Erika, Sorry. Forgot this is a first time for you. What Carol said is exactly right. I was "leading you" toward BWB (or HWB...same thing) since it doesn't require a pressure canner. Fill a very large kettle about 1/2 full of water and start heating (medium temp or so). In Annie's recipe, from the point where it says "pour into hot jars..." You would fill your jars to about 1/2" from the top, put on a lid and ring (no need to really crank down hard here, just put the lid on like you would something stored in the fridge) and place in the kettle. Use a rack of some kind or a folded dish towel towel in the bottom to keep the jars from actually sitting on the bottom. Yes, it's fine, it won't burn sitting in all that water. Just seems odd. When all your jars are in there, you need to add enough water to cover the tops of the jars by an inch or two and have room for it to boil gently (mine barely makes it in a 12 qt. stockpot). Crank up the burner and bring to a boil. As soon as it starts to boil, start timing.... 15 min./pints or 20 min./quarts. I usually turn the burner down just a little here so it doesn't boil over and flood my stove, but it has to keep boiling. This process will seal your jars and make them safe to store unrefrigerated. The extra vinegar doesn't bother me a bit!! LOL Pressure canning is a another adventure entirely!! Deanna

Everyone has their gripes about dh does and doesn't do. I'm not going to go into mine. I'll just say he has his moments. This won't help the original poster, but it might someone else. Something I did early on in my pregnancy to get my husband involved was to send him the weekly updates of what is happening with the baby's development. Babycenter.com has has a weekly update and so do some of the other sites. I also had dh come with me to most of my doctor's appointments. The hospital where I had ds has all private rooms in the maternity ward. DH was allowed to stay at the hospital with me and ds. He didn't have the opportunity to think that ds and I were bonding while he was being left out. DH had never been around babies before so he started out with holding baby's hands while I changed the actual diaper, but I kind of pushed dh into doing things because I didn't want to get stuck with it all. Once I got him helping, I've tried not to nag if DH does something in a way I wouldn't do it. For instance ds is now 20 months and if DH gives him a bath, there will be water all over the floor because dh and ds like to play with the squirt toys. I just have to let it go. It's only water. If DH cooks for everyone, then he's allowed to make whatever he wants with whatever spices he wants even if it means that we have hamburgers 2 or 3 times a week. Things aren't perfect, but they are better than if I didn't try to do something. The above posters are right. DH does seem to help more (on his own) as DS becomes older and DS has gotten to the age where he has preferences. It's mama's job to get up in the morning when he gets up so he can tell my what he wants for breakfast since my role is apparently to take care of his needs. Daddy's job is to be fun.

What a good mommy you are! The new bedroom sounds dreamy enough for any little princess. How to stay motivated? It helps me to have some excitement about the final outcome. Do you have any inspiration pics to put up on the fridge to keep your spirits up and your motor running? There are a number of them in the Gallery in the post on kids rooms. There are also some in the bedrooms post, and even more in the Cottage Decor post. Close this thread and you'll find a link to the Gallery at the bottom of the page that lists all the threads. Also another link at the top right just above the list of posts. I second Dian's brilliant suggestion about audio books. I get audio book CDs from the library and listen to them in the kitchen, or wherever I have mindless work to do. I love them. I'll bet if you snoop the web you can order a ready-made slipcover for that chair for not too much money. You might start with eBay and amazon.com. On the sewing, all you're talking about is sewing straight lines. That isn't difficult. Seems to me you must have a gf who would be happy to come over and supervise you until your "rust" is off. That would be a lot less daunting than a class, to me at least. Your mom or mom-in-law might like to help. When our kids are grown and gone, we suddenly feel unwanted, useless. We are thrilled if we're asked to help. We feel valued, and if we're retired we have the time. Well, most of us, anyway. If yours don't live close they could at least sew a pillow or something. Just a thought that could improve family relations and lighten your load. Make a family party out of it. You supply the steaks, hot dogs, the barbee, and the paint, and invite them all. They can bring salad, dessert, etc, and extra paint brushes or whatever. I'm looking forward to helping with my granddaughter's bedroom makeover somewhere in the next few months. I'm really excited about it and I'm collecting ideas. One idea I ran across is these giant tissue paper flowers. They would be so darling hung from a little girl's ceiling. Do you like those? This URL shows you how to make them -- very easily and cheaply. It would be a good project to do with kids, depending on the age of the child. Here is a link that might be useful: How Make Tissue Paper Pom-Poms (scroll down)

Hey sorry I haven't gotten back sooner I was having computer issues. We considered the possibility that she would be better in another home but decided, together, to keep her. We put her on her old food and she's not been throwing up since. We're mixing it with new food, IAMS (vet said to go with Hills but I educated my mom on who trains vets in nutrition). I was giving her the milk we drink but not to sustain her, just a small bit to keep hydrated when throwing up. Now she drinks water. Having three 8 week old puppies was too much at the time but now that Peanut and Punkin are almost two years old they are not as dependent and are house trained (well Peanut still goes inside if you don't see her heading to the back door) and have taken more to the puppy now. They play together a lot especially outside and there is harmony in the kitchen at meal times. I've read up on the breeds and know that early socializing and discipline are needed to have this dog's respect. I believe that she will need a long walk in the morning and evening (45 mins each time at least) and I can challenge her more if I get her a backpack when she's older. She had her first shots two weeks ago and I really want to get her walking but beegood mentioned about sidewalks and Parvo so I was wondering if anyone knows how long before I can take her outside and when she can meet other dogs? Also she has really short soft fur and seems to get cold very easily. I bought a small jacket but its light and goes over her back mostly. Should I wait until the weather gets warmer?