Q: If you can do something, do it. If you don't need help, don't ask for it. Taking more responsibility for your life and becoming accountable for yourself is the right and responsibility of a life lived freely. Volunteer for things that fall in your wheelhouse, and take on projects that might challenge your abilities, so you can improve yourself and your work.  Try to actively expand the list of things you can do by yourself. While it's true you can take your car into the shop every time a light goes out, you'll save money and become more self-reliant if you learn to perform a basic tune-up. Alternatively, it's also good to accept help and learn to recognize when you need it. Being self-reliant doesn't mean being foolish and ignorant of your abilities. If you don't know how to change your car tire, learn how, so you can become more free and less reliant on others in the future. But in the moment, be honest with yourself. Identify the things you want and the things that you need to live your ideal life to help create perspective. "Needs" include anything necessary to sustain a comfortable life. This includes food, shelter, and basic health care. "Wants" might include travel funds, books and movies, or whatever it is that would improve your quality of life.  Ideally, if you think about these things as a Venn diagram, they should look as close as possible like a single circle, overlapping almost entirely if you've structured your life in an ideal way. If what you need and what you want line-up, you'll be living the happy and free life you want to lead. What might you change to realign the diagram?  Try to create a budget to account for all your needs and as much want as possible to live sustainably. The less you have to worry about money--the less you have to think about it at all--the better off and the more free you'll be. . Student loans and credit card debt will keep you under a heavy curtain of debt that makes it very difficult to live by your own hand. If you're beholden to debtors, can you be truly free? It's a challenge that's unavoidable for some, but you can help yourself move toward freedom by paying down your debts as best you can and as quickly as you can, and by avoiding accruing new debt. Find work that you love and the work that will allow you to live freely and do what you want. Even if you have to report to a real "boss," you're beholden to no one as long as you say so. You're in charge of your own life. If you work in an environment that doesn't afford you enough freedom, find a new job.  How you choose to define work might be complicated. Plenty of people "work" during the day doing something that may or may not define their calling in life. Walt Whitman was an ambulance driver, but he also wrote some of the greatest American poems ever written. If your ideal life involves working only 15 or 20 hours a week, it might be difficult to sustain that life in Manhattan or Los Angeles. Prioritize the various aspects of your ideal life. If the desire to live in a cultural hub outweighs your desire to work less, get multiple jobs, 8 roommates, and move to the Big Apple. If your time is more precious to you, find somewhere the cost of living is cheap and you'll have your time. What are the criteria of a life lived well? What is necessary to move through the world with dignity and poise? One person's rules may not be applicable for everyone, but it's helpful to have them for yourself. If you want to be free and call the shots, write your own code like the Klingon or the Samurai, and live by it.
A: Do it yourself. Prioritize your wants and needs. Pay off all your debts and live within your means Be the boss of your life. Write your own code and live by it.

Q: When you begin your second trimester, you'll start to show more. As your body changes, you'll start to get a better idea of what clothes you'll need to buy for your pregnancy. Before that, you likely won't have much of a bump yet. Most stores that sell maternity clothes have strap-on baby bumps that you can use. That way, you can see what your body will look like when your bump starts to grow.  Call ahead to see if the store you're visiting has these on hand. A sales associate will be able to help you try it on when you get to the store. Keep in mind, though, these strap-ons only account for the baby bump. You may put on weight elsewhere as your new little one grows. The easiest way to begin picking out clothes is to use your pre-pregnancy size as a guide. For example, if you're a size 10 regularly, you may be a size 10 in maternity clothes. However, you should always try on clothes at the store, as you never know what will fit. If you're buying online, look for stores with a good return policy. Then you can buy several sizes around your size to see what fits and return what doesn't. While you may be the same size in maternity that you are in regular clothes, everyone develops a baby bump differently. That could mean you'll need to go down or up a size in maternity clothes, based on what fits you. The most important thing is that the clothes fit and are comfortable, so don't be afraid to try on several sizes.
A: Wait until after the first 12 weeks to start buying clothes. Wear a strap-on bump to buy maternity clothes early in your pregnancy. Start with your pre-pregnancy size. Try on other sizes to see what's comfortable.

Q: If possible, use your dill within a couple of hours. It will have the most flavor in this time period. For that reason, it's best to cut it right before you want to use it in your food. Try cutting dill with scissors instead of a knife when preparing it in the kitchen. It will be more flavorful. When looking at the plant, look for shoots going off the main stem at a perpendicular angle. Use small shears to cut the shoot about 1 inch (2.5 cm) or less above the joint. Cutting causes less damage to the plant, so it keeps it from decaying as fast if you're planning on storing it. Add 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5.1 cm) of water to the bottom of a mason jar. Snip off the bottom of the stems on the dill, and place the dill stem-side down in the water. Cover it with a lid, if possible, and put it in the fridge.  If a lid won't fit over the jar, use a plastic bag and a rubber band. Store the herbs for up to 2 weeks.
A:
Use your dill as quickly as you can. Cut branches off the main stem when you're planning to store dill. Store dill in a jar in the refrigerator.