Carolina Reaper Cuda911March 25, 2013 Hey, new to this site, but far from new to growing. Habajalokia or whatever his name is killed the last Carolina Reaper thread, so resurrecting it. HOUZZ "lifted" the 150 post limit so I'm resurrecting the original.

I have a wood cutting board, which just happens to be from the company Eatrealfood linked to. It's about 20 years old and still going strong. At some point in the 90s, there was all this talk about how bad wood cutting boards were, and I bought one of the white plastic boards. Then, as AnnieDeighnaugh points out, it was found that wood cutting boards were not deathtraps full of bacteria and I went back to using mine. Now, the wood one is for fruits and vegetables and the plastic one is for meat and poultry because it can go in the dishwasher and probably get cleaner there than with my handwashing. The wooden one gets scrubbed after every use in hot water and air dried. No one's told me they've gotten food poisoning from eating at my house, so I think I'm okay.

Reggie, When I met my DH, I was 29 years old and I knew then that I didn't want to have children. He has three children and he would also see them every other weekend. Believe me, I did find it hard when they were around. I especially found it hard with the oldest child who right from the start did not like me at all. With time, I started disliking it when she would come over to our house because what missy wanted, missy got! It would just infuriate me and for years I had arguments with hubby about the way he treated this child, never, ever, ever saying no to whatever she asked for. Well, she grew up to be a spoiled, irreponsible child.She quit school early, got pregnant at 16 years old, got in-debth, etc. etc. etc. She got married and treated her husband just like she had treated her dad all her life, that is, when she asked for something, she had to get it NOW, her husband is the one who was stuck with cleaning the house, taking care of the children, etc. etc. That marriage did not last long needless to say. Today, she is divorced and she has had to make major changes in her life. And I must admit that she has matured quite a bit in the last two years and she is now in a new relationship and believe me, she doesn't treat that man the way she treated her x. But I find it so sad that she has had to go through all these experiences at such a young age. I sometimes think if her father had spoiled her less and had felt less guilty towards her, this child wouldn't have had to go through such negative experiences when she was so young. Today, my relationship with this step-daughter is good but it was hell getting there. I always told her that at 20 years old, she had gone through what a 40 year old woman would have gone through. So sad. This being said, I feel for you. I know you have been with this man for several years, but believe me, he will never, ever agree with you if you say anything wrong about his child, whether it's about the fact that you think she goes to bed too late or she is really childish or whatever. He will always defend her no matter how much he loves you. And believe me, this little girl's demands are going to become more and more big as she grows up. Whatever she will want from her father, I guarantee you she will get it and that will cause major, major fights between you and him! Believe me, I've been there. I have been with hubby for 20 years now and there were many times that I said to myself, if i knew then, what I do know now in regards to being a step-parent, I don't know if I would have started a relationship with him. So, all I can say to you from experience is you either have to accept this child in your life and try and detach yourself from her with love or....leave this man. I know you love him but you will drive yourself mad and make yourself sick to death if you continue in this relationship knowing there is a child that will always, always be there. Sometimes, in order to understand my husband's behavior towards his child, I would sit down for a minute and wonder what would I do if that was my child. Most of the time, when I truly thought about it, I thought I would do the same thing he did. These men love their children to death and they feel really guilty about not being in their life 24/7 and because of this, they will do anything an everything for them just so these children will be happy and not hate their father. I truly wish you luck sweetie.Keep posting.

Lydia, your post flooded me with memories of my sweet boy, Bear. He had the same symptoms. The first vet did an x-ray, but then said Bear was too large for it and he needed to go to another vet with a larger machine. He was a german shepherd. We took him there. They saw a mass in his spleen and said if it had not spread to his liver he could be treated and most likely recover well. They couldn't tell if it had spread without surgery. We did the surgery, hoping for the best. After putting him thru that we found out it had spread to his liver. Since then I have told everyone if I had to do it over again I would not have put him thru the surgery. He was my baby and they kept him at the vet for 3 days. They said it would be best if we didn't visit during those days. I did on the second day anyway. It was upsetting to him and to me to have to leave him. He had a few good days after the surgery, but he also had some days where he didn't want to move. Less than 2 months after putting him thru the surgery and spending $4000 we had him put down to end his suffering once and for all. That was 4 years ago today. I wish you and Kobi the best. You are in my thoughts.