Hanselman: How many people do you have picking and working for you during the busy season? I am pretty much a one man show. my brother in law helps out, but he is mildly mentally handicapped, so his help is limited to specific tasks. Watering, picking cherry tomatoes, carrying totes, watching the kids, open and closing hoop buildings. I know one of the areas I get hurt on is selling. I usually have 24 feet of table space (3 8 foot tables) and only myself to take money and answer questions. I am really hopping most of the time. I always have lines. Good I guess, but I know I am probably missing some sales because of it. My BIL helps with setting out produce when I run out and putting bags on bowls/baskets to be weighed. But he is limited in the abilities. Every little bit helps. Sometimes we even have our 4 kids with us! That sounds Like it was a really good day. I will never be there, at least with my current situation.

This is a great thread. I first have to say that I had my husband look at some of this, and I will say upfront that he is totally engaged (he does most of the cooking). But I'm terrible. My family is here and rated me at a 9.5 out of 10 for being a witch the hours before a party. I remember yelling at my daughter because I had just hung up a perfect clean towerl on the hanging ring and went in, they had used it, and wadded it up over the ring. I yelled at them, and still feel bad about it today. Most importantly because I don't want them to think that entertaining is awful and never have a dinner party because they remember it being hell day. I grew up with my mother keeping a horrendous house. It was a mess, and I mean a mess. Counters piled with crap, dishes not done for days, and she didn't care. She was always having friends stop by. Even as a young child, it embarassed me to all heck. I can still remember coming home from babysitting at midnight or so when I was 12 or 13 years old (I started young), and I would clean the kitchen from top to bottom. It would take a couple of hours. I was different than her even back then. When my dad remarried, it was Martha Stewart land. She had to have it spotless. Every Saturday was crack and corner day. We quite literally had to pull the couch out and vacuum under it at least every other week, and we had to bleach the counters. Crazy the other way! So, I can't seem to have anyone over unless my house is totally cleaned! And our parties themselves are quite memorable to everyone who comes. They talk about it afterward for weeks. I do enjoy having wonderful parties but I also wish I could relax about my house. I know its wrapped up in my childhood psyche. I will even make sure the main counters are clean as guests are arriving for a dinner party. And that's while we're using the kitchen! But I'm also so proud of our kitchen and want to show it off. Now one time, we had a Chinese extravaganze where we covered our desk with Chinese ingredients, friends came over at noon and didn't leave until midnight. The men mostly cooked and it was a blast. Every inch of every counter was covered with crap. I remember walking in the kitchen, the dust was flying from someone rolling out potstickers while someone else was frying a whole fish over the wok burner, and someone else was mixing something up. I didn't care what the kitchen looked like that day. I'll never forget that party. I don't know if I'll ever change about the clean house though. It's so engrained in me. Well, my husband is making London Broil so I'm off to the kitchen!! Great stories though. I think we have more in common than we realized.

I take the natural route as I have arthritis and I get costochondritis every so often (I am actually experiencing it right now myself). I control my inflammation with a very strict diet and supplements - I sort of fell off the wagon since Christmas and have now completely restricted all inflammatory foods. I feel so much better today than say, four days ago although I did go for a ski and was huffing and puffing more than usually due to the fact I can't expand my lungs as much as I needed to. It's a strict lifestyle but it is working for me and I am happier this way than when I was on medication:).

I take my levothroxine pill every morning for my hypothyroid. It took about a year of adjustments to find the right dose. Others are correct that it should be taken after a fast ( first thing in the morning. With a glass of water only. You should not eat or drink anything (including tea or coffee for an hour. Do not take other meds for at least an hour either unless the doctor oks it. One thing not mentioned is calcium. Calcium blocks the body's ability to absorb it properly so eating calcium rich foods is best done later in the day. (I miss my cottage cheese at breakfast *sigh*). Another thing to avoid is soy. Non-fermented soy like soymilk, tofu, soy nuts and edamame are not your friend if you are hypothyroid. Taking the medication properly and on schedule really makes a difference. I wasn't even aware I was hypothyroid. Ithought being tired was me just getting older. LOL My doctor discovered it during a battery of tests done during my my first bout of sudden hearing loss.