I'm getting close to the age my sister and mom went through menopause, and I'm looking forward to being done with the pain and the mess. Seems like women who aren't going to be using those organs ought to be able to opt out.

Several of the couponing people were talking about how looking at their stockpiles makes them feel calm and peaceful.

As I understand it, that's how hoarding makes hoarders feel. Safe, like. Makes sense that they freak out if someone tries to take their crap away.

KCD bowled another 300 game. He now has 2 - both within the last year.

Just bopped over to Oakland to pick up my ticket for today's baseball game. Saw a few people on their walk of shame as I walked to BART.

Wow. Thanks so much for all that, Steph. I'm going to pick up some probiotic pearls, today to go with the citrucel regimen.

I'm so grateful, there's five bazillion webpages about IBS to wade through.

Some of the couponers are definitely in hoarder land, but they're too organized to go full Got Junk? truck. I cringe when I see that they've filled their carts with hundreds of packages of ramen and croutons and crackers. I don't think they've eaten a vegetable since the mid-70s.

There was a nurse who said to call or write to companies that do produce and healthy foods and tell them that you're trying to eat healthier, but there are no coupons available for their products and they'll send batches of coupons to you.

I like the dude who goes out and gets a thousand dollars of food/hygiene products for free and donates it to food banks and makes care packages for the military. I think the couponing is more like a sport for him and some of the others who give food away.

There was that heartbreakingly poor family who hunted for most of their meat, and grew most of their produce. It seemed like the husband didn't really get it until he went to the store with her and got $600 worth of dry-goods and juice for $10.00. At the end of the episode he seemed sort of awestruck by his wife. She also did a ton of canning and pickling.

I also liked OCD lady who planned every meal for the entire month based on coupons. NO REPEAT MEALS.

I knew about the guy who donates stuff and makes care packages. I think that's really cool. I hadn't heard about the family that mostly hunts their meat, that's cool.

Some of the blogs and places I read about being frugal are really down on the show because of the obsessive factor. And they say it paints regular couponers in a bad light -- there's been allegations that at least one of the women has used illegal practices (the claim is she figured out how to buy a more expensive product than the coupon is supposed to allow).

There was a nurse who said to call or write to companies that do produce and healthy foods and tell them that you're trying to eat healthier, but there are no coupons available for their products and they'll send batches of coupons to you.

I've heard this, too. I know several people who've emailed Amy's Kitchen to say that they want to buy their stuff but it's too expensive, and they got a bunch of coupons.

I like the dude who goes out and gets a thousand dollars of food/hygiene products for free and donates it to food banks and makes care packages for the military. I think the couponing is more like a sport for him and some of the others who give food away.

The minister? Yeah, I liked him.

I would love to have a big garden and grow all my produce, and can the fruit and tomato sauce and stuff, but I've tried canning once in a while with farmers market fruit, and it takes way more time than I'd expected. I got a book of recipes for small-scale canning, like making just a few half-pint jars of something, rather than the 20 quarts or whatever that a lot of the usual recipes make. Actually, I think I'll check that to see if they've got some suggestions for what to do with the rhubarb I just bought.

Nearly all the farmers at the farmers markets around here are Amish or Mennonite. It still startles me a bit each time I go.

I knew about the guy who donates stuff and makes care packages. I think that's really cool. I hadn't heard about the family that mostly hunts their meat, that's cool.

They hunt with bow and arrow. Those arrows looked pretty flimsy -- wouldn't the deer be alive but injured for a while after being shot with an arrow? (That's the reasoning behind the Jewish prohibition on hunting -- in all likelihood, you're going to end up injuring the animal rather than killing it directly, and injuring an animal needlessly is prohibited.)

Hmm. I found the expected strawberry rhubarb jam, a rhubarb ginger jam, rhubarb gooseberry jam (I don't know where to get gooseberries), and a rhubarb, date, and apricot chutney. That chutney seems like it could be interesting, and it just makes three cups, which is manageable.

The grilled cheese truck didn't show!

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

That is tragic!

I got bonus early menopause with the chemo. I made the oncologist laugh when I shrugged and said "oh well".

Making the oncologist laugh! Now that's a skill.