We could pack lunches, and we did that many times throughout the years. All the children prefer hot lunches and in the winter it is nice to have a warm meal. With me only working part-time we figured if we could qualify for reduced lunch then we should do it. And really even paying the 2.40 per day is cheaper than packing lunches for 4 children. My dh is convinced the state will not go after him for this mess. He told me that the person he spoke with says the situation does not involve him because he did not fill anything out, only she did. I feel like he needs to submit copies of those court papers to ensure our safety in this issue. He wrote down the contact info and fax number where he is supposed to send this paperwork. I am seriously thinking about faxing it myself! Why should we take the chance of getting in trouble? I am also going to our states welfare fraud website and doing an annoymous tip about her situation. And also going to the state she lives in's fraud site to report her there in case she is pulling the same scam there. But I don't know if I should. Its a hard decision. But it really burns me to know she could be putting us in jeopardy.

As the owner of an 1887 house, I can tell you that NO ONE who is uncertified in the new standards should be working in your house. Any trade that can disturb old paint must be certified. Demolition "disturbs" the paint and falls under these new guidelines. Make sure they put up Zip Wall and turn off any air intakes into the area of the house that isn't under construction. They should be wearing booties, have sticky mats, tyvek suits, and a containment barrier up at all times. There should also be warning signs about the lead posted outside of the job site. Let me tell you what a pain it all is...and then guess what, they throw it all into the dumpster on site (contained inside trash bags). I've never see so much disposable *crap* for a task that is supposed to help the environment! Of course, I'm glad to be able to, at the end, certify my old house as LEAD SAFE. Once folks find out how much it costs to do even minor home improvements, I think that paper will be worth its weight in gold.

Bill you obviously haven't read anything I've posted in entirety. That's okay. We can agree to disagree. I'll go with the more gentle methods of heating food, not overcooking, eating some food raw, cooking from non GMO, organic, basic ingredients of home grown vegetables, herbs, fruit, our own henhouse eggs, raw cultured dairy, raw honey, and a bit of meat products, nothing in a box, seldom from a can, and nixing the micro. Just trying to share what I think is valuable information that I was blessed to receive 35 years ago. My family and I are blessed with no health conditions, my husband and I still have our natural hair colors at ages 55 and 59 and are told we look 10+ years younger than our ages. We never take prescription medications. These are our choices and it's working well for us so far. We consider food sacred and believe "you are what you eat". I practice energy healing and have helped many clients through hands on healing, effecting their biophotons if you will, through my energy field and intentions. I can, dry, freeze, pickle, bake and cook with joy.

How nice to see this evolve as a thread. It is very interesting to keep an eye on the data for your specific garden, and the bigger picture. Peter is right that over watering can be a huge issue. I did that, and lost plants. My garden was almost without topsoil, and the holes I made to plant things became "clay buckets" for the rain. Things are much better now. At my closest weather station (KIAD) while the data does show moderate drought ('D0' linked above), the rain deficit data isn't too crazy for the most part (NWS LINK for IAD precipitation PDF) when looked at annually. However at the month level it is quite varied. I'm sure at the week level it is likely even more varied. What I'm thinking is maybe younger plants mostly exist at the week or month level, and in the absence of rain gently adding a little water (e.g. 5 centiliters, or 1/4 cup) every 3 days will might them going until they are more mature, or the rain comes back. These days having recreated the topsoil, I'm mostly thinking about coping with the variabilities, ensuring great root systems to cope with and store a larger precipitation event when it comes.