Be sure to cross-post in the Cooking forum! Here is a link that might be useful: cooking forum

About residential permit expiration: The way this is written in the 2009 IRC is misleading if you read it superficially. What it actually says is that you have to start work within 180 days of the date that the permit was issued and once work has started, work must not stop for more than 180 days. If you can't show progress within a 180 days period (!), you may apply for an extension documenting why you stopped. My permit was issued early 2010 and I made sure to have an inspection showing progress at least every 180 days. Total time of construction will be 3 years (I have another 180 days to go approx.) and I will own a mortgage free house, which I could not have afforded (even with a mortgage) had I paid a builder to construct it within 180 days. The local building department specifically explained to me that I have to schedule inspections not more than 180 days apart for the permit to stay active. Otherwise it would effectively impossible to build DIY while earning a living with a full time job. And no, the neighbor's visual inconvenience does not trump my property rights (it helps that my property is secluded, though). The city has adopted a more stringent energy code after 2010 but my build is grandfathered into the previous one that was valid when the permit was issued.

I'm one of those people who can't be ready in 10 minutes, no way and I'm not even high maintenance. It's my hair that is time consuming. Takes me more than 10 minutes just to dry my hair. My hair is only shoulder length but it is very thick and coarse. I cannot let it air dry b/c of its texture...it just gets really frizzy if I do that. I have to dry it completely, which takes more than 10 minutes, then depending on how straight I'm able to dry it, sometimes I also use a flat iron on it. I don't wear a lot of makeup so that part doesn't take long. I honestly can't imagine being able to shower, dress, do hair and make up in 10 minutes. Showering alone (shaving, washing hair/face/body) takes more than 5 minutes. As far as being a busy mother with no time to shower, yes, I do mean that. However, if I know I'm going somewhere out in public where I'm going to see people, I will drop something in order to shower/be presentable. But there have been times when I've gone to the gym, run an errand on the way home, then come home and spent the day cleaning, doing laundry, prepping dinner for that night, etc and along the way purposely decided NOT to shower (why, if I know I'm cleaning bathrooms,etc all day) yet still run into school to pick my 8 y/o from an after school activity. While I generally *dont* like to run into school looking like that, still in my gym clothes, I'm not going to waste that time showering simply b/c I'm going to see people when I run into school for five minutes. Knowing I can use that 30 minutes to finish another load of laundry, which, with four kids is never-ending, is more important to me than my friends/acquaintances seeing me looking not 100% put together. However, I don't make a habit of doing that. I prefer to look more presentable but sometimes it doesn't necessarily make sense. I run regularly with several women in the mornings after we drop our kids at school. One of the women is one I didn't know before being introduced to her by a friend in common when she showed up to run with us. Our kids were at the same school, but I'd never met her. I only ever saw her for months in the morning for our runs, in running clothes and hair pulled back in a tight ponytail. Much later in the year, at an evening school event, I heard someone yell my name and when I looked over, this beautiful woman was waving at me. It took me a moment to recognize her...she looked so completely different with her hair down and styled, make up and nice clothes on. I couldn't believe it was the same woman! She never looked bad w/o makeup, etc, but the difference when she actually put herself together was amazing. Alas, I'm not one of those women who can completely change her appearance with a bit of makeup!

They're continuing to put them up in all the cities around here too. Every week prime farm land has the topsoil scraped away and new subdivision plots are staked out. A few have gone fallow and have not been built, but most are going ahead. More apartments and duplexes than last year, but mostly single family. Also shopping center after shopping center. Sad, sad, sad - soon there will be no empty land left and all of our food products will come from another country with no chemical controls whatsoever. And all this building and not a thought as to where all the drinking water for the people living in the homes will come from. Wasn't enough water this year and yet they continue to build. These planning departments and city councils need to do some serious thinking, but doesn't seem to happen. They have their public meetings and go ahead and approve the subdivisions anyway, no matter what the public says. Don't get me started.