K says that next year we aren't doing something this big and crazy. That's what she thinks.

That's what I said the year *before* I did Ben's Harry Potter party and was up until 1 a.m. painting house banners.

We requested no gifts (which is tacky, I know)

I don't think so! I would be relieved to know I could buy a favorite book that would be donated, personally. Picking affordable birthday gifts for kids you don't know super well is a pain in the ass, if you ask me.

I used to put an apartment mates shoes in her bed. she would leave them all over the living room and hall.

I keep a messy house, but when I live with someone, the mess is all in my room.

I would not have taken the stuff to his room if he had even put the dishes in the sink.

Sorry--I explained myself poorly--the reason I can't use a greased baking surface is the same reason I can't use non-stick. The press depends on the dough sticking to the tray to pull it out of the mechanism. So parchment paper, silpat, etc, are contraindicated by the press and recipes that I use. If there are presses that don't require that, they'd pique my interest, but as of now, it's a constraint of my equipment.

Why is asking for no gifts tacky?

should a resume be written in 1st person? Like, "I did x and I did that"?

My last one was. When I described my activities at a given job, I said "I ran content management projects and implemented Documentum solutions throughout the enterprise..." etc. How would you put it?

According to Emily Post: "But, there is no mention of gifts – not even “no gifts, please” – and never any mention of registry information on invitations. " I think it has to do with you are not to presuppose that people were planning on bringing gifts.

It's also really interesting how gifting is very cultural within my neighborhood. The Armenian families were all very wigged out by not bringing a gift for the kids and some did anyhow. One even gave a $20 bill to Grace! The rest of the families brought books as requested.

30 little kids is way more work than 60 teens! I'm glad a good time was had by all. Hope rest is an option now.

I have never actually used a cookie press, I did not know there was required sticking to the sheet. Sounds tricky. I bet if you stuck the whole tray in the freezer (probably not directly out of the oven) the different cooling rates of cookie and metal would make them easier to separate. Maybe also more prone to breakage. And sounds like a prohibitively slow process, really. But it's an idea.

Emily Post has a point, but for kid's birthdays, how else would you get that information out there?

I have never actually used a cookie press, I did not know there was required sticking to the sheet.

We have one, and my mom has one, and as far as I knew the dough was sticky enough to ... stick. But we always use the butter pretzel recipe, I think.

I dislike the silpat I have because the bottoms of the cookies cook wrong? But I'd try parchment paper or even aluminum foil.

On my résumé I don't put "I ran a 2500 person conference" or whatever, but just leave off the I. "Ran 2500 person conference; oversaw three staff members and budget of 700 million" or whatever (none of those are things on my résumé)

But here's a question: should a resume be written in 1st person? Like, "I did x and I did that"? Because a former coworker, a tech editor, edited my resume that way and it just looks weird to me. Is that the thing now?

In a cover letter, but on the resume I've rarely seen it that way. It would strike me as a little odd.

Resume used power verbs, no first person. Cover letter, more braggy; I oversaw; I developed.

Skills fit the position vs. I have these, choose me.

One unlocks the door; the other opens it up. You have to walk over the threshold and put the chokehold on the job.