Caliloo, I have a very similar recipe that is truly one of my favorites. It has been around for many years and I suspect that someone was updating the old recipe to make it healthier with whole wheat flour, egg whites and less oil. Ths biggest difference I see is that my recipe calls for 1 and 1/2 cups of oil. Apple Cake Mix and beat together: 3 cups AP flour 1 tsp soda 1 tsp salt 2 cups sugar 1 1/2 cups corn oil 3 large eggs 2 tsps vanilla ext. Stir together and fold in: 3 cups chopped apple 2 Tbsp lemon juice 1 cup chopped nuts (I use pecans.) Grease and flour a 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Topping. Boil for 2 1/2 minutes. Pour over hot cake and leave in pan. 1 stick butter 1 cup light brown sugar 1/4 cup canned milk

>>>I live entirely for this man, I love him so much, I work and pay bills and try and make a nice home for us.He sees this in you and you've become a DOOR MAT. You need to ask yourself why you continue doing this when he doesn't appreciate this effort. >>>He tells me "it's not my fault, 5 days a week they're allowed to do whatever they want whenever they want, I can't change that in two days". THat's BS. He's making excuses for the fact that he doesn't want to be a disciplinarian. >>>I think the root of the problem mostly is that he makes NO effert to have any time with me.Again, why are you accepting this from him? So, he tosses you a crumb of affection now and then? He's stringing you along making you starve affection and you're allowing this. >>>He finally calls me later that night from the gym and says "fine, i'll sacrifice a night with my children to be with you".This is a complete deal breaker. Get out of this situation now before you lose yourself completely. I agree with the one poster who mentioned a Personality disorder. He sounds narcissistic and you'll NEVER get anything from someone like this. They reign you in and once they have you, the mask comes off, and in time they will disgard you, unless you rid yourself of him first. It's a game to him and it's one that you will suffer immensely if you don't get out of this. >>>>I feel like he takes me for granted He absolutely does and will continue doing so. >>>When I came back Sunday he's like "hey, you look kinda tense, why dont you have a beer?"Self absorbed. He doesn't give any more thought priority to you as he would pulling down his zipper. >>>"ugh, you're not gonna pull that "im pregnant" excuse on me all the time now are you?" Abusive. How much more are you going to allow him to abuse you? Get out now! >>I am very independant,You won't be for long if you continue to allow this mental abuse. Little by little his words will chip away at your self esteem and will erode it to nothing. Mark my words. I was involved with a woman who had borderling personality disorder and it's not much different. By the time she was through with me, I was suicidal and I'm by no means mentally weak either. Your pregnant and in big trouble here. I hate this for you because honestly, it doesn't just 'sound' like he's an abuser, he really is. Alot of it is disguised in neglect, but make no mistake, he's set this up for you to feel nothing but insecure and jealous in your relationship with him and he will of course blame you for how 'needy' you are, and not at all take responsibility for how badly he treats you. Please, please consult a therapist about this and really do consider getting your own place.

I'm a stepmom of 2 kids... an 11-year old boy and a 14-year old girl... who live with my husband and I about 80% of the time. I have to say that I'm blessed - they are kind, loving and very respectful kids who have always treated me well. Even given that, I have to admit that I STILL find being a stepmom very challenging. I think like most stepmoms, I came into this situation with the desire to create a happy, harmonious environment for me and the man I married and his children. I still do. I care about these kids, and I want them to be happy and set up to have a successful life, emotionally and in every other way. But over time... again, even though my stepkids are such good kids... I have STILL found myself surprised at the amount of resentment (and sometimes even anger) that has built up in me. It's the result of a few factors I think. A big one for me is that I resent the fact that their own mother doesn't do more. I shared with my husband a few months back that he and his ex need to split the driving duties and other parenting responsibilities 50/50, while I only help out occasionally, versus me doing 70% of all of the pickups and drop offs for school and other activities. (Just because I work from home and have a flexible work schedule doesn't mean that I'm an on-call chauffeur for the kids.) Another big one is that my husband is happy to have his kids around all the time (of course, he's their dad!) while I really need time away from them where it's just the two of us. No matter how nicely I may share with my lovely husband that I need more time with him (i.e. on the third week in a row that their mom wants us to take them during the weekend when she is supposed to have them) on some level he'll always hear it like I am rejecting his children. This has caused major friction in our marriage. His children, their mom's lack of care for them and him making me feel like I need to fill the gap (or I'm not being supportive) is really the only thing we fight about. Before you call me evil, let me explain: So much of being a stepmom is holding your tongue. I really care about the emotional well being of my stepkids, and I don't ever want to say or do anything that may cause them pain or make them feel uncomfortable or unwelcome in my home. I'm not a jerk or anything, I'm a pretty kind person I think. But the amount of stuff that you may want to say out loud that you don't... about the kids, their mom, whatever... it's a lot. On some level, I feel like I'm always monitoring what I do and say. It's tiring. I have to admit that it's nice when they go to their moms, so that I can "turn off" so to speak and just BE in my own home. So I look forward to that time. It also gives me a chance to miss them and appreciate them even more when they come back! I see so many comments attacking stepmoms, and I'm sure there are some majorly s***ty ones out there, but there's also a lot of well-meaning ladies that really do care for the kids in their care. But guys, I'd just ask you to remember that these ARE NOT our kids. Everything we do for them, we do out of love for you. And it can be very draining. A mom gets fed by the unconditional love that flows effortlessly between her and her biological child. A stepmom does not. She gives a lot and really doesn't get a lot back. Overtime, you can start to feel like the hired help, a guest in your own home, and the lowest person on the totem pole. My advice for the original poster? If you're not willing to change the kids' schedule, then offer an alternative that she can work with - hiring a nanny. Seriously. I don't say that to be an a-hole, but really, it sounds like your wife is stuck in what's called a "double bind." She wants to support you by helping you with your kids (she LOVES you, after all) but at the same time, she really doesn't want to be doing most of what she is doing... but by not doing it, she feels she would be letting you down. It's a lose lose. Add on top of that the pain of losing the baby, and she is growing to resent the lot of you. Take the burden off of her. Look into hiring a nanny to carry most of the load. Yes, it will cost you some money, but hiring a nanny is much less expensive than paying for a divorce. Also consider setting a date night for just the two of you once per week that you don't break (and when you do go out, don't talk about your kids!). Much love to you and your situation x

You may want to decide on a budget and the material make up of the windows that you are wanting to replace. They can be wood, vinyl, fiberglass to name a few. Here is a small list of manufactureres that come to mind: Gorell OKNA Simonton Soft-Lite There are others that are of good quality. I am sure others will chime in on this subject. You can probably do a search on these companies to see what others have to say about them. By searching these, other quality products will be found. This will get you started on your research. Also, maybe contact some local dealers as they carry various brands.