Thanks all! Jane, I know it would never bother you if we copied one of your ideas. You're not that kind of person. I do always try and mention it, though, where I got my inspiration . . . if I remember where I got it from (LOL)! I'm always a bit paranoid about my poor memory. When I was 6 months pregnant with Emily, I became pre-eclamptic and had to go on complete bed-rest. I got progressively worse and at 7 months, went dangerously eclamptic. My kidneys failed, and I quickly gained a huge amount of water weight from it. My feet and legs swelled until I couldn't walk, I had fluid in the pericardial sac around my heart and in my lungs. the worst was that my brain swelled the the increased pressure on my optic nerves caused me to go (temporarily) blind. This is what caused my subsequent memory problems. They of course, did an emergency C-section and everything eventually went back to normal, including my eyesight. But, I sadly lost a lot of memories and even today, my memory is still not back to normal . . . although at my age, I can now blame it on that instead ;^D I do get worried that I might come across as rude for not mentioning or remembering things. But, I'm extremely blessed that both DD and I are both doing great, so who can complain :~)

John I like the name "Flopster." That's going into my vocab now! And Ruthanna you made me smile! I'll remember that advice! Jude, your flop reminds me of my last one, making sourdough waffles, and accidentally getting the rye flour out of the freezer and adding it instead of the whole wheat. Um rye waffles? I DON'T THINK SO! Other than that I've been on a roll as far as meals go, lots of new recipes and lots of successes. All that could change now that I'm on a new restricted diet. I'm going to have to revamp almost all my meals and I'm sure I'll have some notable flops. Oh, that reminds me of another couple flops I made in pursuit of lowfat meals--cottage cheese bread (not!) and lower fat biscuits (an oxymoron if ever there was one!).

And, sparksals, we definitely will not get into a house just so we can stop paying rent. I'm VERY picky, and it might be awhile before we find something that suits our needs. But, I think it's better to start sooner, rather than later, based on everyone's advice. It took me 7 months to find a house. I walked about 50 or so used houses, then every new housing community in 3 counties, which was a good 100 houses. We drove by others and ruled them out due to location. Well, I HATED renting. I hope never to have to go back to renting. Ever. I hate it! I hated sharing walls with others, hating putting up with others' noises, hated padding my landlord's pocketbook, hated not owning a piece of the American pie. So I'd be inclined to buy sooner, rather than later. But I agree that you should not rush into the single largest financial investment of your life. Take your time, look around, get a good handle on pricing, find a good loan, find a good realtor, etc. I grew up on the bottom floor of a 2 family. It helped my dad get the American Dream. The problem was, the house was original when he sold as he came from a poor country and did not believe in "wasting money" to update as everything worked, nor did he have a lot of time to do things due to working 5-7 days per week. Your husband is still in school, and the real estate market is not at the bottom yet. We just kept renting until my husband was finished with school. It kept the pressure off him and let him graduate. Owning a home is more than just the difference in payments--if a leak occurs, you or your DH have to fix it. Depends on where the OP is. Some markets did not have an increase so it may not matter if they wait to buy. After what I went through, I would get out there asap. There are a lot of houses for sale in most parts, it takes time to cover them all. Yes, owning a home everything falls on you. With my truck driver hubby, something always happens the rare times he drives the roads. I've dealt with storms & tree branches as well as not having water due to the softener being clogged. A few months ago we put out $7,000 on a new furnace. Not knowing what you can buy for the amount you are looking at, decide if you want an updated house or good mechanicals like newer roof, furnace, upgraded electric, central air, etc. I know someone that purchased a house they did not move into until 6 months after buying it as it needed floors redone, the master redone plus other cosmetics. The master had been torn apart by the original owner, so this was a must for them to live there. They then moved in to have all sorts of mechanical problems, water heater, electric. I see a heating/cooling truck there now, don't know if they are fixing something else or doing central air. I can't stress enough to sign up on every site you can find, even the local smaller sites to get email updates. One site gives addresses in the emails where it may not say so in the listing. This site has been very helpful to me. Good luck. It's a good time to buy a house in most areas.

We were visiting my wife's family in Vermont which ends up being a large group, with most of her brothers and sisters, and their spouses and kids, and this year even several girlfriends of the kids. All told we were about thirty. Meals were split up with one or two people volunteering for each meal. New Year's Eve was my night. I was stumped at first as far as what to make, but the co-volunteer Eric (a foodie BIL) came up with the suggestion of top-your-own tacos. We actually went with tostadas, and made black beans, three different meat toppings, and about a dozen other topping options, with side dishes of Mexican-spiced rice, and homemade cole slaw. Logistically the meal worked well, although some people didn't realize that they were supposed to be able to pick up the tostada after they made it, and instead they buried it beneath a 2-inch deep mound of toppings. Also we forgot to put out the guacamole until after half the people had served themselves. Food wise, some parts of the meal worked better than others. The shredded chicken verde was good but would have been better with more of the tomatillo salsa, however the co-op closed early, and the normal grocery store had no green salsa. The beef/chorizo was good but could have used a bit more of something, Eric and I couldn't decide what it needed. The shrimp was a big hit, the only problem with it was it disappeared so fast, the recipe (as well as I remember it) for the shrimp is below. Chili-Lime Shrimp 2 lbs peeled uncooked shrimp (31-40 count -- cut into thirds) 10 cloves garlic (minced) 1 4oz can diced green chilies 2 limes chili powder canola oil Liberally cover raw shrimp with chili powder and the juice of 1 half of a lime, and let rest for 10 minutes. In small pan, heat oil over medium heat, add garlic and green chilies, until garlic is softened and fragrant. remove from heat. In large pan, heat oil over high heat, until it is smoking hot, add shrimp stirring occasionally to make sure all the shrimp are getting cooked, and none are burning, after about 2-3 minutes the shrimp should all be cooked, add the garlic and green chilies that you set aside, and the rest of the juice of the limes. Stir for about 1 more minute, and place in large bowl to serve. Overall the meal received rave reviews.