Raeanne/Donna: Sorry gals, but DBIL is not looking. :-( Very set in his ways, and his 3 daughters are way ahead of you in trying to set him up! Will be sure to let you both know when situation changes. BJ, great to see you again. I baked over 220 cookies today alone...over the past 3 days the number is well over 400 I'm sure. Exhausted! Now I'm trying to get some things wrapped for a few coworkers. I've given up the idea of getting a few trays of cookies together to bring to the office Monday...not gonna happen until Wednesday. Tomorrow I'll be walking again at 6:15am with my neighbor for 30-45minutes. After that, instead of trying to get to the office by 7:45, I've decided to stop at Kohl's (about 1 mile from me, and it opens at 7am!) They have adorable Christmas pins on sale for under $10. I have a couple, and whenever I wear one of them, this wonderful gal in work mentions how she loves them. Think I'll surprise her (which means I need to bring along tissue, ribbon, a bow, and a gift bag with me to wrap in the car on the way to work!) Oh yes, I did 6 loads of laundry yesterday. There are only me and DH in this house and I do laundry each and every week. I can't imagine why I had 6 loads, but there they were! lol!! Gotta run and get this stuff together. Make this week count! Take care, eat healthy, and NEVER, NEVER GIVE UP! DeeMarie (who's blood pressure was only 118/68 at her doc's appt on Friday, even AFTER they poked in 3 different areas trying to get enough blood for rountine tests) whoooooo hoooooo!!! I tell you, it was better news than losing 18 lbs for me. Make this week count!

I can't believe you are talking about "boiled peanuts"!! That's as egregious as bring up "grits". LOL We had a CF get-together. Half of us were excited when we saw a boiled peanut vendor at the farmers' market we were visiting and bought a bunch to share. We offered them to our friends...I won't go into the details but they found them disgusting. To your question, we always have a crockpot of BP for our concession stand. We get them at Sam's and GFS, both brands fill the bill until the real deal is an option.

I don't know too much about hoarding. I've never had any personal experience in dealing with someone who hoards. But I do have experience with mental illness. My son is schizophrenic and mildly autistic, and has been diagnosed since age twelve. Part of a psychotic disorder is the inabilty to organize one's thoughts and follow thorugh with plans. Looking back, I can see how this has affected my son's abilty to function since he was very young. He is not capable of organizing his life on his own and, thankfully, he has his family to provide that structure and help for him. Asking why someone with "whatever kind of illness" can't "deal with it" is tantamount to asking someone with cancer why he/she can't deal with that. It is far more complex and is just as real as any other severe illness. I am not suggesting that mental illness absolves someone from all responsiblities in their life, but I am saying that TRUE major mental illness is a tremendous challenge, sapping most enjoyment and reason from the sufferer's life and often robbing him or her of the ability to function I should mention I didn't see the program in question, but I've been following this thread with interest. I can't say whether the woman on the program had a severe mental illness or not, although it certainly sounds like it. I just felt compelled to ask for a little compassion for those who truly are suffering under a heavy load. Sometimes I think that those who are more functional than my son actually have a harder time in life, as they don't have the range of supports and backup that he has to help him make his way through what is to him a very confusing world.

While I have not tried their products, I have heard about them mentioned on local television shows, the latest on A Chef's Life on NC public television. Chef Vivian Howard featured rice in her restaurant The Chef and the Farmer and visited the rice field of Anson Mills. I did not know that the leaves on the rice plants where sharp enough to cut your hands if you weren't careful. I love to try stoneground cornmeal from local sources; might have to order some Carolina Gold rice too. Teresa