Actually, I didn't realize the previous was maxed out until I saw your post...thanks for letting me know! CelticMoon...if you check the "Read Me" thread you'll notice that I added the gel stain instructions. On an off we have receive quite a few requests for it, so I thought I'd add it. There's light at the end of the tunnel, one of our GWers asked about setting up a FAQ and iVillage said to check back with them in March...so keep your fingers crossed! (I wonder why no one ever responds to my questions/comments? I've asked at least 2x before and had other questions as well...but I don't think I've ever received a reply...the only time I heard from them was when I got my hands slapped for starting an off-topic post on Discussions!)

This was awesome cawfe. I could not have put it all better myself. I guess some people on here say things to tear apart a thread, and then will say the opposite in order to tear apart another thread. And why do they do it all? Who knows for sure, though I have a good idea. Its sad how some people have so much hate inside and spew it out all the time on complete strangers. I can imagine what must come out in their own lives to the people they know. As much as I dislike the way they act on here I do feel bad for them. Their lives are filled with so much misery and hatred it is eating them up! Their whole life revolves around this misery and anger, that can not be productive for them or for their children! Hatred is not a good value to pass on, though from what they have told us here about "being honest" to their children and what they discuss with their children it is almost inevidable that they passed that hatred onto their children. Sadly they probably did it to keep their children from liking their fathers becuase they were wronged by him. How selfish it is to make your child dislike their own father because of your personal issues with him! Get a friend to complain to about your ex, do not use your children! Oh well. When I log off this forum I go back to my wonderful husband and all 4 of OUR wonderful children. Oh ya, I said OUR becuase they all live with us full-time and we are the custodial parents. We raise them. My son sees his dad often, but I do ALL mom stuff for the stepkids while their mom sits on her a$$ at her house, across the country, with all her "new" kids not paying attention to the ones she left behind. That was her choice to abandon her children. I go back to my happy job. And I enjoy my life. And at night I cuddle into bed with my dh. Sure beats a cold bed and thoughts of hatred!

You haven't enabled your email so that it shows thus I can't respond to your question about my inset cabs. I will respond here and hope you see it. My glass doors in my kitchen are Arts and Craft windows that I purchased from a salvage place in NH. My cab builder simply made the cabinet boxes to fit the old windows. I was very lucky that all 4 sets were in pretty good shape. My painter worked on the finish and my cab guy squared them off. Hope this helps you in your search for cab doors. c

I'd be careful about involving a newspaper. I'd only involve the media or the public as a last ditch effort. Private is better for "Carol". However, newspapers have 'morgues' of old stories. A paper should be able to access their coverage from that era. (I doubt there was a follow-up naming the adoptive parents, but it could be.) Your alternative is to do the page-by-page search of old newspapers via your library. Call ahead to make sure they have the dates that interest you. DON'T say why you are looking. The State or County Dept. of Child and Family Services -- or whatever it's called in Houston -- should have been involved in placing the child. There should have been a Guardian Ad Litum appointed by the court to represent the child's legal interests (rubber stamp job), and there should be court records of a home study done on petitioning adoptive parents prior to placement. There should then have been a notice of petition to adopt published, followed by a final adoption order by the court. In most places a petition to adopt has to be published. The purpose of the law was to allow someone to contest the adoption. However, this was subverted by publishing in an obscure paper -- in Chicago it was the Daily Law Bulletin, read primarily by lawyers, not the public. We don't know how Baby was identified in court documents. The petition *might* say "Tom and Mary Jones to Adopt Carol Christmas", but it could just be "Baby Girl Doe". Absent an original birth certificate, the DOB would have been a guess too. This could also have become a private adoption. A healthy, white baby girl would be in demand. There could be NO records, or none that you could access. The hospital where Baby was taken for examination may still have records showing to what agency she was released. OR, if there was a cover-up, records will only say she was "Released to Home with Parents". Exactly what would you say on Facebook that could not in any way hurt "Carol"? This is something I'd only consider if more quiet, private means are not productive. Best to find contact "Carol" privately and directly, one to one. Nobody likes their private affairs aired in public.