vanessa

We are planning on going on vacation for Thanksgiving. We would like an affordable trip, so we are mainly looking at Jamaica (as flights are fairly reasonable to there).

We want an all-inclusive resort and it MUST have a nice lazy river. I look forward to your suggestions!

Can I install office basic 2007 on Microsoft Windows Vista?

We just moved into our new home and I have been able to rescue some long-lost counter top appliances from storage.

Recntly, I've found myself pulling out the roaster oven for almost every meal...

Which makes me wonder... What are the advantages of using a roaster oven vs a conventional oven? Am I saving electricity? Is it more efficient? Does it produce less heat than an oven?

I have found that it's easier to clean the cook well in the roaster oven than it is to clean a casserole dish after baking a lasagna, and it's easier to clean as a whole than cleaning the oven if there is a spill.

Basically, should I put the roaster oven away and go back to making my casseroles in the conventional oven, or am I being productive at all by dragging out the Roaster Oven.

Here is our new living room.

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u219/priceweddi...

As you can see there is a cutout area above the fireplace for a TV. It has power and a cable hookup in the cutout area. The hole is 20 inches deep and will comfortably fit a 40" Sony Bravia TV.

Is the logical solution to just use a base for the tv and set it in that hole?

Are there advantages to doing a wall-mount in this situation?

Thanks!

We are buying a 40 inch Sony Bravia TV. There is a cut-out area in our new living room where the TV on the base will fit perfectly.

Some salesmen (and even my parents) are trying to convince us we need to pay a hefty fee for installation. Is this really necessary? How much more difficult is it to set up a flat-screen tv than it is a regular one? What will the professional installers know how to do that we will not?

I know they are heavy buy my husband and cousin who will be helping are both strong.

Also my cousin has the equipment to calibrate the TV once it's set up and we have been using it or a while.

My husband and I are buying our first home. We close on the 19th and move in the 23rd.

I went by the house to take pictures of lawn one evening for our landscaper and spent about an hour talking to the 79 year old woman across the street who had been out MOWING HER LAWN... at 79 in 95 degree heat. I was impressed.

Anyway, what is the best way to go about meeting the rest of the neighbors now? Is it too forward to go knock on their doors once we have moved in? Is it their place to come over and introduce themselves? Should we send them a note inviting them to dinner?

I'd love to hear how any of you have gone about meeting the neighborhood! I'm a very social person, and while I understand that it IS important to keep a bit of a healthy distance in your relationship with the neighbors, I also want them to feel close enough to us to pick up the phone and call if they think they see something suspicious.

My husband and I are moving and our phone contract is up and we are thinking about trying to save money by switching cell phone providers. We currently share 550 minutes and we are with Sprint. I also pre-pay for 50 text messages a month. We have free nights after 7:00 pm and free weekends.

Our current bill is about $70-80 a month. Do any of you use companies and have similar plans for less?

My husband and I are purchasing our first home this month. We are excited for Hallowee as we love the holliday and we've not had ANY trick-or-treaters the last few years at our apartments.

I want to give a GREAT treat this year... But I don't want to look like I'm trying to show off by upstaging the neighbors.

I don't know how many trick-or-treaters to expect, but I'm wanting to keep my cost around $.50-$1.00 per kid I think.

We are buying a new home and I noticed it has Gas heat and electric air conditioning. It's a central air unit and the home is only 3 years old.

I've only had electric heat in the past... is gas heat more efficient? More economical? What are the benefits, and what are the drawbacks to natural gas powered heat?

We just had our offer accepted on our first home!

The home is great and move-in ready. The problem is that the lawn is NOT. It has been a very hot and dry South Carolina Summer and the home has been vacant since February so the lawn hasn't been watered at all. It is totally totally dead. In the back yard there are more patches with NO grass at all (just dirt) than there are patches with grass.

What is our best bet? Should we start w/fertilizer and lots of watering and see what will come back? Bermuda grass is planted (which we hatte coming from the north.) We'd really prefer a wide-blade grass that stays green all year.

The lawn (front and back) is about 5000 square feet.

I'd love any suggestions.

We had a 6 month lease on our 2br 2 bath apartment with central air, with the ability to extent month-to-month after the first 6 months. We have been here 9 months so have been extending month-to-month for 3 months.

In APRIL our AC stopped working. They keep sending maintenance out to fix it and it generally works for about 2 days. Then it breaks again. More days than not it is 95 degrees or more inside our apartment.

They told us if we sign another 6 or 12 month lease they will replace the AC, but we think that is illegal... we still have a lease, it is just extended... shouldn't they have to replace our AC in the same timely manner they would replace a resident with a 12 month lease's AC?

It is currently 94 degrees in my home office.

Last night we bought the pre-packaged deli-sliced ham from Costco. It came in two factory-sealed ziplock style baggies.

The expiration is 7/30. Is it ok to freeze one of the unopened sealed baggies of ham? If so, how long will it stay "good" if kept in the freezer?

I am looking for a comprehensive list of Spanish Television and Radio stations in the Washington, DC Metro area. Please provide websites for the stations if applicable. Thanks!

My cousin's wife and I are having a ladies night tomorrow night. I bought a big bag of frozen meatballs and some teriyaki glaze at Costco for the party.

She will be preparing them in her crockpot... Is it better to throw the meatballs in the oven first, or should we just put them in the crockpot frozen with the sauce?

How long approximately does it take for them to be thawed/warm/ready to eat if you put them in the crock pot in their frozen state?

I'm on my work computer and I accidentally right clicked and selected "hide when minimized" on the little Microsoft Outlook box on my little bottom task pane.

How do I undo this? I right clicked again hoping for an "unhide" or "display" when minimized and there is nothing.

What do I need to do so that when I minimize outlook, it still goes to the bottom task pane (is that even what it is called? the little blue bar at the bottom of my screen that shows what programs are open?).

I COULD call our IT guys, but they already think (perhaps rightly so) that I am technologically dense at times. Please help!

I have heard two schools of thought on this issue from those who claim to be up on their etiquette.

1. John and Jane Doe

Because the man's name should come first.

2. Jane and John Doe

Because the man's first name should never be removed from his last.

Can any of you tell me which you have read/heard/learned to be correct, and also I would love to see some sort of reference for EITHER option.

I understand that the most formal version would be "Mr. and Mrs. John Doe." I am not seeking that information. I would just like to know when using both our first names and our shared last name in which order our names should appear.

My husband and I are new to the Greenville area. We hear that the local BMW Plant (actually in Duncan, SC I belive) is hiring. My husband doesn't have any sort of assembly line experience, but he is strong, dependable, very smart, and a fast learner.

We have gone to the website and there are no jobs listed for SC, but people assure us the plant IS hiring, so my husband went to the actual plant to inquire and you can't get in without an appointment.

Does anyone know exactly HOW he should go about applying for a general labor job at the plant?

I have a bag of shredded mozzarella that has been in my fridge for a few weeks. It's not even close to the expiration date on the bag, but some of the cheese has started to turn yellow.... I don't see any signs of mold or anything in the cheese... is it dangerous to eat?

What could cause this yellowing?

We are going to our new friends' house for dinner tonight. They are inviting several young couples who are new to the area over for dinner and games. I asked if I could bring anything and the hostess encouraged me to bring dessert.

I'm going to get it at a local bakery. My question is... I can get a whole chocolate by death or strawberry shortcake dessert (their two most popular desserts) for $22.95... OR for the same price I could get 17 Mini desserts which are basically just little individual versions of the big desserts. I'm leaning toward doing the mini desserts and just set them out on a pretty platter so everyone has a variety to choose from. There will only be 8 in attendance so everyone would be able to have 2.

Do you think it would look better to take the one whole cake, or the platter of minis?

We are getting our new wii this weekend and I want to a Tiger Woods game for my husband. I have seen where there is a Tiger Woods 08 golf club pack that attaches to the WiiMote to make it feel like a real golf swing but the extention pack says Tiger Woods 08 on it and I intend to buy Tiger Woods 07 game.

Does anyone know if it is compatibe with Tiger Woods 07 game? Since my husband has not played either Tiger Woods game and the 07 game is less than half the price of Tiger Woods 08, I was going to buy him 07 to start with.