Hi mxk3, I feel the same way about my house (butter yellow asbestos "siding" with maroon shutters and a concrete stoop for a "front porch"). I'm trying to convince my dh to at least build a small porch or portico, he says that once we landscape the front yard this year, nobody will be looking at the stoop. I'm not convinced :). I agree that white's not my favorite color for a house, at least not in our area. Maybe in a place like New England with a different style house entirely, it would be another story. But if you're sticking with white, I do like the combination of white and navy (say, shutters or trim). I don't know if that would be too stark a contrast for you or not. But it also sounds like painting the brick to match whatever color siding you end up choosing is a very doable option too...in which case, what color would you like your house to be :)? I think different styles of house kind of lend themselves to different colors, so please do post a pic if you can.

Oh, you ladies are giving me a lot to think about. I'm scheduled for the first of two foot surgeries August 1. I'll be in a walking cast after the first week, though, so I think I will be able to get around outside, as long as I don't overdo it. Fingers crossed. Of course, it's too hot in August for me to do more than water the plants, anyway, so I probably won't have to go buy myself a Powerwheels! Ha! You know, HOA's are bad enough about telling you what you can plant and where. I can't believe they can tell you what you can wear in your yard! I'm hoping you DO go out in your crazy PJ's. To heck with "appearances!" What noive! Marcia

Hey guys, thanks for the kind comments. It's good to have friends, even if you are remote and we never see each other! Too bad I'm not close enough for your plant swaps to meet all of you. And Windwhipped, I LOVE the "rooting for you" pun. Even though it wasn't intended. And hey, no chocolate needed -- I've lost 33 lbs this past year! It started with losing my appetite from the stress of my situation, but then this summer, I expanded on it by running and biking. I'm actually feeling pretty darn great, physically! And the stress is much easier to manage now that I know where I'm headed. Yes, I'm thinking about finding a community garden for next spring. Or I may just take a year off and only do some things in pots on the deck. Even the pots may be a problem, because I just may go away for weeks next summer, and I'll need someone to tend them (who won't kill them). I took my daughters up the hill to see my new place, and they really liked the views. My oldest is turning 16 next week, and she appreciated that it's close enough for her to easily drive to (when she's staying with me) after being out on a weekend night with her friends who all live close to the family home. That was one of my primary considerations. I wanted to actually move closer to work, but being near the kids will work better, especially with my older one now that she's becoming more mobile on her own. I took a hike on the trail by the condo Sunday evening, took my guitar along, and wrote a song. It was very therapeutic! You can see a photo of the scenery on that trail by clicking the link below. It's on my Facebook page but should be publicly available with that link. The three photos after it are also from that trail area. It will be rejuvenating to live up there! Hey, while you're there, if you are on Facebook, go ahead and click to be my friend if you'd like to stay in touch. Here is a link that might be useful: Scenery at my new place

I had the same problem. It was horrendous. We were harassed by a nut who lived below us for 4 years in our apartment building, and who called our walking "stomping". We are an older quiet couple, don't entertain at home, have the entire apartment covered with 2 layers of rugs and walk in our bare feet. Like the above, we go to bed late, but our main habits are reading, TV at low volume and getting bedtime snacks. But this was not good enough for the neurotic man below us who gradually escalated his complaints every time we tried to be even quieter, and we were already quiet - nobody in our entire lives had ever complained about us and we have lived in apartments all our lives. We never play loud music, and we as I said walk in socks on two layers of rugs, wall-to-wall rugs. In the end as we decided to consult a lawyer and fight back, he moved out! What a relief! And the strange thing is, this couple actually caused US problems beyond their harassment of us through emails, verbal complaints and trumping up complaints to the Board. Ever since he moved in, the bed we slept in had strange sensations running through it. It's hard to explain but the only apt analogy is Havana syndrome. There were odd sensory movements coming through our mattress, and interfered with our sleep on a daily basis. A couple of months before they moved, my husband finally got the nerve to question him about if he had any electronic equipment right under our bed that might be causing these strange sensations. He completely denied it and showed us their bedroom which had a work area (hidden) not quite directly under our bed. I know this person had a background in science and don't know what he was up to with his computer under our bed. I know this sounds absolutely nuts, but after they moved out these sensations abruptly stopped. I'll never know what caused these weird sensations in our bed, but they were extremely disconcerting. I never complained publicly because how do you explain this? One more thing, I was always wondering when we lived there if he was trying to intimidate us, as older people, out of our apartment, because we own one of the prized top floor apartments in the building.