Kate, I lurk over here once in awhile, and happened to see your post. I do smoothies in several ways. Recently I've bought some little push-up containers for freezing and I'm making popsicles that are 'the bomb' - excuse the pun. I'll start with two recipes for popsicles that were given to me 30 years ago, and they easily converted to sugar-free, fat-free. The first is for fudgesicles. Mix a 3 oz box of instant sugar free chocolate pudding mix according to package directions, using nonfat milk. Then blend in a ?13 oz? can of nonfat evaporated milk (not the sweetened kind, just plain evap milk. If you're not watching your fat grams, regular evap milk makes a creamier fudgesicle, but these aint half bad.) Pour into molds and freeze. (If you're not on a diet, a cup or two of brewed flavored coffee and a can of that sweetened evap milk, frozen, is also yummy. But I digress......) The second is for dripless popsicles. It calls for a 3 oz box of any flavor Jell-o, mixed according to package directions. Do not chill. Instead, add a can of evap milk to make a "Dreamsicle", or 2 cups of mixed fruit, (mashed or pureed). Pour into molds and freeze. Now, for what I call a "milkshake", soften 2 tsp. of unflavored gelatin in about 1/2 cup water. Then place this in the microwave until the gelatin has melted and the mixture is kinda like eggwhite. This takes only 30 seconds or so. Into your blender, place whatever kind of fruit strikes your fancy. I like peach, banana or strawberry the best, or a mixture. Maybe about a cup. Add about half cup of water. If you want it like a smoothie you would not add dry milk, but I add 1/3 cup dry milk because I like it better that way. Start the blender, and while it is whirring, pour in the hot gelatin. Then start dropping ice into the blender until the mixture thickens and becomes smooth. Pour into a glass and eat it with a spoon. If your fruit is not sweet enough on its own, add some artificial sweetener or sugar. Smoothies can be made with all kinds of different fruits, and lot of times I just throw frozen fruit into the blender in lots of different combinations: plum and banana with some frozen apple juice concentrate. Canned pineapple and frozen strawberry with some frozen orange juice concentrate. Something tart with something sweet, you know? You can leave out the gelatin if you don't want to go to the trouble, but I like the smooth creaminess it gives to the finished product. You can make a very nice 'cheesecake' by using the gelatin, fat-free cream cheese, some dry milk powder and lemonade concentrate. Of course there's sugar in the lemonade concentrate. You can also make a 'chocolate shake' by using the gelatin mixture recipe, replacing the fruit with 1 cup water and another 1/3 cup of nonfat dry milk powder, and adding maybe a tablespoon of cocoa. I like to go to Allrecipes.com and I notice they're featuring a lot of smoothie recipes there. So if none of these appeal to you, try there. They have a search function you can use, just search on 'smoothie'. I'm not connected to them in any way, I just like the site. Oh, and BTW, lots of things can be frozen and eaten without thawing (besides cookies, but I'm digressing again...). Grapes are delicious frozen, as are blueberries, peaches and apple slices (dip the apple slices in salt water, drain and freeze, 1 tbsp to a gallon -- do the math for smaller quantities, you don't taste it and it keeps the apple from turning). Bananas can be frozen in the skin, but not for a very long tine. To eat, run water over the skin to thaw it a bit, score it down the length of the banana and pry up along one edge. It will peel right off, usually in one piece. The skin will have blackened but the banana inside is still yellow and creamy. My kids used to call frozen banana 'ice cream'. LOL You must eat it while it's frozen though because when it thaws it's not a pretty sight. Watermelon and cantaloupe make wonderful popsicles. The trick is to puree them first. Cantaloupe is wonderful blended into apricot jello for popsicles. I think they have watermelon flavor jello now but I haven't tried it. There are all kinds of possibilities for smoothies, and any smoothie can be made into a popsicle. If you're interested, I bought my popsicle push-up molds at organize.com (not affiliated with them either). They're called cool cones. I like them very much. They don't leak out the bottoms so when I freeze them I set them upright in the freezer and let the 'stems' hang down between the wires of the shelf until they're solid. I hope this helps! --Ilene

Despite the fact that they all know what they are in for when they sign up for the show, don't you just feel a bit bad for Melissa? I thought it was interesting that she said this is the 4th time in her life she has been dumped, wonder what the problem is...I feel bad for her though as he obviously has no ability to work through a problem. Maybe she's better off. Did y'all notice that little hmmm noise she was making all through the conversation? And Molly - who would want to be chosen second? I can't imagine getting dumped and then saying yes after the fact when he comes back and says he's made a mistake. I don't think it will work out with Molly either as she didn't seem to have the rapport with Ty that Melissa did. But I truly do feel bad for Melissa, I'm sure she feels her heart is broken forever. Suzan J

tinan, thanks for those pictures. And the detailed instructions. They are very helpful. Thanks to all of the other ideas too. I think we will see what is under the rug, and try to stain the treads first, then move on to Plan B if that looks horrid. I also saw a really cool idea using wallpaper on the risers, Birch Trees, to be exact. He has a big mural of birch trees at the bottom of the stairs and I think doing something like that might be really cool. Would not do wallpaper but thinking about a stencil. [Eclectic Staircase[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/eclectic-staircase-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_745~s_2104) by Portland Design-Build Firms Vanillawood

Her being bi-racial is a non-event in the UK. It may become more so if their progeny end up being far darker than Meghan, something that can happen. But in the UK, race is just not the issues it can still be in the US. Harry is a VERY wealthy young man, worth between 25 and 40 million pounds! Diana got 17.5 million pounds in her divorce. Sarah Ferguson, like Diana, lost the HRH part of her title, but is still a Duchess - so would Meghan be if she and Harry divorced. This is a no-lose situation for Meghan; Harry could lose a LOT of money if it doesn't work out. I have no idea if Meghan is "using" Harry or if he is using her. They probably don't either, as they are in the throes of love/hormones singing to each other. But if the marriage ends, it will be Meghan who is the winner for certain.