mamacita's Profile

I disagree, pussycow!. In my experience, lame, cheap, disposable plastic toys are what the kids are most excited about on Christmas morning. I appreciate the heads-up from Ohdeedoh. No one is saying you have to buy these things; besides, this would be a pretty boring place if all of the articles were self-righteous odes to artisanal wooden toys.

983 sq. ft. for two adults and two tweens. One bathroom. No basement, no garage.

Storage isn't really an issue because there are a lot of built-ins; the problem is that if ONE thing is out of place, it looks like a huge mess. Entertaining is an issue in the summer, when it's too hot to go outside; otherwise, the yard can host lots of people.

I wouldn't want to give up those awesome windows, either.

My daughter had surgery in December; we were able to get the steri-strips off painlessly with tea tree oil.

Old-fashioned white cloth baby diapers. They're still sold in packs of 8-10 in the baby aisle at Target and other places. Absolutely nothing more absorbent, doesn't leave fibers on anything, and they last forever. My mom still has the ones she bought when she was first married. I keep a deep drawer full of them in the kitchen and use them instead of paper towels.

Another vote for http://decorno.blogspot.com, the only one that doesn't give me a toothache.

Just FYI, everyone -- most of Houston was not evacuated. We were told to stay put so that people in the lower areas closer to the coast could leave. I decided to leave early with my children (the roads were empty then). My husband stayed in town. He has no electricity still, but our house is okay.

My hometown is completely under water. It's where Anderson Cooper was reporting from earlier this evening. My sister's house was completely blown away. I'm staying in a 3-bedroom house in Austin with 12(!) of my relatives, and they're all pretty edgy right now.

/thanks for letting me vent.

Roasted chicken is great -- you can make two at a time (keeping one for yourself) and it will taste just as good to the recipient for the next day or two out of the fridge.

Soups and stews are always good choices. I like Smitten Kitchen's goulash, or onion soup; chicken soup is easy to improvise.

Don't forget that they're probably stuck at home for lunch, too. Chinese chicken salad is usually a good thing for them to store in the fridge and eat over a couple of days, or really any kind of pasta salad with veggies and a protein. Quiche and a green salad also work for lunches as well as dinners.

New moms especially appreciate something they can eat in the morning -- they are usually starving after the first feeding of the day. Muffins or granola are always appreciated.

Damn, what did Oklahoma do? It looks all lonely there on the map.

I love all of Judith Wilson's books. She is really great.