daa

I have a business trip coming up, to a city that my daughter would like to visit. I'm considering having her fly there to meet me, so that we can spend a few days exploring after my conference. We'd then fly back home together.

Keep in mind that the airline would require an adult (my mother) to accompany my daughter to the gate and wait until the plane is off the ground, and I would have a gate pass to meet her right when she comes off the plane. She would have one connecting flight, with a 45 minute layover. An airline employee would escort her off the first plane to a supervised waiting area, and then escort her to the second plane. The first flight is about an hour, and the second is an hour and 15 minutes.

Has anyone done this? How old was your child, and how did it go?

If you have a child who reads independently, do you still read to him/her? At what age did you / will you stop?

My 9 year old is an avid reader, but she still likes to be read to every evening before bed. My mother read to me when I was very young, but as soon as I was reading on my own she stopped.

We are a 60-something grandma, a 40-something mom, and a 7-year-old girl. We're planning to do Arenal and Monteverde, and then spend 2-3 days on the coast. We're interested in scenery, wildlife, hiking, and swimming. We're not into nightlife, surfing, or fishing. We'd prefer a quiet, safe area. Which coastal area would be best? We're going in late May. Any hotel recommendations?

http://www.marshallpl.org/

It's the Marshall Public Library website, and I haven't been able to access it. I called the library and they said it's working fine there. I'm just wondering if others are not able to get to it, or if there's something funky going on with my laptop. I can get to other sites just fine, and I've tried the library site with both IE7 and Firefox with no luck.

Currently I have mayonnaise, mustard, a bottled caribbean marinade, soy sauce, bbq sauce, and several salad dressings in my fridge. Some of them have been in there a while.

How long do common condiments last in the refrigerator, once opened?

And for those of you with small families who don't use condiments much, do you just throw out half or three-quarters full bottles after a while?

I really wish condiments came in much smaller bottles/jars...

I have a large, rectangular basement family room (about 28 feet x 15 feet), with a low ceiling. I'm getting ready to paint it and am wondering how to visually raise the ceiling while minimizing the length of the room so it doesn't look like a bowling alley. I was thinking about a warm, deep color on the far, short wall, and something cool and light on the ceiling, with mid-tones on the long walls. Does that sound about right, or is there some other scheme that might work better?

I found a deep red-orange that I really like, but I'm not sure if that would be a good choice, or what other colors would work with it. Any suggestions?

Can some provide a comparison of the different portable ebook readers, and recommendations on which is the best choice?

Yes, I do realize that no lightweight vacuum will compare with a full-size. I'm looking for a light vacuum, with reasonably good suction for quick, every day or two vacuuming of the main living areas. I have hard floors, with a couple of wool pile area rugs. I'll still use a full-size vacuum for the weekly cleaning. Suggestions?