With our backs against the wall and being down by 10 with only 9 minutes left to play in a rabidly hostile environment, I started to break out in a cold sweat thinking of having to come back here to admit defeat to the Girly Men. Even though I had the ultRAHigh backing of Ohio based Captain Nappy, I did what any red-blooded mono brain cell football nut would do in that situation... I leased my soul to Lucifer for a comeback win. Hope you're happy! Congrats to the Buckeyes for punching their ticket to the big dance. I couldn't understand the logic of some idiots on TV (Brent MuskRATburger among many) and radio who kept admitting that those two were clearly the best teams in the nation but yet they did not want to see a rematch. Well, WHY THE HECK NOT??? Is it because it would be GREAT for the sport? SIGH! When will they come to their senses and finally give us a real playoff system in college football? BTW Bihai, I think the Gators still have a shot at being the other team in the big game.

Raeanne - You are so right about having to sit down and have a good cry if that sauce fell!! Now I think I will be even MORE cautious carrying it downstairs! LOL Don't beat yourself up about the cheesecake. We have to allow ourselves treats. The trick is to take small amounts and stop when you are satisfied. I am finding that the longer I stay away from sweets, the easier it is to take only a small bite or two. The fear that I will become addicted again is too great! And the fear that my new pants won't fit is even greater! LOL Speaking of sweets, I am testing my willpower today and making pumpkin bread for a bake sale. I just put 6 mini loaves in the oven (and didn't lick the beaters or my fingers) and plan on giving 5 away and keeping one for DH and I. I will have my share for breakfast and when it is gone, there won't be anything else to tempt me. This is what I have been doing since July and it has been working so far. Then I am making a banana cake for my sewing club and I plan on having a small piece Tuesday night and giving away what ever is left. The ladies can each take a piece home, I will take some into work for the secretary and my cohorts, and DH could take some to work if there is any left after that. I still don't trust myself to have the leftovers sitting around for a week while I wait for DH to eat them. Laundry calls! I washed a Kleenex this morning in with a dark load and you know what that means. 1000s of little white flecks all over the place. I put the load in the dryer, but it didn't get rid of all the flecks, so I am running the load through the rinse cycle. Sheesh! Like I don't have enough to do. And I can't even blame the Kleenex on DD since she doesn't live here anymore! LOL Later, Marci

blsdgal, that's the kind of speech problem my kids had, too. My DD would simply drop the "th" in some words, so, for example, "there" became "air." Consequently, people (especially the other kids in nursery school) would misunderstand her; I felt that this had the potential to be socially damaging, and that was the impetus for getting therapy instead of waiting for it to get better on its own--by age 5, that had not happened. She also couldn't pronounce certain combinations of consonants ("magnet" became "mag-a-net," "middle" became "mit-tel"), although that wasn't as hard to understand. Those problems were easily corrected; for the "th" sound, she just had to learn to put her tongue behind her teeth a certain way and make the vibration in her tongue (not sure I'm describing this correctly; it has been a long time). Anyway, it just took some practice (games) and reinforcement (small rewards), and the problem was GONE. My DS's problems were similar. I suspect it has something to do with the shape of the mouth and teeth (they both needed orthodontics as teenagers), rather than the clarity of the speech modeled by their parents. I wouldn't worry much about the "labeling" for a speech problem. Once it has been resolved, there's no more problem; it's ancient history. It doesn't reflect on the child's intelligence or personality or upbringing, so there's no stigma. On the other hand, NOT getting it corrected can lead to frustration at being misunderstood and perhaps ridiculed by his peers. I don't think you "screwed up" at all, but I'd have the child's speech evaluated as soon as possible and then listen to the professional's recommendations on whether he'll grow out of it or need correction. BTW, I was allowed to be present in the room when my son was tested (we HAD a rotary phone and a phonograph, so recognition of those items wasn't a problem)! :-) Sue

Stargazzer, some bodies will tolerate anything, and we hope yours is one of them. Like most debates involving foods and food "enhancements," this is not just a question of "Will this kill me?" but more of "How will it impact my quality of life?" For some people, apparently there's no impact. For others, the impact can range from slight to huge. But Pris stated the bottom line well. Whether we believe the emails about aspartame or not, the fact is a compelling amount of empirical evidence exists that leads us to the conclusion that it can be damaging. I can add my own: As I've stated here before, when aspartame first came out, I fell for the reassuring name (NutraSweet--how clever these marketing people!) and tried it. I soon figured out that it gave me instant joint pain. One of my daughters found it gave her migraines. And that's the truth.