Yes, this terrible weather has done terrible things to many of my plants this yr too. :(

Sweeby, I tend to agree with you. I truely believe my SS is a sociopath. I have researched it extensively and he is dead on. Even to the point that we got puppies for each of the kids last year and he would feed and water his, walk it when the others walked theirs but he never loved on it like the others did. Never smiled at it when it was happy to see him. He was detached. Honestly, that was when I first started to notice he was a little different. He can turn it on, when he knows others are watching, or even mimic others "normal" behavior, he is just different. His puppy didn't grow and learn like the others because he didn't take time with her. When he went to his mothers and said he wasn't coming back, I was at least relieved that I could find the puppy someone to love her. To this day he has never even asked where she is! Was my husband a great father? No. He thought he was, he tried so hard. He stayed in a loveless marriage for 20 years convinced (by his wife and her family) that if he left he would never see his sons again. That is a ridiclous farce! But my husband, while the kindest soul I have ever know, isn't the most intellectual man. He was on his own at age 15 and all he wanted was a family. He endured SO MUCH to keep his family together and while he THOUGHT he was doing the right thing, it was in the end, the absolute worst thing he could have done. Children who grow up in a battle zone, watching their mother belittle their father over and over, watching their mother lose her temper and hit herself in the head, having one affair after another, that is bound to produce some twisted individuals. My husband tried to keep them busy, Boy Scouts, football, basketball, bowling leagues, track...he was at every practice, every game, helped coach..anything he could to keep them busy and focused on something positive. Yes, he feels gulity. I don't bring it up anymore, he talks when he needs to talk and I listen. Last night for the first time, he said, "I should have taken my boys and left when they were little. They would be different now." I know that is true and I know that is why he puts up with so much, he is largely to blame. No, he wasn't a mean father, but he was an ignorant one, either way, his boys are damaged. I feel bad for my SSs and I am very maternal by nature, so I have tried so hard to take care of them. I wonder if maybe there isn't some jealousy there by the 18 year old because he didn't grow up with that kind of mother. His mother is SO selfish! I have never seen anything like it! Well, my SSs....I have loved on him, he and I had one on one "date nights" and days of shopping and lunches like I do with the others, talked about everything under the sun. I just think it is too late... When his behavior affects my children I have to say no more. Some have asked about my 20 year old SS that I have only met twice. Right in the middle of the split between his parents, he "came out". He was 17. He really , really needed understanding and nurturing. He didn't get it. His mother was vested in her new relationship and his father was licking his own wounds. Both adults were selfish and not there for their son in a very, very crucial time in his life. He is still angry and hurt. While my husband now sees his mistake and wants to be there for his son, he is now going to have to wait until his son is ready to forgive him. Which is why my husband calls him very Sunday and leaves him a message, without fail. He tried to live with his mother and her boyfriend and that didn't work out because the boyfriend was calling him a *ag every day! I wish he would give us a chance but he just isn't ready... I saw on FB recently that he was saying he needed money for groceries. I told my husband (who doesn't realy do the FB thing)and he sent him money for groceries. It's a start... Need to add, the SSs do NOT get along! It's just a big mess! : ( I have to leave it all to my husband. He created this situation, regardless of his intentions, it is time for him to step up and take care of his own. I am just going to take care of mine and see in time what develops.

Our house, MCM built in the mid 70's, had the in wall toaster which had stopped working by the time we moved in in the mid 80's. It also had a NuTone which still worked but after I had used it a couple of times, it broke and we couldn't find any parts to repair it. But since we already had a KA mixer and a blender, we didn't try that hard. The whole cabinet below it was dedicated to space for its motor to hang down and its accessories. The house also had a Thermador wall double wall oven where the top oven was suppose to also be able to microwave (the original speed oven?). The microwave function didn't work when we moved in but we had it repaired. It only worked a few times and then broke again. On a visit to my sister, I realized she had the same oven - it turns out that the microwave in hers also broke shortly after they got it, they had it repaired and it broke again. So for the next 20 years until we remodeled, we just used it as a regular oven. The timer/clock module on the thing was also replaced a couple of times and broke again shortly before our remodel and self-clean required it to work. I wonder how the baskets and loading worked on that full height drawer dishwasher. In the picture it looks like it is paneled to match the cabinets - a pretty modern touch too. Our chest freezer is more than 30 years old. Now that's an appliance with staying power. It isn't self defrosting but being a chest design, it doesn't accumulate frost very quickly (there is less air interchange when a chest freezer is opened). Once a year or so we take the baskets and the food in the bottom out, wrap them in a sleeping bag and pull up a button that turns on heat coils in the walls. The ice lifts out in big chunks so defrosting is pretty fast and easy. Then the food goes back in. Simple, effective and no self-defrost means little or no freezer burn.

@k8cd I’ve actually been told by two locals now that the rental market is even more insane here than the home sales. One person suggested renting out our house because apparently SFH’s in this area are hard to come by. The only way I could make that argument with my husband would be to show that it would be extremely lucrative, though, because neither of us are interested in being landlords. @elcieg Why, yes, and I’m starting with my HOA’s parks and rec committee chair position! Ha! (I really have thought about joining the board, but it would be completely self-serving, so that doesn’t seem like a wise idea.) And thank you for bringing up misophonia. Although I was aware of it, I hadn’t really taken it seriously before now. I did more reading about it today, and I definitely plan to bring it up with my physician this week.