Typically, I didn't hear back from my brother but I ended up finding a jar of it in the floral craft section of Wally's Mart. I, too, thought of asking an associate in the shoe department to save me packets and just picked them up today. With no trouble at all, they saved me about a hundred of them. : ) Might be a good idea to get them now, though. Many of the shoe boxes are now being packed with a plastic clear strip and it looks like they are phasing out the silica packets. The plastic strips would probably work, but I think the seed would stick to them from static. Also, another little find in the craft department. They have a tray for sorting beads, about $3, sort of like something the pharmacists' use for sorting pills. Picked one of those up and it works great for separating seed from chaff and then putting it into the envelopes. Needed a bit of googone to get the label glue off and then I also rubbed it with a dryer sheet to make it less static. Shauna

The absolute easiest way to make one of the rice packs is to use a man's knee-high white athletic sock. I usually cut off the elastic end of the sock first (not sure how the elastic would take to being microwaved). Just pour in some rice (regular, not instant), enough to make it fairly full, but still flexible, then stitch the open end closed. I always snuggle the rice sock around a glass measuring cup with about 1/4 cup of water in it when I nuke the sock. Helps keep moisture in the rice, and then gives a "moist heat" too. It is a good idea to make a removable slipcover for the sock. You can't wash the sock full of rice, so the slipcover helps keep it clean and of course you can wash the cover. You can easily make a slipcover with an old bandana - just one seam to make it into a tube shape that will fit over the sock.

Those sound cool! Wish we had a Meijer around here! I bought a gift today too at a craft fair. Like you said, one down.............

Timing is everything - I just stumbled on this thread on the eve of our AC replacement. After our old unit died we have been sweltering but surviving by 1) timing opening our windows (big casement windows that let in a lot of air) during the cool part of the day, then closing them when the air coming in is warmer than inside house temps, 2) sleeping under a ceiling fan, and 3) dousing our forearms in very cold water, as armoured suggests. I will have to try the ice packs tonight per Rick's suggestion. Might have given Grainlady's ice chest AC a go if we'd known about it earlier. Useful ideas, all. Even after we get our new system, we plan to power it off and open windows unless it's steamy hot. Saving energy is a good thing, especially since our electricity is coal-fired. Also like the sounds of the outdoors and the absence of the hum of AC running.