I believe that. At first I thought it was because it was so expensive and people were stealing it but that doesn't explain why the ready-to-serve and concetrate formulas are still on the open shelf. Only the powdered kind is locked up and I can't figure out why.

I had to step back and laugh at myself last night. I had a moment with my 2 year old that really taught me something. She can be a little impatient and was getting whiny because I wasn't moving fast enough to please her. So I looked her in the eye and said in a very stern voice "You're going to be patient and you're going to do it NOW!" When I realized the stupidity of this I just had to laugh at myself. How was she supposed to learn to be patient when I obviously wasn't?? :)

It was just one of those moments that really make you think... Just wondering if any other moms have learned similiar things from their kids.

I want to know other parents' experiences with hemangiomas. My daughter is 2 and had hers since about 4 weeks old (on the side of her tummy). I'm not concerned about it too much but recently (this past weekend) she's started to complain that it bothers her. I think she may just be playing us for sympathy but she goes to the doctor Friday at which time I plan to ask if it's possible it's hurting her (so please don't respond to this by saying "Ask the doctor"... I already plan to). I just want to know if anyone else has had experience with them.

I get highly annoyed when people give me a thumbs down and someone asks for my opinion or my personal experience and I get a thumbs down! How can someone get a thumbs down for giving an opinion when it was asked for? If you don't agree, don't ask for my opinion. And as for personal experience, how can you give a thumbs down when it's MY personal experience? You can't tell me what my experiences have been.

Does anyone else get annoyed by those that constantly give out thumbs downs for no reason?

She already knows the words for hands, jump, and milk.

I want to stick with basic words for now. I think that would help her pick up sentences later on if she goes to take Spanish in school. I've been told that exposing kids to multiple languages at an early age is exteremly helpful in their development and I know it's certainly couldn't hurt anything. I want to introduce the words one at a time. That's how we learned animal sounds. We just worked on one for a week or so until she got it down and moved on to a new one.

Does anyone have any good suggestions for materials or just simple words to teach her? I don't know that much Spanish myself even though I've been to Costa Rica and took two years of Spanish in school (obviously didn't pay too much attention if I've already forgotten it all!).

Will the ruling in the case that makes a link between autism and childhood vaccines change your mind about getting your children vaccinated or will you continue to get the vaccinations anyway?

What is your opinion on the case? Do you believe there is really a link?

I'm not stating whether I agree there is a link or not. I am only looking for your opinion.

I have recently been reading about BPA in baby bottles. With our first child we used Playtex bottles with the drop in liners and we will do so with the next child as well. Does anyone know if the liners are BPA free? The plastic bottle itself doesn't really matter in this care as the milk or formula would never actually touch anything but the liner and the nipple. Thanks!

I've never used one personally (well except for when they use one at my doctor's appointments) but I have a friend that would like one and I want to get it for her. Has anyone else had experience with them and what brand? The ones I'm looking at cost about $40. I believe the brand was Angel Sounds or something like that. Any advice would be great! My friend has tried to get pregnant for 3 years now and the first time she did get pregnant she lost the baby around 8 weeks and she's really nervous she'll lose this one. I thought it might help her if she could listen to the heart beat whenever she wanted to. I couldn't imagine losing a child... I would be heart broken so I want to help her out anyway I can but we live in different states. This is the only thing I could think of to help her out besides giving her encouraging words.

Last night (3/2/08) on the first show of Oprah's Big Give they granted wishes for a couple that started a group called High Hope but I couldn't ever figure out where it was. I have a cousin involved with a group for hanicapped people called High Hope in Atlanta GA but I'm not sure if this is the same group. Can anyone tell me if the one on the show was in Atlanta? Thanks!

I recently had someone ship a couple of CDs to me for work purposes (containing Excel, Word, etc type files) that they had burned. When I got the CDs nothing was on them. Is it possible that CDs can be erased if they get close to magnetic devices? I looked at the FedEx site and this is what it had to say about shipping magnetic storage devices but I have no idea if a CD is in the classification. I couldn't find anything specifically about mailing CDs on the FedEx website (in there manual to be more accurate).

Magnetic Storage Devices

• Place 3 to 6 inches of protective material around the device to reduce the

intensity of magnetic fields that come into contact with it.

• Label the package “Keep away from magnetic material.”

• Items containing sensitive data should be encrypted and placed in a

securely closed package.

I usually take the bags back to the store but the last time I did, the recyle box was gone. I'm not sure if Wal-Mart has stopped this program of what. But it got me thinking about trying to set up a recylcing program in my area for plastic bags with the procedes going to a non-profit (most likely Habitat for Humanity as I work for the International group and volunteer with the local affiliate).

My questions are:

1. Do you currently recycle your bags?

2. Would you be more likely to recycle if a program was set up with the procedes going to a non-profit?

3. Can anyone tell me how much money can be made from recycling plactic bags (i.e. how much money per pound)?

Thanks!

I received a poinsettia plant last Christmas and I want to try to keep it alive. I'm a VERY BAD plant grower. I've read a few how-to sites but as I have no idea of any plant growing lingo I get completely lost. Can someone please tell me in simple terms (no 'brachts' and such as I have no idea what this means) how to care for it?

I live in south Georgia (where the temps are usually pretty warm most of the time) but I keep the plant in an office currently because I don't want me 22 month old playing with it if I took it home.

Please if you can, tell me how to prune it, if I should keep it outside, if I should keep it in the dark to make the blooms turn red, etc. Thanks!

I work in an office and I know I should get up more often and walk around but that's easier said than done when you're in the middle of working... anyway... I was just wondering if anyone else had a problem with their tailbone hurting when they were pregnant. When I was about 20 I fell off a chair and bruised my tailbone really bad and it hurt for a while after that (year's actually) until I had my first child and then it went away... now's it's back again. Is it unusual for your tailbone to hurt when pregnant and can I expect this to go away when the baby's born?