Sounds like good stress therapy to me. I can just see that idiot driver that tailgated me all the way up the mountain,this morning, being blown into a little bubble and my dog bursting that bubble and that driver tumbling all the way down the mountain. Of course he did'nt really get hurt just a very big surprise.LOL And then again i can see blowing a wish into a bubble and see it go floating up into the air to be answered later. I went into town this morning to get groceries and the stores computer would'nt accept my check. so the checker called the manager who took a look at me and said "oh, she comes in all the time. her check is good." I did'nt recognise her. but it felt good being known by the store as a good customer. I've been saying for a long time that stores should put up a list of people that have been shopping there for years and never had a bad check beside the list of people who do write bad checks.yep! i mess up enough that i like an occasional pat on the back for doing something right.

I am so happy for you. I know "that feeling". I am on number six, so far of homes getting a new lease on life after everyone else just sucked the juice out of them and left them to fade away. The last one my daughter and I did ourselves and it was home for them for over three years and is now getting the once over cleaning to go on the market, now that they have moved on to a house more suited to their present life-style. I've often said before that I think some houses have spirits. Others are just wood and nails. Some homes do reach out and beg to you, and you know you belong there. I feel that way about my home now. My husband and I could have purchased a new(er) home for what we have invested in this one, but it would not ever be the same. We are prolly the ninth or tenth generation to live here and each family along the way has contributed a piece of themselves to the whole. I wish more people would take a fine old house under their wings and bring it back to life. They don't make homes like they used to. Those made today, no matter how expensive, boil down to economy construction. My old house was built by hand. What beams were even finished were finished by hand. You can see the random straight saw marks. Even the nails were hand forged. Our community has so many old, old homes that were just literally given up on, and some people are just now coming to see that rejuvenating them can be a wonderful alternative to just having one built. Whole city blocks come back to life like that instead of being demolished and replaced by government grants. If you are meant to have this home, you'll get it despite the odds if you keep nibbling at it. Then we can listen as you journal the progress, and won't that be fun?

A year after DD was born, we were visiting the Dr for her checkup. The checking nearly completed, Doc looks at me and asks if I'd ever heard of ADHD. Nope. That was over 30 years ago, and to make a very long story short, DD was formally diagnosed as being ADHD, along with allergies to oranges and to artifical food colorants, with a [later confirmed] suspicion that the allergies themselves were contributors to the ADHD. Although medicants were available, the pediatrician was very much against using them, feeling that a careful diet and considerable training in self-control was more effective. The diagnosis was not made after a half-hour's observation, or even after a month. It tooks many months of careful record-keeping of her behavior and a strict observance of diet, along with many many visits to doctors before they determined that she showed consistent symptoms of ADHD, and that the ADHD was seriously aggravated with the intake of oranges and food items containing artificial colors of red and yellow. (And let me tell you, back then labels rarely carried much specific ingredient information and even less on food additives.) So, yes, I do understand that other folks are not very understanding. I'd like a dime for everytime someone -and family were often the worst- gave DD a cup of OJ, and for the next 30 hours *I* was the one trying to comfort and keep safe this small child suffering with literally non-stop movement, who alternated periods of running around the room with crying from the irritation caused by the allergic reaction. Once she got old enough to explain, she said it "feels like biting ants are running around under your skin." BTW, to this day she maintains that is a good description. Somewhat more is known about ADHD today than was known 40 years ago, but there is probably even more that is not known. No one can give advice on the care of a person they don't know. All I can tell you is that for DD (who has an IQ of 150+), I maintained a strict diet that contained little sugar, no citrus and no food that could possibly have a coloring additive. At that time it was known that hamburger and other meats might contain coloring, so even meat had to come from a trusted grower. We started yoga while she was a toddler -- and yes, I think it did help teach her body-control. She had to learn to take responsibility for herself, and I had to learn to let her do it. Until she learned to politely refuse [candy/koolaid/OJ/fruit punch/cocoa/soft drinks/etc] I did run interference, including explanations to relatives [repeated ad nauseum] that if she ate xxx, the food would make her very sick. Explaining isn't frustrating, but having gramma nod in agreement while handing DD an orange slice, used to raise my blood pressure. I finally accepted that gramma and a few others were not/never going to consider DD's needs. So it may have been unfamilial, but I taught DD to eat and drink absolutely nothing that I hadn't okayed first. Was it easy? No. Was it worth it? Yes. Did she ever take medicants? No. Did I consider medicines? Sure, especially if she had been up every two hours all night, and the teacher complained that she couldn't sit still for the whole lesson [ah, by that time *I* knew she could sit for almost an hour], and I had spent four hours at the grocery reading labels, and the dogs were trying hide under the sofa so she wouldn't chase them... Being the parent of an ADHD child is not easy. Being the child is more difficult. So, control the diet and provide plenty of opportunities for activity. Praise the child for every success in learning to sit still; and be prepared to explain [ad infinitum] to adults that: certain food/drinks are forbidden without exception; a 5-minute run should be allowed once an hour; swinging legs while sitting does not interfere with the brain's capability to learn; and that being active is far better for the child's development than watching TV or playing computer games. And be prepared for them to forget, not understand, or otherwise think/imply/say that you are wrong. Your reward will come in a decade as others see your intelligent, polite, considerate, responsible child mature into an adult that is a true pleasure to know.

Good to see your progress Jan! I'm sure you didn't run Di/Jimmy off, they're just busy, yea, yea, that's the ticket! I thought about writing an entry all day yesterday, but ultimately I didn't because I don't have the pictures yet. We have made oodles of progress on the bathroom. Torn out the floors (Ed) and pulled the nails (LF) and replaced it (LF). On his vacation, Ed framed three of the walls. When I arrived home and said, "Where is the vanity going, the ___ going...", we realized we really needed to use more space whether we liked it or not. It was just too squeezed even if it was worlds bigger than the current bathroom. As we talked and moved around using our visual aid (a stool which was the exact width/depth of the vanity), a light bulb went off and we realized if we moved the door to poorly used corner we could end up with a good two and half feet more of wall space and that was enough. Yea! We could move forward. He finished building the bathtub platform. This week, he's been putting up vapor barrier and hardibacker for the bathtub. We (Ed and Rob) put the bathtub in on Saturday. Sunday we bought the "linen closet". We're still talking about the best use of space and when we both agree, we'll finish (probably tonight because I think he was saying a good idea last night, but I was busy listening to LF when Ed said it). We can't do the plumbing and wiring until we do. I have pictures of LF swimming in the tub and the new storage piece, but they'll have to wait since I am at work and the camera is at home.