I've been amazed at how much heavy construction work my husband has been able to do on his tool house in mid afternoon. It's under a big oak tree, there's been a good breeze, and the humidity is relatively (for Alabama) low. The good news for people is the humidity is low. The bad news for plants is that the humidity is low. They're losing moisture about as fast through the leaves as they can absorb it through the roots.

KKNY I don't know what to make of you. Of course we don't make the skids 'spy' for us. They brought the subject of smoking up themselves, we usually don't ask about those things (BM's drinking, the smoking - while pregnant of course, and other negative trades). That is because we'd feel bad knowing that the girls would probably feel like defending their mom. So therefore we wait till they volunteer the information and then we might ask what they think about it, or how they feel. The therapist has given us really good advice on how to be supportive of them, and how to adress these kinds of issues without criticizing their mom. However we do ask the girls general questions to show an interest in their other family, which is important for them. Like about their little brother or what they were up to on the weekend? Is that allowed?? Ima already explained it very well. It's about the power of brainwashing,I guess you're not that familiar with it. Like Ima's SD saying it is raining when the sun is clearly shining (that was your post Ima, right?) Also what is the significant difference for you between Stepmom or SO? I'm FDH's SO and stepmom to the skids. They actually started calling me that without my encouragement, they think it's 'cool' and so that's fine with me. You always think that it's the SM's vs the BM's here, and I don't understand why? Surely you're not that shallow to assume all Stepmoms are on the same page and all BM's are on the other? Just because I'm Dutch doesn't mean that I'm on the same page as all other Dutch people, right?

melsouth and mdlm, I can't tell you how many times during these last few weeks that I've been stopped in my tracks by the thought of the whole house burning to the ground and losing much more than we did. My heart goes out to you. There really isn't anything to do but carry on, is there? melsouth, I know exactly what you mean about the PTSD. I've found it hard to remember people's names and feel like I'm walking in a fog. Before this, I felt pretty invincible. Now every time we leave the house, I feel like something is going to happen - car accident, whatever. Just don't feel safe. I really hope your insurance made good for you and things are going as well as they can. I will take the advice to be judicious in our decisions and get professional help. I tend to take the safe route and not make major leaps, so chances are that things will remain pretty much the same. Maintaining the character of the home is extremely important to us and it sounds like the insurance company is planning on factoring that into the cost of the restoration. I am seriously considering expanding that bathroom into our guest room. It wouldn't be a huge change to floor plans or anything and the plumbing already runs through that room. We rarely use the room (it just had a twin bed) and have a large finished basement with a powder room that guests can use in a pinch. Thanks again everyone for your support and suggestions. I really started this thread as a whim, but it has been so helpful to get your thoughts and advice.

I think mostly the rooms where just over the top back in the eighties but I do like many pieces individually. These are but a few you can get on my craigslist cheap today. While a whole room of the deco coffee tables in this $300 set (3) in my mind would be too much ... just the coffee table or just the side tables with the right mix could look nice. One could probably get just the coffee table for $75. And these chairs would be easy to recover. They might look nice in white fabric mixed with a wood modern table,$35 each asking price! If this brass dining table for $50 is only in need of polishing it sure would look nice with the right chairs.