First, I haven't made my thank you cards, much less sent them and I do every year, usually between Christmas and New Years. This year I had been ill and I just opened packages and I really don't know who gave me what for the most part so I'm having trouble figuring out what to say. I usually say thanks for whatever I/We love it and plan to do whatever with it. But I'll try to get it done soon, I'm feeling guilty bigtime now. My first Christmas with my husband 11 years ago, we did the frantic Christmas eve in a nearby larger city shopping. We both hated it, big fight, spent way too much money and I said, no more. The next year we either bought early or put things on layaway and it was better. I finally got brave enough to make things the next year. He was sceptical at first but when he saw the response and the extra cash in his pocket, I took care of the supplies bought early, he was behind me 100%. Luckily all of the women are crafters or quilters, ect. and their spouses and children know about these things. We receive verbal thank yous and sometimes notes on my Jan. birthday cards. While I've never had the awful experiences of most of you, especially you, Jude, how heartless of anyone. I love having someone take the time to make me something. I can relate. I've only had a problem with a bachelor uncle. I sent him two knit stocking caps, he likes to jog and hike, lives on east coast so don't know where he does this, never heard if he received them. I'm still mad him. Every other year we've jumped through hoops over his gift.We cut down on what we spent on boughten gifts this year and still spent three times on him what we did on everyone else, he is always very generous to us (even though sometimes the gifts are nothing we really care for either, but still thank him) so makes my husband feel cheap if we don't spend a lot. That's it, though, next year he is in budget and if he doesn't like it, too bad. He wasn't impressed this year when my husband told him we were using his Christmas monetary gift, (easier to carry on plane and since he really didn't know what to get us, he explained,) to buy a hay ring for my horse and goats. My husband had already suggested before Christmas doing this with any cash gifts we received. Thought uncle was going to rip the check out of our hands, oh, well. We love the hay rack and it saves us time doing chores and the expense of hay wasted. Revenge is sweet even when you don't plan it. Should this be a hehehe? Janie

I like coconut oil to moisturize lips, skin, hair, stir fry veggies, make curries, and husband uses it to pop popcorn. From what I've read, the problematic fats are the ones which are partially hydrogenated (trans fats) and, according to medical research, cause all kinds of health issues. They were widely used in prepared foods, but the FDA banned them a few years ago and many companies have replaced them with other oils.

The notion that baby shampoo puts an additive in it, that numbs the eyes is taken from one of those "send this to everybody" emails that circulate. This urban myth is addressed on the Johnson & Johnson website under the FAQ section. It says: "The assertion that chemicals are added that numb the baby's eyes is totally false. The reason JOHNSON´S® shampoo formulas do not irritate the eyes is the mildness of the formulation, which has undergone extensive clinical testing and has proven to be as gentle to the eyes as pure water." Amphoteric surfactants are how the shampoos keep tears away. It is Sodium Laureth Sulfate and Potasium Laureth Sulfate that are the irritants and they are not put in baby shampoo or in the expensive adult 'salon shampoo'. Sodium Laureth Sulfate and Potasium Laureth Sulfate are always in the El Cheapo shampoos. Here is an explanation I copied: The active part of shampoo comes from a family of chemicals known as "surfactants". Sodium Laureth Sulfate and Potasium Laureth Sulfate are two of the most common. These handy little molecules have one end which is hydrophilic and another which is hydrophobic. The result is that one end grabs oil from the hair and then hitches on to the water for a short ride into the drain. The problem with suractants is that, when they get into the eyes, the keep doing their job. The tear film on the eye is mostly water with a bit of oil and it acts as a protective barrier. Surfactants pretty much remove this protection. It gets worse though, they do a fine job of stimulating nerves in the eye. This hurts. No Tears shampoos also contain surfactants, but they piggyback a larger molecule on the surfactant to keep it from getting into the sensitive tissues in the eye. The substance is called and Amphoteric Surfactant. The molecule still holds the same oil/water binding properties, but it is too big to get through tissue etc. The result is... well... no more tears. Here is a link that might be useful: J&J FAQ

Zookeeper....I was going through this thread and noticed your response to one of my earlier posts (I hardly get notifications anymore to threads I’ve participated in). You asked a question about what I would do differently in my build. At this point I would have a long list. I did go over a spattering of those things in my very long thread [Cannot procrastinate any longer...[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/cannot-procrastinate-any-longer-with-hardware-choice-dsvw-vd~5106472), it was in answer to another poster who was asking the same question (mike I believe was his name). I can’t for the life of me get all the comments of that thread to load, so I am unable to search for the spot where that diologue took place. When I find it I will post it (rather than try to recreate it). One little piece of advice I would give that has been repeated over and over on these forums regarding building is to find the right building lot with the correct exposure. This cannot be emphasized enough. If you’re into windows and light and a cheery interior, you do not want to purchase a piece of land that only allows you to place your house with the main living areas facing north! No matter how beautiful it is, resist the temptation. I have found that a southern exposure on the backside of the house (if the main living area is in the back) along with windows on the east and west sides of that same main living area will allow for the best (and continual) light throughout the entire day. I get morning sun streaming in the east side windows of the great room, then the midday sun through the south side windows, and then setting sun around the west side of that same living area (with some trees blocking some of that setting sun). It’s glorious (I love light!). No need for artificial light even on an overcast day and no need to turn on the lights until the sun goes down. When searching for land, I would look up its location wth an aerial view and if it didn’t fit my specifications for exposure, I would not even consider it (helps weed out a lot of land). Anyway, all that to say....be very picky about your lot!