Have a wonderful time LuckyGardnr!!! I don't have much if any desire to go to hot-spots. I did do a Hawaiian cruise one year, but was under-whelmed. But a Costa-Rican rainforest would be heavenly to see!!!! I should be back up and running tomorrow, so I'll definitely help out with the recipe thread etc. Have a wonderful time, and think of us poor KT-ers hashing it out in cold wintery weather, and others who aren't able to take a holiday! LOL Come back fit as a fiddle, please.

Day 1: The first 2 hours home from work have been spent starting laundry, cleaning the kitchen, and in general getting the house looking how it was when I left for work this morning. Two hours to get to the "even" point, plus I paid bills, trashed the junk mail, and wrote out a sympathy card. I'm supposed to be at a meeting but I'm skipping, LOL. I haven't touched THE ZONE yet unless you count clearing off the dining room table (which really doesn't count). OH! I did take a big, framed picture off the wall (I never liked it) and replaced it with a nice one. The old one is a 10x13 landscape photograph that was framed and given to us years ago. The photo wasn't matted well and was starting to ripple. I shouldn't have said anything to DH. I don't think he likes it either, but said we couldn't get rid of it because a friend (who is at our house once every 5 years) gave it to us. I think DH hung it in the basement with his grandfather's paint-by-number pictures. YUCK to all of them.

Wow our last child my husbands daughter has turned 18 I can honestly say between my ex and his we have experenced everything and learned along the way. You didn't mention the kids ages but when my step daughter was about 8 we gave her a daddy cell phone(plastic kids from verizon) all companies offer them now.We had one that was carried by my husband .He told his daughter when you need me you can call push#1, he told his ex if she needed to let him know anything or wanted to speak to her daughter call or leave a message and she would receive a call back within the day unless an emergency. When his daughter is with us she can feel free to call her anytime .We knew she would hardly evercall because controlling people only need to control things they can't.We also knew if she called her often his daughter would say i'm busy. It really stopped the crazy calls. We also installed a fax machine and told her she could fax any information or requests. We also said they would be dealt with within a day. THEN it was explained that no other methods of communication would be responded to .We then followed up with a written letter notifing the same with a register receipt . We learned very early on from my ex if you have guidelines that are reasonable they can't complain and if they do no one listens. Not a judge or lawyer. She tried a few times to cause problems but we would always send copies of all communacation and that ended it. As for vacations to avoid your problem every start of a new year we go over the calender to see if there is any conflicts fathers day birthdays ect we would put it in writing with what ever changes we needed. We also did a calender for his daughter and her mom at that time we would decide our vacation dates we always asked her to pick hers first then we could schedule when ever we wanted. If she would say well I'm not sure we would say ok so your choosing not to pick a date at this time , then we would give her our dates so she couldn't say oh I'm going then. Also as for your husbands boys set up a family vacation planning dinner and propose a few things or let all the kids know what you planned then say to all the kids 'should any of you not want to attend since your not happy with the choice thats fine with us. Trust me they change real fast. Also we had the agreement changed when we got married to include two weeks a year for us taken one week at a time. His ex was not happy but we told her she could also do the same and we would keep SD on her days and she started to like the idea. If any plans were met with negative comments my husband would tell his daughter " you'll need to discuss that with your mother because she is not agreeing to that" after a while that ended also. When we are on vacation she leaves her phone with her mother and we give our phone to his daughter and we don't get involved. When my son was with his dad he would delibertly turn off the phone and my son was very upset and I was also so I got him a cell phone when he was 9 and then that ended his controlling manner and my son could call when he wanted. I was mindful not to interupt there time since it was only a weekend. Someone has to be the mature parent and also try to do it in a manner of how you would like to be treated. I never talked to his ex and he never talked to mine and I tried to just do my best to keep our home calm when she visited. I also explained to my son who is 5 years older than she is that he lives with her Dad all the time so when she is here try to let them have time to enjoy each other and then we would have our time and then we planned a time for all of us also. I beleive the kids are so close today because of that and they are truly friends.When my step daughter was 16 she came to live with us because she said she wanted to experience living with her Dad full time . Her mother was not happy but she knew that had this gone to court her daughter would have got her way so she gave in. We also didn't ask for childsupport. We applied it to a car for SD and insurance. Step families are very trying no doubt but honestly with respect and love it can work. However ground rules are a must and they must not be broken. I have been proud to be a step mom and take a back seat I know in the future my position will be an important one because I was supportive.I really made a point of making her visits very comfortable and special because thats how i would have wanted my son treated. When my ex remarried his wife never boned with my son infact she pushed him out to where he stopped going there and they would just do day events. Now that my son is grown up I know his father regrets that he didn't take a stand with her because my son is really closer to my husband. I sincerely hope this helped . good luck. Sandi

I am taking a break from loading the last minute stuff. I can hardly fill up one fridge never mind two. When we stop for lunch we will use the garage (not taking bikes this time) and lower the couch down and set up the table to make our sandwiches on and eat there too. The cats will be able to roam around and use the kitty box if they need it. Will also give them some water and food. I am putting all the bread and lunch stuff in the garage fridge. It also has a space in the door for cans of soda. Mike said that the RV weighs 15,000 pounds dry. It weighs a lot more than that now with all the other stuff we put in there. I was careful not to put things in that we don't need. There is a WalMart wherever you go so we can get things if we need them. We are taking the 3 cats with us. They have a huge kitty box that won't spill litter all over. We are also taking their big gym with the sisal rope poles and the cubby hole housing in it. We won't be able to take that along when we have the bikes. I have already packed their toys, brushes and food. Yesterday we put them in the RV so that they could get used to it. I think we are going to have a wonderful time. Bobby is going to get to meet one of his half sisters. She lives in Fort Worth with her mother and step-father. We visited them a few weeks ago when we picked up the truck. The mother and I have written back and forth for years but that was the first time we ever met. Alisande, I will never get up to 100 mph because I am too chicken. I will get up to 80 mph I am sure but that is enough for me. Well break time is over so back to work.