ohay! I’m in Long Beach too :]

I would go to a doctor. To me, though, it possibly sounds like GERD. If you can’t get to the doctor right away, try taking Tums or (even better) ranitidine before you go to sleep and see if they make a difference at all.

Last year California started SBAC testing, and that’s supposed to be better than the STAR. Here’s hoping.

Interesting to know. It’s hard to find chocolate without dairy - most companies I buy from tend to be very careful about allergens, which would explain why they don’t give me problems. A lot of companies that make cheaper chocolate usually add a little bit of milk fat even into their dark chocolate.

Chocolate naturally has no milk in it.

This wouldn’t work for all produce, but if you have oral allergy syndrome, cooking it should prevent any reactions.

I don’t really know. My guess is that the facilities are using the same machines to make different batches of chocolate, while perhaps other facilities have dedicated machines to certain products. I have a fairly severe dairy allergy, and Trader Joe’s is the only company that has consistently given me allergies from…

You probably have oral allergy syndrome. It’s pretty much never a big deal http://www.webmd.com/allergies/feat…

They do it on these chocolate sticks already (picture from Amazon). While most companies are just covering their asses by these warnings, Trader Joe’s chocolates usually DO contain milk (even if they’re not on the actual ingredient list, just the “may contain” warnings). That’s why I don’t eat TJ’s chocolate anymore…

Ingredients lists already do that

That’s nice to hear. I have a fairly severe milk allergy, but I have never had a problem with cross-contamination of processed foods EXCEPT with Trader Joe’s chocolate. A lot of companies cover their asses by saying “may contain _____” or “produced in the same facility as ______” but I’ve personally almost never had…

Um, no....Chocolate comes from roasted & ground cacao seeds. It’s similar to coffee. There’s no milk unless you add it. Do you think the Aztec were adding milk to their chocolate?

To be honest, that’s the way I feel about most stories about accidental pregnancies where the characters decide to go through with it (whyyyyyy). I wasn’t as bothered by it in the movie Waitress as I am with other stories (but ymmv). Possibly that’s because Keri Russell was in her 30s in Waitress, as opposed to being…

I liked My Big Fat Greek Wedding when it came out, but I don’t think I’ll be seeing this one. I watched My Life in Ruins a few years ago, and my God, that was awful. I really don’t mind cheesy romantic comedies, but it’s sort of appalling how terrible almost all of them have been in the last decade. I don’t think I…

That’s one reason I like Wuthering Heights better. There’s no pretending that the awful men are great - they’re just terrible.

That Rainbow Brite costume is something else.

I think the point is that teachers have to have a BA PLUS post-grad work and even they can’t afford to live where they work. It's proof of how going to college and getting a good job really isn't enough anymore.

This article is very timely. I’m in school right now working on my teaching credential & masters (the plan is to be a school librarian). I’m from California and I know that the town I grew up in priced out many of the local teachers over two decades ago (and the ones who do live in town have rich spouses). My plan for…

The trick is that Fifty Shades got popular right when it was released, so anyone who wanted to read it had to buy it new and in hardback. It took a while for the public to discover how garbage it is, so everyone’s getting rid of their copies right now in droves.

Well, when a large part of your “look” comes from plastic surgery, it’s not that unusual for you to have a doppelganger running around...