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Midwest version here:
Ground beef, browned and seasoned. Sauce added.
Store brand spaghetti sauce 1 to 2 jars
Kraft Parm cheese
Kraft Mozzarella
large container AE 4% milkfat cottage cheese
1 egg - mixed into the cottage cheese
Barilla lasagna noodles, cooked in my Fasta Pasta

Pour a bit of sauce in a greased pan. Add 3 cooked noodles, a l1/2 of meat mixture, 1/2 cottage cheese, a heavy shake of parm and a sprinkle of mozzarella. Then repeat with noodles/meat/cheese. Finish with 3 noodles on top, cover with sauce, sprinkle with parm and add some mozzarella. Cover with parchment, then seal pan with aluminum foil. Bake for an hour at 350º for an hour, uncovered for the last 10 minutes. Let rest for a bit.

Everyone likes it! I'm sure a fussy, by the books eater would not call it real lasagna, but eh! It is even good as a leftover. It's not dry.

I have finally found the perfect pan that is large enough and doesn't cook over, but isn't too big. Pioneer Woman!

There are two baking dishes in this set. I use the large red one for lasagna and other bigger casseroles. It is perfect for a dozen sticky rolls too! The smaller blue one is perfect for a half batch of lasagna or rolls.
Deep enough that they don't cook over.
Pioneer Woman 2 piece baking set

Since he has little to know experience at an airport - try googling the airports he will be at.

There are SO many videos out there, where people record their experience. You might find one that shows the airport he will be using, and that way things will be a bit familiar!

Air travel has really changed, if you haven't been for a while. You can do everything off your phone now. Boarding passes, seat assignments, etc. I find it helpful to have any of those apps downloaded and installed at home before you go. Airport wi-fi can be iffy sometimes.
They they just scan the phone with the boarding pass open at check-in and at the gate.

My son was in Hong Kong and they wanted to take his passport and phone from him. He said NO. He was able to get assistance and get the situation handled. I was glad that he had traveled and lived abroad before that incident... so this travel experience will be such a great learning experience for your kid!

Hoping she has a speedy healing and recovery! My DH had hand/arm surgery a year ago and it went really well.

Free healthcare sounds wonderful, and I hope someday our US system can be better - but "free" is never really free.
With a VERY uneducated look at comparing tax rates between what I pay in the US and what the same rate would be in Australia - it is quite different. In the US my tax rate is 24% (give or take) and in Australia it would be 45% plus .45/per$1 over $180K PLUS a Medicare surcharge. *I have a tenuous grasp on the US tax policies, and only shaky Google knowledge of other countries!!

I am lucky to be able to afford a decent health care coverage. But it isn't terrific. I have a fairly large deductible, and and our premium is over 10K a year. But that is still a lot less that I would pay in the difference in the tax bill - by a long shot. I am thankful my children all have good healthcare plans through their employers and only pay a very minimal amount for it.

I really wish there could be something done with health care costs in general and also the cost in insurance. Someone is getting very rich, while pinching the rest of us beyond control. Those that are getting very rich are the ones that control our politicians, thus ending any change of anything becoming 'affordable'.

Nebraska Furniture Mart. I can't remember if it came from Omaha or Des Moines. They have stores in both cities.

Ours have to be filed at the end of February, so I am always relieved when they are done.

I have to have all the bookwork done and to the accountant mid-December so he can run it up and see where we stand. Do we spend, or are we good on expenses.

That coincides with Christmas, and we generally always have to spend, so the time between Christmas and New Years Eve is spent trying to figure what we need to purchase. So that sucks. We pre-pay all inputs - seed, fuel, chemical and fertilizer before the end of the year - so that can usually bring us up to where we need to be, as far as expenses. I got a really nice new commercial Deere mower a couple years ago, as a last minute purchase! LOL

I paid yardage and for a potload of calves today, so I no longer am worried if I am over the FDIC insured amount in the bank anymore.
With banks going under, I was getting a little worried I had too much parked in one institution for a few days.

Vacuumed packed, maybe. Ground beef is considered safe if used within 2 days post expiration date. Vacuumed sealed meat does last longer.

If really in doubt - toss.

I will buy a Proven Winner plant over any other plant if I can find them. They are a bit hard to find in my area though. There used to be an awesome greenhouse that carried them, but they closed.

I have thought about ordering, but I wait to long and they are out of stock. I need to go check them out.

I want to get more Limelight hydrangea. LORD! I have one that is stunning. My husband said "get more of those".

My husband ordered me the Speed Queen I have now. He had heard about it on the radio in his tractor (long days). He called me and asked me if I wanted "coin-op or no coin-op" I opted for no coin-op. But it is the best dang washer ever! Really works on my dirty dirty dirty laundry. Mine is several years old now. I can do a double wash (and double rinse) on my machine. That double wash is SO dang nice!

The first wash cycle gets the heavy mud/crud off and the second can clean without having quite so much mud in the wash water.

I think my worst ever load of laundry was when my husband fell in the pump pit at our barn... it is filled with liquid manure. His coat and coverall's were drenched. I actually had him undress outside (it was COLD) and we had to pour the liquid manure out of his coat pockets. He had called ahead, so I had a clear path to my washer, that is in the basement. I had the lid open and ready for the clothes to go in. First two washes was just to get the manure off.. then another wash to clean. ICK. I had to fish a lot of corn out of the washer tub. LOL He was pretty clean underneath - but he undressed and went directly to the shower, also in the basement. We have an entry to the house that is dedicated to 'work' - so the mud and crud stay contained. LOL

And they say TikTok is the problem! LOL

My go-to at McD's was a small fry, small drink, and a McDouble. It used to be $1 each, so $3. It's more than that now, but that is still my order. But lord, it can be trying sometimes to get them to give me a small drink. All drinks are a $1 and they really want to give me a quart of Coke! I love their Coke (and Sprite and HiC Orange!) .. but I only want a small. I'd drink the entire big one just the same. I only buy the small cans of pop, even though they cost more. I just want a little... and I have no will power...

November.

Plants and outdoor decor in the summer. Decor for my house when it's winter.

I laugh with my husband about retail therapy. For me a BIG spend is $100. For him, it's never under $10K. He can part with large sums so much easier than the small ones.

Not so much pets, but livestock do not give 2 poops about time change. Chore time is chore time, no matter what the clocks say.

Don't ever think that Daylight savings time is something farmers wanted or like. It just makes the day longer. If the livestock was fed at 7 am regular time, they get fed at 6 am DST.

With that extra hour of daylight, that just means a longer day. Start chores at 6 am. Normally (not during busy times) would stop working around 6pm  or 7pm , now 8 pm. 7 days a week!

I would not fuss over getting a simple shutterfly card as an invite. If they handed it to me in person - even better.

6 months ahead of the wedding is beyond accommodating.

The only issue I have is them making you responsible for your own adult children. If they want them there, they need to get them an invitation.

RSVP'ing online or via text is simple. You have no excuse to not respond in a timely manner, they should not have to hunt you down.

Just because it is a simpler version of an invitation, doesn't mean anything. If you don't like it - RSVP that you will not be attending.